PERPIGNAN
County of Roussillon--Devastated by war--Tortured by the
Inquisition--United to France--Given up--Removal of the
Bishopric from Elne--Final annexation to France--Capital
of the kingdom of Majorca--The kings--Peter IV of Aragon--
Takes possession--Ruscino--Hannibal--William de Cabestang--
_Sirvente_--Fortified by Vauban--The Puig--Place de la
Loge--Carnival on Ash Wednesday--Cathedral--Altar-pieces--
Nave without aisles--Indulgenced Crucifix--Other churches--
Castelet--Promenade des Platanes--Dancing--Gipsy quarter--
Elne--Arrangement by Hannibal--Murder of Constans--Old
cathedral--Bell--Cloister--Chapel of S. Laurence--
Arles-sur-Mer--The fisherfolk--Fête of S. Vincent--Salses--
Poussatin--Typical Gascon--Eastern Pyrenees.
The old county of Roussillon, between Languedoc and Catalonia, formerly
pertained to Spain; it was pledged to Louis XI of France by King John
of Aragon along with the Cerdagne. The stipulation was that these
counties should remain to France should John fail to redeem them in
nine years with the sum of three hundred gold crowns, which the crafty
Louis knew was a sum John could not raise. John, finding his inability
to pay, stirred up the people of Roussillon to revolt against French
domination, whereupon Louis poured thirty thousand men into the
country, and during fifteen years it underwent all the miseries of war.
Perpignan capitulated in 1475, and Roussillon remained in the hands
of the French till 1493, when the feeble Charles VIII restored it,
along with the Cerdagne, to the King of Aragon. At this time Aragon
and Castille, united by the marriage of Ferdinand the Catholic with
Isabella, formed from 1479 the kingdom of Spain.
In 1493 Ferdinand made his solemn entry into Perpignan, and brought
the Inquisition in his train. The already severely tried county was
further tortured by the Inquisitors, and the inhabitants were driven to
desperation. They appealed to Francis I for relief, and he was induced
to attempt the recovery of Roussillon, but was unsuccessful.
[Illustration: CHATEAU DE ROUSSILLON]
Under the fanatical Philip II the county was a prey to plague as well
as persecution, so that hatred against Spain became intense. Philip
III, sensible of this, endeavoured to cajole the citizens of Perpignan
by transferring to it the seat of the bishopric from Elne, and by
ennobling several of the leading citizens, but succeeded in doing no
more than in forming a small Spanish faction in the town.
In 1610 all Catalonia was in revolt against Philip IV, and the county
of Roussillon followed the example of Barcelona. The King of Spain sent
troops to Perpignan and massacred the citizens. Those who survived the
carnage appealed to Louis XIII, who sent an army into the county, and
in 1642 the French, entering Perpignan, were hailed as deliverers.
In 1659 the Treaty of the Pyrenees finally assured to France the
possession of Roussillon and half of Cerdagne, and since then these
have formed an integral portion of France.
But before all this for a while Perpignan was the capital of the
short-lived kingdom of Majorca. James I, King of Aragon, in 1229 had
expelled the Moors from that island, and in 1238 from Valencia; and
to the title King of Aragon he added those of King of Majorca and
Valencia, Count of Barcelona and of Roussillon and Urgel, and Seigneur
of Montpellier. To his eldest son Peter he left Aragon, and to the
younger, James, he gave the rest.
James I of Majorca was succeeded by his son Sanchez, who died without
issue in 1324, and the next and last king was James II, son of
Ferdinand, the brother of Sanchez. James married his cousin Constance,
sister of Peter IV of Aragon.
Peter was an ambitious man and insatiate in his greed. He resolved on
the destruction of his cousin and brother-in-law, and the annexation
of his dominions. James had made himself unpopular by his tyranny, and
the islanders complained to the Aragonese king. This was precisely what
Peter wanted; he summoned James to meet him in conference at Barcelona,
arrested his sister Constance, and would have done the same by his
brother-in-law had not James found means to escape. In the impotence of
his resentment he declared war against Aragon, and thereby sealed his
own fate. In 1343 Peter landed in Majorca, and was at once joined by
the islanders. Then he turned his attention to Roussillon and overran
it.
The unfortunate James now solicited a safe conduct, and throwing
himself at the feet of the victor, implored forgiveness in
consideration of kinship. He might as well have appealed to a rock.
He was informed that if he would surrender Perpignan, that still held
out for him, he would experience his brother-in-law’s clemency. He
consented; but no sooner was Peter in possession that he declared
Roussillon annexed in perpetuity to Aragon. The estates met, and
offered James a miserable indemnity of 10,000 French crowns. He
indignantly refused the offer. The Pope so far interfered as to obtain
the release from prison of his wife Constance, and of James his eldest
son. Unable to bear adversity with patience, in 1349 he sold to the
French king his lordship of Montpellier, and with the money received
raised 3000 foot soldiers and 300 horsemen, in the wild hope of
reconquering his kingdom. With this small force he embarked, and made
a descent on Majorca, but was deserted by the mercenaries when his
funds gave out, and in a battle against great odds was killed, and his
son James was wounded and taken prisoner. This prince had been married
to Joanna I, Queen of Naples, who had murdered her first husband.
Fearing to meet with the same fate, and disgusted with her levity, he
had left Naples and had thrown in his lot with his father. For twelve
years he languished in prison, effected his escape in 1362, and died of
chagrin in 1375.
[Illustration:
James I
K. of Aragon
|
+---------------+--------------------+
| |
Peter III James I
K. of Aragon and Sicily K. of Majorca
_d._ 1285 _d._ 1311
| |
+---------+--------+ +----------+--------+
| | | |
Alphonso III James II Sanchez Ferdinand
_d._ (_s.p._) 1291 K. of Aragon K. of Majorca _d._ 1318
resigned 1319 _d._ (_s.p._) 1324 |
_d._ 1327 |
| |
Alphonso IV |
K. of Aragon |
_d._ 1336 |
| |
+---+-------------------------+ |
| | |
Peter IV Constance = James II
K. of Aragon | K. of
_d._ 1387 | Majorca
| _d._ 1349
|
James
_d._ (_s.p._) 1375]
Roussillon takes its name from Ruscino, the ancient capital, which was
destroyed by the Northmen in 859. The site is now occupied by a tower
and a Romanesque chapel, a couple of miles from Perpignan. The name of
Ruscino appears for the first time B.C. 218, when Hannibal crossed the
Pyrenees on his march into Italy. The Roman Senate sent ambassadors to
the people of Ruscino to urge them to oppose the progress of the great
Carthaginian. They met where is now this castle, but were listened
to with impatient murmurs. The tower, that dates from the twelfth
century, is all that remains of the castle of the counts of Roussillon.
No one has as yet undertaken serious exploration of the site, which
infallibly would surrender very important relics of the ancient capital
of the Rusceni, one of the Nine Peoples, and where in all probability
the Phœnicians had a mercantile station; the plough, or mattock, has
repeatedly turned up Iberian, Greek, Punic, Roman, and Arabic coins.
[Illustration: GATEWAY OF THE CITADEL, PERPIGNAN]
One cannot quit Castell-Rossello, as the tower is now called, without
mention of William de Cabestang, who was châtelain of the neighbouring
village of Cabestang. Taken with the charms of Sirmonde, the wife of
Raimond, Count of Roussillon, he celebrated her in song. The husband,
transported with jealousy, had him waylaid and murdered, then tore out
his heart, had it roasted, and served at table. After Sirmonde had
partaken of the dish he revealed to her what she had eaten. Then said
she, “This meat has been to me so good and savoury that no other shall
pass my lips.” The Count at this drew his sword, and Sirmonde threw
herself from the window and perished by the fall. Alphonso II of Aragon
went to the place, ordered the arrest of the Count, and the burial of
the troubadour and the Countess before the western entrance of the
church of S. Jean at Perpignan.
A few lines from one of his _sirventes_ in her honour may be
quoted:--
“Before my mind’s eye, lady fair,
I see thy form, thy flowing hair,
Thy face, thy iv’ry brow.
My path to Paradise were sure
Were love to God in me as pure
As mine to thee, I trow.
“Perchance thou wilt not bend an ear,
Perchance not shed for me a tear,
For me, who in my prayer
To Mary Mother ever plead,
To stead thee in thy hour of need,
Sweet lady, passing fair.
“Together from first childish days,
As playfellows, I knew thy ways;
I served thee when a child.
Permit me but thy glove to kiss,
That, that will be supremest bliss.
Will still my pulses wild.”
Perpignan, with its vast and huge citadel, cramped within
fortifications planned by Vauban, was formerly a fortress of the first
order. To-day, under changed systems of defence and attack, citadel
and bastions have lost their value, and the walls and earthworks that
gird the town about are now being levelled, and the moat filled to form
a boulevard. When that red belt of bricks is completely demolished,
Perpignan will expand in all directions.
The little river Basse divides the town into two unequal parts: the
New Town, which is the ancient faubourg of the Tanneries, was included
within the circuit of the fortifications by Vauban; and the Old Town,
on the right bank of the river, comprises the hills of S. Jacques and
de la Réal; and in this the streets are narrow and tortuous. In 1859
the medieval wall of defence along the river front was demolished and
the Place Arago was made; a Palais de Justice and a Prefecture were
erected on its site. The citadel is on high ground above the town, and
contains the palace of the kings of Majorca. It is well to ascend the
belvedere that surmounts the palace chapel to obtain a good view of the
plain of Roussillon to the bald limestone range of the Corbières, to
the soaring mass of Canigou, and the Pyrenean range--here called les
Albères--and to the Mediterranean, blue as a peacock’s neck, and the
lagoons that lie along the coast. For what Perpignan sorely lacks is a
high terrace that would give a view of the surrounding country and of
the mountains.
Alphonso II, King of Aragon, to whom the last Count of Roussillon
bequeathed his county in 1172, did much for the place. As a
considerable part of the town lay low in marshy and unhealthy ground,
he desired to move it up the height, at the foot of which was a leper
hospital, and which for this reason is called the Puig des Lépreux.
But he met with opposition from the inhabitants, and abandoned his
intention. Nevertheless the Puig became peopled by artisans, and this
portion was soldered on to the Old Town, and included later within the
ramparts.
The Place de la Loge is the centre of animation to the town, the forum
of the capital of Roussillon. It derives its name from the Loge de la
Mer, a court for naval and mercantile affairs. This dates from 1397,
but was reconstructed in 1540; it is richly carved, but is somewhat
weak in design, and however elaborate is the ornamentation is not
effective. From the upper story is suspended a diminutive ship with
all its appointments. The lower story is given up to be a café. Before
this all the rollicking and fun of the carnival takes place, not, as
elsewhere, on Shrove Tuesday, but on Ash Wednesday. Before this pass
the fantastic cars bearing maskers representing various trades or else
allegorical groups. Here goes on the battle of the _dragées_, when
every one not masked, down to the baby in arms, wears a wire vizor
over his face, such as is employed by fencers, as a protection against
the _dragées_, which are as large as beans and as hard as pebbles.
It is somewhat startling to note the contrast presented on Ash
Wednesday between the scene in the cathedral, when the whole
congregation goes to the altar rails to have a cross of ashes marked on
each brow, with the words: “Remember, O man, that dust thou art, and
unto dust thou shalt return!” and that in the Place de la Loge in the
afternoon, when fun runs fast and furious, and every one is playing the
fool.
The cathedral was begun in 1324, and terminated in the beginning of
the sixteenth century. Externally it promises little, but the interior
is overwhelmingly beautiful. The church is built of tiles rather than
bricks, each 17 inches long by 1½ inches thick and 8 inches wide; with
bands of these tiles alternate belts of cobble-stones arranged in
herring-bone fashion.
The interior consists of one vast nave 56 feet wide, in seven bays
and with transepts. The whole ends in a magnificent apse. Between
the buttresses are chapels, 17 feet deep, in each of which is a
three-light window most of these blocked by retables, and this renders
the church unnecessarily dark. The high altar-piece of white marble,
of the seventeenth century, is an admirable composition, purely
Renaissance in character, executed by Bartholomew Soler, of Barcelona.
In the niches are statues of the Virgin, S. John, and SS. Julia and
Eulalia, patronesses of Elne. Particularly noticeable is a superb
carved oak and gilded reredos in the north transept, of the fifteenth
century, representing scenes of the Passion in eight compartments.
Another, enclosing fine paintings in place of sculpture, is in the
south transept. The huge organ-case is a splendid bit of work of the
sixteenth century.
In the south of Languedoc a taste prevailed for churches comprising
huge naves without side aisles--in fact, immense halls. At Carcassonne
such is the type; but there, in the two churches in the New Town, the
effect is unsatisfactory, as the chancels, or apses, bud out of the
flat east wall in an ungainly manner. Here in Perpignan we have the
hall interior, but leading up to and ending in an apse of the full
width of the nave.
On the south side of the church is a chapel with a highly favoured
crucifix in it, and Pope Leo XIII accorded plenary indulgence with
remission of all sins to such as should worship before it and pray
for the extermination of heresies, i.e. heretics on the Feast of the
Exaltation of the Cross.
The other churches of S. Mathieu and La Réal deserve a visit. Built
on the same lines as the cathedral, they have been sadly spoiled by
tasteless additions in the Barroque period. Over the high altar at
La Réal, as in a side chapel at S. Mathieu, are groups of coloured
statuary, on which light is also made to fall from above; and as the
churches are profoundly dark, this is in its way effective.
[Illustration: CATHEDRAL INTERIOR, PERPIGNAN]
The ancient Palais de Justice, much purer in style than the Loge,
adjoins it, separated from it only by the old house of the consuls, now
the Hôtel de Ville. The old Palais has beautiful windows, with trefoil
heads cut in the block, unmoulded, supported by dainty columns. But
the most strikingly picturesque edifice of Perpignan is the Castelet,
erected between 1367 and 1369, with the town gate of Notre Dame (1481)
at one side of it, all constructed of tiles like the cathedral. The
bold projecting machicolations, and the octagonal turret surmounted by
a small cupola, have a pronounced Spanish character.
When one passes out of the Porte Notre Dame the Promenade des
Platanes is reached, a boulevard shaded by magnificent plane trees,
but all inclined from the north, from the terrible Tramontane wind,
which is the scourge of the plain of Roussillon. Here on Shrove Tuesday
evening hundreds of maskers dance under the leafless branches, and
sometimes in spite of the cutting wind and dropping rain. The promenade
is then railed in, and soldiers are stationed to act as sentinels to
prevent the crowd entering and interfering with the dancers. But the
waltz music is too exhilarating to allow these sentinels to soberly
pace their distances, and I have seen them holding their rifles and
pirouetting up and down their beats with them as if their firearms were
lovely partners.
Beyond the Basse, where it flows into the Tet, is the faubourg Notre
Dame, very animated and peopled in part with gipsies, or _gitanos_.
They speak a language of their own, a mixture of Arabic, Castillian,
and Catalan. They are first mentioned in Roussillon in an ordinance of
1512, that required them to be cudgelled out of the country. It does
not seem that this order produced the effect desired, for they have
been found, and still are found, throughout the department, mainly
engaged in selling mules.
The first station out of Perpignan on the line to Barcelona is Elne,
long the seat of a bishop. It was the ancient Illiberis. The name tells
its origin. It derives from the Iberian, and signifies the New City;
and shows that it was a town founded by these people before they were
expelled or subjugated by the Celts, who invaded the country in the
fourth century before Christ. When Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees he
planted his headquarters here, and hither came the heads of the Gaulish
tribe to make terms with him against Rome. At the same time they made
complaint of the conduct of some of his Carthaginian soldiery. Hannibal
listened to their grievances, and decided that in any further cases of
misconduct by his soldiers these should be tried by a court composed of
the wives of the Gauls.
The Romans, when they occupied the land, neglected Illiberis, and
planted a colony at Ruscino. The town dwindled to insignificance till
Constantine refounded it and called it after the name of his mother,
Helena; and this is the name it now bears, transformed into Elne. It
was the scene of the assassination of Constans, the son of the great
Constantine. He was an indolent, weak, and debauched prince, monarch
of the West. Whilst hunting in Gaul he received tidings of the revolt
of Magnentius, that the soldiers had mutinied, and that emissaries had
been dispatched to kill him. He fled to Illiberis, but was overtaken
here and put to death in 350, in the thirtieth year of his reign.
Devastated by the Arabs, we do not hear of a bishop of Elne till 783.
After that the lordship of Elne was shared between the bishop and the
chapter. The seat of the bishop was removed to Perpignan in 1602.
Elne occupies a sandstone rock, about which this town is built, and
is divided into the upper and the lower town. It is a dull and sleepy
place, that wakens into life only on the festival of SS. Eulalia and
Julia, when there is much merry-making with processions, music, and
dancing. Portions of the walls and some of the gates remain; but the
great object of interest is the cathedral, with its superb cloisters of
white marble. The exact date of the rebuilding is not known, but the
church was complete in 1069. Externally it is constructed of rubble
stone in herring-bone, set in mortar. The west front has a crenellated
gable between two towers of unequal size and height. The loftiest is
a bold structure that has had buttresses added to it much later, in
1415. The western doorway is unornamented. The plan of the church is
a nave with side aisles and no transepts. It is very plain within as
without, with huge piers supporting round-headed arches and vault. The
high altar was of silver, and dated from 1069, but was sent to the mint
at Perpignan to be coined into money in 1721. The new altar-piece is as
Prosper Mérimée described it--“a masterpiece of meanness and bad taste.”
The original choir stalls were fine. A writer in 1787 says of the
woodwork: “It is grand, and remarkable for the beauty of the stall-work
covered with sculpture of the end of the thirteenth century, as is
known by an inscription on one of the stalls.” All this has disappeared.
In the sacristy is preserved a little bell with the date on it, 1554,
ornamented with a figure of Apollo playing on the _rebec_, a monkey
doing the same, and dancing bears, an eagle, a rabbit, and a boar.
But the great glory of Elne is its cloister raised on a terrace of the
ancient acropolis of Illiberis, on the north side of the cathedral.
Entrance to it is obtained by a doorway, which for the purity of its
style and the sobriety of its ornamentation deserves notice. The arch
is pointed, and of marble, alternatively white and red, and dates
from the fourteenth century. The ironwork of the door is simple but
graceful. Alart, the historian and antiquary says: “Without dispute,
from the point of view of art, and from the historic reminiscences
attached to it, the cloister is the most remarkable and precious relic
that remains of Roussellonnaise architecture.” It was begun in the
twelfth century, but was continued and retouched in the fourteenth,
so that whereas some of the capitals and columns are of Byzantine or
Romanesque design, others have Gothic ornament. All is in white marble,
and the sculpture is of exquisite delicacy: foliage, figures of every
description are there in lavish profusion. The pillars are coupled,
some twisted, some plain. The very bases are enriched with ornament.
“In the morning, in summer, when the sun lights up the
galleries to north and west, all the details come out with
extraordinary brilliancy. In the afternoon the eastern gallery
is burnt by the solar rays that have turned the marble
yellow.”--P. Vidal.
In the lateral wall on the north side open two doorways, one of which
must be entered with precaution, or one may fall below, for the stair
that led from it has disappeared. Underneath are two large vaulted
chambers paved with bricks, communicating one with another by a small
opening. Traces of fresco painting may be noticed. The popular opinion
is that these were the dungeons of the Inquisition, but actually
they were an old chapel dedicated to S. Laurence. The other door
gives access to a spiral staircase leading to a terrace, from which a
magnificent view is obtained of the plain, the Albères, and Canigou.
[Illustration: THE CLOISTERS OF ELNE]
Arles-sur-Mer is a watering-place by the sea. Near it is the more
interesting port of Collioure, an Iberian name signifying the port of
the New Town; and Iberian coins have been found there. The fortress
of S. Elne was built by Charles V. The streets are narrow, the houses
dilapidated, and occupied mainly by fishermen and their families.
“On the sea-coast these men enter into very hot discussions,
use expressions somewhat rough and coarse, but rarely come to
blows. Few scandals occur here, and they marry young. It is
worthy of remark that among these good folk so free of tongue
and freer still in opinion, these solid republicans, the
religious sentiment is very developed. They pray to God and go
to Mass; but they also go to the ball. The three last days
of carnival are given up by the whole population to a wild
frenzy. They cling to this poor carnival as though it would
never return. Every café has its ball at night; if weather
permit there is a general ball in the public square.”
A few yards from the beach on a rock stands a chapel dedicated to S.
Vincent, who is traditionally held to have been born at Collioure.
He was martyred at Valencia in Spain, 304. But Huesca also claims
the honour of his birth. His name is included in the English Church
calendar on 22 January. From the rock of S. Vincent on 16 August,
annually, at nine o’clock in the evening, starts a procession of boats
that brings the relics of the saint to the town. The sailing-boats and
fishing-vessels richly decked and illuminated with coloured lamps are
reflected in the still sea. An immense crowd is gathered about the
harbour, that is lighted by a bonfire made of vine twigs and barrels of
tar.
As soon as the vessel bearing the relics arrives at the quay, the
harbour-master calls out, “What boat is that?” To which the captain
replies, “A boat of Saint Vincent.” “Whence come you?” “From Saint
Vincent-de-l’Ile.” “With what are you laden?” “With the relics of the
Saint Vincent, of Saint Marinus, and of Saint Liberada.” “Are there
passengers, and are they according to rule?” “There are passengers, and
they are all according to rule.” “What do you require?” “To be allowed
to disembark.” “In the name of God, do so.”
Then the whole crowd shouts, “Sant Vincens béneit!” Whereupon the boat
is hauled ashore and dragged through the town. The crowd that separated
to allow of the passage then unites and follows in a dense mass,
elbowing one another. The boat halts before the “Vierge des quatres
coins,” the relics are removed from it, and carried processionally to
the church. The bonfire and the coloured lamps go out, and the scene
of movement is transferred from the harbour to the Place, where the
_joglars_, installed on an improvized platform, sound their instruments
to lively melodies, and all, young and old, in two minutes are in
full swing of a dance, that lasts from ten o’clock to midnight. “Si
réellement,” says a French writer, “la danse est un amusement, nulle
part au monde ou ne s’amuse autant qu’ ici.”
The train, as it traverses the flats and athwart arms of the lagoons
that lie along the coast, skirts a place called Salses, and if the
traveller be looking out of the window on the right hand, he catches
a glimpse of a rusty mass of building with towers, and wonders what
it is. This is the fortress of Salses, erected in 1497 by a Spanish
engineer named Ramirez, and it is sufficiently curious to merit a
study, for it was built at a time when the use of cannon was materially
altering the conditions of warfare, especially of sieges. The château,
though often menaced with destruction, indeed repeatedly ordered to
be levelled, has remained almost intact to the present day. It forms
a rectangle with a tower at each angle. These towers give evidence of
the hesitation of the engineer. He was hampered by tradition, and had
to introduce them without knowing exactly that they had a purpose any
longer. But, on the other hand, he adopted an innovation, destined to
revolutionize the defence of fortresses, by creating bastions isolated
and in advance of the walls, like the demi-lunes of modern citadels. As
far as we know, this was the first instance of their being employed.
The castle was of some strategic importance, as commanding the passage
between the vast Lagoon of Leucate and the barren ridge of the
Corbières.
The last governor of the fortress was a nephew of Voltaire, named La
Houlière, who grew vines and made wine on his wife’s estate; he sent
a cask of the latter to his illustrious uncle, and entreated him to
obtain a market for his wines in Russia. To which Voltaire replied, “I
am sorry not to be able to be of use to you in this matter, but the
Empress at this moment is too much occupied with the Turks who drink no
wine, and with the Germans who drink too much, to be able to turn her
attention to your generous liquor.”
When La Houlière, who commanded at Perpignan in April, 1793, learned
the defeat of the French troops by the Spaniards, he was so depressed
that he blew out his brains.
Throughout the plain of Roussillon vines grow, and the wine they
produce is excellent. The canals of irrigation bordered by trees
traverse the plain; and, thanks to this semi-aquatic condition, the
vineyards do not present the monotony of those of Narbonne and Beziers.
The dread of the cold winds over the snows of the Alps and the Cevennes
is everywhere apparent. Reeds grow in the dykes to a great height, from
twelve to fourteen feet, and even more, and these are cut and formed
into mats to barricade the fields and gardens, and give some shelter
to them from the piercing blast that has bent every tree from the
direction whence it blows. Round Perpignan every patch of flower or
vegetable garden is thus hedged about.
At Perpignan the Count de Grammont met the Abbé Poussatin, when he was
retreating with the Prince of Condé after the unsuccessful campaign in
Catalonia, in 1647. Grammont says:--
“At last we arrived at Perpignan on a holiday; a company of
Catalans, who were dancing in the street, out of respect to
the prince, came forward to dance under his windows. Monsieur
Poussatin, in a little black jacket, danced in the middle
of this company, as if he were really mad. I immediately
recognized him as my countryman, from his manner of skipping
and frisking about. The prince was charmed with his humour and
activity. After the dance I sent for him, and inquired who
he was. ‘A poor priest, at your service, my lord,’ said he;
‘my name is Poussatin, and Béarn is my native country. I was
going into Catalonia to serve in the infantry, for, God be
praised, I can march very well on foot; but since the war is
happily concluded, if your lordship pleases to take me into
your service, I would follow you everywhere, and serve you
faithfully.’ ‘Monsieur Poussatin,’ said I, ‘my lordship has
no great occasion for a chaplain; but since you are so well
disposed towards me, I will take you into my service.’
“The Prince of Condé, who was present at this conversation, was
overjoyed at my having a chaplain. Poor Poussatin was in a very
tattered condition, and I had no time to provide him with a
proper habit at Perpignan; but giving him a spare livery of one
of the Marshal de Grammont’s servants, I made him get up behind
the prince’s coach, who was like to die with laughing every
time he looked at poor Poussatin’s uncanonical mien in a yellow
livery.
“As soon as we arrived in Paris the story was told to the
queen, who at first expressed some surprise at it; this,
however, did not prevent her from wishing to see my chaplain
dance; for in Spain it is not altogether so strange to see
ecclesiastics dance, as to see them in livery.
“Poussatin performed wonders before the queen; but as he danced
with great sprightliness, she could not bear the savour which
his violent motions diffused through the room; the ladies
likewise began to pray for relief.”
The Eastern Pyrenees have, to my mind, been unduly neglected, and yet
they present scenes of great beauty, and are very easily reached. To
botanists they should be especially attractive. The Val d’Eyne, near
Mont Louis, is known to possess flowers found nowhere else in the
range. The ravine of the Aude is as fine as any in the Hautes Pyrénées.
There are peaks that run up to 10,000 feet, and are covered with snow
all the year, and if the glaciers be insignificant, glaciers are not
essential to beauty. There are more mountain tarns here than elsewhere,
and some of these the largest in the Pyrenees. In ecclesiastical
architecture this is by far the richest portion of the chain, as
the churches have not been wrecked by the Huguenots as in Béarn and
Bigorre. And what is more, there is less rain, there are clearer and
bluer skies. Some of the watering-places are sweet and sheltered nooks
where one can be in summer sunlight early in April, even at the end
of March, sheltered from every wind, and with excursions possible all
about them, and what is more, are not so fashionable, not so savouring
of Paris as Bagnères and Luchon, Cauterez, and Eauxbonnes. In the heats
of summer no more cool and invigorating climate can be found than in
some of those towns and villages on lofty plateaux, like Mont Louis.
As to the Pyrenees in general, many best able to judge and with widest
experience of mountain scenery, prefer them to the Alps of Switzerland
and of Tyrol, so overrun with the tripper and the herds conducted by
Cook. The colouring is richer and more varied, the foliage, the flowers
more abundant; and the peasantry have not lost their simplicity, as
have the Swiss.
I will conclude with the words of a Pyrenean poet, written in his
Gascon dialect, but rendered into French: “Puisse-je remonter sur ces
trônes flamboyants de porphyre et de glace, ou tout est froid, même
l’éclair; j’irai révoir du haut de ces nues, ces horizons grands comme
l’éternité, mais que je ne trouverais jamais assez illimités. Et quand
aura sonné l’heure fatale et cruelle du repos, j’irais m’assoir au bord
de l’Océan ou de la Méditerranée, mais toujours en vue des Pyrénées.”
INDEX
Abd-el-Kader, 88-9
Abderahman, 271
Abdo and Senen, SS., 284-5
Adour River, 42-3
Albigenses, 246-51, 257-8
Amatus, Bishop of Oloron, 115
Ambessa, 270
Ambrose, Père, 168
Andorra, 260-2, 264
Antoine de Bourbon, 96-7, 99, 101-2
Aquitaine, 15, 17, 18, 221-4
Arabs, 265, 269, 270, 296
Aragon, 4, 18, 266, 286-9
Aran, Val d’, 229, 232-4, 266
Argelez, 152-3, 161
Arize, River, 253
Arles-sur-Mer, 298
Arles-sur-Tech, 281, 283-5
Armagnac, 206-10
Arms of Arros, 233
-- of Béarn, 98
-- of Fontarabia, 47
Arras, 155
Arreau, 206
Arros, Baron d’, 102-3
Arruns, 155-6
Arudy, 125
Ash Wednesday, 293
Aspe, Val d’, 117-8
Asté, 192
Aucun, 155
Aure, Val d’, 201-11
Avalanches, 164-5, 173
Azun, Val d’, 154-7
Bagnères de Bigorre, 187-94
-- de Luchon, 229-32
Balandrau, 153
Barcelona, 266, 281
Barrèges, 167, 172-3
Barrère, 184-8
Basque language, 12, 55
Basques, 4, 12-15, 52-4
Bayonne, 32-43
Béarn, 15, 18-28, 76, 90, 95, 97, 98, 102, 109, 122-3, 178, 179, 180-2
Bears, 239-40
Beaucens, 154
Beaudéan, 194
Bedous, 120-1
Beggary, 130, 240-2
Belocq, Castle of, 80
Benedict XIII, 22
Bernadotte, 107-9
Bernard III, Count, 29, 179
Berret, 116, 128
Betharam, 111-12
Biarritz, 44, 144
Bidarry, Saint of, 54
Bidassoa River, 46
Bielle, 103, 127
Bigorre, 15, 115, 178-9, 180-2
-- Pic du Midi de, 189-92
Bilhère, 98
Blanche de Navarre, 23-6
Bordères, 210
Boulou, Le, 281
Bourespe, 211
Bourg-Madame, 267
Boxwood, 127
Brèche de Roland, 169
Brinvilliers, Mme. de, 277-8
Buzy, 10, 125
Cabannes, Les, 256-7
Cabestang, William de, 290-1
_Cacolet_, riding _en_, 45-6
Cadéac, 211
Cagots, 195-200
Calvinism, 75, 99, 103, 117, 177
Cambo, 53
Campan, Val de, 192-4
Canigou, 8, 272-85
Cannibal, 215-19
Carlitte, Mont, 2, 273
Carnival, 293, 295
Carol, Castle, 265
Castles, small, 259
Catalans, 4, 270, 287, 295
Catherine of Medici, 34-5
-- of Navarre, 27-8
Cauterets, 160, 161, 162-6
Celts, 4, 267
Centule I and IV, 115, 179
-- II, 179
-- III, 179
Cerdagne, 264-71, 286
Ceret, 281-2
Chain of Pyrenees, 2
_Chaos_, 171
Charles IV of Spain, 36-8
-- VII of Spain, 34
-- IX of France, 76, 100
-- the Noble of Navarre, 23
-- of Viana, 22-5
Cirque de Gavarnie, 7, 171-2
Cirques, other, 7, 170
Climate of Pau, 85-7
Coarraze, 99, 111
Collioure, 298-300
Cominges, 15, 221, 226-8
Constans, 296
Constantine, 296
Corisande d’Andouins, 124, 193
Costumes, 128, 270
Count of Spain, 262-3
Couserans, 236-44
Couvade, 46, 64-5
_Crestiaas_, 199-200
Cromlechs, 127
Customs, curious, 46, 48, 64-5
Dagobert, General, 268-9
Dances, 128, 274
Danton, 186, 188
Deadly sins, 211
Deforesting, 3, 125-6, 173-4, 257
Eaux Bonnes, 131-3
-- Chaudes, 129-30
Eleanor of Cominges, 19
-- of Guyenne, 16
Elne, 295-8
Emigration, 118, 123, 241
Empressous, 169
Escaldieu, 202
Espadrillos, 123, 285
Espèch, Castle, 205
Estaubé, Cirque, 170
Eudes, Duke of Aquitaine, 265, 270
Ferrage, Blaise, 216-19
Ferreolus, S., 282
Flowers, 9, 44, 112-13, 170-1, 268, 302
Foix, 16, 245-53
Fontarabie, 47-8
Font-Romeu, 269
Fors, 18, 127
Francis I, 90-1
-- II, 96
-- Phœbus, 27
Froissart, 67, 70, 72
Gabas, 131
Gan, 124
Gargas, 215
Garonne, 229, 234, 245, 266
Garsende the Fat, 19
Gascon braggarts, 28-9
Gascony, 15, 29, 50
Gassion, 106
Gaston VI, 19
-- VII, 66
-- IX, 19
-- Phœbus, 22, 66-72, 128, 202
-- son of Phœbus, 68-71, 202
Gavarnie, 171
Gave River, 86, 89, 125, 129, 134, 153, 163, 168, 169, 202
Gèdre, 170
Giants, 169
Gipsies, 295
Glaciers, 6, 134
Goigs, 274
Grammont, Dukes of, 192-3, 301-2
Grotto de l’Herme, 253
Gundowald, 221-5
Hannibal, 4, 290, 295
Haras at Tarbes, 177-8
Hazel-nuts, 282
Hèches, 203
Henry II of England, 16
-- III of England, 17
-- IV of France, 98, 101-4, 109, 124, 243
-- II of Navarre, 87, 90-2, 98
_Heptameron_, 94, 119-20
Horses, 178-9
Hortense, Queen, 156-7
Huguenots, 92-4, 117, 182, 191, 228.
(_See also_ Calvinism)
Hundred Years’ War, 17
Iberians, 4, 12, 271
Innocent III, 246-50
Iron mines, 255-7
Irun, 48
Isaby, Val d’, 154, 159
Jean d’Albret, 27-8, 90
Jeanne d’Albret, 75-80, 95-101, 112, 117, 177
Job, 242
Joglars, 274, 300
Juana, Queen, 21-5
Jurençon, 113
La Barthe, 203
Labourde, 15, 51-2
Lac de Caillaouas, 202, 210
-- -- Gaube, 164-5
-- -- Lanoux, 6, 264
-- -- Seculéjo, 230-1
Lakes, various, 6, 155, 194, 202, 212, 239, 243, 265
Lampagia, 271
Landslip, 170
Lannemezan, 202
Larrey, 194
Laruns, 179
Laserre, 144
Lavedan, 135, 152-61
League, the, 183
Leonore, Countess, 23-6
Lescar, 26, 104
Leucate, 300
Llar family, 278
Llivia, 266-7
Lombrive, 258
Lomné, castle, 205
Lordat, castle, 258
Lortet, 203
Louis VII, 16
-- XI, 208-9, 286
-- XIII, 268
-- XIV, 47, 285
Lourdes, 134-51
Loustaunau, 121-2
Luchon, 229-32
Luz, 166-9
Majorca, kingdom of, 287-9
Maladetta, 233-4
Manichees, 246
Marble quarries, 203, 233
Marguerite de Cominges, 228-9
-- de France, 101, 117
-- de Navarre, 91-5, 119-20
Marot, Clement, 93
Mas d’Azil, 253-4
Massabielle, Grotto, 138-47
Massey, 177
Mater Dolorosa, 59
Mauleon, 123
Mauvezin, 201
Merton Smith, Rev., 133
Metrical psalms, 93-4
Montespan, 214
Montgomery, 75, 77-8
Mont Louis, 268-70
Montréjeau, 214
Montségur, 257
Moors, 270
Morlaas, 189
Mosaics, Roman, 104-6
Nansouty, 191-2
Napoleon I, 36-8, 50, 126
Napoleon III, 88, 144, 157, 168
Navarre, 4, 20, 24, 52, 155
Nay, 111
Neste, River, 202-4, 210-11, 220
Noah’s Ark, 268
Odos, 95
Oloron, 4, 114-18
Orthez, 26, 66-79
-- Battle of, 80-4
Osse, 122
Osseau, Val d’, 8, 124-33
-- peasants of, 109
-- Pic du Midi d’, 124, 125, 131
Othman abu Nessu, 270
Oust, 243
Ouzous, 153
Pallada, 283
Pamiers, 251-2
Pampeluna, 56
Pas de Roland, 54
Pattison, Mr. and Mrs., 165
Pau, 85-113
-- Castle of, 87-9
Pedigree of the Armagnacs, 210
-- of the Viscounts of Béarn, 20
-- of Gundowald, 222
-- of the Kings of Majorca, 289
-- of Leonore of Navarre, 21
Perpignan, 286-94, 301
Petronilla, Countess, 180-1
Pierrefite, 160-1
Planès, 269
Planturel, 244
Pont-long, 87, 109, 123
Ports, 4, 235, 267, 281
Poussatin, Abbé, 301-2
Prades, 275
Prats de Mollo, 285
Princess of Beira, 61-3
Puy-al-Hun, 155-6
Puygcerda, 264
Puyôo, 80
Pyrenees, parallel chains, 2
-- geological structure, 4
-- approach to, 30-1
-- Battles of the, 39
-- Treaty of, 47, 55, 234, 265, 266, 287
Quitteria, Ste., 255
Ramond, 190
Raymond I of Bigorre, 162, 182
-- VI of Toulouse, 248-50
“Refuge” by Biarritz, 44-5
Republics, 127, 154, 212-13
Roland the Paladin, 56-8, 169
-- Song of, 57
Roman Roads, 4, 54
Roncevaux, 4, 27, 56-60
Roussel, Bishop of Oloron, 92, 117
Roussillon, 4, 273, 286-7, 290, 301
Rubble, 5
S. Aventin, 232
S. Béat, 233
S. Bertrand de Cominges, 220-9
S. Girons, 236-7
S. Jean de Luz, 45
S. Jean-Pied-de-Port, 54-5
S. Lizier, 237-9
S. Martin de Canigou, 280-1
S. Michel de Cuxa, 276
S. Orens, 159-60
S. Sauveur, 168
S. Savin, 157-9
S. Sebastian, 48-50
S. Sever-de-Rustan, 177
Salses, 300
Sarracolin, 203-4
Sarrance, 118-20
Serrabonna, 275
Sertorius, 220-1
Simon de Montfort, 249-50
Slate quarries, 195
Smuggling, 60
Solon and his wives, 93
Soubirous, Bernadette, 135, 137-49
Soule, 51, 123
Sully elm, 243
Talc mines, 259
Tarascon, 254
Tarbes, 175-88
Tech, River, 281-2
Templars, 167, 172
Tourmalet, 172
Troumousse, Cirque, 170
Tumuli, 110
Turpin, Chronicle of, 57
Urdos, 122-3
Urgel, 262, 269
Ustaritz, 13
Valcabrères, 220, 225
Vaussenat, 191-2
Vernaux, 259
Vernet, 274, 279-80
Vic, 243
Vicdessos, 256
Viella, 234
Villefranche, 82, 276-9
Vincent, S., 299-300
Vizos, 166
Voltaire, 300-1
Watershed, 6
PLYMOUTH
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD.
PRINTERS
* * * * * *
Transcriber’s note:
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in this book; in most cases, they were
not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.
Two occurrences of “Castile” were changed to the predominant “Castille”.
Text uses both “Cascassonne” and “Carcassonne”; both retained.
Page 49: “when advancing in 1815” should be “1813”.
Page 55: “Desinat in piscem mulier fermosa” should be “formosa”.
Page 100: “choses to have” was printed that way. As it could be either
“chose” or “chooses”, it has not been changed here.
Page 126: “In 1669” should be a later year.
Page 144: “quite as well situated as” was printed as “at”; changed here.
Page 147: “faire des bêtises” was printed as “”faire des bêtisses“;
changed here.