TO AN HISTORIAN.
A very brief account of the foundation of Paris, its progress
during the most remarkable epochs, and under the reigns of some of
its most celebrated monarchs with its, gradual advance in
civilisation to the present period. Some allusions also to the
customs which existed in the earlier ages, and a statement of the
different dates as regards the erection and foundation of the
various monuments and institutions still extant.
[Illustration: Paris in the 16th Century. View taken from the towers of
Notre Dame.]
France, under the ancient appellation of Gaul, is cited in history as
early as 622 years before the Christian era, when Belloveaus, a
celebrated leader from that country, defeated the Hetrurians and made
himself master of Piedmont and Lombardy, by crossing the Rhone and the
Alps with his army, which at that period had never before been
attempted. Increasing in power, we find, 180 years after, the Gauls,
headed by Brennus, sacking and burning Rome; and the same chief, after
having been defeated and cut off by Camillus, the Roman general, with
the loss of 40,000 men, again appears in the year 387 before Christ at
the head of 150,000 foot and 60,000 horse, invading Macedonia, and after
ravaging the country and being ultimately defeated in Greece, to have
put an end to his existence. Some idea may be formed of the ferocious
and obdurate spirit of the Gauls, from the circumstance of the women
fighting as bravely as the men against Marius, who successfully defended
Italy against them; and when these desperate amazons found that they
were overpowered, they slew themselves and their children rather than
surrender. This occurred 101 years anterior to the birth of our Saviour,
and from that period scarcely a century has passed in which history does
not record many instances of heroic devotion of Frenchwomen, often wrong
in its object, but ever displaying a determined courage, reckless of all
selfish consideration. The names of Joan of Arc, Jeanne Hachette,
Charlotte Corday, and the Chevalier d'Eon are known to all, and hundreds
of others must live in the memory of those who are familiar with the
history of France. After numerous encounters between the Romans and the
Gauls, the latter were at length wholly subdued about 50 years before
Christ, and although the records of this ancient people date nearly as
far back as the foundation of Rome, yet our first accounts of Paris are
derived from Cæsar and Strabo, who allude to it under the name of
Lutetia, the principal city of the Parisii; and from the most probable
statements which could be collected from aged persons at that period, it
is presumed that its foundation must have occurred not more than half a
century antecedent. It is supposed that the ground which Paris now
occupies formerly consisted of a number of small hills, which in the
process of time, building, paving, etc., have been somewhat reduced, by
the summits having been in a degree levelled; and the houses upon them
being generally not so high as those in the lower parts, the eminences
are not now so apparent. These hillocks were called by the French
_buttes_, and some of them are still very perceptible, such as in the
_rue des Saints-Pères_, by the _rue St-Guillaume_, the _rue Meslay_, the
_rue de l'Observance_, near the _École de Médecine_, and several other
places; indeed, on each side of the Seine Paris rises as you proceed to
the _Faubourgs_. Some of these little hills still bear the name of
_butte_, as _les Buttes St-Chaumont, la rue des Buttes_, etc., but the
most ancient part of Paris is that which is now termed La Cité and is
confined to an island formed by the Seine, and which is joined to the
opposite banks by the _Pont-Neuf_ (or New-Bridge), but certainly no
longer meriting that title, having been built in the reign of Henry the
Third about the year 1580. There are many histories of Paris which have
been handed down by oral record to some of the earliest authors amongst
the Gauls, but so ill authenticated that they do not merit repetition,
having being reputed as fabulous by most writers to whom credit can be
attached. There is, however, one account of the foundation of Paris
which may be cited more for its comic ingenuity than for its veracity,
beginning by tracing the Trojans to Samothès, the son of Japhet and
grandson of Noah; then following in the same line, they endeavour to
prove that at the destruction of Troy, Francus, the son of Hector, fled
to Gaul, of which he became king and no doubt bestowed upon it the name
of France, as the French have a most happy knack of cutting off the _us_
at the end of names as, Titus Livius and Quintus Curtius they have
metamorphosed into Tite-Live and Quinte-Curce, and in fact with one or
two exceptions they have abbreviated the terminations of the ancient
Greek and Roman appellations entirely according to their own fashion.
This fortunate youth, Francus, at length fixed his abode in Champagne,
and built the town of Troyes, calling it after his native place, which
having accomplished, he repaired to the borders of the Seine and ever
partial to Trojan associations, built a city which he called Paris after
his uncle.
However agreeable it may prove to the feelings of the Parisians to trace
their origin to the remotest antiquity, yet common sense suggests that
the account of the foundation of their city which is the most rational,
is that which is deduced from the Commentaries of Julius Cæsar, he
having been at some pains to ascertain from whence the Parisii sprung,
and was informed by persons who remembered the epoch, that they were a
people who had emigrated from their native country in consequence of the
persecutions and massacres of their enemies, and that they were supposed
to have belonged to some of the petty nations known under the common
appellation of the Belgæ, and arriving on the borders of the Seine
requested permission of the Senones, a powerful people of the Gauls, to
establish themselves on the frontiers of their territory, and place
themselves under their protection, agreeing at the same time to conform
to the laws of those whose hospitality they sought. That they were but a
very inconsiderable people on the arrival of Cæsar is proved by the
small contingent of warriors they were required to supply by the Gauls,
in their struggles against the Romans. The territory accorded to the
Parisii could not have exceeded more than ten or twelve leagues,
adjoining to the lands of a people termed Silvanectes on the one side,
and to those of the Carnutes on the other. It is conjectured that the
name of Parisii received its etymology from their being a people who
inhabited the borders, as Par and Bar are synonymous from the P and the
B having had the same signification, and which are often confused
together at the present time by the Germans; and Barisii or Barrisenses,
signifying a people inhabiting a space between other nations, hence it
is inferred that the Parisii received that appellation from their
occupying a spot on the frontiers of the Senones, separating them from
the Silvanectes and the Carnutes. Amongst the many suppositions which
have been formed as to the origin of the name of the Parisii, perhaps
the above is the most rational. Paris, or Lutetia, soon after the
conquest by Cæsar became a place of importance, as he selected that city
for a convocation of the different powers of Gaul when he required of
them supplies for his cavalry; and a short time after, when the Gallic
nation revolted from Cæsar's dominion, one of the most decided battles
which was fought was within sight of Paris, under Labienus, the Roman
general, whilst the chief of the Gauls, Camulogene, perished in the
combat with a considerable portion of his men, but the greater number
saved themselves by taking shelter in Paris, which was not attacked,
Labienus himself retreating to Agedineum. But although Cæsar fixed upon
Paris as the most convenient locality for the meeting of the Gallic
chiefs, yet it was little more than a fort like all the other towns in
Gaul, into which the natives retreated in the time of war with their
females, children, cattle and moveables; as they were accustomed in
time of peace to live in detached habitation in the midst of their
flocks, their pastures and their cornfields, only retreating within
their forts or cities for security when attacked. After the fall of
Camulogene, Gaul soon returned to the Roman yoke and Paris subsequently
became the residence of their prefects, governors and even emperors. In
1818, in digging deeply in the streets of Monceau and Martroi, near the
church of Saint Gervais, an ancient cemetery was discovered. In one of
the tombs was found a silver medal, in which a head was visible on one
side, and a head crowned on the other, having this inscription,
_Antonius Pius Aug._, who reigned from the years 138 to 161. It is
inferred from this circumstance, that the burying-place was of coeval
antiquity, but notwithstanding the many battles which occurred between
the Gauls and the Romans, Paris is not cited in history until the fourth
century, when Julian the Apostate appears to have there fixed his
residence, and in his Misopogon, which he wrote during his residence at
Antioch, often alludes to it under the name of his dear Lutetia,
although complaining that the cold was such during one winter as to
compel him to have a fire in his bed-room, expressing much
dissatisfaction at the odour emitted by the burning charcoal, to the
effects of which he was nearly falling a victim. His abode was what it
is now and has been for many ages, the Palace of Thermes, of which there
are still the remains, now converted into a museum for relics of the
Ancient Gauls; the entrance is in the Rue de la Harpe. Between the
numbers 61 and 65. Julian there resided with his wife Helen, sister of
the emperor Constantius, and in his address to the senate and people of
Athens speaks of the arrival of foreign auxiliary troops at Paris, and
of their tumultuously rising and surrounding his palace; and that it was
in a chamber adjoining that of his wife wherein he meditated on the
means of appeasing them. According to various historians, this
circumstance occurred in the year 360. Soon after this period, the same
palace was inhabited by the Emperors Valentinian and Valens. It is
supposed to have been built in the year 292, the evidence of which is
tolerably well authenticated. Whatever errors might fall to the share of
Julian, it is certain he rendered great service to Gaul, and
particularly to Paris: he cleared the adjacent country entirely of a set
of ferocious barbarians, who were eternally overrunning the different
states of Gaul. But the Parisians were not long doomed to enjoy the
quiet and prosperity which had been obtained for them by the equitable
laws instituted by Julian. In 406, hordes of enemies suddenly appeared
in all parts of Gaul, swarming in from different barbarous nations, in
such numbers that they swept all before them for ten successive years,
and about 465 the Franks succeeded in permanently establishing
themselves in Gaul, and of course Paris shared the fate of the
surrounding country; by them at length the Roman government was
overthrown, and that which was substituted was far less equitable or
calculated for the happiness of the people.
The Franks were a powerful maritime people, coming from the north-west
of Germany, obtaining possession of the different towns which they met
with in their course, until they arrived at Tournai, which was
constituted their capital; and Childeric their king is reported to have
laid siege to Paris, which resisted for several years; but dying in the
year 481, he was succeeded by Clovis his son, who, at the head of a
numerous army defeated the Roman governor Seyagrius, gained possession
of his capital, and was styled the first King of Gaul. Many authors
assert that Pharamond was the first monarch who reigned over the Gallic
states, but Lidonius Appolinarus, who wrote only fifty years after the
death of Pharamond persists that he and his three successors, who were
all predecessors of Clovis, were only kings reigning over a portion of
Gaul, and resigned their sovereignties at the retirement of the Romans.
Clovis was celebrated as one of the greatest warriors of the period in
which he lived; in the year 500 he slew Alaric King of the Visigoths in
single combat in the plain of Vouillé, near Poitou, and afterwards
several other petty kings, thereby adding considerably to his dominions.
In 508 he fixed his residence in Paris, and died there in 511, and was
buried in a church called St. Peter and St. Paul, since styled St.
Genevieve. He was called the Most Christian King. The Pope having no
confidence in the professions of any other monarch at that time, Clovis
is synonymous with the name of Louis, as the latter was formerly written
Llouis, the double l signifying in the Celtic language cl, and
pronounced in that manner at present in Welsh, as Llandovery, Llandilo,
etc., have the sound of Clandovery, Clandilo, etc., whilst the v in
Clovis has in more modern times been transformed into a u, as in all old
writings the u and the v had the same signification; hence it will be
found that Clovis and Llouis are the same word. His government being
divided amongst his four sons, Childebert received the portion in which
Paris was situated, and was styled King of Paris, which was only
retained by a few of his successors, who assumed that of King of Gaul,
or of France. The power of the monarch at that period was much
restrained, by a class of men called Leudes, Anstrutions, or faithful,
being companions in arms of the king, and sharing with him whatever
lands or booty might be gained by conquest. As a proof of the tenacity
of these gentry as to an equitable division of the spoil, when Clovis
had taken Rheims, he demanded as an act of grace from his companions in
arms, that they would grant him a precious vase for which he had
conceived a peculiar predilection; his request was accorded by his
associates, except one, who gave the vase a violent blow with his
hatchet, saying, "No, thou shalt not have any thing beyond what thy lot
awards thee." Even under the dominion of the Romans there were dukes who
had a certain number of troops or armed men in the district where they
governed, and their power was arbitrary and they had counts under them
who also had a certain number of men subjected to their orders;
sometimes these nobles carried rapine, pillage and slaughter into each
other's territories, when the government had devolved upon the Franks;
and the king took no notice of their misdeeds, as long as they observed
a certain fealty towards him, and in some instances they put aside the
monarch if he acted in such a manner as to trench upon what they
considered their privileges. A third power soon began to assume a high
authority, which consisted of the bishops, who had greatly aided the
Francs in their invasion of Gaul by their influence and intrigues, and
obtained as reward considerable grants of lands and temporal power; and
in their dioceses they exercised a sovereign will, and on account of
their possessing some instruction they maintained a certain influence
over the ignorant nobility who had in some degree a sort of
superstitious awe of them, as they were regarded as the emissaries of
saints. Under the Romans the Gauls were considered a moral people,
having become Christians in consequence of the persevering endeavours of
the missionary prelates, whilst churches were founded and a purity of
faith disseminated; taught by the Romans, a love of the arts and
sciences was engendered amongst the Gauls, and much talent was elicited
from them, philosophy, physic, mathematics, jurisprudence, poetry, and
above all eloquence, had their respective professors of no mean
abilities from amongst the natives; one named Julius Florens is styled
by Quintilian the Prince of Eloquence. In fact a brilliant era appeared
as if beginning to dawn throughout the greater portion of Gaul,
academies were establishing, learning was revered, when suddenly every
spark of refinement and civilisation was banished, by the successful
aggression and permanent occupation of the country by hordes of
barbarians; the natives being obliged to have recourse to arms for their
defence against the common enemy, and the constant excitement of
continued hostility with their ferocious oppressors, afforded no time
for study nor cultivation of the arts. Clovis, however, during his reign
improved Paris, and was converted to christianity by St. Vedast.
Clotilda, his wife, and niece to Gondebaud, king of Burgundy, was
principally instrumental to the conversion of her husband. Indeed,
amidst their ferocity and barbarism some of the early Frank kings showed
much respect for religion and morality, as is proved by an ordonnance of
Childebert in the year 554; commanding his subjects to destroy wherever
they might be found all idols dedicated to the devil; also forbidding
all disorderly conduct committed in the nights of the eves of _fêtes_,
such as Christmas and Easter, when singing, drinking, and other excesses
were committed; women were also ordered to discontinue going about the
country dancing on a Sunday, as it was a practice offensive to God. It
appears certainly very singular that a comparatively barbarous king in
the sixth century should prohibit dancing of a Sunday as a desecration
of the Sabbath, and that in the nineteenth century there should be more
dancing on a Sunday than on any other day in the week, at a period which
is arrived at the highest state of civilisation, and under the reign of
a most enlightened monarch. But although Clovis and Childebert displayed
much enthusiasm in the cause of christianity, their career was marked
with every cruelty incidental to conquest, as wherever they bore their
victorious arms, murder, rapine, and robbery stained their diabolical
course; but they thought that they expiated their crimes by building
churches. Hence Clovis in 508 founded the first erected in Paris
dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, afterwards called St. Genevieve,
and on its site now stands the Pantheon. Childebert in 558 built the
church of St. Germain des Près, which is still standing and much
frequented; it was at first called St. Vincent and St. Croix, and he
endowed it so richly with the treasures he had stolen from other
countries, that it was called the golden palace of St. Germain.
Chilperic imitating his predecessors, hoping to absolve himself of his
enormous crimes, in the year 606 founded the very interesting and
curious church of St. Germain, opposite the Louvre, and still an object
of admiration to the lover of antiquity. His wife Fredegonde, imagining
no doubt by that act he had made his peace for the other world, thought
that the sooner he went there the better, before he committed any
farther sins, and had him assassinated that she might the more
conveniently pursue her own course of iniquity; perhaps never was the
page of history blackened by such a list of atrocities committed by
woman as those perpetrated by her and her rival Queen Brunehault, who
was ultimately tied to the tail of a wild horse and torn to pieces in
613. Paris, however, notwithstanding the wickedness, injustice, and
cruelty of its rulers, continued to increase, and would no doubt have
become a prosperous city, had it not been for the incursions of the
Normands, who in the ninth century entered Paris, burnt some of the
churches, and meeting with scarcely any resistance, made themselves
masters of all they could find, whilst the Emperor Charles the Bald, at
the head of an army, had the pusillanimity to treat with them, and
finally to give them seven thousand pounds of silver to quit Paris,
which was only an encouragement for them to return, which they did in a
few years after, carrying devastation wherever they appeared, the poor
citizens of Paris being obliged to save their lives by flight, leaving
all their property to the mercy of the brigands. At length, the
Parisians finding that there was no security either for themselves or
their possessions, prevailed on Charles the Bald to give the requisite
orders for fortifying the city, which was so far accomplished that it
resisted the attacks of the Normans for thirteen months, who as
constantly laid siege to the grand tower which was its principal
defence, without being able to take it; when at last Charles the Fat in
887 proved as weak as his predecessors, and although he was encamped
with his army at Montmartre, consented to give the barbarians fourteen
thousand marks of silver to get rid of them, and they quitted Paris to
go and pillage other parts of France, but as by the treaty they were not
allowed to pass the bridges, in order to ascend the Seine they were
obliged to carry their vessels over the land for about two thousand
yards and again launch them for the purpose of committing farther
depredations. From this period Paris was freed from the attacks of the
the Normans, yet commerce made but slow progress having constant
obstructions arising, to impede its prosperity. Paris having for a long
time ceased to be the royal residence, was no longer considered as the
capital, Charlemagne passed but a very short period of time there,
residing mostly at Aix-la-Chapelle and Ratisbon, and although he founded
many noble institutions in different parts of France, Paris derived but
little benefit from his talents, and his immediate successors displayed
such imbecility of purpose that they suffered their kingdom to become
the prey to marauders. Learning advanced but slowly, although there were
some schools at Paris which, elicited a few authors; amongst the rest
one named Abbon, who wrote a poem in latin upon the siege of Paris by
the Normans, which was not otherwise other-worthy of remark than for its
rarity at the epoch when it was written. Whilst the kings of France
continued to reside in other cities, Paris was confided to the
governments Counts, who held not a very high rank amongst the nobility
in the first instance, but gradually increased their power until Eudes,
Count of Paris, in 922 ultimately became King of France, which also was
the destiny of two other nobles who held the same title, Robert the
brother of Eudes, and Hugh Capet.
The progress of Paris and indeed the whole of France was retarded
continually by famine, fourteen seasons of scarcity happening in the
course of twenty-three years; in fact, from 843 to 899 such was often
the state of desolation, that hunger impelled human beings to murder
each other to feed upon the flesh of their bodies, which in many
instances were sold, and bought with eagerness by those who were
famishing with want. Unwholesome food caused thousands to be afflicted
with a disease which was called the sacred fire, the ardent malady, and
the infernal evil, the sufferers feeling as if they were devoured by an
internal flame. To give some idea of the luxury of costume which existed
in those days at Paris, it is but requisite to quote an address of Abbon
the poet to the Parisians, written about the year 890, wherein hen
observes: "An _agraffe_ (a clasp) of gold fastens the upper part of
your dress; to keep off the cold you cover yourselves with the purple
of Tyre, you will have no other cloak than a chlamyde embroidered with
gold, your girdle must be ornamented with precious stones, and gold
must sparkle even upon your shoes, and on the cane which you carry. O
France! if you do not abandon such luxurious extravagance, you will
lose your courage and your country." Hugh Capet, who became king of
France in 987, fixed his residence at Paris, thus again constituting it
the capital of the kingdom, and his son and successor Robert, being a
strict devotee, built and repaired several churches which had been
greatly injured by the Normans, and Paris began in his reign to assume
an appearance of improvement, which continued until it received a check
from an ill-timed joke of Philippe the First, who made a satirical
remark upon William the Conqueror of England having become rather
unwieldy, which so provoked that choleric monarch that he laid waste a
great portion of Philippe's dominions; when his progress was checked by
his falling from his horse, which occasioned his death and thus
delivered Philippe from a most powerful enemy. In the following reign,
that of Lewis the Fat, learning began to make considerable progress, and
the colleges of Paris to acquire a high celebrity, and amongst the
professors whose reputation was of the highest, was Abelard, no one
before having succeeded in attracting so many pupils. In 1118 he
established a school in Paris, but from a variety of persecutions which
he endured, he was frequently obliged to retire to different parts of
France; his unfortunate attachment to Heloise is but too well known, and
she ultimately became the abbess of a convent which Abelard founded at
Nogent-sur-Seine, and which he called Paraclet. The number of pupils at
one time are stated to have been three thousand, and he instructed them
in the open air; it is also asserted that of his followers fifty became
either bishops or archbishops, twenty cardinals, and one pope, Celestin
II. In fact the fame of Abelard had arrived at such an altitude that he
was the means of giving a new era to Paris, which was designated the
city of letters; other professors became highly celebrated, and some
authors pretend that the immense concourse of students who ultimately
flocked to Paris, exceeded the number of the inhabitants, and there was
much difficulty in finding the means of lodging them; how great must
have been the anxiety for learning, as the masters were exceedingly
brutal and imparted their knowledge to the pupil by the force of blows,
which at length deterred many students from placing themselves under the
charge of such preceptors. This extraordinary desire for obtaining
education appears to have been almost a sudden impulse, as the immediate
descendants of Hugh Capet could not read or write, but were obliged to
make a mark as the signature to their edicts, whilst those who possessed
that accomplishment were styled clerks. Although much brilliance was
shed over the reign of Louis the Sixth by the learning of Abelard and
the professors who followed him, yet soon after the barbarous custom was
introduced of trial by combat; the idea might probably have been
suggested by Louis having challenged Henry the First of England to
decide their differences in a single encounter. Although Lewis the Fat
was so bulky as to have obtained the cognomen by which he was always
designated, he was one of the most active kings of France; constantly
harrassed by perpetual wars with his neighbours and nobles, which he
carried on personally and generally successfully, he first undertook the
fortifying of Paris and is supposed to have constructed the greater and
the lesser Châtelet, two towers on the opposite sides of the Seine,
although many authors pretend that they were of a much more ancient
date; he also built walls round a certain portion of the suburbs, which
by that time had become part of Paris. It was said of Lewis VI, "He
might have been a better king, a better man he could not." He died in
1137.
In the succeeding reign of Louis VII, surnamed the Younger, many
privileges were granted to the Parisians which greatly increased the
prosperity of the city; several public buildings were erected, amongst
the rest an hospital which was the first ever built in Paris. But
according to the descriptions of all authors who wrote at that period
upon the subject, the streets were in a filthy condition in many parts
of the city, and the names which have long since been changed were as
dirty and indecent; some were absolutely ridiculous; as Did you find me
Hard, Bertrand Sleeps, Cut Bread, John Bread Calf (alluding to the leg);
the last still exists, as also Bad Advice, Bad Boys, etc. It was in this
reign that the first crusade from France took place, and Louis VII was
followed by 200,000 persons, and after various encounters with the
Saracens, he owed his preservation to his own personal prowess; he was
divorced from his Queen Eleanor, who afterwards married Henry II of
England, and proved herself a detestable character in both kingdoms.
Louis VII abolished one law which had long disgraced France, allowing
the officers of the King on his arrival in Paris or other towns in his
dominions, to enter any private house and take for the monarch's use
such bedding or other articles of furniture as his Majesty might
require. Louis also by force of arms compelled his nobles to desist from
robbing the merchants, dealers, and the poor of their property. At this
period the _Fête des Fous_, or feast of madmen was celebrated to its
full extent, and anything more absurd, more farcical, or more
irreverential cannot well be imagined. Dulaure, in his voluminous
History of Paris, gives a most detailed account of this extraordinary
mockery, of which I will give my readers a very brief abridgment.
On the first of January the clergy went in procession to the bishop who
had been elected as the grand master of the fête, conducting him
solemnly to the church with all the ecclesiastical banners usually borne
on important occasions, amidst the ringing of bells; when arrived at the
choir, he was placed in the episcopal seat, and mass was performed with
the most extravagant gesticulations. The priests figuring away in the
most ridiculous dresses; some in the costume of buffoons, others in
female attire with their faces daubed with soot, or covered with hideous
masks, some dancing, others jumping, or playing different games,
drinking, and eating puddings, sausages, etc., offering them to the
high-priest whilst he was celebrating high mass; also burning old shoes
in the chalice, instead of incense, to produce a disagreeable scent; at
length, elevated by wine, their orgies began to have the appearance of
those of demons, roaring, howling, singing, and laughing until the walls
of the church echoed with their yells. This was often carried on until
they worked themselves up to a pitch of madness, and then they began
boxing each other until the floor of the church would be smeared with
blood; upon which most severe expiations were exacted from them; as,
however, much has been shed in the cause of the church, it was not to be
permitted that the holy sanctuary should ever be stained with aught so
impure. The ecclesiastics at last quitting the church, got into carts
filled with mud and filth, amusing themselves with flinging it upon the
crowds who followed them in such streets as were wide enough for a cart
to pass. It is conjectured that these festivities, with their
nonsensical ceremonies, were of pagan origin, and probably the
celebration of the Carnival is derived from the same source; many
attempts were made to abolish so disgraceful a custom as the continuance
of the Fêtes des Fous, with the absurdities incidental to its revelries,
but it was not until the Parisians became more enlightened that any
monarch could succeed in its entire suppression.
In 1180 Philippe Auguste succeeded his father, and did more for Paris
than all the works of his predecessors united; he reconstructed Notre
Dame, and made it such as it now is with respect to the grand body of
the building; but the variety of little chapels contained within it, and
the elaborate workmanship, with the bas, mezzo and alto relievos with
which it abounds, occupied two centuries. On the exterior of the
building on the south side, about three feet and a half from the ground,
is an inscription in raised letters nearly two inches long, and the date
being perfectly distinct is 1257 written thus, MCCLVII. The two last
characters have dropped, but the impression of them is clearly visible;
the inscription itself is difficult to decypher, it is in Latin, and
some of the letters are missing, others so curiously formed as to render
them doubtful exactly as to their import. The greater part of the
characters are Roman, the others resemble more the Saxon, yet are not
quite so; at all events I recommend the inscription to the attention of
the curious. A vast space, which is now covered with streets, commencing
at the Rue des Saints Pères, and extending to the Invalids, consisted
entirely of meadows, and was called the Pré aux Clercs, or the Clerks'
Field, from the students and a number of young men who possessed some
education, usually enjoying their recreations in this spot, but
certainly not in the most innocent manner, in fact, the disorders
committed in this privileged piece of ground, which the students
considered as their own, were such as to be often named in history, and
to have formed the subject of a favourite Melo Drama; it retained its
character as being the scene of turbulence and disorder even to the
time of Louis XIV.
Amongst other useful undertakings effected by Philippe Auguste was that
of establishing markets with covered stalls, and he it was that first
conceived the idea of paving Paris, which he partially effected, and
surrounded the town with a wall, part of which is still standing in the
Rue Clovis. Paris increased and flourished under his reign; he in fact
did all that was possible to augment its prosperity, and amongst other
measures he granted the utmost protection in his power to the students,
knowing that the more the population of the city increased, the more
flourishing was its condition; by such means he induced scholars to come
in numbers from the most distant parts to study in the colleges of
Paris, two of which he erected, as well as three hospitals; he also
instituted many good laws, which protected the tradespeople and
repressed the robberies and extortions of the nobles. But Paris was
still subject to calamities, a flood having occurred from the
overflowing of the Seine, which reached as high as the second floor
windows of some houses. A great part of Paris was occupied with
monasteries and convents, which with their gardens covered an immense
space; in the course of time, however, the monks found it advantageous
to dispose of their lands for the purpose of building dwelling-houses,
and in the Revolution numbers were suppressed; and in some quarters of
the city there are warehouses in the occupation of different tradesmen,
which formerly formed part of the old monasteries. Many of the streets
by their names still indicate the order of the convents by which they
were occupied, as the Rue Blanc Manteaux (White Cloaks), Rue des Saints
Pères (Holy Fathers), Filles de Dieu (Daughters of God), which now is
one of the narrowest and dirtiest streets in Paris, and inhabited by
daughters of a very different description. Such are the extraordinary
changes which time effects. Philippe Auguste dying in 1223, was
succeeded by his son Louis VIII, surnamed the Lion, whose short reign of
four years was occupied by war, leaving no leisure for effecting any
great improvement in Paris; but under his successor Lewis IX, styled
Saint-Louis, much was effected, although his efforts were principally
directed towards the erection of religious institutions, being much
under the dominion of the priests, and naturally possessing a fanatic
zeal. Churches at that period were too often but monuments of
superstition for the celebration of mummery, for sheltering criminals,
receptacles for pretended relics, and in fact instruments for
maintaining the power of priestcraft. This same Saint Louis, so lauded
by some authors, had some excellent notions of his own, and was very
fond of practising summary justice, recommending to his nobles that
whenever they met with any one who expressed any doubts regarding the
Christian religion, never to argue with the sceptist, but immediately
plunge their swords into his body.
Rhetoric at this period was a study much followed and admired, but the
logic of Saint-Louis, I suspect, was the most forcible and best
calculated to remove all doubts, having a great objection to language
that was what some persons would style far too energetic; where an oath
was suffered to escape, he ordered the intemperate orator's tongue to be
pierced with a hot iron and his lips burnt; hence many of his subjects
were compelled to endure that operation; but this was considered in
those days all very saint-like. They had strange ideas in some
instances, in days of yore, according to our present notion of words and
things. Louis the First, surnamed the _Débonnaire_ (the gentle), had his
nephew Bernard's eyes bored out; this act was certainly very like a
_gentle_ man. Hugh the Great, so called on account of his splendid
virtues, in the year 1014 thought it proper that he should be present at
the burning of a few heretics, and his lady, with her ardent religious
zeal, stepped forward and poked out the eye of her confessor, who was
one of the victims, with her walking cane, before he was committed to
the flames. Louis however had some redeeming qualities; he founded the
Hospital of the Quinze-Vingts, which still exists; he also enlarged and
improved the Hôtel Dieu, the principal hospital in those days, in which
he even exceeded the munificence of his predecessor, Philippe Auguste,
who published an ordonnance commanding that all the straw which had been
used in his chamber should be given to the Hôtel Dieu, whenever he
quitted Paris and no longer wanted it; such overpowering kindness one
would imagine must have had the effect of curing some of the invalids
who were capable of appreciating the high honour conferred upon them, in
being suffered to lie upon straw which had been trodden by royal feet.
Saint Louis also founded the celebrated College of the Sorbonne, which
is still existing, and maintains a high character; he also built the
curious and interesting chapel adjoining the Palais de Justice, which is
well worth the amateur's attention; he founded the Hospital of Les
Filles de Dieu, for the purpose of reclaiming women of improper conduct.
The Mendicant Monks, the Augustines, and the Carmes were established in
France during his reign, and he founded the convents of the Beguines,
Mathurins, Jacobins, Carthusians, Cordeliers, and several others of
minor importance, in Paris, with the chapels attached to them; besides
different churches with which I shall not tire my reader with
recapitulating, as there are none of them now standing, except the
chapel belonging to the Palais de Justice; he also added several
fountains, contributing to the comforts of the Parisians, as well as
embellishing their city. The number of churches which have been
demolished in Paris within the last fifty years, exceeds the number of
those which are now standing, many of them during the Revolution, which
might have been expected; but an equal number under the Restoration in
the reigns of Louis the Eighteenth and Charles the Tenth, who being
rather devotees, one would have imagined might have been induced to
repair and preserve all religious monuments, also highly interesting as
specimens of the architecture of the different ages in which they were
founded. Louis Philippe has better kept up the spirit of the
_restoration_ in having rescued from demolition the ancient and
beautiful church of St Germain l'Auxerrois; which was to have been
pulled down to make way for a new street, according to the plan
projected by his predecessor; instead of which, it has been repaired
with the greatest judgment, carefully preserving the original style of
the building wherever ornaments or statues required to be renewed. Thus
this noble edifice has been preserved to the public, which would not
have been the case had the Revolution of the Three Days not occurred, as
its doom was sealed prior to that period. In fact, since the accession
to the throne of Louis Philippe, I do not believe that any church has
been pulled down, though several others have been built, and others
finished, which have greatly added to the embellishments of the city.
The memory of Louis IX has ever been cherished as that of a Saint, and
if a man be judged by the number of religious establishments he
instituted, certainly he deserved to be canonised; but however grand may
be the reputation of having founded and erected so many public
monuments, yet when it is considered that numbers of the inmates of the
different convents and monasteries erected by this Saint were obliged to
demand alms from house to house, and of persons passing along the
streets, it will be proved that the grand result of Saint Louis'
operations was to fill Paris with beggars; although it certainly must be
admitted that some of his other acts in a great degree compensated for
those into which he was led by superstition and religious fanaticism: he
was succeeded by his son Philippe the Bold in 1270, who suffered himself
to be governed by his favourite, La Brosse, formerly a barber, in which
it must be admitted that Philippe displayed rather a _barbarous_ taste,
which ended in his pet being hanged; his reign, however, was signalised
by the establishment of a College of Surgeons, who were designated by
the appellation of Surgeons of the Long Robe, whilst the barbers were
styled Surgeons of the Short Robe; he also recalled the Jews, whom his
father, after having persecuted in divers manners, banished and
confiscated their property; amongst other indignities which were put
upon them by Saint Louis, was that of forcing them to wear a patch of
red cloth on their garment both before and behind, in the shape of a
wheel, that they might be distinguished from Christians, and marked as
it were for insult. In Philippe's reign, however, merit found its
reward, no matter how low the origin from whence it sprang, and several
authors, particularly poets, wrote boldly against the extreme hypocrisy
which existed in the preceding reign, and literature made great
progress.
In 1285 Philippe the Fair, so named on account of his handsome person,
succeeded to the throne of his father; in his ardent thirst for money he
changed the value of the coinage three times, and caused a riot which
ended by his hanging twenty-eight of the conspirators at the different
entrances of Paris, and had numbers of persons accused of crimes in
order to have them executed that he might obtain possession of their
property; thus hundreds were burned alive and tortured in various
manners. One act, however, threw a degree of lustre on his reign, and
that was the organisation of the Parliament at Paris, establishing it as
a sovereign court, their sittings being held in the Palais de Justice,
the residence at that period of the kings of France. For several
succeeding reigns Paris appeared to make but little progress; some
churches were built as also other establishments, but none which are now
standing, except some portions of them which may have escaped
destruction and are now in the occupation of different tradespeople. The
government became exceedingly poor, and several measures were adopted in
order to repair the finances of the state; amongst others, that of
suffering serfs to purchase their emancipation, of which many availed
themselves, but not sufficient effectually to replenish the exhausted
treasury. For the same reason the property of the Lombards was
confiscated, next recourse was had to the Jews, and even the exactions
imposed upon them were inadequate to the wants of the nation. The
succession of several weak kings had brought affairs into this state,
when Philippe the Sixth of Valois crowned the misfortunes of the country
by entering into a war with England, at a time when the funds of his
kingdom were at the lowest ebb; constantly engaged in hostilities, he
had not leisure or the means of attending to the welfare of the
Parisians, and the disasters he encountered caused his reign to be
remembered as a series of misfortunes. Several colleges, however, were
founded in his reign; amongst others, that of the Collége des Ecossais
(Scotch College) then in the Rue des Amandiers, but now existing in the
Rue des Fossés St. Victor. It was first instituted by David, Bishop of
Murray, in Scotland, but the present building was erected by Robert
Barclay in 1662.
The Collége des Lombards was founded by a number of Italians, and was
some years afterwards deserted, but in 1633 was given by the government
to two Irish priests, and has from that period become an Irish seminary;
and several other colleges, which have either been abandoned or their
locality changed, and often united to other colleges, some of which are
still existing. On the death of Philippe, John, surnamed the Good,
ascended a throne of trouble in 1350, and encountered a succession of
misfortunes of which Paris had its share; from the immense number of
churches, monasteries, colleges, hospitals, and other public edifices,
the wall which surrounded Paris, built by Philippe-Auguste, enclosed too
limited a space to contain the houses of the increased population, which
continued to augment, notwithstanding all the impediments which bad
government could create. A more extended wall therefore became necessary
to protect those inhabitants who resided beyond the limits of the first,
and whose position was likely to be compromised by the position in
which France was placed by the battle of Poitiers, by a band of
ruffians called the Companions, who carried desolation wherever they
appeared, and by what was termed La Jacquerie, hordes of peasants who
were armed and levied contributions upon the peaceable inhabitants as
they traversed the country, in groups too numerous to be withstood by
the tranquil residents. The extension of the wall was erected under the
superintendence of Etienne Marcel, called _Prévôt des Marchands_; what
might be termed Mayor or Chief Magistrate of the tradespeople, a man of
extraordinary energy, which he exerted to the utmost for the benefit of
his fellow citizens, and at this period first began the custom of
putting chains at night across the streets as a measure of security, as
notwithstanding that Paris was menaced on all sides by enemies from
without, insurrections of the most violent nature took place within its
walls, commencing on account of the Dauphin, who was governor of Paris
and regent of the kingdom (in consequence of the imprisonment of his
father John in England), issuing a coinage consisting of base metal
which he was compelled to recall; but the fire-brand was kindled, other
grievances were mooted, thirty thousand armed Parisians assembled headed
by Etienne Marcel, who himself stabbed Robert de Clermont, Marshal of
Normandy, and Jean de Conflans, Marshal of Champagne, in the presence of
the Dauphin; but to save the latter from the fury of the people, Marcel
changed hats with the Prince, thus affording him a passport, by causing
him to wear a hat that bore the colours of the people, blue and red.
After a tremendous slaughter, Marcel and his principal friends were
themselves dispatched by the partisans of the Dauphin. During all these
convulsions in the interior of Paris, it was surrounded on one side by
the troops of the King of Navarre, whilst the forces of the Dauphin were
hovering under the walls, the different parties skirmishing with each
other, and all living upon the pillage and contributions levied on the
inhabitants of the adjacent country.
Meantime famine thinned the population of Paris, cut off from any means
of receiving provisions from without; but on account of the wall
constructed by Marcel, Edward III of England found it impossible to make
any progress in the siege, and having exhausted the country for some
leagues of extent, was obliged to retreat for want of food to maintain
his army. The scarcity of money was such in Paris at that period, that
they were compelled to have a circulation of leather coin, with a little
nail of gold or silver stuck in the middle; yet when John returned from
his captivity in England, the streets were hung with carpets wherever he
had to pass, and a cloth of gold borne over his head, the fountains
poured forth wine, and the city made him a present of a silver buffet
weighing a thousand marcs. At this period schools existed in Paris
sanctioned by the government, when the pay for each scholar was so
contemptible that they must have been for the use of the middle
classes, whose means were very confined; they were called _Petites
Écoles_ (Little Schools), and paid a certain sum for having the
privilege to teach; the number in the reign of John was sixty-three, of
which forty-one were under masters, and twenty-two under mistresses. In
some of the streets of Paris it was the custom to have two large doors
or gates, which were closed at night, and the names of several streets
still bear evidence of that practice, as the _Rue des deux Portes_; the
_Rue des Deux-Portes-Saint-Jean_, _des Deux-Portes-Saint-Sauveur_, etc.
During the reign of John, about 1350, a poem appeared, which contained
advice as to the conduct ladies ought to observe who wished to act with
propriety, and as my fair countrywomen are generally willing to _listen_
to good counsel, no matter how remote the period from which it is
derived, I cannot resist giving them the benefit of some of the
recommendations of the sapient poet to the Parisian belles, some of
which are certainly highly commendable. The verses were written by a
monk, whose name I have forgotten.
"In walking to church never trot or run, salute those you meet upon the
way, and even return the salutations of the poor; when at church it is
not proper to look either to the right or the left, neither to speak nor
to laugh out loud, but to rise to the Gospel and courteously make the
sign of the cross, to go to the offering without either laughing or
joking, at the moment of the elevation also to rise; then kneel and
pray for all Christians; to recite by heart her prayers, and _if she can
read_, to pray from her psalmody.
"A courteous lady ought to salute all in going out of church, both great
and small.
"Those whom nature have endowed with a good voice ought not to refuse to
sing when they are asked.
"Cleanliness is so necessary for ladies, that it is an obligation for
them to cut their nails.
"It is not proper for a lady to stop in passing the house of a
neighbour, to look into the interior, because people may be doing things
that they do not wish others to know.
"When you go and visit a person, never enter abruptly, nor take any one
by surprise, but announce your coming by coughing.
"At table, a lady should not speak nor laugh too much, and should always
turn the biggest and the best pieces to her guests, and not choose them
for herself.
"Every time a lady has drank wine she should wipe her mouth with the
table-cloth, but not her eyes or her nose, and she should take care not
to soil and grease her fingers in eating, more than she can possibly
help." The reader must remember that forks were not used until the reign
of Henry III. The author also cautions the ladies to be very careful not
to drink to excess, observing that a lady loses talent, wit, beauty, and
every charm, when she is elevated with wine; they are also recommended
not to swear.
He continues: "Ladies should not veil their faces before nobles; they
may do so when they are on horseback or when they go to church, but on
entering they should show their countenances, and particularly before
people of quality.
"Ladies should never receive presents from gentlemen of jewels or other
things, except from a well intentioned near relation, otherwise it is
very blameable.
"It is not becoming for ladies to wrestle with men, and they are also
cautioned not to lie or to steal." Then follow certain instructions for
ladies as to the answers they should make and the manner they should
conduct themselves when they receive a declaration. I hope English
ladies will be much edified by the above instructions. The cries of
Paris at this period were constant and absolutely stunning; Guillaume de
la Villeneuve observes that the criers were braying in the streets of
Paris from morning to night. Amongst the vegetables, garlick was the
most prevalent, which was then eaten with almost every thing, people
being in the habit of rubbing their bread with it: the flour of peas and
beans made into a thick paste was sold all hot; onions, chervil,
turnips, aniseed, leeks, etc., a variety of pears and apples of sorts
that are now scarcely known, except Calville, services, medlers, hips
and other small fruits now no longer heard of; nuts, chesnuts of
Lombardy, Malta grapes, etc.; for beverage, wine at about a farthing a
quart; mustard vinegar, verjuice, and walnut oil; pastry, fresh and
salted meat, eggs and honey. Others went about offering their services
to mend your clothes, some to repair your tubs, or polish your pewter;
candles, cotton for lamps, foreign soup, and almost every article that
can be imagined was sold in the streets, sometimes the price demanded
was a bit of bread. The millers also went bawling about to know if you
had any corn to grind, and amongst those that demanded alms were the
scholars, the monks, the nuns, the prisoners and the blind.
It was the custom in those days, when a person wished to be revenged
upon another, to make an image of him in wax or mud, as much resembling
as possible. They then took it to a priest and had it named after the
person they wished to injure, with all the ceremonies of the church, and
anointed it, and lastly had certain invocations pronounced over the
unfortunate image. It was then supposed that the figure had some degree
of identity with the prototype, and any injury inflicted upon it would
be felt by the person they wished to harm; they therefore then set to
work to torture it according to their fancy, and at last would plunge a
sharp instrument into that part where the heart should be placed,
feeling quite satisfied they had wreaked their revenge on their enemy.
Sometimes persons were severely punished for the performance of this
farce, and when any individuals experienced some great misfortune, they
often imagined that it had arisen in consequence of their image having
been made by their enemy, and maltreated in the manner described.
When Charles V ascended the throne in 1364, he soon began to display his
taste for civilisation by collecting books to form a library in the
Louvre, and rewarding merit, however humble the station of the
individual by whom it was possessed; and although he received the reins
of government at a period when France was surrounded with enemies, and
her finances in a ruined state, such was the prudence of his measures
that he completely retrieved her losses, and well earned the appellation
he received of Charles the Wise; he built several churches, colleges,
and hotels, none of which if standing are now appropriated to the
purposes originally intended; he also had several bridges constructed,
and embellished Paris with many edifices that were both useful and
ornamental. But all his efforts were paralysed in the following reign of
Charles VI, justly called the Simple, partly mad, partly imbecile, and
coming to the throne at twelve years of age, every misfortune that might
have been expected from a country surrounded by foreign enemies without,
and torn by intestine broils within, happened in the fullest force. The
English and the Burgundians united together in besieging Paris, which
was ultimately entered by both their armies; what with riots amongst the
Parisians, the intrigues of the Queen Isabeau de Baviere, the
dissensions of the King's uncles, and the brigandage of the nobility who
overran the country, never was a nation reduced to a more pitiable
condition; yet some monuments were added to Paris even during this
turbulent reign, the Church of St. Gervais being entirely reconstructed
in 1420, and that of St. Germain l'Auxerrois so considerably repaired as
to be almost rebuilt in 1425, besides several colleges, hospitals and
bridges; companies of archers, cross-bow men and armourers were also
established. Theatrical representations were first performed in this
reign in the grand hall of the Hospital of the Trinity, _Rue
Saint-Denis_, corner of the _Rue Grenetat_. The theatrical company
styled themselves "Masters, Governors and Brethren of the Passion and
Resurrection of our Lord." Under the reign of Charles VII, surnamed the
Victorious, France regained all she had lost, and was much indebted for
her success to the Maid of Orleans, and the gallant Dunois, who entered
Paris and defeated the English who retreated to the Bastille and
ultimately were allowed to retire to Rouen. But although more was
effected in this reign for the prosperity and glory of France, Paris
received no additions or embellishments: the King being wholly occupied
in vanquishing the enemies of his country; his son Lewis XI, who is
supposed to have conspired against the life of his father, ascended the
throne in 1461; notwithstanding his reign was disturbed by a series of
wars, he found time to occupy himself with useful institutions, and
founded that of the first society of printers in Paris; he also
established the School of Medicine, and the Post Office. Superstitious
and cruel, he first used iron cages as prisons, then instituted the
prayer styled the Angelus. Although he increased the power of France,
his tyranny, injustice, dissimulation, and avarice caused him to be
hated by his subjects. His successor Charles VIII was but thirteen when
called to the throne in 1483, inheriting the few virtues without the
many vices of his father, but showed much weakness in the administration
of his affairs; in the early part of his reign Anne his mother was the
person who principally governed as Regent, until he was of age, when he
passed the rest of his life in war, but was so beloved that two of his
servants died of grief for the loss of their master, who was surnamed
the Affable. He was succeeded by his cousin Lewis XII in 1498, who
obtained the title of Father of his People, certainly the most virtuous
monarch that ever swayed the sceptre of France; he observed that he
preferred seeing his courtiers laugh at his savings than to see his
people weep for his expenses. The Hôtel de Cluny and _Le Pont_ (the
bridge) _Notre-Dame_ were constructed in his reign and are still
standing; being the most ancient bridge in Paris. He died much
regretted, in 1515, and all France felt deeply the loss of a monarch,
whose measures were such as must have ensured the happiness of his
people could he have been spared to have accomplished the good work he
had begun.
Francis I, his great nephew, succeeded him and was considered the _beau
idéal_ of chivalry; he had been conspicuous for his accomplishments
whilst Duke de Valois, although only twenty-one when he ascended the
throne, upon which he was no sooner installed than compelled to quit his
capital to oppose the enemies of France, leaving the management of the
state to his mother Louisa of Savoy, who was not destitute of talent,
but vain and intriguing, Francis, after performing prodigies of valour,
and killing many foes with his own hand at the battle of Pavia, was
taken prisoner and conveyed to Madrid. On returning to France he was
received with the utmost joy by his subjects; in this reign the
principles of protestantism were first promulgated and several persons
were burnt for subscribing to the tenets of Luther. Francis was occupied
constantly with war, from the commencement of his reign until the year
of his death. He had many virtues but they were sullied by infidelity to
his engagements, and his persecution of the protestants whom he
sacrificed as heretics. Notwithstanding that his time was so much
occupied by his enemies that a very short period of his reign was passed
at Paris, he found means to embellish that city; the Church of St-Merri
in the _Rue St-Martin_ was built by his orders, precisely as it now
stands, in the year 1520. The style is Sarrasenzic, much richness of
sculpture is displayed, particularly over and around the middle door,
well meriting the close attention of an amateur. At the same period were
many of the churches now standing extensively repaired and nearly
rebuilt, amongst which St. Eustache, St. Gervais, St.
Jacques-la-Boucherie, of which the tower only remains, St.
Germain-l'Auxerrois, etc., several colleges and hospitals were
instituted, fountains and hotels erected, but scarcely any of them are
now to be seen, or at any rate very few as constructed in their
original form. He was succeeded by his son Henry II in 1547, who like
his predecessors was constantly occupied with war, but gained one point,
that of taking the last place which the English retained in France,
being Calais, which surrendered to the Duke de Guise; after a reign of
thirteen years Henry was killed at a tournament held in the _Rue
St-Antoine_, by Montgomery, the captain of his guard. The cruelties of
which he was guilty towards the protestants entirely eclipse whatever
good qualities he possessed, which principally consisted in desperate
courage with extraordinary prowess; he was also zealous in his
friendships. According to Dulaure, that part of the Louvre which is the
oldest, was built by Henry II from the design of Pierre Lescot. I have
found other authors attribute the erection of a portion of the Louvre to
Francis, but it appears that his son had all pulled down which was then
standing, and had it built as it now remains, except the wing in which
the pictures are exhibited, which is of a more recent date, and was not
terminated until the time of Louis XIV. The augmentation of some few
colleges and hospitals were the only acts of this reign from which any
advantages to Paris were derived.
In 1559, at the age of sixteen, Francis II ascended the throne; his name
is familiar to us as the first husband of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of
Scots; his mother, Catherine de Medici, of infamous memory, took the
reigns of government in her hands and wreaked all her fury upon the
protestants. Francis, too young to have displayed any decided tone of
character, expired in 1560; the persecution of the huguenots, as the
followers of the Reformed Church were styled, seems to have exclusively
occupied the whole time during this short reign, therefore no attention
was devoted to the improving of Paris, which was next brought under the
dominion of the young monster, Charles IX, or rather the continued reign
of his sanguinary mother, Catherine, he being but ten years of age. The
massacre of the night of St. Bartholomew is known to all. Charles
certainly had some revulsive feelings on the subject, and several times
would have given orders to stop it, but Catherine bade him assert the
claims of heaven, and be the noble instrument of its vengeance, "Go on,
then," exclaimed the King, "and let none remain to reproach me with the
deed," and after all, when daylight appeared, he placed himself at a
window of the Louvre, which overlooks the Seine, and with a carbine he
fired at the unfortunate fugitives who tried to save themselves by
swimming across the river. In his reign was built the Tuileries, he
himself laying the first stone; it was intended for the Queen Mother,
but Catherine did not inhabit it long, her conscience not permitting her
to enjoy repose anywhere. Charles died a few months after the dreadful
massacre of the protestants, a prey to all the pangs of remorse, and was
succeeded in 1574 by his brother Henry III. Brought up in the same
pernicious school, under the same infamous mother as his predecessor,
little could be hoped from such a being; he was inclined, however, to
be somewhat more tolerant than his brother, but was frightened into
persecuting the protestants; his mother died at the age of seventy,
goaded by the consciousness of the crimes she had committed; civil war
raged during the reign of Henry, and he was obliged to quit his capital
and join the protestants, whom he soon, however, betrayed; without
energy to adopt any certain line of conduct, he balanced between the two
parties of catholics and protestants, until both sects despised him, and
at length he was stabbed by a fanatic friar, named Jacques Clement.
Several convents and religious establishments were founded in his reign,
amongst the rest the Feuillans, which was extensive and had a church
attached, but in 1804 the whole was demolished, and on its site, and
that of the monastery of the Capucins, were built the Rue Rivoli,
Castiglione, and Monthabor, and a terrace of the gardens of the
Tuileries is still called the Feuillans. The Pont Neuf was also built in
this reign. In 1589, Henry IV, surnamed the Great, succeeded to the
throne; he was of the house of Bourbon, and descended from Robert, the
second son of Louis the Ninth. He was compelled to begin his reign by
laying siege to his own capital, which was in the hands of his enemies,
who defended it with 58,000 troops, and 1,500 armed priests, scholars
and monks, and after three years' vain endeavours he was obliged to
renounce the protestant religion, and conform to the catholic
ceremonies, which produced a truce, and Henry at last entered Paris. By
his mild and judicious conduct he regenerated the prosperity of France,
and published the famous edict of Nantes in favour of the protestants,
and acted with considerable wisdom under the difficult circumstances in
which he was placed, by the intemperate zeal of the catholics and
huguenots. At last, after many unsuccessful attempts upon his life, he
was stabbed in his own carriage by Ravaillac, a religious fanatic, who
conceived that the King was not sufficiently zealous in the cause of
catholicism; he was regretted by every worthy character throughout his
realms, for, although he had many of the faults common to men, yet he
had such redeeming qualities that he well merited the title of _Great_.
During his reign Paris was considerably embellished, the improvement of
the city being with him a favourite object. The Hospital of Saint Louis
was built by his orders, himself laying the first stone; it is still
standing, and is generally filled with patients, who receive the most
humane treatment. It is situated in the Rue Carême Prenant, near the
Barrière du Combat. He established a manufactory of Persian carpets, on
the _Quai de Billy_, No. 30.
The Rue and Place Dauphine, the Place Royale, which still exhibits a
square of houses unaltered in style since the day they were built, owed
their construction to his mania for building and passion for augmenting
and improving his capital. Several other streets were extended and in
part rebuilt under his reign, besides which he founded different
institutions, had divers fountains and gates erected, as well as
bridges, and some other public edifices, which having since disappeared
or become the houses of individuals, workshops, warehouses, etc., it is
not worthwhile to recapitulate them, as they cease to be objects of
interest. Several theatres were established at this period for the first
time, the performers having merely given representations in large rooms
belonging to public buildings where they could get accommodation,
particularly in the Hôtel de Bourgoyne, in the Rue Mauconseil, which at
last acquired the name of a theatre; but a company of Italians received
such encouragement from Henry IV, that they were enabled, in a situation
assigned them regularly, to establish a theatre in the Hôtel d'Argent,
Rue de la Poterie, corner of the Rue de la Verrerie. He was equally the
patron of literature, and of the arts and sciences; the Tuileries and
Louvre, under his directions, received the material and superintendence
which was requisite for their completion, as far as the design extended
at that epoch.
In 1610 Louis XIII, but nine years of age, became heir to the throne,
and Marie de Medici, his mother and widow of Henry IV, was nominated
Regent; her first act was to call into power all her husband's enemies,
which consisted of her own favourites, through whom she governed, and
when her regency ceased, her son followed her example and became the
instrument of others, until the power of governing was exclusively
acquired by Cardinal Richelieu, who devoted his extraordinary talents
in a degree to the interests of his country, but more especially to the
gratification of his vanity, and the promotion of his ambitious
projects; descending to the extremes of injustice, dissimulation, and
cruelty, to accomplish his object, he became the persecutor of Mary, who
had raised him from comparative obscurity, and caused her exile, in
which she died in poverty, which she certainly merited by her
misconduct, but not by the instigation of her _protégé_ Richelieu. But
with all his sins, he effected much good; he founded the Royal Printing
establishment, the French Academy, also the Garden of Plants; he built
the _Palais-Royal_ and rebuilt the Church and College of the Sorbonne.
In this reign more religious establishments were founded than in any
preceding, amongst which were the Convent of the _Carmes Déchaussés_,
No. 70, _Rue de Vaugirard_, the monks of which possessed a secret for
making a particular kind of liquid which is called _Eau des Carmes_, and
is still in demand; the church and building belonging to the
establishment are now standing, and were recently occupied by nuns. The
Convent of _Jacobins_ between the _Rues du Bac_ and _St-Dominique_, with
its Church, which still remains and is called _St-Thomas d'Aquin_, is
well worth notice, and the monastery is now occupied by the armoury
which is one of the most interesting sights of Paris. The _Bénédictines
Anglaises_, No. 269, _Rue St-Jacques_, was formerly occupied by English
monks, who fled their country on account of some persecution in the
reign of Henry VIII.
In 1674, Father Joseph Shirburne, the prior of monastery, pulled down
the old building, and erected another in its place more commodious, also
a church attached to it in which James the Second of England was buried,
as also his daughter Mary Stuart. It has now become the property of an
individual, and is at present occupied as a factory of cotton. The
Oratoire in the _Rue Saint-Honoré_, since devoted to protestant worship,
was built in the year 1621 by M. de Berulle, since Cardinal, on the site
of the _Hôtel du Bouchage_, once the residence of Gabrielle d'Estrées,
the favourite mistress of Henry IV. The Convent of the Capucins,
situated in the _Place des Capucins_, at present an Hospital. _Séminaire
des Oratoriens_, _Rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques_, 254, now occupied by
the Deaf and Dumb. _Collége des Jésuites_, at present College of
_Louis-le-Grand_. Convent of _Petits-Pères_: the church of which
still remains and is situated at the corner of the _Rue
Notre-Dame-des-Victoires_. The Monk Fiacre, called a Saint, was buried
in this church; thinking that his sanctity was a preservative against
evil, they stuck his portrait on all the hackney coaches, which was the
cause of their ever after being called Fiacre.
A further recapitulation of these establishments would only be tedious
to the reader, particularly as they are now for the most part become
private houses; suffice it to say, that in the reign of Louis XIII
twenty monasteries were established at Paris. The nunnery of
_Ursulines_; No. 47, _Rue Sainte-Avoye_, now a Jews' synagogue. The
Convent of the Visitation of St. Mary, _Rue Saint-Antoine_, Nos. 214
and 216; the church, still standing, was built in 1632 after the model
of _Notre-Dame-de-la-Rotonde_ at Rome, and is called
_Notre-Dame-des-Anges_. Another convent of the same order was built in
1623 in the _Rue Saint-Jacques_, Nos. 193 and 195, and is I believe
still occupied by nuns, as it was so very recently. The convent of
_Filles-de-la-Madeleine_, _Rue des Fontaines_, between the Nos. 14 and
16, which has now become a house of seclusion for women who have been
convicted of offences. The Convent of the Annonciades Celestes or Filles
Bleues, founded by the Marchioness de Verneuil, mistress of Henry IV, is
now in spite of all its pompous titles a waggon office in the _Rue
Culture-Sainte-Catherine_, No. 29. The Assumption, a convent for nuns,
of which the church is still standing in the _Rue Saint-Honoré_, between
the Nos. 369 and 371, is remarkable for its large dome, but appears
out of proportion with the rest of the building, which is otherwise not
destitute of merit. The _Val-de-Grâce_, a Benedictine Abbey, _Rue
Faubourg Saint-Jacques_, between the Nos. 277 and 279. The Queen Anne
of Austria founded the establishment in 1621; the church is still
preserved in perfect order, and is of very rich architecture, too
profuse in ornament. The rest of the building, once inhabited by
Benedictine nuns, is now an asylum for sick or wounded soldiers, being a
military hospital. _Port-Royal_, a convent for nuns, established in 1625
in the _Rue de la Bourbe_, is now a lying-in hospital. The Convent of
the _Filles de Sainte-Elisabeth_; the first stone was laid by Marie de
Medici in 1628, but was, like a multitude of others, suppressed in 1790,
the church only remaining; it is situated in the _Rue du Temple_,
between Nos. 107 and 109.
A Convent for Benedictine Nuns founded in 1636 in the _Rue de Sèvres_,
No. 3, being suppressed in 1778, was converted into the more useful
purpose of an hospital, and as such it still remains. The Convent of the
_Filles de la Ste-Croix_, situated No. 86, _Rue de Charonne_, was
occupied as recently as 1823 by nuns; it was founded in 1639. The noble
church of _St-Roch, Rue St-Honoré_, was commenced as a chapel in 1587,
and in 1622 was converted into a parish church, but was not entirely
finished until 1740. It is now the church attended by the royal family,
and is an object of interest to every one who visits Paris. The church
of _Ste-Marguerite_ was erected in 1625 in the _Rue St-Bernard_, Nos.
28 and 30, _Faubourg St-Antoine_, and is still attended by the
inhabitants of that quarter. _Maison de Scipion_ was founded in a street
of the same name in the year 1622 by an Italian gentleman named Scipio
Sardini, and is now the bakehouse for making bread for all the hospitals
in Paris. Such were the principal edifices instituted in Paris, during
the reign of Louis XIII, either as Convents, Monasteries, or Nunneries,
with churches attached to them; I have cited the most conspicuous of
those of which any vestiges remain, indicating their different
localities, besides a number of hospitals, most of which I have stated;
that of the _Incurables_ certainly merits attention, it was founded in
1632 in the _Rue de Sèvres_, and is now a refuge for those women of
whom no hopes can be cherished of ultimate recovery. The Palace of the
_Luxembourg_ was one of the most important edifices erected in this
reign by Mary de Medici whilst she was regent in 1615, in the _Rue
Vaugirard_, at present the Chamber of Peers, after having served the
purpose of a prison, for which a portion of it is still appropriated for
criminals against the state; but with its large and beautiful gardens it
merits a more detailed description, which will be given under the head
of public monuments. The whole number of religious establishments of all
descriptions built in the reign of Louis XIII, amount to forty-nine,
besides many Bridges, Fountains, Hôtels, Statues, etc., etc.; which
altogether so augmented Paris that it became requisite to have another
wall, affording the capital more extended dimensions, which was
accordingly constructed. Notwithstanding all these improvements the
streets of Paris were in a most filthy condition, constantly emitting a
disagreeable odour; they were very narrow and the greater portion of
them very ill paved, besides which they were infested with thieves, and
complaints were continually arising against the hosts of pages and
lackeys who insulted people in the streets, and were continually
committing some disorders, both during the day and the night, when
persons were frequently killed in the skirmishes that were constantly
taking place. Ordinances and edicts were continually appearing,
forbidding the pages and lackeys to wear arms, but all of no avail; when
any one was arrested, he was rescued by his companions, and the
officers of police sometimes killed. Louis XIII, ever feeble in mind,
and probably in constitution, died at the age of 42; it was supposed
from a premature decay.
The history of the reign of Louis the Fourteenth and those which follow
to the present day are so well known to the English, that whatever I
might state respecting them would only be to my readers a repetition of
that of which they are already informed, as the continual wars for the
last two centuries between England and France have brought the nations
in constant contact; but prior to that period, even the most prominent
events of the French history are but little known to the English, and in
order to enhance the enjoyment of examining the old buildings in Paris,
I conceived it necessary to give a slight sketch of the monarchs under
whom they were erected, with the dates as accurately as could be
ascertained, but consider that it would be useless to do so as regards
those edifices constructed since the reign of Louis XIII, as they can
only afford pleasure as regards their utility or beauty; as if not two
hundred years old, the age of their date ceases to excite interest,
although I shall describe them in due course. I have often been
surprised that in all schools, although they give the history of Rome,
of Greece, and of course of England, yet of France, which is the country
the nearest to us, we are suffered to remain ignorant as to its history.
We have all heard of the battles of Cressy, Poitiers and Agincourt, and
remember that they were gained by the Edwards and Henry the Fifth, but
few persons know anything about who were the French kings under whom
they were lost; the only instances where the history of the French is
brought to our minds, is when any connexion by marriage has occurred
between the families of the sovereigns of the two nations.