Читать книгу The Churches of Paris, from Clovis to Charles X - Beale Sophia - Страница 11

"Le corps de François I^{er.} portait une taille extraordinaire et une structure très-forte; l'un des fémurs de ce prince que j'ai mesuré portait 53^c (20 pouces) des condiles à la tête de l'os." And upon the beauty of another gentleman's locks: "Le connétable Louis de Sancerre avait de forts beaux cheveux; lors de l'exhumation des corps à St. Denis, il fut trouvé ayant encore trois longues tresses d'environ 40 centimètres" (Alex. Lenoir).

The procès-verbal makes no mention of the heart of Cardinal de Bourbon, nor of the graves of Châtillon 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 bâton d'ebêne 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 Bibliothèque); 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 principally a search for valuables to keep up the struggle for life. Empty coffers, starving multitudes, 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 passed 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-préfet et le maire de Saint-Denis firent élever un tertre couvert de gazon, de lis et de cyprès sur les deux fosses dans lesquelles avaient été jetés les restes des rois et des princes." (Gilbert, Description historique de l'église de Saint-Denis.) "On se proposait d'ériger en ce lieu un monument expiatoire; mais il parut plus convenable de réintègrer dans l'église les ossements que les deux fosses contenaient encore." (Guilhermy.)

The metal of the monuments, with the exception of two enamelled brass 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 Sénone, 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 noble royne de france Marguerite qui fu fame monseigneur Sainct Loys, jadis roy de France" is engraved in Montfaucon's Monuments de la Monarchie française. 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 à 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 assistans," 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 "spécialement 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 XXXIII. jours à la raison de XL. sous par jour," the king had to pay his tapissier ordinaire 1594 livres; the collection weighing 87,000 livres.

MONUMENT OF FRANÇOIS Ier.

Many marble tombs were also destroyed, some canopied, some resting upon columns, others recumbent, the fragments of which were built up into a pedestal for a figure of Liberty in the Place d'armes opposite the church, a barbarous proceeding, surely; but forget not that the slabs and broken tombs in our old burial grounds are treated much in the same fashion, and piled up into pyramids to ornament the gardens. The transportation of what was saved from the wreck to Paris was no mean work. Think of the huge monument of François I., and about eighty statues! The Convention had no cash to spend upon art; with its fourteen armies defending the frontiers, it had enough expense without paying for the carriage of monuments and such like. And so Lenoir conceived the idea of stopping the military as they returned with empty waggons. Arrived in Paris the difficulties did not end. Statues were chopped about to enable them to fill certain spaces in the museum of the Petits-Augustins, recumbent figures found themselves standing upright; fragments of one tomb were taken to decorate another. But taking it all in all, the museum arranged by Lenoir must have been very imposing. The magnificent tomb of François I. stood in a chapel of the church, now occupied by casts of the works of Michael-Angelo. Louis XII. had a place of honour in another salle. But no sooner was all arranged, indeed before the huge Henri II. monument had been set up, a royal decree of 16th December, 1816, ordered the museum to be closed, the building to be turned into the École des Beaux-Arts, and all the kings and queens to be marched back to S. Denis and the other churches whence they came. So swiftly was the order carried out, that the poor old sovereigns became still more mutilated; some were stowed away in the cellars, others were re-erected upon principles of the greatest economy. If the revolutionists tore down the monuments, the restored monarchists did not take the trouble to set them up again; and those who went to study art in the new schools were enabled to see the respect with which Mediæval art was treated. Statues, canopies, columns, were tossed about anywhere; until Louis XVIII. decided that they should be reinstated at S. Denis. Then strange things occurred. The effigies were matched indiscriminately, and every king was placed by the side of a queen, whether his own or another's. Hence "singuliers incestes de pierre, et des adultères de marbre de la pire espèce. On n'imaginerait jamais ce qui se commit d'immoralités archéologiques sous les voutes obscures de Saint-Denis."[29] The monuments were all arranged, museum fashion, in the crypt until our own day, when they were once again removed, and replaced in their old positions in the church, to be left, let us hope, at last in peace.

The following is a list of the monuments returned to S. Denis:

Monuments formerly at S. Denis	52
"	from S. Germain-des-Près	6
"	"	Notre-Dame de Corbeil	2
"	"	S. Geneviève	1
"	"	S. Catherine-du-Val	2
"	"	des Cordeliers	3
"	"	des Jacobins	7
"	"	des Célestins	12
"	"	des Minimes	2
"	"	des Grands-Jésuites	1
"	"	l'abbaye de Royaumont	6
"	"	l'abbaye de Maubuisson	2
"	"	l'abbaye de Poissy	1
"	"	l'abbaye de Notre-Dame à Soissons	1
"	"	l'abbaye de Haute Bruyère	1
"	"	la collégiale de Saint-Cloud	2
"	of origin unknown	13
"	new or made up of fragments	53
	167

TOMB OF LOUIS XII., AND COLUMN OF FRANÇOIS II.

By far the most beautiful tomb is that of Louis XII. "Sur le lieu de la sépulture de Louis XII. et de la reyne Anne, le roy François leur gendre et successeur à la couronne, leur à fait dresser un très-somptueux mausolée de fin marbre blanc, à deux estages, qui est une des belles pièces de l'Europe, pour ne pas dire la plus belle."[30] Dom Jacques Doublet and Germain Millet both attributed the work to Ponzio; but Félibien, reading a passage in a Latin commentary printed by Jean Brèche in 1550, discovered the true author: "Voyez le monument" (says Brèche) "de marbre consacré à Louis XII., travaillé avec un artifice admirable et plein d'élégance, dans notre très-illustre cité de Tours, par Jean Juste, statuaire du plus grand talent." The discovery of an order for payment of 400 écus to Juste in a letter from the king to Cardinal Duprat, sets the matter at rest if the date of Ponzio's arrival did not also do so.[31] The tomb was taken to S. Denis in 1527; whereas Ponzio did not arrive in France until about 1530. This way of attributing all that is good in art to Italy was formerly very common. Even in our own time all branches of French art were looked upon by our fathers as frivolous and trivial. Italian Renaissance was trivial enough, but French Renaissance utterly meretricious. To the insane worshippers of the "Gothic style," it alone was pure. The sumptuous grandiosities of Louis XIV. were tolerable, because they aimed at being Classic. The portico of the Panthéon or the colonnade of the Louvre were considered fine; but the elegancies of Jean Goujon were wanting in severity. Even Watteau, though admitted to be graceful, was "meretricious"; Berlioz amongst musicians was only "noisy and claptrap;" and sculpture and architecture were criticised in like manner. And yet the designs upon the tomb of Louis XII., especially the pilasters which support the canopy, could not be surpassed in beauty by the artists of any country. Jean Juste, Philibert Delorme, Jean Goujon, Michel Colomb, Jean Cousin, and Germain Pilon formed a group of men scarcely surpassed by Sansovino, Riccio, Desiderio da Settignano and the Rossellini. The Italians led the way, but the French proved themselves very apt pupils.

It is not my intention to describe the tomb of Louis XII., or, indeed, any of the others, minutely. Descriptions without illustrations are mostly dry and dreary. Nor have I tried to illustrate the details of ornament in the churches or their contents—in a book of this size it would be impossible; my aim has rather been to give the general effect of their styles; of their everyday appearance; of the life which goes on in and around them; and of the position, especially in the case of S. Denis, of their tombs and furniture. A large photograph and a magnifying glass will show the beauty of the sculpture of the tombs far better than any drawing of mine; for such subjects photography is unique. But for artistic effect, for general impressions of buildings it mostly fails, and all artists will agree with me that, for some reason or other, photographs of buildings seem generally to have been taken from the worst point of view, and are nearly always wanting in impressiveness.

TOMB OF HENRI II. AND CATHERINE DE MEDICI.

Jean Juste had a brother Antoine, and they seem together to have been the authors of the beautiful tomb of the children of Charles VIII. at Tours; of the fountain called de Beaune, also at Tours; of the two monuments of the famille Gaudin; and the tomb of the général des finances, Thomas Bohier. In 1530, one Juste de Just, tailleur en marbre, living at Tours received 102 livres 10 sous from the king for a Hercules and a Leda. This Juste was probably the same as Jean. The bas-reliefs round the base of Louis XII.'s tomb represent various campaigns of the king; the figures at the four corners are the Cardinal Virtues, those within the arcades are the twelve Apostles. Within are the king and queen, entirely nude, lying upon a mattress in the last agony of death; while above, upon the platform, they are praying before a cushioned faldstool, for their own departed souls. Such is the motive of this and the other two tombs of the same character, those of Henri II. and François I^er.

The former of these is the work of Germain Pilon, and was originally placed under the dome of Philibert Delorme's magnificent chapel erected for the Valois family. It is of marble with bronze figures. The king and queen pray upon the housetop; at each end are openings through which are to be seen the figures of the defunct in the sleep of death. The terrible side of death, which is prominent in the expression on the faces of Louis XII. and his queen, is here absent; and Catherine is represented young and beautiful as she appeared at the death of her husband, whom she survived thirty years. At the four corners are bronze figures of the Cardinal Virtues; and the kneeling figures of the sovereigns upon the canopy are also in bronze. The tomb has always been justly esteemed as a magnificent work, and even Bernini admired it. "Le cavalier Bernin," says Sauval, "a admiré le tombeau de Valois, qui voulait ne rien trouver de passable en France." The Virtues ornament this tomb also, and present a note-worthy point for Total Abstainers, the figure of Temperance bears two cups; can this be meant for wine as well as water? or for two sorts of water, aërated and mineral?

When the tomb was reconstructed it was found that many of the marbles had antique sculptures upon the back, showing that they had been taken from works of Classic origin.

The monument of François I^er. and Claude de France is the largest of these splendid tombs. It was erected about 1552 by Philibert Delorme with the assistance of several sculptors. Pierre Bontems was the author of the bas-reliefs upon the stylobate and some of the kneeling figures upon the canopy; Germain Pilon sculptured the statues of children under the canopy, allegorically representing Fortune, and Ambroise Perret, the Four Evangelists; while the details of ornament were the work of Jacques Chantrel, Bastien Galles, Pierre Bigoigne, and Jean de Bourges. The recumbent figures have been attributed to Jean Goujon, from the exceptional beauty of the workmanship, but without any positive proof. The tomb is of white marble, with a little black and grey introduced for some of the mouldings; the bas-reliefs represent the king's campaigns in Italy. In the bas-reliefs of the Louis XII. monument many of the costumes are more Roman than French; but those upon the tomb of François I^er. are treated with more historical truth, and represent the fashion of the day. The faces of the recumbent statues are beautifully modelled; that of the queen bearing an expression of the sanctity with which she was accredited.

COLUMN OF HENRI III.

S. Denis is rich in columns erected as memorials, often bearing urns upon the top containing some worthy heart. That of François II. was formerly at the church of the Célestins. It is the work of Germain Pilon, and was considered by Sauval and "les habiles gens" to be as beautiful as the "Three Graces" or "Charités" which bore the urn containing the heart of Henri II. The pedestal is triangular, of white marble; so, too, are the three little Genii who guard the corners. One weeps for the defunct; the other two seem to take the matter philosophically. The shaft of the column is dotted over with flames, said to be symbolic of the pillar of fire which marched before the Hebrews; may they not rather mean the flames of purgatory?[32] The gilt bronze urn which formerly surmounted it, and the winged child holding a crown, were both consigned to the melting pot. This column was an act of fraternal homage on the part of Charles IX.

The column of Henri III. was originally erected in the church of S. Cloud by the secretary of Henri III., Charles Benoise. The shaft is of red marble, twisted, with ivy twirling round it—the work of Barthélemy Prieur.

The column of the Cardinal Louis de Bourbon formerly bore the effigy of the great man, if honours and emoluments can make a man great. He was naturally a peer; bishop of Laon, of Saintes, of Mans, of Luçon, and of Tréguier; archbishop of Sens; abbot of S. Denis, of Corbie, of Saint-Vincent-de-Laon, of Saint-Faron-de-Meaux, of Ainay, of Saint-Amand, of Saint-Crépin-le-Grand, of Soissons, and of Saint-Serge. And yet some people profess to be scandalised at the excesses of the unprivileged classes!

The cardinal was, however, a great patron of art; at Sens and at Laon, monuments testify to this and all his other magnificences. His body was buried in the cathedral of Laon; the Benedictines of S. Denis only having succeeded in obtaining his heart. The column, like many other beautiful works of art, is by an unknown artist. It is of red marble with a white alabaster base and capital, which is exquisitely sculptured with little figures of children bathed in foliage.

The history of some of the recumbent statues of the kings is curious. Having been made to lie down, they were, after the dispersal of the Musée des Monuments Français, stuck up against the wall of the crypt; and others were rebaptised and renamed. Thus, at the museum, Charles V. and Jeanne de Bourbon became S. Louis and Marguerite de Provence; and so named, when they were trotted back to S. Denis, they received the homage of the faithful. To make matters worse, a copy of S. Louis' statue was sent to Tunis for the church which was built in memory of the saint, and the head became the authentic type for his portraits. The same may be said of the false Marguerite; she wears a costume more than a hundred years too late.

The elaborately enamelled brass slabs of the children of S. Louis, Jean and Blanche, came from Royaument. The design is rude, but the colouring good; the figures are in relief upon a ground incrusted in enamel; the heads and hands, the lions at the feet, and the Angels swinging censers are of polished brass; while the feet and the draperies are in coloured enamel. To see these brasses, permission must be obtained from the architect of the church, as they are upon one side of the High Altar, a part which is not generally shown to ordinary visitors. The motto upon the tomb of Jean is as follows:

HIC JACET: IOANNES: EXCELLENTISSIMI LVD

ovici regis francorum filius qui in etate infancie migra VIT AD XPM ANNO GRACIE: MILLESI MO: DVCENTESSIMO: QVADRAGESIMO: SEPTIMO: SEXTO: IDVS: MARTII

The body of Turenne did not have much peace after it was routed out of its tomb. Not being royal, it was put aside in a chapel until the Convention should decide its fate; when thinking so great a man a worthy object as a specimen of natural history, and deeming it profitable for students of various "ologies," it was put into a glass case by the side of stuffed birds, bottled snakes, criminal curiosities, and monstrosities. Then it was transferred to the Petits-Augustins, where it found a niche to repose in; but when Consuls reigned supreme, it was marched with great pomp, with drums and guns and all the paraphernalia of a military funeral, to the church of the Invalides, where it was placed in its old house or the remains of it rebuilt—the S. Denis tomb. The epitaphs of some of the Kings remain, or have been restored:—

ICY GIST LE ROY CHARLES LE QUINT SAGES

ET ELOQUENT FILS DU ROY IEHAN QUI REGNA SEIZE ANS CINQ MOIS ET SEPT JOURS ET TRESPASSA L'AN DE GRACE MCCCLXXX LE XVI^E JOUR DE SEPTEMBRE.

ICI GIST LE ROY CHARLES SIXIESME TRES AME LARGE ET DEBONNAIRE FILS DU ROY CHARLES LE QUINT QUI REGNA QUARANTE ET II ANS UNG MOIS ET SIX JOURS ET TRESPASSA LE XXI^E JOUR DOCTOBRE LAN MIL CCCC VINGT ET DEUX: PRIES DIEU QUEN PARADIX SOIT SON AME:

CY GIST LA ROYNE ISABEL DE BAUIERE ESPOUSE DU ROY CHARLES VI^E ET FILLE DE TRES PUISSANT PNCE ESTIENNE DUC DE BAUIERE COTE PALATIN DU RIN QUI REGNA AUEC SOND ESPOUS ET TRESPASSA LAN M: CCCC ET XXXV LE DERNIER JOUR DE SEPTEMBRE: PRIES DIEU POUR ELLE:

CY GIST LE ROY CHARLES SEPTIESME TRES GLORIEUX VICTORIEUX ET BIEN SERUY FILS DU ROY CHARLES SIXIESMES: QUI REGNA TRENTE NEUF ANS NEUF MOIS ET I JOUR ET TRESPASSA LE JOUR DE LA MAGDELAINE XXVII^E JOUR DE JUILLET LA M: CCCCLXI: PRIES POUR LUY:

ICY GIST LA ROYNE JEHANNE DE BOURBON ESPOUSE DU ROY CHARLES LE QUINT ET FILLE DE TRES NOBLE PRINCE MONS^R PIERRE DUC DE BOURBON QUI REGNA AUĒC̄Q̄S SONE ESPOUS XIII ANS ET DIX MOIS ET TSPĀSSA PASSA LA M: CCCLXXVII LE DERN JOUR DE F̄ĒUER

CY GIST LA ROYNE MARIE FILLE DU ROY DE SICILE DUC DANIOU ESPOUSE DU ROY CHARLES VII^E QUI REGNA AUECQS̄ S̄OND ESPX ET TRESPASSA LE PENULTIESME JOUR DE NOUEMBRE LAN MIL: CCCCLXIII: PRIES DIEU POUR ELLE.

After the restoration of the tombs a tablet was set up to the memory of Jeanne-d'Arc, bearing the representation of some armour of the 16th century, and the following epitaph:—

CE QUE ESTAIT LE HARNAIS DE JEHANNE PAR ELLE BAILLE EN HOMMAGE A MONSEIGNEUR SAINCT DENIS.

Several portraits of the great Abbot Suger existed in Dom Millet's time: "On voit encores aujourd'huy en la partie supérieure de l'église Saint-Denis que nous nommons le chevet, une vieille tapisserie où le roy Louis VII. est représenté avec les habits royaux, et la couronne en teste, qui donne son sceptre et sa main de justice au susdit abbé Sugere représenté en habit pontifical, et au-dessus y a une inscription contenant ceste escriture: Lud. rex franc Suggerium abbatem et reaedificatorem hujus templi, viceregem constituit, anno 1140. Mais le tapissier, ou ceux qui ont fourny le mémoire se sont trompez; car ceste commission ne fut donnée à Sugère que l'an 1147, auquel an le roy partit de France, au mois d'aoust, pour un voyage de la Terre-Sainte."

"Il y a en ceste royale abbaye plusieurs figures de l'abbé Sugère, deux desquelles sont en veue à toutes personnes. L'un est sur l'un des battans de la grande porte de l'église,[33] l'autre en une vitre de la Chapelle Notre-Dame, en la partie supérieure que nous nommons le chevet[34]. Il est représenté en tous les deux endroits, non revestu d'un rochet ou d'un camail, non avec la perruque ou le bonnet carré sur la teste, mais au plus simple habit et en la plus humble posture, qu'on puisse représenter un pauvre religieux, scavoir est avec un froc plissé[35] (approchant fort de celuy dont nous usons maintenant) et la tonsure monacale, couché à plate terre; en la vitre, devant une image de la sacrée Vierge, avec ces mots: Suggerius abbas; sur la porte, devant l'image de Notre-Sauveur, assis à table avec les pélerins d'Emmaüs. Il n'a en l'une ny en l'autre figure aucune marque qui le puisse distinguer d'avec le moindre novice de son monastère, sinon la crosse abbatiale qu'il tient d'une main, pour marque de sa dignité, et pour monstrer que c'est luy qui est là représenté."

"Or, comme il est très-certain que c'est luy-mesme qui a fait faire ces figures, aussi est-il très-asseuré qu'il n'avoit garde de les faire représenter en autre habit que celuy qu'il portoit publiquement et continuellement, spécialement depuis la réformation; car autrement c'eust par une hypocrisie trop grossière se sacrifier à la risée de tout le monde." This description of the portrait is most interesting; we can see the great abbot as Dom Millet paints him upon the glass which he himself devised, if he did not absolutely design it.

TOMB OF DAGOBERT.

The tomb of Dagobert is an enormous canopied structure, originally of the 13th century, but so much restored that it is practically modern. Dagobert died in 638, and was embalmed and buried in the church of his foundation; but of the style of this first tomb we have no knowledge whatever. Of the existing tomb, the principal part is the legendary history of the king taken from the "Gesta Dagoberti," told in three alto-reliefs. Below these, the king sleeps upon his left side in a rather uncomfortable fashion; standing on one side is his wife Nantilde, or Nantechilde; on the other, one of his sons, Clovis II. or Sigebert. At the apex of the arch is Our Lord giving the benediction, with SS. Martin and Denis on each side. These two saints, with S. Maurice, had the kindness to hear the prayers of Dagobert, when he was held in bondage by devils, during a voyage in a boat, on the waters of the great gulf fixed between Abraham and Hades. The story was told by a hermit to Ansoald, on his way back from Sicily, and by the 9th century had been worked up into a fact, as it is mentioned in a letter from Louis le Débonnaire to Hilduin, abbot of S. Denis. May it not have been originally a dovetailing together of the story of Charon and le bon roy Dagobert, a mélange of Classic myth and Christian legend which was very common in the early centuries of the Christian era? The sculptures, although, as regards the drapery, sufficiently graceful, are very curious and quaint, especially the boat and its contents. The three saints coming to the rescue, Dagobert pressing the hand of the foremost, the discomforted demons, and the soul of the king standing upon a napkin held by S. Denis and S. Martin, are all vigorous to a degree, if somewhat rude; but the Angels round the voussure carrying censers, are charming. In the account of the legend given by Guillaume de Nangis, quoted by Alexandra Lenoir, we seem to have another reading of the opening part of the story of Job. "Mais monseigneur saint Denis, qui n'oblia mie son bon amy le roy Dagobert, requist à Nostre Seigneur Jesus-Crist qui luy donast congié d'aler secourre la dicte ame; laquelle chose comme Nostre Seigneur luy eust ottroié, sainct Denis s'en ala et mena avecques luy Sainct Morise et aultres amys que le roy Dagobert avoit moult honorés en sa vie, et avecques eulx orent des anges qui les conduirent jusques en la mer, et quant ils vindrent là où les deables tenoient et ammenoient à grant feste l'ame du roy Dagobert, si le misrent entre eulx et se combattirent encontre les deables". It was all done because of Monseigneur S. Denis' love of "le bon roy," who had founded the abbey in honour of the martyr; and if you doubt these facts, and "ne me croyez, alez à Sainct-Denis en France, en l'église, et regardez devant l'autel où l'en chante tous les jours la grant messe, là où le roy Dagobert gist. La verrez vous audessus de luy ce que vous ay dit, pourtrait et de noble euvre richement enluminée." From this, there can be no doubt that the whole mass of sculpture was originally coloured; indeed, a close inspection shows a little still visible in the folds of the drapery. Lenoir, whose depreciation of Mediæval sculpture as compared to that of the Renaissance was considerable, speaks of the draped figures as pour le style comme pour le goût, comparable aux belles inventions de Raphaël.

Upon the platform of the apse is the mosaic effigy of Frédégonde, not earlier than the 12th century. It is composed of a stone slab of the form of the early stone coffins. The design is marked out by thin bands of metal between which are incrustations of very small pieces of porphyry, serpentine, and white marble. This, like several of the early tombs, was originally in the abbey of S. Germain-des-Près.

The central part of the crypt was formerly the depository for the relics—a sort of sanctuary dedicated to S. Démètre. Another part of the crypt became the burial place of the Bourbon family. All the princes were buried in vaults underneath their tombs. "Tous le roys, reynes et autres ensépulturez à Saint-Denys reposent dans les caveaux qui sont sous leurs tombeaux, sans qu'il y en ait aucun ailleurs, ce que je dis pour désabuser plusieurs personnes (mesmes des gens de qualité) qui s'imaginent qu'il y ait une grande cave dans laquelle sont tous les roys, en chair et en os, et demandent qu'on la leur monstre, dont je me suis souventefois estonné, veu mesme que plusieurs qui vivent encores ont peu voir mettre les cinq derniers roys décédéz non en ceste cave imaginaire, mais dans le tombeau des Vallois, sçavoir, Henry II. et ces trois fils, et Henry IV., dans le caveau commun des rois, où il est encore. On en peut dire autant de François I^er. et de Louis XII., et de tous les autres; car quant à la grotte qui est sous le chevet, il n'y a, ny eut jamais, corps ny sépulture d'aucune personne.[36] The day of the funeral the body was placed in the vault, "sur des barres de fer, devant une statue en marbre de Nostre-Dame." There it remained for a year, after which it was deposited in the tomb of the sovereign's ancestors. This curious arrangement became a custom by pure accident. Henri IV. not having signified any desire as to his place of burial, was left in this vault, "le caveau des cérémonies," while his widow and les Etats discussed the question of erecting a monument; and thus, by force of habit, the succeeding Bourbons being placed by the side of Henri, the "caveau" became the mausoleum of the family. But the Bourbons were a prolific race, and before very long the overcrowding became too great to admit of any more inhabitants; so upon the burial of Marie-Thérèse, the wife of Louis XIV., it was decided to tunnel a long passage to connect it with the central part of the crypt. It was a difficult and dangerous proceeding: "On perça," says Félibien, "par-dessous le chevet, à l'endroit où estoit une ancienne chapelle de Saint-Démètre, un petit corridor de la largeur de trois pieds sur sept de haut. Les ouvriers voûtoient à mesure qu'ils avançoient; et dans le poursuite de leur ouvrage, ils découvrirent quelques tombeaux dont on ne reconnut que celui de l'abbé Antoine de La Haye, par une inscription qu'on y trouva. Enfin, après avoir poussé environ sept toises et demie, les ouvriers arrivèrent à l'ancien caveau; de sorte qu'il a été aisé d'y joindre, par ce corridor de communication, un caveau spécieux qui occupe aujourd'huy, dessous le chevet, l'ancienne crypte où estoient autrefois les corps des saints martyrs. La place est de neuf toises de long sur environ deux toises et demi dans sa plus grande largeur." The new vault was consecrated the 31st August, 1683. This accounts for the apparent want of an entrance to the centre of the crypt; as all visitors to the church are aware, you look through little apertures to the place where a few post-revolution burials have taken place. I commend all these particulars, which exemplify the horrors of burial above ground, with the rifling of tombs and coffins perpetrated by the officers of the Convention, to the opposers of cremation. Had all these poor royalties been converted into ashes, no such doings could have taken place. The entrance to the Bourbon vaults still exists, close to the altar of S. Maurice, to the right of the High Altar looking eastwards; but visitors enter by some steps farther east, by the side of the ascent to the apse. It is a miserably gloomy hole, with a few coffins upon trestles, shedding their violet coverings. Can any sort of burial equal in horror this of open vaults?

The statues of the early kings were erected by S. Louis. Ordered by him as commemorative effigies of his ancestors, it does not seem to have been within the wit of the 13th century sculptors to vary the physiognomy of the early sovereigns. Thus there is a strong likeness between Charles Martel[37] and Pépin, and Louis and Carloman. There is a curious divergence in the opinions passed upon Louis III. The chronicle of S. Denis calls him a "homs plains de toutes ordures et toutes vanitez;" whereas the annals of Metz say, "Tous les peuples des Gaules pleurèrent sa mort avec une extrème douleur. Il fut en effet homme de rare mérite, et défendit courageusement et virilement contre les incursions des payens le royaume qui lui était soumis." So we see that it is not only the 19th century which vaunts and cries down a man, according as he belongs to the political sheep or the goats.

Carloman, at his eighteen years, has the appearance of a man of forty, and many years older than his brother. The statue of Charlemagne's brother Carloman has had a queer history. It was marched to the Petits-Augustins with the rest, and there christened Charles le Chauve, but when sent back to S. Denis it was rebaptised Henri I.

Hugues Capet was buried at S. Denis close to his father, the great Hugues; his last words addressed to his son Robert prove him to have been possessed of piety, a proper notion of justice, and a large amount of common sense. "Bon fils, je t'adjure, au nom de la sainte et indivisible Trinité, de ne pas livrer ton âme aux conseils des flatteurs et de ne pas écouter les vœux de leur ambition, en leur faisant un don empoisonné de ces abbayes que je te confie pour toujours. Je désire également qu'il ne t'arrive point, conduit par la légèreté d'esprit ou ému par la colère, de distraire ou enlever quelque chose de leurs biens. Je te recommande surtout de veiller à ce que, pour aucune raison, tu ne déplaises jamais à leur chef commun, le grand saint Benoit, qui est un accès certain auprès du souverain juge, un port de tranquillité et un asile de sûreté après la sortie de la chair."[38] His particular friends to whom he commends his son are the Blessed Virgin, S. Benedict, S. Martin, S. Aignan, and SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, and above all S. Geneviève. Queen Adélaïde, like most Middle-Age ladies, did much embroidering as she sat up in her tower, and naturally S. Denis was her first thought. She gave the great statue of S. Martin (I do not know in what part of the church this was placed) a wondrous cope, embroidered between the shoulders with a "Pontife éternel" and adoring Cherubim and Seraphim. In the front was the "Lamb of God" and the Four Beasts of the Apocalypse.[39]

Robert must have profited by the good advice given him by his father, for we find the monk Helgaud giving him a tremendous panegyric in the account of his death. "Peu de temps après avoir reçu le saint et salutaire viatique du corps vivifiant de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, Robert alla au Roi des rois, au Seigneur des seigneurs, et entra heureux dans les célestes royaumes. Il mourut le vingtième jour de juillet (1031) au commencement de la journée du mardi, au château de Melun, et il fut porté à Paris, puis enseveli à Saint-Denis, près de son père. Il y eut là un grand deuil, une douleur intolérable; car la foule de moines gémissait sur la perte d'un tel père,[40] et une multitude innombrable de clercs se plaignait de leur misère que soulageait avec tant de piété ce saint homme. Un nombre infini de veuves et d'orphelins regrettait tant de bienfaits reçus de lui. Tous poussaient de grands cris jusqu'au ciel, disant d'une commune voix: 'Grand Roi, Dieu bon, pourquoi nous tuer ainsi en nous ôtant ce bon père et l'unissant à toi!' Ils se frappaient avec les poings la poitrine, allaient et venaient au saint tombeau, répétaient encore les paroles marquées plus haut et se joinaient aux prières des saints afin que Dieu eût pitié de lui dans le siècle éternel. Dieu! quelle douleur causa cette mort. Tous s'écriaient avec des clameurs redoublées: 'Tant que Robert a régné et commandé, nous avons vécu tranquilles, nous n'avons rien craint; que l'âme de ce père pieux, ce père du sénat, ce père de tout bien, soit heureuse et sauvée! qu'elle monte et habite pour toujours avec Jésus-Christ, Roi des rois!'. … Dans tout cela, nous avons un grand sujet de douleur, en voyant qu'un tel et si grand homme repose sans une pierre ornée d'inscriptions, sans monument, sans épitaphe, lui dont la gloire et la mémoire ont été en bénédiction à toute la terre." As late as the 16th century Robert's tomb was enriched with colour, and even now a small amount remains.

Another king's death, that of Louis le Gros, is recorded by Suger: "Après avoir reçu en communion le corps et le sang de Jésus-Christ, le roi rejetant loin de lui toutes les pompes de l'orgueil du siècle, s'étendit sur un lit de simple toile. M'ayant vu pleurer sur lui qui, par le sort commun aux hommes, était devenu si petit et si humble de si grand et si élevé qu'il était, il me dit: 'Ne pleure pas sur moi, très-cher ami, mais plutôt triomphe et réjouis-toi de ce que Dieu, dans sa miséricorde, m'a donné, comme tu le vois, les moyens de me préparer à paraître devant lui.'. … Un peu avant de mourir, il ordonna qu'on étendit un tapis par terre, et que sur ce tapis on jetât des cendres en forme de croix; puis il s'y fit porter et déposer par ses serviteurs, et fortifiant toute sa personne par le signe de la croix, il rendit l'âme le jour les calendes d'août (I^er. août 1137), dans la trentième année de son règne et presque la soixantième de son âge. Son corps fut à l'heure même enveloppé de riches étoffes pour être transporté et enterré dans l'église des saints martyrs."

Suger mentions the finding of the remains of Carloman when they were about to bury Louis VI., and how the former were removed to a spot between the altar of the Holy Trinity and that of the Martyrs: "On l'y déposa donc avec le cérémonial d'usage pour les rois, au milieu de chants nombreux, d'hymnes et de prières, après lui avoir fait de pieuses et solennelles funérailles. C'est là qu'il attend d'être admis à jouer de sa résurrection future, et qu'il est d'autant plus près de se réunir en esprit à la troupe des esprits célestes, que son corps est plus voisin des corps des saints martyrs et plus à portée d'en être protégé."

"FELIX QUI POTUIT MUNDI NUTANTE RUINA

QUO JACEAT PRÆSCISSE LOCO. …"

"Puisse le Rédempteur ressusciter l'âme de ce roi à l'intercession des saintes martyrs pour lesquels il avait un si pieux dévouement! puisse cette âme être placée au rang des saints par celui qui a donné la sienne pour le salut du monde, notre seigneur Jésus-Christ qui vit et règne, Roi des rois, et maître des puissances, aux siècles des siècles. Amen."[41]

Of the burial of Louis VII. the monk Rigord gives some interesting details: "L'année 1181, le jeudi dix-huitième jour de septembre, mourut à Paris Louis, roi des Français. Son corps fut honorablement enseveli et couvert d'aromates dans l'église de Sainte-Marie de Barbeau, qu'il avait fondée. C'est là qu'en l'honneur de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ et de la bienheureuse mère de Dieu, Marie toujours vièrge, de saints religieux célèbrent jour et nuit les offices divins pour l'âme du défunt roi, pour celles de tous ses prédécesseurs et pour le salut du royaume de France. C'est aussi dans cette église, et sur le lieu même de la sépulture du roi, que l'illustre reine des Français, Adèle[42] son épouse et mère de Phillippe-Auguste, roi des Français, fit construire un tombeau où l'art le plus exquis avait fait un heureux mélange des matières les plus brillantes, d'or et d'argent, d'airain et de pierres précieuses. Jamais chef-d'œuvre aussi étonnant n'avait paru dans aucun royaume depuis le règne de Salomon." In 1182 Philippe Auguste decreed that a taper should always be kept alight before the tomb of his father. What became of the monument is not known. At the Revolution it consisted of a sarcophagus which had been renovated in 1695 by the Cardinal de Furstemberg, abbot of Barbeau[43] and prince bishop of Strasburg. When Charles IX. was at Fontainebleau he had the curiosity to open this latter tomb of Louis. The body was nearly entire; but the sceptre, some silver seals and ornaments, were partially destroyed. The king had rings on his fingers and a gold cross on his neck; "le roi et les princes du sang qui se trouvèrent là présents, les prirent pour les porter en mémoire d'un si bon est religieux prédécesseur."[44] One would like to know why ignorant, poverty-stricken fisher and peasant folk should be anathematized for robbing the dead after a wreck or a battle, when such a pious prince as the author of the massacre of S. Bartholomew pilfered the rings from his ancestor without a word of protest—on the contrary, his relations and friends "du sang" aided and abetted him. But then, of course, a few centuries had elapsed in the latter case, and poor Louis was reduced to a state of dry bones; it was robbing a skeleton, not a body. In the reign of Napoléon the abbey of Barbeau was converted into a school for the daughters of members of the Legion of Honour, and in 1817 the remains of Louis VII. were transported to S. Denis.

Why does it happen that children who die young seem to be so superior to those who survive? Would the Duc de Bourgogne, Philippe, son of Louis VI., Edward V., or Prince Arthur have made better sovereigns than their relations who reigned in their stead? Suger gives a picturesque account of the death of Philippe, "un enfant dans la fleur de l'âge." This "malheur étrange" happened on the 13th October, 1131. "Le fils aîné du roi Louis Philippe, d'une grande douceur, l'espoir des bons et la terreur des méchants, se promenait un jour à cheval dans un faubourg de la cité de Paris; un détestable porc se jette dans le chemin du cheval; celui-ci tombe rudement, renverse, écrase contre une pierre le noble enfant qui le montait, et l'étouffe sous le poids de son corps. Ce jour-là même on avait convoqué l'armée pour une expédition; aussi les habitants de la ville et tout les autres qui apprennent cet évènement, consternés de douleur, crient, pleurent, poussent des sanglots, s'empressent à relever le tendre enfant presque mort, et le portent dans une maison voisine. O douleur! à l'entrée de la nuit il rendit l'âme. Quelle tristesse et quel désespoir accablèrent son père, sa mère et les grands du royaume! Homère lui-même ne pourrait l'exprimer. On l'enterra dans l'église du bienheureux Denis, dans le lieu réservé à la sépulture des rois et à la gauche de l'autel de la Sainte-Trinité, avec tout le cérémonial usité pour les rois, en présence d'une foule d'évêques et de grands de l'Etat."[45] Philippe's was the last statue that S. Louis gave to the church, and the crown and sceptre show that the young prince had been crowned by his father at Reims during the latter's life—probably in order to share the duties of kingship.

Although three abbeys were the happy possessors of the remains of Blanche of Castille (Maubuisson, Lys, and Saint-Corentin-lez-Mantes), no tomb exists of the sweet mother of S. Louis.[46] Upon the monument at Maubuisson the queen was attired in the habit of the Cistercian order, which she assumed in her last moments; the crown was placed over the veil, the royal robes over the nun's habit, and so she passed away, and was thus buried. In 1793 various tombs, armorial bearings, and the like aliments de l'orgueil, were transported from Maubuisson to Pontoise; some were broken, some burnt; golden vessels and silver saints were thrust into the melting-pot; and Blanche of Castille, with the help of a prince perhaps, or a warrior, became transformed into an instrument of war. But the museum of the Petits-Augustins wanted an effigy of the mother of Monsieur Saint Louis; and so they set up a black marble image of Catherine de Courtenay, empress of Constantinople and wife of Charles of Valois, who had lately, and all alone, journeyed from Maubuisson; and, thinking it a joke to turn a black empress into a white queen, they wrote upon the slab, in 13th century characters, that it was the true monument of Madame la royne Blanche mere de Monsieur Saint Loys. After twenty years Madame Catherine-Blanche became divorced from her other half, and the white queen faded away in favour of the black empress.

One of the most beautiful tombs is that of Philippe, the brother of S. Louis, which was formerly at Royaumont. The prince lies upon a sarcophagus, round which are niches filled with little figures of monks, bishops, and angels, full of character and expression. One of these represents a king: "On y voyait le cercueil de Louis porté par les barons de France et par le roi d'Angleterre.[47] Une figure couronnée porte sur l'épaule un des bâtons; c'est le roi anglais"[48]—proving the sovereignty of France over England. There is a curious engraving by Boulogne representing this procession. The church is in the distance; a string of monks are zigzagging across the plain, and in the foreground we see this crowned head and others bearing the reliquary; behind are bishops; the whole in the grandiose style of the 17th and 18th centuries—drapery flying in the wind, bishops and monks prancing, and all the faces turned to the spectator. S. Louis had always held the abbey in most respectful esteem. He visited it before he started upon his various expeditions; and in 1267, when he had conferred the order of chivalry upon his son Philippe and sixty other young noblemen, he rode to S. Denis on horseback to implore the blessing of God, accompanied by a large concourse of courtiers and princes.

The monuments of the battle of Bouvines came from the church of S. Catherine-du-Val-des-Écoliers. They are incised stones, coloured and gilt, bearing the following inscriptions:—