specimen of Norman architecture, but is remarkable in that style for one
striking peculiarity, that the eight wide circular arches on either
side, which separate it from the aisles, are alternately supported by
round pillars and square piers; the latter having semi-cylindrical
columns applied to each of their sides. The capitals are ornamented with
rude volutes. The arches in the triforium are of nearly the same width
as those below, but considerably less in height. There is no archivolt
or moulding or ornament. Above these there is only one row of windows,
which, like all the rest, are semi-circular headed; but they have
neither angular pillars, nor mouldings, nor mullions. These windows are
rather narrow externally, but within the opening enlarges considerably.
The windows in the upper and lower tiers stand singly: in the
intermediate row they are disposed by threes, the central one separated
from the other two by a single column.--The inside of the nave is
striking from its simplicity: it is wholly of the eleventh century,
except the reparations already mentioned, which were made in 1688.--The
choir and Lady-Chapel are nearly demolished; and only some fragments of
them are now standing: they were of pointed architecture, and posterior
to the nave by at least two centuries.
A smaller church, dedicated to St. Peter, stood near the principal one,
with which it was connected by means of a corridor of pointed arches.
There are other instances of two churches being erected within the
precincts of one abbey, as at Bury St. Edmund's. St. Peter's was a
building at least of equal antiquity with the great church. But it had
undergone such alterations in the year 1334, during the prelacy of the
twenty-seventh abbot, William Gemblet, that little of the original
structure remained. He demolished nearly the whole of the nave, for the
sake of adding uniformity to the cloisters of the monastery.--M. Le
Prevost, however, is of opinion, that the ruins of Jumieges contain
nothing more interesting to an antiquary than the west end of the
portion of building, which subsequently served as the nave. It is a mass
of flint-work; and he considers it as having belonged to the church that
existed before the incursion of the Normans.
The cloisters, which stood to the south-west of St. Peter's, are now
almost wholly destroyed.--To the west of them is a large hall or
gallery, known by the name of _la Salle des Chevaliers_. It is entered
by two porches, one towards the north-west, the other towards the
south-west[16], both full of architectural beauty and curiosity. I know
of no authority for their date; but, from the great variety and richness
of their ornaments, and the elegant taste displayed in the arrangement
of these, I should suppose them to have been erected during the latter
half of the twelfth century: one of the arches is unquestionably
pointed, though the cusp of the arch is very obtuse. The slight sketch
which accompanies this letter, represents a fragment of the inner
door-way of the south-west porch, and may enable you to form your own
judgment upon the subject.
[Illustration: Sketch of fragment of inner door-way]
The stones immediately over the entrance are joggled into each other,
the key-stone having a joggle on either side.--I have not observed this
peculiarity in any other specimen of Norman masonry.--Between these
porches apartments, along the interior of which runs a cornice,
supported by grotesque corbels, and under it a row of windows, now
principally blocked up, disposed in triplets, a trefoil-headed window
being placed between two that are semi-circular, as seen in the
accompanying drawing. The date of the origin of the trefoil-headed arch
has been much disputed: these perhaps are some of the earliest, and they
are unquestionably coeval with the building.
[Illustration: Ancient trefoil-headed Arches in Abbey of Jumieges]
The stupid and disgraceful barbarism, which is now employing itself in
the ruins of Jumieges, has long since annihilated the invaluable
monuments which it contained.--In the Lady-Chapel of the conventual
church was buried the heart of the celebrated Agnes Sorel, mistress of
Charles VIIth, who died at Mesnil, about a league from this abbey,
during the time when her royal lover was residing here.--Her death was
generally attributed to poison; nor did the people hesitate in
whispering that the fatal potion was administered by order of the Queen.
Her son, the profligate tyrant Louis XIth, detested his father's
concubine; and once, forgetting his dignity and his manhood, he struck
the _Dame de Beauté_.--The statue placed upon the mausoleum represented
Agnes kneeling and offering her heart to the virgin; but this effigy had
been removed before the late troubles: a heart of white marble, which
was at the foot of the tomb, had also disappeared. According to the
annals of the abbey, they were destroyed by the Huguenots. The tomb
itself, with various brasses inlaid upon it, remained undisturbed till
the period of the revolution, when the whole memorial was removed, and
even her remains were not suffered to rest in peace. The slab of black
marble which covered them, and which bore upon its edges the French
inscription to her memory, is still in existence; though it has changed
its place and destination. The barbarians who pillaged the convent sold
it with the rest of the plunder; and it now serves as a threshold to a
house near the Mont aux Malades, at Rouen[17]. The inscription, which is
cut in very elegant Gothic characters, is as follows: a part of it is,
however, at present hidden by its position:--"Cy gist Agnes Surelle,
noble damoiselle, en son vivant Dame de Roqueferriere, de Beaulté,
d'Yssouldun, et de Vernon sur Seine, piteuse entre toutes gens, qui de
ses biens donnoit largement aux gens d'église et aux pauvres; qui
trespassa le neuvieme jour de Fevrier, l'an de grace 1449.--Priez Dieu
pour elle."--It is justly to be regretted, that some pains are not taken
for the preservation of this relic, which even now would be an ornament
to the cathedral.--The manor-house at Mesnil, where the fair lady died,
still retains its chimneys of the fifteenth century; and ancient
paintings are discernible on the walls.
The monument in the church of St. Peter, generally known by the name of
_le tombeau des énervez_, was of still greater singularity. It was an
altar-tomb, raised about two feet above the pavement; and on the slabs
were carved whole-length figures, in alto-relievo, of two boys, each
about sixteen years of age, in rich attire, and ornamented with diadems,
broaches, and girdles, all copiously studded with precious stones.
Various traditions concerning this monument are recorded by authors, and
particularly at great length by Father du Plessis[18].--The nameless
princes, for such the splendor of their garb denotes them to have been,
were considered, according to a tradition which prevailed from very
early times, as the sons of Clovis and Bathilda, who, in the absence of
their father, were guilty of revolt, and were punished by being
hamstrung; for this is the meaning of the word _énervez_.--According to
this tradition, the monks, in the thirteenth century, caused the
monument to be ornamented with golden fleurs-de-lys, and added the
following epitaph:--
"Hic in honore Dei requiescit stirps Clodovei,
Patris bellica gens, bella salutis agens.
Ad votum matris Bathildis poenituere,
Scelere pro proprio, proque labore patris."--
Three other lines, preserved by Yepez, in his chronicle, refer to the
same tale, but accuse the princes of a crime of deeper die than mere
rebellion against parental authority:--
"Conjugis est ultus probrum; nam in vincula tradit
Crudeles natos, pius impietate, simulque
Et duras pater, o Clodovee, piusque maritus."
Mabillon supposed the tomb to have been erected for Tassilo and his son;
but I do not know how this conjecture is to be reconciled to the
appearance of the statues, both representing persons of equal age. An
examination of the grave at the time of the destruction of the abbey,
might have afforded some interesting results; though, had any discovery
been made, it would have been but a poor reward for the desolation which
facilitated the research.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 10: Immediately on the opposite side of the Seine, are
extensive turf-bogs, which are of rare occurrence in this part of
France; and in them grows the _Andromeda polifolia_, a plant that seems
hitherto to have been discovered no where else in the kingdom.]
[Footnote 11: The following particulars relative to the territory of
Jumieges, as well as the church, are curious: they are copied from an
extract from the Life of St. Philibert, as given in the _Neustria Pia_,
p. 262.--"Congruè sanè locus ille _Gemmeticus_ est dictus, quippe qui
instar gemmarum multivario sit decore conspicuus. Videas illic arborum
comas sylvestrium, multigenos arborum fructus, solum fertile, prata
virentia, hortorum flores suaveolentes, bortis gravidas vîtes, humum
undique cinctam aquis, pascua pecorum uberrima, loca venationi apta,
avium cantu circumsonantia. Sequana fluvius illic cernitur late ambiens:
et deindè suo pergeus cursu, uno duntaxat commeantibus aditu relicto.
Ibi mare increscens nunc eructat: nunc in sinum suum revolutum, navium
fert compendia, commercia plurimorum. Nihil illic deest; quicquid
vehiculis pedestribus, et equestribus plaustris, et ratibus
subministratur, abunde suppetit. Illic castrum condidere antiqui; ibi
stant, in acie, illustria castra Dei: ibi præ desiderio paradisi
suspirantes gemunt, quibus postea opus non erit, in flammis ultricibus,
nihil profuturos edere gemitus. Ibi denique almus sacerdos, Philibertus,
multiplici est laude et prædicatione efferendus: qui instar Patriarchæ
Jacob, in animabus septuaginta, demigravit in hanc eremum, addito grege
septemplici, propter septiformem gratiam spiritus sancti. Ibi enim eius
prudentia construxit mÅ"nia quadrata, turrita mole surgentia; claustra
excipiendis adventantibus mirè opportuna. In his domus alma fulget;
habitatoribus digna. Ab Euro surgit Ecclesia, crucis effigie, cujus
verticem obtinet Beatissima Virgo Maria; Altare est ante faciem lectuli,
cum Dente sanctiss, patris _Philiberti_, pictum gemmarum luminibus, auro
argentoque comptum: ab utroque latere, _Joannis_ et _Columbani_ Aræ dant
gloriam Deo; adherent verò a Boreâ, _Dyonisii_ Martyris, et _Germani_
Confessoris, ædiculæ; in dextrâ domus parte, sacellum nobile extat _S.
Petri_; a latere habens _S. Martini_ oratorium. Ad Austrum est S. Viri
cellula, et petris habens margines; saxis cinguntur claustra camerata:
is decor cunctorum animos oblectans, eum inundantibus aquis, geminus
vergit ad Austrum. Habet autem ipsa domus in longum pedes ducentos
nonaginta, in latum quinquaginta: singulis legere volentibus lucem
transmittunt fenestræ vitreæ: subtus habet geminas ædes, alteras
condendis vinis, alteras cibis apparandis accommodatas."]
[Footnote 12: Allusions to the cultivation of the vine at Jumieges, as
then commonly practised, may be found in many other public documents of
the fifteenth century: but we may come yet nearer our own time; for we
know that, in the year 1500, there was still a vineyard in the hamlet of
Conihoult, a dependence upon Jumieges, and that the wine called _vin de
Conihoult_, is expressly mentioned among the articles of which the
charitable donations of the monastery consisted.--We are told, too, that
at least eighteen or twenty acres, belonging to the grounds of the abbey
itself, were used as a vineyard as late as 1561.--At present, I believe,
vines are scarcely any where to be seen in Normandy, much north of
Gaillon.]
[Footnote 13: In a charter belonging to the monastery, granted by Henry
IInd, in 1159, (see _Neustria Pia_, p. 323) he gives the convent,
"integritatem aquæ ex parte terræ Monachorum, et _Graspais_, si fortè
capiatur."--The word _Graspais_ is explained by Ducange to be a
corruption of _crassus piscis_. Noel (in his _Essais sur le Département
de la Seine Inférieure_, II, p. 168) supposes that it refers
particularly to porpoises, which he says are still found in such
abundance in the Seine, nearer its mouth, that the river sometimes
appears quite black with them.]
[Footnote 14: The following account of the destruction of the monastery
is extracted from William of Jumieges. (See _Duchesne's Scriptores
Normanni_, p. 219)--"Dehinc Sequanica ora aggrediuntur, et apud
_Gemmeticum_ classica statione obsidionein componunt.... In quo
quamplurima multitudo Episcoporum, seu Clericorum, vel nobilium
laïcorum, spretis secularibus pompis, collecta, Christo Regi militatura,
propria colla saluberrimo iugo subegit. Cuius loci Monachi, sive incolæ,
Paganorum adventum comperientes, fugâ lapsi quædam suarum rerum sub
terra occulentes, quædam secum asportantes, Deo juvante evaserunt.
Pagani locum vacuum reperientes, Monasterium sanctæ Mariæ sanctíque
Petri, et cuncta ædificia igne iniecto adurunt, in solitudinem omnia
redigentes. Hac itaque patrata eversione, locus, qui tauto honoris
splendore diu viguerat, exturbatis omnibus ac subuersis domibus, cÅ"pit
esse cubile ferarum et volucrum: maceriis in sua soliditate in sublime
porrectis, arbustisque densissimis; et arborum virgultis per triginta
fermè annorum curricula ubique a terra productis."]
[Footnote 15: The following are the proportions of the building, in
French feet:--
Length of the church..................265
Ditto of the nave.....................134
Width of ditto.........................62
Length of choir........................43-1/2
Width of ditto.........................31
Length of Lady-Chapel..................63
Width of ditto.........................27
Height of central tower...............124
Ditto of western towers...............150
]
[Footnote 16: Mr. Cotman has figured this porch, (_Architectural
Antiquities of Normandy_, t. 4) but has, by mistake, called it "_An Arch
on the West Front of the Abbey Church_."]
[Footnote 17: See a paper by M. Le Prevost in the _Précis Analitique des
Travaux de l'Académie de Rouen_, 1815, p. 131.]
[Footnote 18: _Histoire de la Haute Normandie_, II, p. 260.]
LETTER XVI.
GOURNAY--CASTLE OF NEUFMARCHÉ--CASTLE AND CHURCH OF GISORS.
(_Gisors, July_, 1818)
We are now approaching the western frontiers.--Gournay, Gisors, and
Andelys, the objects of our present excursion, are disposed nearly in a
line between the capitals of France and Normandy; and whenever war broke
out between the two states, they experienced all the glory, and all the
afflictions of warfare. This district was in fact a kind of debatable
land; and hence arose the numerous strong holds, by which the country
was once defended, and whose ruins now adorn the landscape.
The tract known by modern topographers, under the names of the
_arrondissemens_ of Gournay and of Andelys, constituted one of the
general divisions of ancient Normandy, the _Pays de Bray_. It was a
tract celebrated beyond every other in France, and, from time
immemorial, for the excellence of the products of its dairies. The
butter of Bray is an indispensable requisite at every fashionable table
at Paris; and the _fromage de Neufchâtel_ is one of the only two French
cheeses which are honored with a place in the bill of fare at Véry's at
Grignon's, or at Beauvilliers'.
The females of the district frequently passed us on the road, carrying
their milk and eggs to the provincial metropolis. Accustomed as we are
to the Norman costume, we still thought that the many-colored attire
and long lappetted cap, of the good wife, of Bray, in conjunction with
her steed and its trappings, was a most picturesque addition to the
surrounding scenery. The large pannier on either side of the saddle
leaves little room for the lady, except on the hinder parts of the poor
beast; and there she sits, perfectly free and _dégagée_, without either
pillion or stirrup, showing no small portion of her leg, and
occasionally waving a little whip, ornamented in the handle with tufts
of red worsted.--We had scarcely quitted the suburbs of Rouen before we
found ourselves in Darnétal, a place that has risen considerably in
importance, since the revolution, from the activity of its numerous
manufacturers. Its population is composed entirely of individuals of
this description, to whose pursuits its situation upon the banks of the
Robec and Aubette is peculiarly favorable: the greater part of the goods
manufactured here are coarse cloths and flannels. Before the revolution,
the town belonged to the family of Montmorenci.--The rest of the ride
offered no object of interest. The road, like all the main post-roads,
is certainly wide and straight; but the French seem to think that, if
these two points are but obtained, all the rest may be regarded as
matter of supererogation. Hence, very little attention is paid to the
surface of the highways: even on those that are most frequented, it is
thought enough to keep the centre, which is paved, in decent repair: the
ruts by the side are frequently so deep as to be dangerous; and in most
cases the cross roads are absolutely impassable to carriages of every
description, except the common carts of the country.--There is nothing
in which England has a more decided superiority over France than in the
facility of communication between its different towns; and there is also
nothing which more decidedly marks a superiority of civilization.
English travellers, who usually roll on the beaten track to and from the
capital, return home full of praises of the French roads; but were they
to attempt excursions among the country-towns and villages, their
opinion would be wofully altered.--The forest of Feuillée extends about
four leagues on each side of the road, between Rouen and Gournay. It
adds little to the pleasantness of the ride: the trees are planted with
regularity, and the side-branches are trimmed away almost to the very
tops. Those therefore who expect overhanging branches, or the green-wood
shade, in a French forest, will be sadly disappointed. On the contrary,
when the wind blows across the road, and the sun shines down it, such a
forest only adds to the heat and closeness of the way.
The country around Gournay is characterized by fertility and abundance;
yet, in early times, the rich valley in which it is situated, was a
dreary morass, which separated the Caletes from the Bellovacences. A
causeway crossed the marshes, and formed the only road of communication
between these tribes; and Gournay arose as an intermediate station.
Therefore, even prior to the Norman æra, the town was, from its
situation, a strong hold of note; and under the Norman dukes, Gournay
necessarily became of still greater consequence, as the principal
fortress on the French frontier; but the annexation of the duchy to the
crown of France, destroyed this unlucky pre-eminence; and, at present,
it is only known as a great staple mart for cheese and butter. Nor is
it advantageously situated for trade; as there is no navigable river or
means of water-carriage in its vicinity. The inhabitants therefore look
forward with some anxiety to the completion of the projected canal from
Dieppe.
Gournay is a small, clean, and airy place. The last two circumstances
are no trifling recommendation to those who have just escaped from the
dirt and closeness of Rouen. Its streets are completely those of a
country town: the intermixture of wood and clay in the houses gives them
a mean aspect, and there are scarcely two to be found alike, either in
size, shape, color, or materials.--The records of Gournay begin in the
reign of Rollo. That prince gave the town, together with the Norman
portion of the Pays de Bray, to Eudes[19], a nobleman of his own nation,
to be held as a fief of the duchy, under the usual military tenure. In
one of the earliest rolls of Norman chieftains[20], the Lord of Gournay
is bound, in case of war, to supply the duke with twelve soldiers from
among his vassals, and to arm his dependants for the defence of his
portion of the marches. Hugh, the son of Eudes de Gournay, erected a
castle in the vicinity of the church of St. Hildebert, and the whole
town was surrounded with a triple wall and double fosse. The place was
inaccessible to an invading enemy, when these fosses were filled with
the waters of the Epte; but Philip Augustus caused the protecting
element to become his most powerful auxiliary. Willelmus Brito
relates his siege with minuteness in his _Philippiad_, an heroic poem,
devoted to the acts and deeds of the French monarch.--After advancing
through Lions and Mortemer, Philip encamped before Gournay, thus
described by the historical bard;--
"Non procul hinc vicum populosâ genta superbum,
Divitiis plenum variis, famâque celebrem,
Rure situm piano, munitum triplice muro,
Deliciosa nimis speciosaque vallis habebat.
Nomine GORNACUM, situ inexpugnabilis ipso,
Etsi nullus ei defensor ab intus adesset;
Cui multisque aliis præerat Gornacius HUGO.
Fossæ cujus erant amplæ nimis atque profundae
Quas sic Epta suo repleret flumine, posset
Nullus ut ad muros per eas accessus haberi.
Arte tamen sibi REX tali pessundedit ipsum.
Haud procul a muris stagnum pergrande tumebat,
Cujus aquam, pelagi stagnantis more, refusam
Urget stare lacu sinuoso terreus agger,
Quadris compactus saxis et cespite multo.
Hunc REX obrumpi medium facit, effluit inde
Diluvium immensum, subitâque voragine tota
Vallis abit maris in speciem, ruit impete vasto
Eluvies damnosa satis, damnosa colonis.
* * * * *
Municipes fugiunt ne submergantur, et omnis
Se populus villâ viduat, vacuamque relinquit.
* * * * *
Armis villa potens, muris munita virisque,
Arte capi nullâ metuens aut viribus ullis,
Diluvio capitur inopino...............
* * * * *
REX ubi GORNACUM sic in sua jura redegit,
Indigenas omnes revocans ad propria, pacem
Indicit populis libertatemque priorem;
Deinde re-ædificat muros.............
In 1350, after the death of Philip of Valois, Gournay was again
separated from France, and given as a dower to Blanche of Navarre, the
widow of that prince, who held it forty-eight years, when, after her
death, it reverted to the crown. At the commencement of the following
century, the town fell, with the rest of the kingdom, into the
possession of the English; and once more, upon the demise of our
sovereign, Henry Vth, formed part of the dower of the widowed queen. On
her decease, it devolved upon her son; but a period of eleven years had
scarcely elapsed, when the laws of conquest united it for a third time
to the crown of France, in 1449.--From that period to the revolution, it
was constantly in the possession of different noble families of the
kingdom.
The name of Hugo de Gournay is enrolled amongst those who followed the
conqueror into England, and who held lands _in capite_ from him in this
country[21]. Hugo was a man of eminent valor, and his services were
requited by the grant of many large possessions; but, after all his
military actions, he sought repose in the abbey of Bec, which had been
enriched by his piety. His son, Girald, who married the sister of
William, Earl Warren, accompanied Robert, Duke of Normandy, into the
Holy Land; and the grandson of Girald was in the number of those who
followed Richard Coeur-de-Lion in a similar expedition, and was
appointed his commissioner, to receive the English share of the spoil,
after the capture of Acre. He was also among the barons who rose against
King John. Their descendants settled in very early times in our own
county, where their possessions were extensive and valuable.