Chapter 21

COMPIÉGNE AND ITS FOREST

One of the most talked of and the least visited of the minor French palaces is that of Compiègne. The archeologists coming to Compiègne first notice that all its churches are "_malorientées_." It is a minor point with most folk, but when one notes that its five churches have their high altars turned to all points of the compass, instead of to the east, it is assuredly a fact to be noticed, even if one is more romantically inclined than devout.

Through and through, Compiègne, its palace, its hotel-de-ville, its forest, is delightful. Old and new huddle close together, and the _art nouveau_ decorations of a branch of a great Parisian department store flank a butcher's stall which looks as though it might have come down from the times when all trading was done in the open air.

Compiègne's origin goes back to the antique. It was originally Compendium, a Roman station situated on the highway between Soissons and Beauvais. A square tower, Cæsar's Tower, gave a military aspect to the walled and fortified station, and evidences are not wanting to-day to suggest with what strength its fortifications were endowed.

It was here that the first Frankish kings built their dwelling, and here that Pepin-le-Bref received the gracious gift of an organ from the Emperor Constantine, and here, in 833, that an assembly of bishops and nobles deposed Louis-le-Débonnaire.

Charles-le-Chauve received Pope Jean VIII in great pomp in the palace at Compiègne, and it was this Pope who gave absolution to Louis-le-Begue, who died here but a year after, 879. The last of the Carlovingians, Louis V (le-Faineant), died also at Compiègne in 987.

The city is thus shown to have been a favourite place of sojourn for the kings of the Franks, and those of the first and second races. As was but obvious many churchly councils were held here, fourteen were recorded in five centuries, but none of great ecclesiastical or civil purport.

The city first got its charter in 1153, but the Merovingian city having fallen into a sort of galloping decay Saint Louis gave it to the Dominicans in 1260, who here founded, by the orders of the king, a Hotel Dieu which, in part, is the same edifice which performs its original functions to-day.

The first great love of Compiègne was expressed by Charles V, who rebuilt the palace of Charles-le-Chauve in a manner which was far from making it a monumental or artistically disposed edifice. It was originally called the Louvre, from the Latin word _opus_ (_l'oeuvre_), a word which was applied to all the chateaux-forts of these parts. The same monarch did better with the country-houses which he afterwards built at Saint Germain and Vincennes; perhaps by this time he had grown wise in his dealings with architects.

Like all the little towns of the Valois, Compiègne abounds in souvenirs of the Guerre de Cent Ans, Jeanne d'Arc, Louis XIV, Louis XV, Napoleon I and Napoleon III, and as its monuments attest this glory, so its forest, one of the finest in France, awakens almost as many historical memories.

Wars and rumors of war kept Compiègne in a turmoil for centuries, but the most theatrical episode was the famous "_sortie_" made by Jeanne d'Arc when she was attempting to defend the city against the combined English and Burgundian troops. It was an episode in which faint heart, perhaps treason, played an unwelcome part, for while the gallant maid was taking all manner of chances outside the gates the military governor, Guillaume de Flavy, ordered the barriers of the great portal closed behind her and her men.

Near the end of the Pont de Saint Louis Jeanne d'Arc fell into the hands of the besiegers. An archer from Picardy captured her single handed, and, for a round sum in silver or in kind, turned her over to her torturer, Jean de Luxembourg. A statue of the maid is found on the public "Place," and the Tour Jeanne d'Arc, a great circular donjon of the thirteenth century, is near by. Another souvenir is to be found in the ancient Hotel de Boeuf, at No. 9 Rue de Paris, where the maid lodged from the eighteenth to the twenty-third of August, 1429, awaiting the entry of Charles VII.

With the era of Francis I that gallant and fastidious monarch came to take up his residence at Compiègne. He here received his "friend and enemy," Charles V, but strangely enough there is no monument in Compiègne to-day which is intimately associated with the stay here of the art-loving Francis. He preferred, after all, his royal manor at Villers-Cotterets near by. There was more privacy there, and it formed an admirable retreat for such moments when the king did not wish to bask in publicity, and these moments were many, though one might not at first think so when reading of his affairs of state. There were also affairs of the heart which, to him, in many instances, were quite as important. This should not be forgotten.

In 1624 a treaty was signed at Compiègne which assured the alliance of Louis XIII with the United Provinces, and during this reign the court was frequently in residence here. In 1631 Marie de Médici, then a prisoner in the palace, made a notable escape and fled, doomed ever afterwards to a vagabond existence, a terrible fall for her once proud glory, to her death in a Cologne garret ten years later.

In 1635 the Grand Chancellor of Sweden signed a treaty here which enabled France to mingle in the affairs of the Thirty Years' War.

During the Fronde, that "Woman's War," which was so entirely unnecessary, Anne d'Autriche held her court in the Palace of Compiègne and received Christine de Suede on certain occasions when that royal lady's costume was of such a grotesque nature, and her speech so _chevaleresque_, that she caused even a scandal in a profligate court. Anne d'Autriche, too, left Compiègne practically a prisoner; another _ménage à trois_ had been broken up.

The most imposing event in the history of Compiègne of which the chronicles tell was the assembling of sixty thousand men beneath the walls by Louis XIV, in order to give Madame de Maintenon a realistic exhibition of "playing soldiers." At all events the demonstration was a bloodless one, and an immortal page in Saint-Simon's "Memoires" consecrates this gallantry of a king in a most subtle manner.

Another fair lady, a royal favourite, too, came on the scene at Compiègne in 1769 when Madame du Barry was the principal _artiste_ in the great fête given in her honour by Louis XV. She was lodged in a tiny chateau (built originally for Madame de Pompadour) a short way out of town on the Soissons road.

Du Barry must have been a good fairy to Compiègne for Louis XV lavished an abounding care on the chateau and, rather than allow the architect, Jacques Ange Gabriel, have the free hand that his counsellors advised, sought to have the ancient outlines of the former structure on the site preserved and thus present to posterity through the newer work the two monumental façades which are to be seen to-day. The effort was not wholly successful, for the architect actually did carry out his fancy with respect to the decoration in the same manner in which he had designed the École Militaire at Paris and the two colonnaded edifices facing upon the Place de la Concorde.

This work was entirely achieved when Louis XVI took possession. This monarch, in 1780, caused to be fitted up a most elaborate apartment for the queen (his marriage with Marie Antoinette was consecrated here), but that indeed was all the hand he had in the work of building at Compiègne, which has practically endured as his predecessor left it. The Revolution and Consulate used the chateau as their fancy willed, and rather harshly, but in 1806 its restoration was begun and Charles IV of Spain, upon his dethronement by Napoleon, was installed therein a couple of years later.

The palace, the park and the forest now became a sort of royal appanage of this Spanish monarch, which Napoleon, in a generous spirit, could well afford to will him. He lived here some months and then left precipitately for Marseilles.

Napoleon affected a certain regard for this palatial property, though only occupying it at odd moments. He embellished its surroundings, above all its gardens, in a most lavish manner. Virtually, all things considered, Compiègne is a _Palais Napoleonien_, and if one would study the style of the Empire at its best the thing may be done at Compiègne.

On July 30, 1814, Louis XVIII and Alexander of Russia met at Compiègne amid a throng of Paris notabilities who had come thither for the occasion.

Charles X loved to hunt in the forest of Compiègne. In 1832, one of the daughters of Louis-Philippe, the Princesse Louise, was married to the King of the Belgians in this palace.

From 1852 to 1870 the palace and its grounds were the scenes of many imperial fêtes.

Napoleon III had for Compiègne a particular predilection. The prince-president, in 1852, installed himself here for the autumn season, and among his guests was that exquisite blond beauty, Eugenie Montijo, who, the year after, was to become the empress of the French. Faithful to the memory of his uncle, by reason of a romantic sentiment, the Third Napoleon came frequently to Compiègne; or perhaps it was because of the near-by hunt, for he was a passionate disciple of Saint Hubert. It was his Versailles!

The palace of Compiègne as seen to-day presents all the classic coldness of construction of the reign of Louis XV. Its lines were severe and that the building was inspired by a genius is hard to believe, though in general it is undeniably impressive. Frankly, it is a mocking, decadent eighteenth century architecture that presents itself, but of such vast proportions that one sets it down as something grand if not actually of surpassing good taste.

In general the architecture of the palace presents at first glance a coherent unit, though in reality it is of several epochs. Its furnishings within are of different styles and periods, not all of them of the best. Slender gold chairs, false reproductions of those of the time of Louis XV, and some deplorable tapestries huddle close upon elegant "_bergères_" of Louis XVI, and sofas, tables and bronzes of master artists and craftsmen are mingled with cheap castings unworthy of a stage setting in a music hall. A process of adroit eviction will some day be necessary to bring these furnishings up to a consistent plane of excellence.

One of the façades is nearly six hundred feet in length, with forty-nine windows stretching out in a single range. It might be the front of an automobile factory if it were less ornate, or that of an exposition building were it more beautiful. In some respects it is reminiscent of the Palais Royal at Paris, particularly as to the entrance colonnade and gallery facing the Louvre.

The chief beauty within is undoubtedly the magnificent stairway, with its balustrade of wrought iron of the period of Louis XVI. The Salle de Spectacle is of a certain Third Empire-Louis Napoleon distinction, which is saying that it is neither very lovely nor particularly plain, simply ordinary, or, to give it a French turn of phrase, vulgar.

One of the most remarkable apartments is the Salle des Cartes, the old salon of the Aides de Camp, whose walls are ornamented with three great plans showing the roads and by-paths of the forest, and other decorative panels representing the hunt of the time of Louis XV.

The Chambre à Coucher of the great Napoleon is perhaps the most interesting of all the smaller apartments, with its strange bed, which in form more nearly resembles an oriental divan than anything European. Doubtless it is not uncomfortable as a bed, but it looks more like a tent, or camp, in the open, than anything essentially intended for domestic use within doors. After the great Napoleon, his nephew Napoleon III was its most notable occupant, though it was last slept in by the Tzar Nicholas II, when he visited France in 1901.

The sleeping-room of the Empress Eugenie is fitted up after the style of the early Empire with certain interpolations of the mid-nineteenth century. The most distinct feature here is the battery of linen coffers which Marie Louise had had especially designed and built. The Salon des Dames d'Honneur, with its double rank of nine "scissors chairs," the famous _tabourets de cour_, lined up rigidly before the _canapé_ on which the empress rested, is certainly a remarkable apartment. This was the _decor_ of convention that Madame Sans Gene rendered classic.

Like all the French national palaces Compiègne has a too abundant collection of Sevres vases set about in awkward corners which could not otherwise be filled, and, beginning with the vestibule, this thing is painfully apparent.

The apartments showing best the Napoleonic style in decorations and furnishings are the Salon des Huissiers, the Salle des Gardes, the Escalier d'Apollon, the Salle de Don Quichotte--which contains a series of designs destined to have served for a series of tapestries intended to depict scenes in the life of the windmill knight--the Galerie des Fêtes, the Galerie des Cerfs, the Salle Coypel, the Salle des Stucs and the Salon des Fleurs, through which latter one approaches the royal apartments.

In the sixteenth century, or, more exactly, between 1502 and 1510, was constructed Compiègne's handsome Hotel de Ville, one of the most delightful architectural mixtures of Gothic and Renaissance extant. It is an architectural monument of the same class as the Palais de Justice at Rouen or the Hotel Cluny at Paris. Its frontispiece is marvellous, the _rez-de-chaussée_ less gracious than the rest perhaps, but with the first story blooming forth as a gem of magnificent proportions and setting. Between the four windows of this first story are posed statuesque effigies of Charles VII, Jeanne d'Arc, Saint Rémy and Louis IX. In the centre, in a niche, is an equestrian statue of Louis XII, who reigned when this monument was being built. A _balustrade à jour_ finishes off this story, which, in turn, is overhung with a high, peaked gable, and above rise the belfry and its spire, of which the great clock dates from 1303, though only put into place in 1536. The only false note is sounded by the two insignificant, cold and unlovely wings which flank the main structure on either side.

It is a sixteenth century construction unrivalled of its kind in all France, more like a Belgian town-hall belfry than anything elsewhere to be seen outside Flanders, but it is not of the low Spanish-Renaissance order as are so many of the imposing edifices of occidental and oriental Flanders. It is a blend of Gothic and Renaissance, and, what is still more rare, the best of Gothic and the best of Renaissance. Above its façade is a civic belfry, flanked by two slender towers. Within the portal-vestibule rises a monumental stairway which must have been the inspiration of many a builder of modern opera-houses.

Opposite the Hotel Dieu is the poor, rent relic of the Tour de Jeanne d'Arc, originally a cylindrical donjon of the twelfth century, wherein "La Pucelle" was imprisoned in 1430.

Between the palace and the river are to be seen many vestiges of the mediæval ramparts of the town, and here and there a well-defined base of a gateway or tower. Mediævalism is rampant throughout Compiègne.

The park surrounding the palace is quite distinct from the wider radius of the Fôret de Compiègne. It is of the secular, conventional order, and its perspectives, looking towards the forest from the terrace and vice versa, are in all ways satisfying to the eye.

One of the most striking of these alleyed vistas was laid out under the orders of the first Napoleon in 1810. It loses itself in infinity, almost, its horizon blending with that of the far distant Beaux Monts in the heart of the forest.

In the immediate neighbourhood of the palace are innumerable statues, none of great beauty, value or distinction. On the south side runs a Cours, or Prado, as it would be called in Catalonia. The word Cours is of Provençal origin, and how it ever came to be transplanted here is a mystery. Still here it is, a great tree-shaded promenade running to the river. The climate of Compiègne is never so blazing hot as to make this Cours so highly appreciated as its namesakes in the Midi, but as an exotic accessory to the park it is quite a unique delight.

Within the park may still be traced the outlines of the moat which surrounded the palace of Charles V, as well as some scanty remains of the same period.

Another distinctive feature is the famous _Berceau en Fer_, an iron trellis several thousands of feet in length, which was built by Napoleon I as a reminder to Marie Louise of a similar, but smaller, garden accessory which she had known at Schoenbrunn. It was a caprice, if you like, and rather a futile one since it was before the time when artistically worthless things were the rage just because of their gigantic proportions. Napoleon III cut it down in part, and pruned it to more esthetic proportions, and what there is left, vine and flower grown, is really charming.

The Forêt de Compiègne as a historic wildwood goes back to the Druids who practiced their mysterious rites under its antique shade centuries before the coming of the kings, who later called it their own special hunting preserve. Stone hatchets, not unlike the tomahawks of the red man, have been found and traced back--well, definitely to the Stone Age, and supposedly to the time when they served the Druids for their sacrifices.

The soldiers of Cæsar came later and their axes were of iron or copper, and though on the warpath, too, their way was one which was supposed to lead civilization into the wilderness. Innumerable traces of the Roman occupation are to be found in the forest by those who know how to read the signs; twenty-five different localities have been marked down by the archeologists as having been stations on the path blazed by the Legions of Rome.

After the Romans came the first of the kings as proprietors of the forest, and in the moyen-age the monks, the barons and the crown itself shared equally the rights of the forest.

Legends of most weird purport are connected with various points scattered here and there throughout the forest, as at the Fosse Dupuis and the Table Ronde, where a sort of "trial by fire" was held by the barons whenever a seigneur among them had conspired against another. Ariosto, gathering many of his legends from the works of the old French chroniclers, did not disdain to make use of the Forêt de Compiègne as a stage setting.

During the reign of Clothaire the forest was known as the Forêt de Cuise, because of a royal palace hidden away among the Druid oaks which bore the name of Cotia, or Cusia. Until 1346 the palace existed in some form or other, though shorn of royal dignities. It was at this period that Philippe VI divided the forests of the Valois into three distinct parts in order to better regulate their exploitation.

The Frankish kings being, it would seem, inordinately fond of _la chasse_ the Forêt de Compiègne, in the spring and autumn, became their favorite rendezvous. Alcuin, the historian, noted this fact in the eighth century, and described this earliest of royal hunts in some detail. In 715 the forest was the witness of a great battle between the Austrasians and the Neustrians.

Before Francis I with his habitual initiative had pierced the eight great forest roads which come together at the octagon called the Puits du Roi, the forest was not crossed by any thoroughfare; the nearest thing thereto was the Chaussée de Brunhaut, a Roman way which bounded it on the south and east.

Louis XIV and Louis XV, in turn, cut numerous roads and paths, and to the latter were due the crossroads known as the Grand Octagone and the Petit Octagone.

It was over one of these great forest roads, that leading to Soissons, that Marie Louise, accompanied by a cortège of three hundred persons, eighty conveyances and four hundred and fifty horses, journeyed in a torrential rain, in March 1807, when she came to France to found a dynasty.

A marriage had been consummated by procuration at Vienna, and she set out to actually meet her future spouse for the first time at Soissons. At the little village of Courcelles, on the edge of the forest between Soissons and Compiègne, two men enveloped in great protecting cloaks had arrived post-haste from Compiègne. At the parish church they stopped a moment and took shelter under the porch, impatiently scanning the horizon. Finally a lumbering _berlin de voyage_ lurched into view, drawn by eight white horses. In its depths were ensconced two women richly dressed, one a beautiful woman of mature years, the other a young girl scarce eighteen years.

The most agitated of the men, he who was clad in a gray redingote, sprang hastily to the carriage door. He was introduced by the older woman as "_Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Françaises, mon frere_." The speaker was one of the sisters of Napoleon, Caroline, Queen of Naples; the other was the Archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of Franz II, Emperor of Austria.

An imposing ceremonial had been planned for Soissons and the court had been ordered to set out from Compiègne with the emperor, in order to arrive at Soissons in due time. When the actual signal for the departure was given the emperor was nowhere to be found. As usual he had anticipated things.

For weeks before the arrival of the empress to be Napoleon had passed the majority of his waking hours at Paris in the apartments which he had caused to be prepared for Marie Louise. He selected the colour of the furnishings, and superintended the very placing of the furniture. Among other things he had planned a boudoir which alone represented an expenditure of nearly half a million francs.

Lejeune, who had accompanied Maréchal Berthier to Vienna to arrange the marriage, had returned and given his imperial master a glowing description of the charms of the young archduchess who was to be his bride. The emperor compared his ideal with her effigy on medals and miniatures and then worked even more ardently than before that her apartments should be worthy of her when she arrived.

It was just following upon this fever of excitement that Napoleon and the court had repaired to Compiègne. So restless was the emperor that he could hardly bide the time when the archduchess should arrive, and it was thus that he set out with Murat to meet the approaching cortège.

The pavilion which had been erected for the meeting was left to the citizens of the neighbourhood, and the marvellous banquet which had been prepared by Bausset was likewise abandoned. Napoleon had no time to think of dining.

All the roadside villages between Soissons and Compiègne were hung with banners, and the populace appeared to be as highly excited as the contracting parties. It still rained a deluge, but this made no difference. Two couriers at full gallop came first to Compiègne, crying: "Place": "Place": The eight white horses and the _berlin de voyage_ followed. Before one had hardly time to realize what was passing, Napoleon and his bride whisked by in a twinkling.

At nine o'clock an outpost in the park at Compiègne announced the arrival of the emperor and his train. At ten o'clock a cannon shot rang out over the park and the emperor and empress passed into the chateau to proceed with certain indispensable presentations; then to souper, a _petite souper intime_, we are assured.

On the morrow all the world of the assembled court met the empress and avowed that she had that specious _beauté du diable_ which has ever pleased the French connoisseur of beautiful women. They went further, however, and stated that in spite of this ravishing beauty she lacked the elegance which should be the possession of an empress of the French. The faithful Berthier silenced them with the obvious statement that since she pleased the emperor there was nothing more to be said, or thought.

Flying northward on the great highroad leading out from Paris to Chantilly and Compiègne gadabout travellers have never a thought that just beyond Pont Saint Maxence, almost in plain view from the doorway of the Inn of the Lion d'Argent of that sleepy little town, is a gabled wall which represents all that remains of the "Maison de Philippe de Beaumanoir," called the Cour Basse.

THE END

INDEX

_Aiguillon_, Duchesse d', 217

_Alcuin_, 358

_Alexander_, Emperor, 221, 330, 349

_Alphonse XIII of Spain_, 7

Amboise, 26, 28, 86

_Amboise, Bussy d'_, 72

_Ancre, Maréchal d'_, 67

_Andelot, Coligny d'_, 72-73

_Andilly, Arnauld d'_, 267

Anet, Chateau d', 29, 111

_Angennes, Jacques d'_, 44, 299, 311

Angers, Chateau d', 22

_Anglas, Boissy d'_, 114

_Angouleme, Duchesse d'_, 321

_Anjou, Ducs d'_, 22, 136, 212

_Anne of Austria_, 96-97, 136-137, 284-287, 289, 347

_Arc, Jeanne d'_, 345-346, 354

Ardennes, 54

Arlors, 25

_Artois, Comtesse d'_, 176

_Aubert, Jean_, 333

_Aubigné, D'_, 299

_Aumale, Duc d'_, 29, 327, 331-332, 335, 338, 339

_Auvergne, Louis d'_, 162-163

_Ayen, Duc d'_, 299

Bagatelle, Chateau de, 163, 203-206

_Bailly, Sylvain_, 104

_Barbés_, 173

Barbison, 200-201

_Baril, Jean_, 25

_Barry, Mme. du_, 211, 242-243, 245, 250, 275, 329, 348

_Bassompierre_, 195, 262

Bastille, 71, 145, 173

_Bausset_, 361

_Bavière, Isabeau de_, 69, 151, 182

_Beauharnais, Eugene_, 220, 222

_Beauharnais, Hortense_, 215, 220, 221

_Beaujon_, 164

_Beaumont, Cardinal de_, 179

Beauvais, Hotel de, 11

_Becker, General_, 221

_Becket, Thomas à_, 182

_Bedford, Duke of_, 69

_Belleveu_, 241-242

_Berquin, Louis de_, 67

_Berry, Duc de_, 165

_Berry, Duchesse de_, 50, 321

_Berthier, Maréchal_ (see _Wagram, Prince de_)

_Blanchard_, 130

_Blanqui_, 173

_Blois_, 21, 26, 305

_Blondel_, 37

_Blucher_, 173, 209

_Boileau_, 328

Boissy, Forest of, 49

_Bonaparte, Caroline_, 359

_Bonaparte, Jerome_, 147

_Bonaparte, Louis_, 235

_Bonaparte, Lucien_, 145

_Bonheur, Rosa_, 202

_Bordeaux, Duc de_, 166

_Borghese, Princesse_, 208

_Bossuet_, 328

_Boulanger_, 200

_Boullée_, 164

Boulogne, Bois de, 168, 174, 175, 203, 206, 209

_Bourbon Family_, 164-165, 329, 331, 341

Bourbon, Palais, 120, 159-161

_Bourdaloue_, 328

Bourg-la-Reine, 3

_Boyceau_, 30, 262, 270

_Breton, Mme. de_, 121-122

_Brunet_, 223

_Brunswick, Duchesse de_, 154

_Bullant, Jean_, 109, 327, 336

_Cadoudal_, 173

_Cambacères, Consul_, 115-116

Cardinal, Palais (_see_ Royal, Palais)

_Carpeaux_, 118

_Carrier-Belleuse_, 202

_Cartouche_, 67

_Cellini_, 182, 192

_Chabanne, Comte de_, 73

_Chabrol_, 147

_Chalgrin_, 154

_Chambiges, Pierre_, 91, 281-282

Chamblay, 54-56

Chambord, 71, 86, 310

_Chamillard, Michael_, 252-253

_Champaigne, Philippe de_, 135

_Champollion-Figèac_, 184

Chantilly, Chateau and Forest of, 324-340, 362

_Chappell, Comte des_, 72

Charenton, 152

_Charlemagne_, 18, 116, 281

_Charles II_, 344

_Charles V_, 22, 23, 25, 62-63, 66, 68, 77, 82-84, 170, 190, 247, 281, 327, 344, 356

_Charles VI_, 63, 66, 69, 176-177, 229

_Charles VII_, 69, 182, 190, 346, 354

_Charles VIII_, 21, 299

_Charles IX_, 89, 91-94, 106, 108-110, 171, 209, 291, 312, 327

_Charles X_, 57, 108, 118, 146, 173, 192, 204, 212, 237-238, 303, 317, 319-320, 349

_Charles IV, Emperor_, 63

_Charles V, Emperor_, 85, 88, 346

_Charles I, of England_, 104, 137, 289

_Charles the Bold of Burgundy_ (see _Charolais, Comte de_)

_Charolais, Comte de_, 177-178

_Chartres, Ducs de_ (see _Orleans, Ducs de_)

_Chateauroux, Mme. de_, 250

_Chatou_, 210

Chenonceaux, 26, 32, 71

_Chevalier, Etienne_, 339

_Childerbert I_, 216

_Christina, Queen_, 222

_Cinq-Mars_, 73, 134

_Clagny, Chateau de_, 228, 277

_Clément, Jacques_, 93, 230-232

_Clothaire_, 357

_Clotilde_, 61

_Clovis_, 61, 76, 216

_Coictier, Jacques_, 66, 152

_Colbert_, 3, 87, 98, 100, 269

_Coligny, Admiral_, 93

_Collo, Jean_, 27

_Commynes_, 177

Compiègne, Palace and Forest of, 52-53, 165, 232, 335, 342-362

Conciergerie, 61, 65-68

_Condé Family_, 73, 269, 324, 327-331, 333, 337, 339

Conflans, Chateau de, 2, 175-179

_Constantine, Emperor_, 344

Consulat, Palais du (_see_ Luxembourg, Palais du)

_Conti Family_, 211, 242, 327

_Corneille_, 73, 133, 151

_Corot_, 200

_Cottereau, Jean_, 299, 300-305, 307

Courcelles, 359

_Cousin, Jean_, 170

_Coypel_, 137

_Cromwell_, 137

_Crozat_, 162

_Dagobert_, 54

_Damiens_, 67, 263-264

_Dante_, 24

_Dardelle_, 123

_Daru_, 100

_Daubigny_, 200

_Daumesnil, Baron_, 173

_Daumet, Henri_, 332

_Debanes_, 22

_Debrosse, Jacques_, 64, 154, 158

_Decamps_, 202, 338

_Delille, Abbé_, 143

_Delorme, Marion_, 73

_Delorme, Philibert_, 34, 108-111, 189

_Denecourt_, 198-199, 201

Deputés, Chambre des (_see_ Bourbon, Palais)

_Desmoulins, Camille_, 145

_Diaz_, 200

Directoire, Palais du (_see_ Luxembourg, Palais du)

_Donon_, 100

_Dorbay_, 110

_Drouais_, 211

_Ducamp, Maxine_, 126

_Ducerceau_, 92, 94, 110, 112

_Ducrot, General_, 222

_Dugastz_, 232

_Dupaira_, 95

_Duperac_, 110

_Dupré_, 200

_Durfort, Madame_, 49

Egalité, Palais (_see_ Royal, Palais)

Enghien, Chateau d', 340

_Enghien, Duc d'_, 169, 172-174, 331

_Epernon, Ducs d'_, 103, 232

_Erard, Sebastian_, 210

_Este, Maria d'_, 290

Estival, Convent of, 49

_Estrées, Gabrielle d'_, 102, 210

_Étampes, Duchesse d'_, 86, 185, 192, 294

_Étoiles, Normand d'_, 204

_Eugenie, Empress_, 120-122, 125-126, 238, 350, 352

_Evans, Dr._, 122

_Fallières, President_, 166-167

_Famin_, 314-315

_Faure, Felix_, 56, 58-59

_Féraud_, 114

_Ferrare, Duc de_, 70

_Flandre, Comte de_, 82

_Flavy, Guillaume de_, 345

Fleury, Chateau de, 195

_Fontaine_, 99, 127

Fontainebleau, Forest of, 6, 50, 52, 181, 183, 196-202, 279, 294

Fontainebleau, Palais de, 2, 26, 28, 33, 34, 87, 91, 111, 180-196, 329, 335, 336

_Fouché_, 221

_Fould_, 53

_Fouquet, Jean_, 339

_Fouquet, Nicolas_, 269

_Fragonard_, 211

_Francine, Thomas and Alexandre_, 196

_Francis I_, 8, 10, 12, 16, 21, 32, 44-45, 62, 64, 67, 77, 79, 81, 84-89, 108, 110, 170, 181, 183-187, 189-191, 194, 209, 229, 281-282, 290, 292, 299, 306, 310-311, 321, 326, 346, 358

_Franz II_, 359

_Gabriel_, 276, 348

Gaillon, Chateau de, 33

_Ganne, Père_, 200

_Girardini_, 160

Gisors, Castle of, 82

_Gondi_, 230, 232

_Goujon, Jean_, 89, 90

Grand Trianon, 39, 248, 258, 259, 260, 263, 264, 274-276

_Gregory of Tours_, 215

_Grévy, Jules_, 58

_Gros, Baron_, 338

Grosbois, Chateau de, 51

_Guilbert, Abbé_, 184

_Guillain, Guillaume_, 282

_Guise, Ducs de_, 70, 72-73, 103

_Hamon_, 200

_Harlay-Crauvallon, Archbishop De_, 178-179

_Haussmann, Baron_, 3, 13, 152

_Hebert_, 201

_Hennequin, Dame Gillette_, 178

_Henri II_, 26, 32, 44, 69-70, 78, 85, 87, 89, 90, 91, 108, 110, 170, 193, 229, 230, 282, 294-295, 311, 327

_Henri III_, 29, 92-93, 101, 109, 230-232, 312

_Henri IV_, 16, 26, 27, 29, 45-46, 71-72, 87, 89, 92, 94-95, 102-103, 111-112, 118, 172, 186, 190, 191, 194-197, 206, 209, 210, 231, 232, 238, 282-283, 306, 327

_Henrietta of England_, 233, 289

_Henriette de France_, 104, 137

_Henry V of England_, 63, 326

_Henry VI of England_, 63, 69

_Henry VIII of England_, 311

Hérivaux, Bois de, 340

_Hohenzollern, Prince de_, 53

_Hortense, Queen_, 330

_Hugo, Victor_, 73

_Hugues Capet_, 62

Institut, Palais de l', 159-160

_Isabey_ (_Père_), 40

_Jacob of Cologne_, 87

_Jacque_, 200

_James II of England_, 290

_Jarnac, Gui Chabot de_, 294

_Joachim, Prince_, 52, 56

_John II of France_, 83, 170

_John VIII, Pope_, 344

Joinville, Forest of, 169

_Josephine, Empress_, 174, 215, 217-222, 323

Justice, Palais de (_see_ La Cité, Palais de)

_Karr, Alphonse_, 149

_La Barauderie, De_, 30

_Labaudy_, 50

_La Brosse_, 102

La Cité, Palais de, 12, 61-68, 75, 81, 82, 93, 152, 153, 170

_La Châtaigneraie_, 294

_Laffitte, Pierre_, 212, 213, 243

_Lambesc, Prince de_, 144

La Muette, Chateau de, 111, 203, 209-210

_Lancret_, 338

Langeais, 33

_Lannes, Maréchal_, 213

_Laporte_, 284

_La Quintinye_, 267-269

La Reine Blanche, Chateau de, 341

_Laschant_, 232

_Latini, Brunetto_, 24

_Lauzan_, 178, 289

_La Vallière, Louise de_, 289

_Lebrun, Charles_, 97, 255, 256

_Lebrun, Consul_, 115

_Le Calabrese, Henri_, 27

_Lecouteux de Canteleu_, 217, 222

_Ledoux_, 211, 243

_Lefuel_, 100

_Lejeune_, 360

_Leloir_, 239

L'Elysée, Palais de, 153, 162-167

_Lemercier, Jacques_, 96, 100, 135, 262

_Le Moyne_, 239

_Le Notre_, 16, 22, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 35, 39, 40, 104, 128, 129-130, 179, 233, 248, 264-266, 270, 277, 288, 292, 307-308, 327, 330

_Lepaute_, 240

_Le Roy_, 262

Les Bruyeres, 222

_Lescot, Pierre_, 88-90, 109

_Lesdiguières, Duchesse de_, 179

_Levau_, 97-98, 110, 247, 249

_Lomenci, Martial de_, 247

_Longueil, René de_, 212

_Longueville, Mme. de_, 73, 327

_Loret_, 11

_Lorraine, Cardinal de_, 111

_Lorraine, Chevalier de_, 233

_Louis I_, 344

_Louis V_, 344

_Louis VI_, 281

_Louis VII_, 169, 181, 182

_Louis IX_, 23, 62, 77, 169, 176, 182, 190, 281, 295, 341, 344, 354

_Louis XI_, 21, 66, 69, 152, 172, 177-178, 299, 326

_Louis XII_, 26, 69, 299, 305, 306, 326, 354

_Louis XIII_, 16, 48, 87, 96, 112, 132, 134, 136, 171, 189, 190, 194, 209, 247, 249, 262, 266, 283-284, 306, 347

_Louis XIV_, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 29, 33, 38, 39, 46, 48, 49, 50, 85, 87, 97-99, 104, 112, 118, 127, 136-137, 152, 158, 170, 178, 186, 189, 190, 206, 217, 223-224, 226, 233, 240, 245, 247, 249, 251-253, 255-257, 261, 264, 268, 270, 273, 274, 277, 283, 284, 288-290, 291, 293, 296, 297, 299, 303-307, 312, 328, 345, 347, 358

_Louis XV_, 4, 14, 16, 17, 38, 48, 112, 152, 162, 163, 174, 185, 186, 189, 190, 192, 205, 207, 209, 211, 227, 241, 243, 246, 250, 253, 263-264, 275-276, 284, 290, 312, 320, 323, 329, 345, 348, 350-352, 358

_Louis XVI_, 37, 39, 41, 43, 57, 108, 113, 118, 143, 144, 152, 154, 210, 213, 227, 250, 261, 235-236, 352, 356, 358-362, 290, 312-313, 316, 320, 322, 348, 351

_Louis XVIII_, 118, 161, 174, 237, 250, 316, 349

_Louis Philippe_, 105, 108, 117-118, 146, 149, 154, 162, 166, 186, 194, 199, 207, 238, 254-255, 350 (_see also Orleans Family_)

Louveciennes, Chateau de, 210-212, 242, 288

Louvre, 4, 12, 13, 22, 25, 32, 44, 62, 68, 75-105, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 118, 124, 131, 132, 152, 233, 351

_Lude, Comtesse de_, 49

_Luxembourg, Jean de_, 346

Luxembourg, Palais de, 28, 40, 115, 136, 144, 153-158

Machine de Marly, 223-224

Madrid, Chateau de, 111

_Magnan, Maréchal_, 242

_Maine, Duc de_, 159

Maintenon, Chateau de, 242, 296-308, 312

_Maintenon, Mme. de_, 158-159, 194, 227, 249, 274, 296-299, 302-303, 305-308, 312, 347

Maisons-Laffitte, Chateau de, 203, 212-214, 288

Malmaison, Chateau de, 215-223, 323

_Mandrin_, 67

_Mansart, François_, 212-213

_Mansart, Jules Hardouin_, 35, 137, 179, 226, 233, 241, 249, 274, 276, 291, 327, 333

Mantes, 55

_Mantes, Mlle. de_, 159

_Marat_, 116

_Marceliano, Pucello and Edme_, 26

_Marie Antoinette_, 49, 115, 194, 204, 210, 237, 245, 256, 276-277, 320, 322, 349

_Marie Louise_, 6, 117, 208

_Marie Sophie_, 320

_Marie Thérèse_, 11

_Marigny, Enguerrand de_, 62, 172

_Marigny, Marquis de_, 99

Marlotte, 201

Marly-le-Roi (_or_ -le-Bourg _or_ -le-Chatel), 2, 224-228, 283, 288

_Mary Tudor, of England_, 69

Marseilles, 91

_Massena, Duc de_, 217

_Masson, Frederic_, 236

_Matignon, Maréchal de_, 70

_Mayenne, Duc de_, 101

_Mazarin, Cardinal_, 87, 104, 136, 159, 169, 283-285

Mazarin, Palais (_see_ Institut, Palais de l')

_Médici, Catherine de_, 26, 31, 33, 44, 48, 68, 69-71, 90-91, 93-94, 97, 107, 108, 110, 111, 171, 195, 230, 247, 311

_Médici, Marie de_, 72, 103, 154, 155, 158, 206, 347

_Menars et de Marigny, Marquis de_, 163

_Menours, Jacques de_, 30, 262-263

_Mercogliano_, 18

_Messonier_, 338

_Metezeau, Thibaut_, 92, 94

_Metternich, Prince de_, 121

Meudon, Bois de, 240

Meudon, Chateau de, 34, 111

_Michelet_, 192

_Mignard_, 233, 239, 306

_Millet, Eugene_, 290, 291

_Millet, Jean François_, 200, 201

_Mirabeau_, 172

_Molière_, 73, 104, 178, 249

Molineaux, Chateau de, 278

_Mollet, Claude_, 29, 30

_Mollien_, 100

_Monconseil, Marquise de_, 204

_Mongomere, Comte de_, 67

_Montansier, Duc de_, 269

Montargis, 28

_Montebello, Maréchal de_, 213

_Montespan, Marquise de_, 159, 249, 275, 312

_Montesson, Marquise de_, 234

Montgaillard, 50

_Montgolfier_, 130

_Montgomeri, Sieur de_, 70

Montmartre, 288

_Montmorency Family_, 178, 324, 326-327, 339

Montmorency, Forest of, 49, 288

_Montpensier, Mlle. de_, 136

_Moreau, Architect_, 138

_Moreau, Hégésippe_, 123-124

_Moskowa, Prince de la_, 53

_Muette, Chateau de la_, 111

_Murat, Princes de_, 52-56, 165, 235, 361

_Murillo_, 164

Musée de Cluny, 12

_Musset, De_, 274

_Nacret_, 239

Nanterre, 281

_Nanteuil, Célestin_, 200

_Napoleon I_, 6, 13, 40, 51-52, 57, 79, 88, 100, 108, 115-118, 127, 129, 145, 154, 155, 160, 165, 171, 173-174, 180, 186, 187-188, 190, 194, 208, 213, 217-222, 235-237, 250, 254, 274, 296, 298, 313-316, 320, 321, 322, 345, 349, 352, 355-356, 359-362

_Napoleon III_, 13, 58, 92, 100, 105, 118-122, 147, 152, 166, 195, 197, 222, 238, 290, 313, 318, 323, 345, 350-352, 356

_Nattier_, 338

_Neckar_, 144

_Nemours, Duc de_, 70

_Neufforge, De_, 37

Neuilly and its Chateau, 206-209, 238

_Nicholas II_, 352

_Nicolo dell' abbate_, 193

_Nigra, Chevalier_, 121

_Noailles, Ducs de_, 298-300, 306

Noisy, Chateau de, 278

_Nolhac, M. de_, 274

_Olivier, Emile_, 125

_Oppenard_, 137

_Orgemont, Marguerite d'_, 326

_Orleans, Ducs d'_, 137-140, 143, 144-149, 161, 209, 233, 234, 286-287, 337

Orleans, Palais d' (_see_ Royal, Palais)

_Ormesson, D'_, 73

_Osman_, 230-231

_Oursins, Juvenal des_, 66

_Palatine, Princesse_, 233

_Palissy, Bernard_, 31-32

_Panseron_, 37

_Paré, Ambroise_, 171

_Paul, Saint Vincent de_, 73

_Penthièvre, Duc de_, 306, 312, 322

_Pepin-le-Bref_, 343

_Percier_, 100, 127

_Perrault, Charles_, 98-99

Petit Luxembourg, Palais du, 155, 157

Petit Trianon, 39, 260, 264, 274, 276-277, 329

_Pfnor_, 184

_Philippe Auguste_, 12, 62, 77, 80-82, 169, 182, 190

_Philippe III_, 62, 177

_Philippe IV_, 62, 170, 176, 182, 190, 295

_Philippe VI_, 170, 358

_Philippe II, of Spain_, 69

_Philippe-Egalité_, 138-139

_Picard, Achille_, 125

_Pichegreu_, 173

Pierrefonds, 290, 335

_Pisan, Christine de_, 23

_Pius VII_, 6, 115, 194, 235

_Poirson_, 184

_Poissin_, 164

Poissy, 23, 232, 292, 293

_Poitiers, Diane de_, 29, 44, 70-71, 193

_Pompadour, Mme. de_, 163, 204-205, 241-242, 246, 250, 275, 348

_Potter, Paul_, 164

_Poussin_, 338

_Prieur, Barthélemy_, 196

_Primaticcio_, 87, 188, 192, 193

_Provence, Comte de_, 154

Quatre Nations, Palais des (_see_ Institut, Palais de l')

_Rabelais_, 322

_Racine_, 297, 303, 308, 328

Rambouillet, Chateau and Forest of, 44-45, 50, 55-59, 242, 296, 298, 309-323, 328, 335, 336

_Rambouillet, Seigneur de_, 299

_Raphael_, 87, 170

_Raspail_, 173

_Ravaillac_, 67, 102

_Redon_, 128

_Régnier, Henri de_, 244

_Remusat, Mme. de_, 174, 219

_Retz, Maréchal de_, 247

Revolution, Palais de la (_see_ Royal, Palais)

_Richelieu, Cardinal_, 72, 73, 95, 100, 131-139, 151, 178, 179, 216-217

_Rigaud_, 307

_Rigby_, 334

_Robert II_, 62, 190, 281

_Rochefort, Henri_, 120-121

_Romain, Mme._, 141

_Ronsard_, 34, 90, 109, 111

_Roosevelt, Theodore_, 166-167

_Rosier, De_, 210

_Rosny_, 55

_Rosso_, 182, 192

_Rousseau, Theodore_, 200, 201

_Rousselle_, 123

Rouvray, Forest of, 229

_Rovigo, Duc de_, 221

Royal, Palais, 131-150, 284, 351

Royale, Place (_see_ Vosges, Place des)

_Rubens_, 164

Rueil (_see_ Malmaison)

_Sadi-Carnot_, 58

Saint Cloud, Palais de, 13, 93, 228, 229-243

Saint Cyr, 296-298, 303

Saint Germain-en-Laye, 28, 91, 111, 136, 203, 206, 223, 232, 242, 256, 279-295, 311, 324, 336, 345

Saint Germain, Forest of, 212, 292-295

_Saint James, Baudart de_, 208

_Saint Louis_ (see _Louis IX_)

Saint Maur, Chateau de, 111

_Saint Ouen_, 54

_Saint-Simon_, 179, 262, 348

_Sarto, Del_, 192

_Savoie, Louise de_, 108

_Savoie, Philippe de_, 66

_Scarron, Mme._ (see _Maintenon, Mme. de_)

_Schickler, Baron_, 318

_Schopin_, 195

Sénat, Palais du (_see_ Luxembourg, Palais du)

Senlis, 6

Senlis, Forêt de, 340

_Senlis, Seigneurs de_, 324

_Séran, Comtesse de_, 275

_Serlio_, 88, 185

_Serres, Olivier de_, 33

_Servandoni_, 112

_Sévigné, Mme. de_, 179, 277, 328

Soissons, 359-361

_Soyecourt, Marquis de_, 212

_Sualem, Rennequin_, 223

_Sully, Duc de_, 102, 103

_Talmon, Prince de_, 73

_Tessé, Marquis de_, 73

Thermes, Palais des, 12, 62, 153

_Thierry III_, 224

_Thiers, President_, 122-123

Thomery, 202

_Thou, De_, 73

Temple, The, 144

_Tiercelin, Jean_, 108

Tillet, Maison du, 232

_Toulouse, Comte de_, 321

_Toulouse, Comtesse de_, 312, 320

Tournelles, Palais des, 66, 68-71, 81, 152

_Trepsat_, 313-314

Trianon (_see_ Grand Trianon)

_Triboulet_, 186

Tribunat, Palais du (_see_ Royal, Palais)

_Trochu, General_, 120

Tuileries, Palace and Gardens of the, 3, 13, 31, 33-34, 40, 76, 78, 82, 91, 92, 94, 106-130, 131, 155, 157, 166, 218, 227, 317

_Turenne_, 73

_Turgot_, 100

Valerian, Mont, 288

_Vallet, Pierre_, 27

_Valois, Charles, Comte de_, 170

_Valois, Elizabeth de_, 69

_Valois, Marguerite de_ (1492-1549), 8, 10

_Valois, Marguerite de_ (1553-1615), 10, 69, 111, 209

_Van Loo_, 164

_Vasari_, 181

_Vauban_, 252

Vaux-le-Vicomte, 36, 42

_Vendome, Duc de_, 102, 206

_Vernet, Joseph_, 164, 239

_Verneuil, Marquis de_, 207

_Veronese_, 338

Versailles, 2, 36, 42, 85, 88, 99, 112, 118, 145, 163, 180, 196, 205, 215, 223-224, 226, 228, 239, 240, 242, 244-278, 279, 283, 296, 305, 324, 334, 335, 336, 350

Vesinet, Bois de, 288

_Vexin, Comte de_, 159

_Vignole_, 188

_Vignon_, 113

Villa Normande, 54

_Villeray, Marquis de_, 299

_Villeroy, Marquis Neuville de_, 108

_Villeroy, Maréchal de_, 178

Villers-Cotterets, 28, 165, 346

Vincennes, Chateau de, 168-175, 331, 345

Vincennes, Bois de, 168, 174-175, 177

_Vinci, Leonardo da_, 87, 192

_Visconti_, 100

_Vivonne, François de_, 294

_Voltaire_, 263

_Von Ostade_, 164

Vosges, Place des, 71-74, 152.

_Wagram, Prince de_, 51, 52, 360, 362

_Wallace, Sir Richard_, 205

_Wellington_, 208-209

_William I, Emperor_, 255

_Wolsey_, 132