Architectural Antiquities of Normandy Part 11

[97] Not, however, in the identical spot in which they were originally deposited: they were at first laid in the immediate vicinity of the high altar, but were, before the close of the eleventh century, removed to the situations they now occupy, in chapels on opposite sides of the upper end of the nave. The following account of their tombs, with the statues and inscriptions, is transcribed from _Gilbert's Description Historique de l'Eglise de Notre Dame de Rouen_, p. 57:--"Le tombeau de Rollon est place dans un enfoncement cintre, pratique dans le mur de la chapelle; il consiste en un sarcophage de stuc, marbre de Portor, sur lequel se voit la statue couchee de ce prince, dont la tete est appuyee sur un coussin. Rollon est vetu d'une longue tunique, par-dessus laquelle est un manteau couleur de pourpre, ou espece de chlamyde attachee a l'epaule droite; il porte sur sa tete une couronne. Cette statue a ete un peu mutilee. Au-dessus de l'arcade dans laquelle est le tombeau, on lit l'inscription suivante, gravee en lettres d'or sur un marbre noir:

HIC POSITUS EST ROLLO NORMANNIae A SE TERRITAE VASTATae RESt.i.tUTae PRIMUS DUX CONDITOR PATER A FRANCONE ARCHIEP. ROTOM.

BAPTIZATUS ANNO DCCCCXIII OBIIT ANNO DCCCCXVII OSSA IPSIUS IN VETERI SANCTUARIO NUNC CAPITE NAVIS PRIMUM CONDITA, TRANSLATO ALTARI, COLLOCATA SUNT A B. MAURILIO ARCHIEP. ROTOM.

AN. MLXIII.

Au-dessus de cette inscription est une urne en stuc, marbre de Portor.

L'archivolte de l'arcade est en stuc blanc veine de gris, ainsi que le lambris qui decore le pourtour de la chapelle. Tous ces ouvrages sont modernes, a l'exception de la statue du duc Rollon, qui paroit avoir ete executee dans le treizieme siecle.

Dans la chapelle de Saint-Anne, situee de l'autre cote de la nef, se voit le tombeau de Guillaume _Longue-Epee_, fils de Rollon, et second duc de Normandie, mort victime de la plus infame trahison, dans l'entrevue qu'il eut a Pecquigny, le 18 Decembre, 944, avec Arnoul, comte de Flandres. Le corps du duc Guillaume fut apporte a Rouen et inhume dans la cathedrale. [Voyez Servin, _Hist. de Rouen_, tom. I. p. 118 et 119.]

Sur le sarcophage en stuc, marbre de Portor, est placee la statue du duc, vetu d'une longue tunique, et tenant a la main un sceptre qui a ete mutile. Au-dessus de l'arcade enfoncee, dans laquelle est la sepulture du prince, on lit l'inscription suivante, gravee en lettres d'or sur un marbre noir:

HIC POSITUS EST GUILLELMUS DICTUS LONGA SPATA ROLLONIS FILIUS DUX NORMANNIae PRODITORIE OCCISUS DCCCCx.x.xXIV OSSA IPSIUS IN VETERI SANCTUARIO, UBI NUNC EST CAPUT NAVIS PRIMUM CONDITA, TRANSLATO ALTARI, HIC COLLOCATA SUNT A B. MAURILIO ARCHIEPISC. ROTOM.

ANNO MLXIII."

[98] "Rotomagensi namque urbe in honore genetricis Dei ampliavit mirabile monasterium, longitudinis, lat.i.tudinisque, atque alt.i.tudinis honorificae exspatiatum incremento."--_d.u.c.h.esne, Scriptores Normanni_, p.

153.

[99] _Pommeraye, Histoire de l'Eglise Cathedrale de Rouen_, p. 36.

[100] The following are the dimensions of the princ.i.p.al parts of the cathedral, in French measure, copied from Mr. Turner's _Tour in Normandy_, I. p. 147:--

FEET.

Length of the interior 408 Width of ditto 88 Length of nave 210 Width of ditto 27 Ditto of aisles 15 Length of choir 110 Width of ditto 35-1/2 Ditto of transept 25-1/2 Length of ditto 164 Ditto of Lady-Chapel 88 Width of ditto 28 Height of spire 380 Ditto of towers at the west end 230 Ditto of nave 84 Ditto of aisles and chapels 42 Ditto of interior of central tower 152 Depth of chapels 10

[101] _Turner's Tour in Normandy_, I. p. 139.--The mention of this sculpture affords an opportunity of pointing out what appears a singular error on the part of the late M. Millin, in his _Voyage dans les Departemens du Midi de la France_. He has figured, in the atlas to that work, _plate twelve_, a bas-relief of the eleventh century, representing the a.s.sa.s.sination of Count Dalmace, by the hands of his son-in-law, Robert I. Duke of Burgundy; and, in the lower compartment, containing a banquet, he explains one of the figures (I. p. 190) to be the Earl falling from the table; whereas, a comparison with the sculpture at Rouen will scarcely leave a doubt, that it was designed for a dancing-girl, introduced for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the company.

[102] _Pommeraye, Histoire de l'Eglise Cathedrale de Rouen_, p. 33.

[103] _Turner's Tour in Normandy_, I. p. 144.

[104] _Bibliographical, Antiquarian, and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany_, I. p. 50.

[105] _Pommeraye, Histoire des Archeveques de Rouen_, p. 22.

PLATE LIII.

CRYPT IN THE CHURCH OF ST. GERVAIS, AT ROUEN.

It has been inferred, and with much apparent probability, from the silence of Julius Caesar, that the proud capital of Normandy had either no existence in the time of that general, or was at most only a place of small importance. There have not, however, been wanting, among the historians of Rouen, some, who, jealous, as usual, for the honor of their city, ascribe to it an antiquity beyond the deluge, and trust to the latter half of its cla.s.sical name, for bearing them out in the a.s.sertion, that its foundations were laid by Magus, the son and successor of Samothes, first king of Gaul. Others, more moderate, have contented themselves with the belief, that, although Caesar does not make mention of Rothomagus, there is still no reason to question its existence before the Christian aera, or to doubt that it was then the chief town of the Veloca.s.ses, as Lillebonne was of the neighboring tribe of the Caletes, the inhabitants of the present _Pays de Caux_. It is at least known with certainty, that, in the division of Gaul, which took place not very long afterwards, into seventeen provinces, Rouen became the metropolis of the _Lugdunensis Secunda_; and that, from that time forwards, it continued gradually to rise in consequence, till the establishment of Neustria into an independent sovereignty stamped it with the t.i.tle of the capital of a nation.

At the present time, Rouen can shew scarcely any remains of Roman antiquity: "the wide waste of all-devouring years," has effaced those vestiges which that powerful people seldom failed to have impressed, wherever their dominion had once been firmly established. The small church of St. Gervais, derives therefore a peculiar interest, as exhibiting proofs, sufficiently decided, though far from important, of a connection with Italy. These proofs rest princ.i.p.ally upon the Roman bricks and other _debris_, some of them rudely sculptured, which have been employed in the construction of the piers of the crypt, and upon the sculpture of the capitals of some columns on the exterior of the apsis.

The church of St. Gervais is situated at a short distance without the walls of Rouen, upon a slight eminence, adjoining the Roman road to Lillebonne, and near a rising ground, commonly called the _Mont aux Malades_, as having been, in the eleventh century, the site of a monastery, destined for the reception of lepers. According to Farin,[106] the church was originally an abbey, and is expressly recognized as such in a charter of Duke Richard II. dated A.D. 1020; in which, among other donations to his favorite monastery at Fecamp, he enumerates, "item _Abbatiam_ Sancti Gervasii, quae est juxta civitatem Rothomagum, et quicquid ad ipsam pertinet." The authors of the _Gallia Christiana_[107] add that, "at the time when this abbey was conferred upon Fecamp, it was taken from the monks of St. Peter at Chartres." Two centuries subsequently, St. Gervais appears to have sunk into the rank of a simple priory, under the immediate control of the monks of Fecamp, who a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of its priors. In process of time, the still humbler name and dignity of a parochial church were alone left; but the period at which this last change took place, is not recorded. The abbot of Fecamp continued, however, till the period of the revolution, to exercise spiritual jurisdiction over what was termed the barony of St.

Gervais; including not only this single parish; but some others dependent upon it. He nominated to the livings, directed the religious establishments, had entire control over the prisons, and was ent.i.tled to all privileges arising from the fair of St. Gervais, which was annually held at Rouen, in the Fauxbourg Cauchoise, on the twentieth of June. It is even on record, that in the year 1400, the abbot ventured upon the bold experiment of forbidding William de Vienne, then archbishop of Rouen, either to carry his cross, or to give his benediction within the precincts of his jurisdiction; but so daring an a.s.sumption of power was not to be tolerated, and the matter was accordingly referred to the parliament of Paris, who decided in this instance against the abbot.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 53. CRYPT IN THE CHURCH OF ST. GERVAIS AT ROUEN.]

Adjoining to the church of St. Gervais, stood originally one of the palaces of the Norman Dukes and it was to this[108] that William the Conqueror caused himself to be conveyed, when attacked with his mortal illness, after having wantonly reduced the town of Mantes to ashes.

Here, too, that mighty monarch breathed his last, and left a sad warning to future conquerors; deserted by his friends and physicians, the moment he was no more; while his menials plundered his property, and his body lay naked and deserted in the hall.

The ducal palace, and the monastic buildings, are now wholly destroyed.

Fortunately, however, the church still remains, and preserves some portions of the original structure, more interesting from their features than their extent. The exterior of the apsis is very curious: it is obtusely angular, and faced at the corners with large rude columns, of whose capitals, some are Doric and Corinthian, others as wild as the fancies of the Norman lords of the country. None reach so high as the cornice of the roof; it having been the design of the original architect, that a portion of work should intervene between the summits of the capitals and this member. A capital to the north is remarkable for the eagles carved upon it, as if with some allusion to Roman power.

But the most singular part of this church is the crypt under the apsis, represented in the plate; a room about thirty feet long, by fourteen wide, and sixteen high, of extreme simplicity, and remote antiquity.

Round it runs a plain stone bench; and it is divided into two unequal parts by a circular arch, devoid of columns or of any ornament whatever.

Here, according to Ordericus Vitalis,[109] was interred the body of St.

Mello, the first archbishop of Rouen, and one of the apostles of Neustria; and here his tomb, and that of his successor, Avitien, are shewn to this day, in plain niches, on opposite sides of the wall. St.

Mello's remains, however, were not suffered to rest in peace; for, about five hundred and seventy years after his death, which happened in the year 314, they were removed to the castle of Pontoise, lest the canonized corpse should be violated by the heathen Normans. The existence of these tombs, and the antiquity of the crypt, recorded as it is by history, and confirmed by the style of its architecture, have given currency to the tradition, which points it out as the only temple where the primitive Christians of Neustria dared to a.s.semble for the performance of divine service. Many stone coffins have also been discovered in the vicinity of the church. These sarcophagi serve to confirm the general tradition; they are of the simplest form, and apparently as ancient as the crypt; and they were so placed in the ground, that the heads of the corpses were turned to the east, a position denoting that the dead received Christian burial.

NOTES:

[106] _Histoire de la Ville de Rouen_, v. p. 1.

[107] XI. p. 124. A.

[108] The whole of the remainder of this article is transcribed from _Turner's Tour in Normandy_, I. p. 125.

[109] _d.u.c.h.esne, Scriptores Normanni_, p. 558.

PLATE LIV.

CHURCH OF ST. PAUL, AT ROUEN.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 54. CHURCH OF ST. PAUL, AT ROUEN.

_East End._]

Next to the church of St. Gervais, that of St. Paul is the most interesting relic of ancient architecture among the ecclesiastical buildings at Rouen. Indeed, it may be considered as the only other of an early date; the round tower attached to the abbatial church of St.

Ouen[110] being altogether inconsiderable, and indebted for its princ.i.p.al interest to its connection with an abbey endowed with such extensive possessions, and gifted with so much reported sanct.i.ty.

The foundation of the church of St. Paul is of very remote antiquity: it is said to have been laid by St. Romain, in memory of his great victory over heathenism, when, triumphant, he erected the banner of the cross upon the ashes of the temple of Venus. Impure was the G.o.ddess, and most impure were her rites; so that, to use the words of Taillepied, in speaking of this same temple, "la dedans la jeunesse, a bride avallee, souloit se souiller et polluer par ordre luxure et paillardise abominable, ne ayant egard qu'aupres de ce lieu y avoit un repaire de malins esprits qui faisoyent sortir une fumee tant puante et infecte que la mortalite s'en ensuyvoit par apres."

This very remark concerning the infectious vapor, seems decisive as to the feet of the church of St. Paul occupying the site of the pagan fane.

It stands without the walls of the town, upon elevated ground, at a very short distance to the right of the barrier below Mont St. Catherine, on the road to Paris, in the immediate vicinity of some mineral springs, strongly impregnated with iron. Prior to the revolution, the church was under the jurisdiction of the monastery of Montivilliers. The abbess had the right of nomination to the vacant benefice; and, till the middle of the seventeenth century, she was in the habit of regarding St. Paul's as a priory, and fixing there a colony of her nuns. But they were all recalled in 1650, and were never afterwards succeeded by a fresh establishment.

Respecting the various changes of the edifice, Farin contents himself with the brief remark, "that it was repeatedly destroyed during the wars, and rebuilt by the liberality of the Norman Dukes."[111] The eastern part of what is now standing is evidently of Norman time; and, architecturally considered, it is a most curious specimen, being probably the only church in existence which terminates to the east in three semi-circular compartments. Of these, the central division is considerably the most lofty, as well as the most prominent; and the arrangement of the corbel-table, which is carried equally round them all, proves that it must always have been so. The sculpture of this corbel-table is viewed by the Norman antiquaries with peculiar interest: some of the heads, with widely distended jaws, beset with teeth of enormous size, represent wolves; others, with human features and whiskered upper lips, are supposed to be intended for the Saxon foe, who, at the time of the Norman invasion, were induced, we are told, by the smooth faces of their opponents, to entertain the erroneous belief, that the approaching host was but an army of priests. Mr. Cotman, who has observed in similar situations, in many other parts of Normandy, faces equally shadowed with whiskers, has been led to the suspicion, that they were intended in derision of the Saxons.

Internally, the triple circular ending of the church is no longer observable. Both of the lateral divisions are parted off at the extremity, and formed into distinct apartments: the southern is applied to the purpose of a sacristy, while the northern serves merely as a lumber-room. The nave, which is thrice the width of the chancel, and is clearly of a date comparatively modern, is separated from the more eastern portion of the building by a semi-circular arch. The sculpture upon the capitals appears of Roman design: that on one of them, exhibits a row of graceful figures in a pure cla.s.sical taste, intent upon some action, but so much mutilated, that it would be now no easy task to conjecture the object of the artist. The aisles of the chancel are divided from the central compartment by double arches, a larger and a smaller being united together, all of them semi-circular, and all of the Norman style of architecture. Attached to the eastern end of the church, within the lumber-room just mentioned, stands a piece of Roman sculpture, supposed by M. Le Prevost to have served originally for an altar. Mr. Turner has given a figure of it in his Tour; and he conjectures, that it was of the workmanship of the fourth century; a supposition founded upon the resemblance borne by its ornaments, to those upon the pedestal of the obelisk raised by Theodosius, in the Hippodrome at Constantinople, as represented in the elaborate publication of the late M. Seroux d'Agincourt.[112]