established at Evreux, as well as at Rouen. Another institution, of
equal absurdity, was peculiar, I believe, to this cathedral[41]. It bore
the name of the Feast of St. Vital, as it united with the anniversary of
that saint, which is celebrated on the first of May: the origin of the
custom may be derived from the heathen Floralia, a ceremony begun in
innocence, continued to abomination. At its first institution, the feast
of St. Vital was a simple and a natural rite: the statues of the saints
were crowned with garlands of foliage, perhaps as an offering of the
first-fruits of the opening year. In process of time, branches were
substituted for leaves, and they were cut from the growing trees, by a
lengthened train of rabble pilgrims.--The clergy themselves headed the
mob, who committed such devastation in the neighboring woods, that the
owners of them were glad to compromise for the safety of their timber,
by stationing persons to supply the physical, as well as the religious,
wants of the populace. The excesses consequent upon such a practice may
easily be imagined: the duration of the feast was gradually extended to
ten days; and, during this time, licentiousness of all kinds prevailed
under the plea of religion. To use the words of a manuscript, preserved
in the archives of the cathedral, they played at skittles on the roof of
the church, and the bells were kept continually ringing. These orgies,
at length, were quelled; but not till two prebendaries belonging to the
chapter, had nearly lost their lives in the attempt.--Hitherto, indeed,
the clergy had enjoyed the merriment full as well as the laity. One
jolly canon, appropriately named Jean Bouteille, made a will, in which
he declared himself the protector of the feast; and he directed that, on
its anniversary, a pall should be spread in the midst of the church,
with a gigantic _bottle_ in its centre, and four smaller ones at the
corners; and he took care to provide funds for the perpetuation of this
_rebus_.
The cathedral offers few subjects for the pencil.--As a species of
monument, of which we have no specimens in England, I add a sketch of a
Gothic _puteal_, which stands near the north portal. It is apparently of
the same æra as that part of the church.
[Illustration: Gothic Puteal, at Evreux]
From the cathedral we went to the church of St. Taurinus. The proud
abbey of the apostle and first bishop of the diocese retains few or no
traces of its former dignity. So long as monachism flourished, a contest
existed between the chapter of the cathedral and the brethren of this
monastery, each advocating the precedency of their respective
establishment.--The monks of St. Taurinus contended, that their abbey
was expressly mentioned by William of Jumieges[42] among the most
ancient in Neustria, as well as among those which were destroyed by the
Normans, and rebuilt by the zeal of good princes. They also alleged the
dispute that prevailed under the Norman dukes for more than two hundred
years, between this convent and that of Fécamp, respecting the right of
nominating one of their own brethren to the head of their community, a
right which was claimed by Fécamp; and they displayed the series of
their prelates, continued in an uninterrupted line from the time of
their founder. Whatever may have been the justice of these claims, the
antiquity of the monastery is admitted by all parties.--Its monks, like
those of the abbey of St. Ouen, had the privilege of receiving every new
bishop of the see, on the first day of his arrival at Evreux; and his
corpse was deposited in their church, where the funeral obsequies were
performed. This privilege, originally intended only as a mark of
distinction to the abbey, was on two occasions perverted to a purpose
that might scarcely have been expected. Upon the death of Bishop John
d'Aubergenville in 1256, the monks resented the reformation which he had
endeavoured to introduce into their order, by refusing to admit his body
within their precinct; and though fined for their obstinacy, they did
not learn wisdom by experience, but forty-three years afterwards shewed
their hostility decidedly towards the remains of Geoffrey of Bar, a
still more determined reformer of monastic abuses. Extreme was the
licentiousness which prevailed in those days among the monks of St.
Taurinus, and unceasing were the endeavors of the bishop to correct
them. The contest continued during his life, at the close of which they
not only shut their doors against his corpse, but dragged it from the
coffin and gave it a public flagellation. So gross an act of indecency
would in all probability be classed among the many scandalous tales
invented of ecclesiastics, but that the judicial proceedings which
ensued leave no doubt of its truth; and it was even recorded in the
burial register of the cathedral.
The church of St. Taurinus offers some valuable specimens of ancient
architecture.--The southern transept still preserves a row of Norman
arches, running along the lower part of its west side, as well as along
its front; but those above them are pointed. To the south are six
circular arches, divided into two compartments, in each of which the
central arch has formerly served for a window. Both the lateral ones are
filled with coeval stone-work, whose face is carved into lozenges, which
were alternately coated with blue and red mortar or stucco: distinct
traces of the coloring are still left in the cavities[43]. To the
eastern side of this transept is attached, as at St. Georges, a small
chapel, of semi-circular architecture, now greatly in ruins. The
interior of the church is all comparatively modern, with the exception
of some of the lower arches on the north side.--A strange and whimsical
vessel for holy water attracted our attention. I cannot venture to guess
at its date, but I do not think it is more recent than the fourteenth
century.
[Illustration: Vessel for holy water]
The principal curiosity of the church, and indeed of the town, is the
shrine, which contained, or perhaps, contains, a portion of the bones of
the patron saint, whose body, after having continued for more than three
hundred years a hidden treasure, was at last revealed in a miraculous
manner to the prayers of Landulphus, one of his successors in the
episcopacy.--The cathedral of Chartres, in early ages, set up a rival
claim for the possession of this precious relic; but its existence here
was formally verified at the end of the seventeenth century, by the
opening of the _châsse_, in which a small quantity of bones was found
tied up in a leather bag, with a certificate of their authenticity,
signed by an early bishop.--The shrine is of silver-gilt, about one and
a half foot in height and two feet in length: it is a fine specimen of
ancient art. In shape it resembles the nave of a church, with the sides
richly enchased with figures of saints and bishops. Our curious eyes
would fain have pried within; but it was closed with the impression of
the archbishop's signet.--A crypt, the original burial place of St.
Taurinus, is still shewn in the church, and it continues to be the
object of great veneration. It is immediately in front of the high
altar, and is entered by two staircases, one at the head, the other at
the foot of the coffin. The vault is very small, only admitting of the
coffin and of a narrow passage by its side. The sarcophagus, which is
extremely shallow, and neither wide nor long, is partly imbedded in the
wall, so that the head and foot and one side alone are visible.--A
portion of the monastic buildings of St. Taurinus now serves as a
seminary for the catholic priesthood.
The west front of the church of St. Giles is not devoid of interest.
Many other churches here have been desecrated; and this ancient building
has been converted into a stable. The door-way is formed by a fine
semi-circular arch, ornamented with the chevron-moulding, disposed in a
triple row, and with a line of quatrefoils along the archivolt. Both
these decorations are singular: I recollect no other instance of the
quatrefoil being employed in an early Norman building, though
immediately upon the adoption of the pointed style it became exceedingly
common; nor can I point out another example of the chevron-moulding thus
disposed. It produces a better effect than when arranged in detached
bands. The capitals to the pillars of the arch are sculptured with
winged dragons and other animals, in bold relief.
These are the only worthy objects of architectural inquiry now existing
in the city. Many must have been destroyed by the ravages of war, and by
the excesses of the revolution.--Evreux therefore does not abound with
memorials of its antiquity. But its existence as a town, during the
period of the domination of the Romans, rests upon authority that is
scarcely questionable. It has been doubted whether the present city, or
a village about three miles distant, known by the name of _Old Evreux_,
is the _Mediolanum Aulercorum_ of Ptolemy. His description is given with
sufficient accuracy to exclude the pretensions of any other town, though
not with such a degree of precision as will enable us, after a lapse of
sixteen centuries, to decide between the claims of the two sites. Cæsar,
in his _Commentaries_, speaks in general terms of the _Aulerci
Eburovices_, who are admitted to have been the ancient inhabitants of
this district, and whose name, especially as modified to _Ebroici_ and
_Ebroi_, is clearly to be recognized in that of the county. The
foundations of ancient buildings are still to be seen at Old Evreux; and
various coins and medals of the upper empire, have at different times
been dug up within its precincts. Hence it has been concluded, that the
_Mediolanum Aulercorum_ was situated there. The supporters of the
contrary opinion admit that Old Evreux was a Roman station; but they say
that, considering its size, it can have been no more than an encampment:
they also maintain, that a castle was subsequently built upon the site
of this encampment, by Richard, Count of Evreux, and that the
destruction of this castle, during the Norman wars, gave rise to the
ruins now visible, which in their turn were the cause of the name of the
village[44].
It is certain that, in the reign of William the Conqueror, the town
stood in its present situation: Ordericus Vitalis speaks in terms that
admit of no hesitation, when he states that, in the year 1080, "fides
Christi Evanticorum, id est Evroas, urbem, _super Ittonum fluvium sitam_
possidebat et salubritèr illuminabat[45]."
In the times of Norman sovereignty, Evreux attained an unfortunate
independence: Duke Richard Ist severed it from the duchy, and erected it
into a distinct earldom in favor of Robert, his second son. From him the
inheritance descended to Richard and William, his son and grandson;
after whose death, it fell into the female line, and passed into the
house of Montfort d'Amaury, by the marriage of Agnes, sister of Richard
of Evreux.--Nominally independent, but really held only at the pleasure
of the Dukes of Normandy, the rank of the earldom occasioned the misery
of the inhabitants, who were continually involved in warfare, and
plundered by conflicting parties. The annals of Evreux contain
the relation of a series of events, full of interest and amusement to us
who peruse them; but those, who lived at the time when these events were
really acted, might exclaim, like the frogs in the fable, "that what is
entertainment to us, was death to them."--At length, the treaty of
Louviers, in 1195, altered the aspect of affairs. The King of France
gained the right of placing a garrison in Evreux; and, five years
afterwards, he obtained a formal cession of the earldom. Philip Augustus
took possession of the city, to the great joy of the inhabitants, who,
six years before, had seen their town pillaged, and their houses
destroyed, by the orders of this monarch. The severity exercised upon
that occasion had been excessive; but Philip's indignation had been
roused by one of the basest acts of treachery recorded in
history.--John, faithless at every period of his life, had entered into
a treaty with the French monarch, during the captivity of his brother,
Coeur-de-Lion, to deliver up Normandy; and Philip, conformably with this
plan, was engaged in reducing the strong holds upon the frontiers,
whilst his colleague resided at Evreux. The unexpected release of the
English king disconcerted these intrigues; and John, alarmed at the
course which he had been pursuing, thought only how to avert the anger
of his offended sovereign. Under pretence, therefore, of shewing
hospitality to the French, he invited the principal officers to a feast,
where he caused them all to be murdered; and he afterwards put the rest
of the garrison to the sword.--Brito records the transaction in the
following lines, which I quote, not only as an historical document,
illustrative of the moral character of one of the worst sovereigns that
ever swayed the British sceptre, but as an honorable testimony to the
memory of his unfortunate brother:--
"Attamen Ebroïcam studio majore reformans
Armis et rebus et bellatoribus urbem,
Pluribus instructam donavit amore Johanni,
Ut sibi servet eam: tamen arcem non dedit illi.
Ille dolo plenus, qui patrem, qui modo fratrem
Prodiderat, ne non et Regis proditor esset,
Excedens siculos animi impietate Tyrannos,
Francigenas omnes vocat ad convivia quotquot
Ebroïcis reperit, equites simul atque clientes,
Paucis exceptis quos sors servavit in arce.
Quos cum dispositis armis fecisset ut una
Discubuisse domo, tanquam prandere putantes,
Evocat e latebris armatos protinus Anglos,
Interimitque viros sub eadem clade trecentos,
Et palis capita ambustis affixit, et urbem
Circuit affixis, visu mirabile, tali
Regem portento quærens magis angere luctu:
Talibus obsequiis, tali mercede rependens
Millia marcharum, quas Rex donaverat illi.
Tam detestanda pollutus cæde Johannes
Ad fratrem properat; sed Rex tam flagitiosus
Non placuit fratri: quis enim, nisi dæmone plenus,
Omninoque Deo vacuus, virtute redemptus
A vitiis nulla, tam dira fraude placere
Appetat, aut tanto venetur crimine pacem?
Sed quia frater erat, licet illius oderit actus
Omnibus odibiles, fraternæ foedera pacis
Non negat indigno, nec eum privavit amore,
Ipsum qui nuper Regno privare volebat."
The vicissitudes to which the county of Evreux was doomed to be subject,
did not wholly cease upon its annexation to the crown of France. It
passed, in the fourteenth century, into the hands of the Kings of
Navarre, so as to form a portion of their foreign territory; and early
in the fifteenth, it fell by right of conquest under English
sovereignty.--Philip the Bold conferred it, in 1276, upon Louis, his
youngest son; and from him descended the line of Counts of Evreux, who,
originating in the royal family of France, became Kings of Navarre. The
kingdom was brought into the family by the marriage of Philip Count of
Evreux with Jane daughter of Louis Hutin, King of France and Navarre, to
whom she succeeded as heir general. Charles IIIrd, of Navarre, ceded
Evreux by treaty to his namesake, Charles VIth of France, in 1404; and
he shortly after bestowed it upon John Stuart, Lord of Aubigni, and
Constable of Scotland.--Under Henry Vth, our countrymen took the city in
1417, but we were not long allowed to hold undisturbed possession of it;
for, in 1424, it was recaptured by the French. Their success, however,
was only ephemeral: the battle of Verneuil replaced Evreux in the power
of the English before the expiration of the same year; and we kept it
till 1441, when the garrison was surprised, and the town lost, though
not without a vigorous resistance.--Towards the close of the following
century, the earldom was raised into a _Duché pairie_, by Charles IXth,
who, having taken the lordship of Gisors from his brother, the Duc
d'Alençon, better known by his subsequent title of Duc d'Anjou,
recompenced him by a grant of Evreux. Upon the death of this prince
without issue, in 1584, Evreux reverted to the crown, and the title lay
dormant till 1652, when Louis XIVth exchanged the earldom with the Duc
de Bouillon, in return for the principality of Sedan. In his family it
remained till the revolution, which, amalgamating the whole of France
into one common mass of equal rights and laws, put an end to all local
privileges and other feudal tenures.
Evreux, at present, is a town containing about eight thousand
inhabitants, a great proportion of whom are persons of independent
property, or _rentiers_, as the French call them. Hence it has an air of
elegance, seldom to be found in a commercial, and never in a
manufacturing town; and to us this appearance was the more striking, as
being the first instance of the kind we had seen in Normandy. The
streets are broad and beautifully neat. The city stands in the midst of
gardens and orchards, in a fertile valley, watered by the Iton, and
inclosed towards the north and south by ranges of hills. The river
divides into two branches before it reaches the town, both which flow on
the outside of the walls. But, besides these, a portion of its waters
has been conducted through the centre of the city, by means of a canal
dug by the order of Jane of Navarre. This Iton, like the Mole, in Kent,
suddenly loses itself in the ground, near the little town of Damville,
about twenty miles south of Evreux, and holds its subterranean course
for nearly two miles. A similar phenomenon is observable with a
neighboring stream, the Risle, between Ferrière and Grammont[46]: in
both cases it is attributed, I know not with what justice, to an abrupt
change in the stratification of the soil.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 36: This curious transaction, which took place in the year
1119, is related with considerable _näiveté_ by Ordericus Vitalis, p.
852, as follows:--"Henricus Rex rebellibus ultrà parcere nolens, pagum
Ebroicensem adiit, et Ebroas cum valida manu impugnare coepit. Sed
oppidanis, qui intrinsecus erant, cum civibus viriliter repugnantibus,
introire nequivit. Erant cum illo Ricardus filius ejus, et Stephanus
Comes nepos ejus, Radulfus de Guader, et maxima vis Normannorum. Quibus
ante Regem convocatis in unnm, Rex dixit ad Audinum Episcopum. "Videsne,
domine Præsul, quòd repellimur ab hostibus, nec eos nisi per ignem
subjugare poterimus? Verùm, si ignis immittitur, Ecclesiæ comburentur,
et insontibus ingens damnum inferetur. Nunc ergo, Pastor Ecclesiæ,
diligentèr considera, et quod utilius prospexeris providè nobis insinua.
Si victoria nobis per incendium divinitùs conceditur, opitulante Deo,
Ecclesiæ detrimenta restaurabuntur: quia de thesauris nostris commodos
sumptus gratantèr largiemur. Unde domus Dei, ut reor, in melius
reædificabuntur." Hæsitat in tanto discrimine Præsul auxius, ignorat
quid jubeat divinæ dispositioni competentius: nescit quid debeat magis
velle vel eligere salubrius. Tandem prudentum consultu præcepit ignem
immitti, et civitatem concremari, ut ab anathematizatis proditoribus
liberaretur, et legitimis habitatoribus restitueretur. Radulfus igitur
de Guader a parte Aquilonali primus ignem injecit, et effrenis flamma
per urbem statim volavit, et omnia (tempos enim autumni siccum erat)
corripuit. Tunc combusta est basilica sancti Salvatoris, quam
Sanctimoniales incolebant, et celebris aula gloriosæ virginis et matris
Mariæ, cui Præsul et Clerus serviebant, ubi Pontificalem Curiam
parochiani frequentabant. Rex, et cuncti Optimales sui Episcopo pro
Ecclesiarum combustione vadimonium supplicitèr dederunt, et uberes
impensas de opibus suis ad restaurationem earum palam spoponderunt."]
[Footnote 37: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 309.]
[Footnote 38: _Gallia Christiana_, XI. p. 606.]
[Footnote 39: From the manner in, which Ducarel speaks of these statues,
(_Anglo-Norman Antiquities_, p. 85.) he leaves it to be understood, that
they were in existence in his time; but it is far from certain that this
was the case; for the whole of his account of them is no more than a
translation from the following passage in Le Brasseur's _Histoire du
Comté d'Evreux_, p. 11.--"Le Diocèse d'Evreux a été si favorisé des
grâces de Dieu, qu'on ne voit presqu'aucun temps où l'Hérésie y ait
pénétré, même lorsque les Protestans inondoient et corrompoient toute la
France, et particulierement la Normandie. On ne peut pas cependant
desavoüer qu'il y a eu de temps en temps, quelques personnes qui se sont
livrées à l'erreur; et l'on peut remarquer quatre Statuës attachées à
deux piliers au dehors du chancel de l'Eglise Cathédrale du côté du
Cimetiere, dont trois représentent trois Chanoines, la tête couverte de
leurs Aumuces selon la coûtume de ce temps-là, et une quatrième qui
représente un Chanoine à un pilier plus éloigné, la tête nuë, tenant sa
main sur le coeur comme un signe de son repentir; parce que la tradition
dit, qu'aïant été atteint et convaincu du crime d'hérésie, le Chapitre
l'avoit interdit des fonctions de son Bénéfice; mais qu'aïant ensuite
abjuré son erreur, le même Chapitre le rétablit dans tous ses droits,
honneurs, et privileges: cependant il fut ordonné qu'en mémoire de
l'égarement et de la pénitence de ce Chanoine, ces Statuës demeureroient
attachées aux piliers de leur Eglise, lorsqu'elle fût rébâtie des
deniers de Henry I. Roy d'Angleterre, par les soins d'Audoenus Evêque
d'Evreux."]
[Footnote 40: This was not the first, nor the only, contest, which was
fought by Taurinus with Satan. Their struggles began at the moment of
the saint's coming to Evreux, and did not even terminate when his life
was ended. But the devil was, by the power of his adversary, brought to
such a helpless state, that, though he continued to haunt the city,
where the people knew him by the name of _Gobelinus_, he was unable to
injure any one.--All this is seriously related by Ordericus Vitalis, (p.
555.) from whom I extract the following passage, in illustration of what
Evreux was supposed to owe to its first bishop.--"Grassante secundâ
persecutione, quæ sub Domitiano in Christianos furuit, Dionysius
Parisiensis Episcopus Taurinum filiolum suum jam quadragenarium,
Præsulem ordinavit; et (vaticinatis pluribus quæ passurus erat)
Ebroicensibus in nomine Domini direxit. Viro Dei ad portas civitatis
appropinquanti, dæmon in tribus figmentis se opposuit: scilicet in
specie ursi, et leonis, et bubali terrere athletam Christi voluit. Sed
ille fortiter, ut inexpugnabilis murus, in fide perstitit, et coeptum
iter peregit, hospitiumque in domo Lucii suscepit. Tertia die, dum
Taurinus ibidem populo prædicaret, et dulcedo fidei novis auditoribus
multùm placeret, dolens diabolus Eufrasiam Lucii filiam vexare coepit,
et in ignem jecit. Quæ statim mortua est; sed paulò pòst, orante Taurino
ac jubente ut resurgeret, in nomine Domini resuscitata est. Nullum in ea
adustionis signum apparuit. Omnes igitur hoc miraculum videntes subitò
territi sunt, et obstupescentes in Dominum Jesum Christum crediderunt.
In illa die cxx. homines baptizati sunt. Octo cæci illuminati, et
quatuor multi sanati, aliique plures ex diversis infirmitatibus in
nomine Domini sunt curati."]
[Footnote 41: _Masson de St. Amand, Essais Historiques sur Evreux_, I.
p. 77.]
[Footnote 42: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 279.]
[Footnote 43: For this observation, as well as for several others
touching Evreux and Pont-Audemer, I have to express my acknowledgments
to Mr. Cotman's memoranda.]
[Footnote 44: _Le Brasseur, Histoire du Comté d'Evreux_, p. 4.]
[Footnote 45: _Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 555.]
[Footnote 46: _Goube, Histoire du Duché de Normandie_, III. p. 223.]
LETTER XIX.
VICINITY OF EVREUX--CHÂTEAU DE NAVARRE--COCHEREL--PONT-AUDEMER
--MONTFORT-SUR-RISLE--HARFLEUR--BOURG-ACHARD--FRENCH WEDDING.
(_Bourg-Achard, July_, 1818.)
Evreux is seldom visited by the English; and none of our numerous
absentees have thought fit to settle here, though the other parts of
Normandy are filled with families who are suffering under the sentence
of self-banishment. It is rather surprising, that this town has not
obtained its share of English settlers: the air is good, provisions are
cheap, and society is agreeable. Those, too, if such there be, who are
attracted by historical reminiscences, will find themselves on
historical ground.
The premier viscount of the British parliament derives his name from
Evreux; though, owing to a slight alteration in spelling and to our
peculiar pronunciation, it has now become so completely anglicised, that
few persons, without reflection, would recognize a descendant of the
Comtes d'Evreux, in Henry Devereux, Viscount of Hereford. The Norman
origin of this family is admitted by the genealogists and heralds, both
of France and of England; and the fate of the Earl of Essex is
invariably introduced in the works of those authors, who have written
upon Evreux or its honors.