liturgy into Britain; he certainly established schools of learning,
colleges and monasteries, where study was the principal work
accomplished. During the Roman occupation of the country, there were no
doubt professors of Greek and Latin in all the chief cities, possibly at
London, York, and Caerleon; for it is not probable that the edict of
Gratian, which required all the chief cities of the Empire to maintain
such professorships, should not have been in force in Britain. But after
the withdrawal of the Roman legions, it became difficult to keep up
these professorships; and hence the foundation of monasteries, as
schools of learning for the training of youths for the service of the
Church, was suggested by Germanus; and to this end he consecrated
Dubricius archbishop of Llandaff, and Daniel bishop of Bangor, besides
appointing Iltutus to a place which took his name--Llan Iltut. The
former founded colleges at Hentland-on-the-Wye (where he had a thousand
pupils), and Llancarfan, or Llanfeithin, Caerworgorn, and Caerleon. The
word _bangor_ in Welsh is simply a name for any college; and towards the
end of the 5th century all Christian societies began to assume that
epithet, _ban_, high; _côr_, circle or congregation. The word is written
variously (in MSS.), "Ban Cor," "Banchor,"and "Bangor." Bangor Garmon,
or the College of Germanus, at Llanveiltrin, in Glamorgan, was founded
by him in 460. The congregation instituted by the Emperor Theodosius in
Caer Worgorn having been destroyed by the Irish in the middle of the 5th
century, was restored by Germanus, who placed Iltutus over it. This is
now called in Welsh, "Llanilltyd Vawr," in Glamorganshire. According to
the Triads, it contained no less than two thousand four hundred members,
one hundred being employed every hour in order that the praise and
service of God might be continued day and night without intermission.
Gildas, the historian, and Talhaiarn, the bard, are said to have been
educated there; and S. Cadvan and S. Padarn, the companions of S.
Germanus, were among the members of the college until their appointment
to similar work elsewhere. The College of S. Cadoc was also founded
under the direction of Germanus and Catog, who preferred a life of study
and religion to succession to his father's principality.
Little is known of the internal regulations of these colleges, but the
discipline instituted by S. Columba, about a hundred years later, was
very severe. Religious offices were held three times during the day, and
as often during the night. Each day office consisted of prayers and
three psalms, and in the night ones, from October to February, the monks
were to chant thirty-six psalms and twelve anthems at three different
times; but on Saturday and Lord's Day nights, twenty-five psalms and as
many anthems. That such training raised up a set of men who went by the
names of "_Ordo Apostolicus_," "_Ordo Divi Colombæ_," is not
astonishing, although by themselves they were called "_Famuli Dei_," the
servants of God.
That S. Germanus was a remarkable man there is no doubt, as we also owe
the discovery of S. Geneviève to his foresight; for when he saw her at
Nanterre, on his way to Britain, he was so impressed by her piety that
he consecrated her to the service of God.
The church in Paris was probably founded in commemoration of some
miracle performed by the bishop during his sojourn in that city, perhaps
by his namesake S. Germain of Paris, who held the memory of his brother
of Auxerre in great esteem and veneration. That its origin was very
ancient is shown by the record of certain gifts from King Childebert and
Queen Ultrogothe. It was probably a round church in its early days, as
in 866, when it was pillaged and destroyed by the Normans, it was called
S. Germain-le-Rond, and it must have been in that edifice that S.
Landry, bishop of Paris, was buried. Formerly a chapter composed of a
dean, a precentor, thirteen canons, and eleven chaplains, served the
church, and it ranked immediately after the cathedral; but in 1744, its
chapter was merged into that of Notre-Dame, and it became a simple
parish church.
[Illustration: SAINT-GERMAIN, FROM AN OLD ENGRAVING.]
The Quai and Place de l'École, situated near S. Germain, owed their
names, as early as the 13th century, to a public school of great
celebrity, which was established about, or soon after, the time of
Charlemagne. S. Germain was rebuilt by King Robert, and again in the
12th century, to which period the tower belongs. The principal door, the
choir, and the apse are of the 13th century; the porch, the greater part
of the _façade_, the nave and aisles, and the chapels of the _chevet_,
are of the 15th and 16th centuries. The cloister which surrounded the
church has disappeared, as also the dean's house which stood in the
space between the church and the Louvre. It was in traversing the
cloisters of S. Germain that Admiral Coligny was shot, and it was the
great bell of this church which gave the signal for the massacre of S.
Bartholomew. S. Germain was the parish church of the Louvre and the
Tuileries, and some of the royal children were baptised there; and many
a time the kings went there in great state to perform their paschal
duties.
The portico projects in front of the three principal West doors, and is
the work of Master Jean Gaussel. It was constructed in 1435, and is a
mass of very beautiful carving. Some of the corbels are examples of the
grotesque imagery of the period. The interior was decorated with
frescoes some years ago, but they are in a parlous, peeling, condition.
Two of the statues are old, S. Francis of Assisi, and S. Mary of Egypt
holding the three little loaves which nourished her in the desert. The
central doorway is of the 13th century, the two side ones are of the
15th. The whole is decorated with statues of various Saints--amongst
others S. Germain, S. Vincent, and S. Geneviève holding her candle,
which a hideous little demon is trying to extinguish. Round the
tympanum, the subject of which is the Last Judgment, are the Wise and
Foolish Virgins, the Apostles and the Martyrs. Abraham sits on one side
holding a napkin on which are three little souls; while upon the other
is a cauldron from the lower regions containing three lost souls (one
mitred), and two horrible demons--one tormenting a soul with a whip, the
other throwing a poor creature into the flames, having already torn his
flesh into shreds. The gargoyles are peculiarly grotesque: a grinning
savage is being ejected from the jaws of a hippopotamus; a man carries a
hooded ape on his shoulders; and a showman is making a monkey dance. A
corbel shows us a quantity of rats persecuted by a cat--the rats being
the wicked who encumber the earth; the cat, the demon who awaits their
souls.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SAINT-GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS.]
The plan of the church is cruciform; the entire length is 240 ft., and
the width at the transepts 120 ft. The interior is very plain, that is
to say, what remains of the old church after the embellishments of the
renovating architects of 1745. These gentlemen fluted the pillars of the
choir, and converted the mouldings of the capitals into garlands and
flowery festoons, giving the whole a grandly Classic appearance.
Happily they left the arches pointed, instead of filling them in with
round-headed ones as at S. Séverin; and, likewise, we may be thankful
that the nave was not "improved," and that the bosses and the ornament
of the Lady Chapel were allowed to remain in their primitive beauty.
Among the subjects of the bosses may be cited a S. Christopher crossing
a torrent with the infant Christ on his shoulder; and a S. Germain in
episcopal vestments, painted and gilt, may be seen upon an openwork
ground in the Lady Chapel.
In 1744 the choir was enclosed by a magnificent screen, the combined
work of Pierre Lescot and Jean Goujon;[81] but the _curé_ and
churchwardens, upon the suppression of the chapter, lost no time in
destroying this work of art, in order to open up the east end of the
church to the congregation--not the only case of its kind.
Had the modern improvers of the church only pulled this down they might
have been forgiven, but they did not rest until they had appointed an
architect named Bacarit to "purify" the church of its "_barbarie
Gothique_." Unfortunately for the reputation of the academicians of
1745, the project submitted to, and approved by them, appears to us, so
far as it was carried out, to be a decided _barbarie Classique_; and
even in the beginning of this century, when the Empire had introduced a
sort of _pseudo_-Classic style, and made it fashionable, people of taste
were no less severe upon the re-dressing of the old pillars and capitals
in Greek garments: "Nearer to my residence, and of a kindred style of
architecture, is the Church of S. Germain Auxerrois. The west front is
yet sound and good. Nothing particular strikes you on the entrance, but
there are some interesting specimens of rich old stained glass in the
windows of the transept. The choir is completely and cruelly modernised.
In the side chapels are apparently several good modern paintings; and
over an altar of twisted columns, round which ivy leaves apparently
composed of ivory are creeping, is a picture of three figures in the
flames of purgatory. This side chapel is consecrated to the offering up
of orisons 'for the souls in purgatory.' It is gloomy and repulsive.
Death's heads and thigh bones are painted in white colours upon the
stained wall; and in the midst of all these fearful devices I saw three
young ladies intensely occupied in their devotions at the railing facing
the altar."[82]
The chapels of the _chevet_ have niches in the wall surmounted by
round-headed arches, and containing statues. There are in all thirteen
chapels, but four of them have been converted into a sacristy and the
north door, the exterior of which is a good specimen of Renaissance
work.
The abbé Lebeuf attributed some of the glass of the choir to the
commencement of the 14th century, but not a vestige of this remains;
there is nothing earlier than the two following centuries. Here also the
good gentlemen of the 18th century "improved" much; the church was dark
and gloomy, and so, forsooth, the stained glass of the nave was taken
out, and the colour, and golden _fleurs-de-lys_ of the vaults and
columns, were scraped off or whitewashed over. Thus was lost the history
of S. Germain which formed the subject of the windows. But happily the
rose-windows of the two transepts, four lights in the south aisle and
two of the north aisle, still remain; but these being only of the 16th
century, are consequently not in the best taste. Some have Gothic and
some Renaissance surroundings, but the colour is, if rather bright,
clear and rich. Unfortunately, time has obliterated many of the heads
and hands; but enough remains to make out the subjects. In the north
rose, the Eternal Father, in a Papal tiara, is surrounded by Angels,
Cherubim, Martyrs, and Confessors; amongst whom may be recognised SS.
Catherine, Vincent, Margaret, Agnes, Martha, Germain, and King Louis.
Above and below are the four Fathers of the Latin Church. In the north
transept the subjects are taken from The Passion, The Acts of our Lord,
Scenes in the Life of the Patriarch Abraham, a gentleman donor
accompanied by his sons, and a lady followed by her daughters, a S.
Peter, and S. Anne instructing her daughter, and patronising another
donor. In the southern rose, the Holy Spirit descends from Heaven in the
form of a dove; The Blessed Virgin and The Apostles receiving light from
above, with enthusiastic expressions upon their visages. In the southern
transept: The Incredulity of S. Thomas; The Ascension; The Death of the
Virgin; and The Assumption. Above, the Coronation of the Virgin and a
well, recalling the attribute "Well of living water" given to her by
the Fathers. There are a great many modern windows, but except those in
imitation of the glass in the S. Chapelle, by MM. Lassus and Didron,
they are of little artistic value. M. Lassus was the architect who
superintended all the later restorations and decorations.
The chapel of the Blessed Virgin is a little church in itself, with
stalls, organ, pulpit, screen and altar, all richly decorated. The
reredos is the tree of Jesse which surrounds the Virgin with its
branches. This is in stone, of the 14th century, and comes from a church
in Champagne. Some restorations in 1838 brought to light a curious 16th
century wall painting, representing a cemetery with the graves giving up
their dead to the sound of the Angels' trumpets. Three statues were also
found of the same date as the chapel, and serve as the retable of the
altar: they represent the Blessed Virgin sitting, and S. Germain and S.
Vincent (who are united in all the decorations of this church), standing
on each side of her. The _banc-d'oeuvre_ was executed in 1648 by
Mercier, from drawings by Lebrun. It is handsome in its way, and
excellently carved, but utterly out of keeping with the rest of the
church. It is composed of Ionic columns supporting a huge baldachino;
and probably looked its best when it was filled with royal personages on
high festivals and state occasions. Another exquisite example of wood
carving may be seen in the chapel of Notre-Dame de Compassion, forming
the retable. It belongs to the latest Gothic period, and is covered with
a multitude of figures, representing the Genealogy and History of the
Virgin, and the Life and Death of Christ. This came from a Belgian
church. The organ, pulpit, and stalls are part of the old furniture, but
are not remarkable in any way.
S. Germain was formerly a museum of tombs of the 16th and 17th
centuries; but the only remaining ones are the recumbent marble figures
by Laurent Magnier, of Etienne d'Aligre, and his sons, both chancellors
of France, who died respectively in 1635 and 1677; two statues and
several marble busts which belonged to the mausoleums of the house of
Rostaing, formerly situated in S. Germain, and in a chapel of the
monastery of the Feuillants; and an epitaph of a lady of Mortemart,
Duchess of Lesdiguières, who died in 1740.[83] Under the church is a
crypt full of bones, symmetrically arranged as in the catacombs: it was
excavated in 1746-7 as a burial place for the parishioners.
Amongst the tombs of a crowd of courtiers and statesmen were those of
Malherbe, the poet; André Dacier, the _savant_; the painters Coypel,
Houasse, Stella and Santerre; the sculptors Sarazin, Desjardins, and
Coyzevox; the medallist Warin; the goldsmith Balin; the engraver Israël
Sylvestre; the architects Louis Levau and François Dorbay; the
geographer Sanson; and the Comte de Caylus, the distinguished antiquary;
but they have all disappeared. The grandest tomb was that erected by
Charles V. to his jester. Says Sauval, in his _History of Paris_ (which
was not published until after his death, in 1670): "Charles ne s'est pas
contenté d'avoir des fous et des plaisants; il leur a encore dressé des
mausolées, presque aussi superbes que celui du connétable Du Guesclin.
Car j'apprends des registres de la chambre des Comptes, qu'il en fit
enterrer un dans l'église de Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. Sur une grande
tombe de marbre noir était couchée de côté une figure peinte et grande
comme nature, dont la tête et les mains étaient d'albâtre, les cuisses,
les jambes, les pieds et le corps de marbre blanc, et qui servit de
modèle au mausolée qu'il fit faire en 1375, à Thévenin, autre fou, dans
l'église de Saint-Maurice (de Senlis), par Hennequin de la croix." But
even in the time of Sauvel this curious work of art was no more.
A few fragments of former monuments have found a quiet resting-place in
the Louvre, in the Renaissance Museum. Calvin lived near S. Germain; and
at the dean's house, between the Louvre and the church, a celebrity of
another kind died suddenly on Easter-Eve, 1599--"la belle Gabrielle
d'Estrées." The Maréchal d'Ancre (Concini) was also buried at S. Germain
after his assassination; but the body was torn from the grave the next
day by an infuriated mob, who drew it through the street on hurdles,
then hung it, and finally burnt it.
SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE.
The Château of S. Germain has existed since the time of Charles V., and
has received additions during the reigns of François I., Henri II.,
Henri IV., and Louis XIII. It was given over to James II. of England,
and in the church is his monument, gazed at, if bronze eyes can
penetrate stone walls, by M. Thiers, who sits in an arm-chair outside.
[Illustration: THE CHAPEL OF THE CHÂTEAU OF SAINT-GERMAIN.]
SAINT-GERMAIN DES PRÉS.
The Abbey of S. Germain-in-the-fields, of which nothing remains but the
church and the abbot's palace, was, after Notre-Dame, the oldest
foundation in Paris. It dates back to the earliest period of the French
monarchy, and its history is interwoven with that of some of the best
and noblest sons of France. The Saint to whom this church is dedicated
was an early bishop of Paris, and must not be confounded with S. Germain
of Auxerre, whose legend is described on page 178.
The foundation of the abbey was in this wise. Childebert I. having made
a second expedition against the Visigoths in Spain, returned in 543 with
much loot of various kinds: S. Vincent's tunic; a rich gold cross
ornamented with precious stones, from Toledo; some vases which had
belonged (so said tradition) to King Solomon; and a quantity of
chalices, patens and golden covers for the Gospels. What could be more
natural, in the 6th century, than to consult a holy man as to the future
destination of such valuables? Accordingly, Childebert communed with S.
Germain on the subject, and the bishop suggesting the foundation of a
church as a fitting home for the treasures, the king laid the first
stone amid the green fields and woods of what is now the densely
populated Faubourg S. Germain. The enclosure extended from the Rue Jacob
on the north, to the Rue Ste. Marguerite on the south, while upon the
east and west the boundaries were the present Rue Lachaudé and the Rue
Bonaparte. The buildings within the precincts were very numerous, almost
forming a city in themselves, enclosed by walls and surrounded by a moat
filled by the waters of the Seine. There were three gates: the
Petit-Bourbon, Ste. Marguerite, and St. Benoit. The church was
originally dedicated to the Holy Cross and S. Vincent, the consecration
taking place upon the very day of Childebert's death in 558.[84] It was
cruciform in plan; the roof, which was covered with plaques of gilt
copper, was supported by enormous marble columns; the walls, decorated
with paintings upon gold grounds, were pierced with numberless windows;
and the pavement was laid in mosaic. At the end of the church was the
chapel of S. Symphorien, which in 576 became the burial-place of good
Bishop Germain, and was subsequently the scene of many wondrous and
miraculous cures, so many indeed that the original patrons, S. Vincent,
S. Symphorien, and the Holy Cross, drifted into almost complete
oblivion; and S. Germain, getting the credit of the cures, became the
acknowledged and chief patron of the famous abbey. Before the foundation
of S. Denis by _le bon roy Dagobert_, S. Germain served as the
burial-place of the Mérovingian kings and their consorts. Thus, during
the 6th and 7th centuries, the following princes were interred there:
the Kings Childebert I., Chérebert,[85] Chilpéric I., Clotaire II., and
Childéric II.; the queens Ultrogothe, Frédégonde, Bertrude, and
Bilihilde; the sons of Mérovée, Clovis, and Dagobert; the princesses
Chrodesinde and Chrotberge, daughters of the first Childebert. Some of
these tombs were opened in the time of Dom Bouillart (1655), who gives
an account of the performance in his _Histoire de l'Abbaye_. The bodies
were swathed in shrouds of silk and other precious stuffs; some of them
reposed on beds of odorous herbs, others were surrounded by phials of
aromatic scents. The coffins were of stone, without any exterior
ornament, and contained, besides the bodies, fragments of drapery, of
crossbelts, and foot gear.[86] Some of these stone coffins may be seen
at the Hôtel Carnavalet, which, besides having been the dwelling-place
of Madame de Sevigné, is most interesting on account of its unique
collection of curiosities. But we have been anticipating.
When the abbey was finished, S. Germain sent to its namesake, S.
Symphorien at Autun, for some monks to serve it. At first they followed
the rules of S. Anthony and S. Basil; but shortly after the foundation,
they joined the order of the great legislator of the monks of the west,
S. Benedict. In the 17th century a second reform took place, and they
adopted the rule of S. Maur; and it was after this return to primitive
discipline that the monks of S. Germain became famous throughout Europe
by the works of Jean Mabillon, Bernard de Montfaucon, and other members
of their order. The abbots were formerly all-powerful, exercising
spiritual and temporal jurisdiction over the whole Faubourg S. Germain;
but jealousies occurring there as elsewhere, between the ecclesiastical
and the lay element, and squabbles arising between the bishops and the
mitred abbots, it came about that the kings, uniting their forces with
those of the bishops, were enabled to restrict the power of the abbots
to the immediate precincts of their abbey. Among the famous persons who
bore the dignity of abbot of S. Germain were Hugues Capet, Jean Casimir,
King of Poland, several princes of the House of Bourbon, and many
cardinals.
When the Normans swooped down upon France, Paris was their goal, and the
monasteries and churches their desire. Over and over again they came;
pillaging, burning and destroying all they could not carry off. Once in,
or near Paris, S. Germain lay at their feet; its fame, its riches, its
magnificence, made it a mark for attack; and upon one occasion, when
King Eudes had driven out the barbarians, all that was left of church
and monastery was a heap of ruins. But Morard, the twenty-ninth abbot,
who ruled the community from 990 to 1014, undertook the entire
restoration, or rather the rebuilding of the abbey; and it is to him
that we owe the oldest portions of the nave of the actual church.
Whether Morard left the work unfinished, or whether the monks resolved
to improve upon his design, we know not; but about a hundred and fifty
years later we find the choir being rebuilt upon a plan of great
magnificence.