Jamy Lamiens

Jamy Lamiens’s place in the Count of Antwerp’s story is defined by a striking contrast: he is first generous to a poor stranger, then discovers that the stranger is his wife’s father, whom his own father has insulted. By welcoming Gautier of Antwerp into his service and helping reveal his identity to the king, Jamy becomes an instrument of the family’s reunion and restoration.

Identity and Family

Jamy is the son of an English marshal and the husband of Violante, the daughter of Gautier of Antwerp. Violante had been entrusted to a noble Englishwoman while her father lived in exile, and she was later married to Jamy. The couple have several children; their eldest is eight years old when Gautier, long separated from them, finds his way back to England.

Jamy’s marriage also bears on the family’s finances and status. Gautier tells Perrot that Jamy received no dowry with Violante, and proposes that Jamy receive the king’s promised reward for revealing the Count and his children. He thus presents the reward not merely as payment for a service, but as a way to provide his daughter with the dowry she had lacked.

Compassion and the Household Encounter

Gautier first approaches Violante’s London home as a beggar, still unrecognized after years of hardship and a profound change in appearance. Jamy sees an old, poor man and has a servant bring him inside and feed him for God’s sake. The children gather around the visitor as he eats, caressing him as though they somehow sense that he is their grandfather. Gautier recognizes them and fondles them in return, but Violante does not recognize her father.

The encounter exposes a sharp difference within Jamy’s household. Jamy’s father, who holds Violante in contempt, hears that the children cling to the stranger and dismisses them as taking after their mother, whom he calls a vagabond. Gautier hears the insult and bears it without disclosing himself. Jamy, though displeased by the children’s distress, will not make them leave the old man; instead, he offers Gautier a place in his service. When Gautier says he knows only how to tend horses, Jamy assigns him a horse to care for and lets him remain among the children, whom he entertains.

Recognition and Restoration

Jamy later serves in the English army alongside Perrot, under whose command the troops are sent to assist in a renewed war with France. Gautier accompanies them without being recognized, living as a horseboy while contributing counsel and action beyond what his lowly role requires. After the dying Queen of France confesses that Gautier had been wrongfully exiled, the king proclaims that anyone who brings news of the Count or either of his children will be richly rewarded, and that the family will be restored.

Certain that the proclamation is genuine, Gautier turns to Jamy and asks him to go with him to Perrot. When they are together, Gautier reveals that Perrot is the Count’s son, that Violante is Perrot’s sister and Jamy’s wife, and that he himself is their father. Perrot recognizes him and weeps at his feet. Jamy, first astonished and then convinced by the reunion, is ashamed of the insulting words he had sometimes used toward the man he had taken in as a horsekeeper. He falls at Gautier’s feet and asks forgiveness; Gautier raises him and graciously grants it.

The Reward and Jamy’s Role

Rather than accept new clothes before the king recognizes him, Gautier insists that Jamy present him in his horseboy’s clothing, along with Perrot. Jamy approaches the king on the strength of the proclamation, offering to produce the Count and his children in return for the promised reward. He identifies Gautier and Perrot before the king and explains that Violante, Jamy’s wife, is not present but will soon be seen. The king recognizes Gautier despite his altered appearance, restores him with clothing, servants, horses, and equipment appropriate to his rank, and treats Jamy with great honor.

Jamy’s significance lies in the sequence of his choices: hospitality gives the exiled Count a place in the family’s orbit; affection for the children keeps him there despite the contempt of Jamy’s father; and cooperation with Gautier makes public recognition possible. The reward also connects Jamy’s personal marriage to the family’s political restoration, recasting an unpaid dowry as a benefit secured through his role in reuniting the Count with his children.