The form in which certain of the references to him are couched favours the above view; the compiler of Guiron le Cortois says in his prologue that "maistre Gautier Map qui fu clers au roi Henrydevisa cil l'estoire de monseigneur Lancelot du Lac, que d'autre chose ne parla it mie gramment en son livre"; and in another place he refers to Map, "qui fit lou pro pre livre de monsoingnour Lancelot dou Lac."
The plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Sardinia and Turkey recorded in a protocol, at the instance of Lord Clarendon, their joint wish that "states between which any misunderstanding might arise should, before appealing to arms, have recourse so far as circumstances might allow (en tant que les circonstances l'admettraient) to the good offices of a friendly power."
Calvin replied (r3th February 1546) in a letter now lost; in which, he says, he expressed himself " plus durement que ma coustume ne porte."
After vaguely looking at it a long time, "Il n'y a que moi qui pouvais concevoir la tete de Leonidas," he whispered, and died.
The general tenor of the essays is in complete contrast with this sceptical attitude, at least in its more decided form, and it is worth notice that the motto "Que scai je?"
