On the first day of September, when the baths in the Pyrenees
Mountains begin to be possessed of their virtue, there were at those of
Cauterets(1) many persons as well of France as of Spain, some to drink
the water, others to bathe in it, and again others to make trial of the
mud; all these being remedies so marvellous that persons despaired of
by the doctors return thence wholly cured. My purpose is not to speak to
you of the situation or virtue of the said baths, but only to set forth
as much as relates to the matter of which I desire to write.
1 There are no fewer than twenty-six sources at Cauterets,
the waters being either of a sulphureous or a saline
character. The mud baths alluded to by Margaret were
formerly taken at the Source de César Vieux, half-way up
Mount Peyraute, and so called owing to a tradition that
Julius Cæsar bathed there. It is at least certain that these
baths were known to the Romans.--Ed.
Cauterets is frequently mentioned by the old authors, and
Rabelais refers to it in this passage: “Pantagruel’s urine
was so hot that ever since that time it has not cooled, and
you have some of it in France, at divers places, at
Coderetz, Limous, Dast, Ballerue, Bourbonne, and
elsewhere” (Book ii. chap, xxxiii.).--M.
All the sick persons continued at the baths for more than three weeks,
until by the amendment in their condition they perceived that they might
return home again. But while they were preparing to do so, there fell
such extraordinary rains that it seemed as though God had forgotten the
promise He made to Noah never to destroy the world with water again; for
every cottage and every lodging in Cauterets was so flooded with water
that it was no longer possible to continue there. Those who had come
from the side of Spain returned thither across the mountains as best
they could, and such of them as knew whither the roads led fared best in
making their escape.
The French lords and ladies thought to return to Tarbes as easily as
they had come, but they found the streamlets so deep as to be scarcely
fordable. When they came to pass over the Bearnese Gave,(1) which at the
time of their former passage had been less than two feet in depth,
they found it so broad and swift that they turned aside to seek for
the bridges. But these being only of wood, had been swept away by the
turbulence of the water.
1 The Basques give the name of Gave to those watercourses
which become torrents in certain seasons. The Bearnese Gave,
so named because it passes through the territory of the
ancient city of Bearn, takes its source in the Pyrenees, and
flows past Pau to Sorde, where it joins the Adour, which
falls into the sea at Bayonne. It is nowadays generally
known as the Gave of Pau.--L. & M.
Then certain of the company thought to stem the force of the current by
crossing in a body, but they were quickly carried away, and the others
who had been about to follow lost all inclination to do so. Accordingly
they separated, as much because they were not all of one mind as to find
some other way. Some crossed over the mountains, and passing through
Aragon came to the county of Rousillon, and thence to Narbonne; whilst
others made straight for Barcelona, going thence by sea, some to
Marseilles and others to Aigues-Mortes.
But a widow lady of long experience, named Oisille, resolved to lay
aside all fear of bad roads and to betake herself to Our Lady of
Serrance.(3)
3 The Abbey of Our Lady of Serrance, or more correctly
Sarrances, in the valley of Aspe, was occupied by monks of
the Prémontré Order, who were under the patronage of St.
Mary. An apparition of the Virgin having been reported in
the vicinity, pilgrimages were made to Sarrances on the
feasts of her nativity (Sept. 8) and her assumption (Aug.
15). In 1385 Gaston de Foix, who greatly enriched the abbey,
built a residence in the neighbourhood, his example being
followed by the Gramonts, the Miollens, and other nobles.
The pilgrimages had become very celebrated in the fifteenth
century, when Louis XI. repaired to Sarrances, accompanied
by Coictier, his physician. In 1569, however, the
Huguenots pillaged and burned down the abbey, together with
the royal and other residences. The monks who escaped the
flames were put to the sword.--M. & Ed.
She was not, indeed, so superstitious as to think that the glorious
Virgin would leave her seat at her Son’s right hand to come and dwell
in a desolate country, but she was desirous to see the hallowed spot
of which she had so often heard, and further she was sure that if there
were a means of escaping from a danger, the monks would certainly find
it out. At last she arrived, after passing through places so strange,
and so difficult in the going up and coming down, that, in spite of her
years and weight, she had perforce gone most of the way on foot But the
most piteous thing was, that the greater part of her servants and horses
were left dead on the way, and she had but one man and one woman with
her on arriving at Serrance, where she was charitably received by the
monks.
There were also among the French two gentlemen who had gone to the baths
rather that they might be in the company of the ladies whose lovers
they were, than because of any failure in their health. These gentlemen,
seeing that the company was departing and that the husbands of their
ladies were taking them away, resolved to follow them at a distance
without making their design known to any one. But one evening, while the
two married gentlemen and their wives were in the house of one who was
more of a robber than a peasant, the two lovers, who were lodged in a
farmhouse hard by, heard about midnight a great uproar. They got up,
together with their serving-men, and inquired what this tumult meant.
The poor man, in great fear, told them that it was caused by certain
evil-doers who were come to share the spoil which was in the house of
their fellow-bandit. Thereupon the gentlemen immediately took their
arms, and with their serving-men set forth to succour the ladies,
esteeming it a happier thing to die for them than to outlive them.
When they reached the house, they found the first door broken through,
and the two gentlemen with their servants defending themselves
valiantly. But inasmuch as they were outnumbered by the robbers, and
were also sorely wounded, they were beginning to fall back, having
already lost many of their servants. The two gentlemen, looking in at
the windows, perceived the ladies shrieking and sobbing so bitterly
that their hearts swelled with pity and love at the sight; and, like two
enraged bears coming down from the mountains, they fell upon the bandits
with such fury that many of them were slain, while the remainder,
unwilling to await their onset, fled to a hiding-place which was known
to them.
When the gentlemen had worsted these rogues and had slain the host
himself among the rest, they heard that the man’s wife was even
worse than her husband; and they therefore sent her after him with a
sword-thrust. Then they entered a lower room, where they found one of
the married gentlemen on the point of death. The other had received no
hurt, save that his clothes were all pierced with thrusts and that his
sword was broken in two. The poor gentleman, perceiving what help the
two had afforded him, embraced and thanked them, and besought them not
to abandon him, which was to them a very agreeable request. When they
had buried the dead gentleman, and had comforted his wife as well
as they were able, they took the road which God set before them, not
knowing whither they were going.
If it pleases you to know the names of the three gentlemen, the married
one was called Hircan, and his wife Parlamente, the name of the widow
being Longarine; of the two lovers one was called Dagoucin and the
other Saffredent. After having been the whole day on horseback, towards
evening they descried a belfry, whither with toil and trouble they made
the best of their way, and on their arrival were kindly received by the
Abbot and the monks. The abbey is called St. Savyn.(4)
4 The Abbey of St. Savin of Tarbes, situated between Argelèz
and Pierrefitte, in what was formerly called the county of
Lavedan, is stated to have been founded by Charlemagne; and
here the Paladin Roland is said to have slain the giants
Alabaster and Passamont to recompense the monks for their
hospitality. The abbey took its name from a child (the son
of a Count of Barcelona) who led a hermit’s life, and is
accredited with having performed several miracles in the
neighbourhood. About the year 1100 the Pope, siding with the
people of the valley of Aspe in a quarrel between them and
the Abbot of St. Savin, issued a bull forbidding the women
of Lavedan to conceive for a period of seven years. The
animals, moreover, were not to bring forth young, and the
trees were not to bear fruit for a like period. The edict
remained in force for six years, when the Abbot of St. Savin
compromised matters by engaging to pay an annual tribute to
Aspe. This tribute was actually paid until the Revolution of
1789. On the other hand, the abbey was entitled to the right
shoulder of every stag, boar, and izard (the Pyrenean
chamois) killed in the valley, with other tributes of trout,
cheese, and flowers, which last the Abbot acknowledged by
kissing the prettiest maiden of Argelèz. Amongst various
privileges possessed by the monks was that of having their
beds made by the girls of the neighbourhood on certain high
days and holidays.
In the tenth century Raymond of Bigorre presented the abbey
with the valley of Cauterets on condition that a church
should be built there and “sufficient houses kept in repair
to facilitate the using of the baths.” In 1290 Edward III.
of England confirmed the monks of St. Savin in possession of
Cauterets. In 1316, when the inhabitants of the latter place
wished to change the situation of their village, the Abbot
of St. Savin consented, but a woman opposed her veto (all
women had the right of vote) and this sufficed to frustrate
the scheme. The abbey derived a considerable income from
Cauterets, the baths and the houses built there for the
accommodation of visitors being let out on lease. The leases
of 1617 and 1697 are preserved in the archives of Pau. In
the time of Queen Margaret the abbey was extremely wealthy;
the Abbot to whom she refers, according to M. Le Roux de
Lincy, was probably Raymond de Fontaine, who ruled St. Savin
from 1534 to 1540, under the authority of the commendatory
abbots, Anthony de Rochefort and Nicholas Dangu, Bishop of
Séez. Some of the commentators of the _Heptameron_ believe
the latter to have been the original “Dagoucin” who is
supposed to tell several of the tales.--Ed.
The Abbot, who came of an ancient line, lodged them honourably, and
when taking them to their apartments inquired of them concerning their
adventures. When he had heard the truth, he told them that others had
fared as badly as they, for in one of his rooms he had two ladies who
had escaped a like danger, or perchance a greater, inasmuch as they had
had to do with beasts, and not with men. (5) Half a league on this side
of Peyrechitte (6) the poor ladies had met with a bear coming down
from the mountain, before whom they had fled with such speed that their
horses fell dead under them at the abbey gates. Further, two of their
women who arrived a long time afterwards had made report that the bear
had killed all the serving-men.
5 In two MS. copies of the _Heptameron_ in the Bibliothèque
Nationale, Paris, numbered respectively 1520 and 1524, after
the words “not with men” there follows “in men there is some
mercy, but in animals none.”--L.
6 Peyrechitte is evidently intended for Pierrefitte, a
village on the left bank of the Gave, between Argelèz and
Cauterets.--Ed.
Then the two ladies and the three gentlemen entered the room where these
unhappy travellers were, and found them weeping. They recognised them
to be Nomerfide and Ennasuite, whereupon they all embraced and recounted
what had befallen them. At the exhortations of the good Abbot they began
to take comfort in having found one another again, and in the morning
they heard mass with much devotion, praising God for the perils from
which they had escaped.
While they were all at mass there came into the church (7) a man clad
only in a shirt, fleeing as though he were pursued, and crying out for
aid. Forthwith Hircan and the other gentlemen went to meet him to see
what the affair might mean, and perceived two men behind him with drawn
swords.
(7) This church is still in existence. It is mainly in the
Romanesque style and almost destitute of ornamentation.
There are, however, some antique paintings of St. Savin’s
miracles; and the saint’s tomb, which is still preserved, is
considered to be some twelve hundred years old. The village
is gathered about the church, and forms a wide street lined
with houses of the fifteenth century, which Margaret and her
friends must have gazed upon during their sojourn here.--Ed.
These, on seeing so great a company, sought to fly, but they were hotly
pursued by Hircan and his companions, and so lost their lives. When
Hircan came back, he found that the man in the shirt was one of his
companions named Geburon, who related to them how while he was in bed
at a farmhouse near Peyrechitte three men came upstairs, and how he,
although he was in his shirt and had no other weapon but his sword, had
stretched one of them on the ground mortally wounded. While the other
two were occupied in raising their companion, he, perceiving himself
to be naked and the others armed, bethought him that he could not
outdo them except it were by flight, as being the least encumbered with
clothes. And so he had escaped, and for this he praised God and those
who had avenged him.
When they had heard mass and had dined they sent to see if it was
possible to cross the river Gave, and on learning that it was not, they
were in great dismay. However, the Abbot urgently entreated them to stay
with him until the water had abated, and they agreed to remain for that
day.
In the evening, as they were going to bed, there arrived an aged monk
who was wont to come in September of every year to Our Lady of Serrance.
They inquired of him concerning his journey, and he told them that on
account of the floods he had come over the mountains and by the worst
roads he had ever known. On the way he had seen a very pitiful sight. He
had met a gentleman named Simontault, who, wearied by his long waiting
for the river to subside, and trusting to the goodness of his horse, had
tried to force a passage, and had placed all his servants round about
him to break the force of the current. But when they were in the midst
of the stream, those who were the worst mounted were swept away, horses
and men, down the stream, and were never seen again. The gentleman,
finding himself alone, turned his horse to go back, but before he could
reach the bank his horse sank under him. Nevertheless, God willed that
this should happen so close to the bank that the gentleman was able, by
dragging himself on all fours and not without swallowing a great deal of
water, to scramble out on to the hard stones, though he was then so weak
and weary that he could not stand upright.
By good fortune a shepherd, bringing back his sheep at even, found him
seated among the stones, wet to the skin, and sad not only for himself
but on account of his servants whom he had seen perish before his eyes.
The shepherd, who understood his need even better from his appearance
than from his speech, took him by the hand and led him to his humble
dwelling, where he kindled some faggots, and so dried him in the best
way that he could. The same evening God led thither this good monk, who
showed him the road to Our Lady of Serrance assuring him that he would
be better lodged there than anywhere else, and would there find an aged
widow named Oisille who had been as unfortunate as himself.
When all the company heard tell of the good Lady Oisille and the gentle
knight Simontault, they were exceedingly glad, and praised the Creator,
who, content with the sacrifice of serving-folk, had preserved their
masters and mistresses. And more than all the rest did Parlamente give
hearty praise to God, for Simontault had long been her devoted lover.
Then they made diligent inquiry concerning the road to Serrance, and
although the good old man declared it to be very difficult, they were
not to be debarred from attempting to proceed thither that very day.
They set forth well furnished with all that was needful, for the Abbot
provided them with wine and abundant victuals,(8) and with willing
companions to lead them safely over the mountains.
8 According to MS. No. 1520 (Bib. Nat., Paris), the Abbot
also furnished them with the best horses of Lavedan and good
“cappes” of Bearn. The Lavedan horses were renowned for their
speed and spirit, and the Bearnese cappe was a cloak
provided with a hood.--B. J.
These they crossed more often on foot than on horseback, and after much
toil and sweat came to Our Lady of Serrance. Here the Abbot, although
somewhat evilly disposed, durst not deny them lodging for fear of the
Lord of Bearn,(9) who, as he was aware, held them in high esteem. Being
a true hypocrite, he showed them as fair a countenance as he could, and
took them to see the Lady Oisille and the gentle knight Simontault.
9 The Kings of Navarre had been Lords of Bearn for two
centuries, but Bearn still retained its old customs and had
its special government. The Lord of Bearn here referred to
was Henry d’Albret, Margaret’s second husband.--B. J.
The joyfulness of all this company who had been thus miraculously
brought together was so great that the night seemed short to them while
praising God in the Church for the goodness that He had shown to them.
When towards morning they had taken a little rest, they all went to
hear mass and receive the holy sacrament of fellowship, in which all
Christians are joined together as one, imploring Him who of His mercy
had thus united them, that He would further their journey to His glory.
After they had dined they sent to learn whether the waters were at all
abated, and found that, on the contrary, they were rather increased, and
could not be crossed with safety for a long time to come. They therefore
determined to make a bridge resting on two rocks which come very close
together, and where there are still planks for those foot-passengers
who, coming from Oleron, wish to avoid crossing at the ford. The Abbot
was well pleased that they should make this outlay, to the end that
the number of pilgrims might be increased, and he furnished them with
workmen, though he was too avaricious to give them a single farthing.
The workmen declared that they could not finish the bridge in less than
ten or twelve days, and all the company, both ladies and gentlemen,
began to grow weary. But Parlamente, who was Hircan’s wife, and who was
never idle or melancholy, asked leave of her husband to speak, and said
to the aged Lady Oisille--
“I am surprised, madam, that you who have so much experience, and now
fill the place of mother to all of us women, do not devise some pastime
to relieve the weariness we shall feel during our long stay; for if we
have not some pleasant and virtuous occupation we shall be in danger of
falling ill.”
“Nay,” added the young widow Longarine, “worse than that, we shall
become ill-tempered, which is an incurable disease; for there is not one
among us but has cause to be exceeding downcast, having regard to our
several losses.”