Chapter 25

Of the bishops of Coutances, it will be sufficient here to mention three--Richard de Longueuil, who was nominated in 1455, one of the four commissioners to revise the process of the Maid of Arc, and declared her innocent; Nicholas de Briroy, who, at the end of the following century, obtained from the Pope, Paul V. in return for his extensive charities, the enviable title of _Father of the Poor_; and Geoffrey de Montbray, a prelate honored with the especial favor of the Conqueror, to whom he frequently rendered the most essential service, as well in arms as in peace. He it was, who performed mass in the Norman camp, preparatory to the battle of Hastings, and who preached at the coronation of the monarch, from whom he is said, by Ordericus Vitalis, to have received no fewer than two hundred and eighty manors in England.

The present population of Coutances amounts to between eight and nine thousand inhabitants. The remains of the noble aqueduct in the neighborhood, though commonly ascribed to the times of Roman power, are said to be with more justice referable to a nobleman of the family of Haye-Paisnel, and to have been erected in the thirteenth century. The principal feature and great ornament of the city is its noble cathedral, which, regarded as a whole, may, in the opinion of M. de Gerville, challenge a comparison with any other in France. Its architecture, according to the same able antiquary, affords a satisfactory proof that the pointed arch was really used in France, full half a century before the epoch generally assigned to its introduction. Upon this latter subject, there has already been an opportunity of speaking in the present work, while treating of the Church of Lisieux; and the opinion there stated by Mr. Turner, must be allowed to derive the strongest confirmation from the cathedral of Coutances. The point is one that has frequently exercised the ingenuity of architects, and of the learned: the concluding portion, therefore, of this article, will be principally devoted to that subject.[207]

It was, in the twelfth century, according to Mr. Whittington, that "the pointed arch began to shew itself in the edifices of France and the neighboring countries;" and, having originated in the east, naturally followed this direction in its course towards England. On the other hand, the sentiments of another, at least equally learned, author, the reverend Dr. Milner, have been given on more than one occasion, that the architecture, commonly denominated Gothic, really commenced in England, but did not appear till after the year 1130; the pointed arches in the church of St. Cross, erected by Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester, and brother of King Stephen, being probably the earliest specimen of the kind that is any where to be found. M. de Gerville combats this latter opinion, by adducing the churches of Mortain and of Coutances; the first of them, like St. Cross, an example of the mixed style, its upper arches being semi-circular, its lower pointed; the other, wholly of the latter description. The church of Mortain was founded in 1082, and must have been sufficiently finished for the performance of divine worship, within nine years after that period; as it is expressly recorded that Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances, who died in 1093, was present at the ceremony of the consecration. With regard to the cathedral of Coutances, there is fortunately in existence a highly-curious document, written by an eye-witness to the building of the church, and printed in the _Gallia Christiana_[208] from the black book or chartulary of the diocese, which was compiled by order of John d'Essey, who wore the mitre in the middle of the thirteenth century. The memoir commences by reciting a portion of the hardships undergone by the see of Coutances, in common with other parts of the north of France, from the Norman invasion; and then tells how Herbert II. who succeeded to the episcopal throne in 1020, expelled, _as useless and illiterate_, the canons in possession of the church of Coutances, and took the whole of the ecclesiastical revenues into his own hands, because "_sibi minùs urbani minùsque faceti videbantur!_" It goes on to state, that his successor, Robert, far from restoring what had been seized under so extraordinary a plea, alienated the property by parcelling it out among his kindred; but that, notwithstanding this, a beginning was made in his time towards the erection of the church, which was founded by the Countess Gonora, widow of Duke Richard II. with the aid of contributions from various quarters.[209]

To Robert, in the year of our Lord, 1048, succeeded the celebrated Geoffrey de Montbray, who finally completed the great work commenced by his predecessor. The first stone of the cathedral had been laid in 1030; the dedication took place in 1056, and was performed in the presence of the Duke himself, the archbishop, his suffragans, and a large proportion of the Norman nobility. Some English barons likewise crossed the sea to attend upon the occasion. The vigor of Geoffrey's character was never more strikingly exemplified, than in connection with this fabric.[210] In the earliest years of his prelacy, he undertook a voyage to Apulia, for the express purpose of obtaining from Robert Guischard, and his companions in arms, pecuniary assistance towards the building; and, during the whole course of a long life, he appears to have been unremitting in his endeavors to add whatever might contribute to its dignity, its splendour, and its utility.[211] The following lines, traced by his dying hand, well mark the man himself, and the temper of the age, and the prevalence of the ruling passion:--"Gaufridus, misericordia Dei, Constantiensis episcopus, omnibus sub christiana regeneratione degentibus, tam clericis quam laïcis, salutem, prosperitatem et pacem. Constantiensem ecclesiam quam hucusque licet indigne tenueram, tamen miserante Deo, populo meæ pravitatis augmentum et honorare studui, et extrema...... eam amplius factis adjuvare nequeo verbis quantum tutari et defensare cupio. Quicumque igitur qui sub christiana professione vocatus, præfatam ecclesiam honorare, consolari et defensare voluerit, auctoritate Domini nostri Jesu Christi ejusque sanctissimæ genetricis, in apostolica nostraque confirmatione benedictus, ab eodem Domino nostro Jesu Christo omnium bonorum retributore mercedem recipiat in futuro, et anima ejus inter choros angelorum et archangelorum, apostolorum et martyrum, confessorum et virginum requiem possideat in paradiso. Quod si aliquis irreverens et contumeliosus, avaritiæ vel cupiditatis stimulis agitatus, eam de terris suis, sive legibus et consuetudinibus, sive ornamentis absque justa et necessaria eidem ecclesiæ ratione et clericorum assensione, minorari et decurtare præsumpserit, ab his omnibus suprascriptis ordinibus maledictus, et perpetuæ damnationis anathemate circumseptus, priusquam vita decedat terribilissimi divini examinis judicio prosequente, omnibus in commune tanti sacrilegii violator appareat, et in perpetuum cum Juda traditore, et Herode, Pilato et Caipha, cunctisque sanctæ ecclesiæ adversariis ignem æternum possideat, semperque cum diabolo et angelis ejus crucietur, nec ullam in secula seculorum misericordiæ scintillam mereatur, nisi priusquam anima illa tenebrosa de corpore exierit resipuerit, et ad satisfactionem venerit. Fiat, amen."

And the clergy were not wanting in their endeavors to do honor to the memory of so noble a benefactor. As the Roman historians and the Mantuan bard concur in attesting the various prodigies that foretold the approaching end of Julius Cæsar, so the monkish chroniclers relate that earth and sky united in presaging the death of Geoffrey; and, though they could not succeed in obtaining for his name admission into the calendar, they would allow of no doubt as to his reception into heaven; the details of which were communicated in a vision to one of the monks of Cerisy.--"There appeared to me," said the monk, "a palace of transcendent magnificence, in which a queen was seated, of more than earthly beauty, surrounded by a numerous court; and, while each in his turn was making his obeisance, suddenly a messenger arrived, exclaiming aloud, 'Madam, Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances, is here, and is at this moment mounting the steps of the palace.' No sooner were the tidings heard, than she descended from her seat to meet the prelate; and, having welcomed him with a most gracious salutation, caused her attendants to disrobe him of his cope and boots, and then, taking the veil from her own head, wiped the wounds upon his body, and, leading him by the hand, conducted him to her room of state, and placed him near to herself upon the throne." The decease of the prelate, which took place on the following day, left no doubt as to the interpretation or the inspiration of the vision.

Of the identity of the church built by Geoffrey with that now standing, it is impossible to entertain a reasonable doubt. The details, and they are many, contained in the document above quoted, all correspond with the present building. A still more decisive proof is afforded by the silence of succeeding historians, who could never have passed unnoticed so important a fact as the rebuilding of a cathedral, the repairs of which they have recorded on various occasions. The principal of these took place during the prelacy of Sylvester de la Corvelle, and were occasioned by the wars of Edward III. in the course of which, the edifice incurred the most imminent danger, and would probably have been destroyed in 1356, had not the timely arrival of the French troops caused the invading army to raise the siege of the city. A battering ram, used upon that occasion, was still shewed in Coutances, in the beginning of the last century. The king of France bestowed upon the chapter, in 1372, a sum of six hundred livres, in gold, for the express purpose of repairing the church, "_bellis attritâ et imminutâ_." At that time the Lady-Chapel was added; the great windows were inserted in the aisles; the exterior part of the choir towards the palace was built; and a portion of the work of the western front, between the towers, was repaired, and probably altered. This last has in particular tended to mislead the antiquary;--but to sum up the account, in the words of M. de Gerville,--"En y regardant plus attentivement, un antiquaire exercé facilement démêlera l'ancienne partie de l'édifice, qui est encore de beaucoup la plus considérable. Cette ancienne partie offre un modèle bien caractérisé de fenêtres en lancettes. C'est surtout aux deux tours occidentales qu'on en voit des plus étroites. Celles de la tour, ou lanterne, sont géminées. Ces lancettes, que les antiquaires Anglois rapportent au regne de Henry II. se montrent ici dans un édifice antérieur à ce prince de prés d'un siècle; et, ce qui est encore plus surprénant, elles y sont sans aucun mélange d'architecture Romane ou Saxonne."[212]

In the interior of the building, (_plate ninety-four_) the same uniformity of style prevails as in the exterior; and if, in conjunction with the cathedral of Coutances, be considered that of Lisieux, a contemporary building, and so much alike in character, that it may reasonably be doubted if they were not the production of the same architect, it will scarcely be assuming too much, to say that the date of the introduction of the pointed architecture in France, may safely be placed as early as the middle of the eleventh century.

NOTES:

[204] _Abrégé de l'Histoire des Evêques de Coutances_, p. 48.

[205] At that time, its length was twenty-five leagues, and its width ten, without comprising the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, over which it still held a titular sway. In it were included the district of the Côtentin; the city of Coutances; the towns of St. Lo, Granville, Carentan, Vallognes, and Cherbourg; twenty-four smaller market towns; four archdeaconries; twenty-two rural deaneries; ten abbeys; twenty-four other convents; and five hundred and fifty parishes. The chapter consisted of twenty-six canons and eight dignitaries.

[206] The following are the words of Robertus Cenalis upon this subject:--"Carolo, Ludovici XI. germano, quorundam procerum principumque suggestione ducatum Normanniæ non precario, sed vi impense ambiente, cum via sibi per posticum episcopalis domus aperta esset, rex idcirco indignatus incolis qui a fide defecerant, cavit decreto suo in poenam criminis, quod funditus a solo everterentur civitatis moenia, quæ nulla vel pretii, vel precum sollicitatione restitui potuerunt."--Cenalis then proceeds to say,--"Habet in templi sui meditullio merito suspiciendum spectaculum miræ architecturæ contextum, e cujus abside si quis lapillum dejecerit, nunquam a puncto designato ultra citrave dimovebitur instar laternæ vitreæ in sublime erectum: vitream arcem merito dixeris, opus sane venustum et elegans. Urbem præterea insigniter ornat aquæductus ad milliaris semissem, ingenti impensa et opera arcuatim suppositis fornicibus longo ductu protensus, cujus artificii ope civitas alluitur et rigatur. Denique si moenibus conclusa foret, quis vetet civitatem illam Constantinopolim Neustriæ maritimæ appellari!"--_Gallia Christiana_, p. 863.

[207] In the following part of the description of the church of Coutances, considerable use has been made of a manuscript dissertation, kindly communicated by M. de Gerville to the author, who only laments that the limits of this publication would not allow him to insert it entire.

[208] Among the _Instrumenta Ecclesiæ Constantiensis_, p. 218.

[209] "Hujus tamen temporibus incoepta et ex parte constructa est Constantiensis ecclesia, fundante et coadjuvante Gonorra comitissa, auxiliantibus etiam canonicis, reditibus medietatis altaris ad tempus operi concessis, cooperantibus quoque baronibus et parochianis fidelibus, quod usque hodie contestantur aliquot ipsorum nomina insculpta lapidibus in ecclesiæ arcubus."--_Gallia Christiana, Inst._ p. 218.

[210] "Anno igitur Dominicæ Incarnationis, MXLVIII. duodecim tantum diebus ipsius anni restantibus, id est IV idus Aprilis, indictione II, venerandus Gaufridus post Robertum Constantiensis episcopus Rotomagi consecratur, nobilium baronum prosapia ortus, statura procerus, vultu decorus, prudentia consilioque providus, quanquam sæpissime curialibus negotiis regiisque obsecundationibus irretitus, tamen ad ædificationem et incrementum ecclesiæ suæ omni nisu et voluntate per noctem erat et per diem, qui ut eandem ecclesiam celebrem gloriosamque restitueret, in Apuliam et Calabriam adire Robertum cognomine Guischardum parochianum suum, aliosque barones consanguineos suos, et alumnos, et notos peregre profectus, multum in auro, et argento, et gemmis, et palliis variisque divitiarum donariis acquisivit, tresque asportavit phialas plenas puro opobalsamo, aliaque pretiosissima quibus postea præfatam ecclesiam intus et extus locupletavit, majoremque crucifixum largis sumtibus et tempore longo construxit. Cum autem non haberet in civitate, sive in suburbio tantum possessionis ecclesia, ubi maneret episcopus, vel proprius equus ejus posset stabulari, sed neque propriam domum, nisi quoddam appendicium humile, quod pendebat de parietibus ecclesiæ, ipse prudentia sua et probitate valentiorem medietatem civitatis, suburbii, et telonei, et vectigalis, cum molendinis et multa Grimoldi viaca a Guillelmo invictissimo duce Normannorum, postea quoque glorioso rege Anglorum trecentis libris comparavit et acquietavit. Postea vero episcopalem aulam et reliquas officinas construxit, virgultum et vineam non modicam plantavit, capitium navis ecclesiæ cum area, et hinc inde duo majora capitia nobiliora et ampliora construxit. Duas turres posteriores a fundamentis, tertiamque supra chorum opere spectabili sublimavit, in quibus classicum consonans et pretiosum imposuit, et hæc omnia plumbo cooperuit."--_Gallia Christiana, Inst._ p. 218.

[211] The instrument, above quoted, abounds in examples of this spirit. Among the rest, after detailing at length various estates which he had purchased or obtained as presents for the enriching of his church, it proceeds to say,--"Cæterum ornamenta ecclesiastica et ustencilia, calices, cruces, capsas, phylacteria, candelabra, thuribula, bacinos, siculam et ampullas aurea contulit et argentea, casulas quoque, dalmaticas, tunicas, planetas, albas, cappas mirifici operis, necnon dorsalia serica et lanea, cortinas et tapeta, sed et bibliothecas, passionales, omeliares, missales aureis litteris duos sufficientesque et competentes libros subrogavit: super hæc omnia pretiosum famosumque clerum, quo nihil pretiosius in ecclesia et utilius in officium et servitium divini cultus delegavit, septemque canonicos quos episcopus Hugo Rotomagi in ecclesia S. Laudi irregulariter constituerat, apostolica auctoritate ecclesiæ matri revocavit, itemque duos alios adjecit. Cantorem quoque, et succentorem, et rectorem scholarum, et custodes ecclesiæ, clericos quoque præbendarios, aurifabros, fabrumque ferrarium, carpentarios et magistrum coementarium in opus ecclesiæ constituit. O virum prudentem et domui suæ bene præsidentem, qui de vivis et electis lapidibus domum suam composuit, et mirabilibus columnis eam sustentavit!"--_Gallia Christiana, Inst._ p. 219.

[212] The following remarks upon the architecture of the cathedral of Coutances, transcribed from the journal of a most able friend of the author's, cannot fail to be acceptable to the reader:--"The cathedral is most singular in its aspect. It is pointed throughout, except the circular arches in the vaulting over the side-chapels, and one or two segments of circles which form the door-ways, within the porches on the north and south sides. It is really a difficult task to come at any conclusion respecting the æra of the building, from an inspection of it. If it is of the Norman age, then the pointed style arose at once from a transfusion of Arabian or Tartarian architecture. The whole is of a piece, complete in conception and execution; and there are no intersecting arches from which a pointed arch may have arisen. The circles in the spandrils are in the same oriental style as at Bayeux. The peculiarities of the cathedral are--the side-porches close behind the towers; the screens of mullioned tracery, which divide the side-chapels; and the excessive height of the choir, which, having no triforium, has only a balustrade just before the clerestory windows. The centre tower is wonderfully fine in the exterior: it is apparently an expansion of the plain Norman lantern, as at Caen; but most airy and graceful. There is a double aisle round the ambit and altars are placed in the bays, as if they were distinct chapels, for which purpose they were originally intended; but the line continues unbroken. The perspective of these aisles, and also of the choir, seen from the Lady-Chapel, is very fine. The round pillars of the choir are double, as at Canterbury and Senlis. The apsis is half a duodecagon. The pointed windows above are in two lancet divisions, surmounted by a trefoil; but the dividing masonry is not a mullion: it is the unperforated part of the wall. This perhaps is arabesque. There is a second arch within, which is really divided by a mullion or small pillar. A curious leaf projects above. Some of the painted glass is in the oldest style: dispersed patterns in a black outline, on a grey ground. In a side-chapel are painted tiles, brown and yellow as usual, displaying knots and armorial bearings. In the same chapel are fresco paintings: many more are on the east side of the wall that divides the last choir-aisle from the south transept. They represent St. Michael and the Devil, the Deity between angels, &c. In all of them, the outline is formed by a thick black line."

PLATE XCV. AND XCVI.

MOUNT ST. MICHAEL.

Religion, history, poetry, and painting, have all united in giving celebrity to St. Michael's Mount. The extraordinary sanctity of its monastery, the striking peculiarities of its form and situation, and the importance acquired by the many sieges it supported, or the almost endless pilgrimages it received, have so endeared it to the man of taste and the philosopher, that scarcely a spot is to be found in Europe, more generally known, or more universally interesting.

The legendary mist with which St. Michael's Mount is now densely involved, has continued, from a period of remote antiquity, to float around its summit. Tradition delights in relating how, in times prior to the Christian æra, it was devoted to the worship of the great luminary of heaven, under his Gallic name of Belenus,[213] a title probably derived from the Hebrew Baal, and the Assyrian Belus. The same tradition recounts how, at a more recent epoch, it reared its majestic head, embosomed in a spacious tract of woods and thickets, while the hermits who had fixed themselves upon its summits, received their daily bread from the charity of the priest of the neighboring parish of Beauvoir; an ass spontaneously undertaking the office of conveying it to them, till on the road he fell a prey to a wolf, who was then constrained by Providence to devote himself to the same pious labor.

At length, about the year 709, it was decreed that the rock should at once change its designation and its patron. To the clouds of Paganism, succeeded the sun of Christianity; and the original heathen appellation, _Tumba_, was replaced by one of the most elevated names of holy writ. St. Michael, "the chief of the angels and of the host of heaven, the protector of the Hebrew synagogue of yore, as now of the Catholic church, the conqueror of the old serpent, and the leader of souls to heaven," condescended to be worshipped here upon the western coast, as on Mount Garganus in the east, and with this view appeared to St. Aubert, then bishop of Avranches, commanding him to erect a church to his honor upon the mount. Another legend relates, how there had previously existed upon the same spot, a religious edifice, which had passed under the name of the _Monasterium ad duas Tumbas_, being equally appropriated to the adjoining rock of Tombeleine. However this may have been, it is admitted on all sides that a church was built, and that the hill knew thenceforth no other name than that of St. Michael's Mount; though Aubert, tardy in his belief, had refused to obey the injunction, till it had been repeated three several times, upon the last of which, the archangel touched the head of the saint, and left imprinted in his skull the marks of his fingers, which the author, here quoted, relates that he himself saw, to his great delight, in the years 1612 and 1641.

To the miraculous vision, succeeded other occurrences of similar import. A tethered bull pointed out the spot where the holy edifice should be erected, and at the same time circumscribed its limits; a rock, that opposed the progress of the workmen, and was immoveable by human art, spontaneously withdrew at the touch of an infant's foot; and the earth opening, on being struck with St. Aubert's staff, gave birth to a spring of water, at once of the utmost use to the inhabitants, and gifted with the most sanative powers. At about the same period also, the sea ingulphed the neighboring forests,[214] insulating the rock; so that three messengers, who had been dispatched to Mount Garganus, thence to bring a portion of red cloth, the gift of St. Michael, together with a fragment of the stone on which he himself had sate, found on their return the aspect of things so changed, that "they thought they must have entered into a new world."