_Itinerary and Expeditions_
The following scheme may perhaps prove of use to those who have but a
few hours to spend in Chartres and wish to find their way quickly about
the picturesque but tortuous streets of the old, lower town.
Leaving the station, go down the Rue Jean de Beauce, cross to the far
corner of the Place Châtelet, go down the Rue Sainte Même, take the
first turning to the left down the Rue du Cheval Blanc, and keeping up
to the right, where the street divides, you come out opposite the west
front of the Cathedral. Go down the Rue des Changes (opposite the south
porch of the Cathedral), and turning to the left before reaching the
Place Billard (the old site of the Castle of the Counts) reach the Place
de la Poissonnerie (fish-market: Maison du Saumon). Pass on into the Rue
S. Eman, and turning to the right pass Queen Bertha’s staircase, which
is in the Rue des Écuyers, opposite the Rue du Bourg. Bearing up the Rue
des Écuyers, follow the Rue S. Pierre. You leave the Church of S. Aignan
on your right and arrive at the old Abbey Church of S. Père. Leaving the
Place S. Pierre by the Rue du Pont S. Hilaire at the eastern corner of
it, cross the water and turn sharp to the left down the Rue Foulerie,
which skirts the river with its picturesque tanneries and wash-houses.
You pass on the right the street leading down to the Porte Guillaume.
Continuing, the Rue de la Foulerie becomes the Rue de la Tannerie, and
the Rue de la Tannerie the Rue Massacre. Cross the river and visit the
ruined Church of S. André, then go down the Rue de la Brèche. The Chapel
of Notre-Dame de la Brèche is on the right in this street, which runs
into the Place Drouaise. Before reaching this take the turn to the left
up the Rue Muret, which winds up into the Rue du Cardinal Pie (formerly
called the Rue du Marché de Filasse), from which a picturesque archway
leads through the old cloister buildings into the Rue S. Ives, which
opens on the north porch of the Cathedral. The Bishop’s Palace is now on
your left.
The promenade[104] known as the Tour de la Ville, at the foot of the
ancient ramparts and round the old moat of the town, should not be
omitted. You will start naturally from the Place Châtelet, down the
Promenade des Charbonniers, which brings you to the Place Drouaise, and
so on across the Pont Neuf to the Porte Guillaume and the Boulevard de
la Porte Morard. Hence the Rue du Pont de la Courtille leads to the
Place S. Michel, and thence by the Boulevard Chasles to the Place des
Epars.
The Rue Régnier leads from the Boulevard Chasles to the Place des
Halles.
Some magnificent views of the Cathedral and the town, and ‘bits’ of the
old walls and moat, will be obtained in the course of this circuit.
EXPEDITIONS.
The Château de Maintenon (Duc de Noailles) lies on the line between
Chartres and Paris, and, with its waterworks, is well worth a visit.
Other châteaux in the neighbourhood are those of Villebon, near
Courville, which belongs to the Marquis de Pontoi-Poncarré, and
Éclimont, near Gallardon, the property of the Duc de La Rochefoucauld.
DATES OF THE CHIEF FESTIVALS AT CHARTRES.
May 31.--Notre-Dame du Pilier.
August 15.--Feast of the Assumption.
September 8 and 15; December 8.--On September 15 and December 8 a
magnificent procession through the Crypt takes place in the evening.
[Illustration: Map]
INDEX
A
Acco, leader of conspiracy in Gaul, 12;
death, 13.
Adèle, widow of Count Etienne, dispute with S. Ives, 104, 105.
Aganon, Bishop of Chartres, 58.
Agincourt, battle of, 255.
Albert the Dean, election of, as Bishop of
Chartres, in opposition to that of Theodoric, 75.
Albigenses, 236.
Amiens, Cathedral of, compared with that of Chartres, 187.
Âne qui vielle, 125;
passage called after, 127.
Angel-dial, 126.
Anne of Bretagne, bell known as, 191.
Apprentices in the Middle Ages, 166.
Aquitaine, Duke of, contributes to building of Cathedral, 73.
Arrald, Bishop of Chartres, 89, 90.
Avoués and Bourgeois, quarrel between, and outbreak of the people, 236-238.
B
Banvin, right of, 235.
Bells of Clocher Neuf, 191, 192, 193.
Bells of Clocher Vieux, 193, 194.
Berchères-l’Évêque, quarries of, 118, 147.
Bishop and Chapter, quarrel between, 261.
Bishop’s Palace, custom of sacking, 102.
Bohémond of Tarentum, Prince of Antioch, marriage of, 105;
preaches crusade, 105.
Burgundians and Armagnacs, civil war between, 253 ff.
C
Cæsar in Gaul, 8 ff.
Canons, encroachment of, and struggle with Counts, 102, 103.
“ remains of old house of, 103.
Carnutes, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14.
Casket of Teudon and other relics preserved in Cathedral, 48.
Castor, Bishop of Chartres, 31.
Cathedral, 2, 57, 113, 118, 119, 149, 165, 182, 187, 195-198.
“ dimensions of, 230.
“ foundation of early Church, 15, 16.
“ oldest portions of, 23.
“ Vulphard’s, 63-66;
burnt, 70.
“ Fulbert begins the rebuilding of, 72;
work completed, 76;
architect of, 76;
description of, 76-78;
continuation of work, and dedication by Theodoric 79.
“ rebuilt in part by S. Ives, 106;
decoration of, 107;
enthusiasm of men and women in advancing the building, 114-117;
artists of, their work, payment, etc. 119 ff.;
burnt, 49, 140, 141, 184.
“ Pope’s legate incites to rebuilding of, 142;
repetition of former enthusiasm, 142 ff.
“ windows of, 150 ff.
“ date of building of various parts of, 182, 183.
Cathedral, dedication of, 183.
“ gradual growth of building, 184.
“ interior of extant building, style of architecture,
ornamentation, etc., 184 ff., 198 ff.
“ destructive work of alteration, 201, 202.
“ desecration of, by Revolutionists, 202.
“ porches of, 208 ff.
“ looting of, 333.
“ profane celebrations in, 334.
“ ornaments and images of, burnt, 334.
“ gifts to, 40, 43, 51, 59, 108, 256.
Chambre des Sonneurs, 190.
Chapel of the Seven Sorrows, 184, 200.
Chapelle Vendôme, 200.
Charles VII., 257, 258.
Charles-le-Mauvais, 248.
Charles the Wise, 252.
Charter, town of Chartres receives, 238.
“ conditions of, 241, 242.
Chartrain Crusaders, 100.
Chartres, _passim_.
“ defences of, in fourteenth century, 244, 247.
“ made the capital of the Burgundians, 255, 256.
“ retaken by stratagem, 257, 258.
“ siege of, by Condé, 272-279;
record and relics of siege, 279, 280, 281.
“ siege of, by Henry IV., 302 ff.
“ constituted the capital of the Department of Eure-et-Loir, 327.
“ march upon, and occupation of, by Prussians, 346-350.
“ school of, 71, 78, 286.
Château d’Anet, 289, 343.
Chemin de César, 16.
Chevauchée, equestrian promenade to Josaphat-Lès-Chartres, 98, 99.
Citadel, Porte S. Michel converted into, 311, 322.
Claude Huvé, 286.
Clement, glazier of Chartres, 164.
Clement Marot, 269, 270.
Clocher Neuf, 28, 110, 113, 118, 140, 189-193.
“ “ signals from, during siege, 272.
Clocher Vieux, 27, 109, 110, 113, 114, 118, 125, 126, 190, 193.
Cloister, 102; remains of gates, 103.
Clôture du Chœur, 201, 202-207.
Clovis, 14, 35, 36.
Cnut, contributes to building of Cathedral, 73.
Coalition of Chartrains, Champenois and Angevins
ainst King of England, 233.
College founded at Chartres, 322.
Communes, way prepared for their institution, 95.
Conconnetodumnus, leader of revolt in Gaul, 13.
Condé, Prince of, 271, 272, 273, 279.
Consecration of Henry IV., miraculous oil used for, 312;
its arrival at Chartres, 312, 313;
taken back to Marmoutiers, 316.
Constituent Assembly, decrees of, concerning Church, 327.
Corporations, trading, in the Middle Ages, 165, 166, 167.
Council of Clermont, 95.
Countess Catherine, 236.
Counts, government by, 53.
“ power of, 231.
“ of Chartres, castle of, 54, 55, 83.
County of Chartres bought by Philippe-le-Bel, 238.
County of Chartres raised to a duchy, 266.
Courtier, P., carver in wood, 284.
Crécy and Poitiers, 244.
Crimes, compensation for, by cash, 85.
Crown, intervention of, in private quarrels, 85;
power over monastic property, 85.
Crusades, effects of, 96 ff.
Crypt of Cathedral, 21 ff.
D
D’Ardelay, colonel of the Gascons, 277, 278.
Dimensions of Cathedral, 230.
Divine intervention on behalf of justice, 87, 88.
Divitiacus, Arch-Druid, 7.
Dreux, battle under walls of, 271.
Druids, 3 ff., 11, 15, 19, 29.
Du Cheval Blanc, street, 16.
Duchy of Chartres, 266, 323.
E
English archers, 244, 255.
Eodald, converted heathen, 16.
Etienne, Count, Chartrain Crusader, 100-102, 104.
Eudes, Count of Chartres, 59;
narrative in connection with, 59, 60.
Eudes II., 73, 74, 75.
Evrard, Viscomte of Chartres, Chartrain Crusader, 100.
Evreux, sacked and burnt, 141.
F
Feast of Fools, 99.
Feudalism, change resulting from advent of, 52.
Field of the Repulsed (Pré des Reculés), 47, 279.
France, distressful state of country after Poitiers, 244, 248, 249.
Franciscans, monastery and library of, near Chartres, destroyed, 272.
François de Cologne, 78.
Frotbold, Bishop of Chartres, slain with his followers, 42.
Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres (S. Fulbert), 69-79.
G
Gallardon, taken by Chartrains, 258.
Gantelme, Bishop of Chartres, 58.
Gasselin, Bishop of Chartres, saves the town, 45, 46.
Gaul, division of, under Augustus, 14.
Geoffrey the First, Bishop of Chartres, 90, 91, 92.
Girondins, 328-330.
Godfrey, Bishop of Chartres, 20.
Godfrey, Viscount of Châteaudun, 74.
Grandes compagnies (freebooters), 252.
Grotto, the, 3, 28.
Guillaume Morhier, seizure and imprisonment of daughter, 253.
Gutruatus, leader of revolt in Gaul, 13;
his death, 14.
H
Hardouin, Bishop of Chartres, 59, 63.
Hastings, Chartres taken and burnt by, 42.
Henry I. of England, letter of S. Ives to, 107;
responds through Queen Matilda, 108.
Henry I., successor of Robert the Good, 77;
present at dedication of Cathedral, 79.
Henry IV. of France, besieges Chartres, 302 ff.;
makes terms with besieged, 309;
his entry into Chartres, 310, 311;
makes Chartres his seat of government, 311;
reconciled with Church of Rome, 311;
coronation at Chartres, 312-316.
Henry V. of England, 255, 256.
Henry, son of Thibault the Great, 232.
Hospital, or Hôtel-Dieu, of Notre-Dame, 103, 104, 127.
Hôtel-de-Ville, 317, 318;
library at, 318.
House of the Old Consuls, 267.
Huguenots, under Condé, destroy parts of Cathedral, 38;
besiege Chartres, 272-279;
persecuted at Chartres, 270;
allowed their own church, 322.
Hugues, Viscomte de Chartres, 104, 105;
joins Crusade, 106.
Hunald, Chartres taken and burnt by, 40.
Hundred Years’ War, 243, 244.
I
Illuminisme, heresy of, 324.
Irene, Empress, 43.
“ “ veil of, 48.
J
Jacobins, 329, 330.
Jean, carpenter of Cathedral, 108.
Jean de Frétigny, Bishop of Chartres, 256, 258.
Jean Dupré, printer, 286.
Jean-le-Bon, 244, 252.
Jehan de Beauce, architect, 110, 190, 194, 200, 203, 283, 284, 286.
Jehan Soulas, sculptor, 203.
Joan of Arc, 256;
her brother, Captain of Chartres, 256.
John of Salisbury, Bishop of Chartres, 234, 235.
John the Fearless, 253-255.
Josaphat-Lès-Chartres, abbey of, 98;
equestrian promenade to, 98, 99.
Jubé (roodloft), 106, 122, 201.
Judicial combat, disputes decided by, 86, 87.
L
La Dame des Grottes, 195.
La Hire, 257, 258.
La Huguenotte, 273.
Laurent des Moulins, poet, 289, 290.
Layé collection of arms, etc., 321.
Leonard Limousin, enamels of, 343, 344.
Lieu-Fort, Puits des Saints Forts, 19 ff.
“ chapel of, 65.
Life and property, insecurity of, in eleventh and twelfth centuries, 84.
Louis, Count of Chartres and King of Bithynia, 235, 236.
Louis-le-Jeune, 232, 233.
Louis XI., 261, 262.
Lubessac, M. de, Bishop of Chartres, refuses oath to New Constitution, 328.
Lucius Plancus, 11;
remains of camp, 12.
M
Magenard, Abbot of S. Père, 61-63.
Maison du Médecin, 289.
Maison du Saumon, 268.
Malledegonde, Sister to S. Calétric, 36.
Marceau, General, 328, 335, 336.
Marot, 269-270.
Martyrium, or Chapel of S. Lubin, 23, 27, 28.
Mary Queen of Scots, reception at Chartres, 263, 265.
Mary and Gabriel, bells known as, 193, 306.
Mathurin Régnier, 286, 292-301.
Matilda, wife of Henry I., her gifts to Cathedral, 108.
Métier de la Rivière, 167, 168.
Michel Félibien, historian, 286.
Miles d’Illiers, Bishop of Chartres, 261.
Miracles wrought by Our Lady of Chartres, 143, 144, 146, 147, 148.
Modesta, martyr, 17, 18.
Mosaic glass, colours and manufacture of, 151-155.
Municipal Museum, 317, 318.
N
Nicholas de Thou, Bishop of Chartres, 310, 311, 321;
assists at coronation of Henry IV., 313-316.
Nicolas Boisnet, appointed Bishop in place of M. de Lubessac, 328.
Notre-Dame-de-la-Brèche, 280, 306;
miraculous intervention of, 281, 282.
Notre-Dame-de-la-Brèche, chapel of, 5, 280, 282.
Notre-Dame-de-la-Victoire, 242.
Notre-Dame-de-Sous-Terre, 4, 5, 21, 28, 29, 30, 274;
burnt by Revolutionists, 335.
Notre-Dame-de-Sous-Terre, chapel of, 16, 25, 28, 65.
O
Old wooden houses in Chartres, 267, 268.
Orléans, sacked and burnt, 13;
named after Aurelian, 14;
besieged by Attila, 33.
P
Paix Fourrée, 253, 255.
Peace of Longjumeau, 279.
Peasants, amelioration of condition of, 84.
Pepin, 40.
Peter the Hermit, 96.
Philippe I., marriage of, opposed by S. Ives, 93.
Philippe Auguste, 233, 237.
Philippe-le-Bel, 238, 239, 242.
Philippe de Valois, 243.
Philip Delorme, 289.
Pierre, Abbot of Celles and S. Remy, Bishop of Chartres, 235.
Pierre Nicole, theologian, 286.
Pierre Plume, Canon of Notre-Dame, has folio missal printed, 286.
Pilgrims to Chartres and their offerings, 144, 145.
Place Billard, 54, 83.
Place de l’Étape au Vin, 83.
Porche Royal, 29, 98, 106, 126, 127 ff.
Porte Guillaume, 247.
Porte Neuve, and eight other gates, part of enclosure of cloister, 103.
Porte Royale, Porte Speciosa, Porte Triumphalis, 128.
Priscus, King of the Carnutes, 11.
Procession, annual, on anniversary of deliverance of town, 279, 280, 306.
Q
Queen Bertha, 267, 268.
Queen Bertha’s staircase, 267.
Quirinus, 17, 22;
sudden death, 18.
R
Ragenfroi, Bishop of Chartres, 58, 59.
Reformation, the, and its supporters, 269.
Regnault de Mouçon, Bishop of Chartres, 140, 235.
Renaissance, influence of, 200, 201.
Revolution, 324 ff.
Robert, King, 72, 74;
Canticles composed by, 78.
Robert of Tours, Bishop of Chartres, Cardinal and Legate, 89.
Robert-le-Breton, Bishop of Chartres, 233.
Robert Pinaigrier, window painted by, 342.
Roger, architect, 139.
Rollo, 44, 49, 51.
Rose of France, window so called, 159, 183.
Rue de la Brèche, 279.
S
S. Aignan, 33, 39.
“ church of, 33, 34, 35, 83.
S. Albin, 15, 16.
S. André, church of, 282-284.
S. Anne, chapel of, 27.
“ head of, sent from Constantinople, 27, 212.
S. Aventin, first Bishop of Chartres, 18.
S. Bernard, preaches crusade, 232.
S. Calétric, Bishop of Chartres, 36, 37.
“ sarcophagus of, 26.
S. Chéron, 31.
“ abbey of, destroyed, 42;
restored, 50.
“ church of, destroyed, 273.
S. Chéron-du-Chemin, 31.
S. Clement, chapel of, 26, 65.
S. Denis, 31.
S. Denis, battle of, 271.
S. Eustace, 163.
S. Fiacre, chapel of, 248.
S. Fulbert; see Fulbert.
S. Fulbert, chapel of, 27.
S. Foy, church of, destroyed, 274;
rebuilt, 274.
S. Jean-en-Vallée, monastery of, 75.
S. John the Baptist, chapel of, 27.
S. Joseph, chapel of, 27.
S. Ives, Bishop of Chartres, 91, ff., 283;
his attitude towards divorce, 92;
opposes marriage of Philippe I. with Bertrade de Montfort, 93, 94;
seized, and lands ravaged, 94;
takes part in Council of Clermont, 95;
preaches crusade, 99;
dispute with Adèle, widow of Count Etienne, 104, 105;
death, 106.
S. Laumer, 162.
S. Laumer, church of, restored, 50.
S. Lubin, Bishop of Chartres, 36, 37.
“ tomb of, 38.
“ church of, restored, 50.
“ chapel of, or martyrium, 23, 27, 28.
S. Martin, 31.
“ abbey of, restored, 50.
“ chapel of, 25, 26.
S. Martin-au-Val, church of, 37, 38, 39, 43, 64, 65.
“ monastery of, 31.
S. Martin-le-Viandier, church of, 26.
S. Mary Magdalene, chapel of, 27.
S. Nicholas, chapel of, 25, 26, 37.
S. Père, abbey of, 5, 36, 58, 59, 83;
destroyed, 42;
restored, 50, 58;
election of abbot, dispute concerning, 61, 62, 63;
monks of, their right of jurisdiction, 85, 86, 337;
abbey church of, 65, 336 ff.;
barracks on site of abbey, 103, 336.
S. Piat, 44.
S. Potentian, 15, 16.
S. Potentian, church consecrated by, 16;
destroyed and rebuilt, 19;
“ chapel of, 65.
S. Savinian, 16.
“ chapel of, 65.
Sancta Camisia, or Veil of the Blessed Virgin,
3, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 142, 143.
Serfage, 52.
Serfs, ecclesiastical, claimed by secular Lords, 234.
Sérotin, converted heathen, 16.
Social conditions in the days of chivalry, 88, 89.
Sœurs-cryptes, les, 194, 195.
Streets of Chartres, filthy condition of, 264, 265.
T
Talbot, 258.
Tanners and cobblers, 168, 169.
Tasgetius, nominated king by Cæsar, assassinated, 11.
Tertres, 83.
The Forest, old roof known as, 193.
Theodoric, Bishop of Chartres, 75, 79.
Thibault-le-Tricheur, first hereditary Count of Chartres, 53, 54, 59.
Thibault II., 61, 62, 63.
Thibault, successor of Eudes II., 75, 76.
Thibault the Great, 231.
Thibault-le-Bon, 232, 233.
Thomas of Canterbury, 233.
Tocsin bell, 192, 193.
Tour de Ville, la Chandelle du Tour, 279, 280.
Tour le Roi, Tour le Comte, 57.
Treaty of Brétigny, 249;
preliminaries and miraculous intervention
of Notre-Dame de Chartres, 249-252.
Treaty of Troyes, 255.
Tribunal, judicial, set up at Chartres, 266.
Tribunal of Commerce, 267.
Truce of God, the, 95.
Truie qui file, 125.
V
Vercingetorix, 13.
Vierge Noire, Notre-Dame-du-Pilier, 29, 201, 279;
offerings at shrine, 242, 243.
“ chapel of, 208.
Vintage of La Beauce, 169, 170.
Virgini Parituræ, 4, 16, 29, 30.
“ chapel dedicated to, 31.
Vulphard, Bishop of Chartres, 63.
W
William of the White Hands, Bishop of Chartres, 233.
Windows of Cathedral--apse, 158, 161;
aisles, 156, 157;
choir, 150, 161;
designers of, 164;
donors of, 164, 165, 167, 168, 170;
nave, 150, 153, 154, 157;
north transept, 155, 159, 160;
rose, 153, 158, 159, 160, 184, 185;
western, 150, 158;
south transept, 160;
subjects of, 170 ff.
Z
Zodiacal Signs, months of the year, treatment of, 130, 131.
EDINBURGH
COLSTON AND COY. LIMITED
PRINTERS
FOOTNOTES:
[1]
‘Belsia, triste Solum, cui desunt bis tria tantum:
Fontes, prata, nemus, lapides, arbusta, racemus.’
The couplet has been neatly translated:--
‘Le triste pays que la Beauce!
Car il ne baisse ni ne hausse;
Et de six choses de grand prix
Collines, fontaines, ombrages,
Vendanges, bois et pâturages
En Beauce il n’en manque ... que six!’
[2] In this connection, _see_ the window, No. 6, in the clerestory
of the nave of the Cathedral, north side, the subject of which is
‘Tilling the Ground.’
[3] Un Athée serait mal à l’aise ici.
[4] September 15 and December 8.
[5] For a theory of the relation of their ceremonial to that of other
primitive cults, _see_ Mr. J. G. Fraser’s fascinating book, _The
Golden Bough_ (2nd Edition), and Mr. Andrew Lang’s criticism of that
theory in his _Magic and Religion_ (New Edition).
[6] Such Roman remains as have been found at Chartres together with
these coins will be found in the Musée, Hôtel de Ville (Rue de la
Mairie, Place des Halles).
[7] Tibullus, i. 8.
[8] _Acta SS. MM. Saviniani et Potentiani_, manuscripts edited by
L’Abbé Hénault, Origines Chrétiennes de la Gaule Celtique.
[9] Representations of these early martyrdoms are to be found in the
beautiful statue of Modesta, with bas-relief of the well, etc., and
the statue of S. Potentian, with bas-relief of his martyrdom, on the
western supports of the north porch (looking towards the new tower),
and in the first window of the Chapel of the Sacred Heart.
[10] The monk Paul, who lived at Chartres towards the end of the
eleventh century and wrote the _Cartulaire de Saint Père_, speaks of
it as _Locus Fortis_.
[11] The crypt is open and free from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and shown
to visitors by the concierge at certain hours throughout the day
for a small fee. Apply to the lodge of the Maison des Clercs at the
south-east corner of the church.
[12] Pintard MS.
[13] _See_ pp. 23, 43, 64, 76.
[14] Notice in this connection the two beadwork belts dedicated by
the chiefs of the Hurons, 1676, and Abnaqui Indians, 1700, which are
now in the western recess, which is the Chapel of S. Savinian or the
Saints Forts.
[15] Wisdom.
[16] The Rue des Changes, starting almost opposite the south porch of
the Cathedral, leads in a direct line to the Place S. Aignan.
[17] The third window from the north-west corner is called the
Bishop’s Window, and contains figures of S. Aignan, S. Martin of
Tours, S. Denis, and S. Nicholas.
[18] See him portrayed in the beautiful brown and yellow glass of the
fifth window of the south clerestory of the Cathedral nave.
[19] Third window of the south clerestory of the nave.
[20] The episcopal palace as it now stands is a handsome
eighteenth-century red brick building, and was built by the Bishop
de Fleury in 1760. Vast and sumptuous, with its Italian portico and
flights of steps, with its gardens of which you see but a small part
through the _grille_ which opens on the cloister near the north porch
of the Cathedral, with its wing ‘de la Duchesse,’ as it was called
after the Duchesse de Fleury, mother of the bishop, and the wing
built in 1702, wherein are the immense reception-rooms, this palace,
regal almost in its size and magnificence, suggests the temporal and
spiritual power of the prelates who numbered among their vassals
the highest barons of the realm and whose diocese was known at Rome
as the Great Bishopric. But it is little in accord with the life or
the means of the twentieth-century bishops, to whom, as to their
Anglican brethren, the palaces they have to maintain are usually white
elephants.
[21] There is a punning saying that this church has ‘trois clochers et
deux cents cloches’ (deux _sans_).
[22] He figures in the Galerie des Rois, on the western façade of the
Cathedral.
[23] As early as 680 the Episcopal schools of Chartres were held in
repute.
[24] The story of this presentation is told in the glass of the
Chapel of S. John the Baptist in the Church of Aix-la-Chapelle.
Charles-le-Chauve caused it to be brought thence into France.
[25] S. Piat preached the Gospel to the Carnutes in the third century
before going to gain the crown of martyrdom at Tours. He is the saint
to be invoked by farmers for fair weather in the rainy years. See the
chapel dedicated to him, built out beyond the apse of the Cathedral.
This chapel was added in the fourteenth century, and is a good example
of that period, the doorway at the foot of the staircase which
gives access to it from the Cathedral being especially beautiful.
In the tympanum of this doorway is a statue of the Virgin and the
Christ-Child playing with a dove. The bracket of the tympanum of the
doorway at the top of the staircase once supported a statue of S.
Piat. It has been destroyed, but you may see a picture of the saint
in the grisaille above this door. The glass belongs partly to the
fourteenth and partly to the fifteenth century, and is good, though
not so good as that of the rest of the Cathedral. It has suffered
from an ignorant application of oil-colour some fifty years ago.
The polychrome bosses in the roof and the rich capitals are full of
detail, and skilfully wrought. The exterior, unlike the interior,
is unprepossessing. Before the year 1793 it could boast a spire of
lead and wood, which may have done something to relieve the present
effect of heaviness. The staircase which connects the chapel with the
Cathedral is, however, very beautiful.
[26] _Roman de Rou._
[27] _Le livre des Miracles de Chartres_ (translated into French verse
from some Latin collection in the thirteenth century).
[28] _Cartulaire de S. Père._
[29] It was outside the walls of that day. The New Gate was that which
afterwards formed the gate of the cloister, opposite the Renaissance
clock tower, north-west of the Cathedral, destroyed at the end of the
eighteenth century. Two pillars of the gate then destroyed are still
visible.
[30] Le Pré des Reculés.
[31] To visit the treasure, apply to the chaplain who guards the
Chapel of Notre-Dame du Pilier. (Fee, half a franc.)
[32] _Cf._ the phrase in the Charter of King John (1356) ‘quam-quidem
ecclesiam ipsa virgo gloriosa elegit pro sua camera speciali.’
[33] _Cf._
‘Ne leissent en Chartrain et en Duneiz bordel,
Ne mezon en estant ki seit fors du chastel;
Ne leissent boef ne vaque, genice ni torel
Coc, capon, ne geline, ne viez chien ne chael.’
_Roman de Rou._
[34] Compare the castles and cathedrals of Durham and Lincoln.
[35] This monastery, south of the town, like that of S. Martin-au-Val,
formed part of the domain of the Counts.
[36] Fulbert’s name in Chartres has been given to a street which
runs parallel with the south-west corner of the Cathedral. A statue
of the bishop, holding in his hand a scroll on which is incorrectly
displayed a plan of the _present_ Cathedral, is to be seen on the
eastern extremity of the choir screen. A fresco portrait of him was
discovered some years ago in the Church S. Hilaire at Poitiers. The
curious portrait of him speaking to his people _within his Cathedral_,
which is here reproduced, was painted on vellum by André de Mici in
1028, the year of Fulbert’s death, and illustrates a _tombeau_, or
panegyric, composed in his honour by his pupil, the musician, Sigo.
[37] _Migne’s Patrology_, Vol. 141.
[38] _Cf._ York Minster.
[39] It was situated outside the walls, on the north side. Destroyed
by the Huguenots in 1568, the site is still marked by the name of the
Clos S. Jean, which is near the railway station, and upon which you
look from the Butte des Charbonniers.
[40] Monographie de la Cathédrale de Chartres par l’Abbé Bulteau, 2nd
edition, 1887-1891. Two vols.
[41] Henricus Rex hujus ecclesiæ lacunar construxit.
[42] Those who are curious on this subject will find some examples of
his plain-song in a volume edited by M. Merlet and M. L’Abbé Clerval,
and entitled _Un Manuscript Chartrain du XI^e. Siècle_.
[43] _Œuvres de Fulbert_, p. 177, 1608 edition.
[44] S. Eman of Cappadocia founded a small hermitage beneath the
shadow of Notre-Dame, and this hermitage was afterwards turned into a
chapel, fragments of the walls of which still remain (Rue S. Eman).
The apse was formerly supported by the old town wall of the ninth
century.
[45] It is only fair to add that the _Cartulaire_ of Notre-Dame speaks
of this bishop (Abbot of Brêmes) in terms of the highest praise. Under
Arrald, among many other benefactions, _William the Conqueror_ (1070)
caused ‘a good, a precious’ campanile to be erected over the central
point of the transept of the Cathedral, ‘for the repose of the soul
of his daughter Adeliza,’ piously observing that ‘The gifts which we
offer to God, and which we dedicate to His glory, are not for us loss
or sacrifice, for thus we only preserve our riches and multiply them
with the hope of eternal life.’
[46] The Pope had condemned the royal investiture by cross and ring as
implying spiritual jurisdiction in the throne.
[47] Fresnay l’Évêque. The bishop’s house may still be traced in the
name of a farm, Château de l’Évêque.
[48] A _Bénitier_ saved from it is to be found in the Cathedral crypt.
[49] Marquis, may the monks of Cluny make you their head or may you be
Abbot of Cîteaux, since you have a heart so base as to prefer two oxen
and a plough at Montferrat to being Emperor elsewhere.
[50] Stalls first, and then shops, were set up about the western porch
as soon as it was built. Pilgrimages meant commerce. There was traffic
not only in images of the Virgin, but also in the necessaries of
life. Merchants found here a ready market, and one in which they were
protected from the rapacity and exactions of the feudal lords.
[51] Lépinois’s _Histoire de Chartres_, 2 vols., 1858.
[52] The present one is on a pivot, and serves as a weather-cock.
[53] The roodloft or gallery over the entrance into the choir is
sometimes called the Jubé, from the words ‘Jubé, Domine, benedicere,’
pronounced from it. (Parker).
[54] Page 25.
[55] The south tower of the west front.
[56]
Clocher de Chartres, nef d’Amiens,
Chœur de Beauvais, Portail de Reims.
[57] The octagonal spire is made of the light stone of Marboué.
[58] ‘The endless upward reach of the great west front, the clear
silvery tone of its surface, the way three or four magnificent
features are made to occupy its serene expanse, its simplicity,
majesty and dignity--these things crowd upon one’s sense with a force
that makes the act of vision for the moment almost all of life. There
is an inexpressible harmony in the façade of Chartres.’--HENRY
JAMES--_Portraits of Places._
[59] _Livre des Miracles._
[60]
Mens hebes ad verum per materialia surgit
Et demersa prius hac visa luce resurgit.
[61] There were formerly five statues on the front of the south-west
tower. The Ass is resting on two human heads that seem crushed by
his weight. The Sow is much mutilated. A similar piece occurs on the
façade of S. Pol-de-Léon (Finisterre). The motive of an ass playing
a lyre is found in ancient Egyptian monuments; a dog playing a lyre
occurs at Poitiers.
[62] The same legend is connected with the Imp of Lincoln and also
with one of the churches at Rome.
[63] I drink--burn wood--prune vines--give grass--flowers--field
sports--hay--harvest--vintage--sow corn--fatten swine on acorns--kill
swine.
[64] Revelation, chaps. iv., v.
[65] _La Cathédrale._
[66] ‘Cui toto par nulla hodie splendescit in orbe.’--Book IV.
[67]
‘La haute dame glorieuse
Qui voloit avoir merveilleuse
Iglise et haute et longue et lee
Si que sa per ne fu trouée
Son douz fils pria doucement
Que miracles apertement
En son iglise a Chartres feist
Que touz le peuples le veist
Si que de toutes pars venissent
Gens qui offerendes tant feissent
Que achevée fust siglise
Qui estoit a faire emprise.’
_Livre des Miracles_, p. 32.
[68]
‘Lors vindrent gens de totes pars
Qui en charrestes et en chars
Grans dons a l’iglise aportoient
Qui a l’œuvre mestier avoient . . .
Tant y venoit de pelerins
Et par voïes et par chemins
Que c’estoit une grand merveille,
Chacune nuit fesoient veille
Et en avoit tant en l’iglise . . .
Si que li clerc qui a matines
De nuit a l’iglise venolent
Entrer ou cloitre ne poaient.’
[69] The window which recorded in a series of medallions many of these
miracles has been sadly mutilated (south aisle).
[70] _Histoire de la Peinture sur verre d’après ses Monuments en
France_, 2 Vols., folio, 1841. The coloured plates of this fine work
give no idea, however, of the real richness of the colours of the
glass. _Windows_, by Lewis Day, is the best English book upon stained
glass.
[71] The strong iron bars supporting the glass are frequently bent
to follow the outline of the medallions. This is only found in early
glazing.
[72] The subject of the French apprentice is pleasantly expounded in
Mr. Tighe Hopkins’s _An Idler in Old France_. His German counterpart I
have dealt with in my _Story of Nuremberg_.
[73] Henry James, _Portraits of Places_.
[74] A similar legend is told of the consecration of Westminster
Abbey. ‘One stormy Sunday night during the reign of King Sebert,
the eve of the day fixed by Mellitus, Bishop of London, for the
consecration of Sebert’s newly-finished church at Thorney, it happened
that one Edrie, a fisherman, was casting his nets into the Thames. His
attention was arrested by a voice calling from the opposite shore at
Lambeth. He crossed, and found there a venerable stranger in foreign
garb, who desired to be ferried over to Thorney Isle. Edrie complied
with the request. The stranger landed and went at once to the church.
And while Edrie waited on the bank, suddenly the air grew bright with
celestial splendours, there was no darkness more or shadow in the
monastery, and choirs of angels he beheld ascending and descending on
a ladder which reached from heaven to earth, with song and flaming
tapers and sweet odours of incense. The fisherman remained gazing
at these wonders and caught nothing all night. At last the stranger
returned and said unto Edrie, “I am Peter, keeper of the keys of
Heaven. When Mellitus comes to-morrow, tell him all that you have
seen, and show him that I, S. Peter, have consecrated my own Church of
S. Peter, Westminster.”‘
[75] Rouillard, _Parthénie_.
[76]
‘Quer tele fu sa destinée
Que dou seint feu fut alumée
Dont li martir ardant alument
Qui a seint Leu Fort acoustument
En la crote à Chartres venir
La ou la Dame fet fenir
Dedens ix jorz la maladie
Ou soit a mort ou soit a vie.’
JEHAN LE MARCHANT.
[77] _Cf._ Walter Pater, Gaston de Latour.
[78] _Introduction to the Study of Gothic Architecture._
[79] Chartres.
[80] The choir is the largest in France, after that of Laon.
[81] Two large statues of Leah and Rachel were formerly on the piers
here, but were destroyed in 1793.
[82] Restored 1901.
[83] First used on some _jettons d’argent_ struck for distribution on
January 1, 1775. It is, perhaps, an adaptation in elegiac verse of the
‘Ob cives servatos’ found on certain coins of Augustus.
[84] Jacques Bonhomme was the nickname of the French peasantry, and
his cry had been
‘Cessez, cessez, gens d’armes et piétons
De piller et manger le Bonhomme
Qui de long temps Jacques Bonhomme
Se nomme.’
[85] It was in this very year that Louis de Bourbon, Comte de Vendôme,
in expiation of the vow which he had made when held prisoner by his
brother, the Count of Marche, having come as a pilgrim to Chartres,
began to build the Flamboyant chapel, in the south aisle of the
Cathedral, which bears his name.
[86] Of this La Hire the following anecdote is told. He was marching
to relieve Montargis, which was in dire straits after a long
resistance to the besieging English. On his way he met a priest, from
whom he demanded absolution. ‘Confess your sins, then,’ returned the
priest. ‘I have no time,’ was the reply, ‘for I am in a hurry to
engage the English; and, besides, the tale of a soldier’s sins is
not a short one.’ The priest somewhat hesitatingly pronounced the
sentence of absolution. La Hire immediately knelt down by the wayside
and prayed aloud, ‘God, I pray Thee to do this day on La Hire’s behalf
what Thou wouldst that La Hire should do for Thee, supposing he was
God and Thou wast La Hire.’ His somewhat uncanonical prayer was
granted. He attacked the English and obliged them to raise the siege
of Montargis. I note a curious parallel between this prayer of his and
the quaint old English epitaph of John Hildebrod,--
‘Here lies the body of old John Hildebrod.
Have mercy on his soul, O God!
As he would do, if he were God,
And you were old John Hildebrod.’
[87] Contemporary MS. (Bibliothèque Municipale), Duparc, 1578.
[88] _Siège de Paris_, Francisque Sarcey.
[89] This incident is represented in the engraving by Perrissim, 1570,
here reproduced. It will be noticed that the artist has ignored the
river.
[90] Edited by M. L’Abbé Métais, 1895.
[91] (_See_ p. 198).
[92] Left of the Place de la Gare.
[93] Connecting the Boulevard Chasles with the Rue des Bouchers.
[94] Thus built Claudius Huvé, physician, for the adornment of the
city and the benefit of posterity.
[95] _Journal des Choses plus Mémorables Advenues à Chartres_,
1579-1592.
[96] _Histoire de Chartres_, Souchet.
[97] Cérémonies observées au sacre et couronement du très-chrestien et
très valeureux Henry IV., etc.--Paris. Jamet Mettayer. 1594.
[98] No. 189, a picture of the Flemish school, represents Henri
Quatre surrounded by his staff and watching the effect of the
bombardment of the town. The quarter of S. Jean is in flames. His
soldiers are endeavouring to force their way through the breach at the
Porte-Drouaise. The Cathedral, it will be observed, has here its third
_flêche_. The towers in the fortifications are square.
[99] Starting from the Place des Épars, you reach the Place des Halles
by the Rue du Bois Merrain, and enter the Hôtel de Ville by the Rue de
la Mairie.
[100] On the window of the façade runs the following
inscription:--‘Atavitam Montescotiorum domum qua natus Cl. restituit
an. 1614.’ He built it, then, on the site of his old home.
[101] Leonard the Limousin, so called to distinguish him from Leonard
the Engraver, was retained by Francois I., who gave him the post of
one of his valets. He was the greatest enameller of his day, excelling
chiefly in portraiture. His other work is unequal, being often
inferior in colour and marred by the influence of the Italian school,
the defects and absurdities of which, without its merits, he, in
common with the decorators of Fontainebleau, too frequently reproduced.
[102] _Les Prussiens à Chartres._ Ernest Caillot. Petrot-Garnier, 1871.
[103] So called after M. Michel Chasles, the eminent geometrician, who
was a Chartrain.
[104] Carriages may be hired by the _Course_, 75 centimes; by the
hour, 1 franc 75 centimes. Outside the town the fare is 2 francs the
hour.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
its terrestial eyes=> its terrestrial eyes {pg 124}
in the the Church=> in the Church {pg 188}
S. Perè, abbey of, 5, 36, 58, 59, 83;=> S. Père, abbey of, 5, 36, 58,
59, 83; {pg 360}
the Toru du Roy=> the Tour du Roy {pg 268}