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THE CHURCHES OF PARIS

THE CHURCHES OF PARIS

FROM CLOVIS TO CHARLES X

BY S. SOPHIA BEALE

_Author of "A complete and Concise Handbook to the Museum of the Louvre" etc_

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR FROM ORIGINAL SKETCHES PHOTOGRAPHS AND ENGRAVINGS

LONDON W. H. ALLEN & CO LIMITED 13 WATERLOO PLACE SW

1893

_All rights reserved_

WYMAN AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, LONDON AND REDHILL.

DEDICATED TO ONE WHOSE HELP WAS INVALUABLE BUT WHO IS NOW TO US ONLY A MEMORY

"La nef vagant dessus la mer galicque Porte dedens soy richesse inestimable Justice y est pour patron magnificque Raison y sert de Lieutenant notable, Gens de scauoir par oeuure treslouable Sont galliotz qui lamenent a port, Marchans y ont tresasseure support. Prebstres, Bourgeois, nobles, Clercz et gen-darmes. Icelle nef de se'fertile apport, Cest de Paris le beau blazon des armes."

PREFACE.

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

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

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

"Histoire de la Sainte-Chapelle." Morand.

"Histoire de Saint-Denis." Dom Millet.

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

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

"Itinéraire Archéologique de Paris." F. de Guilhermy.

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

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

"Sacred and Legendary Art." Anna Jameson.

"The Early British Church." J. Yeowell.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

SAINT-ANTOINE DES QUINZE-VINGTS 1

LES CARMES DÉCHAUSSÉES 1

LA SAINTE-CHAPELLE 2

SAINT-DENIS 30

SAINTE-ELIZABETH 100

SAINT-ÉTIENNE DU MONT 100

SAINT-EUSTACHE 116

SAINT-FRANÇOIS XAVIER 158

SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE 158

SAINT-GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS 177

CHAPELLE DU CHÂTEAU DE SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE 189

SAINT-GERMAIN DES PRÉS 190

SAINT-GERVAIS 209

LA TOUR SAINT-JACQUES 213

SAINT-JACQUES DU HAUT-PAS 215

SAINT-JEAN-SAINT-FRANÇOIS 215

SAINT-JULIEN-LE-PAUVRE 215

SAINT-LAURENT 232

SAINT-LEU-SAINT-GILLES 235

SAINT-LOUIS D'ANTIN 237

SAINT-LOUIS EN L'ILE 237

SAINT-LOUIS DES INVALIDES 237

SAINTE-MADELEINE 239

SAINTE-MARGUERITE 243

SAINT-MARTIN DES CHAMPS 244

SAINT-MÉDARD 248

SAINT-MERRI 251

SAINT-NICOLAS DES CHAMPS 256

SAINT-NICOLAS DU CHARDONNET 259

NOTRE-DAME (CATHÉDRALE) 260

NOTRE-DAME DE L'ASSOMPTION 299

NOTRE-DAME DE L'ABBAYE AUX BOIS 300

NOTRE-DAME DES BLANCS-MANTEAUX 300

NOTRE-DAME DES CHAMPS 301

NOTRE-DAME DE LORETTE 302

NOTRE-DAME DES VICTOIRES 303

L'ORATOIRE 303

SAINT-PAUL-SAINT-LOUIS 304

SAINT-PHILIPPE DU ROULE 305

SAINT-PIERRE DE CHAILLOT 306

SAINT-PIERRE DE MONTMARTRE 306

SAINT-ROCH 307

SAINT-SÉVERIN 310

LA SORBONNE 319

SAINT-SULPICE 321

SAINT-THOMAS D'AQUIN 326

L'ANCIEN ABBAYE DU VAL-DE-GRÂCE 326

LA CHAPELLE DU CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES 328

LA CHAPELLE DU CHÂTEAU DE VINCENNES 329

SAINT-VINCENT DE PAUL 331

THE CHURCHES OF PARIS.

SAINT-ANTOINE DES QUINZE-VINGTS.

Saint Louis, always careful in helping his suffering subjects, founded this hospital for the blind in 1260, upon a piece of ground abutting on the Louvre, now traversed by the Rue de Rivoli. In 1780 the hospital was transferred to the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and took up its abode in the old dwelling place of the Black Musketeers, whose chapel also served as a parish church. It is a little building of no beauty nor interest, although a few inscriptions relating to pious foundations still remain in the chapel, the oldest being dated 1481. One of these tells us of the institution, in 1667, of a somewhat early Mass by one Marie Lambert, maid to the queen mother. It was to be said at 4 a.m. in order that the poor blind people should be able to sally forth a-begging (_d'aller à la quête_) fortified with the Bread of Life.

LES CARMES DÉCHAUSSÉES

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

LA SAINTE-CHAPELLE.

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

Louis IX. was pious and practical, and inconvenienced his courtiers as much by his punctuality and the assiduity with which he conducted his business, as by his religious duties. These he considered a part of his daily work, hearing all the canonical offices with the same regularity as he attended to the grievances of his subjects. Often, like our own George Herbert, was he found prostrate before the altar wrapped in prayer. Even Gibbon allowed that he united the virtues of a king, a hero, and a man--he might have added those of a just judge and a lawgiver; and Voltaire sums up his character as follows: "Il n'est guère donné à l'homme de pousser la vertu plus loin." When his more worldly friends cavilled at his austerities, he made his case good by retorting: "Si je passais deux fois autant de temps à jouer, ou à courir les bois, pour m'occuper de la chasse, personne n'en parleroit." As in the case of nearly all exceptionally good men, he probably owed everything to the extreme care that his mother had bestowed upon his education--a care which he repaid by a life-long devotion to her memory. Of good Queen Blanche's character we get a glimpse in the following touching anecdote. It is related that one day at Court, the Queen noticed a beautiful youth with long, fair hair, and asking his name, was answered, "Prince Herman, the son of the sainted Elizabeth of Hungary." On hearing this, Queen Blanche rose from her seat, and, gazing at the boy, said to him, "Fair youth, thou hadst a blessed mother; where did she kiss thee?" Whereat Herman, blushing, placed his finger on his forehead between his eyes, and the Queen, reverently pressing her lips upon the spot, looked up to Heaven and breathed the invocation: _Sancta Elisabetha, Patrona nostra dulcissima, ora pro nobis._ That a mother so imbued with admiration for the sainted Elizabeth should have a son who walked in the Hungarian queen's steps, is not very remarkable in those ages of faith. S. Louis' faith was simple, loving, and inextinguishable; and so it came about that when he heard of the Emperor Baldwin II.'s financial difficulties, he decided to purchase the relics which had been given more than once, it is said, as pledges for temporary loans. The Emperor's letter upon the subject would lead one to suppose that it was an act of generosity to _faire passer_ the relics to S. Louis; but we know that the King paid very handsomely for them. "Je désire," said the emperor, "ardemment de vous faire passer cette précieuse relique à vous, mon cousin, mon seigneur, et mon bienfaiteur, et au royaume de France ma patrie." Other purchasers seem to have been in the field; for S. Louis only obtained, at that time, the Crown of Thorns and some portion of the True Cross. One of his rivals was our Henry III., who in 1247 summoned all his nobles to London to witness the reception of some of the Holy Blood which had been brought from the East in a crystal vase, by one of the Knights Templars. It was sent by the Master of the Templars and Hospitallers, its genuineness being attested by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the abbots of the Holy Land. On the 13th October, being the feast of S. Edward the Confessor, the King, after prayer and fasting, carried the reliquary from S. Paul's to Westminster, where it was deposited in the Abbey church. The Bishop of Norwich preached, and celebrated mass; and in his sermon took pains to impress upon his hearers that the Holy Blood was more precious even than the True Cross possessed by the King of France--an argument which points to one of the causes of rivalry between the nations during the Middle Ages. Naturally the assembled prelates accorded indulgences to the faithful who should visit the shrine; but this much coveted privilege seems to have caused certain murmurings among some of the assistants; they objected that, whereas our Lord had ascended into Heaven in the body, He could not have left His blood upon the earth. But Robert Grossetête, Bishop of Lincoln, was equal to the occasion, and replied, that Joseph of Arimathea, having saved it from the precious wounds, more especially from the one in His side, had given some of it to Nicodemus, and thus it had been treasured up, and had passed from father to son, until it came into the possession of the Patriarch Robert of Jerusalem. These disputes seem to have been pretty common in those days, in spite of the unquestioning faith of the multitude. In 1357 we read of a squabble which took place between the Dominicans and the Franciscans, one François Baïle of Barcelona affirming that the blood being separated from the Divinity of our Lord was therefore not adorable. Often, indeed, these wranglings became so violent that the Popes were obliged to interfere in order to settle the matter.

The bringing home of the relics reads like a royal pageant. They were carried to Venice by the "Députés de Saint Louis et les ambassadeurs de l'Empire, accompagnés des plus nobles d'entre les Vénitiens. Le convoi mit à la voile dans le tems de Noël, saison où la mer est le plus orageuse. La confidence des Députés éleva leur ame au dessus de la crainte des périls, et elle fut justifiée; ils arrivèrent à Venise sans avoir essuyé de tempêtes. Vatace, Empereur Grec, avait détaché plusieurs galères qui croisoient aux différens détroits où les François devoient passer, pour leur enlever ce précieux butin. Sa vigilance fut trompée; Dieu veilloit sur eux."[1]

"Arrivée à Venise la Relique fut mise en dépôt dans le Trésor de la Chapelle de Saint-Marc. Le roi instruit du succès de la négociation de ses députés, envoya, ainsi que Baudouin, des Ambassadeurs avec l'argent nécessaire pour se l'approprier. De leur côté les Marchands François établis à Venise, plus riches encore des dons de la foi qu'avantagés de la fortune, ouvrirent leur bourse pour payer la somme stipulée. Les Vénitiens auroient bien desiré garder cette Relique, mais retenus par la foi du traité ils la restituèrent quoique à regret."

"Les Ambassadeurs après avoir reconnu les sceaux se mirent en route, et quoique la saison fût pluvieuse ils n'essuyèrent pas une goutte d'eau. Arrivés en Champagne, le Roi partit aussi-tôt pour les joindre. Il étoit accompagné de la Reine, de ses Frères, de l'Archevêque de Sens, de l'Evêque du Puy, et des Seigneurs les plus distingués de sa cour. II rencontra la Relique près de Sens; elle étoit enfermée dans une triple cassette. La première étoit de bois. On l'ouvrit, et on vérifia les sceaux des seigneurs François et du Duc de Venise apposés sur la cassette d'argent dans laquelle se trouva un vase d'or, contenant la Ste.-Couronne. L'ayant découverte on la fit voir à tous les Assistans, qui fondirent en larmes s'imaginant voir réellement Jésus Christ couronné d'épines. Puis le Roi mit son scelle sur la cassette. Tant de précautions écartent assurément tout soupçon d'infidélité."

"Le lendemain la Relique fut portée à Sens dont on avoit tendu toutes les rues. A l'entrée de la Ville, le Roi et le Comte d'Artois, l'aîné de ses Frères, la portèrent sur leurs epaules, les pieds nuds. Le Clergé alla au-devant, et les principaux Seigneurs chargés à leur tour de ce fardeau honorable la placèrent dans l'Eglise Métropolitaine de Saint-Etienne. On se mit ensuite en route pour Paris, où la réception de la Relique se fit avec la plus grande solennité. Tout le Clergé régulier et séculier fut convoqué à cette cérémonie. Les Religieux de Saint-Denis dès la pointe du jour se rendirent à l'endroit qui avoit été indiqué hors de Paris du côté de Vincennes; tous ceux qui assistèrent à cette Procession marchèrent nuds pieds. On avoit dressé un magnifique reposoir près de l'Abbaye Saint-Antoine, où la Châsse fut exposée aux yeux du peuple. Guillaume, Chantre de Saint-Denis, entonna tout ce qui fut chanté pendant la marche et l'Abbé eut place à la droite de l'Autel, avec les Archevêques, Evêques et les autres Abbés, tous en habits pontificaux. Enfin le 18e jour d'Août la Relique arriva, et fut placée au Palais dans la Chapelle de Saint-Nicolas."[2]

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

The antiphon used every day in the offices of the Sainte-Chapelle began: _Ecce Crux et Corona Spinea Arnia Regis Gloriae tibi commendantur_; and the seal consisted of a cross with the crown of thorns intersecting it, and on each side a _fleur-de-lys_, with the King's crown at the top. Having acquired the holy relics, it was most seemly that a shrine should be constructed wherein they should rest--a shrine worthy the sanctity of such treasures. And so S. Louis commissioned his architect, Pierre de Montereau, to build him a chapel which should be a marvel of lightness and colour, embellished with windows which should glitter like precious stones, and containing a _châsse_, resplendent with enamels, and gold and silver--a shrine, as it were, within a shrine. That the architect was worthy the confidence of his royal master, the chapel testifies to this day, and Maître Pierre's immortal work remains the most perfect example of 13th century architecture in France; one might say, the most exquisite architectural gem which the world has yet seen, or is ever likely to see.

Pierre de Montereau, or Montreau, as it is sometimes written, lived eighteen years after the completion of his _chef-d'oeuvre_, and doubtless assisted at some of the splendid ceremonies held in it. He died March 17th, 1266, and was buried in the chapel of the Virgin belonging to the religious of S. Germain des Près, where a splendid monument was erected to his memory. Some of the finest of the buildings attached to the monastery were his work, and up to the last century a stone was to be seen over his burial-place, upon which he was represented with a rule and compass in his hands. His epitaph gives him the titles of _fleur pleine de bonnes moeurs_, and of _docteur des architectes_:

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

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

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

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