Rouen, Its History and Monuments Part 1

Rouen, It's History and Monuments.

by Theodore Licquet.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

Caesar, in his Commentaries does not speak of Rouen; Pomponius Mela, does not mention it in his Geography; Ptolemy is the first author who has noticed it. This observation alone will shew the absurdity of the numerous etymologies a.s.signed to its name of Rothomagus, of which we have made Rouen. The least unlikely are those which have been taken from the primitive language of the country; but, even then we can only form conjectures more or less vague, as, in deriving Rothomagus from two celtic words, some have considered that this name signifies a great town; others, a town on the bank of a river; while others again a town where duties were paid.

Ptolemy then gives us a commencement to the history of Rouen. In his lifetime, that is to say, during the first part of the second-century, Rouen bore the name of Rothomagus; it was the capital of the country of the Veloca.s.ses.

If Rouen, as a town of Gaul, is little known to us, Rouen as a Roman town is more so. Its existence is no longer doubtful; its importance even is proved. All suppositions join to make one think that the Romans were the first who erected external fortifications round the town.

Remains of walls evidently built by that people, were discovered in 1789 in the cellars of a house which had been built on the edge of the first ditch[1]. These buildings extended westward even under the church of Saint-Lo, and it is very probable that they joined towards the east with other remains of roman architecture, found in digging the foundations of another house, no 2, rue de la Chaine.

Here then, is the first boundary of Rouen under the Romans, and drawn-out by them: _on the south_ the Seine, the waters of which at this time, came as high as the line occupied at present by the rue des Bonnetiers, the place de la Calende, that of Notre-Dame on its southern portion, and thus along to the extremity of the rue aux Ours. _On the north_, the ditch which existed the whole length of the streets de l'Aumone, and Fosses-Louis-VIII, that is to say, from the river Robec at the east, to the rue de la Poterne at the west. From the latter point draw a line in a southern direction pa.s.sing across the Mew-Market, the rue Ma.s.sacre and the rue des Vergetiers, to the rue aux Ours and you will have the _western limit_. The _eastern limit_ is naturally marked out by the course of the Robec. The town maintained this boundary till the Xth century, the period of the establishment of Rollon, in this portion of Neustria to which the Normans gave their name.

I have already said, that Rouen, was an important town under the Romans, and this truth is proved, by the fact. It does not figures, it is true, in the notice of the dignities of the Empire, as the seat of a superior magistrate, but, nevertheless it is spoken of, as a town having a garrison; and, it was there that the _praefectus militum Ursariensium_ or, as we should say in English, the colonel of the regiment of the Ursarians, resided.

The ecclesiastical annals also, prove the importance of Rouen at this period. We find, in fact, during the first ages of christianity, the apostles coming into Gaul, going to Rouen, and fixing their abode in a princ.i.p.al town that the sacred word might be more easily spread thro'

the surrounding country.

As Saint-Nicaise did not come to Rouen, we must consider Saint-Mellon, as its most ancient bishop. The erection, or the consecration of a first chapel in Rouen, under the patronage of the virgin, is the only important event which the life of this prelate contains. As to the destruction of a temple dedicated to the pretended idol Roth, I think I have proved in an other work[2], first, that there never existed an idol of that name, neither was the temple situated on the ground occupied by the church of Saint-Lo; secondly, that this temple was demolished by Saint-Romain, nearly four hundred years later.

Nothing very remarkable happened at Rouen, under the successors of Saint-Mellon, until Saint-Victrice. But, here commences a new era for the town. Its population increases, its reputation extends, the temples of the true G.o.d are multiplied; even Saint-Victrice himself works in their erection: He rolls the stones with his own hands, he carries them on his shoulders.

This town continued its career peaceably during nearly a century, until Saint-G.o.dard succeeded to the episcopate. Then we come to a great historical transition.

Roman power had been long struggling against the encroachments of the Francs in Gaul. Clovis, conquers the provinces situated between the Somme, the Seine and the Aisne; the monarchy commences, and Rouen becomes a French town.

To Saint-G.o.dard who died in 529, Flavius succeeded the same year. The first foundation by Clotaire I, of the abbey of Saint-Peter, now Saint-Ouen, about the year 540, is attributed to him.

After Flavius, came Pretextat, whose name alone reminds us of those of two women, unfortunately too celebrated, Fredegonde and Brunehaut. The latter had been exiled to Rouen, by Chilperic, king of Soissons.

Merovee, son of Chilperic, loved Brunehaut and was loved by her. He came to Rouen, and married his mistress; Pretextat blessed their union.

Chilperic arrives and the two lovers take refuge in the church of Saint-Martin-sur-Renelle, a wooden building, on the wall of the town. It is to Gregory of Tours that we owe this information which is valuable, in as much, as it makes us acquainted with the limits of Rouen on the north-west side at this period.

Fredegonde did not pardon Pretextat; she caused him to be murdered, during ma.s.s, in the Cathedral.

The episcopate of Melance and of Hidulfe, the successors to Pretextat, offers no very particular circ.u.mstances. That of Saint-Romain, is much more remarkable, for the destruction of heathen temples, and the famous miracle of the _Gargouille_, which, gave birth to the privilege not less famous, which the chapter possessed of setting at liberty a prisoner every year. It is thought generally, however, that Saint-Romain, constructed one of the churches, which succeeded each other on the site of the Cathedral, but, they were deceived who have said that this bishop extirpated paganism from Rouen, and from the province. Saint-Ouen, who came after Saint-Romain, found the people clownish, superst.i.tious, and idolatrous, in consequence of the negligence of some bishops, his predecessors. The inhabitants of the neighbouring country, were coa.r.s.e, cruel and dishonest; morals and the sciences were cultivated only among the higher cla.s.ses of society. We find in the preface to the life of Saint-Eloi by Saint-Ouen, that, even in the VIIth century, they read authors of whose works nothing now remains.

Saint-Ouen, founded or enriched a great many religious establishments in Rouen and its environs. It was under his episcopate, that a monument was first raised to Saint-Nicaise within the walls of Rouen. He also caused to be built the celebrated abbeys of Fontenelle (since Saint-Wandrille), Jumieges, and Saint-Austreberthe.

In the time of this archbishop, there was a state prison near the end of the rue de la Poterne. It was in this prison that Saint-Ouen, having been deceived by the mayor of the palace Ebroin, caused Philibert the first Abbot of Jumieges to be confined on a false accusation of the crime of high-treason.

To Saint-Ouen, Ansbert succeeded in 683; at this time doubtless the mechanical arts were not very far advanced in Rouen, since the new bishop, wishing to erect a rich mausoleum to his predecessor, sent for workmen from different provinces.

According to the monk Aigrad, a great famine took place in Rouen and its neighbourhood, during the episcopate of Ansbert, who caused the treasures of the church to be given, for the relief of the poor.

Here, the history of Rouen is lost in obscurity; our materials are reduced, we may almost say, to the mere list of bishops, until the time when the north-men shewed themselves in this country. From the year 841, when they appeared for the first time at the mouth of the Seine, until the year 912, the period of the treaty of Saint-Claire-sur-Epte, Rouen, and its environs presented nothing but a scene of carnage, fire, and, slaughter. Strangers devouring the country; the villages deserted; the population ma.s.sacred; the towns half destroyed, every where discord, hatred, avarice, and rapacity; all excesses united: such is the picture of the country at that period. At last Rollo, is created duke of Normandy; the proud Norwegian, becomes the benefactor of the country, to which he had so long proved a scourge. The population reappears; an active police is established, robberies are put a stop to; no more plunderers exist on the highways, or thieves in the towns. Rouen, rises from amidst its ruins, its monuments are repaired, its size increases, its political influence is becoming immense.

The second boundary is due to Rollo, the first duke, and to his son Guillaume Longue-Epee. They confined the waters of the Seine in a narrower bed. Several churches, such as Saint-Martin-de-la-Roquette, Saint-Clement, Saint-Stephen and Saint-Eloi, which had till then been situated on small islands, were united to the main land, the portion which had been gained from the river, received the name of _Terres-Neuves_. The limits of the town remained the same on the north, east and west.

Under the first succeeding dukes, the town extended westward, as far as the Old-Market place. The _porte Cauchoise_ was erected about the beginning of the XIth century, that is to say, under Richard II.

The fourth boundary was effected under the last dukes. The town extended on the north to the height of the rue Pincedos: on the east, to the rue de la Chevre. These two streets occupy the ground on which the ditches were situated at that time.

A very short time after, Philip-Augustus, who had just taken Rouen, and all Normandy from Jean-Sans-Terre, caused the old castle to be built, which was included within the interior of the town, in the middle of the XIIIth century; the fifth boundary was made in the reign of Saint-Louis. Rouen was then enlarged by the greater portion of the ground which forms the parishes of Saint-Patrice, Saint-Nicaise, Saint-Vivien, and Saint-Maclou. The gates of Martainville, Saint-Hilaire and Bouvreuil were then built.

A sixth enlargement took place about the middle of the XIVth century.

The monastery of the Jacobins, which now forms a portion of the prefecture, was enclosed within the walls of the town, as also the Church of Saint-Peter-le-Portier, so that it obliged them to put the porte Cauchoise farther out. On the east, the town was enlarged by the quarter of the Marequerie.

It is not probably to Rollo, the first duke that we owe the inst.i.tution of the exchequer. The first trace of it, is only found under William-the-Conqueror. Perhaps even, it was only known under his son Henry Ist the King Duke. Ancient writers have thought that an exchequer existed in England before the conquest. The learned Madox, on the contrary, (vol. 1st page 177 and following) declares, that he has not found in any doc.u.ment prior to William's expedition, the word scaccarium (or exchequer). But he finds it shortly after that time, from which it would appear natural to conclude that, that inst.i.tution had been carried over by that prince. The exchequer was removed sometimes to Rouen, at other times to Caen, and sometimes to Falaise. Louis XIIth fixed this sovereign court at Rouen, in 1449, and opened it on the 1st october of the same year. Francis Ist raised the exchequer into a parliament in the year 1515. It was interdicted in the month of August 1540, but the 7th January 1541, was reinstated.

Thick walls, deep ditches, and formidable towers, a great many turrets, bastions, casemates, and fortified gates, made Rouen an important place, before the revolution: omitting the different sieges, which it had to sustain from the Normans, we must notice in 949 those by Otho, emperor of Germany, Louis IVth, king of France, and Arnould count of Flanders; that in 1204 by Philip-Augustus, 1418, by Henry Vth king of England; that in 1449, after which, Charles VIIth retook the town from the English; lastly, that of 1591, by Henry IVth. In all these sieges, and many more which I have not mentioned, the inhabitants of Rouen always gave proofs of great valour and sometimes of a resignation without example.

All the fortifications of the town have disappeared since the revolution; its ancient appearance, is now only found in the interior, in its religious monuments and a few houses, which time or the hand of man appears to have forgotten.

Before 1790, Rouen contained thirty seven parochial churches and about as many religious communities of both s.e.xes. It now only contains six parochial churches, and eight chapels of ease, with a church for the use of protestants.

Rouen is situated on a gentle slope, on the right bank of the Seine, which forms the southern boundary; the suburb of Saint-Sever, is situated on the left bank. The geographical position of the town is the 49 26' 27'' of north lat.i.tude and 1 14' 16'' longitude, from the meridian of Paris. The sun rises and sets about five minutes later at Rouen, than at Paris. The length of Rouen without the suburbs, is one kilometre and three hundred metres, or about the third part of a league, from the south extremity of the rue Grand-Pont, to the north extremity of the rue Beauvoisine. Its length from east to west is a quarter of a league, from one extremity to the other of the places Cauchoise and Saint-Hilaire. The circ.u.mference of the town by the quays does not exceed six kilometres or one league and a half.

Rouen, by its home and foreign trade, is one of the most important towns of the kingdom; the numerous manufactories which it contains, have caused it to be surnamed the Manchester of France[3]. Rouen, is the see of an archbishopric, whose metropolitan church has for suffragans the bishoprics of Bayeux, Evreux, Seez and Coutances. It is the chief place of the fourteenth military division; the princ.i.p.al town of the departement of the Seine-Inferieure.

There is besides at Rouen, a cour royale, a tribunal de premiere instance, six courts of justices of the peace; a chamber and tribunal of commerce, a counsel of prudent men for the arbitration of small differences, princ.i.p.ally between the manufacturers and their workmen; boards of direction for the direct and indirect taxes, for the customs and for the registry of domains, and a mint. Amongst the princ.i.p.al public buildings are two large hospitals, a handsome custom-house, the exchange, a magnificent lunatic asylum (in Saint-Sever), a large and small seminary, a royal college, nineteen public schools, a great many elementary schools for children of both s.e.xes, and two princ.i.p.al prisons.

Lastly, this town has thirty three barriers, three covered markets, eight open markets, twenty one public places, about seventeen thousand houses, and more than four hundred and seventy streets, and contains a population of about ninety thousand inhabitants.

[Footnote 1: It is the sugar refinery of Mr Sautelet, rue des Carmes, opposite the place of the same name.]

[Footnote 2: _Recherches sur l'histoire religieuse, morale et litteraire de Rouen, depuis les premiers temps jusqu'a Rollon_. Rouen, J. Frere, 1826, 8vo.]

[Footnote 3: The princ.i.p.al filatures, manufactories and bleaching establishments, are situated in the suburb of Saint-Sever, and in the valleys of Deville, Bapeaume and Maromme. Amongst the princ.i.p.al stuffs, which are wrought in its manufactories, we must mention its _rouenneries_, the general name given to all those striped or checked cotton, stuffs which are used for womens dresses.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cathedrale.]

RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS.

PAROCHIAL CHURCHES.

CATHEDRAL.

All historians attribute the erection, or at least the consecration of the first christian chapel in Rouen to Saint-Mellon. They agree also in placing that chapel on a portion of the ground occupied at present by the Cathedral. To point out exactly the place, would be next to impossible; but we must necessarily suppose it to the north end of the present edifice. The tower of Saint-Romain, the foundation of which is probably the remains of one of the churches which succeeded each other on this spot, and which, is a.s.suredly the most ancient part of the whole edifice, would of itself, prove what I say. It will not be doubted, when we remember that the waters of the Seine, during the time of Saint-Mellon (260 to 311), and even seven centuries afterwards, reached as high as the place, which is known at present by the name of _la Calende_, that is to say almost at the base of the present Cathedral on its southern side.

The Cathedral, which was pillaged in the year 841, was not, according to all probability, destroyed then; or, we must suppose (that which is hardly possible), that it had been rebuilt in the interval before the year 912, the period of the baptism of Rollo in this church. Being exposed to continual acts of devastation from pirates, the inhabitants fled in all directions, and did not think of building temples; and as Rollo, having been baptized in this Cathedral, in the year 912, made most magnificent presents immediately after the ceremony, it is clear, that the edifice had been only plundered and not destroyed.