The Churches of Paris Part 1

The Churches of Paris.

by S. Sophia Beale.

PREFACE.

In a book of this kind, it is difficult to prevent oneself becoming a guide, more or less complete. Dates and facts, architectural details and descriptions, all savour of the handbook; but having determined to keep to the historical and archaeological, rather than the architectural side of the churches, I have tried to rake up quaint and legendary lore, and so add to the interest of an ordinary guide book. I would also pray my readers to bear in mind that, as the work is not intended to be an architectural treatise, I have simply walked in the paths of Viollet-le-Duc and Guilhermy, whenever I have been compelled to describe the technical details of the churches.

My thanks are due to the Editor of the _American Architect_, for his courtesy in allowing me to build these ecclesiastical monographs upon the foundation of some articles which have appeared from time to time in a condensed form in the Boston (U. S. A.) paper; and also to the Editor of the _Magazine of Art_, for a similar kindness.

I should also like to acknowledge my indebtedness to the following authors and their works:

"Histoire de la Sainte-Chapelle." Morand.

"Histoire de Saint-Denis." Dom Millet.

"Histoire de Saint-Eustache." L'abbe Koenig.

"Inscriptions du Diocese de Paris." F. de Guilhermy.

"Itineraire Archeologique de Paris." F. de Guilhermy.

"l'eglise Saint Julien-le-Pauvre." A. Le Brun.

"Monographie de l'eglise Royale de Saint-Denis." F. de Guilhermy.

"Sacred and Legendary Art." Anna Jameson.

"The Early British Church." J. Yeowell.

THE CHURCHES OF PARIS.

SAINT-ANTOINE DES QUINZE-VINGTS.

Saint Louis, always careful in helping his suffering subjects, founded this hospital for the blind in 1260, upon a piece of ground ab.u.t.ting on the Louvre, now traversed by the Rue de Rivoli. In 1780 the hospital was transferred to the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and took up its abode in the old dwelling place of the Black Musketeers, whose chapel also served as a parish church. It is a little building of no beauty nor interest, although a few inscriptions relating to pious foundations still remain in the chapel, the oldest being dated 1481. One of these tells us of the inst.i.tution, in 1667, of a somewhat early Ma.s.s by one Marie Lambert, maid to the queen mother. It was to be said at 4 a.m. in order that the poor blind people should be able to sally forth a-begging (_d'aller a la quete_) fortified with the Bread of Life.

LES CARMES DeCHAUSSeES

The old church of the barefooted Carmelites in the Rue de Vaugirard was commenced in 1613, and dedicated to S. Joseph in 1625. It is now served by the Dominicans. The crypt is the only interesting part of the church, and is a curiosity, as it contains innumerable bones piled up on every side, the remains of the ghastly September ma.s.sacres of 1792. The frescoes painted by a Liege artist, Bartholet Flamael, are very much esteemed. Some of the chapels are richly decorated in the gaudy style of the 17th century. The altar is embellished by a 14th century bas-relief in marble representing the Last Supper. A few epitaphs still remain: that of Cardinal de Beausset, the historian of Fenelon and Bossuet; one of Cardinal de la Luzerne; and a marble, covering the heart of Archbishop Affre, who was shot on a barricade in 1848, while endeavouring to make peace with the insurgents.

LA SAINTE-CHAPELLE.

The origin and foundation of this most lovely example of mediaeval art is so much a part of S. Louis' life that it may not be out of place to give some account of the Saint's character and habits before proceeding to describe the history of the chapel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SAINTE-CHAPELLE FROM THE PONT SAINT-MICHEL.]

Louis IX. was pious and practical, and inconvenienced his courtiers as much by his punctuality and the a.s.siduity with which he conducted his business, as by his religious duties. These he considered a part of his daily work, hearing all the canonical offices with the same regularity as he attended to the grievances of his subjects. Often, like our own George Herbert, was he found prostrate before the altar wrapped in prayer. Even Gibbon allowed that he united the virtues of a king, a hero, and a man--he might have added those of a just judge and a lawgiver; and Voltaire sums up his character as follows: "Il n'est guere donne a l'homme de pousser la vertu plus loin." When his more worldly friends cavilled at his austerities, he made his case good by retorting: "Si je pa.s.sais deux fois autant de temps a jouer, ou a courir les bois, pour m'occuper de la cha.s.se, personne n'en parleroit." As in the case of nearly all exceptionally good men, he probably owed everything to the extreme care that his mother had bestowed upon his education--a care which he repaid by a life-long devotion to her memory. Of good Queen Blanche's character we get a glimpse in the following touching anecdote.

It is related that one day at Court, the Queen noticed a beautiful youth with long, fair hair, and asking his name, was answered, "Prince Herman, the son of the sainted Elizabeth of Hungary." On hearing this, Queen Blanche rose from her seat, and, gazing at the boy, said to him, "Fair youth, thou hadst a blessed mother; where did she kiss thee?" Whereat Herman, blushing, placed his finger on his forehead between his eyes, and the Queen, reverently pressing her lips upon the spot, looked up to Heaven and breathed the invocation: _Sancta Elisabetha, Patrona nostra dulcissima, ora pro n.o.bis._ That a mother so imbued with admiration for the sainted Elizabeth should have a son who walked in the Hungarian queen's steps, is not very remarkable in those ages of faith. S. Louis'

faith was simple, loving, and inextinguishable; and so it came about that when he heard of the Emperor Baldwin II.'s financial difficulties, he decided to purchase the relics which had been given more than once, it is said, as pledges for temporary loans. The Emperor's letter upon the subject would lead one to suppose that it was an act of generosity to _faire pa.s.ser_ the relics to S. Louis; but we know that the King paid very handsomely for them. "Je desire," said the emperor, "ardemment de vous faire pa.s.ser cette precieuse relique a vous, mon cousin, mon seigneur, et mon bienfaiteur, et au royaume de France ma patrie." Other purchasers seem to have been in the field; for S. Louis only obtained, at that time, the Crown of Thorns and some portion of the True Cross.

One of his rivals was our Henry III., who in 1247 summoned all his n.o.bles to London to witness the reception of some of the Holy Blood which had been brought from the East in a crystal vase, by one of the Knights Templars. It was sent by the Master of the Templars and Hospitallers, its genuineness being attested by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the abbots of the Holy Land. On the 13th October, being the feast of S. Edward the Confessor, the King, after prayer and fasting, carried the reliquary from S. Paul's to Westminster, where it was deposited in the Abbey church. The Bishop of Norwich preached, and celebrated ma.s.s; and in his sermon took pains to impress upon his hearers that the Holy Blood was more precious even than the True Cross possessed by the King of France--an argument which points to one of the causes of rivalry between the nations during the Middle Ages. Naturally the a.s.sembled prelates accorded indulgences to the faithful who should visit the shrine; but this much coveted privilege seems to have caused certain murmurings among some of the a.s.sistants; they objected that, whereas our Lord had ascended into Heaven in the body, He could not have left His blood upon the earth. But Robert Grossetete, Bishop of Lincoln, was equal to the occasion, and replied, that Joseph of Arimathea, having saved it from the precious wounds, more especially from the one in His side, had given some of it to Nicodemus, and thus it had been treasured up, and had pa.s.sed from father to son, until it came into the possession of the Patriarch Robert of Jerusalem. These disputes seem to have been pretty common in those days, in spite of the unquestioning faith of the mult.i.tude. In 1357 we read of a squabble which took place between the Dominicans and the Franciscans, one Francois Bale of Barcelona affirming that the blood being separated from the Divinity of our Lord was therefore not adorable. Often, indeed, these wranglings became so violent that the Popes were obliged to interfere in order to settle the matter.

The bringing home of the relics reads like a royal pageant. They were carried to Venice by the "Deputes de Saint Louis et les amba.s.sadeurs de l'Empire, accompagnes des plus n.o.bles d'entre les Venitiens. Le convoi mit a la voile dans le tems de Noel, saison ou la mer est le plus orageuse. La confidence des Deputes eleva leur ame au dessus de la crainte des perils, et elle fut justifiee; ils arriverent a Venise sans avoir essuye de tempetes. Vatace, Empereur Grec, avait detache plusieurs galeres qui croisoient aux differens detroits ou les Francois devoient pa.s.ser, pour leur enlever ce precieux butin. Sa vigilance fut trompee; Dieu veilloit sur eux."[1]

"Arrivee a Venise la Relique fut mise en depot dans le Tresor de la Chapelle de Saint-Marc. Le roi instruit du succes de la negociation de ses deputes, envoya, ainsi que Baudouin, des Amba.s.sadeurs avec l'argent necessaire pour se l'approprier. De leur cote les Marchands Francois etablis a Venise, plus riches encore des dons de la foi qu'avantages de la fortune, ouvrirent leur bourse pour payer la somme stipulee. Les Venitiens auroient bien desire garder cette Relique, mais retenus par la foi du traite ils la rest.i.tuerent quoique a regret."

"Les Amba.s.sadeurs apres avoir reconnu les sceaux se mirent en route, et quoique la saison ft pluvieuse ils n'essuyerent pas une goutte d'eau.

Arrives en Champagne, le Roi part.i.t aussi-tot pour les joindre. Il etoit accompagne de la Reine, de ses Freres, de l'Archeveque de Sens, de l'Eveque du Puy, et des Seigneurs les plus distingues de sa cour. II rencontra la Relique pres de Sens; elle etoit enfermee dans une triple ca.s.sette. La premiere etoit de bois. On l'ouvrit, et on verifia les sceaux des seigneurs Francois et du Duc de Venise apposes sur la ca.s.sette d'argent dans laquelle se trouva un vase d'or, contenant la Ste.-Couronne. L'ayant decouverte on la fit voir a tous les a.s.sistans, qui fondirent en larmes s'imaginant voir reellement Jesus Christ couronne d'epines. Puis le Roi mit son scelle sur la ca.s.sette. Tant de precautions ecartent a.s.surement tout soupcon d'infidelite."

"Le lendemain la Relique fut portee a Sens dont on avoit tendu toutes les rues. A l'entree de la Ville, le Roi et le Comte d'Artois, l'aine de ses Freres, la porterent sur leurs epaules, les pieds nuds. Le Clerge alla au-devant, et les princ.i.p.aux Seigneurs charges a leur tour de ce fardeau honorable la placerent dans l'Eglise Metropolitaine de Saint-Etienne. On se mit ensuite en route pour Paris, ou la reception de la Relique se fit avec la plus grande solennite. Tout le Clerge regulier et seculier fut convoque a cette ceremonie. Les Religieux de Saint-Denis des la pointe du jour se rendirent a l'endroit qui avoit ete indique hors de Paris du cote de Vincennes; tous ceux qui a.s.sisterent a cette Procession marcherent nuds pieds. On avoit dresse un magnifique reposoir pres de l'Abbaye Saint-Antoine, ou la Cha.s.se fut exposee aux yeux du peuple. Guillaume, Chantre de Saint-Denis, entonna tout ce qui fut chante pendant la marche et l'Abbe eut place a la droite de l'Autel, avec les Archeveques, Eveques et les autres Abbes, tous en habits pontificaux. Enfin le 18e jour d'Aot la Relique arriva, et fut placee au Palais dans la Chapelle de Saint-Nicolas."[2]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

A medal was struck to commemorate this event, with the legend: HaeC REGIS REGUM TOTO PRETIOSIOR AURO, and S. Louis kneeling before an altar upon which is the crown of thorns. As to the particular tree of which the crown was composed, there was much difference of opinion. Clement of Alexandria calls it _ex rubo_, a sort of thicket; other writers a different sort of shrub or bush, called _nerprun_, or wild plum; and others, the white thorn.

The antiphon used every day in the offices of the Sainte-Chapelle began: _Ecce Crux et Corona Spinea Arnia Regis Gloriae tibi commendantur_; and the seal consisted of a cross with the crown of thorns intersecting it, and on each side a _fleur-de-lys_, with the King's crown at the top.

Having acquired the holy relics, it was most seemly that a shrine should be constructed wherein they should rest--a shrine worthy the sanct.i.ty of such treasures. And so S. Louis commissioned his architect, Pierre de Montereau, to build him a chapel which should be a marvel of lightness and colour, embellished with windows which should glitter like precious stones, and containing a _cha.s.se_, resplendent with enamels, and gold and silver--a shrine, as it were, within a shrine. That the architect was worthy the confidence of his royal master, the chapel testifies to this day, and Maitre Pierre's immortal work remains the most perfect example of 13th century architecture in France; one might say, the most exquisite architectural gem which the world has yet seen, or is ever likely to see.

Pierre de Montereau, or Montreau, as it is sometimes written, lived eighteen years after the completion of his _chef-d'uvre_, and doubtless a.s.sisted at some of the splendid ceremonies held in it. He died March 17th, 1266, and was buried in the chapel of the Virgin belonging to the religious of S. Germain des Pres, where a splendid monument was erected to his memory. Some of the finest of the buildings attached to the monastery were his work, and up to the last century a stone was to be seen over his burial-place, upon which he was represented with a rule and compa.s.s in his hands. His epitaph gives him the t.i.tles of _fleur pleine de bonnes murs_, and of _docteur des architectes_:

FLOS PLENUS MORUM, VIVENS DOCTOR LATO MORUM, MUSTEROLO NATUS JACET HIC PETRUS TUMULATUS QUEM REX COELORUM PERDUCAT IN ALTA POLORUM CHRISTE MILLENO, BIS CENTENO DUODENO c.u.m QUINQUAGENO QUARTO DECESSIT IN ANNO.

Another stone recorded the name of his wife Agnes, and on that he is termed, in old French, mestre Pierre de Montereul. The chapel has disappeared, and with it all trace of the tombs; but one at Reims, erected in honour of Hugues Libergier, architect of the celebrated abbey church of S. Nicaise, who died in 1263, gives some idea of what those of Pierre de Montereau and his wife must have been.

The first stone of the church was laid by S. Louis in 1245, and three years later, on the Sunday after Easter, _Quasimodo_, 25th April, 1248, it was consecrated by the Pope's legate, Eudes de Chateauroux, Bishop of Tusculum, as the Chapel of the Holy Cross and the Holy Crown. On the same day, Philippe Berruyer, Archbishop of Bourges, celebrated the like ceremony in the lower church, putting it under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin. It seems strange that Joinville should not speak of this event, and yet it must have been an imposing sight; but he does not once mention the Sainte-Chapelle in his life of S. Louis. Perhaps this may be accounted for by what he thus relates: "At Easter-tide, in the year of grace 1248, I summoned my va.s.sals and retainers to Joinville, and on the Easter-eve ... was born John, my son, Sire d'Ancarville.... We had feasting and dancing all that week, in the course of which my brother, the Sire de Vancouleurs and other rich persons who were there, gave banquets one after the other on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday." And then he goes on to say that he went to Metz on business before he started for the Holy Land; therefore we may suppose that private affairs kept him away from Paris, and that not being present himself at the consecration, he did not consider it necessary to give an account of the ceremony.

Two charters dated Paris, 1245, and Aigues-Mortes, 1248, respectively give the terms of the endowment by the king. The number of ecclesiastics who first formed the college was fixed at twenty-one; five princ.i.p.al priests or _maitres chapelains_, each having an a.s.sistant chaplain (a priest), and a deacon, and three beadles who had as many clerks under them. The number was modified from time to time, during five centuries, and latterly it consisted of a treasurer, twelve canons, and nineteen chaplains. The office of treasurer was generally filled by some important personage, and he had the privilege of wearing the mitre and other insignia of the episcopate, and of giving the Benediction upon great festivals; but he was not allowed to bear the crozier.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The most important event of the 13th century connected with the Sainte-Chapelle was the translation of some of S. Louis' bones from S.

Denis, in which church they had been laid twenty-seven years previously upon their arrival from Tunis, where the king had died of fever on the 25th August, 1270. Feeling his last moments to have arrived, he caused his body to be placed upon a bed of ashes, and wearing the habit of the third order of S. Francis, his n.o.ble spirit pa.s.sed away. He was embalmed, according to the fashion of the day; or rather, his bones were relieved of their outer cas.e.m.e.nts, by boiling in wine and water; other parts of his body, which it is unnecessary to specify, being given by his son to the King of Sicily, who placed them in the church of Monreale, Palermo. The young Comte de Nevers had died just before S.