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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.

THE SAINTE-CHAPELLE FROM THE PONT SAINT-MICHEL.

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 18^e 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'œuvre, 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 mœurs, 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.

The most important event of the 13th century connected with the Sainte-Chapelle was the translation of some of S. Louis' bones from S. Denis, in which church they had been laid twenty-seven years previously upon their arrival from Tunis, where the king had died of fever on the 25th August, 1270. Feeling his last moments to have arrived, he caused his body to be placed upon a bed of ashes, and wearing the habit of the third order of S. Francis, his noble spirit passed away. He was embalmed, according to the fashion of the day; or rather, his bones were relieved of their outer casements, by boiling in wine and water; other parts of his body, which it is unnecessary to specify, being given by his son to the King of Sicily, who placed them in the church of Monreale, Palermo. The young Comte de Nevers had died just before S. Louis; and Alfonso de Brienne, Comte d'Eu, son of John de Brienne, King of Jerusalem, and the Chevalier Pierre, the King's chamberlain, had also succumbed to the unhealthy climate. The funeral procession set out, and wended its way towards France under the care of S. Louis' son, Philippe le Hardi. Arriving at Paris, the bodies were placed temporarily in Notre-Dame on the 21st of May; and the next day, amidst a large concourse of people, the procession, consisting of clergy, and religious, started early for S. Denis, Philippe, reverently bearing his father's bones, walking like the rest. Up through the city they went, singing and chanting, and taking much the same route as had been traversed by S. Denis and his companions, after their martyrdom, as recorded by the old chroniclers. In an engraving by Boulogne a long procession of monks and knights is seen issuing from the abbey to meet another coming from Paris, the king and bishops being dressed in that peculiar high wind-blown drapery common to pictorial art in the 17th and 18th centuries. S. Louis' bones were placed in a stone coffin and buried in front of the altar of the Holy Trinity, near the resting place of the bodies of Louis VIII. and Philippe Auguste. Philippe le Hardi's wife, Isabelle, and Tristan, Comte de Nevers, were placed on the right; the chevalier Pierre, who, as chamberlain, had the privilege of sleeping in the King's chamber, was laid at his feet. In 1292, Henri de Luxembourg caused the relics to be placed in a silver shrine and conveyed to the Sainte-Chapelle by the Archbishops of Reims and Lyon; but after some days they were returned to S. Denis, and it was not until 1306 that Philippe le Bel succeeded in his desire of placing the remains of his grandfather in the chapel which was so dear to him, that he felt a malaise each time he heard the divine offices elsewhere. The Bull of canonization was promulgated by Pope Boniface VIII. in 1297, and the translation of the king's skull followed nine years later, accompanied by all the picturesque pomp of the 14th century. The reliquary was in the form of a gold bust of natural size, enriched with precious stones, and supported by Angels upon a pedestal which rested upon four silver-gilt lions. The crown and the collar of the vestment were decorated with rubies, pearls, emeralds, and sapphires; and around the socle were representations of the twenty-nine kings of France, and a Latin inscription giving the date of the work, and the name of the smith, Master Guillaume Juliani. Such was the châsse which enclosed the principal relic of S. Louis: "Afin que la présence du Chef de ce grand roi, qui pendant sa vie avait eu la justice en singulière recommandation, animat les Juges de ce Parlement à maintenir les loix, protéger les gens du bien, rendre la justice à ses sujets sans exception de personne."[3]