The Churches of Paris Part 15

LA TOUR SAINT-JACQUES.

This tower is all that remains of the church of S. Jacques de la Boucherie, which had to be demolished to make way for the Rue de Rivoli.

It was commenced in 1508, and finished in 1522. The figure of S. James upon the little turret, and his friends the Evangelistic animals, by Rauch, were thrown down in 1793; but in 1836, when the munic.i.p.ality saved the tower by purchasing it, the statues were repaired and replaced. The church contained many tombs and slabs, some of which have found a home in the Hotel Cluny. One of the most famous persons buried at S. Jacques was Nicholas Flamel, a member of the University, and librarian, who died in 1417, leaving large sums of money to the church.

His effigy, and that of his wife, were to be seen kneeling at the Virgin's feet in the tympanum of the porch. He was venerated as their patron by the alchymists, for having, as was affirmed, discovered the philosopher's Stone; and several times his house in the Rue des ecrivains was rummaged in order to find some indication of his secret.

His funeral tablet has the following epitaph engraven upon it, and is numbered 92 in the collection of the Hotel Cluny:

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOUR SAINT-JACQUES, LOOKING TOWARDS THE HoTEL DE VILLE]

FEU NICOLAS FLAMEL JADIX ESCRI VAIN A LAISSe PAR SON TESTAMENT a LEUSORE DE CESTE eGLISE CERTAINES RENTES ET MAISONS QU'IL AVOIT ACQUESTeES ET ACHETeES a SON VI- VANT POUR FAIRE CERTAIN SERVICE DIVIN ET DISTRIBUCIONS D'ARGENT CHASCUN AU PAR AUMOSNE TOU- CHANS LES QUINZE VINS: LOSTEL DI EU ET AULTRES eGLISES ET HOSPITEAUX a PARIS.--SOIT PRIe POURS LES TRePa.s.seS.

The Tour S. Jacques is an excellent example of what may be done with the remaining portions of demolished buildings. As it stands, surrounded by gardens, it is a most beautiful object, an oasis in the desert of streets, and trams, and omnibuses, a quiet spot where children may skirmish, and mothers can sit in the open air and knit their stockings.

Why cannot we do likewise in London? If churches must be felled to the ground, why cannot we leave their towers as a centre to the burial-ground gardens, or remove and re-erect them in our parks? We might with advantage follow the example of Paris, both in the preservation of the old tower of S. Jacques, and in the arrangement of the garden of the Hotel Cluny, where, also, fragments of churches are set up as ornaments.

It was from the top of the tower of S. Jacques that Pascal made certain experiments of the density of the air; and in memory of this, his statue, in white marble, was placed under the porch.

SAINT-JACQUES DU HAUT-PAS.

In no way remarkable, this church need only be mentioned as having been built between 1630-1684, in the Italian fashion. It is in the street of the same name.

SAINT-JEAN-SAINT-FRANcOIS.

Founded in 1623, in the Rue Charlot, as a chapel for the Capuchins, S.

Jean contains a statue of S. Francis of a.s.sisi, by Germain Pilon, and a S. Denis, sculptured by Jacques Sarazin for the Abbey of Montmartre, by order of Anne d'Autriche.

SAINT-JULIEN LE PAUVRE.

In a little back street not far from S. Severin is the old church of S.

Julien, a fragment only of its former self, and all that remains of the ancient priory. Its locality is described in Guillot's _Dict. des Rues de Paris_, which gives a description in verse of the princ.i.p.al houses and streets in the city at the end of the 13th century, as follows:--

Puis la rue de Saint-Julien Qui nous gart de mauvais lien, M'en revins a la Buscherie Et puis en la Poissonnerie.

And it appears that "il y avait jadis, pres du Pet.i.t-Pont et la prison du Pet.i.t-Chatelet, une ruelle appelee ruelle du Carneaux,[92] qui conduisait au marche au poisson d'eau douce." This fish-market evidently occupied the site of the old annexe of the Hotel-Dieu, and doubtless was in great requisition when the priory was inhabited by its fifty brethren.

Some years ago, when S. Julien was used as the chapel of the Hotel-Dieu, it formed a picturesque object from the hospital garden, and no doubt was often a great comfort to some of the patients, who found within its walls a peaceful spot where they could be alone, and out of turmoil of sick wards and their accompaniments. But when the old hospital was pulled down, the church's very existence was threatened, and for some years it seemed as if Paris would have one more vandalism to lament.

Happily its demolition was prevented, and it has been restored to G.o.d's service, for the use of members of the Greek branch of the Church.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF SAINT-JULIEN.]

Many were the Julians canonized by the Early Church, and it is difficult to say to which saint this edifice was dedicated, although the fact of the relics of S. Julien de Brioude, who was martyred in 304, having been placed upon the left-hand side of the High Altar, seems to point to him as the patron. S. Julien was born at Vienne in Dauphine about 270, and became a distinguished soldier in the Roman army; but having embraced Christianity, he was beheaded during the reign of Diocletian in 304, at Brioude in Auvergne, where he had taken refuge from his persecutors.

There his remains were discovered by S. Germain d'Auxerre in 431, and forthwith the town became celebrated for the many cures performed at its miraculous well. "_Est enim ad hunc fontem virtus eximia_," said S.

Gregoire of Tours; and Sidonius Apollinaris, who died in 489, also bears witness to the Saint's burial place in a letter to a friend who was travelling in Auvergne: "_Hic te suscipiet benigna Brivas Sancti quae fovet ossa Juliani._" S. Gregoire, in his life of the Saint, gave a list of the churches dedicated to his memory; and although S. Julien le Pauvre is not enumerated, it would seem that it must have been one of them, as he speaks of lodging in a house attached to the little basilica, when he came to Paris, and called it S. Julien the Martyr: "_His diebus Parisius adveneram et ad Basilicam Beati Juliani martyris metam habebam._"

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHAPEL OF THE SOUTH AISLE.]

Another S. Julien was a confessor, and first bishop of Mans. He was a Roman by birth, and upon being consecrated, was sent by Pope Clement to convert the Cenomans. He arrived at Suindinum (Le Mans) while the town was besieged and deprived of water. Entering it, he caused water to spring from the ground, and henceforth the well was called _Sanct-nomius_, or fountain of S. Julien. The bishop worked in his diocese over 40 years, and then retired to S. Marceau, where he died in 117, his decease being revealed in a vision to his first convert, a Gaul, surnamed _Le Defenseur_, who caused the Saint's body to be carried back to Le Mans, and buried with great pomp at Notre-Dame du Pre. In 840 it was translated to the cathedral, where many miracles were wrought. S.

Julien is generally represented destroying a dragon, symbolizing paganism, or accompanied by a young girl carrying a pitcher of water, an allegory of the miraculous well. This connection of different Saints of the same name with wells is curious, and makes it difficult to decide the patronage of S. Julien le Pauvre; for there also are two wells, one the so-called "miraculous," just outside the eastern apse of the church, and another outside one of the windows of the 17th century _facade_. If, as many authorities think, the old 13th century west front occupied a s.p.a.ce in advance of the present one, this well may have been originally inside the church, an arrangement frequently adopted by Mediaeval architects, and still existing in some of our old churches. There is one of exquisite beauty in the south aisle of Regensburg Cathedral, and at Coutances there are two in the transepts. S. Germain des Pres also had its miraculous well, but it is now closed up. There is yet another one at the corner of Rues S. Jacques and S. Severin, which formerly bore the name of Julien, but is now re-christened S. Severin. It was re-constructed in the 17th century and bore the following inscription by the poet Santeuil:

DUM SCANDUNT JUGA MONTIS ANHELO PECTORE NYMPHae, HIC UNA E SOCIIS VALLIS AMORE SEDET.

Which is prettily rendered by d'Amaury Duval: "Tandis que les nymphes, haletantes, montent vers le sommet de la montagne, l'une d'elles, eprise de la beaute du vallon, y fixe sa demeure."

The third saint who disputes the patronage of this particular church is S. Julian Hospitator, who watches over travellers, ferrymen, boatmen and travelling minstrels. He was a n.o.bleman much given to the chase, and one day, while pursuing a deer, the frightened creature turned round, and cried out, "Thou followest me, thou who wilt one day kill thy father and mother."[93] Thereupon Julian rushed away to a far country, where he was made a knight, and much honoured by the king. But his parents, grieved at his loss, set off to try and find him, and coming to his castle, they made themselves known to his wife, who put them in their son's chamber, and left them for the night. In the morning she went to early ma.s.s to give thanks for this great mercy, and during her absence, Julian, finding the old people in his room, and not recognizing them in the dim light of dawn, turned upon them and slew them, as it seems, somewhat hastily. Then Julian resolved to depart and devote himself to some good work; but his wife would not let him go alone, so they journeyed until they came to a great river, where many people were drowned in trying to ford it, and there they set up a hermitage and a hospital, and a ferry boat for travellers free of charge. One day, when a leper presented himself, Julian not only ferried him over, but carried him in his arms to his own bed, and tended him with the aid of his good wife. And in the morning the leper arose, transformed, and saying, "Julian, the Lord hath sent me to thee; thy penitence is accepted, and thy rest and that of thy wife is near at hand," vanished out of their sight. And shortly after, both Julian and his wife fell asleep.[94] The Cathedral of Rouen possesses a window presented by the company of _bateliers-pecheurs_ in the 14th century, upon which this legend of the ferry is represented.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BAS-RELIEF OF THE FERRY.]

There can be little doubt that the church was originally dedicated to Julian the Martyr, as recorded by Gregoire de Tours, and that later the _culte_ of the other two Julians was added; particularly as we find upon one of the houses of the Rue Galande, which abuts upon one side of the church, a curious 13th century bas-relief of this very legend of the ferry. S. Julian and his wife are rowing the boat, apparently in opposite directions, and standing up is the pa.s.senger, no other than Our Lord Himself, as we see from the cruciform nimbus. Is it not probable that at some time, when repairs were going on, this bas-relief was removed from the church, and does not the situation of S. Julien le Pauvre, or _des_ pauvres, close to a river and a fish-market, seem to be further proof that the Hospitator was one of the later patrons of the church? There are said to be nearly sixty[95] saints of this name, and as a proof of their popularity in France, we find no less than one hundred and sixty-two villages called after them. In Spain they were still more popular. Saint-Julien le Menetrier, or des Menetriers, was a hospital founded in 1330 by Jacques Grare and Huet le Lorrain, for fiddlers, jugglers, and acrobats. It was situated near the Rue S.

Martin. One of the attributes of S. Julian Hospitator is a mask. He is thus seen on some of the windows at the cathedrals of Chartres and Rouen, the latter of the 14th century. His name also seems to have had virtue in it as an expletive, for in the _Chronique des Ducs de Normendie et des Rois d'Engletierre_ the following exclamation occurs: "_'Par Saint Julian!' dist Hubiers Gautiers li bons archevesque de Chantorbire_ (Canterbury)."

S. Julien was also invoked by travellers:

(Saint Ylaire) saint Juliens Qui heberge les Crestiens,

was a rhyme of the _Moustiers de Paris_, written in 1270; and a doc.u.ment of 1325 upon the _Churches and Monasteries of Paris_ thus confirms the usefulness of S. Julien-le-Pauvre:

Or m'en iray outre le pont Pour des autres moustiers trouver Que l'on ne puisse reprouver, Quar s'en mon dit faille de rien, Premiers trouverez saint Julien Le Povre, et bien ai regarde Que maint compagnon a garde De mort, ce n'est pas mesprison Et d'estre en vilainne prison; Il les heberge et si les tence De heberger a la poissance.

The early history of S. Julien is similar to that of all the other churches of Paris. Destroyed in 886 by the Normans,[96] it fell into lay hands, but was rebuilt in the 12th century, and became the property of Etienne de Vitry and Hugues de Monteler, who, in consequence of a vow made during sickness in the Holy Land, gave it over to the monks of Longport, near Monthery, who rebuilt the church and erected a priory for fifty brothers.

The 13th and 14th centuries were periods of great intellectual activity.

Students flocked to Paris from all parts of Europe, and the left bank of the Seine became a colony of colleges. According to Victor Hugo, there were no less than forty-two in 1465.[97] S. Julian was in the midst of these schools, and in the streets surrounding it were dwellings for the students of the various nationalities. The little Rue du Fouarre takes its name from _fourrage_, the straw upon which the students sat during the lectures; and so large was the attendance in 1535, that the authorities were obliged to erect two gates to prevent the circulation of carriages during the lessons. Brunetto Latini, Dante Alighieri, Petrarca, and Rabelais, were among the students of the Rue du Fouarre; the three last referring to it in their writings. Dante, especially, mentions his old master Sigier de Brabant in his _Divinia Commedia_:

_Essa la luce eterna de Sigieri_ _Che, leggendo nel vico degli Strami,_ _Sillogizo' invidiosi veri._ (_Il Paradiso_, canto x.)

The poet also bears witness to the violent discussions which took place in the street, and adds that he found comfort in going to S. Julien to say his prayers. Ambroise-Firmin Didot speaks of Dante living in the Rue du Fouarre, _in vico stramineo_; and Mezieres adds his testimony: "Il est alle chercher la science a Bologne et entendre a Paris, dans la Rue du Fouarre, de la bouche de Sigier, ces lecons hardies qui effrayaient ces contemporains."

The colleges and dwelling-houses of the students, together with the buildings of the priory, formed a small town. In an old plan of the church, and its dependencies in the precincts, during the 14th century, we find a number of most curious names attached to the houses: Maison d'Angleterre, de la Hure, de Picardie, de Normandie, de l'Ymaige Notre-Dame, du Paon, de l'Escu de France, de la Nef[98] d'Argent, du Sabot, du Soufflet vert, du Papegaut, des Carneaulx, des Deux Cygnes, des Lyons, de la Heuze, des Trois Boittes, des Quatre filz Hemon, de la Corne de Daim, du Lievre cornu, de la Cuiller, des Trois Canettes, du Poing d'or, de la Main d'argent, du Turbot, les etuves de la Queue du Reynard, l'Escouvette d'or, and la ruelle du Trou-Punais; la maison des Sept-Arts, a la nation d'Angleterre; les Escolles du Cheval Rouge a la nation de Picardie, et la maison de la Corne de Cerf; these are only a few of the names. Many of the houses were demolished quite recently to make way for the Rue Monge. Much as I love Paris and admire it, I sometimes wish a new street were not obliged to proceed upon its way in a perfectly straight line, thereby destroying all that comes in its path. A remnant of the houses attached to S. Julien may be seen in the Rue Galande, No. 42, _maison de la Heuze et de Saint-Julien_--the bas-relief of the old portal, mentioned above.

For several centuries the old church was the seat of the general a.s.semblies of the University; and by a decree of Philippe le Bel, the Provost of Paris was obliged to go there every two years, to take an oath to observe the privileges of the students, who were under his jurisdiction. He bore the t.i.tle of _Conservateur de l'Universite_ with much pride; but he must have had a troublous life, for the students were always quarrelling with the citizens; and in the reign of Charles VI., the then Provost, Hugues Aubriot, rebuilt the Pet.i.t-Chatelet (which was close to S. Julien), in order to defend the city against the nocturnal incursions of the scholars. To such a pa.s.s had matters come in 1601, that the Parliament issued the following decree: "La court a faict inhibitions et defences aux dicts escolliers porter espees et dagues sur le quay de la Tournelle ny commettre aucune insolence." There were several cla.s.ses of students, _Boursiers_ and _Pensionnaires_ (_Convicteurs ou Portionnistes_) living with the masters; _Cameristes_, rich young men who lived without control and were only provided with teaching and firing; _Externes libres_, or _Martinets_, troublesome students who gained their name because they rarely appeared before the Princ.i.p.al except for punishment with the rod or _martinet_; and the _Galoches_, who lived out of college (_externes_), and were named after the clogs (_patins_ or _galoches_) with great nails which they wore to keep their feet dry in traversing the muddy or snowy streets. These were often older men whose presence at lectures flattered the professors. Up to the 16th century, S. Julien was also the scene of the election of the Rector of the Faculty of Arts, _Rector Magnificus de l'Alma Parens_; and upon these occasions, notably in 1524, the students seemed to have amused themselves, after their kind, by breaking doors and windows, wrenching knockers, and such like playful imbecilities. The next year Parliament decreed that the elections should take place elsewhere; the new localities chosen being, first the Mathurins, and then the College Louis le Grand.

The University of Paris was established in 1200, but the word was not commonly used until the time of S. Louis. In the time of Philippe Auguste there were three schools in Paris, at Notre-Dame, and at the abbeys of S. Victor and S. Genevieve. Naturally to keep so many students in order was no easy task, and we can easily understand that upon every excuse, every small discontent of the citizens, the scholars were only too glad to help in the scrimmage. They were at first cla.s.sified in nations, or Societe de Maitres; thus in 1169 we read of la nation de France, surnamed _Honoranda_; la nation de Picardie, _Fidellissima_; la nation Normande, _Veneranda_; and la nation d'Angleterre, _Constantissima_. In the "town and gown" rows between students and citizens, the members of the University were only amenable to the Provost of Paris, who gloried in the t.i.tle of _Conservateur de l'Universite_; and when this gentleman found the gownsmen in the wrong, the University suspended its lectures.

But S. Julien was not simply the centre of the University; it was also the head-quarters of many guilds and corporations, such as the Confraternity of Notre-Dame-des-Vertus, the Paper-makers, the Ironfounders, and Roof-tilers.