pay and maintenance of the garrison: in 1369, the salary of the governor
of Caen was fixed at one thousand livres annually; half of it arising
from the revenues of the Viscounty of Caen, the other moiety from those
of the Viscounty of Bayeux. The garrison, during the fourteenth century,
was limited in time of peace to six esquires and ten crossbow-men. Even
during the short period of English power, the governor was allowed for
the defence of the place only thirty heavy-armed soldiers and ninety
archers, half of their number being mounted. Upon the capture of Caen by
Charles VII. in 1450, that monarch left in the castle a garrison
amounting to nearly three hundred soldiers; and this number was not
reduced below one hundred and forty, upon the conclusion of the peace.
The above particulars, translated almost verbatim from the Abbé De la
Rue's recent publication upon Caen,[85] do not place the castle, as a
fortress, in the important light which might reasonably have been
expected, considering its reputed strength and its great extent.
Monstrelet,[86] speaking of it in his own time, says, "it is the
strongest in all Normandy, fortified with high and great bulwarks of a
very hard stone, situated upon a rock, and containing in extent as much
as the whole town of Corbeil." De Bourgueville[87] enters, as might be
expected, more at large into the subject. His description is full and
interesting.[88]
A short time previously to the revolution, when Caen was visited by
Ducarel,[89] the greater part of the castle was much out of order,
having been altogether neglected; but the dungeon had then lately
undergone a thorough repair, and was used as a place of confinement for
state prisoners, and for such others, as by _lettres de cachet_,
obtained at the joint request of their family, were deprived of their
liberty, in order to prevent their incurring the disgrace, after having
been exposed to the misfortune, of poverty.
On the subject of its present condition, we learn from Mr. Turner,[90]
that, "degraded as it is in its character by modern innovation, it is
more deserving of notice as an historical, than as an architectural,
relic; but that it still claims to be reckoned as a place of defence,
though it retains but few of its original features. The spacious, lofty
circular towers, which flanked its ramparts, known by the names of the
black, the white, the red, and the grey horse, have been brought down to
the level of the platform. The dungeon-tower is destroyed; and all the
grandeur of the Norman castle is lost, though the width of its ditches,
and the thickness of its walls, still testify its ancient
strength."--The same author proceeds to state, that "there are reasons
for supposing that Caen, when first founded, only occupied the site of
the present castle; and that, when it became advisable to convert the
old town into a fortress, the inhabitants migrated into the valley
below."--He adds, upon the authority of De Bourgueville, that "six
thousand infantry could be drawn up in battle array, within the outer
ballium; and that so great was the number of houses and of inhabitants,
inclosed within the area, that it was thought expedient to build in it a
parochial church, dedicated to St. George, besides two chapels."
One of these chapels has been supposed to be the subject of the present
plate; but the high authority of the Abbé De la Rue[91] seems to render
such a supposition at least doubtful. Indeed, the reverend author
enumerates no fewer than six chapels within the precincts of the castle,
without, however, entering upon a description of the remains of any one
of them. At the same time, he particularly notices the religious
building here figured, evidently regarding it as having served formerly
for a parochial church. At present, it is desecrated, and is devoted to
the office of a military storehouse. M. De la Rue regards it as being
not only the oldest architectural relic in Caen, but as an erection of
the tenth century. He founds this opinion upon its construction,
destitute of any tower; upon the circular arches of its door and
windows; upon its zig-zag mouldings; upon the monsters of its
corbel-table; and, above all, upon the peculiarity of its position; the
choir being turned to the west, and the front to the east. It was,
according to him, in the eleventh century, that the practice, now
uniformly adopted, of placing churches in an opposite direction, was
first introduced. The irregularity of the early Norman religious
edifices, in this latter respect, has already been noticed under a
preceding article.[92]
NOTES:
[85] _Essais Historiques_, II. p. 272.
[86] _Chronicles_, (Johnes' Translation) III. p. 472.
[87] _Recherches et Antiquitez de la Ville de Caen_, p. 19.
[88] Indeed, so detailed and curious is this account, that, though
rather long, it appears desirable here to insert it.--"Reste à present à
descrire la situation de ce superbe chasteau, lequel est apparent et
haut eslevé comme une couronne et propugnacle à ceste grande ville, il a
esté de tout tems l'un des premiers de ce royaume en beauté, grandeur,
et forteresse pour estre assis sur un roc naturel, venteux, non sujet à
la mine, ny escalade, accompaigné de son donjon, au mitan duquel est
eslevee une tour carree d'une admirable grosseur et hauteur, circuye de
fortes murailles, et aux coings quatre grosses et hautes tours rondes à
plate forme à plusieurs estages, que l'on a nommees, l'une le cheval
blanc, l'autre le cheval noir, la tierce le cheval rouge, et la quatre
le cheval grix, lesquelles seruent par aucunes fois pour enfermer les
plus insignes voleurs, les fossez de ce donion sont à fonds de cuue
comme ceux de ce chasteau d'une epouuantable profondeur, tellement
qu'ils ne sont suiets à l'escalade, le belle ou basse court de ce
chasteau est de si ample estendue qu'on y peut mettre en ordre de
bataille pour combatre cinq ou six mil hommes de pied, et y peut on
loger nombre de caualerie pour faire des saillies sur un camp
adversaire, les croniques contiennent qu'il y a plusieurs villes en
France moindres que ce chasteau, comme Corbeil et Mont Ferant, i'y
aiousterai Quarantan en basse Normandie, il y a si bon nombre de maisons
et habitans, qu'il contient une eglise parrochiale en son circuit fondee
de saint George, et deux chapeles, l'une de saint Gabriel, et l'autre de
saint Agnen, son contour contient un bon nombre de carneaux de visieres
et de tours, et l'enclos du donion contient aussi nombre de carneaux, et
quatre grosses tours sans celle du parmy, il y a encores au de là du
donjon une grande terrasse, qu'on appele la Roqueste d'une admirable
forteresse de rampars, puis une grande place que l'on appele la garenne
à connins, où l'on peut mettre en seureté un bon nombre de bestaux pour
la fourniture de viures de ce chasteau durant un siege. Et à la verité
les grands seigneurs et chefs de guerre qui ont veu cette place, la
remarquent, et tiennent comme inexpugnables, d'autant même qu'elle est
fortifiee de rampars de trente ou quarante pieds de largeur, et ne se
peut vaincre sans trahison, faute de coeur ou de viures, aussi noz Rois
y ont tousiours pourueus de vaillans seigneurs et capitaines."
[89] _Anglo-Norman Antiquities_, p. 49.
[90] _Tour in Normandy_, II. p. 170.
[91] _Essais Historiques sur la Ville de Caen_, I. p. 83.
[92] See the Description of the Abbey Church of the Holy Trinity, at
Caen, p. 30.
PLATES XLIX.--LII.
CATHEDRAL AT ROUEN.
[Illustration: Plates 49-50. CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME, AT ROUEN.
_South transept from the Place de la Calende._]
The merit of first introducing the light of Christianity into that part
of France, which has subsequently been known by the different
appellations of Westria, Neustria, and Normandy, is commonly attributed
to St. Nicaise; whose name is therefore generally permitted to stand at
the head of the prelates of the archiepiscopal see of Rouen. St.
Nicaise, according to the traditions of the Norman church, lived about
the middle of the third century, and was dispatched from Rome, in
company with the more illustrious St. Denis, upon an express mission
from Pope Clement, to preach the gospel at Rouen, then the capital of
the gallic tribe, the Velocasses. But it is admitted on all hands, that
he never reached the place of his destination. The many miracles he
wrought by the way, consisting principally of the destruction of
dragons[93] and conversion of pagan priests, had rendered him obnoxious
to Fescenninus, the Roman governor of the province; and the saint was
consequently doomed to suffer the pains, not without receiving the palm,
of martyrdom.
[Illustration: Plates 51-52. CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME, AT ROUEN.
_West front from the Place Notre Dame._]
To Nicaise, succeeded St. Mello, a native of England, who, in the
performance of his duty, to carry the annual tribute from Britain to the
Roman emperor, was converted by the pontiff; and, if credit may be given
to the legends recounted by Pommeraye,[94] was, in the presence of the
Pope, invested by an angel from heaven with the pastoral staff; and, at
the same time, enjoined to take upon himself the spiritual jurisdiction
over Rouen and its vicinity. A mission thus constituted, and still
farther verified by the gift of miracles, could not fail of the desired
end. St. Mello not only succeeded in converting the lower class of the
pagans, but he likewise reckoned many of the principal citizens among
his disciples; and one of these, of the name of Precordius, ceded to him
his house, on the site of which was built the first Christian place of
worship known in Rouen. Hence, in the following distich, Ordericus
Vitalis, entirely passing over Nicaise, places St. Mello at the head of
the line of the Norman prelates:--
"Antistes sanctus Mellonus, in ordine _primus_,
Excoluit plebem doctrinâ Rothomagensem."--
Of the duration or history of the church thus erected, nothing is known;
but it is certain that, from that time forward, Christianity continued
to gain ground in Normandy, and the annals of the see have preserved an
uninterrupted catalogue of the bishops. Indeed, the conversion of
Constantine, which happened only a few years after the death of St.
Mello, necessarily gave a new aspect to the religion of the Roman
empire.
Succeeding prelates are stated in general terms to have manifested their
zeal, in building new churches, as well as in enlarging and ornamenting
that of the capital; and Pommeraye suggests,[95] but only as a matter of
great probability, that a second cathedral was raised by Victrice, or
some one of his immediate successors, in the fifth century. With an
equal, or still stronger degree of probability, it has been inferred
that, admitting a new church had been erected, it could not fail to have
been destroyed during the incursions of the heathen Normans, whose track
throughout Neustria was ever marked by fire and sword, and whose avarice
prompted them, no less powerfully than their superstition, to make the
religious edifices the principal objects of their vengeance. Prior to
the arrival of these barbarians, the archiepiscopal chair had been
filled by four prelates, eminent for their sanctity, St. Godard, St.
Pretextat, St. Romain, and St. Ouen. The second of these, assassinated
before the altar, at the instigation of Fredegond, queen of Chilperic,
holds nearly the same place in the martyrology of the Gallican church,
as Thomas-à-Becket in that of England. St. Ouen was a prelate who had
few rivals in munificence and splendor. Numerous monasteries throughout
the province, and, above all, the splendid one that bore his name,
testify the greatness of his mind, as well as the extent of his power:
his sovereign, Dagobert, honored him with his friendship, and conferred
upon him the dignity of chancellor of the realm.
But the fame of St. Ouen, and of all the others, was eclipsed by that of
St. Romain, by virtue of whose _privilege_, as it was generally called,
the chapter of the cathedral continued till the revolution annually to
exercise the right of delivering a criminal, whatever his offence,
except treason, from the hand of the secular power. This singular
privilege, according to general tradition, had been earned by the
destruction of a dragon, called the _Gargouille_, which was long the
terror of the adjacent country; and in his expedition the saint had been
unable to procure himself any other aid than that of a murderer, already
under sentence of death. Hence, the prelate has commonly been regarded
as little less than the tutelar divinity of the city. Portraits of him,
all of them designated by the attendant dragon and criminal, were to be
seen on the celebrated windows of stained glass in the church of St.
Godard, as well as at the entrance of the town by the _porte Bouvreuil_,
and probably in many other places: a building at the top of the
staircase, leading into the cloth-hall, was called his chapel; another
chapel is to the present day consecrated to him in the cathedral itself;
the northern tower of the same building bears his name; his shrine is
still preserved among the choicest treasures of the sacristy; and even
the bases of some of the pillars of the nave are carved into a fanciful
resemblance of the fabulous _Gargouille_.
Dom Pommeraye, than whom no author was ever more superstitious and more
credulous, at the same time that he terms this privilege one of the most
valuable and most noble rights of the church of Rouen,[96] admits that
the origin of it is lost in obscurity. He adduces, however, an
historical document, to prove its existence during the reign of the
Norman Dukes; and, while he candidly states the difference of opinion
among learned men on the subject, some of them treating the story as
allegorical, others setting it wholly aside, and regarding the privilege
merely as a special act of grace conceded to the church, in honor of the
Ascension, on the anniversary of which festival it was exercised, he
takes care to record his own firm belief in the miracle, and he calls
upon all pious Christians to unite with him in supporting its
authenticity.
Upon the conversion of Rollo to Christianity, and the consequent
erection of Normandy into a distinct dukedom, Rouen, as the metropolis
of the new state, necessarily acquired additional importance, and its
church additional lustre. Questions have arisen as to the spot where the
first church was built, but no doubt is to be entertained of the
existence of the cathedral, during the reign of Rollo, on the same site
which it occupies at present; for that prince himself was buried in it,
as was his son, William Longue-Epée, and their remains continue there
till this time[97]. Richard I. the son of William, and his successor on
the ducal throne, is expressly stated by Dudo of St. Quintin, to have
made great additions, both in length, width, and height, to the
"admirable church" (_mirabile monasterium_) at Rouen, dedicated to the
Holy Virgin.[98] The same author says, in terms which admit of no
misconstruction, that Robert, the son to this Duke, who was archbishop
of Rouen, and by the splendor of his works won to himself the epithet of
the _magnificent_, "completed the church, by the addition of the whole
choir, and by the work on the eastern side."
The church, raised by Robert, was dedicated by Archbishop Maurilius, in
1063; but its term of duration appears to have been unaccountably short;
for it is recorded that, after the lapse of less than a century, the
clergy of the cathedral directed their attention towards the building of
a new one; and that the year 1200 had not arrived before some progress
was already made in the execution of their plan. All precise dates,
however, connected with this subject, are lost: the various wars that
have ravaged this part of France; the numerous sieges to which the city
of Rouen itself has been exposed; and the repeated changes of masters it
has undergone;--these, with the addition of occasional injuries from
fire and pillage, have effectually destroyed the archives of the town
and cathedral.
Authors have differed strangely regarding the remains of the church
erected by the Norman Dukes. Some of them, and indeed the greater
number, assert that no small part of the structure now in existence
belonged to the building consecrated by Maurilius: others maintain, that
not one stone of this latter has been left upon another. The truth seems
to be, that a small portion of the eastern side of the present northern
tower, known by the name of the tower of St. Romain, is really of Norman
workmanship, but that nothing else throughout the cathedral is so,
excepting, possibly, the lateral doorways in the western front. The
whole of the tower just mentioned, up to its highest tier of windows, is
evidently the most ancient part of the building, and is apparently of
the architecture of the latter part of the twelfth century. The church,
considered collectively, is so obviously the work of different æras,
that there can be little risk in hazarding the assertion, that it has
been raised by piece-meal, on various occasions, as may either have been
suggested by the piety of potentates and prelates, or may have been
required by the state of religion or of the edifice itself.
What is known as to the dates of the building is, that the southern
tower was begun in 1485, and completed in 1507; that the first stone of
the central portal was laid in 1509; and that the Lady-Chapel, though
commenced during some of the earliest years of the fourteenth century,
and finished in the middle of the fifteenth, contains work of the year
1538. At this last period, Cardinal Georges d'Amboise restored the roof
of the choir, which had been injured in 1514, by the destruction of the
spire. The square short central tower was erected A.D. 1200: it replaced
one that had been damaged eighty years before, when the original stone
spire of the church was struck by lightning. From that time forward, no
attempt had been made to rebuild the spire, except with wood, of which
material, that now in existence is the second. The first was destroyed
by a fire, occasioned by the negligence of plumbers, in the beginning of
the sixteenth century; the present suffered material injury from a
similar accident, in 1713, and narrowly escaped entire destruction.
The western front of the cathedral, represented in plate _fifty-one_,
offers a _tout-ensemble_ of the most imposing character. The very
discrepancy in the different parts, by increasing the variety, adds to
the effect of the whole. All, with the exception of the northern tower,
is rich, even to exuberance; and the simplicity of this, at the same
time that it appears to lay claim to a certain dignity for itself,
places in a stronger light the gorgeous splendor of the rest. The
opposite tower, the work of the celebrated Cardinal Georges d'Amboise,
and formerly the receptacle of the great bell that bore his name,
commonly passes by the appellation of the _Tour de Beurre_. Tradition
tells, or, to use the words of Dom Pommeraye, "every body knows" that it
obtained this name from its being built with the money raised from the
indulgence granted by the Cardinal, William d'Estouteville, to the pious
catholics throughout the dioceses of Rouen and Evreux, allowing them to
make use of milk and butter during Lent, when oil only could otherwise
have been employed by way of sauce to vegetables and fish. The bull
issued upon the occasion, by Pope Innocent VIII. is stated to be still
in existence.[99] The architecture of this tower may almost be regarded
as the perfection of what has been called the decorated English style:
it is copiously enriched with pinnacles and statues, and terminates in a
beautiful octagonal crown of open stone-work. Its height is two hundred
and thirty French feet.[100]
The central portal, for the erection of which the cathedral is likewise
indebted to its great benefactor, Georges d'Amboise, projects
beautifully and boldly, like a porch, before the rest: every side of it
is filled with niches, tier over tier, all crowded with endless figures
of saints and martyrs. In the middle of it rises a pyramidal canopy of
open stone-work; and upon the wide transom-stone over the door, is
sculptured the genealogical tree of Christ, arising from the root of
Jesse. The carving over the north entrance is yet more peculiar, and
evidently far older. It represents the decapitation of the Baptist, with
"Salome dancing in an attitude, which perchance was often assumed by the
_tombesteres_ of the elder day; affording, by her position, a graphical
comment upon the Anglo-Saxon version of the text, in which it is said,
that she _tumbled_ before King Herod."[101] Four turrets flank the
central portal: one of them only is now capped by a spire: the pinnacles
of the remaining three were swept away by a storm which traversed
Normandy for a considerable extent, on the twenty-fifth of June, 1683,
marking its progress with a devastation that is scarcely to be
conceived.[102]
The spire of the central tower, however vaunted and admired by the
French themselves, looks to an unprejudiced eye mean and shabby; and
principally from its being made of wood, which ill accords with the
apparent solidity of the rest of the building.
The entrances to the transepts, however inferior in splendor to the
grand western front, are still not such as to disgrace it; and,
considered attentively as to their sculptured medallions, they are even
more curious. The northern one is approached through a passage lined
with rows of the meanest houses, formerly the shops of transcribers and
calligraphists; and hence the singular gate-way that incloses the court,
passes commonly under the name of _Le Portail des Libraires_. The
opposite transept, (see _plate forty-nine_,) is called _Le Portail de la
Calende_, an appellation borrowed from the _Place de la Calende_, upon
which it opens; and which, though in reality far from spacious, appears
altogether so by comparison. On each side of the entrances to both the
transepts, is a lofty square tower, "such as are usually seen only in
the western front of a cathedral; the upper story perforated by a
gigantic window, divided by a single mullion or central pillar, not
exceeding one foot in circumference, and nearly sixty feet in height.
These windows are entirely open; and the architect never intended they
should be glazed. An extraordinary play of light and shade results from
this construction."[103] The rose windows, which are placed as well over
the entrances of the transepts, as over the greater one to the west, are
no less magnificent in their dimensions, than beautiful in their
patterns, and gorgeous in their colors. Much of the stained glass of the
cathedral is also very rich.
Mr. Dibdin, in his splendidly-illustrated Tour,[104] remarks with much
justice, that "a person, on entering the church by the western door,
cannot fail to be struck with the length and loftiness of the nave, and
with the lightness of the gallery which runs along the upper part of it,
and which is continued also throughout the choir." He goes on to add,
"perhaps the nave is too narrow for its length. The lantern of the
central large tower is beautifully light and striking. It is supported
by four massive clustered pillars, about forty feet in circumference;
but the eye, on looking downwards, is shocked at the tasteless division
of the choir from the nave, by what is called a _Grecian screen_; and
the interior of the transepts has also undergone a like tasteless
restoration."