Caesar, in his Commentaries does not speak of Rouen; Pomponius Mela, does
not mention it in his Geography; Ptolemy is the first author who has
noticed it. This observation alone will shew the absurdity of the
numerous etymologies assigned to its name of Rothomagus, of which we
have made Rouen. The least unlikely are those which have been taken from
the primitive language of the country; but, even then we can only form
conjectures more or less vague, as, in deriving Rothomagus from two
celtic words, some have considered that this name signifies a great
town; others, a town on the bank of a river; while others again a town
where duties were paid.
Ptolemy then gives us a commencement to the history of Rouen. In his
lifetime, that is to say, during the first part of the second-century,
Rouen bore the name of Rothomagus; it was the capital of the country of
the Velocasses.
If Rouen, as a town of Gaul, is little known to us, Rouen as a Roman
town is more so. Its existence is no longer doubtful; its importance
even is proved. All suppositions join to make one think that the Romans
were the first who erected external fortifications round the town.
Remains of walls evidently built by that people, were discovered in 1789
in the cellars of a house which had been built on the edge of the first
ditch[1]. These buildings extended westward even under the church of
Saint-Lo, and it is very probable that they joined towards the east with
other remains of roman architecture, found in digging the foundations of
another house, no 2, rue de la Chaine.
Here then, is the first boundary of Rouen under the Romans, and
drawn-out by them: _on the south_ the Seine, the waters of which at this
time, came as high as the line occupied at present by the rue des
Bonnetiers, the place de la Calende, that of Notre-Dame on its southern
portion, and thus along to the extremity of the rue aux Ours. _On the
north_, the ditch which existed the whole length of the streets de
l'Aumone, and Fosses-Louis-VIII, that is to say, from the river Robec at
the east, to the rue de la Poterne at the west. From the latter point
draw a line in a southern direction passing across the Mew-Market, the
rue Massacre and the rue des Vergetiers, to the rue aux Ours and you
will have the _western limit_. The _eastern limit_ is naturally marked
out by the course of the Robec. The town maintained this boundary till
the Xth century, the period of the establishment of Rollon, in this
portion of Neustria to which the Normans gave their name.
I have already said, that Rouen, was an important town under the Romans,
and this truth is proved, by the fact. It does not figures, it is true,
in the notice of the dignities of the Empire, as the seat of a superior
magistrate, but, nevertheless it is spoken of, as a town having a
garrison; and, it was there that the _praefectus militum Ursariensium_
or, as we should say in English, the colonel of the regiment of the
Ursarians, resided.
The ecclesiastical annals also, prove the importance of Rouen at this
period. We find, in fact, during the first ages of christianity, the
apostles coming into Gaul, going to Rouen, and fixing their abode in a
principal town that the sacred word might be more easily spread thro'
the surrounding country.
As Saint-Nicaise did not come to Rouen, we must consider Saint-Mellon,
as its most ancient bishop. The erection, or the consecration of a first
chapel in Rouen, under the patronage of the virgin, is the only
important event which the life of this prelate contains. As to the
destruction of a temple dedicated to the pretended idol Roth, I think I
have proved in an other work[2], first, that there never existed an idol
of that name, neither was the temple situated on the ground occupied by
the church of Saint-Lo; secondly, that this temple was demolished by
Saint-Romain, nearly four hundred years later.
Nothing very remarkable happened at Rouen, under the successors of
Saint-Mellon, until Saint-Victrice. But, here commences a new era for
the town. Its population increases, its reputation extends, the temples
of the true god are multiplied; even Saint-Victrice himself works in
their erection: "He rolls the stones with his own hands, he carries them
on his shoulders."
This town continued its career peaceably during nearly a century, until
Saint-Godard succeeded to the episcopate. Then we come to a great
historical transition.
Roman power had been long struggling against the encroachments of the
Francs in Gaul. Clovis, conquers the provinces situated between the
Somme, the Seine and the Aisne; the monarchy commences, and Rouen
becomes a French town.
To Saint-Godard who died in 529, Flavius succeeded the same year. The
first foundation by Clotaire I, of the abbey of Saint-Peter, now
Saint-Ouen, about the year 540, is attributed to him.
After Flavius, came Pretextat, whose name alone reminds us of those of
two women, unfortunately too celebrated, Fredegonde and Brunehaut. The
latter had been exiled to Rouen, by Chilperic, king of Soissons.
Merovee, son of Chilperic, loved Brunehaut and was loved by her. He came
to Rouen, and married his mistress; Pretextat blessed their union.
Chilperic arrives and the two lovers take refuge in the church of
Saint-Martin-sur-Renelle, a wooden building, on the wall of the town. It
is to Gregory of Tours that we owe this information which is valuable,
in as much, as it makes us acquainted with the limits of Rouen on the
north-west side at this period.
Fredegonde did not pardon Pretextat; she caused him to be murdered,
during mass, in the Cathedral.
The episcopate of Melance and of Hidulfe, the successors to Pretextat,
offers no very particular circumstances. That of Saint-Romain, is much
more remarkable, for the destruction of heathen temples, and the famous
miracle of the _Gargouille_, which, gave birth to the privilege not less
famous, which the chapter possessed of setting at liberty a prisoner
every year. It is thought generally, however, that Saint-Romain,
constructed one of the churches, which succeeded each other on the site
of the Cathedral, but, they were deceived who have said that this bishop
extirpated paganism from Rouen, and from the province. Saint-Ouen, who
came after Saint-Romain, found the people clownish, superstitious, and
idolatrous, in consequence of the negligence of some bishops, his
predecessors. The inhabitants of the neighbouring country, were coarse,
cruel and dishonest; morals and the sciences were cultivated only among
the higher classes of society. We find in the preface to the life of
Saint-Eloi by Saint-Ouen, that, even in the VIIth century, they read
authors of whose works nothing now remains.
Saint-Ouen, founded or enriched a great many religious establishments in
Rouen and its environs. It was under his episcopate, that a monument was
first raised to Saint-Nicaise within the walls of Rouen. He also caused
to be built the celebrated abbeys of Fontenelle (since Saint-Wandrille),
Jumieges, and Saint-Austreberthe.
In the time of this archbishop, there was a state prison near the end of
the rue de la Poterne. It was in this prison that Saint-Ouen, having
been deceived by the mayor of the palace Ebroin, caused Philibert the
first Abbot of Jumieges to be confined on a false accusation of the
crime of high-treason.
To Saint-Ouen, Ansbert succeeded in 683; at this time doubtless the
mechanical arts were not very far advanced in Rouen, since the new
bishop, wishing to erect a rich mausoleum to his predecessor, sent for
workmen from different provinces.
According to the monk Aigrad, a great famine took place in Rouen and its
neighbourhood, during the episcopate of Ansbert, who caused the
treasures of the church to be given, for the relief of the poor.
Here, the history of Rouen is lost in obscurity; our materials are
reduced, we may almost say, to the mere list of bishops, until the time
when the north-men shewed themselves in this country. From the year 841,
when they appeared for the first time at the mouth of the Seine, until
the year 912, the period of the treaty of Saint-Claire-sur-Epte, Rouen,
and its environs presented nothing but a scene of carnage, fire, and,
slaughter. Strangers devouring the country; the villages deserted; the
population massacred; the towns half destroyed, every where discord,
hatred, avarice, and rapacity; all excesses united: such is the picture
of the country at that period. At last Rollo, is created duke of
Normandy; the proud Norwegian, becomes the benefactor of the country, to
which he had so long proved a scourge. The population reappears; an
active police is established, robberies are put a stop to; no more
plunderers exist on the highways, or thieves in the towns. Rouen, rises
from amidst its ruins, its monuments are repaired, its size increases,
its political influence is becoming immense.
The second boundary is due to Rollo, the first duke, and to his son
Guillaume Longue-Epee. They confined the waters of the Seine in a
narrower bed. Several churches, such as Saint-Martin-de-la-Roquette,
Saint-Clement, Saint-Stephen and Saint-Eloi, which had till then been
situated on small islands, were united to the main land, the portion
which had been gained from the river, received the name of
_Terres-Neuves_. The limits of the town remained the same on the north,
east and west.
Under the first succeeding dukes, the town extended westward, as far as
the Old-Market place. The _porte Cauchoise_ was erected about the
beginning of the XIth century, that is to say, under Richard II.
The fourth boundary was effected under the last dukes. The town extended
on the north to the height of the rue Pincedos: on the east, to the rue
de la Chevre. These two streets occupy the ground on which the ditches
were situated at that time.
A very short time after, Philip-Augustus, who had just taken Rouen, and
all Normandy from Jean-Sans-Terre, caused the old castle to be built,
which was included within the interior of the town, in the middle of the
XIIIth century; the fifth boundary was made in the reign of
Saint-Louis. Rouen was then enlarged by the greater portion of the
ground which forms the parishes of Saint-Patrice, Saint-Nicaise,
Saint-Vivien, and Saint-Maclou. The gates of Martainville, Saint-Hilaire
and Bouvreuil were then built.
A sixth enlargement took place about the middle of the XIVth century.
The monastery of the Jacobins, which now forms a portion of the
prefecture, was enclosed within the walls of the town, as also the
Church of Saint-Peter-le-Portier, so that it obliged them to put the
porte Cauchoise farther out. On the east, the town was enlarged by the
quarter of the Marequerie.
It is not probably to Rollo, the first duke that we owe the institution
of the exchequer. The first trace of it, is only found under
William-the-Conqueror. Perhaps even, it was only known under his son
Henry Ist "the King Duke." Ancient writers have thought that an
exchequer existed in England before the conquest. The learned Madox, on
the contrary, (vol. 1st page 177 and following) declares, that he has
not found in any document prior to William's expedition, the word
scaccarium (or exchequer). But he finds it shortly after that time, from
which it would appear natural to conclude that, that institution had
been carried over by that prince. The exchequer was removed sometimes to
Rouen, at other times to Caen, and sometimes to Falaise. Louis XIIth
fixed this sovereign court at Rouen, in 1449, and opened it on the 1st
october of the same year. Francis Ist raised the exchequer into a
parliament in the year 1515. It was interdicted in the month of August
1540, but the 7th January 1541, was reinstated.
Thick walls, deep ditches, and formidable towers, a great many turrets,
bastions, casemates, and fortified gates, made Rouen an important place,
before the revolution: omitting the different sieges, which it had to
sustain from the Normans, we must notice in 949 those by Otho, emperor
of Germany, Louis IVth, king of France, and Arnould count of Flanders;
that in 1204 by Philip-Augustus, 1418, by Henry Vth king of England;
that in 1449, after which, Charles VIIth retook the town from the
English; lastly, that of 1591, by Henry IVth. In all these sieges, and
many more which I have not mentioned, the inhabitants of Rouen always
gave proofs of great valour and sometimes of a resignation without
example.
All the fortifications of the town have disappeared since the
revolution; its ancient appearance, is now only found in the interior,
in its religious monuments and a few houses, which time or the hand of
man appears to have forgotten.
Before 1790, Rouen contained thirty seven parochial churches and about
as many religious communities of both sexes. It now only contains six
parochial churches, and eight chapels of ease, with a church for the use
of protestants.
Rouen is situated on a gentle slope, on the right bank of the Seine,
which forms the southern boundary; the suburb of Saint-Sever, is
situated on the left bank. The geographical position of the town is the
49 deg. 26' 27'' of north latitude and 1 deg. 14' 16'' longitude, from the
meridian of Paris. The sun rises and sets about five minutes later at
Rouen, than at Paris. The length of Rouen without the suburbs, is one
kilometre and three hundred metres, or about the third part of a league,
from the south extremity of the rue Grand-Pont, to the north extremity
of the rue Beauvoisine. Its length from east to west is a quarter of a
league, from one extremity to the other of the places Cauchoise and
Saint-Hilaire. The circumference of the town by the quays does not
exceed six kilometres or one league and a half.
Rouen, by its home and foreign trade, is one of the most important towns
of the kingdom; the numerous manufactories which it contains, have
caused it to be surnamed the Manchester of France[3]. Rouen, is the see
of an archbishopric, whose metropolitan church has for suffragans the
bishoprics of Bayeux, Evreux, Seez and Coutances. It is the chief place
of the fourteenth military division; the principal town of the
departement of the Seine-Inferieure.
There is besides at Rouen, a cour royale, a tribunal de premiere
instance, six courts of justices of the peace; a chamber and tribunal
of commerce, a counsel of prudent men for the arbitration of small
differences, principally between the manufacturers and their workmen;
boards of direction for the direct and indirect taxes, for the customs
and for the registry of domains, and a mint. Amongst the principal
public buildings are two large hospitals, a handsome custom-house, the
exchange, a magnificent lunatic asylum (in Saint-Sever), a large and
small seminary, a royal college, nineteen public schools, a great many
elementary schools for children of both sexes, and two principal
prisons.
Lastly, this town has thirty three barriers, three covered markets,
eight open markets, twenty one public places, about seventeen thousand
houses, and more than four hundred and seventy streets, and contains a
population of about ninety thousand inhabitants.
[Footnote 1: It is the sugar refinery of Mr Sautelet, rue des Carmes,
opposite the place of the same name.]
[Footnote 2: _Recherches sur l'histoire religieuse, morale et litteraire
de Rouen, depuis les premiers temps jusqu'a Rollon_. Rouen, J. Frere,
1826, 8vo.]
[Footnote 3: The principal filatures, manufactories and bleaching
establishments, are situated in the suburb of Saint-Sever, and in the
valleys of Deville, Bapeaume and Maromme. Amongst the principal stuffs,
which are wrought in its manufactories, we must mention its
_rouenneries_, the general name given to all those striped or checked
cotton, stuffs which are used for womens dresses.]
[Illustration: Cathedrale.]