The Churches of Paris Part 3

Some statues on one of the transept doorways are curious examples of how a fraud may be perpetuated. They represent, without doubt, some members of the royal house of David, but at some period they were said to be kings of the Capetien line, and as such, casts were taken and sent to Versailles, where they figured as portrait statues of Hugues Capet, Robert, Henri, Philippe, Louis VI., and Louis VII. The capitals of the columns and the foliage ornament of these portals are vastly superior in style to the figures.

On each side of the western rose-window are some bands of black and white marble, after the manner of the churches of Pisa and Genoa, _souvenirs_, probably, of Suger's travels in Italy. Indeed, he tells us in the account of his administration that he took much trouble in preserving a mosaic which he had brought home and placed in the tympanum of one of the doors. This was unfortunately replaced, in 1774, by a bas-relief of the meanest possible workmanship.

The interior consists of a nave and two aisles, with a _chevet_ of seven chapels at the east end, considerably raised above the level of the nave. Access to these chapels is gained by a flight of steps on each side of the High Altar, and under them is the royal crypt. The whole of the east end of the church, the double aisles, with their single-shaft pillars, the chapels, the vaulting, and the gla.s.s, form a ma.s.s of colour, and a most beautiful _coup d'il_;[18] indeed, there is but one eyesore in the whole building, the aforesaid series of windows representing Louis Philippe's heroic deeds. Blue swallow-tailed coats and white trousers scarcely form a costume which is either effective or appropriate as designs for church windows.

The wood carving of the stalls is of the 15th century, and was brought from the abbey of S. Lucien-lez-Beauvais; the inlaid marquetry work at the backs of the seats is from the Chateau de Gaillon, built by Cardinal d'Amboise. Many of the _misereres_ have the usual quaint conceits which one sees everywhere. Portions of the old gla.s.s were preserved by Lenoir in the museum of the Pet.i.ts-Augustins during the stormy period, and were afterwards replaced in the windows of the apse. They consist mainly of fragments of a tree of Jesse, and may be found in the chapel of the Virgin. There are in all eleven lozenge-shaped medallions representing scenes in the life of Moses, and mystical subjects from the Apocalypse, bearing inscriptions by Suger. Upon the medallion of the Annunciation, the good abbot himself is portrayed prostrate before the Blessed Virgin.

In one or two of the other chapels there are a few fragments of the legend of S. Laurence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE LADY CHAPEL.]

Of the early kings of France Dagobert was the first to be buried at S.

Denis, and his memorial tomb (much restored) still stands on the right of the High Altar. Clovis and Clotilde were buried in the crypt of the first church erected upon the site of S. Genevieve, then called the Church of the Holy Apostles. Childebert was laid in the church of the Abbey of S. Vincent (founded by him), afterwards called S.

Germain-des-Pres. Chlodoald was buried at S. Cloud; S. Radegonde, wife of Clotaire I., at Poitiers; Chilperic and Fredegonde laid the body of one of their children in the first church of S. Denis. Besides Dagobert I., his queen, Nanthilde, and their sons, Sigebert II. and Clovis II.

were buried at S. Denis; and although it is thought that other Merovingian princes also received burial there, many repose at Ch.e.l.les, S. Waast d'Arras, S. Bertin, S. Etienne de Choisy, Metz, Angouleme, S.

Romain de Blaye, Jumieges, and S. Crepin de Soissons. The monuments of Charles-Martel, Pepin and Berthe, Carloman, Charles the Bald, Ermentrude, Louis, Carloman, and Eudes were all at S. Denis. Charlemagne was buried at Aix-la-Chapelle, where the magnificent _cha.s.ses_ containing his skull and some of his bones may still be seen. His descendants were distributed all over Europe: at Koln, Mainz, Prum, Regensburg, Loresheim, Oettinghen, Reichenau, Audlau, Verona, Milan, and Piacenza; those in France, at Metz, Sens, Bourges, S. Laurent, S.

Sulpice, Tours, Angers, Lyon, Portiers, Compiegne, Reims, Peronne, and Soissons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: URN SCULPTURED FOR THE HEART OF FRANcOIS I^{er.}]

From Hugues Capet to Louis XV. most of the kings were interred at S.

Denis; but it must be borne in mind that almost all the tombs of the earlier sovereigns are modern, either wholly or in part. In the 13th century the strange custom came into fashion of dividing the bodies of royal personages, and burying the parts in different places. The Benedictine monks of S. Denis protested against this division of valuable property, a.s.serting their right to possess the entire remains of the kings; but the Dominicans and the Cordeliers contested these claims, and subsequently gained permission for their own churches to share in the spoil. Later on, other religious orders obtained the same privileges; and the ladies of Val-de-Grace were distinguished by the possession of the hearts of nearly all the royal princes and princesses from Anne d'Autriche, the founder of the monastery. Naturally, when each defunct sovereign was divided into three portions--the body, the heart, and the intestines--great opportunities were afforded to architects and sculptors; and we thus find three marble monuments with rec.u.mbent figures erected for the remains of Charles V., that at S. Denis containing his body, while Rouen and Maubuisson respectively possessed his heart and his _et ceteras_.[19] Francis I.'s heart was placed in an exquisite urn in the church of the nuns of Haute-Bruyere; while his body was buried in the grand monument at S. Denis. The urn was the work of Pierre Bontems, and is now in the same chapel as the tomb, which was the joint work of Philibert Delorme and Bontems. The beautiful group of the _Three Graces_, by Germain Pilon, formerly in the church of the Celestins, and now in the Renaissance Museum of the Louvre, supported an urn containing the heart of Henri II.;[20] the hearts of the 13th and 14th Louis, enveloped in shrines in the form of silver Angels, being the property of the church of the Jesuits. The number of monuments erected at S. Denis to the memory of the families of the sovereigns was small; and none of them were to be compared, as works of art, to the beautiful tombs of the Dukes of Bourgogne and of Bretagne at Dijon, at Bruges, and at Nantes. Most of the princes of the different families, the Condes, the Contis, the Valois, the Bourbons, &c., had founded chapels or monasteries where they were afterwards buried; as, for instance, the Orleans chapel at the Celestins, which was celebrated for its magnificence.[21]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CHOIR AND SANCTUARY.]

None of the monuments of the early kings are anterior to the 13th century; consequently, even the original portions of the effigies which remain cannot be looked upon as in the slightest degree portrait statues. On the other hand, the magnificent tombs in bronze, and the bra.s.ses which adorned them, erected to the memory of Philippe Auguste, S. Louis, and his father, and which were destroyed centuries ago, were most probably as valuable as contemporary portraits as they were for their workmanship; likewise the 13th century effigies which remain are remarkable for the beauty of their workmanship. Louis IV. was the last prince who was laid under a simple stone monument. The last tomb erected was that of Henri II., the sovereigns who followed him having had no memorials. They were laid together in one great crypt, and when disturbed by the Revolutionists for the sake of the lead of their coffins ("of the coffins of our old tyrants let us make bullets to hurl at our enemies"), there were fifty-four bodies arranged upon iron trestles side by side, Henri IV.[22] heading the list, and the Dauphin, elder son of Louis XVI., ending it. The monuments now occupy the same position that they did before the Revolution; and if we stand upon the raised platform of the apse behind the High Altar we can gaze down upon what may be called the history of France, from the artistic point of view, during four or five centuries. On the left, the 13th century tomb of Dagobert stands erect; beyond it, the Renaissance mausoleum of Francis I., one of the _chefs-d'uvres_ of that grand sculptor, Philibert Delorme. On the right, the enamelled bra.s.ses of the children of S. Louis and the tomb of Henri II. A mosaic effigy of Fredegonde, the Orleans monument, and the tomb of Louis XII. by the brothers Juste, of Tours, complete the list of important works, while all about are rec.u.mbent figures upon arcaded monuments. The resting-places of the abbots were simply marked by inscriptions or flat slabs. The historian of the Abbey, Dom Michel Felibien, records the number of thirteen stones of grand priors with effigies, besides the abbots' tombs.

Among the distinguished men buried at S. Denis were the following:--

Pierre Chambellan, of whom Joinville writes, "Messire Pierre Chambellan fut le plus loial homme et le plus droicturier que je veisse oncques en la maision du roi ... l'homme du monde en qui le roy croirit plus"; and Alphonse, son of Jean de Brienne, King of Jerusalem and uncle of S.

Louis, whose epitaph designates him as "moult saige et moult loial chevaliers." Both of them died "au service de Dieu et de Monsieur Loys, roy de France, dessous Cartaige l'an de l'incarnation de Nostre-Seigneur MCCLXX," and were "enterres en l'eglise Monsieur Saint Denis" in the year MCCLXXI, "le vendredi devant la Penthecoste le jour et l'heure quand Monsieur le roy Loys fut enterre"; indeed, the old chronicler says, "aus pieds du bon roys tout en la maniere qu'il gisoit a ses pieds quand il estoit en vie." Pierre accompanied S. Louis in the disastrous crusade which terminated his reign. No doubt his tomb was of metal, destroyed with many others long before the Revolution, as for example, that of the Comte d'Eu, in gilt copper, enriched with enamels, which succ.u.mbed to the greed of the Huguenots.

Close to the tomb of Charles V. were those of Duguesclin, Louis de Sancerre, Bureau de la Riviere, Arnaud de Guilhem seigneur de Barbazan, who, before Bayard, was called _le chevalier sans reproche_, and who, with six others, was victorious over seven English knights in 1404. Near Duguesclin Charles V. had marked the spot for the burial place of Jean Pastourel, one of his princ.i.p.al councillors, whose wife was laid at S.

Denis in 1380, but having, sick of the world, retired to the Abbey of S.

Victor towards the end of his life, he desired to be buried there rather than amidst the splendours of the royal tombs. He was the only civilian who was offered this much-coveted privilege.

Guillaume de Chastel was another non-royal personage whom it pleased his master, Charles VII., _pour sa grande vaillance et les services qui lui avoit faiz en maintes manieres_, to bury at S. Denis. The warrior held the town of Pontoise against the English, and died during the siege, 20th July, 1441. Another _vaillant capitaine de gendarmes_, the chevalier Louis de Pontoise, fell by the side of Louis XI. at the a.s.sault of the town of Crotoy, and was rewarded by being laid to rest amongst the Royalties.

Louis XIV. of course accorded burial at S. Denis to his great commanders. First, the Duc de Chatillon, for his magnificent services.

_Feu nostre tres-cher cousin_ was killed at the taking, in 1649, of Charenton, that peaceful suburb of Paris just outside the Bois de Vincennes; and the King, wishing to _tesmoigner le ressentiment que nous avons d'une si grande perte_, honoured the valiant _Duc_ with burial at S. Denis. The service was to be at the King's expense, which looks as if the honour were sometimes a costly one to the relatives; and no pomp or ceremony was to be omitted--such were the instructions of his most glorious majesty.

The Marquis de Saint Maigrin seems, according to the King's epistle, to have been of a _valeur extraordinaire, dans toutes les occasions ou il s'est trouve_; his majesty felt _avec beaucoup de douleur la perte que nous en avons faite au dernier combat qui s'est fait dans les fauxbourgs de nostre bonne ville de Paris_; and so he, too, was to rest with the great ones, socially, of the earth.

Louis seems to have been a sort of complete letter writer; the note in which he eulogises Turenne might serve as a model for those masters of style amongst us who delight in long sentences and a scarcity of full-stops; but, unlike the moderns, "la grande monarque" never gets involved, he only causes a slight shortness of breath to his readers.

Witness the following page: "Chers et bien amez, les grands et signalez services qui ont este rendus a cet Estat par feu nostre cousin, le vicomte de Turenne, et les preuves eclatantes qu'il a donnees de son zele, de son affection a nostre service, et de sa capacite dans le commandement de nos armees que nous luy avons confiees avec une esperance certaine des heureux et grands succes que sa prudence consommee et sa valeur extraordinaire ont procure a nos armes, nous ayant fait ressentir avec beaucoup de douleur la perte d'un aussi grand homme et d'un sujet aussi necessaire et aussi distingue par sa vertu et par sa merite, nous avons voulu donner un tesmoignage public digne de nostre estime et de ses grandes actions, en ordonnant qu'il fust rendu a sa memoire tous les honneurs qui peuvent marquer a la posterite l'extreme satisfaction qui nous reste, et le souvenir que nous voulons conserver de tout ce qu'il a faict pour la gloire de nos armes et pour le soutien de nostre Estat; et comme nous ne pouvons en donner des marques plus publiques et plus certaines qu'en prenant soin de sa sepulture, nous avons voulu y pourvoir en telle sorte que le lieu ou elle seroit, fust un tesmoignage de la grandeur de ses services et de nostre reconnoissance; c'est pourquoy, ayant resolu de faire bastir dans l'eglise de Saint-Denys une chapelle pour la sepulture des rois et des princes de la branche royale de Bourbon, nous voulons que, lorsqu'elle sera achevee, le corps de nostredit cousin y soit transfere, pour y estre mis en lieu honorable, suivant l'ordre que nous en donnerons; et cependant nous avons permis a nos cousins le cardinal et le duc de Bouillon, ses neveux, de mettre son corps en depost dans la chapelle de Saint-Eustache de ladite eglise de Saint-Denys, et d'y eslever un monument a la memoire de leur oncle, suivant les desseins qui en ont este arrestez; c'est de quoy nous avons bien voulu vous donner avis, et vous dire en mesme temps que nous voulons que vous executiez ce qui est en cela de nostre volonte, en faisant mettre ledit corps dans la cave de ladite chapelle et en laissant la liberte aux ouvriers de travailler audit monument jusqu'a son entiere perfection. Si n'y faictes fautes; car tel est nostre plaisir. Donne a Saint-Germain en Laye, le XXIIe jour de Novembre 1675. _Signe_, Louis. Et plus bas, Colbert. Et sur le reply: A nos chers et amez les abbe, prieur et religieux de l'abbaye royale de Saint-Denys, en France."

The projected Bourbon chapel was never built, and the Revolution found the monument of Turenne in the same chapel, that of S. Eustache, whence it was trundled out as late as April, 1796, and transported to the Pet.i.ts-Augustins; for up to that time Turenne, not being a royal person, had been left in peace. The demolition of the tombs seems to have gone on fitfully from 1793 to 1795, as a little diversion between more exciting events. After the emigration of the n.o.bility in 1790; the flight of the King to Varennes, and his false swearing to uphold the const.i.tution in 1792; and his treachery in carrying on a correspondence with the enemies at the frontier; the popular anger waxed strong, and led to the storming of the Tuileries on the 10th August,[23] which event was to be celebrated the next year by the demolition of the tombs of S.

Denis. Louis XVI. had paid the penalty of his crimes; and like his forerunner, Charles I., had shown that if he did not know how to live, he at least had learnt how to die; but his ancestors had got off scot-free. Why should they be allowed to rest peacefully, what remained of them? Besides, lead was wanted for ammunition; and, just as the church bells were in requisition for guns, and gold and silver vessels for coinage, so the leaden coffins and roofs of churches could be melted up into cannon b.a.l.l.s. Imagine the stampede of Parisians along that paved road that led from Paris to S. Denis. Only the other day, when the trams were inst.i.tuted, were those great rough stones taken up. At Versailles you may still see the like, the paved part of the road very much curved, with mud paths on each side--side walks for the people, while the centre pavement was reserved for the quality. They radiate from the palace, and enabled the "Roi Soleil" to visit his satellites at Bellevue, the Trianon, Meudon, and S. Germain, without danger of his lumbering coach sticking in the mire, to which he and his belonged. Many must have been the journeys from the capital to S. Denis, which the decree of the Convention sanctioned--journeys accompanied by crowbars and pickaxes for the better destruction of the tombs. It was a ghastly idea, but in no wise an exaggerated revenge for the kingly brutalities perpetrated upon the living bodies of Ravaillac, Damiens, and such like _canaille_.[24] We have a full account of the whole affair from the pen of an eye-witness, one Dom Poirier, the custodian of the archives of the monastery, who was present when the commission carried out the decree of the Convention of the 31st July, 1793. The report of this commission is so curious that I will quote it in full. After a.s.signing to the children of _Louis le conspirateur_[25] the portion of simple citizens, Barrere continued as to the proposed arrangements to be carried out at "la Franciade": "Enfin, le comite a pense que, pour celebrer la journee du 10 aot, qui a abattu le trone, il fallait, dans son anniversaire, detruire les mausolees fastueux qui sont a Saint-Denis. Dans la monarchie, les tombeaux meme avaient appris a flatter les rois.

L'orgueil et le faste royal ne pouvaient s'adoucir sur ce theatre de la mort; et les porte-sceptre qui ont fait tant de maux a la France et a l'humanite semblent encore, meme dans la tombe, s'enorgueillir d'une grandeur evanouie. La main puissante de la republique doit effacer impitoyablement ces epitaphes superbes et demolir ces mausolees qui rappeleraient des rois l'effrayant souvenir." Thereupon a discussion ensued. One member suggested that the nation being in peril, and wanting guns to carry on its defence, a commission should proceed to Franciade, otherwise S. Denis, in order to commence "l'exhumation des ci-devant rois et reines, princes et princesses, dont les corps etaient renfermes dans les caveaux de cette eglise." Their coffins were to be broken, the lead and the bronze to be melted up, and sent to the a.r.s.enals for conversion into arms and munitions of war. The former Benedictine Dom Poirier was nominated commissioner for the Inst.i.tut, and ordered to be present at the performance. Some days after, the _Moniteur_ triumphantly records the commencement of the business. Then there must have been a lull, for on the 7th September the Conventionnel Lequinio cried from the Tribune: "Je denonce l'inexecution du decret qui ordonne l'entiere demolition des tombeaux de nos anciens tyrans a Saint-Denis. Sans doute, en detruisant ces restes du despotisme, il faut conserver les monuments des arts; mais il faut qu'au lieu d'etre des objets d'idolatrie, il ne servent plus qu'a nourrir l'admiration des amis des arts, l'emulation et le genie des artistes."

The notes taken by Dom Poirier are full of interesting details, told with a certain _navete_; as, for instance, "in the morning, after dinner, they descended into the tomb." Or "early in the morning they began the work, but left off while they went to _dejener_." It must be remembered, also (to quote M. Guilhermy), that the destruction "des tombeaux et l'extraction des corps ont ete deux operations distinctes.

Au mois d'aot, 1793, pour celebrer l'anniversaire _de la victoire du peuple_ (10 aot), on fit disparaitre de l'eglise la plupart des tombeaux et des statues; mais le temps pressait, on ne profana que les restes deposes dans les ma.s.sifs des monuments. Au mois d'octobre, on acheva l'uvre commencee, en fouillant toutes les fosses et tous les caveaux qu'il fut possible de retrouver. On n'epargna ni le temps ni les recherches."

The work went on merrily. Marble tombs were smashed up as effectually as the bodies, which were thrown into a pit dug upon the site of the demolished Orleans chapel. Quick-lime helped the business as far as the kings were concerned, but to the a.s.sistants it was of no use; and so they had recourse to the burning of strong smelling powders, and the firing of guns, in order to purify the air. Here is one of Dom Poirier's notes:--

"_Nota._--Rien n'a ete remarquable dans l'extraction des cercueils faite dans la journee du mardi 15 Octbre, 1793: la plupart de ces corps etaient en putrefaction; il en sortait une vapeur noire et epaisse, d'une odeur infecte, qu'on cha.s.sait a force de vinaigre et de poudre qu'on eut la precaution de brler; ce qui n'empecha pas les ouvriers de gagner des devoiements et des fievres, _qui n'ont pas eu de mauvaises suites_."

What say the modern sanitary authorities to that!

The body of Henri IV. was found in a perfect state of preservation; and he was kept some time in the church lying-in-state, as it were, while a cast was taken of his face; but it may be noted that Dom Poirier makes no allusion to the story of a soldier cutting off his beard and sticking it on his own face.

The names of the princes and princesses were engraved upon little bra.s.s plates attached to the covers of the coffins; and a few years ago three or four of these bra.s.ses were found in the shop of a coppersmith, that of Louis XIV. having served as the bottom of a stewpan. How are the mighty fallen!

Let me quote some more of Dom Poirier's jottings:--

_Remarques._--In Charles V.'s coffin they found a crown in silver, gilt, in a good state of preservation, a hand of justice of silver, a sceptre 5 feet in length surmounted with acanthus leaves in silver, exquisitely gilt, the gold possessing all its freshness and brilliancy. "Ce sceptre etait surmonte d'un bouquet en feuillage, an milieu duquel s'elevait une grappe de corymbe, ce qui lui donne a peu pres la forme d'un thyrse, tel qu'on en voit dans Monfaucon, article de _sceptres_; morceau d'orfevrerie a.s.sez bien travaille pour son epoque." (Alexandre Lenoir, _Musee des Monuments francais_.)

"Remarque. Une singularite de l'embaumement du corps de Charles VII., c'est qu'on y avait pa.r.s.eme du vif-argent, qui avait conserve toute sa fluidite. On a observe la meme singularite dans quelques autres embaumements de corps du XIVe et du XVe siecles."

The following may interest some persons:--

"Le mercredi, 16 Octobre, 1793.

"Towards 7 o'clock in the morning the work was continued in the vault of the Bourbons. They began with the coffin of Henriette Marie, daughter of Henri IV. and wife of the unfortunate Charles I., King of England, d. in 1669, aged 60;[26] and continued with Anne Stuart, her daughter, the wife of _Monsieur_, only brother of Louis XIV. d. in 1670, aged 26."

The body of Louis VIII., the father of S. Louis, had almost disappeared.

A cross was sculptured upon the lid of the stone coffin; in it was found a sceptre of rotten wood, and a skull-cap of satin surrounded by a band of gold woven stuff, forming a diadem. The body had been enveloped in a winding sheet of gold tissue, some pieces of which were in a good state of preservation.

_Remarques._--His body thus enveloped had been sewn up in a strong leather covering.[27] "Il est vraisemblable qu'on ne l'a fait pour lui que pour que son cadavre n'exhalat pas au dehors de mauvaise odeur, dans le transport qu'on en fit de Montpensier en Auvergne, ou il mourut a son retour de la guerre contre les Albigeois."

"Ce cuir avait conserve toute son elasticite.... Dans les fouilles de Saint-Germain-des-Pres, on trouva un corps egalement enveloppe dans un cuir. (Alexandre Lenoir, _Musee des Monuments Francais_.) Nous pourrions citer quelques autres exemples. Les corps de plusieurs princes de la maison des Plantagenets, au douzieme siecle, furent apportes a Rouen, cousus dans une enveloppe de cuir; c'etaient ceux de Henry I., de Henry-le-Jeune, de Richard-Cur-de-Lion. Hugues de Grantemaisnil, mort a Londres en 1098, ayant demande a etre inhume a l'abbaye de Saint-evrould, en Normandie, son corps y fut transfere sale, et cousu dans une peau de buf. Enfin on sait que saint Bernard fut enseveli dans un sac de cuir" (v. B. de Peterborough; Orderic Vital; _Histoire de Saint Bernard_, &c.) (Guilhermy).

There are notes upon the height of Francois I., by Alexandre Lenoir:--

"Le corps de Francois I^{er.} portait une taille extraordinaire et une structure tres-forte; l'un des femurs de ce prince que j'ai mesure portait 53c (20 pouces) des condiles a la tete de l'os."

And upon the beauty of another gentleman's locks: "Le connetable Louis de Sancerre avait de forts beaux cheveux; lors de l'exhumation des corps a St Denis, il fut trouve ayant encore trois longues tresses d'environ 40 centimetres" (Alex. Lenoir).

The _proces-verbal_ makes no mention of the heart of Cardinal de Bourbon, nor of the graves of Chatillon and the Marquis de Saint-Maigrin, nor of the abbots, and grand priors; their remains probably still rest in the soil under the church, for vaults have several times been discovered in all parts during the restorations of the building. It will be seen that the amount of valuables found was not great: Five silver-gilt and five copper-gilt crowns, two silver-gilt sceptres, four of copper-gilt, and three of wood; one silver hand of justice, one silver-gilt, and one broken; (the _baton d'ebene_ was possibly the stem of a hand of justice belonging to Charles le Bel); the upper part of a crozier; four rings, two silver and two gold; the silver seal of Constance of Castille bearing the effigy of the princess and an inscription (now in the Bibliotheque); remains of spindles and distaffs; four chains of bracelets; two clasps and a silver buckle; a good many fragments of stuffs, tissues, and embroideries; a winding-sheet of gold tissue, a silver one; a chasuble; a satin belt; shoes; a Carmelite habit, and some gold thread. What became of these things, many of them of no value but for a museum, is not known.

Such was the result of this disgusting entertainment, which was princ.i.p.ally a search for valuables to keep up the struggle for life.

Empty coffers, starving mult.i.tudes, an enemy crying at the frontier; such was the legacy left by the wanton waste of a profligate court, and a debased race of kings. The terrible revenge which followed did them little harm; could they have been made to suffer in their life-time, it would have been better than mauling about their dead bodies and rummaging in their tombs; but unfortunately the last of the race was the least guilty, although he had much heartlessness and treachery to answer for; and had he felt the storm which had been threatening for some time, the hurricane might have pa.s.sed over. But selfishness is always blind; and so the flood carried the poor thing away; and the skeletons, the lead, the gold and the silver, were all swept into their respective lime-strewn pits and melting pots. Here is the epilogue. In 1815 the "Sous-prefet et le maire de Saint-Denis firent elever un tertre couvert de gazon, de lis et de cypres sur les deux fosses dans lesquelles avaient ete jetes les restes des rois et des princes." (Gilbert, _Description historique de l'eglise de Saint-Denis_.) "On se proposait d'eriger en ce lieu un monument expiatoire; mais il parut plus convenable de reintegrer dans l'eglise les oss.e.m.e.nts que les deux fosses contenaient encore." (Guilhermy.)

The metal of the monuments, with the exception of two enamelled bra.s.s slabs which came from Royaumont, was all melted up. In the _Moniteur_ of 14th August, 1792, may be read a list of the tombs destroyed, furnished by the town of S. Denis. The monument of Charles le Chauve must have been magnificent. The effigy of the emperor reposed on a slab supported by four lions. Two Angels censed the defunct; and four bishops sat at the corners. We know the style of tomb from the description given by Richer, a monk of Senone, who wrote a chronicle during the reign of S.

Louis, and who saw it soon after it was set up. Charles had been a great patron of the abbey and had given it the Holy Nail and a thorn from the Holy Crown, besides part of the course of the Seine and the domain of Ruel.

The tomb of "la n.o.ble royne de france Marguerite qui fu fame monseigneur Sainct Loys, jadis roy de France" is engraved in Montfaucon's _Monuments de la Monarchie francaise_. The tomb of Arnaud de Guilhem, seigneur de Barbazan, was canopied, the warrior being represented in full armour.

The whole was in bronze, with an inscription, at the end of which was the name of the artist: _fait a paris par Jehan Morant_.

The monument of Charles VIII. was of gilt copper. The king's effigy, praying, was upon the platform, with little Angels at the corners also kneeling and holding shields. Charles VIII. died of apoplexy, at Amboise, praying, "_Mon Dieu et la glorieuse Vierge, Monseigneur saint Claude, et Monseigneur saint Blaise me soient en ayde_." He was a pious king and had been holding "quelques discours spirituels avec la reyne et autres a.s.sistans," when he was struck down, being only twenty-eight years of age. His tomb was said to be the finest in the choir. He was regretted by all his subjects "specialement de ses domestiques," for he was generous, magnanimous, and decorated with all kingly virtues. The queen was much afflicted, and thought she would die of grief, "demeurant deux jours et deux nuicts sans reposer ny prendre aucun aliment." Thus Dom Millet. Philippe de Commynes says the chamberlains "le feirent ensevelir fort richement, et sur l'heure luy commencea le service, qui jamais ne failloit ne jour ne nuict." For a whole month the chamberlains and others watched the corpse, the entire expense amounting to "quarante-cinq mil francs." The tomb was the work of Paganini of Modena, no doubt one of the "ouvriers excellens en plusieurs ouvraiges comme tailleurs et painctres" whom the king brought from Naples,[28] together with a large collection of works of art, for the carriage of which, and for "la nourriture de XXII. hommes de mestier, de x.x.xIII. jours a la raison de XL. sous par jour," the king had to pay his tap.i.s.sier ordinaire 1594 livres; the collection weighing 87,000 livres.