ilMiiia m ^i!fixa!jxi*-jfirj,^stisiwi^i-^fVfiatnnwsft^VVt^f.^^r: 3 Pf CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FINE ARTS LIBRARY As/tEe/< ,// LA ^^jr 7 ,tv ,.fsw/7"^;;y?x-juERjs /^ri ^^^ ■SS;»gV^*" \ j CLERindNjS iHv^< p w / sP'XT'* ^^^*i "^ygrvwilu' >t^^^^ iji*-^1^ r^ijE&^^ //// iass 3tW9^jS£lB0URHe /LeBuaaon, "^R ILIAC /f^f D^uxj^ ,„S:5 V^»«5r SSSBB DOES NOT CIRCULATE Cornell University Library NA 5541.M29 The cathedrals of southern France, 3 1924 015 424 579 'T. ANDRE . . . > de BORDEAUX The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924015424579 THE CATHEDRALS OF SOUTHERN FRANCE By FRANCIS MILTOUN AUTHOR OF "the CATHEDRALS OF NORTHERN FRANC E," "dickens' LONDON," ETC., WITH NINETY ILLUSTRATIONS, PLANS, AND DIAGRAMS, By BLANCHE McMANUS BOsVolN L. C. f^age anD Cotnpani? Copyright, igo4 By L. C. Page & Company (incorporated) All rights reserved Published August, 1904 Kolonial $te>is ElectrotTPod and Printed by C. H. Slmonds & Co. Boston, Mass., V. S. A. CONTENTS Introduction PAGE 1 1 Part I. Southern France in General I. The Charm of Southern France II. The Church in Gaul III. The Church Architecture of Southern France ...... 50 23 34 Part II. South of the Loire I. Introductory . . . . . .71 II. L'Abbaye de Maillezais 81 III. St. Louis de la Rochelle 82 IV. Cathedrale de Lu9on 85 V. St. Front de Perigueux 87 VI. St. Pierre de Poitiers 92 VII. St. Etienne de Limoges 104 VIII. St. Odilon de St. Flour 112 IX. St. Pierre de Saintes 115 X. Cathedrale de Tulle 118 XI. St. Pierre d'Angouleme 120 XII. Notre Dame de Moulins 126 XIII. Notre Dame de le Puy 134 XIV. Notre Dame de Clermont-Ferrand '44 XV. St. Fulcran de Lodeve 152 Contents Part III. The Rhone Va [.LEY I. Introductory . . . . . . 1 59 II. St. Etienne de Chalons-sur-Saone . 170 III. St. Vincent de Macon . '74 IV. St. Jean de Lyon . 177 V. St. Maurice dfe Vienne . 186 VI. St. ApoUinaire de Valence 190 VII. Cathedrale de Viviers 195 VIII. Notre Dame d'Orange 197 IX. St. Veran de Cavaillon . 200 X. Notre Dame des Doms d'Avigi ion 204 XI. St. SiiFrein de Carpentras 2ZI XII. Cathedrale de Vaison 226 XIII. St. Trophime d' Aries 228 XIV. St. Castor de Nimes 236 XV. St. Theodorit d'Uzes 24s XVI. St. Jean d'Alais 249 XVII. St. Pierre d'Annecy 252 XVIII.. Cathedrale de Chambery . 2S5 XIX. Notre Dame de Grenoble 258 XX. Belley and Aoste . 267 XXI. St. Jean^de Maurienne . 269 XXII. St. Pierre de St. Claude . 272 XXIII. Notre Dame de Bourg . 277 XXIV. Glandeve, Senez, Riez, Sisteron 280 XXV. St. Jerome de Digne 283 XXVI. Notre Dame de Die 287 XXVII. Notre Dame et St. Castor d'Apt 289 XXVIII. Notre Dame d'Embrun . 292 XXIX. Notre Dame de I'Assomption d e Ga] 3 296 Contents PAGS XXX. Notre Dame de Vence . , . . 300 XXXI. Cathedrale de Sion . , . .302 XXXII. St. Paul Troix Chateau , . . .305 Part IV. The Mediterranean Coast I. Introductory . . . . . • 3 ' 3 II. St. Sauveur d'Aix 323 III. St. Reparata de Nice . . . .328 IV. Ste. Marie Majeure de Toulon , .332 V. St. Etienne de Frejus . . . .335 VI. £glise de Grasse 339 VII. Antibes 341 VIII. Ste. Marie Majeure de Marseilles . . 342 IX. St. Pierre d'Alet . . . . .350 X. St. Pierre de Montpellier . . .352 XI. Cathedrale d'Agda 358 XII. St. Nazaire de Beziers . . , .363 XIII. St. Jean de Perpignan .... 368 XIV. Ste. Eulalia d'Elne . . . .372 XV. St. Just de Narbonne . , , .375 Part V. The Valley of the Garonne I. Introductory . . • . , .383 II. St. Andre de Bordeaux .... 396 III. Cathedrale de Lectoure .... 402 IV. Notre Dame de Bayonne . . .405 V. St. Jean de Bazas . . . . . 41 1 VI. Notre Dame de Lescar . . . •413 VII. L'Eglise de la Sede : Tarbes . . .417 VIII. Cathedrale de Condom .... 420 Contents rAGB IX. Cathedrale de Montauban 42 2 X. St. Etienne de Cahors 425 XI. St. Caprias d'Agen .... 429 XII. Ste. Marie d'Auch .... 432 XIII. St. Etienne de Toulouse . 439 XIV. St. Nazaire de Carcassone 449 XV. Cathedrale de Pamiers 461 XVI. St. Bertrand de Comminges 464 XVII. St. Jean-Baptiste d'Aire . 469 sfVIII. Sts. Benoit et Vincent de Castres 471 XIX. Notre Dame de Rodez . 474 XX. Ste. Cecile d'Albi . 482 XXI. St. Pierre de Mende 490 XXII. Other Old-Time Cathedrals in and about the Basin of the Garonne 495 Appendices I. Sketch Map Showing the Usual Geographical Divisions of France .... 503 II. A Historical Table of the Dioceses of the South of France up to the beginning of the nineteenth century . . .504 III. The Classification of Architectural Styles in France according to De Caumont's •• Abe- cedaire d' Architecture Religieuse " . .520 IV. A Chronology of Architectural Styles in France . . . . . .511 V. Leading Forms of Early Cathedral Construc- tions . . . . . . -513 VI. The Disposition of the Parts of a Tenth- Contents PAGE Century Church as defined by Violet-le- Duc . . . . . . -514 VII. A Brief Definitive Gazetteer of the Natural and Geological Divisions Included in the Ancient Provinces and Present-Day De- partments of Southern France, together writh the local names by which the pays et pagi are commonly knovyn . . .516 VIII. Sketch Map of the Bishoprics and Arch- bishoprics of the South of France at the Present Day . . . . .519 IX. Dimensions and Chronology . . .520 Index 545 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS St. Andre de Bordeaux The Concordat (From Napoleon's Tomb) St. Louis de La Rochelle . Cathedrale de Lu^on St. Front de Perigueux Detail of the Interior of St. Front de Perigueux Poitiers ..... St. Etienne de Limoges Reliquary of Thomas a Becket . Cathedrale de Tulle . St. Pierre d'Angouleme Notre Dame de Moulins . Notre Dame de Le Puy . Le Puy The Black Virgin, Le Puy Notre Dame de Clermont-Ferrand St. Vincent de Macon St.' Jean de Lyon St. ApoUinaire de Valence St. Veran de Cavaillon Notre Dame des Doms d'Avignon Villeneuve-les-Avignon Notre Dame des Doms d'Avignon Frontispiece 43 82 85 87 90 93 105 III facing 118 facing IZO facing 126 facing 134 138 143 facing 144 facing 174 facing ,76 • 190 . 200 . 20s facing 212 facing 218 List of Illustrations St. Trophime d' Aries . 2Z8 St. Trophime d' Aries facing 2Z8 Cloisters, St. Trophime d' Aries . 233 St. Castor de Nimes . 236 St. Castor de Nimes . 237 St. Theodorit d'Uzes . 24s Cathedrale de Chambery . . 255 Notre Dame de Grenoble . . 258 St. Bruno .... 261 Belley . 265 St. Jean de Maurienne 269 St. Pierre de St. Claude . facing 272 Notre Dame de Bourg . 27-5 Notre Dame de Sisteron . facing 280 St. Jerome de Digne . 283 Notre Dame d'Embrun . . 292 The Ramparts of Aigues-Mortes 320 St. Sauveur d'Aix . . 321 Detail of Doorway of the Archbishop' . Palace, Frejus . 338 Eglise de Grasse . 339 Marseilles .... . 343 The Old Cathedral, Marseilles . 345 St. Pierre de Montpellier . facing 352 Cathedrale d'Agde . . 358 St. Nazaire de Beziers 361 St. Jean de Perpignan 368 Ste. Eulalia d'Elne . . 372 St. Just de Narbonne facing 374 Cloister of St. Just de Narbonne facing 378 Notre Dame de Bayonne . facing 404 List of Illustrations . 4>7 facing 424 facing 432 facing 438 445 facing 448 Eglise de la Sede, Tarbes , St. Etienne de Cahors Ste. Marie d'Auch . St. Etienne de Toulouse . Nave of St. Etienne de Toulouse St. Nazaire de Carcassonne The Old Cite de Carcassonne before and after the Res- toration ........ Two Capitals of Pillars in St. Nazaire de Carcassonne ; and the Rude Stone Carving of Carcas St. Nazaire de Carcassonne Cathedrale de Pamiers St. Bertrand de Comminges St. Jean-Baptiste d'Aire . Sts. Benoit et Vincent de Castres Notre Dame de Rodez Choir-Sfalls, Rodez . Ste. Cecile d'Albi . St. Pierre de Mende Sketch Map of France Medallion Leading Forms of Early Cathedral Constructions Plan of a Tenth Century Church Sketch Map of the Bishoprics and Archbishoprics South of France at the Present Day St. Caprias d'Agen (diagram) Baptistery of St. Sauveur d'Aix (diagram) . Ste. Cecile d'Albi (diagram) St. Pierre d'Angouleme (diagram) St. Trophime d' Aries (diagram) 45 > • 454 facing 454 . 461 facing 464 . 469 facing 470 facing 474 . 480 facing 482 facing 490 503 510 513 514 of the 519 520 521 522 523 524 List of Illustrations Notre Dame des Doms d' Avignon (diagram) St. Etienne de Cahors (diagram) St. Veran de Cavaillon (diagram) Cathedrale de Chambery (diagram) Notre Dame de Clermont-Ferrand (diagram) St. Bertrand de Comminges (diagram) Notre Dame de Le Puy (diagram) St. Etienne de Limoges (diagram) St. Jean de Lyon (diagram) St. Just de Narbonne (diagram) . Notre Dame d' Orange (diagram) St. Front de Perigueux (diagram) St. Jean de Perpignan (diagram). St. Pierre de Poitiers (diagrams) . Notre Dame de Rodez (diagram) St. Etienne de Toulouse (diagram) St. Paul Trois Chateaux (diagram) Cathedrale de Vaison (diagram). 525 527 528 529 530 530 532 532 533 535 536 537 537 538 539 54» 542 543 The Cathedrals of Southern France INTRODUCTION Too often — it is a half-acknowledged delu- sion, however — one meets with what appears to be a theory: that a book of travel must necessarily be a series of dull, discursive, and entirely uncorroborated opinions of one who may not be even an intelligent observer. This is mere intellectual pretence. Even a humble author — so long as he be an honest one — may well be allowed to claim with Mr. How- ells the right to be serious, or the reverse, "with his material as he finds it;" and that " something personally experienced can only be realized on the spot where it was lived." This, says he, is " the prime use of travel, and the attempt to create the reader a partner in the enterprise "... must be the excuse, then, for putting one's observations on paper. II Introduction He rightly says, too, that nothing of peril- ous adventure is to-day any more like to happen " in Florence than in Fitchburg." A " literary tour," a " cathedral tour," or an " architectural tour," requires a formula wherein the author must be wary of making questionable estimates ; but he may, with re- gard to generalities, — or details, for that matter, — state his opinion plainly; but he should state also his reasons. With respect to church architecture no average reader, any more than the average observer, willingly enters the arena of intellectual combat, but rather is satisfied — as he should be, unless he is a Freeman, a Gonse, or a Corroyer — with an ampler radius which shall command even a juster, though no less truthful, view. Not from one book or from ten, in one year or a score can this be had. The field is vast and the immensity of it all only dawns upon one the deeper he gets into his subject. A dic- tionary of architecture, a compendium or gazetteer of geography, or even the unwieldy mass of fact tightly held in the fastnesses of the Encyclopaedia Britannica will not tell one — in either a long or a short while — all the facts concerning the cathedrals of France. Some will consider that in this book are 12 Introduction made many apparently trifling assertions; but it is claimed that they are pertinent and again are expressive of an emotion which mayhap always arises of the same mood. Notre Dame at Rodez is a " warm, mouse- coloured cathedral ; " St. Cecile d'Albi is at once " a fortress and a church," and the once royal city of Aigues-Mortes is to-day but " a shelter for a few hundred pallid, shaking mortals." Such expressions are figurative, but, so far as words can put it, they are the concentrated result of observation. These observations do not aspire to be con- sidered " improving," though it is asserted that they are informative. Description of all kinds is an art which re- quires considerable forethought in order to be even readable. And of all subjects, art and architecture are perhaps the most difficult to treat in a manner which shall not arouse an intolerant criticism. Perhaps some credit will be attained for the attempts herein made to present in a pleasing manner many of the charms of the ecclesias- tical architecture of southern France, where a more elaborate and erudite work would fail of its object. As Lady Montagu has said in 13 Introduction her " Letters," — " We travellers are in very hard circumstances. If we say nothing new, we are dull, and have observed nothing. If we tell any new thing, we are laughed at as fabulous and romantic." This book is intended as a contribution to travel literature — or, if the reader like, to that special class of book which appeals largely to the traveller. Most lovers of art and literature are lovers of churches ; indeed, the world is yearly con- taining more and more of this class. The art expression of a people, of France in particular, has most often first found its outlet in church- building and decoration. Some other coun- tries have degenerated sadly from the idea. In recent times the Anglo-Saxon has mostly built his churches, — on what he is pleased to think are " improved lines," — that, more than anything else, resemble, in their inte- riors, playhouses, and in their exteriors, cot- ton factories and breweries. This seemingly bitter view is advanced simply because the writer believes that it is the church-members, using the term in its broad sense, who are responsible for the many outrageously unseemly church-build- ings which are yearly being erected; not the Introduction architects — who have failings enough of their own to answer for. It is said that a certain great architect of recent times was responsible for more bad architecture than any man who had lived before or since. Not because he produced such himself, but because his feeble imitators, without his knowledge, his training, or his ambition, not only sought to follow in his foot- steps, but remained a long way in the rear, and stumbled by the way. This man built churches. He built one, Trinity Church, in Boston, U. S. A., which will remain, as long as its stones endure, an entirely successful transplantation of an exotic from another land. In London a new Roman Catholic cathedral has recently been erected after the Byzantine manner, and so unexpect- edly successful was it in plan and execution that its author was " medalled " by the Royal Academy; whatever that dubious honour may be worth. Both these great men are dead, and aside from these two great examples, and possibly the Roman Catholic cathedral, and the yet .unachieved cathedral of St. John the Divine, in New York City, where, in an English- speaking land, has there been built, in recent IS Introduction times, a religious edifice of the first rank worthy to be classed with these two old-world and new-world examples? They do these things better in France: Viollet-le-Duc completed St. Ouen at Rouen and the cathedral at Clermont-Ferrand, in most acceptable manner. So, too, was the treat- ment of the cathedral at Moulins-sur-AUier — although none of these examples are among the noblest or the most magnificent in France. They have, however, been completed suc- cessfully, and in the true spirit of the orig- inal. To know the shops and boulevards of Paris does not necessarily presume a knowledge of France. This point is mentioned here from the fact that many have claimed a familiarity with the cathedrals of France; when to all practical purposes, they might as well have begun and ended with the observation that Notre Dame de Paris stands on an island in the middle of the Seine. The author would not carp at the critics of the first volume of this series, which ap- peared last season. Far from it. They were, almost without exception, most generous. At least they granted, unqualifiedly, the reason for being for the volume which was put forth i6 Introduction bearing the title: "Cathedrals of Northern France." The seeming magnitude of the undertaking first came upon the author and artist while preparing the first volume for the press. This was made the more apparent when, on a cer- tain occasion, just previous to the appearance of the book, the author made mention thereof to a friend who did know Paris — better per- haps than most English or American writers; at least he ought to have known it better. When this friend heard of the inception of this book on French cathedrals, he mar- velled at the fact that there should be a de- mand for such; said that the subject had already been overdone; and much more of the same sort; and that only yesterday a cer- tain Miss had sent him an " author's copy " of a book which recounted the results of a journey which she and her mother had recently made in what she sentimentally called " Romantic Touraine." Therein were treated at least a good half- dozen cathedrals; which, supplementing the always useful Baedeker or Joanne, and a handbook of Notre Dame at Paris and an- other of Rouen, covered — thought the au- 17 Introduction thor's friend at least — quite a representative share of the cathedrals of France. This only substantiates the contention made in the foreword to the first volume : that there were doubtless many with a true appreciation and love for great churches who would be glad to know more of them, and have the ways — if not the means — smoothed in order to make a visit thereto the more simplified and agreeable. Too often — the preface con- tinued — the tourist, alone or personally con- ducted in droves, was whirled rapidly onward by express-train to some more popularly or fashionably famous spot, where, for a pre- viously stipulated sum, he might partake of a more lurid series of amusements than a mere dull round of churches. " Cities, like individuals, have," says Ar- thur Symons, " a personality and individuality quite like human beings." This is undoubtedly true of churches as well, and the sympathetic observer — the en- thusiastic lover of churches for their peculiar- ities, none the less than their general excellencies — is the only person who will derive the maximum amount of pleasure and profit from an intimacy therewith. Whether a great church is interesting be- i8 Introduction cause of its antiquity, its history, or its artistic beauties matters little to the enthusiast. He will drink his fill of what offers. Occasion- ally, he will find a combination of two — or possibly all — of these ingredients ; when his joy will be great. Herein are catalogued as many of the attri- butes of the cathedrals of the south of France — and the records of religious or civil life which have surrounded them in the past — as space and opportunity for observation have permitted. More the most sanguine and capable of authors could not promise, and while in no sense does the volume presume to supply ex- haustive information, it is claimed that all of the churches included within the classification of cathedrals — those of the present and those of a past day — are to be found mentioned herein, the chief facts of their history re- corded, and their notable features catalogued. 19 PART I Southern France in General THE CHARM OF SOUTHERN FRANCE The charm of southern France is such as to compel most writers thereon to become dis- cursive. It could not well be otherwise. Many things go to make up pictures of travel, which the most polished writer could not ig- nore unless he confined himself to narrative pure and simple; as did Sterne. One who seeks knowledge of the architec- ture of southern France should perforce know something of the life of town and country in addition to a specific knowledge of, or an immeasurable enthusiasm for, the subject. Few have given Robert Louis Stevenson any great preeminence as a writer of topo- graphical description; perhaps not all have admitted his ability as an unassailable critic; but the fact is, there is no writer to whom the lover of France can turn with more pleasure and profit than Stevenson. There is a wealth of description of the coun- 23 The Cathedrals of Southern France try-side of France in the account of his ro- mantic travels on donkey-back, or, as he whim- sically puts it, " beside a donkey," and his venturesome though not dangerous " Inland Voyage." These early volumes of Stevenson, while doubtless well known to lovers of his works, are closed books to most casual travel- lers. The author and artist of this book here humbly acknowledge an indebtedness which might not otherwise be possible to repay. Stevenson was devout, he wrote sympa- thetically of churches, of cathedrals, of monas- teries, and of religion. What his predilections were as to creed is not so certain. Sterne was more worldly, but he wrote equally attractive prose concerning many things which English- speaking people have come to know more of since his time. Arthur Young, " an agricul- turist," as he has been rather contemptuously called, a century or more ago wrote of rural France after a manner, and with a profuse- ness, which few have since equalled. His creed, likewise, appears to be unknown; in that, seldom, if ever, did he mention churches, and not at any time did he discuss religion. In a later day Miss M. E. B. Edwards, an English lady who knows France as few of her countrywomen do, wrote of many things more 24 The Cathedrals of Southern France or less allied with religion, which the ordinary " travel books " ignored — much to their loss — altogether. Still more recently another English lady, Madam Marie Duclaux, — though her name would not appear to indicate her nationality, — has written a most charming series of ob- servations on her adopted land; wherein the peasant, his religion, and his aims in life are dealt with more understandingly than were perhaps possible, had the author not been pos- sessed of a long residence among them. Henry James, of all latter-day writers, has given us perhaps the most illuminating ac- counts of the architectural joy of great churches, chateaux and cathedrals. Cer- tainly his work is marvellously appreciative, and his " Little Tour in France," with the two books of Stevenson before mentioned, Sterne's "Sentimental Journey," — and Mr. Tristram Shandy, too, if the reader likes, — form a quintette of voices which will tell more of the glories of France and her peoples than any other five books in the English language. When considering the literature of place, one must not overlook the fair land of Pro- vence or the " Midi of France " — that little- known land lying immediately to the west- 25 The Cathedrals of Southern France ward of Marseilles, which is seldom or never even tasted by the hungry tourist. To know what he would of these two de- lightful regions one should read Thomas Jan- vier, Felix Gras, and Merimee. He will then have far more of an insight into the places and the peoples than if he perused whole shelves of histories, geographies, or technical works on archaeology and fossil remains. If he can supplement all this with travel, or, better yet, take them hand-in-hand, he will be all the more fortunate. At all events here is a vast subject for the sated traveller to grasp, and en passant he will absorb not a little of the spirit of other days and of past history, and something of the attitude of reverence for church architecture which is apparently born in every French- man, — at least to a far greater degree than in any other nationality, — whatever may be his present-day attitude of mind toward the subject of religion in the abstract. France, be it remembered, is not to-day as it was a century and a half ago, when it was the fashion of English writers to condemn and revile it as a nation of degraded serfs, a degenerate aristocracy, a corrupt clergy, or as an enfeebled monarchy. 26 The Cathedrals of Southern France Since then there has arisen a Napoleon, who, whatever his faulty morals may have been, undoubtedly welded into a united whole those widely divergent tendencies and senti- ments of the past, which otherwise would not have survived. This was prophetic and far- seeing, no matter what the average historian may say to the contrary; and it has in no small way worked itself toward an ideal success- fully, if not always by the most practical and direct path. One thing is certain, the lover of churches will make the round of the southern cathe- drals under considerably more novel and en- trancing conditions than in those cities of the north or mid-France. Many of the places which shelter a great cathedral church in the south are of little rank as centres of popula- tion; as, for instance, at Mende in Lozere, where one suddenly finds oneself set down in the midst of a green basin surrounded by mountains on all sides, with little to distract his attention from its remarkably picturesque cathedral; or at Albi, where a Sunday-like stillness always seems to reign, and its for- tress-church, which seems to regulate the very life of the town, stands, as it has since its foundation, a majestic guardian of well-being. 27 The Cathedrals of Southern France There is but one uncomfortable feature to guard against, and that is the mistral, a wind which blows down the Rhone valley at certain seasons of the year, and, in the words of the habitant, "blows all before it." It is not really as bad as this, but its breath is uncom- fortably cold, and it does require a firm pur- pose to stand against its blast. Then, too, f^om October until March, south of Lyons, the flights, which draw in so early at this season of the year, are contrastingly and uncomfortably cold, as compared with the days, which seem always to be blessed with bright and sunshiny weather. It may be argued that this is not the sea- son which appeals to most people as being suitable for travelling. But why not? Cer- tainly it is the fashion to travel toward the Mediterranean during the winter months, and the attractions, not omitting the allurements of dress clothes, gambling-houses, and hah masques are surely not more appealing than the chain of cities which extend from Cham- bery and Grenoble in the Alps, through Orange, Nimes, Aries, Perpignan, Carcas- sonne, and the slopes of the Pyrenees, to Bayonne. In the departments of Lozere, Puy de 28 The Cathedrals of Southern France Dome, Gard and Auvergne and Dordogne, the true, unspoiled Gallic flavour abides in all its intensity. As Touraine, or at least Tours, claims to speak the purest French tongue, so this region of streams and mountains, of vol- canic remains, of Protestantism, and of an — as yet — unspoiled old-worldliness, possesses more than any other somewhat of the old-time so- cial, independence and disregard of latter-day innovations. Particularly is this so — though perhaps it has been remarked before — in that territory which lies between Clermont-Ferrand and Valence in one direction, and Vienne and Rodez in another, to extend its confines to extreme limits. Here life goes on gaily and in animated fashion, in a hundred dignified and pictur- esque old towns, and the wise traveller will go a-hunting after those which the guide- books complain of — not without a sneer — as being dull and desultory. French, and for that matter the new regime of English, his- torical novelists are too obstinately bent on the study of Paris, " At all events," says Ed- mund Gosse, " since the days of Balzac and George Sand, and have neglected the pro- vincial boroughs." 29 The Cathedrals of Southern France They should study mid-France on the spot ; and read Stevenson and Merimee while they are doing it. It will save them a deal of worrying out of things — with possibly wrong deductions — for themselves. The climatic conditions of France vary greatly. From the gray, wind-blown shores of Brittany, where for quite three months of the autumn one is in a perpetual drizzle, and the equally chilly and bare country of the Pas de Calais, and the more or less sodden French Flanders, to the brisk, sunny climate of the Loire valley, the Cevennes, Dauphine, and Savoie, is a wide range of contrast. Each is possessed of its own peculiar characteristics, which the habitant alone seems to understand in all its vagaries. At all events, there is no part of France which actually merits the opprobrious deprecations which are occasion- ally launched forth by the residents of the " garden spot of England," who see no topo- graphical beauties save in their own wealds and downs. France is distinctly a self-contained land. Its tillers of the soil, be they mere agricul- turists or workers in the vineyards, are of a race as devoted and capable at their avoca- tions as any alive. 30 The Cathedrals of Southern France They do not, to be sure, eat meat three times a day — and often not once a week — but they thrive and gain strength on what many an English-speaking labourer would consider but a mere snack. Again, the French peasant is not, like the English labourer, perpetually reminded, by the independence of the wealth surrounding him, of his own privations and dependence. On the contrary, he enjoys contentment with a consciousness that no human intervention embitters his condition, and that its limits are only fixed by the bounds of nature, and some- what by his own industry. Thus it is easy to inculcate in such a people somewhat more of that spirit of " V amour de la patrie," or love of the land, which in England, at the present time, appears to be growing beautifully less. So, too, with love and honour for their famous citizens, the French are enthusiastic, beyond any other peoples, for their monu- ments, their institutions, and above all for their own province and department. With regard to their architectural monu- ments, still more are they proud and well- informed, even the labouring classes. Sel- dom, if ever, has the writer made an inquiry 31 The Cathedrals of Southern France but what it was answered with interest, if not with a superlative intelligence, and the Frenchman of the lower classes — be he a labourer of the towns or cities, or a peasant of the country-side — is a remarkably oblig- ing person. In what may strictly be called the south of France, that region bordering along the Med- iterranean, Provence, and the southerly por- tion of Languedoc, one is manifestly envi- roned with a mellowness and brilliance of sky and atmosphere only to be noted in a sub- tropical land, a feature which finds further expression in most of the attributes of local life. The climate and topographical features take on a contrastingly different aspect, as does the church architecture and the mode of life of the inhabitants here in the southland. Here is the true romance country of all the world. Here the Provengal tongue and its literature have preserved that which is fast fleeting from us in these days when a nation's greatest struggle is for commercial or political supremacy. It was different in the days of Petrarch and of Rabelais. But there are reminders of this glorious past yet to be seen, more tangible than a memory 32 The Cathedrals of Southern France alone, and more satisfying than mere written history. At Orange, Nimes, and Aries are Roman remains of theatres, arenas, and temples, often perfectly preserved, and as magnificent as in Rome itself. At Avignon is a splendid papal palace, to which the Holy See was transferred by Clem- ent V. at the time of the Italian partition, in the early fourteenth century, while Laura's tomb, or the site of it, is also close at hand. At Clermont-Ferrand, in Auvergne, Pope Urban, whose monument is on the spot, urged and instigated the Crusades. The Christian activities of this land were as strenuous as any, and their remains are even more numerous and interesting. South- ern Gaul, however, became modernized but slowly, and the influences of the Christian spirit were not perhaps as rapid as in the north, where Roman sway was more speedily annulled. Still, not even in the churches of Lombardy or Tuscany are there more strong evidences of the inception and growth of this great power, which sought at one time to rule the world, and may yet. n II THE CHURCH IN GAUL Guizot's notable dictum, " If you are fond of romance and history," may well be para- phrased in this wise : " If you are fond of history, read the life histories of great churches." Leaving dogmatic theory aside, much, if not quite all, of the life of the times in France — up to the end of the sixteenth century — centred more or less upon the Church, using the word in its fullest sense. Aside from its religious significance, the influence of the Church, as is well known and recognized by all, was variously political, social, and per- haps economic. So crowded and varied were the events of Church history in Gaul, it would be impos- sible to include even the most important of them in a brief chronological arrangement which should form a part of a book such as this. 34 The Cathedrals of Southern France It is imperative, however, that such as are mentioned should be brought together in some consecutive manner in a way that should in- dicate the mighty ebb and flow of religious events of Church and State. These passed rapidly and consecutively throughout Southern Gaul, which became a part of the kingdom of the French but slowly. Many bishoprics have been suppressed or merged into others, and again united with these sees from which they had been sepa- rated. Whatever may be the influences of the Church, monastic establishments, or more particularly, the bishops and their clergy, to- day, there is no question but that from the evangelization of Gaul to the end of the nine- teenth century, the parts played by them were factors as great as any other in coagulating and welding together the kingdom of France. The very large number of bishops which France has had approximates eight thousand eminent and virtuous names; and it is to the memory of their works in a practical way, none the less than their devotion to preaching the Word itself, that the large number of magnificent ecclesiastical monuments have been left as their heritage. There is a large share of veneration and 35 The Cathedrals of Southern France respect due these pioneers of Christianity; far more, perhaps, than obtains for those of any other land. Here their activities were so very great, their woes and troubles so very oppressive, and their final achievement so splendid, that the record is one which stands alone. It is a glorious fact — in spite of certain lapses and influx of fanaticism — that France has ever recognized the sterling worth to the nation of the devotion and wise counsel of her churchmen; from the indefatigable apostles of Gaul to her cardinals, wise and powerful in councils of state. The evangelization of Gaul was not an easy or a speedy process. On the authority of Abbe Morin of Moulins, who, in ha France Pontificale, has undertaken to " chronologize all the bishops and archbishops of France from the first century to our day," Christian- ity came first to Aix and Marseilles with Lazare de Bethanie in 35 or 36 A. D. ; fol- lowed shortly after by Lin de Besangon, Clement de Metz, Demetre de Gap, and Ruf d' Avignon. Toward the end of the reign of Claudian, and the commencement of that of Nero (54 - 55 A. D.), there arrived in Gaul the seven 36 The Cathedrals of Southern France Apostle-bishops, the founders of the Church at Aries (St. Trophime), Narbonne (St. Paul), Limoges (St. Martial), Clermont (St. Austremoine), Tours (St. Gatien), Toulouse (St. Saturnin), and Treves (St. Valere). It was some years later that Paris received within its walls St. Denis, its first Apostle of Christianity, its first bishop, and its first martyr. Others as famous were Taurin d'Evreux, Lucien de Beauvais, Eutrope de Saintes, Aventin de Chartres, Nicaise de Rouen, Sixte de Reims, Savinien de Sens, and St. Crescent — the disciple of St. Paul — of Vienne. From these early labours, through the three centuries following, and down through fifteen hundred years, have passed many traditions of these early fathers which are well-nigh leg- endary and fabulous. The Abbe Morin says further: "We have not, it is true, an entirely complete chronol- ogy of the bishops who governed the Church in Gaul, but the names of the great and noble army of bishops and clergy, who for eighteen hundred years have succeeded closely one upon another, are assuredly the most beautiful jewels in the crown of France. Their virtues were many and great, — eloquence, love of 37 The Cathedrals of Southern France la patrie, indomitable courage in time of trial, mastery of difficult situation, prudence, energy, patience, and charity." All these grand virtues were practised incessantly, with some regrettable eclipses, attributable not only to misfortune, but occasionally to fault. A churchman even is but human. With the accession of the third dynasty of king's, — the Capetians, in 987, — the history of the French really began, and that of the Franks, with their Germanic tendencies and elements, became absorbed by those of the Romanic language and character, with the attendant habits and customs. Only the Aquitanians, south of the Loire, and the Burgundians on the Rhone, still pre- served their distinct nationalities. The feudal ties which bound Aquitaine to France were indeed so slight that, when Hugh Capet, in 990, asked of Count Adelbert of Perigueux, before the walls of the besieged city of Tours : " Who made thee count? " he was met with the prompt and significant re- joinder, " Who made thee king? " At the close of the tenth century, France was ruled by close upon sixty princes, virtually independent, and yet a still greater number of prelates, — as powerful as any feudal lord, — 38 The Cathedrals of Southern France who considered Hugh Capet of Paris only as one who was first among his peers. Yet he was able to extend his territory to such a degree that his hereditary dynasty ultimately assured the unification of the French nation. Less than a century later Duke William of Normandy conquered England (1066) ; when began that protracted struggle between France and England which lasted for three hundred years. Immediately after the return of the pious Louis VIL from his disastrous crusade, his queen, Eleanor, the heiress of Poitou and Guienne, married the young count Henry Plantagenet of Maine and Anjou; who, when he came to the English throne in 1153, " in- herited and acquired by marriage " — as his- torians subtly put it — " the better half of all France." Until 1322 the Church in France was di- vided into the following dioceses: Provincia Remensis (Reims) Provincia Rotomagensis (All Normandy) Provincia Turonensis (Touraine, Maine, Anjou, and Brittany) Provincia Burdegalensis (Poitou, Saintonge, Angumois Perigord, and Bordelais) Provincia Auxitana (In Gascoigne) 39 The Cathedrals of Southern France Provincia Bituricensis (Berri, Bourbonnais, Limosin, and Auvergne) Provincia Senonensis (Sens) Provincia Lugdunensis (Bourgogne and Lyonnais) Provincia Viennensis (Vienne on the Rhone) Provincia Narbonensis (Septimania) Provincia Arelatensis (Aries) Provincia Aquensis (Aix-en-Provence) Provincia Ebredunensis (The Alpine Valleys) The stormy days of the reign of Charles V. (late fourteenth century) throughout France were no less stringent in Languedoc than else- where. Here the people rose against the asserted domination of the Duke of Anjou, who, " proud and greedy," was for both qualities abhorred by the Languedocians. He sought to restrain civic liberty with a permanent military force, and at Nimes lev- ied heavy taxes, which were promptly re- sented by rebellion. At Montpellier the people no less actively protested, and slew the chancellor and seneschal. By the end of the thirteenth century, social, political, and ecclesiastical changes had wrought a wonderful magic with the map of France. John Lackland {sans terre) had been compelled by Philippe-Auguste to re- 40 The Cathedrals of Southern France linquish his feudal possessions in France, with the exception of Guienne. At this time also the internal crusades against the Waldenses and Albigenses in southern France had pow- erfully extended the royal flag. Again, his- tory tells us that it was from the irripulse and after influences of the crusading armies to the East that France was welded, under Philippe- le-Bel, into a united whole. The shifting for- tunes of France under English rule were, however, such as to put little stop to the progress of church-building in the provinces; though it is to be feared that matters in that line, as most others of the time, went rather by favour than by right of sword. Territorial changes brought about, in due course, modified plans of the ecclesiastical control and government, which in the first years of the fourteenth century caused certain administrative regulations to be put into effect by Pope John XXII. (who lies buried beneath a gorgeous Gothic monument at Avignon) regarding the Church in the south- ern provinces. So well planned were these details that the Church remained practically under the same administrative laws until the Revolution. Albi was separated from Bourges (1317), 41 The Cathedrals of Southern France and raised to the rank of a metropolitan see; to which were added as suffragans Cahors, Rodez, and Mende, with the newly founded bishoprics of Castres and Vabres added. Toulouse was formed into an arch- bishopric in 1327; while St. Pons and Alet, as newly founded bishoprics, were given to the ancient see of Narbonne in indemnifica- tion for its having been robbed of Toulouse. The ancient diocese of Poitiers was divided into three, and that of Agen into two by the erection of suffragans at Maillezais, Lugon, Sarlat, and Condom. By a later papal bull, issued shortly after their establishment, these bishoprics appear to have been abolished, as no record shows that they entered into the general scheme of the revolutionary suppres- sion. On August 4, 1790, all chapters of cathe- dral churches, other than those of the metro- poles (the mother sees), their bishops, and in turn their respective cures, were sup- pressed. This ruling applied as well to all collegiate churches, secular bodies, and abbeys and priories generally. Many were, of course, reestablished at a subsequent time, or, at least, were permitted to resume their beneficent work. But it was 42 The Cathedrals of Southern France this general suppression, in the latter years of the eighteenth century, which led up to the general reapportioning of dioceses in that composition of Church and State thereafter known as the Concordat. Many causes deflected the growth of the Church from its natural progressive pathway. The Protestant fury went nearly to fanat- TTie Concordat (From Napoleon's Tomb) icism, as did the equally fervent attempts to suppress it. The " Temples of Reason " of the Terrorists were of short endurance, but they indicated an unrest that has only in a measure moderated, if one is to take later political events as an indication of anything more than a mere uncontrolled emotion. Whether a great future awaits Protestant- 43 The Cathedrals of Southern France ism in France, or not, the power of the Roman Church is undoubtedly waning, in attracting congregations, at least. Should a Wesley or a Whitfield arise, he might gain followers, as strong men do, and they would draw unto them others, until con- gregations might abound. But the faith could hardly become the avowed religion of or for the French people. It has, however, a great champion in the powerful newspaper, he Temps, which has done, and will do, much to popularize the movement. The Protestantism of Lot and Lot et Ga- ronne is considerable, and it is of very long standing. It is recorded, too, that as late as October, 1901, the Commune of Murat went over en masse to Protestantism because the Catholic bishop at Cahors desired his com- municants to rise from their beds at what they considered an inconveniently early hour, in order to hear mass. This movement in Languedoc was not wholly due to the tyranny of the Duke of Anjou ; it was caused in part by the confisca- tion or assumption of the papal authority by France. This caused not only an internal un- rest in Italy, but a turbulence which spread throughout all the western Mediterranean, 44 The Cathedrals of Southern France and even unto the Rhine and Flanders. The danger which threatened the establishment of the Church, by making the papacy a depend- ence of France, aroused the Italian prelates and people alike, and gave rise to the simul- taneous existence of both a French and an Italian Pope. Charles V. supported the French pontiff, as was but natural, thus fermenting ^ great schism; with its attendant controversies and horrors. French and Italian politics became for a time inexplicably mingled, and the kingdom of Naples came to be transferred to the house of Anjou. The Revolution, following close upon the Jansenist movement at Port Royal, and the bull of Pope Unigenitus, resulted in such riot and disregard for all established institutions, monarchial, political and religious, that the latter — quite as much as the others — suf- fered undue severity. The Church itself was at this time divided, and rascally intrigue, as well as betrayal, was the order of the day on all sides. Bishops were politicians, and priests were but the tools of their masters ; this to no small degree, if we are to accept the written records. 45 The Cathedrals of Southern France Talleyrand-Perigord, Bishop of Autun, was a member of the National Assembly, and often presided over the sittings of that none too deliberate body. In the innovations of the Revolution, the Church and the clergy took, for what was be- lieved to be the national good, their full and abiding share in the surrender of past priv- ileges. At Paris, at the instance of Mirabeau, they even acknowledged, in some measure, the principle of religious liberty, in its widest ap- plication. The appalling massacres of September 2, 1792, fell heavily upon the clergy throughout France; of whom one hundred and forty were murdered at the Cannes alone. The Archbishop of Aries on that eventful day gave utterance to the following devoted plea: " Give thanks to God, gentlemen, that He calls us to seal with our blood the faith we profess. Let us ask of Him the grace of final perseverance, which by our own merit we could not obtain." The Restoration found the Church in a miserable and impoverished condition. There 46 The Cathedrals of Southern France was already a long list of dioceses without bishops; of cardinals, prelates, and priests without charges, many of them in prison. Congregations innumerable had been sup- pressed and many sees had been abolished. The new dioceses, under the Concordat of 1801, one for each department only, were of vast size as compared with those which had existed more numerously before the Revolu- tion. In 1822 thirty new sees were added to the prelature. To-day there are sixty-seven bish- oprics and seventeen archbishoprics, not in- cluding the colonial suffragans, but including the diocese of Corsica, whose seat is at Ajaccio. Church and State are thus seen to have been, from the earliest times, indissolubly linked throughout French dominion. The king — while there was a king — was the eldest son of the Church, and, it is said, the Church in France remains to-day that part of the Roman communion which pos- sesses the greatest importance for the govern- ing body of that faith. This, in spite of the tendency toward what might be called, for the want of a more expressive word, irrelig- ion. This is a condition, or a state, which 47 The Cathedrals of Southern France is unquestionably making headway in the France of to-day — as well, presumably, as in other countries — of its own sheer weight of numbers. One by one, since the establishment of the Church in Gaul, all who placed any limits to their ecclesiastical allegiance have been turned out, and so turned into enemies, — the Protestants, the Jansenists, followers of the Bishop of Ypres, and the Constitutionalists. Reconciliation on either side is, and ever has been, apparently, an impossibility. Freedom of thought and action is undoubt- edly increasing its license, and the clergy in politics, while a thing to be desired by many, is, after all, a thing to be feared by the greater number, — for whom a popular government is made. Hence the curtailment of the power of the monks — the real secular propagandists — was perhaps a wise thing. We are not to- day living under the conditions which will permit of a new Richelieu to come upon the scene, and the recent act (1902) which sup- pressed so many monastic establishments, con- vents, and religious houses of all ranks, in- cluding the Alpine retreat of " La Grande Chartreuse," may be taken rather as a natural process of curtailment than a mere vindictive 48 The Cathedrals of Southern France desire on the part of the State to concern itself with " things that do not matter." On the other hand, it is hard to see just what imme- diate gain is to result to the nation. 49 Ill THE CHURCH ARCHITECTURE OF SOUTHERN FRANCE The best history of the Middle Ages is that suggested by their architectural remains. That is, if we want tangible or ocular demon- stration, which many of us do. Many of these remains are but indications of a grandeur that is past and a valour and a heroism that are gone; but with the Church alone are suggested the piety and devotion which still live, at least to a far greater degree than many other sentiments and emo- tions; which in their struggle to keep pace with progress have suffered, or become effete by the way. To the Church, then, or rather religion — if the word be preferred — we are chiefly in- debted for the preservation of these ancient records in stone. Ecclesiastical architecture led the way — 50 The Cathedrals of Southern France there is no disputing that, whatever opinions may otherwise be held by astute archaeologists, historians, and the antiquarians, whose food is anything and everything so long as it reeks of antiquity. The planning and building of a great church was no menial work. Chief digni- taries themselves frequently engaged in it: the Abbot Suger, the foremost architect of his time — prime minister and regent of the kingdom as he was — at St. Denis ; Arch- bishop Werner at Strasbourg; and William of Wykeham in England, to apportion such honours impartially. Gothic style appears to have turned its back on Italy, where, in Lombardy at all events, were made exceedingly early attempts in this style. This, perhaps, because of satisfying and enduring classical works which allowed no rivalry; a state of affairs to some extent equally true of the south of France. The route of expansion, therefore, was northward, along the Rhine, into the Isle of France, to Belgium, and finally into England. No more true or imaginative description of Gothic forms has been put into literature than those lines of Sir Walter Scott, which de- fine its characteristics thus: 51 The Cathedrals of Southern France "... Whose pillars with clustered shafts so trim, With base and capital flourished 'round, Seemed bundles of lances which garlands had bound. V In modern times, even in France, church- building neither aspired to, nor achieved, any great distinction. Since the Concordat what have we had? A few restorations, which in so far as they were carried out in the spirit of the original were excellent; a few added members, as the west front and spires of St. Ouen at Rouen; the towers and western portal at Clermont- Ferrand; and a few other works of like mag- nitude and worth. For the rest, where any- thing of bulk was undertaken, it was almost invariably a copy of a Renaissance model, and often a bad one at that; or a descent to some hybrid thing worse even than in their own line were the frank mediocrities of the era of the " Citizen-King," or the plush and horsehair horrors of the Second Empire. Most characteristic, and truly the most important of all, are the remains of the Gallo- Roman period. These are the most notable and forceful reminders of the relative prom- inence obtained by medieval pontiffs, prel- ates, and peoples. 52 The Cathedrals of Southern France These relations are further borne out by the frequent juxtaposition of ecclesiastical and civic institutions of the cities themselves, — fortifications, palaces, chateaux, cathe- drals, and churches, the former indicating no more a predominance of power than the latter. A consideration of one, without something more than mere mention of the other, is not possible, and incidentally — even for the church-lover — nothing can be more inter- esting than the great works of fortification — strong, frowning, and massive — as are yet to be seen at Beziers, Carcassonne, or Avignon. It was this latter city which sheltered within its outer walls that monumental reminder of the papal power which existed in this French capital of the " Church of Rome " — as it must still be called — in the fourteenth cen- tury. To the stranger within the gates the uncon- scious resemblance between a castellated and battlemented feudal stronghold and the many churches, — and even certain cathedrals, as at Albi, Beziers, or Agde, — which were not unlike in their outline, will present some con- fusion of ideas. Between a crenelated battlement or the The Cathedrals of Southern France machicolations of a city wall, as at Avignon ; or of a hotel de ville, as at Narbonne; or the same detail surmounting an episcopal resi- dence, as at Albi, which is a veritable donjon; or the Palais des Papes, is not a difference even of degree. It is the same thing in each case. In one instance, however, it may have been purely for defence, and in the other used as a decorative accessory; in the latter case it was no less useful when occasion required. This feature throughout the south of France is far more common than in the north, and is bound to be strongly remarked. Two great groups or divisions of architec- tural style are discernible throughout the south, even by the most casual of observers. One is the Provencal variety, which clings somewhat closely to the lower valley of the Rhone; and the other, the Aquitanian (with possibly the more restricted Auvergnian). These types possess in common the one dis- tinctive trait, in some form or other, of the round-arched vaulting of Roman tradition. It is hardly more than a reminiscence, how- ever, and while not in any way resembling the northern Gothic, at least in the Aquitanian species, hovers on the borderland between the sunny south and the more frigid north. 54 The Cathedrals of Southern France The Provengal type more nearly approxi- mates the older Roman, and, significantly, it has — with less interpolation of modern ideas — endured the longest. The Aquitanian style of the cathedrals at Perigueux and Angouleme, to specialize but two, is supposed to — and it does truly — bridge the gulf between the round-arched style which is not Roman and the more bril- liant and graceful type of Gothic. With this manner of construction goes, of course, a somewhat different interior arrange- ment than that seen in the north. A profound acquaintance with the subject will show that it bears a certain resemblance to the disposition of parts in an Eastern mosque, and to the earlier form of Christian church — the basilica. In this regard Fergusson makes the state- ment without reservation that the Eglise de Souillac more nearly resembles the Cairene type of Mohammedan mosque than it does a Christian church — of any era. A distinct feature of this type is the massive pointed arch, upon which so many have built their definition of Gothic. In truth, though, it differs somewhat from the northern Gothic arch, but is nevertheless very ancient. It is 55 The Cathedrals of Southern France used in early Christian churches, — at Acre and Jafifa, — and was adopted, too, by the architects of the Eastern Empire long before its introduction into Gaul. The history of its transportation might be made interesting, and surely instructive, were one able to follow its orbit with any definite assurance that one was not wandering from the path. This does not seem possible; most experts, real or otherwise, who have tried it seem to flounder and finally fall in the effort to trace its history in consecutive and logical, or even plausible, fashion. In illustration this is well shown by that wonderful and unique church of St. Front at Perigueux, where, in a design simple to severity, it shows its great unsimilarity to any- thing in other parts of France; if we except La Trinite at Anjou, with respect to its roof- ing and piers of nave. It has been compared in general plan and outline to St. Marc's at Venice, " but a St. Marc's stripped of its marbles and mosaics." In the Italian building its founders gath- ered their inspiration for many of its struc- tural details from the old Byzantine East. At this time the Venetians were pushing their commercial enterprises to all parts. North- 56 The Cathedrals of Southern France western France, and ultimately the British Isles, was the end sought. We know, too,, that a colony of Venetians had established itself as far northward as Limoges, and an- other at Perigueux, when, in 984, this edifice, which might justly be called Venetian in its plan, was begun. No such decoration or ornamentation was presumed as in its Adriatic prototype, but it had much beautiful carving in the capitals, of its pillars and yet other embellishments, such as pavements, monuments, and precious altars, which once, it is said, existed more numerously than now. Here, then, was the foundation of a new western style, differing in every respect from the Provencal or the Angevinian. Examples of the northern pointed or Gothic are, in a large way, found as far south as Bayonne in its cathedral; in the spires of the cathedral at Bordeaux; and less grandly, though elegantly, disposed in St. Nazaire in the old Cite de Carcassonne ; and farther north at Clermont-Ferrand, where its north- ern-pointed cathedral is in strong contrast to the neighbouring Notre Dame du Port, a re- markable type distinctly local in its plan and details. 57 The Cathedrals of Southern France From this point onward, it becomes not so much a question of defining and placing types, as of a chronological arrangement of fact with regard to the activities of the art of church- building. It is doubtless true that many of the works of the ninth and tenth centuries were but feeble imitations of the buildings of Charle- magne, but it is also true that the period was that which was bringing about the develop- ment of a more or less distinct style, and if the Romanesque churches of France were not wholly Roman in spirit they were at least not a debasement therefrom. Sir Walter Scott has also described the Romanesque manner of church-building most poetically, as witness the following quatrain: " Built ere the art was known By pointed aisle and shafted stalk The arcades of an alleyed walk To emulate in stone." However, little remains in church architec- ture of the pre-tenth century to compare with the grand theatres, arenas, monuments, arches, towers, and bridges which are still left to us. Hence comparison were futile. Furthermore, 58 The Cathedrals of Southern France there is this patent fact to be reckoned with, that the petty followers of the magnificent Charlemagne were not endowed with as lux- urious a taste, as large a share of riches, or so great a power; and naturally they fell be- fore the idea they would have emulated. As a whole France was at this period amid great consternation and bloodshed, and traces of advancing civilization were fast falling before wars and cruelties unspeakable. There came a period when the intellect, instead of pursuing its rise, was, in reality, degenerating into the darkness of superstition. The church architecture of this period — so hostile to the arts and general enlightenment — was undergoing a process even more fatal to its development than the terrors of war or devastation. It is a commonplace perhaps to repeat that it was the superstition aroused by the Apoca- lypse that the end of all things would come with the commencement of the eleventh cen- tury. It was this, however, that produced the stagnation in church-building which even the ardour of a few believing churchmen could not allay. The only great religious founda- tion of the time was the Abbey of Cluny in the early years of the tenth century. 59 The Cathedrals of Southern France When the eleventh century actually ar- rived, Christians again bestirred themselves, and the various cities and provinces vied with each other in their enthusiastic devotion to church-building, as if to make up for lost time. From this time onward the art of church- building gave rise to that higher skill and handicraft, the practice of architecture as an art, of which ecclesiastical art, as was but natural, rose to the greatest height. The next century was productive of but little change in style, and, though in the north the transition and the most primitive of Gothic were slowly creeping in, the well- defined transition did not come until well forward in the twelfth century, when, so soon after, the new style bloomed forth in all its perfected glory. The cathedrals of southern France are manifestly not as lively and vigorous as those at Reims, Amiens, or Rouen; none have the splendour and vast extent of old glass as at Chartres, and none of the smaller examples equal the symmetry and delicacy of those at Noyon or Senlis. Some there be, however, which for mag- nificence and impressiveness take rank with 60 The Cathedrals of Southern France the most notable of any land. This is true of those of Albi, Le Puy, Perigueux, and An- gouleme. Avignon, too, in the ensemble of its cathedral and the papal palace, forms an architectural grouping that is hardly rivalled by St. Peter's and the Vatican itself. In many of the cities of the south of France the memory of the past, with respect to their cathedrals, is overshadowed by that of their secular and civic monuments, the Roman arenas, theatres, and temples. At Nimes, Aries, Orange, and Vienne these far exceed in importance and beauty the religious estab- lishments. The monasteries, abbeys, and priories of the south of France are perhaps not more numerous, nor yet more grand, than else- where, but they bring one to-day into more intimate association with their past. The " Gallia - Monasticum " enumerates many score of these establishments as hav- ing been situated in these parts. Many have passed away, but many still exist. Among the first of their kind were those founded" by St. Hilaire at Poitiers and St. Martin at Tours. The great Burgundian pride was the Abbey of Cluny; much the largest and perhaps as grand as any erected 6i The Cathedrals of Southern France in any land. Its church covered over seventy thousand square feet of area, nearly equalling in size the cathedrals at Amiens and at Bourges, and larger than either those at Chartres, Paris, or Reims. This great church was begun in 1089, was dedicated in 1 131, and endured for more than seven centuries. To- day but a few small fragments remain, but note should be made of the influences which spread from this great monastic establishment throughout all Europe ; and were second only to those of Rome itself. The lovely cloistered remains of Provence, Auvergne, and Aquitaine, the comparatively modern Charterhouse — called reminiscently the Escurial of Dauphine — near Grenoble, the communistic church of St. Bertrand de Comminges, La Chaise Dieu, Clairvaux, and innumerable other abbeys and monasteries will recall to mind more forcibly than aught else what their power must once have been. Between the seventh and tenth centuries these institutions flourished and developed in all of the provinces which go to make up modern France. But the eleventh and twelfth centuries were the golden days of these insti- tutions. They rendered unto the land and the people immense service, and their monks 62 The Cathedrals of Southern France studied not only the arts and sciences, but worked with profound intelligence at all man- ner of utile labour. Their architecture ex- erted a considerable influence on this grow- ing art of the nation, and many of their grand churches were but the forerunners of cathe- drals yet to be. After the twelfth century, when the arts in France had reached the great- est heights yet attained, these religious estab- lishments were — to give them historical jus- tice — the greatest strength in the land. In most cases where the great cathedrals were not the works of bishops, who may at one time have been members of monastic com- munities themselves, they were the results of the efforts of laymen who were direct disci- ples of the architect monks. The most prolific monastic architect was undoubtedly St. Benigne of Dijon, the Italian monk whose work was spread not only throughout Brittany and Normandy, but even across the Channel to England. One is reminded in France that the nation's first art expression was made through church- building and decoration. This proves Rus- kin's somewhat involved dicta, that, " archi- tecture is the art which disposes and adorns the edifices raised by man ... a building The Cathedrals of Southern France raised to the honour of God has surely a use to which its architectural adornment fits it." From whatever remote period the visible history of France has sprung, it is surely from its architectural remains — of which religious edifices have endured the most abundantly — that its chronicles since Gallo-Roman times are built up. In the south of France, from the Gallic and Roman wars and invasions, we have a basis of tangibility, inasmuch as the remains are more numerous and definite than the mere pillars of stone and slabs of rock to be found in Bretagne, which apocryphally are sup- posed to indicate an earlier civilization. The menhirs and dolmens may mean much or lit- tle; the subject is too vague to follow here, but they are not found east of the Rhone, so the religion of fanaticism, of whatever species of fervour they may have resulted from, has left very little impress on France as a nation. After the rudest early monuments were erected in the south, became ruined, and fell, there followed gateways, arches, aqueducts, arenas, theatres, temples, and, finally, churches; and from these, however minute the stones, the later civilizing and Christian- izing history of this fair land is built up. 64 The Cathedrals of Southern France It is not possible to ignore these secular and worldly contemporaries of the great churches. It would be fatal to simulate blindness, and they could not otherwise be overlooked. After the church-building era was begun, the development of the various styles was rapid: Gothic came, bloomed, flourished, and withered away. Then came the Renais- sance, not all of it bad, but in the main entirely unsuitable as a type of Christian architecture. Charles VIII. is commonly supposed to have been the introducer of the Italian Re- naissance into France, but it was to Frangois I. — that great artistic monarch and glorifier of the style in its domestic forms at least — that its popularization was due, who shall not say far beyond its deserts? Only in the magnificent chateaux, variously classed as Feudal, Renaissance, and Bourbon, did it partake of details and plans which proved glorious in their application. All had dis- tinctly inconsistent details grafted upon them ; how could it have been otherwise with the various fortunes of their houses? There is little or nothing of Gothic in the chateau architecture of France to distinguish it from the more pronounced type which can hardly be expressed otherwise than as " the The Cathedrals of Southern France architecture of the French chateaux." No single word will express it, and no one type will cover them all, so far as defining their architectural style. The castle at Tarascon has a machicolated battlement; Coucy and Pierrefonds are towered and turreted as only a French chateau can be; the ruined and black-belted chateau of Angers is aught but a fortress ; and Blois is an indescribable mix- ture of style which varies from the magnifi- cent to the sordid. This last has ever been surrounded by a sentiment which is perhaps readily enough explained, but its architecture is of that decidedly mixed type which classes it as a mere hybrid thing, and in spite of the splendour of the additions by the houses of the Salamander and the Hedgehog, it is a species which is as indescribable (though more effective) in domestic architecture as is the Tudor of England. With the churches the sentiments aroused are somewhat different. The Romanesque, Provencal, Auvergnian, or Aquitanian, all bespeak the real expression of the life of the time, regardless of whether individual ex- amples fall below or rise above their con- temporaries elsewhere. The assertion is here confidently made, that 66 The Cathedrals of Southern France a great cathedral church is, next to being a symbol of the faith, more great as a monument to its age and environment than as the product of its individual builders; crystallizing in stone the regard with which the mission of the Church was held in the community. Church-building was never a fanaticism, though it was often an enthusiasm. There is no question but that church his- tory in general, and church architecture in particular, are becoming less and less the sole pursuit of the professional. One does not need to adopt a transcendent doctrine by merely taking an interest, or an intelligent survey, in the social and political aspects of the Church as an institution, nor is he becom- ing biassed or prejudiced by a true apprecia- tion of the symbolism and artistic attributes which have ever surrounded the art of church- building of the Roman Catholic Church. All will admit that the aesthetic aspect of the church edifice has always been the superla- tive art expression of its era, race, and locality. 67 PART II South of the Loire INTRODUCTORY The region immediately to the southward of the Loire valley is generally accounted the most fertile, abundant, and prosperous section of France. Certainly the food, drink, and shelter of all classes appear to be arranged on a more liberal scale than elsewhere; and this, be it understood, is a very good indication of the prosperity of a country. Touraine, with its luxurious sentiment of chateaux, counts, and bishops, is manifestly of the north, as also is the border province of Maine and Anjou, which marks the prog- ress and development of church-building from the manifest Romanesque types of the south to the arched vaults of the northern variety. Immediately to the southward — if one journeys but a few leagues — in Poitou, Saint- onge, and Angoumois, or in the east, in Berri, Marche, and Limousin, one comes upon a 71 The Cathedrals of Southern France very different sentiment indeed. There is an abundance- for all, but without the opulence of Burgundy or the splendour of Touraine. Of the three regions dealt with in this sec- tion, Poitou is the most prosperous, Auvergne the most picturesque, — though the Cevennes are stern and sterile, — and Limousin the least appealing. Limousin and, in some measure, Berri and Marche are purely pastoral; and, though greatly diversified as to topography, lack, in abundance, architectural monuments of the first rank. Poitou, in the west, borders upon the ocean and is to a great extent wild, rugged, and romantic. The forest region of the Bocage has ever been a theme for poets and painters. In the extreme west of the province is the Vendee, now the department of the same name. The struggles of its inhabitants on behalf of the monarchical cause, in the early years of the Revolution, is a lurid page of blood-red history that recalls one of the most gallant struggles in the life of the mon- archy. The people here were hardy and vigorous, — a race of landlords who lived largely upon their own estates but still retained an attach- 72 The Cathedrals of Southern France ment for the feudatories round about, a feel- ing which was unknown elsewhere in France. Poitiers, on the river Clain, a tributary of the Vienne, is the chief city of Poitou. Its eight magnificent churches are greater, in the number and extent of their charms, than any similar octette elsewhere. The valley of the Charente waters a con- siderable region to the southward of Poitiers. " Le bon Roi" Henri IV. called the stream the most charming in all his kingdom. The chief cities on its banks are La Rochelle, the Huguenot stronghold; Rochefort, famed in worldly fashion for its cheeses; and An- gouleme, famed for its " Duchesse" who was also worldly, and more particularly for its great domed cathedral of St. Pierre. With Auvergne one comes upon a topo- graphical aspect quite different from anything seen elsewhere. Most things of this world are but compara- tive, and so with Auvergne. It is picturesque, certainly. Le Puy has indeed been called " by one who knows," " the most picturesque place in the world." Clermont-Ferrand is almost equally attractive as to situation ; while Puy de Dome, Riom, and St. Nectaire form a trio of naturally picturesque topographical 73 The Cathedrals of Southern France features which it would be hard to equal within so small a radius elsewhere. The country round about is volcanic, and the face of the landscape shows it plainly. Clermont-Ferrand, the capital, was a popu- lous city in Roman times, and was the centre from which the spirit of the Church survived and went forth anew after five consecutive centuries of devastation and bloodshed of Vandals, Visigoths, Franks, Saracens, Car- lovingians and Capetians. Puy de Dome, near Clermont-Ferrand, is a massive rocky mount which rises nearly five thousand feet above the sea-level, and presents one of those uncommon and curious sights which one can hardly realize until he comes immediately beneath their spell. Throughout this region are many broken volcanic craters and lava streams. At Mont Dore-le-Bains are a few remains of a Roman thermal establishment; an indication that these early settlers found — if they did not seek — these warm springs of a unique qual- ity, famous yet throughout the world. An alleged " Druid's altar," more probably merely a dolmen, is situated near St. Nec- taire, a small watering-place which is also 74 The Cathedrals of Southern France possessed of an impressively simple, though massive, Romanesque church. At Issiore is the Eglise de St. Pol, a large and important church, built in the eleventh century, in the Romanesque manner. An- other most interesting great church is La Chaise Dieu near Le Puy, a remarkable con- struction of the fourteenth century. It was originally the monastery of the Casa Dei. It has been popularly supposed heretofore that its floor was on a level with the summit of Puy de Dome, hence its appropriate nomenclature ; latterly the assertion has been refuted, as it may be by any one who takes the trouble, to compare the respective elevations in figures. This imposing church ranks, however, unre- servedly among the greatest of the mediaeval monastic establishments of France. The powerful feudal system of the Middle Ages, which extended from the Atlantic and German Oceans nearly to the Neapolitan and Spanish borders — afterward carried still far- ther into Naples and Britain — finds its most important and striking monument of central France in the Chateau of Polignac, only a few miles from Le Puy. This to-day is but a ruin, but it rises boldly from a depressed valley, and suggests in every way — ruin 75 ' The Cathedrals of Southern France though it be — the mediaeval stronghold that it once was. Originally it was the seat of the distin- guished family whose name it bears. The Revolution practically destroyed it, but such as is left shows completely the great extent of its functions both as a fortress and a palace. These elements were made necessary by long ages of warfare and discord, — local in many cases, but none the less bloodthirsty for that, — and while such institutions naturally promulgated the growth of Feudalism which left these massive and generous memorials, it is hard to see, even to-day, how else the end might have been obtained. Auvergne, according to Fergusson, who in his fact has seldom been found wanting, " has one of the most beautiful and numerous of the ' round-Gothic ' styles in France . . . classed among the perfected styles of Europe." Immediately to the southward of Le Puy is that marvellous country known as the Ce- vennes. It has been commonly called sterile, bare, unproductive, and much that is less charitable as criticism. It is not very productive, to be sure, but a native of the land once delivered himself of this remark: "he murier a ete pendant long- 76 The Cathedrals of Southern France temps I'arbre d'or du Cevenol." This is prima-facie evidence that the first statement was a libel. In the latter years of the eighteenth century the Protestants of the Cevennes were a large and powerful body of dissenters. A curious work in English, written by a native of Languedoc in 1703, states " that they were at least ten to one Papist. And 'twas observed, in many Places, the Priest said mass only for his Clerk, Himself, and the Walls." These people were not only valiant but in- dustrious, and at that time held the most con- siderable trade in wool of all France. To quote again this eighteenth-century Languedocian, who aspired to be a writer of English, we learn: " God vouchsafed to Illuminate this People with the Truths of the Gospel, several Ages before the Reformation. . . . The Waldenses and Albigenses fled into the Mountains to es- cape the violence of the Crusades against them. . . . Cruel persecution did not so wholly extinguish the Sacred Light in the Cevennes, but that some parts of it were pre- served among its Ashes." As early as 1683 the Protestants in many parts of southern France drew up a Project 77 The Cathedrals of Southern France of non-compliance with the Edicts and Decr larations against them. The inhabitants in general, however, of the wealthy cities of • Montpellier, Nimes and Uzes were divided much as factions are to- day, and the Papist preference prevailing, the scheme was not put into execution. Because of this, attempted resistance was made only in some parts of the Cevennes and Dauphine. Here the dissenters met with comfort and assurance by the preachings of several min- isters, and finally sought to go out proselytiz- ing among their outside brethren in affliction. This brought martyrdom, oppression, and bloodshed; and finally culminated in a long series of massacres. Children in large num- bers were taken from their parents, and put under the Romish faith, as a precaution, pre- sumably, that future generations should be more tractable and faithful. It is told of the Bishop of Alais that upon visiting the cure at Vigan, he desired that forty children should be so put away, forth- with. The cure could find but sixteen who were not dutiful toward the Church, but the bishop would have none of it. Forty was his quota from that village, and forty must be found'. Forty were found, the rest being 78 The Cathedrals of Southern France made up from those who presumably stood in no great need of the care of the Church, beyond such as already came into their daily lives. It seems outrageous and unfair at this late day, leaving all question of Church and creed outside the pale, but most machination of arbi- trary law and ruling works the same way, and pity 'tis that the Church should not have been the first to recognize this tendency. How- ever, these predilections on the part of the people are scarcely more than a memory to- day, in spite of the fact that Protestantism still holds forth in many parts. Taine was undoubtedly right when he said that it was improbable that such a religion would ever satisfy the French temperament. Limousin partakes of many of the char- acteristics of Auvergne and Poitou. Its archi- tectural types favour the latter, and its topo- graphical features the former. The resem- blance is not so very great in either case, but it is to be remarked. Its chief city, Limoges, lies to the northward of the Montagues du Limousin, on the banks of the Vienne, which, through the Loire, enters the Atlantic at St. Nazaire. In a way, its topographical situation, as 79 The Cathedrals of Southern France above noted, accounts far more for its tend- encies of life, the art expression of its churches, and its ancient enamels and pottery of to-day, than does its climatic situation. It is climatically of the southland, but its indus- try and its influences have been greatly north- ern. With the surrounding country this is not true, but with its one centre of population — Limoges — it is. 80 II l'abbaye de maillezais Maillezais is but a memory, so far as its people and power are concerned. It is not even a Vendean town, as many suppose, though it was the seat of a thirteenth-century bishopric, which in the time of Louis Qua- torze was transferred to La Rochelle. Its abbey church, the oldest portion of which dates from the tenth to the twelfth centuries, is now but a ruin. In the fourteenth century the establishment was greatly enlarged and extensive buildings added. To-day it is classed, by the Commission des Monuments Historiques, among those treas- ures for which it stands sponsor as to their antiquity, artistic worth, and future preserva- tion. Aside from this and the record of the fact that it became, in the fourteenth century, the seat of a bishop's throne, — with Geof- froy I. as its first occupant, — it must be dis- missed without further comment. 8i Ill ST. LOUIS DE LA ROCHELLE The city of La Rochelle will have more interest for the lover of history than for the lover of churches. Its past has been lurid, and the momentous question of the future rights of the Protestants of France made this natural stronghold the battle-ground w^here the most stubborn re- sistance against Church and State was made. The siege of 1573 was unsuccessful. But a little more than half a century later the city, after a siege of fourteen months, gave way before the powerful force brought against it 82 The Cathedrals of Southern France by Cardinal Richelieu in person, supported by Louis XIII. For this reason, if for no other, he who would know from personal acquaintance the ground upon which the mighty battles of the faith were fought will not pass the Huguenot city quickly by. The Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle naturally might not be supposed to possess a very magnificent Roman cathedral. As a mat- ter of fact it does not, and it has only ranked as a cathedral city since 1665, when the bish- opric was transferred from Maillezais. The city was in the hands of the Huguenots from 1557 until the siege of 1628 — 1629; and was, during all this time, the bulwark of the Prot- estant cause in France. The present cathedral of St. Louis dates only from 1735. Its pseudo-classic features classify it as one of those structures designated by the discern- ing Abbe Bourasse as being " cold-blooded and lacking in lustre." It surely is all of that, and the pity is that it offers no charm whatever of either shape or feature. It is of course more than likely that Huguenot influence was here so great as to 83 The Cathedrals of Southern France have strangled any ambition on the part of the mediaeval builders to have erected previously anything more imposing. And when that time was past came also the demise of Gothic splendour. The transition from the pointed to the superimposed classical details, which was the distinctive Renaissance manner of church-building, was not as sudden as many suppose, though it came into being simul- taneously throughout the land. There is no trace, however, in the cathedral of St. Louis, of anything but a base descent to features only too well recognized as hav- ing little of churchly mien about them; and truly this structure is no better or worse as an art object than many others of its class. The significant aspect being that, though it re- sembles Gothic not at all, neither does it bear any close relationship to the Romanesque. The former parish church of St. Bar- thelemy, long since destroyed, has left behind, as a memory of its former greatness, a single lone tower, the work of a Cluniac monk, Mognon by name. It is worth hours of con- templation and study as compared with the minutes which could profitably be devoted to the cathedral of St. Louis. 84 IV CATHEDRALE DE LUgON When the see of Lugon was established in the fourteenth century it comprehended a territory over which Poitiers had previously had jurisdiction. A powerful abbey was here in the seventh century, but the first bishop, Pierre de la Veyrie, did not come to the dio- cese until 13 17. The real fame of the diocese, in modern minds, lies in the fact that Cardinal Richelieu was made bishop of Lugon in the seventeenth century (1606 to 1624). The cathedral at Lugon is a remarkable structure in appearance. A hybrid conglom- 85 The Cathedrals of Southern France erate thing, picturesque enough to the un- trained eye, but ill-proportioned, weak, ef- feminate, and base. Its graceful Gothic spire, crocketed, and of true dwindling dimensions, is superimposed on a tower which looks as though it might have been modelled with a series of children's building-blocks. This in its turn crowns a classical portal and colonnade in most un- canny fashion. In the first stage of this tower, as it rises above the portal, is what, at a distance, ap- pears to be a diminutive rosace. In reality it is an enormous clock-face, to which one's attention is invariably directed by the native, a species of local admiration which is uni- versal throughout the known world wherever an ungainly clock exists. The workmanship of the building as a whole is of every century from the twelfth to the seventeenth, with a complete " restora- tion " in 1853. I"^ ^^ episcopal palace is a cloistered arcade, the remains of a fifteenth- century work. A rather pleasing situation sets oflf this pre- tentious but unworthy cathedral in a manner superior to that which it deserves. 86 ST. FRONT DE PERIGUEUX The grandest and most notable tenth-cen- tury church yet remaining in France is un- questionably that of St. Front at Perigueux. From the records of its history and a study of its distinctive constructive elements has been traced the development of the transition period which ultimately produced the Gothic splendours of the Isle of France. It is more than reminiscent of St. Marc's at Venice, and is the most notable exponent of that type of roofing which employed the cupola in groups, to sustain the thrust and counterthrust, which was afterward accom- 87 The Cathedrals of Southern France plished by the ogival arch in conjunction with the flying buttress. Here are comparatively slight sustaining walls, and accordingly no great roofed-over chambers such as we get in the later Gothic, but the whole mass is, in spite of this, sug- gestive of a massiveness which many more heavily walled churches do not possess. Para- doxically, too, a view over its roof-top, with its ranges of egg-like domes, suggests a frailty which but for its scientifically disposed strains would doubtless have collapsed ere now. This ancient abbatial church succeeded an earlier basilique on the same site. Viollet-le- Duc says of it: " It is an importation from a foreign country; the most remarkable ex- ample of church-building in Gaul since the barbaric invasion." The plan of the cathedral follows not only the form of St. Marc's, but also approximates its dimensions. The remains of the ancient basilica are only to be remarked in the por- tion which precedes the foremost cupola. St. Front has the unusual attribute of an avant-porch, — a sort of primitive narthen, as was a feature of tenth-century buildings (see plan and descriptions of a tenth-century church in appendix), behind which is a sec- 88 The Cathedrals of Southern France ond porch, — a vestibule beneath the tower, — and finally the first of the group of five central cupolas. The clocher or belfry of St. Front is ac- credited as being one of the most remarkable eleventh-century erections of its kind in any land. It is made up of square stages, each smaller than the other, and crowned finally by a conic cupola. Its early inception and erection here are supposed to account for the similarity of oth- ers — not so magnificent, but like to a marked degree — in the neighbouring provinces. Here is no trace of the piled-up tabouret style of later centuries, and it is far removed from the mosque-like minarets which were the undoubted prototypes of the mediaeval clochers. So, too, it is different, quite, from the Italian campanile or the beffroi which crept into civic architecture in the north ; but whose sole example in the south of France is be- lieved to be that curious structure which still holds forth in the papal city of Avignon. Says Bourasse: "The cathedral of St. Front at Perigueux is unique." Its founda- tion dates with certitude from between loio and 1047, and is therefore contemporary with that of St. Marc's at Venice — which it so 89 The Cathedrals of Southern France greatly resembles — which was rebuilt after a fire between 977 and 1071. The general effect of the interior is as im- pressive as it is unusual, with its lofty cupolas, its weighty and gross pillars, and its massive Detail of the Interior of St. Front de Pirigueux arches between the cupolas ; all of which are purely constructive elements. There are few really ornamental details, and such as exist are of a severe and unpro- gressive type, being merely reminiscent of the antique. 90 The Cathedrals of Southern France In its general plan, St. Front follows that of a Grecian cross, its twelve wall-faces crowned by continuous pediments. Eight massive pillars, whose functions are those of the later developed buttress, flank the extremi- ties of the cross, and are crowned by pyram- idal cupolas which, with the main roofing, combine to give that distinctive character to this unusual and " foreign " cathedral of mid- France. St. Front, from whom the cathedral takes its name, became the first bishop of Perigueux when the see was founded in the second cen- tury. 91 VI ST. PIERRE DE POITIERS In 13 17 the diocese of Poitiers was divided, and parts apportioned to the newly founded bishoprics of Maillezais and Lugon. The first bishop of Poitiers was St. Nectaire, in the third century. By virtue of the Concordat of 1 801 the diocese now comprehends the De- partments of Vienne and Deux-Sevres. The cathedral of St. Pierre de Poitiers has been baldly and tersely described as a " mere Lombard shell with a Gothic porch." This hardly does it justice, even as to preciseness. The easterly portion is Lombard, without question, and the nave is of the northern pointed variety; a not unusual admixture of feature, but one which can but suggest that still more, much more, is behind it. The pointed nave is of great beauty, and, in the westerly end, contains an elaborate ro- $ace — an infrequent attribute in these parts. The aisles are of great breadth, and are 92 The Cathedrals of Southern France quite as lofty in proportion. This produces an effect of great amplitude, nearly as much so as of the great hailed churches at Albi or the aisleless St. Andre at Bordeaux, and con- trasts forcibly in majesty with the usual Gothic conception of great height, as against extreme width. Of Poitiers Professor Freeman says : " It is no less a city of counts than Angers; and if Counts of Anjou grew into Kings of England, one Countess of Poitiers grew no less into a Queen of England; and when the young Henry took her to wife, he took all Poitou with her, and Aquitaine and Gascogne, too, so great was his desire for lands and power." Leaving that aspect apart — to the historians and apologists — it is the churches of Poitiers which have for the traveller the greatest and all-pervading interest. Poitiers is justly famed for its noble and numerous mediaeval church edifices. Five of them rank as a unique series of Romanesque types — the most precious in all France. In importance they are perhaps best ranked as follows : St. Hilaire, of the tenth and eleventh centuries; the Baptistere, or the Temple St. Jean, of the fourth to twelfth centuries ; Notre Dame die la Grande and St. Radegonde, of the 95 The Cathedrals of Southern France eleventh and twelfth centuries; and La Ca- thedrale, dating from the end of the Roman- esque period. Together they present a unique series of magnificent churches, as is truly claimed. When one crosses the Loire, he crosses the boundary not only into southern Gaul but into southern Europe as well ; where the very as- pects of life, as well as climatic and topograph- ical conditions and features, are far different from those of the northern French provinces. Looking backward from the Middle Ages — from the fourteenth century to the fourth — one finds the city less a city of counts than of bishops. Another aspect which places Poitiers at the very head of ecclesiastical foundations is that it sustained, and still sustains, a separate re- ligious edifice known as the Baptistere. It is here a structure of Christian-Roman times, and is a feature seldom seen north of the Alps, or even out of Italy. There is, however, an- other example at Le Puy and another at Aix- en-Provence. This Baptistere de St. Jean was founded diuring the reign of St. Hilaire as bishop of Poitiers, a prelate whose name still lives in the figlise St. Hilaire-le-Grand. The cathedral of St. Pierre is commonly 96 The Cathedrals of Southern France classed under the generic style of Roman- esque ; more particularly it is of, the Lombard variety, if such a distinction can be made be- tween the two species with surety. At all events it marks the dividing-line — or period, when the process of evolution becomes most marked — between the almost pagan plan of many early Christian churches and the com- ing of Gothic. In spite of its prominence and its beauty with regard to its accessories, St. Pierre de Poitiers does not immediately take rank as the most beautiful, nor yet the most interesting, among the churches of the city: neither has it the commanding situation of certain other cathedrals of the neighbouring provinces, such as Notre Dame at Le Puy, St. Maurice at Angers, or St. Front at Perigueux. In short, as to situation, it just misses what otherwise might have been a commanding location. St. Radegonde overhangs the river Clain, but is yet far below the cathedral, which stands upon the eastern fiank qf an eminence, and from many points is lost entirely to view. From certain distant vantage-ground, the com- position is, however, as complete and imposing an ensemble as might be desired, but decidedly 97 The Cathedrals of Southern France the nearer view is not so pleasing, and some- what mitigates the former estimate. There is a certain uncouthness in the out- lines of this church that does not bring it into competition w;ith that class of the great churches of France known as les grandes ca- thedrales. The general outline of the roof — omitting of course the scanty transepts — is very remi- niscent of Bourges ; and again of Albi. The ridge-pole is broken, however, by a slight dif- ferentiation of height between the choir and the nave, and the westerly towers scarcely rise above the roof itself. The easterly termination is decidedly un- usual, even unto peculiarity. It is not, after the English manner, of the squared east-end variety, nor yet does it possess an apse of con- ventional form, but rather is a combination of the two widely differing styles, with consid- erably more than a suggested apse when viewed from the interior, and merely a flat bare wall when seen from the outside. In addition three diminutive separate apses are attached thereto, and present in the completed arrangement a variation or species which is distinctly local. The present edifice dates from 1 162, its con- 98 The Cathedrals of Southern France struction being largely due to the Countess Eleanor, queen to the young Earl Henry. The high altar was dedicated in 1199, but the choir itself was not finished until a half- century later. There is no triforium or clerestory, and, but for the aisles, the cathedral would approx- imate the dimensions and interior outlines of that great chambered church at Albi; as it is, it comes well within the classification called by the Germans hallenkirche. Professor Freeman has said that a church that has aisles can hardly be called' a typical Angevin church; but St. Pierre de Poitiers is distinctly Angevin in spite of the loftiness of its walls and pillars. The west front is the most elaborate con- structive element and is an addition of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with flank- ing towers of the same period which stand well forward and to one side, as at Rouen, and at Wells, in England. The western doorway is decorated with sculptures of the fifteenth century, in a manner which somewhat suggests the work of the northern builders; who, says Fergusson, " were aiding the bishops of the southern 99 The Cathedrals of Southern France dioceses to emulate in some degree the am- bitious works of the Isle of France." The ground-plan of this cathedral is curi- ous, and shows, in its interior arrangements, a narrowing or drawing in of parts toward the east. This is caused mostly by the decreasing effect of height between the nave and choir, and the fact that the attenuated transepts are hardly more than suggestions — occupying but the width of one bay. The nave of eight bays and the aisles are of nearly equal height, which again tends to produce an efifect of length. There is painted glass of the thirteenth cen- tury in small quantity, and a much larger amount of an eighteenth-century product, which shows — as always — the decadence of the art. Of this glass, that of the rosace at the westerly end is perhaps the best, judging from the minute portions which can be seen peeping out from behind the organ-case. The present high altar is a modern work, as also — comparatively — are the tombs of vari- ous churchmen which are scattered through- out the nave and choir. In the sacristy, access to which is gained by some mystic rite not always made clear to the visitor, are supposed to be a series of painted portraits of all the lOO The Cathedrals of Southern France former bishops of Poitiers, from the four- teenth century onward. It must be an inter- esting collection if the outsider could but judge for himself; as things now are, it has to be taken on faith. A detail of distinct value, and a feature which shows a due regard for the abilities of the master workman who built the cathedral, though his name is unknown, is to be seen in the tympana of the canopies which overhang the stalls of the choir. Here is an acknowledg- ment — in a tangible if not a specific form — of the architectural genius who was responsi- ble for the construction of this church. It consists of a sculptured figure in stone, which bears in its arms a compass and a T square. This suggests the possible connection between the Masonic craft and church-building of the Middle Ages ; a subject which has ever been a vexed question among antiquaries, and one which doubtless ever will be. The episcopal residence adjoins the cathe- dral on the right, and the charming Baptis- tere St. Jean is also close to the walls of, but quite separate from, the main building of the cathedral. The other architectural attractions of Poi- lOI The Cathedrals of Southern France tiers are nearly as great as its array of churches. The Musee is exceedingly rich in archaeo- logical treasures. The present-day Palais de Justice was the former palace of the Counts of Poitou. It has a grand chamber in its Salle des Pas-perdus, which dates from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries as to its decorations. The ramparts of the city are exceedingly in- teresting and extensive. In the modern hotel de ville are a series of wall decorations by Puvis de Chavannes. The Hotel d'Aquitaine (sixteenth century), in the Grand Rue, was the former residence of the Priors of St. John of Jerusalem. The Chronique de Maillezais tells of a former bishop of Poitiers who, about the year 1 1 14, sought to excommunicate that gay prince and poet, William, the ninth Count of Poi- tiers, the earliest of that race of poets known as the troubadours. Coming into the count's presence to repeat the formula of excommuni- cation, he was threatened with the sword of that gay prince. Thinking better, however, the count admonished him thus : " No, I will not. I do not love you well enough to send you to paradise." He took upon himself, though, to exercise his royal prerogative ; and 102 The Cathedrals of Southern France henceforth, for his rash edict, the bishop of Poitiers was banished for ever, and the see descended unto other hands. The generally recognized reputation of William being that of a "grand trompeur des dames'' this action was but a duty which the honest prelate was bound to perform, dis- astrous though the consequences might be. Still he thought not of that, and was not will- ing to accept palliation for the count's venial sins in the shape of that nobleman's capacities as the first chanter of his time, — poetic meas- ures of doubtful morality. 103 VII ST. ETIENNE DE LIMOGES " Les Limosinats leave their cities poor, and they return poor, after long years of labour." — De la Bedolliere. Limoges was the capital around which cen- tred the life and activities of the pays du Limousin when that land marked the limits of the domain of the Kings of France. (Gui- enne then being under other domination.) The most ancient inhabitants of the province were known as Lemovices, but the transition and evolution of the vocable are easily fol- lowed to that borne by the present city of Limoges, perhaps best known of art lovers as the home of that school of fifteenth century artists who produced the beautiful works called Emaux de Limoges. The earliest specimens of what has come to be popularly known as Limoges enamel date from the twelfth century; and the last 104 So [*) The Cathedrals of Southern France of the great masters in the splendid art died in 1765. The real history of this truly great art, which may be said to have taken its highest forms in ecclesiology, — of which examples are frequently met with in the sacristies of the cathedral churches of France and elsewhere — is vague to the point of obscurity. A study of the subject, deep and profound, is the only process by which one can acquire even a nod- ding acquaintance with all its various aspects. It reached its greatest heights in the reign of that artistic monarch, Frangois I. To-day the memory and suggestion of the art of the enamelists of Limoges are perpetuated by, and, through those cursory mentors, the guide-books and popular histories, often con- founded with, the production of porcelain. This industry not only flourishes here, but the famous porcelain earth of the country round about is supplied even to the one-time royal factory of Sevres. St. Martial was the first prelate at Limoges, in the third century. The diocese is to-day a suffragan of Bourges, and its cathedral of St. Etienne, while not a very ancient structure, is most interesting as to its storied past and varied and lively composition. 107 The Cathedrals of Southern France . Beneath the western tower are the remains of a Romanesque portal which must have be- longed to an older church ; but to all intents and purposes St. Etienne is to-day a Gothic church after the true northern manner. It was begun in 1273 under the direct influ- ence of the impetus given to the Gothic devel- opment by the erection of Notre Dame d' Ami- ens, and in all its parts, — choir, transept, and nave, — its development and growth have been most pleasing. From the point of view of situation this cathedral is more attractively placed than many another which is located in a city which perforce must be ranked as a purely commer- cial and manufacturing town. From the Pont Neuf, which crosses the Vienne, the view over the gardens of the bishop's palace and the Quai de I'Eveche is indeed grand and impos- ing. Chronologically the parts of this imposing church run nearly the gamut of the Gothic note — from the choir of the thirteenth^ the transepts of the fourteenth and fifteenth, to the nave of the early sixteenth centuries. This nave has only latterly been completed, and is preceded by the elegant octagonal tower be- fore mentioned. This clocher is a thirteenth- 108 The Cathedrals of Southern France century work, and rises something over two hundred and four feet above the pavement. In the north transept is a grand rose win- dow after the true French mediaeval excel- lence and magnitude, showing once again the northern spirit under which the cathedral- builders of Limoges worked. In reality the fagade of this north transept might be called the true front of the cathedral. The design of its portal is elaborate and ele- gant. A series of carved figures in stone are set against the wall of the choir just beyond the transept. They depict the martyrdom of St. Etienne. The interior will first of all be remarked for its abundant and splendidly coloured glass. This glass is indeed of the quality which in a later day has often been lacking. It dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, except a part, readily discernible, which is of the nineteenth. The remains of a precious choir-screen are yet very beautiful. It has been removed from its original position and its stones arranged in much disorder. Still it is a manifestly satis- fying example of the art of the stone-carver of the Renaissance period. It dates from 1543. Bishop Langeac (d. 1541), who caused it to 109 The Cathedrals of Southern France be originally erected, is buried close by, be- neath a contemporary monument. Bishops Bernard Brun (d. 1349) and Raynaud de la Porte (d. 1325) have also Renaissance monu- ments which will be remarked for their excess of ornament and elaboration. In the crypt of the eleventh century, pre- sumably the remains of the Romanesque church whose portal is beneath the western tower, are some remarkable wall paintings thought to be of a contemporary era. If so, they must rank among the very earliest works of their class. The chief treasures of the cathedral are a series of enamels which are set into a reredos (the canon's altar in the sacristy). They are the work of the master, Noel Loudin, in the seventeenth century. In the Place de I'Hotel de Ville is a monu- mental fountain in bronze and porcelain, fur- ther enriched after the manner of the mediae- val enamel workers. The collection de ceramique in the Musee is unique in France, or for that matter in all the world. The ateliers de Limoges were first estab- lished in the thirteenth century by the monks of the Abbey of Solignac. no The Cathedrals of Southern France A remarkable example of the work of the emailleurs limousins is the twelfth-century reliquary of Thomas a Becket, one-time Arch- bishop of Canterbury. At the rear of the cathedral the Vienne is crossed by the thirteenth-century bridge of Reliquary of Thomas d Becket St. Etienne. Like the cathedrals, chateaux, and city walls, the old bridges of France, where they still remain, are masterworks of their kind. To connect them more closely with the cause of religion, it is significant that they mostly bore the name of, and were dedi- cated to, some local saint. Ill VIII ST. ODILON DE ST. FLOUR Though an ancient Christianizing centre, St. Flour is not possessed of a cathedral which gives it any great rank as a " cathedral town." The bishopric was founded in 131 8, by Raimond de Vehens, and the present cathe- dral of St. Odilon is on the site of an ancient basilica. It was begun in 1375, dedicated in 1496, and finished — so far as a great church ever comes to its completion — in 1556. Its exterior is strong and massive, but har- monious throughout. Its facade has three portals, flanked by two square towers, which are capped with modern couronnes. The interior shows five small naves; that is, the nave proper, with two aisles on either side. Beside the western doorway are somewhat scanty traces of mediaeval mural paintings depicting Purgatory, while above is the con- ventionally disposed organ buffet. 112 The Cathedrals of Southern France A fine painting of the late French school is in one of the side chapels, and represents an incident from the life of St. Vincent de Paul. In another chapel is a bas-relief in stone of " The Last Judgment," reproduced from that which is yet to be seen in the north portal of Notre Dame de Reims. In the chapel of St. Anthony of Padua is a painting of the " Holy Family," and in another — that of Ste. Anne — a remarkable work depicting the " Martyred St. Symphorien at Autun." In the lower ranges of the choir is some fine modern glass by Thevenot, while high above the second range is a venerated statue of Le Christ Noir. From this catalogue it will be inferred that the great attractions of the cathedral at St. Flour are mainly the artistic accessories with which it has been embellished. There are no remarkably beautiful or strik- ing constructive elements, though the plan is hardy and not unbeautiful. It ranks among cathedrals well down in the second class, but it is a highly interesting church nevertheless. A chapel in the nave gives entrance to the eighteenth-century episcopal palace, which is in no way notable except for its beautifully "3 The Cathedrals of Southern France laid-out gardens and terraces. The sacristy was built in 1382 of the remains of the ancient Chateau de St. Flour, called De Brezons, which was itself originally built in the year 1000. 114 IX ST. PIERRE DE SAINTES The chief architectural feature of this ancient town — the Mediolanum Santonum, chief town of the Santoni — is not its rather uninspiring cathedral (rebuilt in 1585), nor yet the church of St. Eutrope (1081 — 96) with its underground crypt — the largest in France. As a historical monument of rank far more interest centres around the Arc de Triomphe of Germanicus, which originally formed a part of the bridge which spans the Charente at this point. It was erected in the reign of Nero by Caius Julius Rufus, a priest of Roma and Augustus, in memory of Germanicus, Ti- berius, his uncle, and his father, Drusus. The bridge itself, or what was left of it, was razed in the nineteenth century, which is of course to be regretted. A monument which could have endured a matter of eighteen hun- dred years might well have been left alone to "5 The Cathedrals of Southern France takes its further chances with Father Time. Since then the bridge has been rebuilt on its former site, a procedure which makes the hiatus and the false position of the arch the more apparent. The cloister of the cathedral, in spite of the anachronism, is in the early Gothic manner, and the campanile is of the fifteenth century. Saintes became a bishopric, in the province of Bordeaux, in the third century. St. Eu- trope — whose name is perpetuated in a fine Romanesque church of the city — was the first bishop. The year 1793 saw the suppres- sion of the diocesan seat here, in favour of An- gouleme. In the main, the edifice is of a late date, in that it was entirely rebuilt in the latter years of the sixteenth century, after having suffered practical devastation in the religious wars of that time. The first mention of a cathedral church here is of a structure which took form in 11 17 — the progenitor of the present edifice. Such considerable repairs as were necessary were undertaken in the fifteenth century, but the church seen to-day is almost entirely of the century following. The most remarkable feature of note, in ii6 The Cathedrals of Southern France connection with this ci-devant cathedral, is unquestionably the luxurious flamboyant tower of the fifteenth century. This really fine tower is detached from the main structure and occupies the site of the church erected by Charlemagne in fulfilment of his vow to Pepin, his father, after defeating Gaiflfre, Due d'Aquitaine. In the interior two of the bays of the tran- septs — which will be readily noted — date from the twelfth century, while the nave is of the fifteenth, and the vaulting of nave and choir — hardy and strong in every detail — is, in part, as late as the mid-eighteenth cen- tury. The figlise de St. Eutrope, before men- tioned, is chiefly of the twelfth century, though its crypt, reputedly the largest in all France, is of a century earlier. Saintes is renowned to lovers of ceramics as being the birthplace of Bernard Pallisy, the inventor of the pottery glaze; and is the scene of many of his early experiments. A statue to his memory adorns the Place Bassompierre near the Arc de Triomphe, 117 X CATHEDRALE DE TULLE The charm of Tulle's cathedral is in its imposing and dominant character, rather than in any inherent grace or beauty which it pos- sesses. It is not a beautiful structure; it is not even picturesquely disposed; it is grim and gaunt, and consists merely of a nave in the severe Romanesque-Transition manner, surmounted by a later and non-contemporary tower and spire. In spite of this it looms large from every view-point in the town, and is so lively a com- ponent of the busy life which surrounds it that it is — in spite of its severity of outline — a very appealing church edifice in more senses than one. Its tall, finely-proportioned tower and spire, which indeed is the chief attribute of grace and symmetry, is of the fourteenth century, and, though plain and primitive in its outlines, ii8 GATHEDRALE de TULLE . . The Cathedrals of Southern France is far more pleasing than the crocketed and rococo details which in a later day were com- posed into something which was thought to be a spire. In the earliest days of its history, this rather bare and cold church was a Benedictine mon- astery whose primitive church dated as far back as the seventh century. There are yet rernains of a cloister which may have belonged to the early church of this monastic house, and as such is highly interesting, and withal pleasing. The bishopric was founded in 13 17 by Ar- naud de St. Astier. The Revolution caused much devastation here in the precincts of this cathedral, which was first stripped of its tresor, and finally of its dignity, when the see was abolished. 119 XI ST. PIERRE D'ANGOULEME Angouleme is often first called to mind by its famous or notorious Duchesse, whose fame is locally perpetuated by a not very suit- able column, erected in the Promenade Beau- lieu in 1815. There is certainly a wealth of romance to be conjured up from the recollec- tion of the famous Counts of Angouleme and their adherents, who made their residence in the ancient chateau which to-day forms in part the Hotel de Ville, and in part the prison. Here in this chateau was born Marguerite de Valois, the Marguerite of Marguerites, as Frangois I. called her; here took welcome shelter, Marie de Medici after her husband's assassination; and here, too, much more of which history tells. What most histories do not tell is that the cathedral of St. Pierre d' Angouleme, with the cathedral of St. Front at Perigueux and Notre Dame de Poitiers, ranks at the very head of 120 A ■=^j^ :™^ ^, " llU ,! IT. PIERRE . . . ► a'ANGOULEME The Cathedrals of Southern France that magnificent architectural style known as Aquitanian. St. Ansone was the first bishop of the diocese — in the third century. The see was then, as now, a suffragan of Bordeaux. Religious wars, here as throughout Aquitaine, were re- sponsible for a great unrest among the people, as well as the sacrilege and desecration of church property. The most marked spoliation was at the hands of the Protestant Coligny, the effects of whose sixteenth-century ravages are yet visi- ble in the cathedral. A monk — Michel Grillet — was hung to a mulberry-tree, — which stood where now is the Place du Murier (mulberry), — by Co- ligny, who was reviled thus in the angry dying words of the monk : " You shall be thrown out of the window like Jezebel, and shall be ignominiously dragged through the streets." This prophecy did not come true, but Coligny died an inglorious death in 1572, at the insti- gation of the Due de Guise. This cathedral ranks as one of the most curious in France, and, with its alien plan and details, has ever been the object of the pro- found admiration of all who have studied its varied aspects. 121 The Cathedrals of Southern France Mainly it is a twelfth-century edifice throughout, in spite of the extensive restora- tions of the nineteenth century, which have eradicated many crudities that might better have been alloweid to remain. It is ranked by the Ministere des Beaux Arts as a Monu- ment Historique. The west front, in spite of the depredations before, during, and after the Revolution, is notable for its rising tiers of round-headed arches seated firmly on proportionate though not gross columns, its statued niches, the rich bas-reliefs of the tympanum of its portal, the exquisite arabesques, of lintel, frieze, and archivolt, and, above all, its large central arch with its Vesica piscis, and the added decora- tions of emblems of the evangels and angels. In addition to all this, which forms a gallery of artistic details in itself, the general dis- position of parts is luxurious and remark- able. As a whole, St. Pierre is commonly credited as possessing the finest Lombard detail to be found in the north ; some say outside of Italy. Certainly it is prodigious in its splendour, whatever may be one's predilections for or against the expression of its art. The church follows in general plan the same 122 The Cathedrals of Southern France distinctive style. Its tower, too, is Lombard, likewise the rounded apside, and — though the church is of the elongated Latin or cruci- -form ground-plan — its possession of a great central dome (with three others above the nave — and withal aisleless) points certainly to the great domed churches of the Lombard plain for its ancestry. The western dome is of the eleventh cen- tury, the others of the twelfth. • Its primitive- ness has been more or less distorted by later additions, made necessary by devastation in the sixteenth century, but it ranks to-day, with St. Front at Perigueux, as the leading example of the style known as Aquitanian. Above the western portal is a great window, very tall and showing in its glass a " Last Judgment." A superb tower ends off the croisillon on the north and rises to the height of one hun- dred and ninety-seven feet. " Next to the west front and the domed roofing of the interior, this tower ranks as the third most curious and remarkable feature of this unusual church." This tower, in spite of its appealing properties, is curiously enough not the original to which the previous descriptive lines applied; but 123 The Cathedrals of Southern France their echo may be heard to-day with respect to the present tower, which is a reconstruction, of the same materials, and after the same man- ner, so far as possible, as the original. As the most notable and peculiar details of the interior, will be remarked the cupolas of the roof, and the lantern at the crossing, which is pierced by twelve windows. For sheer beauty, and its utile purpose as well, this great lanthorn is further noted as being most unusual in either the Romanesque or Gothic churches of France. The choir is apse-ended and is surrounded by four chapels of no great prominence or beauty. The south transept has a tour in embryo, which, had it been completed, would doubtless have been the twin of that which terminates the transept on the north. The foundations of the episcopal residence, which is immediately beside the cathedral (re- stored in the nineteenth century), are very an- cient. In its garden stands a colossal statue to Comte Jean, the father of Frangois I. Angouleme was the residence of the Black Prince after the battle of Poitiers, though no record remains as to where he may have 124 The Cathedrals of Southern France lodged. A house in the Rue de Geneve has been singled out in the past as being where John Calvin lived in 1533, but it is not recog- nizable to-day. 125 XII NOTRE DAME DE MOULINS " Les Bourbonnais sont aimables, mats vains, legers et facilement oublieux, avec rien d'excessif, rien d' exuberance dans leur nature." — Andr^; Rolland. Until he had travelled through Bourbon- nais, " the sweetest part of France — in the hey-day of the vintage," said Sterne, " I never felt the distress of plenty." This is an appropriate enough observation to have been promulgated by a latter-day traveller. Here the abundance which appar- ently pours forth for every one's benefit knows no diminution one season from another. One should not allow his pen to ramble to too great an extent in this vein, or he will soon say, with Sterne: "Just Heaven! it will fill up twenty volumes, — and alas, there are but a few small pages! " It suffices, then, to reiterate, that in this 126 The Cathedrals of Southern France plenteous land of mid-France there is, for all classes of man and beast, an abundance and excellence of the harvest of the soil which makes for a fondness to linger long within the confines of this region. Thus did the far-see- ing Bourbons, who, throughout the country which yet is called of them, set up many mag- nificent establishments and ensconced them- selves and their retainers among the comforts of this world to a far greater degree than many other ruling houses of mediaeval times. Per- haps none of the great names, among the long lists of lords, dukes, and kings, whose lands afterward came to make the solidarity of the all-embracing monarchy, could be accused of curtailing the wealth of power and goods which conquest or bloodshed could secure or save for them. The power of the Bourbons endured, like the English Tudors, but a century and a half beyond the period of its supremacy; whence, from its maturity onward, it rotted and was outrooted bodily. The literature of Moulins, for the English reading and speaking world, appears to be an inconsiderable quantity. Certain romances have been woven about the ducal chateau, and yet others concerning the all-powerful 127 The Cathedrals of Southern France Montmorencies, besides much history, which partakes generously of the components of literary expression. In the country round about — if the trav- eller has come by road, or for that matter by "train omnibus" — if he will but keep his eyes open, he will have no difficulty in rec- ognizing this picture : " A little farmhouse, surrounded with about twenty acres of vine- yard, and about as much corn — and close to the house, on one side, a potagerie of an acre and a half, full of everything which could make plenty in a French peasant's house — and on the other side a little wood, which fur- nished wherewithal to dress it." To continue, could one but see into that house, the picture would in no small degree differ from this : " A family consisting of an old, gray-headed man and his wife, with five or six sons and sons-in-law, and their several wives, and a joyous genealogy out of them . . . all sitting down together to their lentil soup; a large wheaten loaf in the middle of the table; and a flagon of wine at each end of it, and promised joy throughout the various stages of the repast." Where in any other than this land of plenty, for the peasant and prosperous alike, could 128 The Cathedrals of Southern France such a picture be drawn of the plenitude which surrounds the home life of a son of the soil and his nearest kin? Such an equipment of comfort and joy not only makes for a con- tinuous and placid contentment, but for char- acter and ambition ; in spite of all that harum- scarum Jeremiahs may proclaim out of their little knowledge and less sympathy with other affairs than their own. No individualism is proclaimed, but it is intimated, and the reader may apply the observation wherever he may think it belongs. Moulins is the capital of the Bourbonnais — the name given to the province and the people alike. The derivation of the word Bourbon is more legendary than historical, if one is to give any weight to the discovery of a tablet at Bourbonne-les-Bains, in 1830, which bore the following dedication: DEO, APOL LINI BORVONI ET DAMONAE C DAMINIUS FEROX CIVIS LINGONUS EX VOTO 129 The Cathedrals of Southern France Its later application to the land which shel- tered the race is elucidated by a French writer, thus: " Considering that the names of all the cities and towns known as des sources d'eaux thermales commence with either the prefix Bour or Bor, indicates a common origin of the word . . . from the name of the divinity which protects the waters." This is so plausible and picturesque a con- jecture that it would seem to be true. Archaeologists have singled out from among the most beautiful chapelles seigneuriales the one formerly contained in the ducal palace of the Bourbons at Moulins. This formed, of course, a part of that gaunt, time-worn fabric which faces the westerly end of the cathedral. Little there is to-day to suggest this splen- dour, and for such one has to look to those examples yet to be seen at Chambord or Che- nonceaux, or that of the Maison de Jacques Coeur at Bourges, with which, in its former state, this private chapel of the Bourbons was a contemporary. The other chief attraction of Moulins is the theatrical Mausolee de Henri de Montmo- rency, a seventeenth-century work which is 130 The Cathedrals of Southern France certainly gorgeous and splendid in its mag- nificence, if not in its aesthetic value as an art treasure. The fresh, modern-looking cathedral of Notre Dame de Moulins is a more ancient work than it really looks, though in its com- pleted form it dates only from the late nine- teenth century, when the indefatigable VioUet- le-Duc erected the fine twin towers and com- pleted the western front. The whole effect of this fresh-looking edi- fice is of a certain elegance, though in reality of no great luxuriousness. The portal is deep but unornamented, and the rose window above is of generous design, though not actually so great in size as at first appears. Taken tout ensemble this west front — of modern design and workmanship — is far more expressive of the excellent' and true proportions of the mediaeval workers than is usually the case. The spires are lofty (312 feet) and are de- cidedly the most beautiful feature of the en- tire design. The choir, the more ancient portion ( 1465 — 1507), expands into a more ample width than the nave and has a curiously squared-off ter- mination which would hardly be described 131 The Cathedrals of Southern France as an apside, though the effect is circular when viewed from within. The choir, too, rises to a greater height than the nave, and, though there is no very great discrepancy in style be- tween the easterly and westerly ends, the line of demarcation is readily placed. The square flanking chapels of the choir serve to give an ampleness to the ambulatory which is un- usual, and in the exteripr present again a most interesting arrangement and effect. The cathedral gives on the west on the Place du Chateau, with the bare, broken wall of the ducal chateau immediately en face, and the Gendarmerie, which occupies a most interestingly picturesque Renaissance build- ing, is immediately to the right. The interior arrangements of this brilliant cathedral church are quite as pleasing and true as the exterior. There is no poverty in design or decoration, and no overdeveloped luxuriance, except for the accidence of the Renaissance tendencies of its time. There is no flagrant offence committed, however, and the ambulatory of the choir and its queer overhanging gallery at the rear of the altar are the only unusual features from the conventional decorated Gothic plan; if we except the baldachino which covers the 132 The Cathedrals of Southern France altar-table, and which is actually hideous in its enormity. The bishop's throne, curiously enough, — though the custom is, it appears, very, very old, — is placed behind the high-altar. The triforium and clerestory of the choir have gracefully heightened arches supported by graceful pillars, which give an effect of exceeding lightness. In the nave the triforium is omitted, and the clerestory only overtops the pillars of nave and aisles. The transepts are not of great proportions, but are not in any way attenuated. Under the high-altar is a " Holy Sepul- chre " of the sixteenth century, which is pene- trated by an opening which gives on the ambu- latory of the choir. There is a bountiful display of coloured glass of the Renaissance period, and, in the sacristy, a triptych atributed to Ghirlandajo. There are no other artistic accessories of note, and the cathedral depends, in the main, for its satisfying qualities in its general com- pleteness and consistency. ^ZZ XIII NOTRE DAME DE LE PUY " Under the sun of the Midi I have seen the Pyrenees and the Alps, crowned in rose and silver, but I best love Auvergne and its bed of gorse." — Pierre de Nolhac. Le Puy has been called — by a discerning traveller — and rightly enough,, too, in the opinion of most persons — '' the most pictur- esque spot in the world." Whether every visitor thereto will endorse this unqualifiedly depends somewhat on his view-point, and still more on his ability to discriminate. Le Puy certainly possesses an unparalleled array of what may as well be called rare at- tractions. These are primarily the topograph- ical, architectural, and, first, last, and all tim^s, picturesque elements which only a blind man could fa,il to diagnose as something unique and not to be seen elsewhere. In the first category are the extraordinary 134 N OTRE DAME de LE PUT . The Cathedrals of Southern France pinnacles of volcanic rock with which the whole surrounding landscape is peopled; in the second, the city's grand architectural monuments, cathedrals, churches, monastery and the chateau of Polignac; while thirdly, the whole aspect is irritatingly picturesque to the lover of topographical charm and feature. Here the situation of the city itself, in a basin of surrounding peaks, its sky-piercing, tur- reted rocks, and the general effect produced by its architectural features all combine to present emotions which a large catalogue were necessary to define. Moreover, Le Puy is the gateway to a hith- erto almost unknown region to the English- speaking tourist. At least it would have been unknown but for the eulogy given it by the wandering Robert Louis Stevenson, who, in his "Travels with a Donkey," (not "On a Donkey," — mark the distinction), has made the Cevennes known, at least as a nodding ac- quaintance, to — well, a great many who would never have consciously realized that there was such a place. Le Puy is furthermore as yet unspoiled by the " conducted tourist," and lives the same life that it has for many generations. Electric trams have come, to be sure, and certain im- The Cathedrals of Southern France provements in the way of boulevards and squares have been laid out, but, in the main, the narrow, tortuous streets which ascend to its cathedral-crowned height are much as they always were; and the native pays little heed to the visitor, of which class not many ever come to the city — perhaps for the reason that Le Puy is not so very accessible by rail. Both by the line which descends the Rhone valley and its parallel line from Paris to Nimes, one has to branch off, and is bound to lose from three to six hours — or more, at some point or other, making connections. This is as it should be — in spite of the apparent retrogression. When one really does get to Le Puy nothing should satisfy him but to follow the trail of Stevenson's donkey into the heart of the Cevennes, that wonderful country which lies to the southward, and see and know for him- self some of the things which that delectable author set forth in the record of his travels. Monastier, Le Cheylard, La Bastide, Notre Dame des Neiges, Mont Mezenac, and many more delightful places are, so far as personal knowledge goes, a sealed book to most folk; and after one has visited them for himself, he may rest assured they will still remain a sealed book to the mass. 136 The Cathedrals of Southern France The ecclesiastical treasures of Le Puy are first and foremost centred around its wonder- ful, though bizarre, Romanesque cathedral of Notre Dame. Some have said that this cathedral church dates from the fifth century. Possibly this is so, but assuredly there is no authority which makes a statement which is at all convincing concerning any work earlier than the tenth century. Le Puy's first bishop was St. Georges, — in the third century, — at which time, as now, the diocese was a suffragan of Bourges. The cathedral itself is perched on a hilltop behind which rises an astonishing crag or pin- nacle, — the rocher Corneille, which, in turn, is surmounted by a modern colossal bronze figure, commonly called Notre Dame de France. The native will tell you that it is called " the Virgin of Le Puy." Due allow- ance for local pride doubtless accounts for this. Its height is fifty feet, and while astonishingly impressive in many ways, is, as a work of art, without beauty in itself. There is a sort of subterranean or crypt- like structure, beneath the westerly end of the cathedral, caused by the extreme slope of the rock upon which the choir end is placed. One 137 The Cathedrals of Southern France enters by a stairway of sixty steps, which is beneath the parti-coloured fagade of the twelfth century. It is very striking and must Le Puy be a unique approach to a cathedral ; the en- trance here being two stories below that of the pavement of nave and choir. This porch of three round-arched naves is wholly unusual. 138 The Cathedrals of Southern France Entrance to the main body of the church is finally gained through the transept. The whole structure is curiously kaleido- scopic, with blackish and dark brown tints predominating, but alternating — in the west fagade, which has been restored in recent times — with bands of a lighter and again a darker stone. It has been called by a certain red-robed mentor of travel-lore an ungainly, venerable, but singular edifice: quite a non- committal estimate, and one which, like most of its fellows, is worse than a slander. It is most usually conceded by French authorities — who might naturally he supposed to know their subject — that it is very nearly the most genuinely interesting exposition of a local manner of church-building extant; and as such the cathedral at Le Puy merits great con- sideration. The choir is the oldest portion, and is prob- ably not of later date than the tenth century. The glass therein is modern. It has a posses- sion, a "miraculous virgin," — whose prede- cessor was destroyed in the fury of the Revolution, — which is supposed to work won- ders upon those who bestow an appropriate votive offering. To the former shrine came many pilgrims, numbering among them, it is The Cathedrals of Southern France said rather indefinitely and doubtfully, " sev- eral popes and the following kings: Louis VII., Philippe-Auguste, Philippe-le-Hardi, Charles VI., Charles VII., Louis XL, and Charles VIII." To-day, as if doubtful of the shrine's effi- cacy, the pilgrims are few in number and mostly of the peasant class. The bays of the nave are divided by round- headed arches, but connected with the oppos- ing bay by the ogival variety. The transepts have apsidal terminations, as is much more frequent south of the Loire than in the north of France, but still of sufficient novelty to be remarked here. The east end is rectangular — which is really a very unusual attribute in any part of France, only two ex- amples elsewhere standing out prominently — the cathedrals at Laon and Dol-de-Bretagne. The cloister of Notre Dame, small and simple though it be, is of a singular charm and tran- quillity. With the tower or cupola of this cathedral the architects of Auvergne achieved a result very near the perfectionnement of its style. Like all of the old-time dockers erected in this province — anterior to Gothic — it presents a great analogy to Byzantine origin, though, in 140 The Cathedrals of Southern France a way, not quite like it either. Still the effect of columns and pillars, in both the interior construction and exterior decoration of these fine towers, forms something which suggests, at least, a development of an ideal which bears little, or no, relation to the many varieties of campanile, beffrai, tour or docker seen else- where in France. The spire, as we know it elsewhere, a dominant pyramidal termination, the love of which Mistral has said is the foun- dation of patriotism, is in this region almost entirely wanting; showing that the influence, from whatever it may have sprung, was no copy of anything which had gone before, nor even the suggestion of a tendency or influence toward the pointed Gothic, or northern style. Therefore the towers, like most other features of this style, are distinctly of the land of its environment — Auvergnian. This will call to mind, to the American, the fact that Trinity Church in Boston is mani- festly the most distinctive application, in for- eign lands, of the form and features of the manner of church-building of the Auvergne. Particularly is this to be noted by viewing the choir exterior with its inlaid or geomet- rically planned stonework: a feature which is Romanesque if we go back far enough, but 141 The Cathedrals of Southern France which is distinctly Auvergnian in its mediaeval use. For sheer novelty, before even the towering bronze statue of the Virgin, which overtops the cathedral, must be placed that other needle-like basaltic eminence which is crowned by a tiny chapel dedicated to St. Michel. This " aiguille" as it is locally known, rises something over two hundred and fifty feet from the river-bed at its base; like a sharp cone, dwindling from a diameter of perhaps five hundred feet at its base to a scant fifty at its apex. St. Michel has always had a sort of vested proprietorship in such pinnacles as this, and this tiny chapel in his honour was the erection of a prelate of the diocese of Le Puy in the tenth century. The chapel is Romanesque, octagonal, and most curious; with its isolated situation, — only reached by a flight of many steps cut in the rock, — and its tesselated stone pavements, its mosaic in basalt of the por- tal,. and its few curious sculptures in stone. As a place of pilgrimage for a twentieth-cen- tury tourist it is much more appealing than the Virgin-crowned rocker Corneille; each will anticipate no inconsiderable amount of 142 The Cathedrals of Southern France physical labour, which, however, is the true pilgrim spirit. The chateau of Poligna^ compels attention, and it is not so very foreign to church affairs after all; the house of the name gave to the court of Louis XIV. a cardinal. To-day this one-time feudal stronghold is but a mere ruin. The Revolution finished it, as did that fury many another architectural glory of France. The Black Virgin, Le Puy H3 XIV NOTRE DAME DE CLERMONT - FERRAND Clermont-Ferrand is the hub from which radiates in the season, — from April to Oc- tober, — and in all directions, the genuine French touriste. He is a remarkable species of traveller, and he apportions to himself the best places in the char-a bancs and the most convenient seats at table d'hote with a dis- crimination that is perfection. He is not much interested in cathedrals, or indeed in the twin city of Clermont-Ferrand itself, but rather his choice lies in favour of Mont Dore, Puy de Dome, Royat, St. Nectaire, or a dozen other alluring tourist resorts in which the neighbouring volcanic region abounds. By reason of this — except for its hotels and cafes — Clermont-Ferrand is justly entitled to rank as one of the most ancient and important centres of Christianity in France. Its cathedral is not of the local manner of building: it is of manifest Norman example. 144 N OTRE DAME . . de CLERMONT-FERRAND The Cathedrals of Southern France But the figlise Notre Dame du Port is Au- vergnian of the most profound type, and withal, perhaps more appealing than the cathedral itself. Furthermore the impulse of the famous crusades first took form here under the fervent appeal of Urban II., who was in the city at the Council of the Church held in 1095. Altogether the part played by this city of mid-France in the affairs of the Christian faith was not only great, but most important and far-reaching in its effect. In its cathedral are found to a very con- siderable extent those essentials to the realiza- tion of the pure Gothic style, which even Sir Christopher Wren confessed his inability to fully comprehend. It is a pleasant relief, and a likewise pleas- ant reminder of the somewhat elaborate glo- ries of the Isle of France, to come upon an edifice which at least presents a semblance to the symmetrical pointed Gothic of the north. The more so in that it is surrounded by Ro- manesque and local types which are peers among their class. Truly enough it is that such churches as Notre Dame du Port, the cathedral at Le Puy, and the splendid series of Romanesque churches at Poitiers are as interesting and as 145 The Cathedrals of Southern France worthy of study as the resplendent modern Gothic. On the other hand, the transition to the baseness of the Renaissance, — without the intervention of the pointed style, — while not so marked here as elsewhere, is yet even more painfully impressed upon one. The contrast between the Romanesque style, which was manifestly a good style, and the Renaissance, which was palpably bad, suggests, as forcibly as any event of his- tory, the change of temperament which came upon the people, from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. This cathedral is possessed of two fine west- ern towers (340 feet in height), graceful in every proportion, hardy without being clumsy, symmetrical without weakness, and dwindling into crowning spires after a man- ner which approaches similar works at Bor- deaux and Quimper. These examples are not of first rank, but, if not of masterful design, are at least acceptable exponents of the form they represent. These towers, as well as the western portal, are, however, of a very late date. They are the work of Viollet-le-Duc in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and indicate — if nothing more — that, where a good model is 146 The Cathedrals of Southern France used, a modern Gothic work may still betray the spirit of antiquity. This gifted architect was not so successful with the western towers of the abbey church of St. Ouen at Rouen. Externally the cathedral at Clermont-Ferrand shows a certain lack of uniformity. Its main fabric, of a black volcanic stone, dates from 1248 to 1265. At this time the work was in charge of one Jean Deschamps. The church was not, however, consecrated until nearly a century later, and until the com- pletion of the west front remained always an unfinished work which received but scant consideration from lovers of church architec- ture. The whole structure was sorely treated at the Revolution, was entirely stripped of its ornaments and what monuments it possessed, and was only saved from total destruction by a subterfuge advanced by a local magistrate, who suggested that the edifice might be put to other than its original use. The first two bays of the nave are also of nineteenth-ceiitury construction. This must account for the frequent references of a former day to the general effect of incompleteness. To-day it is a coherent if not a perfect whole, 147 The Cathedrals of Southern France though works of considerable magnitude are still under way. The general effect of the interior is har- monious, though gloomy as to its lighting, and bare as to its walls. The vault rises something over a hundred feet above the pavement, and the choir plat- form is considerably elevated. The aisles of the nave are doubled, and very wide. The joints of pier and wall have been newly " pointed," giving an impression of a more modern work than the edifice really is. The glass of the nave and choir is of a rare quality and unusually abundant. How it es- caped the fury of the Revolution is a mystery. There are two fifteenth-century rose win- dows in the transepts, and a more modern ex- ample in the west front, the latter being decidedly inferior to the others. The glass of the choir is the most beautiful of all, and is of the time of Louis IX., whose arms, quar- tered with those of Spain, are shown therein. The general effect of this coloured glass is not of the supreme excellence of that at Chartres, but the eflfect of mellowness, on first entering, is in every way more impressive than that of any other cathedral south of the Loire. The organ buifet has, in this instance, been 148 The Cathedrals of Southern France cut away to allow of the display of the mod- ern rosace. This is a most thoughtful consid- eration of the attributes of a grand window; which is obviously that of giving a pleasing effect to an interior, rather than its inclusion in the exterior scheme of decoration. In the choir is a retable of gilded and painted wood, representing the life of St. Crepinien, a few tombs, and in the chapels some frescoes of the thirteenth century. There is the much-appreciated astronomical clock — a curiosity of doubtful artistic work and symbolism — in one of the transepts. A statue of Pope Urban II. is en face to the right of the cathedral. At the Council of 1095 Urban II. preached for the first crusade to avenge the slaughter " of pilgrims, princes, and bishops," which had taken place at Romola in Palestine, and to regain possession of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre from the Turkish Sultan, Ortock. The enthusiasm of the pontiff was so great that the masses forthwith entered fully into the spirit of the act, the nobles tearing their red robes into shreds to form the badge of the crusader's cross, which was given to all who took the vow. By command of the Pope, every serf who 149 The Cathedrals of Southern France took the cross was to obtain his liberty from his overlord. This fact, perhaps, more than any other led to the swelled ranks of the first crusade under Peter the Hermit. The rest is history, though really much of its written chronicle is really romance. Clermont was a bishopric in the third cen- tury, with St. Austremoine.as its first bishop. The diocese is to-day a suffragan of Bourges. At the head of the Cours Sablon is a fif- teenth-century fountain, executed to the order of a former bishop, Jacques d'Amboise. The bibliotheque still preserves, among fifty thousand volumes and eleven hundred MSS., an illuminated folio Bible of the twelfth century, a missal which formerly be- longed to Pope Clement VI., and a ninth-cen- tury manuscript of the monk, Gregory of Tours. Near the cathedral in the Rue de Petit Gras is the birthplace of the precocious Blaise Pas- cal, who next to Urban II. — if not even be- fore him — is perhaps Clermont's most famous personage. A bust of the celebrated writer is let into the wall which faces the Passage Ver- nines, and yet another adorns the entrance to the bibliotheque ; and again another — a full- length figure this time — is set about with 150 The Cathedrals of Southern France growing plants, in the Square Blaise Pascal. Altogether one will judge that Pascal is indeed the most notable figure in the secular history of the city. This most original intellect of his time died in 1662, at the early age of thirty- nine. 151 XV ST. FULCRAN DE LODEVE LODEVE, seated tightly among the moun- tains, near the confluence of the rivers Solon- dre and Lergue, not far from the Cevennes and the borders of the Gevaudan, was a bish- opric, suffragan of Narbonne, as early as the beginning of the fourth century. It had been the capital of the Gallic tribe of the Volsques, then a pagan Roman city, and finally was converted to Christianity in the year 323 by the apostle St. Flour, who founded the bishopric, which, with so many others, was suppressed at the Revolution. The city suffered greatly from the wars of the Goths, the Albigenses, and later the civil wars of the Protestants and Catholics. The bishops of Lodeve were lords by virtue of the fact that the title was bought from the vis- counts whose honour it had previously held. St. Guillem Ley Desert (O. F.), a famous 152 The Cathedrals of Southern France abbey of the Benedictines, founded by an an- cestor of the Prince of Orange, is near by. The ancient cathedral of St. Fulcran is situated in the haute-ville and dates, as to its foundation walls, from the middle of the tenth century. The reconstructed present-day edi- fice is mainly of the thirteenth century, and as an extensive work of its time is entitled to rank with many of the cathedral churches which survived the Revolution. By the end of the sixteenth century, the last remaining work and alterations were completed, and one sees therefore a fairly consistent mediaeval church. The west facade is surmounted by tourelles which are capped with a defending machicoulis, presumably for defence from at- tack from the west, as this battlement could hardly have been intended for mere ornament, decorative though it really is. The interior height rises to something approximating eighty feet, and is imposing to a far greater degree than many more magnificent and wealthy churches. The choir is truly elegant in its proportions ^nd decorations, its chief ornament being that of the high-altar, and the white marble lions which flank the stalls. From the choir one enters the ruined cloister of the fifteenth cen- ^S3 The Cathedrals of Southern France tury; which, if not remarkable in any way, is at least distinctive and a sufficiently un- common appendage of a cathedral church to be remarked. A marble tomb of a former bishop, — Plantavit de la Pause, — a distinguished prel- ate and bibliophile, is also in the choir. This monument is a most worthy artistic effort, and shows two lions lying at the foot of a full- length figure of the churchman. It dates from 1 65 1, and, though of Renaissance work- manship, its design and sculpture — like most monumental work of its era — are far ahead of the quality of craftsmanship displayed by the builders and architects of the same period. The one-time episcopal residence is now occupied by the hotel de ville, the tribunal, and the caserne de gendarmerie. As a shelter for civic dignity this is perhaps not a descent from its former glory, but as a caserne it is a shameful debasement; not, however, as mean as the level to which the papal palace at Avignon has fallen. The guide-book information — which, be it said, is not disputed or reviled here — states that the city's manufactories supply sur- tout des draps for the army; but the church- lover will get little sustenance for his refined 154 The Cathedrals of Southern France appetite from this kernel of matter-of-fact in- formation. Lddeve is, however, a charming provincial town, with two ancient bridges crossing its rivers, a ruined chateau, Montbrun, and a fine promenade which overlooks the river valleys round about. ^5S PART III The Rhone Valley INTRODUCTORY The knowledge of the geographer Ptol- emy, who wrote in the second century with regard to the Rhone, was not so greatly at fault as with respect to other topographical features, such as coasts and boundaries. Perhaps the fact that Gaul had for so long been under Roman dominion had somewhat to do with this. He gives, therefore, a tolerably correct ac- count as to this mighty river, placing its sources in the Alps, and tracing its flow through the lake Lemannus (Leman) to Lugdunum (Lyon); whence, turning sharply to the southward, it enters the Mediterranean south of Aries. Likewise, he correctly adds that the upper river is joined with the com- bined flow of the Doubs and Saone, but com- mits the error of describing their source to be also in the Alps. Philip Gilbert Hamerton, who knew 159 The Cathedrals of Southern France these parts well, — his home was near Autun, — has described the confluence of the Saone and Rhone thus: " The width and depth of the two rivers are equal, but the swift-flowing Rhone dis- charges twice the volume of water of the slow- running Saone. They also differ remarkably in colour. The Saone is emerald-green and the Rhone blue-green. Here the minor river loses its name and character, and, by an un- usual process, the slowest and most navigable stream in Europe joins the swiftest and least navigable. The Flumen Araris ceases and becomes the Rhodanus." The volume of water which yearly courses down the Rhone is perhaps greater than would first appear, when, at certain seasons of the year, one sees a somewhat thin film of water gliding over a wide expanse of yellow sand and shingle. Throughout, however, it is of generous width and at times rises in a true torrential manner: this when the spring freshets and melting Alpine snows are directed thither toward their natural outlet to the sea. " Riv- ers," said Blaise Pascal, " are the roads that move." Along the great river valleys of the Rhone, the Loire, the Seine, and the Rhine 1 60 The Cathedrals of Southern France were made the first Roman roads, the proto- types of the present-day means of communica- tion. The development of civilization and the arts along these great pathways was rapid and extensive. Two of them, at least, gave birth to architectural styles quite differing from other neighbouring types: the Romain-Ger- manique — bordering along the Rhine and extending to Alsace and the Vosges ; and the Romain-Bourguignon, which followed the valley of the Rhone from Bourgogne to the Mediterranean and the Italian frontier, in- cluding all Provence. The true source of the Rhone is in the Pen- nine Alps, where, in consort with three other streams, the Aar, the Reuss, and the Ticino, it rises in a cloven valley close to the lake of Brienz, amid that huge jumble of mountain- tops, which differs so greatly from the pop- ular conception of a mountain range. Dauphine and Savoie are to-day compara- tively unknown by parlour-car travellers. Dauphine, with its great historical associa- tions, the wealth and beauty of its architec- ture, the magnificence of its scenery, has al- ways had great attractions for the historian, the archaeologist, and the scholar; to the tour- i6i The Cathedrals of Southern France ist, however, even to the French tourist, it remained for many years a terra incognita. Yet no country could present the traveller with a more wonderful succession of ever- changing scenery, such a rich variety of land- scape, ranging from verdant plain to moun- tain glacier, from the gay and picturesque to the sublime and terrible. Planted in the very heart of the French Alps, rising terrace above terrace from the lowlands of the Rhone to the most stupendous heights, Dauphine may with reason claim to be the worthy rival of Switzer- land. The romantic associations of " La Grande Chartreuse " ; of the charming valley towns of Sion and Aoste, famed alike in the history of Church and State; and of the more splen- didly appointed cities of Grenoble and Cham- bery, will make a new leaf in the books of most peoples' experiences. The rivers Durance, Isere, and Drome drain the region into the more ample basin of the Rhone, and the first of the three — for sheer beauty and romantic picturesqueness — will perhaps rank first in all the world. The chief associations of the Rhone valley with the Church are centred around Lyon, Vienne, Avignon, and Aries. The associa- 162 The Cathedrals of Southern France tions of history — a splendid and a varied past — stand foremost at Orange, Nimes, Aix, and Marseilles. It is not possible to deal here with the many pays et pagi of the basin of the Rhone. Of all, Provence — that golden land — stands foremost and compels attention. One might praise it ad infinitum in all its splendid attributes and its glorious past, but one could not then do it justice; better far that one should sum it up in two words — " Mistral's world." The popes and the troubadours combined to cast a glamour over the " fair land of Pro- vence " which is irresistible. Here were architectural monuments, arches, bridges, aqueducts, and arenas as great and as splen- did as the world has ever known. Aix-en- Provence, in King Rene's time, was the gay- est capital of Europe, and the influence of its arts and literature spread to all parts. To the south came first the Visigoths, then the conflicting and repelling Ostrogoths; be- tween them soon to supplant the Gallo-Roman cultivation which had here grown so vigor- ously. It was as late as the sixth century when the Ostrogoths held the brilliant sunlit city of 163 The Cathedrals of Southern France Aries; when follows a history — applicable as well to most of all southern France — of many dreary centuries of discordant races, of varying religious faiths, and adherence now to one lord and master, and then to another. Monuments of various eras remain; so numerously that one can rebuild for them- selves much that has disappeared for ever: palaces as at Avignon, castles as at Tarascon and Beaucaire, and walled cities as at Aigues- Morte. What limitless suggestion is in the thought of the assembled throngs who peopled the tiers of the arenas and theatres of Aries and Nimes in days gone by. The sensation is mostly to be derived, however, from thought and conjecture. The painful and nullifying " spectacles " and " courses des taureaux," which periodically hold forth to-day in these noble arenas, are mere travesties on their splendid functions of the past. Much more satisfying — and withal more artistic — are the theatrical representations in that magnifi- cent outdoor theatre at Orange ; where so re- cently as the autumn of 1903 was given a grand representation of dramatic art, with Madame Bernhardt, Coquelin, and others of 164 The Cathedrals of Southern France the galaxy which grace thp French stage to- day, taking part therein. Provengal literature is a vast and varied subject, and the women of Aries — the true Arlesians of the poet and romancer — are as- tonishingly beautiful. Each of these subjects — to do them justice — would require much ink and paper. Daudet, in " Tartarin," has these opening words, as if no others were necessary in order to lead the way into a new world : " IT WAS SEPTEMBER AND IT WAS Provence." Frederic Mistral, in " Mireio," has written the great modern epic of Pro- vence, which depicts the life as well as the literature of the ancient troubadours. The " Fountain of Vaucluse " will carry one back still further in the ancient Pro- vencal atmosphere; to the days of Pe- trarch and Laura, and the " little fish of Sorgues." What the Romance language really was, authorities — if they be authorities — differ. Hence it were perhaps well that no attempt should be made here to define what others have failed fo place, beyond this observation, which is gathered from a source now lost to recollection, but dating from a century ago at least: 165 The Cathedrals of Southern France " The southern or Romance language, the tongue of all the people who obeyed Charle- magne in the south of Europe, proceeded from the parent-vitiated Latin. " The Provengaux assert, and the Spaniards deny, that the Spanish tongue is derived from the original Romance, though neither the Italians nor the French are willing to owe much to it as a parent, in spite of the fact that Petrarch eulogized it, and the trouba- dours as well. " The Toulousans roundly assert that the Provengal is the root of all other dialects whatever {vide Cazeneuve). Most Spanish writers on the other hand insist that the Pro- vengal is derived from the Spanish {vide Coleccion de Poesias Caslellanas; Madrid, 1779) r At all events the idiom, from whatever it may have sprung, took root, propagated and flourished in the land of the Provengal trou- badours. Whatever may have been the real extent of the influences which went out from Provence, it is certain that the marriage of Robert with Constance — daughter of the first Count of Provence, about the year looo — was the period of a great change in manners and 1 66 The Cathedrals of Southern France customs throughout the kingdom. Some even have asserted that this princess brought in her train the troubadours who spread the raste for poetry and its accompaniments throughout the north of France. The " Provence rose," so celebrated in legend and literature, can hardly be dismissed without a word; though, in truth, the casual traveller will hardly know of its existence, unless he may have a sweet recollection of some rural maid, who, with sleeves carefully rolled up, stood before her favourite rose- tree, tenderly examining it, and driving away a buzzing fly or a droning wasp. These firstlings of the season are tended with great pride. The distinctive " rose of Provence " is smaller, redder, and more elas- tic and concentric than the centifolice of the north, and for this reason, likely, it appears the more charming to the eye of the native of the north, who, if we are to believe the romanticists, is made a child again by the mere contemplation of this lovely flower. The glory of this rich red " Provence rose " is in dispute between Provence and Provins, the ancient capital of La Brie; but the weight of the argument appears to favour the former. 167 The Cathedrals of Southern France Below Aries and Nimes the Rhone broad- ens out into a many-fingered estuary, and mingles its Alpine flood with the blue waters of the Mediterranean. The delta has been formed by the activity and energy of the river itself, from the fourth century — when it is known that Aries lay six- teen miles from the sea — till to-day, when it is something like thirty. This ceaseless carry- ing and filling has resulted in a new coast-line, which not only has changed the topography of the region considerably, but may be sup- posed to have actually worked to the com- mercial disadvantage of the country round about. The annual prolongation of the shores — the reclaimed water-front — is about one hun- dred and sixty-four feet, hence some consid- erable gain is accounted for, but whether to the nation or the " squatter " statistics do not say. The delta of the Rhone has been described by an expansive French writer as: " Some- thing quite separate from the rest of France. It is a wedge of Greece and of the East thrust into Gaul. It came north a hundred (or more) years ago and killed the Monarchy. i68 The Cathedrals of Southern France It caught the value in, and created the great war-song of the Republic." There is a deal of subtlety in these few lines, and they are given here because of their truth and applicability. 169 II ST. ETIENNE DE CHALONS - SUR - SAONE "The cathedral at Chalons," says Philip Gilbert Hamerton, — who knew the entire region of the Saone better perhaps than any other Anglo-Saxon, — " has twin towers, which, in the evening, at a distance, recall Notre Dame (at Paris), and there are domes, too, as in the capital." An imaginative description surely, and one that is doubtless not without truth were one able to first come upon this riverside city of mid-France in the twilight, and by boat from the upper river. Chalons is an ideally situated city, with a placidness which the slow current of the Saone does not disturb. But its cathedral! It is no more like its Parisian compeer than it is like the Pyramids of Egypt. In the first place, the cathedral towers are a weak, eflfeminate imitation of a prototype which itself must have been far removed from 170 The Cathedrals of Southern France Notre Dame, and they have been bolstered and battened in a shameful fashion. The cathedral at Chalons is about the most ancient-looking possession of the city, which in other respects is quite modern, and, aside from its charming situation and general at- tractiveness, takes no rank whatever as a cen- tre of ancient or mediaeval art. Its examples of Gallic architecture are not traceable to-day, and of Roman remains it possesses none. As a Gallic stronghold, — it was never more than that, — it appealed to Caesar merely as a base from which to advance or retreat, and its history at this time is not great or abundant. A Roman wall is supposed to have existed, but its remains are not traceable to-day, though tradition has it that a quantity of its stones were transported by the monk Benigne for the rotunda which he built at Dijon. The city's era of great prosperity was the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when its fortifications were built up anew, its cathe- dral finished, and fourteen churches held forth. From this high estate it has sadly fallen, and there is only its decrepit cathedral, re- built after a seventeenth-century fire, and two 171 The Cathedrals of Southern France churches — one of them modern — to uphold its ecclesiastical dignity. The towers of the cathedral are of the sev- enteenth century, but the so-called " Deanery Tower " is more ancient, and suggestive of much that is militant and very little that is churchly. The interior has been restored, not wholly with success, but yet not wholly spoiled. In plan and arrangement it is a simple and severe church, but acceptable enough when one contemplates changes made elsewhere. Here are to be seen no debased copies of Greek or Roman orders ; which is something to be thankful for. The arches of the nave and choir are strong and bold, but not of great spread. The height of the nave, part of which has come down from the thirteenth century, is ninety feet at least. There are well-carved capitals to the pillars of the nave, and the coloured glass of the windows of triforium and clerestory is rich without rising to great beauty. In general the style is decidedly a melange, though the cathedral is entitled to rank as a Gothic example. Its length is 350 feet. 172 The Cathedrals of Southern France The maitre-autel is one of the most ele- gant in France. Modern improvement has cleared away much that was picturesque, but around the cathedral are still left a few gabled houses, which serve to preserve something of the mediaeval setting which once held it. The courtyard and its dependencies at the base of the " Deanery Tower " are the chief artistic features. They appeal far more strongly than any general accessory of the cathedral itself, and suggest that they once must have been the components of a cloister. The see was founded in the fifth century as a suffragan" of Lyon. 173 Ill ST. VINCENT DE MACON The Mastieo of the Romans was not the Macon of to-day, though, by evolution, or corruption, or whatever the process may have been, the name has come down to us as refer- ring to the same place. The former city did not border the river, but was seated on a height overlooking the Saone, which flows by the doors of the present city of Macon. \ Its site is endowed with most of the attri- butes included in the definition of " com- manding," and, though not grandly situated, is, from any riverside view-point, attractive and pleasing. When it comes to the polygonal towers of its olden cathedral, this charming and pleas- ing view changes to that of one which is curi- ous and interesting. The cathedral of St. Vincent is a battered old ruin, and no amount of restoration and rebuilding will ever endow it with any more deserving qualities. 174 IT. VINCENT > de MACON . The Cathedrals of Southern France The Revolution was responsible for its having withered away, as it was also for the abolishment of the see of Macon. The towers stand to-day — lowered some- what from their former proportions — gaunt and grim, and the rich Burgundian narthen, which lay between, has been converted — not restored, mark you — into an inferior sort of chapel. The destruction that fell upon various parts of this old church might as well have been more sweeping and razed it to the ground entirely. The effect could not have been more disheartening. Macon formerly had twelve churches. Now it has three — if we include this poor fragment of its one-time cathedral. Between the Revolution and the coronation of Napo- leon I. the city was possessed of no place of worship. Macon became an episcopal see, with Placide as its first bishop, in the sixth century. It was suppressed in 1790. The bridge which crosses the river to the suburb of St. Laurent is credited as being the finest work of its kind crossing the Saone. Hamerton has said that " its massive arches and piers, wedge-shaped to meet the wind, are 17s The Cathedrals of Southern France pleasant to contemplate after numerous fes- toons of wire carrying a roadway of planks." This bridge was formerly surmounted, at either end, with a castellated gateway, but, like many of these accessories elsewhere, they have disappeared. The famous bridge at Cahors (shown else- where in this book) is the best example of such a bridge still existing in France. As a " cathedral city," Macon will not take a high rank. The " great man " of Macon was Lamartine. His birthplace is shown to visitors, but its present appearance does not suggest the splendid appointments of its de- scription in that worthy's memoirs. Macon is the entrepot of the abundant and excellent vin du Bourgogne, and the strictly popular repute of the city rests entirely on this fact. 176 IV ST. JEAN DE LYON The Lyonnais is the name given to that region lying somewhat to the westward of the city of Lyon. It is divided into three dis- tinct parts, le Lyonnais proper, le Forez, and le Beaujolais. Its chief appellation comes from that of its chief city, which in turn is more than vague as to its etymology: Lug- dunum we know, of course, and we can trace its evolution even unto the Anglicized Lyons, but when philologists, antiquarians, and " ped- ants of mere pretence " ask us to choose between le corbeau — lougon, un eminence — dounon, lone — an arm of a river, and dun the Celtic word for height, we are amazed, and are willing enough to leave the solving of the problem to those who will find a greater pleasure therein. Lyon is a widely-spread city, of magnifi- cent proportions and pleasing aspect, situated as it is on the banks of two majestic, though 177 The Cathedrals of Southern France characteristically different rivers, the Rhone and the Saone. In many respects it is an ideally laid-out city, and the scene from the heights of Four- viere at night, when the city is brilliant with many-lighted workshops, is a wonderfully near approach to fairy-land. Whether the remarkable symmetry of the city's streets and plan is the result of the genius of a past day, or of the modern progressive spirit, is in some doubt. Certainly it must originally have been a delightfully planned city, and the spirit of modernity — though great — has not by any means wholly eradi- cated its whilom charm of another day. It may be remarked here that about the only navigable portion of the none too placid Rhone is found from here to Avignon and Aries, to which points, in summer at least, steam-craft — of sorts — carry passengers with expedition and economy — down-stream; the journey up-river will amaze one by the po- tency of the flood of this torrential stream — so different from the slow-going Saone. The present diocese, of which the see of Lyon is the head, comprehends the Depart- ment of the Rhone et Loire. It is known under the double vocable of Lyon et Vienne, 178 The Cathedrals of Southern France and is the outgrowth of the more ancient ecclesiastical province of Vienne, whose archi- episcopal dignity was domiciled in St. Mau- rice. It was in the second century that St. Pothin, an Asiatic Greek, came to the ancient prov- ince of Lyon as archbishop. The title car- ried with it that of primate of all Gaul : hence the importance of the see, from the earliest times, may be inferred. The architectural remains upon which is built the flamboyant Gothic church of St. Nizier are supposed to be those of the prim- itive cathedral in which St. Pothin and St. Irenasus celebrated the holy rites. The claim is made, of course, not without a show of jus- tification therefor, but it is a far cry from the second century of our era to this late day; and the sacristan's words are not convincing, in view of the doubts which many non-local experts have cast upon the assertion. The present l£,glise St. Nizier is furthermore dedi- cated to a churchman who lived as late as the sixth century. The present cathedral of St. Jean dates from the early years of the twelfth century, but there remains to-day another work closely allied with episcopal afifairs — the stone 179 The Cathedrals of Southern France bridge which spans the Saone, and which was built some two hundred years before the pres- ent cathedral by Archbishop Humbert. Though a bridge across a river is an essen- tially practical and utile thing, it is, perhaps, in a way, as worthy a work for a generous and masterful prelate as church-building itself. Certainly this was the case with Humbert's bridge, he having designed the structure, superintended its erection, and assumed the expense thereof. It is recorded that this worthy churchman gained many adherents for the faith, so it may be assumed that he builded as well as he knew. St. Jean de Lyon dates from 1180, and pre- sents many architectural anomalies in its con- structive elements, though the all-pervading Gothic is in the ascendant. From this height downward, through various interpolations, are seen suggestions of many varieties and styles of church-building. There is, too, an intimation of a motif essentially pagan if one attempts to explain the vagaries of some of the ornamentation of the unusual septagonal Lom- bard choir. This is further inferred when it is known that a former temple to Augustus stood on the same site. If this be so, the rea- 180 The Cathedrals of Southern France soning is complete, and the classical ornament here is of a very early date. The fabric of the cathedral is, in the main, of a warm-coloured freestone, not unlike dark marble, but without its brilliancy and surface. It comes from the heights of Fourviere, — on whose haunches the cathedral sits, — and by virtue of the act of foundation it may be quar- ried at any time, free of all cost, for use by the Church. The situation of this cathedral is most at- tractive; indeed its greatest charm may be said to be its situation, so very picturesquely disposed is it, with the Quai de I'Archeveche between it and the river Saone. The choir itself — after allowing for the interpolation of the early non-Christian frag- ments — is the most consistently pleasing por- tion. It presents in general a fairly pure, early Gothic design. Curiously enough, this choir sits below the level of the nave and presents, in the interior view, an unusual effect of amplitude. With the nave of the thirteenth and four- teenth centuries, the style becomes more mixed — localized, one may say — if only consistent details might be traced. At any rate, the style grows perceptibly heavier and i8i The Cathedrals of Southern France more involved, vi^ithout the simplicity of pre- Gothic work. Finally, as one comes to the heavily capped towers, there is little of grace and beauty left. In detail, at least, if not in general, St. Jean runs quite the whole scale of mediaeval archi- tectural style — from the pure Romanesque to the definite, if rather mixed, Gothic. Of the later elements, the most remarkable is the fifteenth-century Bourbon chapel, built by Cardinal Charles and his brother Pierre. This chapel presents the usual richness and luxuriance of its time. If all things are con- sidered, it is the chief feature of interest within the walls. The west front has triple portals, remi- niscent, as to dimensions, of Amiens, though by no means so grandly peopled with statues ; the heavy, stunted towers, too, are not unlike those of Amiens. These twin towers are of a decidedly heavy order, and are not beautiful, either as distinct features or as a component of the ensemble. Quite in keeping also are the chief decorations of the fagade, which are principally a series of superimposed medal- lions, depicting, variously, the signs of the zodiac, scenes from the life of St. Jean, and yet others suggesting scenes and incidents 182 The Cathedrals of Southern France from Genesis, with an admixture of heraldic symbolism which is here quite meaningless and singularly inappropriate, while still other entablatures present scenes illustrating the " Legend of St. Nicholas " and " The Law of Aristotle." The general effect of the exterior, the facade in particular, is very dark, and except in a bright sunlight — which is usual — is indeed gloomy. In all , probability, this is due to the discolouring of the soft stone of which the cathedral is built, as the same effect is scarcely to be remarked in the interior. In a tower on the south side — much lower, and not so clumsily built up as the twin tow- ers — hangs one of the greatest bourdons in France. It was cast in 1662, and weighs ten thousand kilos. Another curiosity of a like nature is to be seen in the interior, an astronomical clock — known to Mr. Tristram, as " that great clock of Lippius of Basle." Possessed of a crowing cock and the usual toy-book attributes, this great clock is a source of perennial pride to the native and the makers of guide-books. Sterne, too, it would appear, waxed unduly enthusiastic over this really ingenious thing of wheels and cogs. He said : " I never 183 The Cathedrals of Southern France understood the least of mechanism. I declare I was never able yet to comprehend the prin- ciples of a squirrel-cage or a knife-grinder's wheel, yet I will go see this wonderful clock the first thing I do." When he did see it, he quaintly observed that "it was all out of joint." The rather crude coloured glass — though it is precious glass, for it dates from the thir- teenth century, in part — sets off bountifully an interior which would otherwise appear somewhat austere. In the nave is a marble pulpit which has been carved with more than usual skill. It ranks with that in St. Maurice, at Vienne, as one of the most beautiful in France. The cathedral possesses two reliques of real importance in the crosses which are placed to the left and right of the high-altar. These are conserved by a unique custom, in memory of an attempt made by a concile general of the church, held in Lyon in 1274, to reconcile the Latin and Greek forms of religion. The sacristy, in which the bountiful, though not historic, tresor is kept, is in the south tran- sept. Among the archives of the cathedral there are, says a local antiquary, documents of a 184 The Cathedrals of Southern France testamentary nature, which provided the means for the up-keep of the fabric without expense to the church, until well into the eighteenth century. On the apex of the height which rises above the cathedral is the Basilique de Notre Dame de Fourviere — " one of those places of pil- grimage, the most venerated in all the world," says a confident French writer. This may be so; it overlooks ground which has long been hallowed by the Church, to a far greater degree than many other parts, but, like so many places of pilgrimage of a modern day, its nondescript religious edifice is enough to make the church-lovei- willingly pass it by. The site is that of the ancient Forum Vetus of the Romans, and as such is more appealing to most than as a place of pilgrimage. i8s V ST. MAURICE DE VIENNE " At the feet of seven mountains ; on the banks of a large river; an antique city and a cite neuve." — Francois Ponsard. Though widowed to-day of its bishop's throne, Vienne enjoys with Lyon the distinc- tion of having its name attached to an epis- copal see. The ancient archbishopric ruled over what was known as the Province of Vienne, which, if not more ancient than that of Lyon, dates from the same century — the second of our Christian era — and probably from a few years anterior, as it is known that St. Crescent, the first prelate of the diocese, was firmly established here as early as ii8 A. D. In any event, it was one of the earliest centres of Christianity north of the Alps. To-day, being merged with the diocese of Lyon, Vienne is seldom credited as being a cathedral city. Locally the claim is very i86 The Cathedrals of Southern France strongly made, but the Mediterranean tourist never finds this out, unless, perchance, he " drops off " from the railway in order to make acquaintance with that remarkable Roman temple to Augustus, of which he may have heard. Then he will learn from the habitants that by far their greatest respect and pride are for their ancienne Cathedrale de St. Maurice, which sits boldly upon a terrace dominating the course of the river Rhone. In many respects St. Maurice de Vienne will strike the student and lover of architec- ture as being one of the most lively and ap- pealing edifices of its kind. The Lombard origin of many of its features is without question; notably the delightful gallery on the north side, with its supporting columns of many grotesque shapes. Again the parapet and terrace which pre- cede this church, the ground-plan, and some of the elevations are pure Lombard in motive. There are no transepts and no ancient chap- els at the eastern termination; the windows running down to the pavement. This, how- ever, does not make for an appearance at all outre — quite the reverse is the case. The general effect of the entire internal distribu- 187 The Cathedrals of Southern France tion of parts, with its fine approach from the nave to the sanctuary and choir, is exceedingly notable. Of the remains of the edifice, which was erected on the foundations of a still earlier church, in 1052 (reconstructed in 15 15), we have those of the primitive, but rich, orna- mentation of the facade as the most interest- ing and appealing. The north doorway, too, indicates in its curious bas-reliefs, of the twelfth or thirteenth centuries, a luxuriance which in the north — in the Romanesque churches at least — came only with later centuries. There are few accessories of note to be seen in the choir or chapels: a painting of St. Maurice by Desgoffes, a small quantity of fourteenth-century glass, the mausoleum of Cardinal de Montmorin, a sixteenth-century tomb, and, in one of the chapels, some mod- ern glass of more than usual brilliance. The pulpit is notable, and, with that in St. Jean de Lyon, ranks as one of the most elab- orate in France. For the rest, one's admiration for St. Mau- rice de Vienne must rest on the glorious an- tiquity of the city, as a centre of civilizing and Christianizing influence. 188 The Cathedrals of Southern France When Pope Paschal II. (1099 — 11 18) con- firmed the metropolitan privileges of Vienne, and sent the pallium to its archbishop, he as- signed to him as sufifragans the bishops of Grenoble, Valence, Die, Viviers, Geneva, and St. Jean de Maurienne, and conferred upon him the honorary office of primate over Mon- stiers in Tarentaise. Still later, Calixtus II. (11 19 — 24) favoured the archbishopric still further by not only confirming the privileges which had gone before, but investing the arch- bishop with the still higher dignity of the office of primate over the seven ecclesiastical Provinces of Vienne, Bourges, Bordeaux, Auch, Narbonne, Aix, and Embrun. 189 VI ST. APOLLINAIRE DE VALENCE Valence, the Valentia of the Romans, is variously supposed to be situated in south- eastern France, Provence, and the Cevennes. For this reason it will be difficult for the traveller to locate his guide-book reference thereto. It is, however, located in the Rhone valley on the very banks of that turgid river, and it seems inexplicable that the makers of the red- covered couriers do not place it more defi- nitely; particularly in that it is historically so important a centre. 190 The Cathedrals of Southern France The most that can usually be garnered by the curious is that it is " well built in parts, and that those parts only are of interest to the traveller." As a matter of fact, they are noth- ing of the sort; and the boulevards, of which so much is made, are really very insignificant; so, too, are the cafes and restaurants, to which far more space is usually given than to the claim of Valence as an early centre of Chris- tianity. Valence is not a great centre of population, and is appealing by reason of its charming situation, in a sort of amphitheatre, before which runs the swift-flowing Rhone. There is no great squalor, but there is a picturesque- ness and charm which is wholly dispelled in the newer quarters, of which the guide-books speak. There is, moreover, in the cathedral of St. ApoUinaire, a small but highly interesting " Romanesque- Auvergnian " cathedral ; re- built and reconsecrated by Urban II., in the eleventh century, and again reconstructed, on an entirely new plan, in 1604. Besides this curious church there is a " Protestant tem- ple," which occupies the former chapel of the ancient Abbey of St. Rufus, that should 191 The Cathedrals of Southern France have a singularly appealing interest for Eng- lish-speaking folk. The prefecture occupies another portion of the abbey, which in its various disintegrated parts is worthy of more than passing consid- eration. The bishopric was founded here at Valence in the fourth century — when Emelien be- came the first bishop. The see endures to-day as a suffragan of Avignon ; whereas formerly it owed obedience to Vienne (now Lyon et Vienne). The ancient cathedral of St. ApoUinaire is almost wholly conceived and executed in what has come to be known as the Lombard style. The main body of the church is preceded on the west by an extravagant rectangular tower, beneath which is the portal or en- trance ; if, as in the present instance, the com- prehensive meaning of the word suggests something more splendid than a mere door- way. There has been remarked before now that there is a suggestion of the Corinthian order in the columns of both the inside and outside of the church. This is a true enough detail of Lombard forms as it was of the Roman style, 192 The Cathedrals of Southern France which in turn was borrowed from the Greeks. In later times the neo-classical details of the late Renaissance period produced quite a dif- ferent effect, and were in no way comparable to the use of this detail in the Lombard and Romanesque churches. In St. Apollinaire, too, are to be remarked the unusual arch formed of a rounded trefoil. This is found in both the towers, and is also seen in St. Maurice at Vienne, but not again until the country far to the northward and eastward is reached, where they are more fre- quent, therefore their use here may be con- sidered simply as an interpolation brought from some other soil, rather than an original conception of the local builder. Here also is seen the unusual combination of an angular pointed arch in conjunction with the round-headed Lombard variety. This, in alternation for a considerable space, on the south side of the cathedral. It is a feature perhaps not worth mentioning, except from the fact that both the trefoil and wedge- pointed arch are singularly unbeautiful and little in keeping with an otherwise purely southern structure. The aisles of St. Apollinaire, like those of Notre Dame de la Grande at Poitiers, and ^9Z The Cathedrals of Southern France many other Lombardic churches, are singu- larly narrow, which of course appears to lengthen them out interminably. If any distinctive style can be given this small but interesting cathedral, it may well be called the style of Lyonnaise. It dates from the twelfth century as to its foundations, but was rebuilt on practically a new ground-plan in 1604. To-day it is cruciform after the late elon- gated style, with lengthy transepts and lofty aisles. The chief feature to be observed of its ex- terior is its heavy square tower (187 feet) of four stories. It is not beautiful, and was rebuilt in the middle nineteenth century, but it is imposing and groups satisfactorily enough with the ensemble round about. Be- neath this tower is a fine porch worked in Crussol marble. There is no triforium or clerestory. In the choir is a cenotaph in white marble to Pius VI., who was exiled in Valence, and who died here in 1799. It is surmounted by a bust by Canova, whose work it has become the fashion to admire sedulously. 194 VII CATHEDRALE DE VIVIERS The bishopric of Viviers is a suffragan of Avignon, and is possessed of a tiny cathe- dral church, which, in spite of its diminu- tive proportions, overtops quite all the other buildings of this ancient capital of the Viva- rais. The city is a most picturesque setting for any shrine, with the narrow, tortuous streets — though slummy ones — winding to the cliff-top on which the city sits high above the waters of the Rhone. The choir of this cathedral is the only por- tion which warrants remark. It is of the four- teenth century, and has no aisles. It is in the accepted Gothic style, but this again is coerced by the Romanesque flanking tower, which, to all intents and purposes, when viewed from afar, might well be taken for a later Renais- sance work. A nearer view dissects this tower into really ^95 The Cathedrals of Southern France beautiful parts. The base is square, but above — in an addition of the fifteenth century — it blooms forth into an octagon of quite orig- inal proportions. In the choir are some Gobelin tapestries and paintings by Mignard; otherwise there are no artistic attributes to be remarked. 196 VIII NOTRE DAME'D'ORANGE The independent principality of Orange (which had existed since the eleventh cen- tury), with the papal State of Avignon, the tiny Comte Venaissin, and a small part of Provence were welded into the Department of Vaucluse in the redistribution of political di- visions under Napoleon I. The house of Nassau retains to-day the honorary title of Princes of Orange, borne by the heir apparent to the throne of Holland. More anciently the city was known as the Roman Arausio, and is yet famous for its remarkable Roman remains, the chief of which are its triumphal arch and theatre — one of the largest and most magnificent, if not actually the largest, of its era. The history of the church at Orange is far more interesting and notable than that of its rather lame apology for a cathedral of rank. The see succumbed in 1790 in favour of 197 The Cathedrals of Southern France Avignon, an archbishopric, and Valence, one of its suffragans. The persecution and oppression of the Protestants of Orange and Dauphine are well- recorded facts of history. A supposedly liberal and tolerant maker of guide-books (in English) has given inhab- itants of Orange a hard reputation by class- ing them as a " ferocious people." This rather unfair method of estimating their lat- ter-day characteristics is based upon the fact that over three hundred perished here by the guillotine during the first three rrtonths of the Revolution. It were better had he told us something of the architectural treasures of this ville de I'art celebre. He does mention the chief, also that " the town has many mosqui- toes," but, as for churches, he says not a word. The first bishop was St. Luce, who was settled here in the fourth century, at the same time that St. Ruff came to Avignon. As a bishopric, Orange was under the con- trol of St. Trophime's successors at Aries. Notre Dame d'Orange is a work of little architectural pretence, though its antiquity is great as to certain portions of its walls. The oldest portion dates from 1085, though there is little to distinguish it from the more 198 The Cathedrals of Southern France modern additions and reparations, and is in no way suggestive of the splendour with which the ancient Roman theatre and arch were endowed. The chief attribute to be remarked is the extreme width of nave, which dates from 1085 to 1 126. The cathedral itself, however, is not an architectural example of any appeal- ing interest whatever, and pales utterly before the magnificent and splendid preservations of secular Roman times. Since, however. Orange is a city reminis- cent of so early a period of Christianity as the fourth century, it is to be presumed that other Christian edifices of note may have at one time existed : if so, no very vivid history of them appears to have been left behind, and certainly no such tangible expressions of the art of church-building as are seen in the neighbouring cities of the Rhone valley. 199 ST. VERAN DE CAVAILLON " It is the plain of Cavaillon which is the market-garden of Avignon; from whence come the panniers of vegetables and fruits, the buissons d'artichauts, and the melons of ' high reputation.' " Such is the rather free paraphrase of a most charmingly expressed observation on this Provencal land of plenty, written by an eight- eenth-century Frenchman. If it was true in those days, it is no less true to-day, and, though this book is more con- cerned with churches than with potagerie, aoo The Cathedrals of Southern France the observation is made that this fact may have had not a little to do with the early foundation of the church, here in a plenteous region, where it was more likely to prosper than in an impoverished land. The bishopric was founded in the fifth cen- tury by St. Genialis, and it endured constantly until the suppression in 1790. All interest in Cavaillon, in spite of its other not inconsiderable claims, will be cen- tred around its ancient cathedral of St. Veran, immediately one comes into contact therewith. The present structure is built upon a very ancient foundation; some have said that the primitive church was of the seventh century. This present cathedral was consecrated by Pope Innocent IV. in person, in 1259, and for that reason possesses a considerable interest which it would otherwise lack. Externally the most remarkable feature is the arrangement and decoration of the apside — there is hardly enough of it to come within the classification of the chevet. Here the quintuple flanks, or sustaining walls, are framed each with a pair of columns, of grace- ful enough proportions in themselves, but possessed of inordinately heavy capitals. An octagonal cupola, an unusual, and in 201 The Cathedrals of Southern France this case a not very beautiful feature, crowns the centre of the nave. In reality it serves the purpose of a lantern, and allows a dubious light to trickle through into the interior, which is singularly gloomy. To the right of the nave is a curiously attenuated clocher, which bears a clock-face of minute proportions, and holds a clanging bourdon, which, judging from its voice, must be as proportionately large as the clock-face is small. Beneath this tower is a doorway leading from the nave to the cloister, a beautiful work dating from a much earlier period than the church itself. - This cloister is not unlike that of St. Tro- phime at, Aries, and, while plain and simple in its general plan of rounded arches and vaulting, is beautifully worked in stone, and admirably preserved. In spite of its sever- ity, there is no suggestion of crudity, and there is an elegance and richness in its sculptured columns and capitals which is unusual in ecclesiastical work of the time. The interior of this church is quite as in- teresting as the exterior. There is an ample, though aisleless, nave, which, though singu- larly dark and gloomy, suggests a vastness 202 The Cathedrals of Southern France which is perhaps really not justified by the actual state of affairs. A very curious arrangement is that the supporting wall-pillars — in this case a sort ^ of buttress, like those of the apside — serve to frame or enclose a series of deep- vaulted side chapels. The effect of this is; that all of the flow of light, which might ^ enter by the lower range of windows, is prac- \ tically cut off from the nave. What ireful- gence there is — and it is not by any means of the dazzling variety — comes in through the before-mentioned octagon and the upper, windows of the nave. In a chapel — the gift qf Philippe de Ca- bassole, a friend of Petrarch's — is a funeral monument which will even more forcibly re- call the name and association of the poet. It is a seventeenth-century tomb of Bishop Jean de Sade, a descendant of the famous Laura, whose ashes formerly lay in the figlise des Cordeliers at Avignon, but which were, it is to be feared, scattered to the winds by the Revolutionary fury. At the summit of Mont St. Jacques, which rises high above the town, is the ancient Ermi- tage de St. Veran; a place of local pilgrim- age, but not otherwise greatly celebrated. 203 X NOTRE DAME DBS DOMS D' AVIGNON It would be difficult to say with precision whether Avignon were more closely con- nected in the average mind with the former papal splendour, with Petrarch and his Laura, or with the famous Felibrage. Avignon literally reeks with sentimental associations of a most healthy kind. No prob- able line of thought suggested by Avignon's historied and romantic past will intimate even the mawkish, the sordid, or the banal. It is, in almost limitless suggestion, the city of France above all others in which to linger and drink in the life of its past and present to one's fullest capacities. For the " literary pilgrim," first aild fore- most will be Avignon's association with Pe- trarch, or rather he with it. For this reason it shall be disposed of immediately, though not in one word, or ten; that would be impos- sible. 204 The Cathedrals of Southern France " * The grave of Laura! ' said I. ' Indeed, my dear sir, I am obliged to you for having mentioned it,' " were the words with which the local bookseller was addressed by an eight- eenth-century traveller. " ' Otherwise one might have gone away, to their everlasting sorrow and shame, without having seen this curiosity of your city.' " The same record of travel describes the guardian of this shrine as " a converted Jew, who, from one year's end to another, has but two duties to perform, which he most punctu- ally attends to. The one to take care of the grave of Laura, and to show it to strangers, the other to give them information respecting all the curiosities. Before his conversion, he stood at the corner by the Hotel de Ville offer- ing lottery tickets to passers-by, and asking, till he was hoarse, if they had anything to sell. Not a soul took the least notice of him. His beard proved a detriment in all his spec- ulations. Now that he has become a Chris- tian, it is wonderful how everything thrives with him." At the very end of the Rue des Lices will be found the last i-emains of the figlise des Cordeliers — reduced at the Revolution to a mere tower and its walls. Here may be seen 207 The Cathedrals of Southern France the spot where was the tomb of Laura de Sade. Arthur Young, writing just before the Revolution, described it as below; though since that time still other changes have taken place, with the result that " Laura's Grave " is little more than a memory to-day, and a vague one at that. " The grave is nothing but a stone in the pavement, with a figure engraved on it al- ready partly effaced, surrounded by an in- scription in Gothic letters, and another on the wall adjoining, with the armorial bearings of the De Sade family." To-day nothing but the site — the location — of the tomb is still there, the before-men- tioned details having entirely disappeared. The vault was apparently broken open at the Revolution, and its ashes scattered. It was here at Avignon, in the figlise de St. Claire, as Petrarch himself has recorded, that he first met Laura de Sade. The present mood is an appropriate one in which to continue the Petrarchian pil- grimage countryward — to the famous Vau- cluse. Here Petrarch came as a boy, in 1313, and, if one chooses, he may have his dejeuner at the Hotel Petrarque et Laure; not the same, of course, of which Petrarch wrote in 208 The Cathedrals of Southern France praise of its fish of Sorgues; but you will have them as a course at lunch nevertheless. Here, too, the famed Fontaine first comes to light and air; and above it hangs " Petrarch's Castle," which is not Petrarch's castle, nor ever was. It belonged originally to the bish- ops of Cavaillon, but it is possible that Pe- trarch was a guest there at various times, as we know he was at the more magnificent Palais des Papes at Avignon. This chateau of the bishops hangs peril- ously on a brow which rises high above the torrential Fontaine, and, if sentiment will not allow of its being otherwise ignored, it is per- missible to visit it, if one is so inclined. No special hardship is involved, and no great adventure is likely to result from this journey countryward. Tourists have been known to do the thing before " just to get a few snap- shots of the fountain." As to why the palace of the popes came into being at Avignon is a question which sug- gests the possibilities of the making of a big book. The popes came to Avignon at the time of the Italian partition, on the strength of having acquired a grant of the city from Joanna of Naples, for which they were supposed to give 209 The Cathedrals of Southern France eighty thousand golden crowns. They never paid the bill, however; from which fact it would appear that financial juggling was born at a much earlier period than has hitherto been supposed. Seven popes reigned here, from 1305 to 1370; when, on the termination of the Schism, it became the residence of a papal legate. Subsequently Louis XIV. seized the city, in revenge for an alleged afifront to his ambas- sador, and Louis XV. also held it for ten years. The curious fact is here recalled that, by the treaty of Tolentino (12th February, 1797), the papal power at Rome conceded formally for the first time — to Napoleon I. — their ancient territory of Avignon. On the terms of this treaty alone was Pope Pius allowed to remain nominal master of even shreds of the patrimony of St. Peter. The significant events of Avignon's history are too great in purport and number to be even catalogued here, but the magnificent papal residence, from its very magnitude and luxuriance, compels attention as one of the great architectural glories, not only of France, but of all Europe as well. Here sat, for the major portion of the four- 210 The Cathedrals of Southern France teenth century, the papal court of Avignon; which the uncharitable have called a synonym for profligacy, veniality, and luxurious de- generacy. Here, of course, were held the conclaves by which the popes of that century were elected; significantly they were all Frenchmen, which would seem to point to the fact of corruption of some sort, if noth- ing more. Rienzi, the last of the tribunes, was a pris- oner within the walls of this great papal stronghold, and Simone Memmi of Sienna was brought therefrom to decorate the walls of the popes' private chapel; Petrarch was •persona grata here, and many other notables were frequenters of its hospitality. The palace walls rise to a height of nearly ninety feet, and its battlemented towers add another fifty; from which one may infer that its stability was great; an effect which is still further sustained when the great thickness of its sustaining walls is remarked, and the in- frequent piercings of windows and doorways. This vast edifice was commenced by Pope Clement V. in the early years of the thirteenth century, but nothing more than the founda- tions of his work were left, when Benedict XII., thirty years later, gave the work into 211 The Cathedrals of Southern France the hands of Peter Obreri — who must have been the Viollet-le-Duc of his time. Revolution's destroying power played its part here, as generally throughout France, in defacing shrines, monuments, and edifices, civil and ecclesiastical, with little regard for sentiment and absolutely none for reason. The mob attacked the papal palace with results more disastrous than the accumulated debasement of preceding centuries. The later regime, which turned the magnificent halls of this fortress-like palace into a mere barracks — as it is to-day — was quite as iconoclastic in its temperament. One may realize here, to the full, just how far a great and noble achievement of the art and devotion of a past age may sink. The ancient papal palace at Avignon — the former seat of the power of the Roman Cath- olic religion- — has become a mere barracks! To contemplate it is more sad even than to see a great church turned into a stable or an abattoir — as can yet be seen in France. In its plan this magnificent building pre- serves its outlines, but its splendour of embel- lishment has very nearly be'en eradicated, as may be observed if bne will crave entrance of the military incumbent. 212 The Cathedrals of Southern France In 1376 Pope Gregory XI. left Avignon for Rome, — after him came the two anti- popes, — and thus ended what Petrarch has called " L'Empia Babilonia." The cathedral of Notre Dame des Doms pales perceptibly before the splendid dimen- sions of the papal palace, which formerly encompassed a church of its own of much more artistic worth. In one respect only does the cathedral lend a desirable note to the ensemble. This, by reason of its commanding situation — at the apex of the Rocher des Doms — and by the gilded statue of the Virgin which surmounts the tower, and supplies just the right quality of colour and life to a structure which would be otherwise far from brilliant. From the opposite bank of the Rhone — ' from Villeneuve-les-Avignon - — the view of the parent city, the papal residence, the ca- thedral, and that unusual southern attribute, the beffroi, all combine in a most glorious pic- ture of a superb beauty; quite rivalling — though in a far different manner — that " plague spot of immorality," — Monte Carlo, which is mostly thought to hold the palm for the sheer beauty of natural situation. The cathedral is chiefly of the twelfth cen- 213 The Cathedrals of Southern France tury, though even a near-by exterior view does not suggest any of the Gothic tendencies of that era. It is more like the heavy bungling style which came in with the Renaissance; but it is not that either, hence it must be classed as a unique variety, though of the period when the transition from the Roman- esque to Gothic was making inroads else- where. It has been said that the structure dates in part from the time of Charlemagne, but, if so, the usual splendid appointments of the true Charlemagnian manner are sadly lack- ing. There may be constructive foundations of the eleventh century, but they are in no way distinctive, and certainly lend no liveli- ness to a building which must ever be ranked as unworthy of the splendid environment. As a church of cathedral rank, it is a tiny edifice when compared with the glorious northern ground-plans: it is not much more than two hundred feet in length, and has a width which must be considerably less than fifty feet. The entrance, at the top of a long, winding stair which rises from the street-level of the Place du Palais to the platform of the rock, is essentially pagan in its aspect; indeed it is 214 The Cathedrals of Southern France said to have previously formed the portal of a pagan temple v^^hich at one time stood upon the site. If this be so, this great doorway — for it is far larger in its proportions than any other detail — is the most ancient of all the interior or exterior features. The high pediment and roof may be pointed Gothic, or it may not; at any rate, it is in but the very rudimentary stage. Au- thorities do not agree ; which carries the sug- gestion still further that the cathedral at Avignon is of itself a queer, hybrid thing in its style, and with not a tithe of the interest possessed by its more magnificent neighbour.^ The western tower, while not of great pro-| portions, is rather more massive than the pro-; portions of the church body can well carry, i What decoration it possesses carries the pagan suggestion still further, with its superim- posed fluted pillars and Corinthian columns. The gloomy interior is depressing in the extreme, and whatever attributes of interest that it has are largely discounted by their un- attractive setting. There are a number of old paintings, which, though they are not the work of artists of fame, might possibly prove to be of cred- itable workmanship, could one but see them 215 The Cathedrals of Southern France through the gloom. In the before-mentioned porch are some frescoes by Simone Memmi, executed by him in the fourteenth century, when he came from Sienna to do the decora- tions in the palace. The side chapels are all of the fourteenth century; that of St. Joseph, now forming the antechamber of the sacristy, contains a note- worthy Gothic tomb and monument of Pope John XXII. It is much mutilated to-day, and is only interesting because of the person- ality connected therewith. The custodian or caretaker is in this case a most persistently voluble person, who will give the visitor little peace unless he stands by and hears her story through, or flees the place, — which is prefer- able. The niches of this highly florid Gothic tomb were despoiled of their statues at the Revolution, and the recumbent effigy of the Pope has been greatly disfigured. A much simpler monument, and one quite as interest- ing, to another Pope, Benedict XII., — he who was responsible for the magnificence of the papal palace, — is in a chapel in the north aisle of the nave, but the cicerone has apparently no pride in this particular shrine. An ancient (pagan?) altar is preserved in 216 The Cathedrals of Southern France the nave. It is not beautiful, but it is un- doubtedly very ancient and likewise very curious. The chief accessory of interest for all will doubtless prove to be the twelfth-century papal throne. It is of a pure white marble, rather cold to contemplate, but livened here and there with superimposed gold ornament. What decoration there is, chiefly figures rep- resenting the bull of St. Luke and the lion of St. Mark, is simple and severe, as befitted papal dignity. To-day it serves the arch- bishop of the diocese as his throne of dignity, and must inspire that worthy with ambitious hopes. The chapter of the cathedral at Avignon — as we learn from history — wears purple, in company with cardinals and kings, at all celebrations of the High Mass of Clara de Falkenstein. From a well-worn vellum quarto in the library at Avignon one may read the legend which recounts the connection of Ste. Clara de Mont Falcone with the mystery of the Holy Trinity; from which circum- stance the honour and dignity of the purple has been granted to the prelates of the cathe- dral. No mention of Avignon, or of Aries, or of 217 The Cathedrals of Southern France Nimes could well be made without a refer- ence to the revival of Provengal literature brought about by the famous " Felibrage," that brotherhood founded by seven poets, of whom Frederic Mistral is the most popu- larly known. The subject is too vast, and too vastly inter- esting to be slighted here, so perforce mere mention must suffice. The word Felibre was suggested by Mis- tral, who found it in an old hymn. Its ety- mology is uncertain, but possibly it is from the Greek, meaning " a lover of the beauti- ful." The original number of the Felibres was seven, and they first met on the fete-day of Ste. Estelle; in whose honour they adopted the seven-pointed star as their emblem. Sig- nificantly, the number seven has much to do with the Felibres and Avignon alike. The enthusiastic Felibre tells of Avignon's seven churches, its seven gates, seven colleges, seven hospitals, and seven popes — who reigned at Avignon for seven decades ; and further that the word Felibre has seven letters, as, also has the name of Mistral, one of its seven founders — who took seven years in writing his epics The machicolated walls, towers, and gate- 218 The Cathedrals of Southern France ways of Avignon, which protected the city in mediaeval times, and — history tells us — sheltered twice as many souls as now, are in a remarkable state of preservation and com- pleteness, and rank foremost among the mas- terworks of fortification of their time. This outer wall, or enceinte, was built at the in- stigation of Clement VI., in 1349, and was the work of but fourteen years. A hideously decorated building opposite the papal palace — now the Conservatoire de Musique — was formerly the papal mint. The ruined bridge of St. Benezet, built in the twelfth century, is a remarkable example of the engineering skill of the time. Sur- mounting the four remaining' arches — still perfect as to their configuration — is a tiny chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas, which for- merly contained reliques of St. Benezet. The extraordinary circumstance which led up to the building of this bridge seems legend- ary, to say the least. It is recorded that St. Benezet, its founder, who was a mere shepherd, became inspired by God to undertake this great work. The inspiration must likewise have brought with it not a little of the uncommon skill of the bridge-builder, and, considering the extent 219 The Cathedrals of Southern France and scope of the projected work, something of the spirit of benefaction as well. The foundation was laid in 1171, and it was completed, after seventeen years of la- bour, in 1 188. On this bridge, near the entrance to the city, was erected a hospital of religious per- sons, who were denominated ha Freres du Pont, their offices being to preserve the fabric, and to afford succour to all manner of trav- ellers. The boldness and utility of this undertak- ing, — it being the only means of communi- cation between Avignon and the French terri- tory beyond the Rhone, — as well as the per- manency assured to it by the annexing of a religious foundation, cannot fail to grant to the memory of its holy founder something more than a due share of veneration on behalf of his genius and perspicacity. 220 XI ST. SIFFREIN DE CARPENTRAS The tiny city of Carpentras, most pictur- esquely situated on the equally diminutive river Auzon which enters the Rhone between Orange and Avignon, was a Roman colony under Augustus, and a bishopric under St. Valentin in the third century. A suffragan of Avignon, the papal city, the see was suppressed in 1790. The Bishops of Carpentras, it would ap- pear, were a romantic and luxury-loving line of prelates, though this perhaps is aught against their more devout virtues. They had a magnificent palace overhang- ing the famous " Fountain of Vaucluse," and repaired thither in mediaeval times for the relaxation which they evidently much appre- ciated. They must have been veritable pa- trons of literature and the arts, as Petrarch and his fellows-in-art were frequently of their household. ail The Cathedrals of Southern France The ancient cathedral of St. Siffrein is ded- icated to a former bishop of Carpentras, who died in the sixth century. As this church now stands, its stones are mainly of the early sixteenth century. The west fagade is entirely without character, and is pierced at the pavement with a gross cen- tral doorway flanked by two others; poor copies of the Greco-Romain style, which, in maiiy of its original forms, was certainly more pleasing than here. Each of these smaller doorways have for their jambs two beautifully toned columns of red jasper, from a baptistere of which there are still extensive remains at Venasque near by. This baptistere, by the way, and its neigh- bouring Romanesque and Gothic church, is quite worth the energy of making the journey countryward, eleven kilometres from Carpen- tras, to see. It is nominally of the tenth century, but is built up from fragments of a former Tem- ple to Venus, and its situation amid the rocks and tree-clad hilltops of the Nesque valley is most agreeable. The portal on the south side — though, for a fact, it hardly merits the dignity of such a classification — is most ornately sculptured. Ill The Cathedrals of Southern France A figure of the Virgin, in the doorway, is locally known as Notre Dame des Neiges. Much iconographic symbolism is to be found in this doorway, capable of various plausible explanations which shall not be at- tempted here. It must suffice to say that nowhere in this neighbourhood, indeed possibly not south of the Loire, is so varied and elaborate a collec- tion of symbolical stone-carving to be seen. There is no regularly completed tower to St. Siflfrein, but a still unachieved tenth-cen- tury clocher in embryo attaches itself on the south. The interior presents the general effect of Gothic, and, though of late construction, is rather of the primitive order. There are no aisles, but one single nave, very wide and very high, while the apse is very narrow, with lateral chapels. Against the western wall are placed four paintings; not worthy of remark, perhaps, except for their great size. They are of the seventeenth or eighteenth century. A private corridor, or gallery, leads from this end of the church to the episcopal palace, presuma- bly for the sole use of the bishops and their guests. The third chapel on the right is pro- 112 The Cathedrals of Southern France fusely decorated and contains a valuable painting by Dominique de Carton. Another contains a statue of the Virgin, of the time of Louis XIV., and is very beautiful. A tomb of Bishop Laurent Buti (d. 1710) is set against the wall, where the apse adjoins the nave. Rearward on the high-altar is a fine paint- ing by an unknown artist of the Italian school. The old-time cathedral of St. Siffrein was plainly not of the poverty-stricken class, as evinced by the various accessories and details of ornamentation mentioned above. It had, moreover, in conjunction with it, a most mag- nificent and truly palatial episcopal residence, built by a former cardinal-bishop, Alexandri Bichi, in 1640. To-day it serves the func- tions of the Palais de Justice and a prison; in the latter instance certainly a fall from its hitherto high estate. Built about by this an- cient residence of the prelates of the Church is also yet to be seen, in much if not quite all of its pristine glory, a Gallo-Romain arc de Triomphe of considerable proportions and much beauty of outline and ornament. As to period, Prosper Merimee, to whom the preservation of the ancient monuments of France is largely due, has said that it is con- 224 The Cathedrals of Southern France temporary with its compeer at Orange (first or second century). The Porte d'Orange, in the Grande Rue, is the only relique left at Carpentras of the ancient city ramparts built in the fourteenth century by Pope Innocent VI. 1225 XII CATHEDRALE DE VAISON The Provengal town of Vaison, like Car- pentras and Cavaillon, is really of the basin of the Rhone, rather than of the region of the snow-crowned Alps which form its back- ground. It is of little interest to-day as a cathedral city, though the see dates from a foundation of the fourth century, by St. Aubin, until the suppression of 1790. Its former cathedral is hardly the equal of many others which have supported epis- copal dignity, but it has a few accessories and attributes which make it notable. Its nave is finely vaulted, and there is an eleventh-century cloister, which flanks the main body of the church on the left, which would be remarked under any circumstances. The cloister, though practically a ruin, — but a well preserved one, — shows in its con- struction many beautiful Gallo-Romain and early Gothic columns which are exceedingly beautiful in their proportions. In this clois- 226 The Cathedrals of Southern France ter, also, are some fragments of early Christian tombs, which will offer unlimited suggestion to the archaeologist, but which to the lover of art and architecture are quite unappealing. The t^glise St. Quinin is a conglomerate edifice which has been built up, in part, from a former church which stood on the same site in the seventh century. It is by no means a great architectural achievement as it stands to-day, but is highly interesting because of its antiquity. In the cathedral the chief article of real artistic value is a benitier, made' from the capital of a luxurious Corinthian column. One has seen sun-dials and drink- ing-fountains made from pedestals and sar- cophagi before — and the effect has not been pleasing, and smacks not only of vandalism, but of a debased ideal of art, but this column- top, which has been transformed into a benitier, cannot be despised. The bete-noir of all this region, and of Vaison in particular, — if one is to believe local sentiment, — is the high sweeping wind, which at certain seasons blows in a tempes- tuous manner. The habitant used to say that " le mistral, le Parlement, et Durance sont les trois fleaux de Provence." 227 XIII ST. TROPHIME D'ARLES "In all the world that which interests me most is La Fleur des ' Glais ' ... It is a fine plant. ... It is the same as the Fleurs des Lis d'Or of the arms of France and of Provence." —Frederic Mistral. Two French writers of repute have re- cently expressed their admiration of the mar- vellous country, and the contiguous cities, lying about the mouth of the Rhone; ainong which are Nimes, Aigues-Mortes, and — of far greater interest and charm — Aries. Their opinions, perhaps, do not differ very greatly from those of most travellers, but both 228 w The Cathedrals of Southern France Madame Duclaux, in " The Fields of France," and Rene Bazin, in his Recits de la Plaine et de la Montague, give no palm, one to the other, with respect to their feeling for " the mysterious charm of Aries." It is significant that in this region, from Vienne on the north to Aries and Nimes in the south^ are found such a remarkable series of Roman remains as to warrant the statement by a French antiquarian that " in Rome itself are no such temples as at Vienne and Nimes, no theatres so splendidly preserved as that at Orange, — nor so large as that of Aries, — and that the magnificent ruined Colosseum on the Tiber in no wise has the perfections of its compeer at Nimes, nor has any triumphal arch the splendid decorations of that at Reims in the champagne country." With these facts in view it is well to recall that many non-Christian influences asserted themselves from time to time, and overshad- owed for a temporary period those which were more closely identified with the growth of the Church. The Commission des Monu- ments Historiques catalogue sixteen notable monuments in Aries which are cared for by them: the Amphitheatre, the remains of the Forum, — now built into the fagade of the 229 The Cathedrals of Southern France Hotel du Nord, — the remains of the Palais de Constantin, the Abbey of Montmajour, and the one-time cathedral of St. Trophime, and its cloister — to particularize but a few. To-day, as anciently, the ecclesiastical province is known as that of Aix, Aries, and Embrun. Aries, however, for a time took its place as an archbishopric, though to-day it joins hands again with Aix and Embrun; thus, while enjoying the distinction of being ranked as an archbishopric, its episcopal resi- dence is at Aix. It was at Aries that the first, and only, English pope — Adrian Breakspeare — first entered a monastic community, after having been refused admission to the great establish- ment at St. Albans in Hertfordshire, his native place. Here, by the utmost diligence, he acquired the foundation of that great learning which resulted in his being so sud- denly proclaimed the wearer of the tiara, in 1 1 54. St. Trophime came to Aries in the first century, and became the first bishop of the diocese. The first church edifice on this site was consecrated in 606 by St. Virgil, under the vocable of St. Etienne. In 11 52 the present church was built over the remains of 230 The Cathedrals of Southern France St. Trophime, which were brought thither from St. Honorat des Alyscamps. So far as the main body of the church is concerned, it was completed by the end of the twelfth century, and only in its interior is shown the development of the early ogival style. The structure was added to in 1430, when the Gothic choir was extended eastward. The aisles are diminutively narrow, and the window piercings throughout are exceed- ingly small ; all of which makes for a lack of brilliancy and gloom, which may be likened to the average crypt. The only ra- diance which ever penetrates this gloomy interior comes at high noon, when the reful- gence of a Mediterranean sun glances through a series of long lancets, and casts those purple shadows which artists love. Then, and then only, does the cathedral of St. Trophime offer any inducement to linger within its non-im- pressive walls. The exterior view is, too, dull and gloomy — what there is of it to be seen from the Place Royale. By far the most lively view is that obtained from across the ruins of -the mag- nificent Roman theatre just at the rear. Here the time-resisting qualities of secular Roman buildings combine with the cathedral to pre- 231 The Cathedrals of Southern France sent a bright, sunny, and appealing picture indeed. St. Trophime is in no sense an unworthy architectural expression. As a Provengal type of the Romanesque, — which it is mostly, — it must be judged as quite apart from the Gothic which has crept in to but a slight extent. The western portal is very beautiful, and, with cloister, as interesting and elaborate as one could wish. It is the generality of an unimposing plan, a none too graceful tower and its uninteresting interior, that qualifies the richness of its more luxurious details. The portal of the west fagade greatly re- sembles another at St. Gilles, near by. It is a profusely ornamented doorway with richly foliaged stone carving and elaborate has- reliefs. -^ The tympanum of the doorway contains the figure of a bishop in sacerdotal costume, doubtless St. Trophime, flanked by winged angels and lions. The sculptures here date perhaps from the period contemporary with the best work at Paris and Chartres, — well on into the Middle Ages, — when sculpture had not developed or perfected its style, but 232 The Cathedrals of Southern France was rather a bad copy of the antique. This will be notably apparent when the stiffness' and crudeness of the proportions of the figures are taken into consideration. The wonderful cloister of St. Trophime is, on the east side, of Romanesque workman- Cloisters, St. Trophime d'' Aries ship, with barrel vaulting, and dates from 1 1 20. On the west it is of the transition style of a century later, while on the north the vaulting springs boldly into the Gothic of that period — well on toward 1400. The capitals of the pillars of this cloistered/ 7 The Cathedrals of Southern France courtyard are most diverse, and picture in delicately carved stone such scenes of Bible history and legend as the unbelief of St. Thomas, Ste. Marthe and the Tarasque. etc. It IS a curious melange of the vagaries of the stone carver of the Middle Ages, — these curiously and elaborately carved capitals, — but on the whole the ensemble is one of rare beauty, in spite of non-Christian and pagan accessories. These show at least how far superior the classical work of that time was to the later Renaissance. The cemetery of Aries, locally known as Les Alyscamps, literally teems with mediaeval and ancient funeral monuments; though many, of course, have been removed, and many have suffered the ravages of time, to say nothing of the Revolutionary period. One portion was the old pagan burial-ground, and another — marked off with crosses — was reserved for Christian burial. " It must have been accounted most holy ground, as the dead were brought thither for burial from many distant cities. Dante mentions it in the " Inferno," Canto IX.: "Just as at Aries where the Rhone is stagnant The sepulchres make all the ground unequal." 234 The Cathedrals of Southern France Ariosto, in " Orlando Furioso," remarks it thus: " Many sepulchres are in this land." St. Remy, a few leagues to the northeast of Aries, is described by all writers as won- derfully impressive and appealing to all who come within its spell ; — though the guide- books all say that it is a place without im- portance. Rene Bazin has this to say: "St. Remy, ce n'est pas beau, ce St. Remy." Madame Duclaux apostrophizes thus : " We fall at once in love with St. Remy." With this pre- ponderance of modern opinion we throw in our lot as to the charms of St. Remy; and so it will be with most, whether with regard to its charming environment or its historical monuments, its arch, or its funeral memorials. One will only come away from this charm- ing petite ville with the idea that, in spite of its five thousand present-day inhabitants, it is something more than a modern shrine which has been erected over a collection of ancient relics. The little city breathes the very atmosphere of mediaevalism. "^ZS XIV ST. CASTOR DE NIMES Like its neighbouring Roman cities, Nimes lives mostly in the glorious past. In attempting to realize — if only in imag- ination — the civilization of a past age, one is bound to bear always in mind the motif which caused any great art expression to take place. Here at Nimes the church builder had much that was magnificent to emulate, leaving style apart from the question. He might, when he planned the cathedral of St. Castor, have avowed his intention of 236 The Cathedrals of Southern France reaching, if possible, the grace and symmetry of the Maison Caree; the splendour of the temple of Diana; the majesty of the Tour Magna; the grandeur of the arena; or pos- sibly in some measure a blend of all these ambitious results. Instead, he built meanly and sordidly, ^ though mainly by cause of poverty. _^ The Church of the Middle Ages, though come to great power and influence, was not possessed of the fabulous wealth of the vain- glorious Roman, who gratified his senses and beautified his surroundings by a lavish ex- penditure of means, acquired often in a none / too honest fashion. The imperative need of the soul was for a house of worship of some sort, and in some measure relative to the rank of the prelate who was to guard their religious life. This took shape in the early part of the eleventh century, when the cathedral of St. Castor was built. Of the varied and superlative attractions of the city pne is attempted to enlarge unduly; until the thought comes that there is the mak- ing of a book itself to be fashioned out of a reconsideration of the splendid monuments which still exist in this city of celebrated art. 239 The Cathedrals of Southern France To enumerate them all even would be an impossibility here. The tiny building known as the Maison Garee is of that greatness which is not ex- celled by the " Divine Comedy " in literature, the " Venus of Milo " in sculpture, or the " Transfiguration " in painting. The delicacy and beauty of its Corinthian columns are the more apparent when viewed in conjunction with the pseudo-classical por- tico of mathematical clumsiness of the modern theatre opposite. This theatre is a dreadful caricature of the deathless work of the Greeks, while the perfect example of Greco-Romain architec- ture — the Maison Caree — will endure as long as its walls stand as the fullest expression of that sense of divine proportion and ma- gique harmonie which the Romans inherited from the Greeks. Cardinal Alberoni called it " a gem which should be set in gold," and both Louis Quatorze and Napoleon had schemes for lifting it bodily from the ground and reestablishing it at Paris. Les Arenes of Nimes is an unparalleled work of its class, and in far better preserva- tion than any other extant. It stands, wel- coming the stranger, at the very gateway of 240 The Cathedrals of Southern France the citys its grand axe extending off, in arcaded perspective, over four hundred and twenty feet, with room inside for thirty thou- sand souls. These Romans wrought on a magnificent scale, and here, as elsewhere, they have left evidences of their skill which are manifestly of the non-decaying order. The Commission des Monuments Histo- riques lists in all at Nimes nine of these his- torical monuments over which the paternal care of the Ministere de ITnstruction Pub- lique et des Beaux Arts ever hangs. As if the only really fine element in the Cathedral of St. Castor were the facade, with its remarkable frieze of events of Bible his- tory, the Commission has singled it out for especial care, which in truth it deserves, far and away above any other specific feature of this church. Christianity came early to Nimes; or, at least, the bishopric was founded here, with St. Felix as its first bishop, in the fourth cen- tury. At this time the diocese was a suffragan of Narbonne, whilst to-day its allegiance is to the archiepiscopal throne at Avignon. The cathedral of St. Castor was erected in 241 The Cathedrals of Southern France 1030, restored in the thirteenth century, and suffered greatly in the wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These depredations have been — in part — made good, but in the main it is a rather gaunt and painful fabric, and one which is unlooked for amid so magnificent neighbours. It has been said by Roger Peyer — who has written a most enticing monograph on Nimes — " that without prejudice we can say that the churches constructed in the city dans nos jours are far in advance of the cathedral." This is unquestionably true ; for, if we except the very ancient fagade, with its interesting sculptured frieze, there is little to impress the cathedral upon the mind except its contrast with its surrounding architectural peers. The main plan, with its flanking north- westerly square tower, is reminiscent of hun- dreds of parish churches yet to be seen in Italy; while its portal is but a mere classical doorway, too mean even to be classed as a de- tail of any rank whatever. The fagade has undergone some breaking- out and stopping-up of windows during the past decade; for what purpose it is hard to realize, as the effect is neither enhanced nor the reverse. 242 The Cathedrals of Southern France A gaunt supporting buttress, or what not, flanks the tower on the south and adds, yet further, to the incongruity of the ensemble. In fine, its decorations are a curious mix- ture of a more or less pure round-headed Roman style of window and doorway, with later Renaissance and pseudo-classical inter- polations. With the interior the edifice takes on more of an interesting character, though even here it is not remarkable as to beauty or grace. The nave is broad, aisleless, and bare, but presents an air of grandeur which is perhaps not otherwise justified; an effect which is doubtless wholly produced by a certain cheer- fulness of aspect, which comes from the fact that it has been restored — or at least thor- oughly furbished up — in recent times. The large Roman nave, erected, it has been said, from the remains of a former temple of Augustus, has small chapels, without win- dows, beyond its pillars in place of the usual side aisles. Above is a fine gallery or tribune, which also surrounds the choir. ' The modern mural paintings — the prod- uct of the Restoration period — give an air of splendour and elegance, after the manner 243 The Cathedrals of Southern France of the Italian churches, to an appreciably greater extent than is commonly seen in France. In the third chapel on the left is an altar- table made of an early Christian sarcophagus ; a questionable practice perhaps, but forming an otherwise beautiful, though crude, acces- sory. 244 XV ST. THEODORIT D'UZES The ancient diocese of Uzes formerly in- cluded that region lying between the Ardeche; the Rhone, and the Garden, its length and breadth being perhaps equal — fourteen an- cient leagues. As a bishopric, it endured from the middle of the fifth century nearly to the beginning of the nineteenth. In ancient Gallic records its cathedral was reckoned as some miles from the present site 245 ^ The Cathedrals of Southern France of the town, but as no other remains than those of St. Theodorit are known to-day, it is improbable that any references in mediaeval history refer to another structure. This church is now no longer a cathedral, the see having been suppressed in 1790. The bishop here, as at Lodeve and Mende, was the count of the town, and the bishop and duke each possessed their castles and had their respective spheres of jurisdiction, which, says an old-time chronicler, " often occasioned many disputes." Obviously! In the sixteenth century most of the inhab- itants embraced the Reformation after the example of their bishop, who, with all his chapter, publicly turned Protestant and " sent for a minister to Geneva." What remains of the cathedral to-day is reminiscent of a highly interesting mediaeval foundation, though its general aspect is dis- tinctly modern. Such rebuilding and res- toration as it underwent, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, made of it practi- cally a new edifice. The one feature of mark, which stands alone as the representative of mediaeval times, is the charming tower which flanks the main body of the church on the right. 246 The Cathedrals of Southern France It is known as the " Tour Fenestrelle " and is of the thirteenth century. It would be a notable accessory to any great church, and is of seven stories in height, each dwindling in size from the one below, forming a veritable campanile. Its height is 130 feet. The interior attractions of this minor church are greater than might be supposed. There is a low gallery with a superb series of wrought-iron grilles, a fine tomb in marble — to Bishop Boyan — and in the transept two paintings by Simon de Chalons — a " Resur- rection " and a " Raising of Lazarus." The inevitable obtrusive organ-case is of the seventeenth century, and like all of its kind is a parasitical abomination, clinging precariously to the western wall. The sacristy is an extensive suite of rooms which contain throughout a deep-toned and mellow oaken wainscot. For the rest, the lines of this church follow the conventionality of its time. Its propor- tions, while not great, are good, and there is no marked luxuriance of ornament or any ex- ceeding grace in the entire structure, if we except the detached tower before mentioned. The situation of the town is most pictur- 247 The Cathedrals of Southern France esque; not daintily pretty, but of a certain dignified order, which is the morfe satisfying. The ancient chateau, called Le Duche, is the real architectural treat of the place. 248 XVI ST. JEAN D'ALAIS Alais is an ancient city, but greatly mod- ernized ; moreover it does not take a supreme rank as a cathedral city, from the fact that it held a bishop's throne for but a hundred years. Alais was a bishopric only from 1694 to 1790. The cathedral of St. Jean is an imposing structure of that obtrusive variety of archi- tectural art known as " Louis Quinze," and is unworthy of the distinction once bestowed upon it. Perhaps it is due to the fact that the Ce- venole country was so largely and aggressively Protestant that the see of Alais did not endure. Robert Louis Stevenson tells of a stranger he met in these mountain parts — that he was a Catholic, " and made no shame of it. No shame of it! The phrase is a piece of natural statistics; for it is the language of one of a minority. . . . Ireland is still Catholic; the 249 The Cathedrals of Southern France Cevennes still Protestant. Outdoor rustics have not many ideas, but such as they have are hardy plants and thrive flourishingly in persecution." Built about in the fagade of this unfeeling structure are some remains of a twelfth-cen- tury church, but they are not of sufficient bulk or excellence to warrant remark. An advancing porch stands before this west facade and is surmounted by a massive tower in a poor Gothic style. The vast interior, like the exterior, is en- tirely without distinction, though gaudily dec- orated. There are some good pictures, which, as works of art, are a decided advance over any other attributes of this church — an " As- sumption," attributed to Mignard, in the chapel of the Virgin; in the left transept, a " Virgin " by Deveria ; and in the right transept an " Annunciation " by Jalabert. Alais is by no means a dull place. It is busy with industry, is prosperous, and pos- sesses on a minute scale all the distractions of a great city. It is modern to the very core, so far as appearances go. It has its Boulevard Victor Hugo, its Boulevard Gambetta, and its Lycee Dumas. The Hopital St. Louis — which has a curious doubly twisted staircase 250 The Cathedrals of Southern . France — is of the eighteenth century; a bust of the Marquis de la Fere-Alais, the Cevenole poet, is of the nineteenth; a monument of bronze, to the glory of Pasteur, dates from 1896; and varioiis other bronze and stone memorials about the city all date and perpetuate the name and fame of eighteenth and nineteenth- century notables. The Musee — another recent creation — occupies the former episcopal residence, of eighteenth-century construction. The Hotel de Ville is quite the most charm- ing building of the city. It has fine halls and corridors, and an ample bibliotheque. Its present-day Salle du Conseil was the ancient chamber of the Ktats du Languedoc. 251 XVII ST. PIERRE D'ANNECY The Savoian city of Annecy was formerly the ancient capital of the Genevois. Its past history is more closely allied with other political events than those which em- anated from within the kingdoni of France; and its ecclesiastical allegiance was intimately related with Geneva, from whence the epis- copal seat was removed in 1535. In reality the Christian activities of Annecy had but little to do with the Church in France, Savoie only having been ceded to France in i860. Formerly it belonged to the dues de Savoie and the kings of Sardinia. Annecy is a most interesting cfty, and pos- sesses many, if not quite all, of the attractions of Geneva itself, including the Lake of Annecy, which is quite as romantically pictur- esque as Lac Leman, though its proportions are not nearly so great. The city's interest for the lover of religious 252 The Cathedrals of Southern France associations is perhaps greater than for the lover of church architecture alone, but, as the two must perforce go hand in hand the greater part of the way, Annecy will be found to rank high in the annals of the history and art of the religious life of the past. In the chapel of the Visitation, belonging to the convent of the same name, are buried St. Frangois de Sales (d.- 1622) and Ste. Jeanne de Chantal (d. 1641). The chapel is architecturally of no importance, but the marble ornament and sculptures and the rich paintings are interesting. The ancient chapel of the Visitation — the convent of the first monastery founded by St. Francis and Ste. Jeanne — immediately ad- joins the cathedral. Christianity first came to Annecy in the fourth century, with St. Emilien. For long after its foundation the see was a suflfragan of the ancient ecclesiastical province of Vi- enne. To-day it is a suffragan of Cham- be ry. The rather ordinary cathedral of St. Pierre has no great interest as an architectural type, and is possessed of no embellishments of a rank sufficiently high to warrant remark. It dates only from the sixteenth century, and is 253 The Cathedrals of Southern France quite unconvincing as to any art expression which its builders may have possessed. The episcopal palace (1784) adjoins the cathedral on the south. 254 XVIII CATHEDRALE DE CHAMBERY The city of Chambery in the eighteenth century must have been a veritable hotbed of aristocracy. A French writer of that day has indeed stated that it is " the winter residence of all the aristocracy of Savoie; , . . with twenty thousand francs one could live en grand seigneur; ... a country gentleman, with an income of a hundred and twenty louis d'or a year, would as a matter of course take up his abode in the town for the winter." To-day such a basis upon which to make an estimate of the value of Chambery as a 255 The Cathedrals of Southern France place of residence would be, it is to be feared, misleading. Arthur Young closes his observations upon the agricultural prospects of Savoie with the bold statement that: " On this day, left Cham- bery much dissatisfied, — for the want of knowing more of it." Rousseau knew it better, much better. " S'il est une petite ville au monde oii I'on goute la douceur de la vie dans un commerce agreable et sur, c'est Chambery." Savoie and the Comte de Nice were an- nexed to France only as late as i860, and from them were formed the departments of Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and the Alpes-Maritimes. Chambery is to-day an archbishopric, with suffragans at Annecy, Tarentaise, and St. Jean de Maurienne. Formerly conditions were reversed, and Chambery was merely a bishopric in the province de Tarentaise. Its first bishop, Michel Conseil, came in office, however, only in 1780. The cathedral is of the fourteenth century, in the pointed style, and as a work of art is distinctly of a minor class. The principal detail of note is a western portal which somewhat approaches good Gothic, but in the main, both inside and out, 256 The Cathedrals of Southern France the church has no remarkable features, if we except some modern glass, which is better in colour than most late work of its kind. As if to counteract any additional charm which this glass might otherwise lend to the interior, we find a series of flamboyant tra- ceries over the major portion of the side walls and vaulting. These are garish and in every way unpleasing, and the interior effect, like that of the exterior, places the cathedral at Chambery far down the scale among great churches. Decidedly the architectural embellishments of Chambery lie not in its cathedral. The chapel of the ancient chateau, dating in part from the thirteenth century, but mainly of the Gothic-Renaissance period, is far and away the most splendid architectural monument of its class to be seen here. ha Grande Chartreuse is equally accessible from either Chambery or Grenoble, and should not be neglected when one is attempt- ing to familiarize himself with these parts. 257 XIX NOTRE DAME DE GRENOBLE It is an open question as to whether Gre- noble is not possessed of the most admirable and impressive situation of any cathedral city of France. At all events it has the attribute of a unique background in the massif de la Chartreuse, and the range of snow-clad Alps, which rise so abruptly as to directly screen and shelter the city from all other parts lying north and east. Furthermore this natural windbreak, coupled with the altitude of the city itself, makes for a bright and sunny, and withal 258 The Cathedrals of Southern France bracing, atmosphere which many professed tourist and health resorts lack. •Grenoble is in all respects " a most pleas- ant city," and one which contains much of interest for all sorts and conditions of pil- grims. Anciently Grenoble was a bishopric in the diocese of the Province of Vienne, to whose archbishop the see was at that time subordi- nate. Its foundation was during the third century, and its first prelate was one Domni- nus. In the redistribution of dioceses Grenoble became a suffragan of Lyon et Vienne, which is its status to-day. As might naturally be inferred, in the case of so old a foundation, its present-day cathe- dral of Notre Dame partakes also of early origin. This it does, to a small degree only, with respect to certain of the foundations of the choir. These date from the eleventh century, while succeeding eras, of a mixed and none too pure an architectural style, culminate in presenting a singularly unconvincing and cold church edifice. The " pointed " tabernacle, which is the chief interior feature, is of the middle fif- 259 The Cathedrals of Southern France teenth century, and indeed the general effect is that of the late Middle Ages, if not actually suggestive of still later modernity. The tomb of Archbishop Chisse, dating from 1407, is the cathedral's chief monu- mental shrine. To the left of the cathedral is the ancient bishop's palace; still used as such. It occu- pies the site of an eleventh-century episcopal residence, but the structure itself is probably not earlier than the fifteenth century. In the l^glise de St. Andre, a thirteenth- century structure, is a tomb of more than usual sentimental and historical interest: that of Bayard. It will be found in the transept. No mention of Grenoble could w^ell ignore the famous monastery of La Grande Char- treuse. Mostly, it is to be feared, the monastery is associated in mundane minds with that subtle and luxurious liqueur which has been brewed by the white-robed monks of St. Bruno for ages past; and was until quite recently, when the establishment was broken up by govern- ment decree and the real formula of this sparkling liqueur departed with the migrat- ing monks. The opinion is ventured, however, that up 260 The Cathedrals of Southern France to the time of their expulsion (in 1902), the monks of St. Bruno combined solitude, aus- terity, devotion, and charity of a most prac- tical kind with a lucrative commerce in their distilled product after a successful manner not equalled by any religious community be- fore or since. The Order of St. Bruno has weathered many storms, and, during the Terror, was 261 The Cathedrals of Southern France driven from its home and dispersed by brutal and riotous soldiery. In 1816 a remnant re- turned, escorted, it is said, by a throng of fifty thousand people. The cardinal rule of the Carthusians is ab- stemiousness from all meat-eating; which, however, in consideration of their calm, reg- ular life, and a diet in which fish plays an im- portant part, is apparently conducive to that longevity which most of us desire. It is related that a certain Dominican pope wished to diminish the severity of St. Bruno's regulations, but was met by a delegation of Carthusians, whose doyen owned to one hun- dred and twenty years, and whose youngest member was of the ripe age of ninety. The amiable pontiff, not having, apparently, an argument left, accordingly withdrew his edict. Of all these great Charterhouses spread throughout France, ha Grande Chartreuse was the most inspiring and interesting; not only from the structure itself, but by reason of its commanding and romantic situation amid the forest-clad heights of the Savoyan Alps. The first establishment here was tHe foun- dation of St. Bruno (in 1084), which con- 262 The Cathedrals of Southern France sisted merely of a modest chapel and a num- ber of isolated cubicles. This foundation only gave way — as late as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — to an enlarged structure more in accord with the demands and usage of this period. The most distinctive feature of its archi- tecture is the grand cloister, wijth its hundred and fifteen Gothic arches, out of which open the sixty cells of the sandalled and hooded white- robed monks, who, continuing St. Bru- no's regulation, live still in isolation. In these cells they spent all of their time outside the hours of work and worship, but were allowed the privilege of receiving one colleague at a time. Here, too, they ate their meals, with the exception of the principal meal on Sun- days, when they all met together in the refec- tory. The ^gltse de la Grande Chartreuse itself is very simple, about the only distinctive or notable feature being the sixteenth-century choir-stalls. At the midnight service, or at matins, when the simple church is lit only by flaming torches, and the stalls filled with white-robed Chartreux, is presented a pic- ture which for solemnity and impressiveness 263 The Cathedrals of Southern France is as vivid as any which has come dovi^n from mediaeval times. The chanting of the chorals, too, is unlike anything heard before; it has indeed been called, before now, angelic. Petrarch, whose brother was a member of the order, has put himself on record as having been enchanted by it. As many as ten thousand visitors have passed through the portals of ha Grande Chartreuse during the year, but now in the absence of the monks — temporary or per- manent as is yet to be determined — condi- tions obtain which will not allow of entrance to the conventual buildings. No one, however, who visits either Gre- noble or Chambery should fail to journey to St. Laurent du Pont — the gateway of the fastness which enfolds ha Grande Chartreuse , and thence to beneath the shadow of the walls which for so long sheltered the parent house of this ancient and powerful order. 264 ^ifiSf''; Belley XX BELLEY AND AOSTE En route to Chambery, from Lyon, one passes the little town of Belley. It is an an- cient place, most charmingly situated, and is a sufifragan bishopric, strangely enough, of Besangon, which is not only Teutonic in its tendencies, but is actually of the north. At all events, Belley, in spite of its clear and crisp mountain air, is not of the same climatic zone as the other dioceses in the archbishop- ric of Besangon. Its cathedral is distinctly minor as to style, and is mainly Gothic of the fifteenth century; though not unmixed, nor even consistent, in its various parts. No inconsiderable portion is modern, as will be plainly seen. One distinctly notable feature is a series of Romanesque columns in the nave, possibly taken from some pagan Roman structur.e. They are sufficiently of importance and value 267 The Cathedrals of Southern France to be classed as "Monuments Historiques," and as such are interesting. Aoste (Aoste-St.-Genix) is on the site of the Roman colony of Augustum, of which to- day there are but a few fragmentary remains. It is perhaps a little more than a mile from the village of St. Genix, with which to-day its name is invariably coupled. As an ancient bishopric in the province of Tarentaise, it took form in the fourth century, with St. Eu- stache as its first bishop. To- day the ecclesi- astical jurisdiction of all this region — the Val-de-Tarentaise — is held by Tarentaise. 268 XXI ST. JEAN DE MAURIENNE St. Jean de Maurienne is a tiny moun- tain city well within the advance-guard of the Alpine range. Of itself it savours no more of the picturesque than do the imme- diate surroundings. One can well under- stand that vegetation round about has grown scant merely because of the dearth of fructify- ing soil. The valleys and the ravines flourish, but the enfolding walls of rock are bare and sterile. This is the somewhat abbreviated descrip- tion of the pagi garnered from an ancient 269 The Cathedrals of Southern France source, and is, in the main, true enough to-day. Not many casual travellers ever get to this mountain city of the Alps; they are mostly rushed through to Italy, and do not stop short of the frontier station of Modane, some thirty odd kilometres onward ; from which point on- ward only do they know the " lie of the land " between Paris and Piedmont. St. Jean de Maurienne is to-day, though a suffragan of Chambery, a bishopric in the old ecclesiastical province of Tarentaise. The first archbishop — as the dignity was then — was St. Jacques, in the fifth century. The cathedral of St. Jean is of a peculiar architectural style, locally known as " Char- treusian." It is by no means beautiful, but it is not unpleasing. It dates, as to the epoch of its distinctive style, from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, though it has been so fully restored in our day that it may as well be considered as a rebuilt structure, in spite of the consistent devotion to the original plan. The chief features of note are to be seen in its interior, and, while they are perhaps not of extraordinary value or beauty, in any sin- gle instance, they form, as a whole, a highly interesting disposition of devout symbols. 270 The Cathedrals of Southern France Immediately within the portico, by which one enters from the west, is a plaster model of the tomb of Count Humbert, the head of the house of Savoie. In the nave is an altar and mausoleum in marble, gold, and mosaic, erected by the Car- thusians to St. Ayrald, a former bishop of the diocese and a member of their order. In the left aisle of the nave is a tomb to Oger de Conflans, and another to two former bishops. Through the sacristy, which is behind the chapel of the Sacred Heart, is the entrance to the cloister. This cloister, while not of ranking greatness or beauty, is carried out, in the most part, in the true pointed style of its era (1452), and is, on the whole, the most charming attribute of the cathedral. The choir has a series of carved stalls in wood, which are unusually acceptable. In the choir, also, is a cihorium, in alabaster, with a reliquaire which is said to contain three fingers of John the Baptist, brought to Savoie in the sixth century by Ste. Thecle. The crypt, beneath the choir, is, as is most frequently the case, the remains of a still earlier church, which occupied the same site, but of which there is little record extant. 271 XXII ST. PIERRE DE ST. CLAUDE St. Claude is charmingly situated in a romantic valley of the Jura. The sound of mill-wheels and the sight of factory chimneys mingle inextricably with the roaring of mountain torrents and the soli- tude of the pine forest. The majority of the inhabitants of these valleys lead a simple and pastoral life, with cheese-making apparently the predominant industry. Manufacturing of all kinds is car- ried on, in a small way, in nearly every ham- let — in tiny cottage ateliers — wood-carving, gem-polishing, spectacle and clock-making, besides turnery and wood-working of all sorts. St. Claude, with its ancient cathedral of St. Pierre, is the centre of all these activities; which must suggest to all publicists of time- worn and ennuied lands a deal of possibilities 272 The Cathedrals of Southern France in the further application of such industrial energies as lie close at hand. In 1789, when Arthur Young, in his third journey through France, passed through St. Claude, the count-bishop of the diocese, the sole inheritor of its wealthy abbey foundation and all its seigneurial dependencies, had only just enfranchised his forty thousand serfs. Voltaire, the atheist, pleaded in vain the cause of this Christian prelate, and for him to be allowed to sustain his right to bond- men ; but opposition was too great, and they became free to enjoy property rights, could they but once acquire them. Previously, if childless, they had no power to bequeath their property; it reverted simply to the seigneur by custom of tradition. In the fifth century, St. Claude was the site of a powerful abbey. It did not become an episcopal see, however, until 1742, when its first bishop was Joseph de Madet. At the Revolution the see was suppressed, but it rose again, phoenix-like, in 1821, and endures to-day as a suffragan of Lyon et Vienne. The cathedral of St. Pierre is a fourteenth- century edifice, with later work (seventeenth century) equally to be remarked. As a work 273 The Cathedrals of Southern France of restoration it appears poorly done, but the entire structure is of more than ordinary in- terest ; nevertheless it still remains an uncom- pleted work. The church is of exceedingly moderate dimensions, and is in no sense a great achieve- ment. Its length cannot be much over two hundred feet, and its width and height are approximately equal (85 feet), producing a symmetry which is too conventional to be really lovable. Still, considering its environment and the association as the old abbey church, to which St. Claude, the bishop of Besangon, retired in the twelfth century, it has far more to offer in the way of a pleasing prospect than many cathedrals of greater architectural worth. There are, in its interior, a series of fine choir-stalls in wood, of the fifteenth century — comparable only with those at Rodez and Albi for their excellence and the luxuriance of their carving — a sculptured Renaissance retable depicting the life of St. Pierre, and a modern high-altar. This last accessory is not as worthy an art work as the two others. 274 Notre Dame de Bourg XXIII NOTRE DAME DE BOURG The chief ecclesiastical attraction of Bourg-en-Bresse is not its one-time cathedral of Notre Dame, which is but a popr Renais- sance affair of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. The famous figlise de Brou, which Mat- thew Arnold described so justly and fully in his verses, is a florid Gothic monument which ranks among the most celebrated in France. It is situated something less than a mile from the town, and is a show-piece which will not be neglected. Its charms are too many and varied to be even suggested here. There are a series of sculptured figures of the prophets and apostles, from a fifteenth or sixteenth-century atelier, that may or may not have given the latter-day Sargent his sug- gestion for his celebrated " frieze of the prophets." They are wonderfully like, at all 277 The Cathedrals of Southern France events, and the observation is advisedly in- cluded here, though it is not intended as a sneer at Sargent's masterwork. This wonderful sixteenth-century figlise de Brou, in a highly decorated Gothic style, its monuments, altars, and admirable glass, is not elsewhere equalled, as to elaborateness, in any church of its size or rank. Notre Dame de Bourg — the cathedral — though manifestly a Renaissance structure, has not a little of the Gothic spirit in its in- terior arrangements and details. It is as if a Renaissance shell — and not a handsome one — were enclosing a Gothic treasure. There is the unusual polygonal apside, which dates from the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and is the most curious part of the entire edifice. The octagonal tower of the west has, in its higher story, been replaced by an ugly dome- shaped excrescence surmounted by an enor- mous gilded cross which is by no means beau- tiful. The west fagade in general, in whose portal are shown some evidences of the Gothic spirit, which at the time of its erection had not wholly died, is uninteresting and all out of proportion to a church of its rank. 278 The Cathedrals of Southern France The interior effect somewhat redeems the unpromising exterior. There is a magnificent marble high-altar, jewel-wrought and of much splendour. The two chapels have modern glass. A fine liead of Christ, carved in ivory, is to be seen in the sacristy. Previous to 1789 it was kept in the great council-chamber of the t.tats de la Bresse. In the sacristy also there are two pictures, of the German school of the sixteenth century. There are sixty-eight stalls, of the sixteenth century, carved in wood. Curiously enough, these stalls — of most excellent workmanship — are not placed within the regulation con- fines of the choir, but are ranged in two rows along the wall of the apside. 279 XXIV GLANDEVE, SENEZ, RIEZ, SISTERON The diocese of Digne now includes four ci-devant bishoprics, each of which was sup- pressed at the Revolution. The ruins of the ancient bishopric of Glan- deve are to-day replaced by the small town of D'Entrevaux, whose former cathedral of St. Just has now disappeared. The see of Glandeve had in all fifty-three bishops, the first — St. Fraterne — in the year 459. Senez was composed of but thirty-two par- ishes. It was, however, a very ancient foun- dation, dating from 445 A. D. Its cathedral was known as Notre Dame, and its chapter was composed of five canons and three dig- nitaries. At various times forty-three bishops occupied the episcopal throne at Senez. The suppression likewise made way with the bishopric at Riez, a charming little city of Provence. The see was formerly composed of fifty-four parishes, and its cathedral of 280 N OTRE DAME de SISTERON The Cathedrals of Southern France Notre Dame had a chapter of eight canons and four dignitaries. The first bishop was St. Prosper, in the early part of the fifth cen- tury. Ultimately he was followed by seventy- four others. Two " councils of the church " were held at Riez, the first in 439, and the second in 1285. The diocese of Sisteron was situated in the charming mountain town of the Basses-Alps. This brisk little fortress-city still offers to the traveller many of the attractions of yore, though its former cathedral of Notre Dame no longer shelters a bishop's throne. ' Four dignitaries and eight canons per- formed the functions of the cathedral, and served the fifty parishes allied with it. The first bishop was Chrysaphius, in 452, and the last, Frangois Bovet, in 1789. This prelate in 1801 refused the oath of allegiance demanded by the new regime, and forthwith resigned, when the see was combined with that of Digne. The ancient cathedral of Notre Dame de Sisteron of the eleventh and twelfth centuries is now ranked as a "Monument Historique." It dates, in the main, from the twelfth cen- tury, and is of itself no more remarkable than 281 The Cathedrals of Southern France many of the other minor cathedrals of this part of France. Its chief distinction lies i,n its grand retahle, which is decorated with a series of superb paintings by Mignard. The city lies picturesquely posed at the foot of a commanding height, which in turn is surmounted by the ancient citadel. Across the defile, which is deeply cut by the river Durance, rises the precipitous Mont de la Baume, which, with the not very grand or splendid buildings of the city itself, composes the ensemble at once into a distinctively " old- world " spot, which the march of progress has done little to temper. It looks not a little like a piece of stage- scenery, to be sure, but it is a wonderful grouping of the works of nature and of the hand of man, and one which it will be difficult to duplicate elsewhere in France; in fact, it will not be possible to do so. 282 XXV ST. JEROME DE DIGNE The diocese of Digne, among all of its neighbours, has survived until to-day. It is a sufifragan of Aix, Aries, and Embrun, and has jurisdiction over the whole of the Depart- ment of the Basses-Alps. St. Domnin be- came its first bishop, in the fourth century. The ancient Romanesque cathedral of Notre Dame — from which the bishop's seat has been removed to the more modern St. Jerome — is an unusually interesting old church, though bare and unpretentious to-day. It dates from the twelfth century, and has 283 The Cathedrals of Southern France all the distinguishing marks of its era. Its nave is, moreover, a really fine work, and worthy to rank with many more important. There are, in this nave, some traces of a series of curious wall-paintings dating from the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. St. Jerome de Digne — called la cathedrale fort magnifiante — is a restored Gothic church of the early ages of the style, though it has been placed — in some doubt — as of the fifteenth century. The apse is semicircular, without chapels, and the general effect of the interior as a whole is curiously marred by reason of the lack of transepts, clerestory, and triforium. This notable poverty of feature is perhaps made up for by the amplified side aisles, which are doubled throughout. The western portal, which is of an accept- able modern Gothic, is of more than usual interest as to its decorations. In the tym- panum of the arch is a figure of the Saviour giving his blessing, with the emblems of the Evangelists below, and an angel and the peli- can — the emblem of the sacrament — above. Beneath the figure of the Saviour is another of St. Jerome, the patron, to whom the ca- thedJJil is dedicated. 284 The Cathedrals of Southern France A square, ungainly tower holds a noisy peal of bells, which, though a great source of local pride, can but prove annoying to the stranger, with their importunate and unseemly clang- ing. The chief accessories, in the interior, are an elaborate organ-case, — of the usual doubt- ful taste, — a marble statue of St. Vincent de Paul (by Daumas, 1869), ^"d a sixteenth or seventeenth-century statue of a former bishop of the diocese. Digne has perhaps a more than ordinary share of picturesque environment, seated, as it is, luxuriously in the lap of the surrpunding mountains. St. Domnin, the first bishop, came, it is said, from Africa at a period variously stated as from 330 to 340 A. D., but, at any rate, well on into the fourth century. His enthronement appears to have been undertaken amid much heretical strife, and was only accomplished with the aid of St. Marcellin, the archbishop of Embrun, of which the diocese of Digne was formerly a sufifragan. The good St. Domnin does not appear to have made great headway in putting out the flame of heresy, though his zeal was great and his miracles many. He departed this 285 The Cathedrals of Southern France world before the dawn of the fifth century, and his memory is still brought to the minds of the communicants of the cathedral each year on th^ 13th of February — his fete- day — by the display of a reliquary, which is said to contain — somewhat unemphatically — the remains of his head and arm. Wonderful cures are supposed to result to the infirm who view this relique in a proper spirit of veneration, and devils are warranted to be cast out from the true believer under like conditions. A council of the Church was held at Digne in I4i4r 286 XXVI NOTRE DAME DE DIE The Augusta Dia of the Romans is to-day a diminutive Frencli town lying at the foot of the colline whose apex was formerly sur- mounted by the more ancient city. It takes but little ecclesiastical rank, and is not even a tourist resort of renown. It is, however, a shrine which encloses and sur- rounds many monuments of the days which are gone, and is possessed of an ancient Arc de Triomphe which would attract many of the genus " touriste," did they but realize its charm. The cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin, sheltered a bishop's throne from the founda- tion of the bishopric until 1285, when a hiatus ensued — apparently from some inexplicable reason — until 1672, when its episcopal dig- nity again came into being. Finally, in 1801, the diocese came to an end. St. Mars was the 287 The Cathedrals of Southern France first bishop, the see having been founded in the third century. The porch of this cathedral is truly re- markable, having been taken from a former temple to Cybele, and dates at least from some years previous to the eleventh century. An- other portal of more than usual remark — known as the porte rouge — is fashioned from contemporary fragments of the same period. While to all intents and purposes the ca- thedral is an early architectural work, its rank to-day is that of a restored or rebuilt church of the seventeenth century. ■ The nave is one of the largest in this part of France, being 270 feet in length and sev- enty-six feet in width. It has no side aisles and is entirely without pillars to break its area, which of course appears more vast than it really is. What indications there are which would place the cathedral among any of the distinct architectural styles are of the pointed variety. Aside from its magnificent dimensions, there are no interior features of remark exn cept a gorgeous Renaissance pulpit and a curious cene. 288 XXVII NOTRE DAME ET ST. CASTOR D'APT Apt is doubtfully claimed to have been a bishopric under St. Auspice in the first cen- tury, but the ancient Apia Julia of Roman times is to-day little more than an interesting by-point, with but little importance in either ecclesiological or art matters. Its cathedral — as a cathedral — ceased to exist in 1790. It is of the species which would be generally accepted as Gothic, so far as ex- terior appearances go, but it is bare and poor in ornament and design, and as a type ranks far down the scale. In its interior arrangements the style be- comes more florid, and takes on something of the elaborateness which in a more thoroughly worthy structure would be unremarked. The chief decoration lies in the rather elab- orate iube, or choir-screen, which stands out far more prominently than any other interior feature, and is without doubt an admirable 289 The Cathedrals of Southern France example of this not too frequent attribute of a French church. Throughout there are indications of the work of many epochs and eras, from the crypt of the primitive church to the Chapelle de Ste. Anne, constructed by Mansard in the sev- enteenth century. This chapel contains some creditable paintings by Parrocel, and yet others, in a still better style, by Mignard. The crypt, which formed a part of the earlier church on this site, is the truly pic- turesque feature of the cathedral at Apt, and, like many of its kind, is now given over to a series of subterranean chapels. Among the other attributes of the interior are a tomb of the Dues de Sabron, a marble altar of the twelfth century, a precious enamel of the samp era, and a Gallo-Romain sar- cophagus of the fifth century. As to the exterior eflfect and ensemble, the cathedral is hardly to be remarked, either in size or splendour, from the usual parish church of the average small town of France. It does not rise to a very ambitious height, neither does its ground-plan suggest magnifi- cent proportions. Altogether it proves to be a cathedral which is neither very interesting nor even picturesque. 290 The Cathedrals of Southern France The little city itself is charmingly situated on the banks of the Coulon, a small stream which runs gaily on its way to the Durance, at times torrential, which in turn goes to swell the flood of the Rhone below Avignon. The former bishop's palace is now the pre- fecture and Mairie. 29T XXVIII NOTRE DAME D'EMBRUN EmBRUN, not unlike its neighbouring towns in the valley of the Durance, is possessed of the same picturesque environment as Sisteron and Digne. It is perched high on that species of eminence known in France as a colline, though in this case it does not rise to a very magnificent height ; what there is of it, how- 292 The Cathedrals of Southern France ever, serves to accentuate the picturesque ele- ment as nothing else would. The episcopal dignity of the town is only partial; it shares the distinction with Aix and Aries. . The Eglise Notre Dame, though it is still locally known as " la cathedrale," is of the twelfth century, and has a wonderful old Romanesque north porch and peristyle set/ about with gracefully proportioned columns,! the two foremost of which are supported upon the backs of a pair of weird-looking animals, which are supposed to represent the twelfth- century stone-cutter's conception of the king of beasts. In the tympanum of this portal are sculptured figures of Christ and the Evan- gelists, in no wise of remarkable quality, but indicating, with the other decorative features, a certain luxuriance which is not otherwise suggested in the edifice. X The Romanesque tower which belongs to the church proper is, as to its foundations, of very early date, though, as a finished detail, it is merely a rebuilt fourteenth-century struc- ture carried out on the old lines. There is another tower, commonly called " la tour brune," which adjoins the ancient bishop's "^93 The Cathedrals of Southern France palace, and dates from at least a century before the main body of the church. The entire edifice presents an architectural melange that makes it impossible to classify it as of any one specific style, but the opinion is hazarded that it is all the more interesting a shrine because of this incongruity. The choir, too, indicates that it has been built up from fragments of a former fabric, while the west front is equally unconvincing, and has the added curious effect of presenting a variegated fagade, which is, to say the least and the most, very unusual. A similar sugges- tion is found occasionally in the Auvergne, but the interweaving of party-coloured stone, in an attempt to produce variety, has too often not been taken advantage of. In this case it is not so very pleasing, but one has a sort of sympathetic regard for it nevertheless. In the interior there are no constructive features of remark; indeed there is little em- bellishment of any sort. There is an eight- eenth-century altar, in precious marbles, worked after the old manner, and in the sac- risty some altar-fittings of elaborately worked Cordovan leather, a triptych which is dated 1 518, some brilliant glass of the fifteenth cen- tury, and in the nave a Renaissance organ-case 294 The Cathedrals of Southern France which encloses an organ of the early sixteenth century. Near by is Mont St. Guillaume (2,686 metres), on whose heights is a sanctuaire fre- quented by pilgrims from round about the whole valley of the Durance. From " Quentin Durward," one recalls the great devotion of the Dauphin of France — Louis XI. — for the statue of Notre Dame d'Embrun. 295 XXIX NOTRE DAME DE L'ASSOMPTION DE GAP Gap is an ancient and most attractive little city of the Maritime Alps, of something less than ten thousand inhabitants. It^ cathedral is also the parish church, which suggests that the city is not especially devout. The chapter of the cathedral consists of eight canons, who, considering that the spiri- tual life of the entire Department of the Hautes-Alpes — some hundred and fifty thou- sand souls — is in their care, must have a very busy time of it. St. Demetrius, the friend of St. John the Evangelist, has always been regarded as the first apostle and bishop of the diocese. He came from Rome to Gaul in the reign of Claudian, and began his work of evangeliza- tion in the environs of Vienne under St. Cres- cent, the disciple of St. Paul. From Vienne Demetrius came immediately to Gap and es- tablished the diocese here. 296 The Cathedrals of Southern France Numerous conversions were made and the Church quickly gained adherents, but perse- cution was yet rife, as likewise was supersti- tion, and the priests were denounced to the governors of the province, who forthwith put them to death in true barbaric fashion. Amid these inflictions, however, and the later Protestant persecutions in Dauphine, the diocese grew to great importance, and endures to-day as a suffragan of Aix, Aries, and Embrun. The Eglise de (jap has even yet the good fortune to possess personal reliques of her first bishop, and accordingly displays them with due pride and ceremony on his jour de fete, the 26th October of each year. Says a willing but unknowing French writer: " Had De- metrius — who came to Gap in the first cen- tury — any immediate successors? That we cannot say. It is a period of three hundred years which separates his tenure from that of St. Constantine, the next prelate of whom the records tell." Three other dioceses of the former ecclesi- astical province have been suppressed, and Gap alone has lived to exert its tiny sphere of influence upon the religious life of the present day. 297 The Cathedrals of Southern France The history of Gap has been largely identi- fied with the Protestant cause in Dauphine. There is, in the Prefecture, a monument to the Due de Lesdiguieres — Frangoise de Bonne — who, from the leadership of the Protestants went over to the Roman faith, in consideration of his being given the rank of Connetable de France. Why the mere fact of his apostasy should have been a sufficient and good reason for this aggrandizement, it is difficult to realize in this late day; though we know of a former telegraph messenger who became a count. Another reformer, Guillaume Farel, was born and lived at Gap. " He preached his first sermon," says History, " at the mill of Buree, and his followers soon drove the Cath- olics from the place; when he himself took possession of the pulpits of the town." From all this dissension from the Roman faith — though it came comparatively late in point of time — rose the apparent apathy for church-building which resulted in the rather inferior cathedral at Gap. No account of this unimportant church edi- fice could possibly be justly coloured with en- thusiasm. It is not wholly a mean structure, but it is unworthy of the great activities of 298 The Cathedrals of Southern France the religious devotion of the past, and has no pretence to architectural worth, nor has it any of the splendid appointments which are usually associated with the seat of a bishop's throne. Notre Dame de I'Assomption is a modern edifice in the style Romano-Gothique , and its construction, though elaborate both inside and out, is quite unappealing. This is the more to be marvelled at, in that the history of the diocese is so full of incident; so far, in fact, in advance of what the tangible evidences would indicate. 299 XXX NOTRE DAME DE VENCE VencE, — the ancient Roman city of Ven- tium, — with five other dioceses of the eccle- siastical province of Embrun, was suppressed — as the seat of a bishop — in 1790. It had been a suffragan bishopric of Embrun since its foundation by Eusebe in the fourth cen- tury. The ancient cathedral of Notre Dame is supposed to show traces of workmanship of the sixth, tenth, twelfth, and fifteenth cen- turies, but, excepting that of the latter era, it will be difficult for the casual observer to place the distinctions of style. The whole ensemble is of grim appearance ; so much so that one need not hesitate to place it well down in the ranks of the church-build- er's art, and, either from poverty of purse or purpose, it is quite undistinguished. In its interior there are a few features of unusual remark: an ancient sarcophagus, 300 The Cathedrals of Southern France called that of St. Veran; a retable of the six- teenth century; some rather good paintings, by artists apparently unknown; and a series of fifty-one fifteenth-century choir-stalls of quite notable excellence, and worth more as an expression of artistic feeling than all the other features combined. The only distinction as to constructive fea- tures is the fact that there are no transepts, and that the aisles which surround the nave are doubled. 301 XXXI CATHEDRALE DE SIGN The small city of Sion, the capital of the Valais, looks not unlike the pictures one sees in sixteenth-century historical works. It is brief, confined, and unobtrusive. It was so in feudal times, when most of its archi- tecture partook of the nature of a stronghold. It is so to-day, because little of modernity has come into its life. The city, town, or finally village — for it is hardly more, from its great lack of activity — lies at the foot of three lofty, isolated emi- nences. A great conflagration came to Sion early in the nineteenth century which resulted in a new lay-out of the town and one really fine modern thoroughfare, though be it still remarked its life is yet mediaeval. Upon one of these overshadowing heights is the present episcopal residence, and on an- other the remains of a fortress — formerly the stronghold of the bishops of Sion. On this 302 The Cathedrals of Southern France height of La Valere stands the very ancient church of Ste. Catherine (with a tenth or eleventh-century choir) , occupying, it is said, the site of a Roman temple. In the mid-nineteenth century the Jesuits gained a considerable influence here and con- gregated in large numbers. The city was the ancient Sedanum, and in olden time the bishop bore also the title of " Prince of the Holy Empire." The power of this prelate was practically unlimited, and ordinances of state were, as late as the begin- ning of the nineteenth century, made in his name, and his arms formed the embellishments of the public buildings and boundary posts. Rudolf III., king of Burgundy, from the year looo, made them counts of Valais. St. Theodule was the first bishop of Sion, — in the fourth century, — and is the patron of the diocese. In 1070 the bishop of Sion came to Eng- land as papal legate to consecrate Walkelin to the see of Winchester. In 1516 Bishop Schinner came to England to procure financial aid from Henry VIII. to carry on war against France. The cathedral in the lower town is a fif- teenth-century work which ought — had the . 303 The Cathedrals of Southern France manner of church-building here in this iso- lated region kept pace with the outside world — to be Renaissance in style. In reality, it suggests nothing but the earliest of Gothic, and, in parts, even Romanesque; therefore it is to be remarked, if not admired. Near by is the modern episcopal residence. The records tell of the extraordinary beauty and value of the tresor, which formerly be- longed to the cathedral: an ivory pyx, a reliquary, and a magnificent manuscript of the Gospels — ^ given by Charles the Great to St. Maurice, and acquired by the town in the fourteenth century. This must at some former time have been dispersed, as no trace of it is known to-day. Sion was formerly a suflfragan bishopric of Tarantaise, which in turn has become to- day a suflfragan of Chambery. 304 XXXII ST. PAUL TROIS CHATEAUX St. Paul Trois ChAteaux is a very old settlement. As a bishopric it was known an- ciently as Tricastin, and dates from the second century. St. Restuit was its first bishop. It was formerly the seat of the ancient Roman colony of Augusta Tricastinorum. Tradition is responsible for the assertion that St. Paul was the first prelate of the diocese, and being born blind was cured by Jesus Christ. This holy man, after having recovered his sight, took the name of Restuit, under which name he is still locally honoured. One of his suc- cessors erected to his honour, in the fourth century, a chapel and an altar. These, of course have disappeared — hence we have only tradition, which, to say the least, and the most, is, in this case, quite legendary. The city was devastated in the fifth cen- tury by the Vandals ; in 1736 by the Saracens ; 305 The Cathedrals of Southern France and taken and retaken by the Protestants and Catholics in the fourteenth century. As a bishopric the " Tricastin city " com- prised but thirty-six parishes, and in the re- arrangement attendant upon the Revolution was suppressed altogether. Ninety-five bish- ops in all had their seats here up to the time of suppression. Certainly the religious his- tory of this tiny city has been most vigorous and active. The city conserves to-day somewhat of its ancient birthright, and is a picturesque and romantic spot, in which all may tarry awhile amid its tortuous streets and the splendid re- mains of its old-time builders. Few do drop ofif, even, in their annual rush southward, in season oV out, and the result is that St. Paul Trois Chateaux is to-day a delightfully " old world " spot in the most significant meaning of the phrase. Of course the habitant still refers to the seat of the former bishop's throne as a cathe- dral, and it is with pardonable pride that he does so. This precious old eleventh and twelfth-cen- tury church is possessed of as endearing and interesting an aspect as the city itself. It has been restored in recent times, but is much 306 The Cathedrals of Southern France hidden by the houses which hover around its walls. It has a unique portal which opens between two jutting columns whose shafts uphold nothing — not even capitals. In fact, the general plan of the cathedral follows that of the Latin cross, though in this instance it is of rather robust proportions. The transepts, which are neither deep nor wide, are terminated with an apse, as is also the choir, which depends, for its embellish- ments, upon the decorative effect produced by eight Corinthian columns. The interior, the nave in particular, is of unusual height for a not very grand structure ; perhaps eighty feet. Its length is hardly greater. The orders of columns rise vaultwards, surmounted by a simple entablature. These are perhaps not of the species that has come to be regarded as good form in Christian ar- chitecture, but which, for many reasons, have found their way into church-building, both before and since the rise of Gothic. Under a triforium, in blind, is a sculptured drapery; again a feature more pagan than Christian, but which is here more pleasing than when usually found in such a false rela- tion. 307 The Cathedrals of Southern France Both these details are in imitation of the antique, and, since they date from long before the simulating of pseudo-classical details became a mere fad, are the more interest- ing and valuable as an art-expression of the time. For the rest, this one-time cathedral is un- common and most singular in all its parts, though nowhere of very great inherent beauty. An ancient gateway bears a statue of the Virgin. It was the gift of a former Arch- bishop of Paris to the town of his birth. An ancient Dominican convent is now the l£,cole Normale des Petits Freres de Marie. Within its wall have recently been discovered a valuable mosaic work, and a table or altar of carved stone. In the suburbs of the town have also re- cently been found much beautiful Roman work of a decorative nature; a geometric parchment in mosaic; a superb lamp, in worked bronze; a head of Mercury (now in the Louvre) , and much treasure which would make any antiquarian literally leap for joy, were he but present when they were un- earthed. Altogether the brief resume should make for a desire to know more of this ancient city 308 The Cathedrals of Southern France whose name, even, is scarcely known to those much-travelled persons who cross and recross France in pursuit of the pleasures of conven- tion alone. 309 PART IV The Mediterranean Coast INTRODUCTORY The Mediterranean shore of the south of France, that delectable land which fringes the great tideless sea, bespeaks the very spirit of history and romance, of Christian fervour, and of profane riot and bloodshed. Its ancient provinces, — Lower Languedoc, the Narbonensis of Gaul ; Provence, the most glorious and golden of all that went to make up modern France, — the mediaeval capital of King Rene, Aix-en-Provence, and the com- mercial capital of the Phoceans (559 B.C.), Massilia, all combine in a wealth of storied lore which is inexhaustible. The tide of latter-day travel descends the Rhone to Marseilles, turns eastward to the conventional pleasures of the Riviera, and utterly neglects the charms of La Crau, St. Remy, Martiques, and Aigues-Mortes ; or the more progressive, though still ancient 313 The Cathedrals of Southern France cathedral cities of Montpellier, Beziers, Nar- bonne, or Perpignan. There is no question but that the French Riviera is, in winter, a land of sunshiny days, cool nights, and the more or the less rapid life of fashion. Which of these attractions induces the droves of personally-, semi-, and non-conducted tourists to journey thither, with the first advent of northern rigour, is doubtful; it is probably, however, a combi- nation of all three. It is a beautiful strip of coast-line from Marseilles to Mentone, and its towns and cities are most attractively placed. But a sojourn there " in the season," amid the luxury of a " palace-hotel," or the bareness of a medi- ocre pension, is a thing to be dreaded. Seek- ers after health and pleasure are supposed to be wonderfully recouped by the process; but this is more than doubtful. Vice is rarely attractive, but it is always made attractive, and weak tea and pain de minage in a Riviera boarding-house are no more stimulating than elsewhere ; hence the many virtues of this sun- lit land are greatly nullified. " A peculiarity of the Riviera is that each " of the prominent watering-places possesses " a tutelary deity of our own. (Modest this!) 3H The Cathedrals of Southern France " Thus, for instance, no visitor to Cannes is " allowed to forget the name of Lord *' Brougham, while the interest at Beaulieu " and Cap Martin centres around another " great English" statesman, Lord Salisbury. " Cap d'Antibes has (or had) for its genius " loci Grant Allen, and Valescure is chiefly " concerned with Mrs. Humphry Ward and " Mrs. Oliphant." This quotation is, perhaps, enough to make the writer's point here: Why go to the Riviera to think of Lord Brougham, long since dead and gone, any more than to Monte Carlo to be reminded of the unfortunate end which happened to the great system for " breaking the bank " of Lord , a nine- teenth-century nobleman of notoriety — if not of fame? The charm of situation of the Riviera is great, and the interest awakened by its many reminders of the historied past is equally so; but, with regard to its architectural remains, the most ready and willing temperament will be doomed to disappointment. The cathedral cities of the Riviera are not of irresistible attraction as shrines of the Christian faith; but they have much else, 315 The Cathedrals of Southern France either within their confines or in the immedi- ate neighbourhood, which will go far to make up for the deficiency of their religious monu- ments. It is not that the architectural remains of churches of another day, and secular estab- lishments, are wholly wanting. Far from it; Frejus, Toulon, Grasse, and Cannes are possessed of delightful old churches, though they are not of ranking greatness, or splen- dour. Still the fact remains that, of themselves, the natural beauties of the region and the heritage of a historic past are not enough to attract the throngs which, for any one of a dozen sus- pected reasons, annually, from November to March, flock hither to this range of towns, which extends from Hyeres and St. Raphael, on the west, to Bordighera and Ospadeletti, just over the Italian border, on the east. It is truly historic ground, this; perhaps more visibly impressed upon the mind and imagination than any other in the world, if we except the Holy Land itself. Along this boundary were the two main routes, by land and by water, through which the warlike and civil institutions of Rome first made their way into Gaul, conquered it, and 316 The Cathedrals of Southern France impressed thereon indelibly for five hundred years the mighty power which their ambition urged forward. At Cimiez, a suburb of Nice, they have left a well-preserved amphitheatre; at Antibes the remains of Roman towers; Villefranche — the port of Nice — was formerly a Roman port; Frejus, the former Forum Julii, has re- mains of its ancient harbour, its city walls, an amphitheatre, a gateway, and an arch, and, at some distance from the city, the chief of all neighbouring remains, an aqueduct, the crum- bling stones of which can be traced for many miles. Above the promontory of Monaco, where the Alps abruptly meet the sea, stands the tiny village of La Turbie, some nineteen hundred feet above the waters of the sparklingly bril- liant Mediterranean. Here stands that vener- able ruined tower, the great Trophoea Au- gusti of the Romans, now stayed and strutted by modern masonry. It commemorates the Alpine victories of the first of the emper- ors, and overlooks both Italy and France. Stripped to-day of the decorations and sculp- tures which once graced its walls, it stands as a reminder of the first splendid introduction 317 The Cathedrals of Southern France of the luxuriant architecture of Rome into the precincts of the Western Empire. Here it may be recalled that sketching, even from the hilltops, is a somewhat risky pro- ceeding for the artist. The surrounding emi- nences — as would be likely so near the Ital- ian border — are frequently capped with a fortress, and occupied by a small garrison, the sole duty of whose commandant appears to be " heading off," or worse, those who would make a picturesque note of the environment of this ci-devant Roman stronghold. The process of transcribing " literary notes " is looked upon with equal suspicion, or even greater disapproval, in that — in English — they are not so readily translated as is even a bad drawing. So the admonition is here ad- visedly given for " whom it may concern." From the Rhone eastward, Marseilles alone has any church of a class worthy to rank with those truly great. Its present cathedral of Ste. Marie-Majeure assuredly takes, both as to its plan and the magnitude on which it has been carried out, the rank of a masterwork of archi- tecture. It is a modern cathedral, but it is a grand and imposing basilica, after the By- zantine manner. Westward, if we except Beziers, where 318 The Cathedrals of Southern France there is a commanding cathedral; Narbonne, where the true sky-pointing Gothic is to be found ; and Perpignan, where there is a very ancient though peculiarly disposed cathedral, there are no really grand cathedral churches of this or any other day. On the whole, how- ever, all these cities are possessed of a subtle charm of manner and environment which tell a story peculiarly their own. Foremost among these cities of Southern Gaul, which have perhaps the greatest and most appealing interest for the traveller, are Carcassonne and Aigues-Mortes. Each of these remarkable reminders of days that are gone is unlike anything elsewhere. Their very decay and practical desertion make for an interest which would otherwise be un- attainable. Aigues-Mortes has no cathedral, nor ever had; but Carcassonne has a very beautiful, though small, example in St. Nazaire, treated elsewhere in this book. Both Aigues-Mortes and Carcassonne are the last, and the greatest, examples of the fa- mous walled and fortified cities of the Middle Ages. Aigues-Mortes itself is a mere dead thing of the marshes, which once held ten thousand 319 The Cathedrals of Southern France souls, and witnessed all the pomp and glitter which attended upon the embarking of Louis IX. on his chivalrous, but ill-starred, ventures to the African coasts. " Here was a city built by the whim of a king — the last of the Royal Crusaders." To- day it is a coffin-like city with perhaps a couple of thousand pallid, shaking mortals, striving against the marsh-fever, among the ruined houses, and within the mouldering walls of an ancient Gothic burgh. The Ramparts of Aigues - Mortes 320 Si. Sauveur cfAix II ST. SAUVEUR D'AIX AlX, the former capital of Provence, one of the most famous ancient provinces, the early seat of wealth and civilization, and the native land of the poetry and romance of mediaeval- ism, was the still more ancient Aquce Sextice of the Romans — so named for the hot springs of the neighbourhood. It was their oldest col- ony in Gaul, and was founded by Sextius Cal- vinus in B. C. 123. In King Rene's time, — " le bon rot" died at Aix in 1480, — Aix-en-Provence was more famous than ever as a " gay capital," where " mirth and song and much good wine " reigned, if not to a degenerate extent, at least to the full expression of liberty. In 1 48 1, just subsequent to Rene's death, the province was annexed to the Crown, and fifty years later fell into the hands of Charles V., who was proclaimed King of Aries and Pro- vence. This monarch's reign here was of shojt The Cathedrals of Southern France duration, and he evacuated the city after two months' tenure. During all this time the church of Aix, from the foundation of the archbishopric by St. Maxine in the first century (as stated rather doubtfully in the " Gallia Christi- ania ") , ever advanced hand in hand with the mediaeval gaiety and splendour that is now past. Who ever goes to Aix now? Not many Riviera tourists even, and not many, unless they are on a mission bent, will cross the Rhone . and the Durance when such appealingly at- tractive cities as Aries, Avignon, and Nimes lie on the direct pathway from north to south. Formerly the see was known as the Province of Aix. To-day it is known as Aix, Aries, and Embrun, and covers the Department of Bouches-du-Rhone, with the exception of Marseilles, which is a suffragan bishopric of itself. The chief ecclesiastical monuments of Aix are the cathedral of St. Sauveur, with its most unusual baptistere; the church of St. Jean-de- Malte of the fourteenth century; and the com- paratively modern early eighteenth-century church of La Madeleine, with a fine " Annun- 324 The Cathedrals of Southern France ciation " confidently attributed by local ex- perts to Albrecht Diirer. The cathedral of St. Sauveur is, in part, an eleventh-century church. The portions re- maining of this era are not very extensive, but they do exist, and the choir, w^hich was added in the thirteenth century, made the first ap- proach to a completed structure. In the next century the choir w^as still more elaborated, and the tower and the southern aisle of the nave added. This nave is, therefore, the orig- inal nave, as the northern aisle was not added until well into the seventeenth century. The west fagade contains a wonderful, though non-contemporary, door and doorway in wood and stone of the early sixteenth cen- tury. This doorway is in two bays, divided by a pier, on which is superimposed a statue of the Virgin and Child, framed by a light garland of foliage and fruits. Above are twelve tiny statuettes of Sibylles or the theo- logical virtues placed in two rows. The lower range of the archivolt is divided by pilasters bearing the symbols of the Evangelists, deeply cut arabesques of the Genii, and the four greater prophets — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Taken together, these late sculptures of the The Cathedrals of Southern France early sixteenth century form an unusually mixed lot; but their workmanship and dis- position are pleasing and of an excellence which in many carvings of an earlier date is often lacking. The interior shows early " pointed " and simple round arches, with pilasters and pedi- ment which bear little relation to Gothic, and are yet not Romanesque of the conventional variety. These features are mainly not sug- gestive of the Renaissance either, though work of this style crops out, as might be expected, in the added north aisle of the nave. The transepts, too, which are hardly to be remarked from the outside, — being much hemmed about by the surrounding buildings, — also indicate their Renaissance origin. The real embellishments of the interior are : a triptych — " The Burning Bush," with por- traits of King Rene, Queen Jeanne de Laval, and others ; another of " The Annunciation ; " a painting of St. Thomas, by a sixteenth-cen- tury Flemish artist; and some sixteenth-cen- tury tapestries. None of these features, while acceptable enough as works of art, compare in worth or novelty with the tiny baptistere, which is claimed as of the sixth century. This is an unusual work in Gaul, the only 326 The Cathedrals of Southern France other examples being at Poitiers and Le Puy. It resembles in plan and outline its more fa- mous contemporary at Ravenna, and shows eight antique columns, from a former temple to Apollo, with dark shafts and lighter capi- tals. The dome has a modern stucco finish, little in keeping with the general tone and purport of this accessory. The cloister of St. Sauveur, in the Lombard style, is very curi- ous, with its assorted twisted and plain col- umns, some even knotted. The origin of its style is again bespoke in certain of the round- headed arches. Altogether, as an accessory to the cathedral, if to no other extent, this Lombard detail is forceful and interesting. 327 Ill ST. REPARATA DE NICE " What would you, then ? I say it is most engaging, in winter when the strangers are here, and all work day and night ; but it is a much better place in summer, when one can take their ease." — Paul Arj^ne. Whatever maybe the attractions of Nice for the travelled person, they certainly do not lie in or about its cathedral. The guide-books call it simply " the principal ecclesiastical edi- fice ... of no great interest," which is an apt enough qualification. In a book which professes to treat of the special subject of cathedral churches, some- thing more is expected, if only to define the reason of the lack of appealing interest. One might say with the Abbe Bourasse, — ■ who wrote of St. Louis de Versailles, — " It is cold, unfeeling, and without life;" or he might dismiss it with a few words of lukewarm 328 The Cathedrals of Southern France praise, which would be even less satisfy- ing. More specifically the observation might be passed that the lover of churches will hardly find enough to warrant even passing consid- eration on the entire Riviera. This last is in a great measure true, though much of the incident of history and romance is woven about what — so far as the church- lover is concerned — may be termed mere " tourist points." At all events, he who makes the round, from Marseilles to San Remo in Italy, must to no small extent subordinate his love of ecclesias- tical art and — as do the majority of visitors — plunge into a whirl of gaiety {sic) as con- ventional and unsatisfying as are most ful- some, fleeting pleasures. The sensation is agreeable enough to most of us, for a time at least, but the forced and artificial gaiety soon palls, and he who puts it all behind him, and strikes inland to Aix and Embrun and the romantically disposed little cathedral towns of the valley of the Du- rance, will come once again into an architec- tural zone more in comport with the subject suggested by the title of this book. It is curious to note that, with the exception, 3'^9 The Cathedrals of Southern France of Marseilles and Aix, scarce one of the suf- fragan dioceses of the ancient ecclesiastical province of Aix, Aries, and Embrun is pos- sessed of a cathedral of the magnitude which we are wont to associate with the churchly dignity of a bishop. St. Reparata de Nice is dismissed as above ; that of Antibes was early transferred or com- bined with that of Grasse; Grasse itself en- dured for a time — from 1245 onward — but was suppressed in 1790; Glandeve, Senez, and Riez were combined with Digne; while Frejus has become subordinate to Toulon, though it shares episcopal dignity with that city. In spite of these changes and the apparently inexplicable tangle of the limits of jurisdiction which has spread over this entire region, re- ligion has, as might be inferred from a study of the movement of early Christianity in Gaul, ever been prominent in the life of the people, and furthermore is of very long standing. The first bishop of Nice was Amantius, who came in the fourth century. With what effect he laboured and with what real effect his labours resulted, history does not state with minutiae. The name first given to the diocese was Cemenelium. 330 The Cathedrals of Southern France In 1802 the diocese of Nice was allied with that of Aix, but in the final readjustment its individuality became its own possession once more, and it is now a bishopric, a suffragan of Marseilles. As to architectural splendour, or even worth, St. Reparata de Nice has none. It is a poor, mean fabric in the Italian style; quite unsuitable in its dimensions to even the proper exploitation of any beauties that the style of the Renaissance may otherwise possess. The general impression that it makes upon one is that it is but a makeshift or substitute for something more pretentious which is to come. The church dates from 1650 only, and is entirely unworthy as an expression of relig- ious art or architecture. The structure itself is bare throughout, and what decorative em- bellishments there are — though numerous — are gaudy, after the manner of stage tinsel. 1,:!>^ IV STE. MARIE MAJEURE DE TOULON The episcopal dignity of Toulon is to-day shared with Frejus, whereas, at the founding of the diocese, Toulon stood alone as a bish- opric in the ecclesiastical province of Aries. This was in the fifth century. When the re- adjustment came, after the Revolution, the honour was divided with the neighbouring coast town of Frejus. In spite of the fact that the cathedral here is of exceeding interest, Toulon is most often thought of as the chief naval station of France in the Mediterranean. From this fact signs of the workaday world are for ever thrusting themselves before one. As a seaport, Toulon is admirably situated and planned, but the contrast between the new and old quarters of the town and the frowning fortifications, docks, and storehouses is a jumble of utilitarian accessories which 33^ The Cathedrals of Southern France does not make for the slightest artistic or aes- thetic interest. Ste. Marie Majeure is a Romanesque edi- fice of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Its fagade is an added member of the seventeenth century, and the belfry of the century follow- ing. The church to-day is of some consid- erable magnitude, as the work of the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries compre- hended extensive enlargements. As to its specific style, it has been called Provencal as well as Romanesque.. It is hardly one or the other, as the pure types known elsewhere are considered, but rather a blend or transition between the two. The edifice underwent a twelfth-century restoration, which doubtless was the oppor- tunity for incorporating with the Romanesque fabric certain details which we have come since to know as Provengal. During the Revolution the cathedral suf- fered much despoliation, as was usual, and only came through the trial in a somewhat imperfect and poverty-stricken condition. Still, it presents to-day some considerable splendour, if not actual magnificence. Its nave is for more reasons than one quite remarkable. It has a lengtK of perhaps a 22% The Cathedrals of Southern France hundred and sixty feet, and a width scarcely thirty-five, which gives an astonishing effect of narrowness, but one which bespeaks a cer- tain grace and lightness nevertheless — or would, were its constructive elements of a little lighter order. In a chapel to the right of the choir is a fine modern reredos, and throughout there are many paintings of acceptable, if not great, worth. The pulpit, by a native of Toulon, is usually admired, but is a modern work which in no way compares with others of its kind seen along the Rhine, and indeed throughout Germany. One of the principal features which decorate the interior is a tab- ernacle by Puget; while an admirable sculp- tured " Jehovah and the Angels " by Veyrier, and a " Virgin " by Canova — which truly is not a great work — complete the list of artis- tic accessories. The first bishop of Toulon, in the fifth cen- tury, was one Honore. 334 ST. ETIENNE DE FREJUS The ancient episcopal city of Frejus has perhaps more than a due share of the attrac- tions for the student and lover of the historic past. It is one of the most ancient cities of Provence. Its charm of environment, people, and much else that it offers, on the surface or below, are as irresistible a galaxy as one can find in a small town of scarce three thou- sand inhabitants. And Frejus is right on the beaten track, too, though it is not apparent that the usual run of pleasure-loving, tennis- playing, and dancing-party species of tourist — at a small sum per head, all included — ever stop here en route to the town's more fashionable Riviera neighbours — at least they do not en masse — as they wing their way to the more delectable pleasures of naughty Nice or precise and proper Mentone. The establishment of a bishopric here is somewhat doubtfully given by "La Gallia 33 S The Cathedrals of Southern France Christiania" as having been in the fourth century. Coupled with this statement is the assertion that the cathedral at Frejus is very ancient, and its foundation very obscure ; but that it was probably built up from the remains of a " primitive temple consecrated to an idol." Such, at least, is the information gleaned from a French source, which does not in any way suggest room for doubt. Formerly the religious administration was divided amongst a provost, an archdeacon, a sacristan, and twelve canons. The diocese was suppressed in 1801 and united with that of Aix, but was reestablished in 1823 by vir- tue of the Concordat of 18 17. To-day the diocese divides the honour of archiepiscopal dignity with that of Toulon. The foundations of St. Etienne are admit- tedly those of a pagan temple, but the bulk of the main body of the church is of the eleventh century. The tower and its spire — not wholly beautiful, nor yet in any way un- beautiful — are of the period of the ogivale primaire. As to style, in so far as St. Etienne differs greatly from the early Gothic of convention, it is generally designated as Provengal-Ro- manesque. It is, however, strangely akin to Z3(> The Cathedrals of Southern France what we know elsewhere as primitive Gothic, and as such it is worthy of remark, situated, as it is, here in the land where the pure round- arched style is indigenous. The portal has a doorway ornamented with some indifferent Renaissance sculptures. To the left of this doorway is a baptistere con- taining a number of granite columns, which, judging from their crudeness, must be of gen- uine antiquity. There is an ancient Gothic cloister, hardly embryotic, but still very rudimentary, because of the lack of piercings of the arches; pos- sibly, though, this is the result of an after- thought, as the arched openings appear likely enough to have been filled up at some time subsequent to the first erection of this feature. The bishop's palace is of extraordinary magnitude and impressiveness, though of no very great splendour. In its fabric are in- corporated a series of Gallo-Roman pilasters, and it has the further added embellishment of a pair of graceful twin tourelles. The Roman remains throughout the city are numerous and splendid, and, as a former seaport, founded by Caesar and enlarged by Augustus, the city was at a former time even more splendid than its fragments might indi- 337 The Cathedrals of Southern France cate. To-day, owing to the building up of the foreshore, and the alluvial deposits washed down by the river Argens, the town is perhaps a mile from the open sea. Detail of Doorway of the Archibishop's Palace, Frdjus :!>7>'^ VI EGLISE DE GRASSE Grasse is more famed for its picturesque situation and the manufacture of perfumery than it is for its one-time cathedral, which is but a simple and uninteresting twelfth- century church, whose only feature of note is a graceful doorway in the pointed style. The diocese of Grasse formerly had juris- diction over Antibes, whose bishop — - St. Ar- mentaire — ruled in the fourth century. The diocese of Grasse — in the province of Embrun — did not come into being, how- ever, until 1245, when Raimond de Villeneuve 339 The Cathedrals of Southern France was made its first bishop. The see was sup- pressed in 1790. There are, as before said, no accessories of great artistic worth in the figlise de Grasse, and the lover of art and architecture will perforce look elsewhere. In the Hopital are three paintings attributed to Rubens, an " Ex- altation," a " Crucifixion," and a " Crowning of Thorns." They may or may not be genuine works by the master; still, nothing points to their lack of authenticity, except the omission of all mention thereof in most accounts which treat of this artist's work. 340 VII ANTIBES Cap d'AnTIBES, on the Golfe Jouan, is one of those beauty-spots along the Mediterranean over which sentimental rhapsody has ever lent, if not a glamour which is artificial, at least one which is purely aesthetic. One must not deny it any reputation of this nature which it may possess, and indeed, with St. Raphael and Hyeres, it shares with many another place along the French Riviera a popularity as great, perhaps, as if it were the possessor of even an extraordinarily beautiful cathedral. The churchly dignity of Antibes has de- parted long since, though its career as a former bishopric — in the province of Aix — was not brief, as time goes. It began in the fourth century with St. Armentaire, and endured intermittently until the twelfth cen- tury, when the see was combined with that of Grasse, and the ruling dignity transferred to that place, 341 VIII STE. MARIE MAJEURE DE MARSEILLES " These brown men of Marseilles, who sing as they bend at their oars, are Greeks." — Clovis Hughes. Marseilles is modem and commercial; but Marseilles is also ancient, and a centre from which have radiated, since the days of the Greeks, much power and influence. It is, too, for a modern city, — which it is to the average tourist, — wonderfully pic- turesque, and shows some grand architectural effects, both ancient and modern. The Palais de Long Champs is an archi- tectural grouping which might have dazzled luxurious Rome itself. The Chamber of Commerce, with its decorations by Puvis de Chavannes, is a structure of the first rank; the Cannebiere is one of those few great busi- ness thoroughfares which are truly imposing; while the docks, shipping, and hotels, are all 342 The Cathedrals of Southern France of that preeminent magnitude which we are wont to associate only with a great capital. As to its churches, its old twelfth-century cathedral remains to-day a mere relic of its former dignity. It is a reminder of a faith and a power that still live in spite of the attempts of the world The Old Cathedral, Marseilles of progress to live it down, and has found its echo in the present-day cathedral of Ste. Marie Majeure, one of the few remarkably successful attempts at the designing of a great church in modern times. The others are the new Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral in London, the projected cathedral of St* 345 The Cathedrals of Southern France John the Divine in New York, and Trinity Church in Boston. As an exemplification of church-building after an old-time manner adapted to modern needs, called variously French-Romanesque, Byzantine, and, by nearly every expert who has passed comment upon it, by some special nomenclature of his own, the cathedral at Marseilles is one of those great churches which will live in the future as has St. Marc's at Venice in the past. Its material is a soft stone of two contrast- ing varieties, — the green being from the neighbourhood of Florence, and the white known as pierre de Calissant, — laid in alter- nate courses. Its deep sunken portal, with its twin flanking Byzantine towers, dominates the old part of the city, lying around about the water-front, as do few other churches, and no cathedrals, in all the world. It stands a far more impressive and inspir- ing sentinel at the water-gate of the city than does the ludicrously fashioned modern " sail- ors' church " of Notre Dame de la Gard, which is perched in unstable fashion on a pinnacle of rock on the opposite side of the harbour. This " curiosity " — for it is hardly more 346 The Cathedrals of Southern France — is reached by a cable-lift or funicular rail- way, which seems principally to be conducted for the delectation of those winter birds of passage yclept " Riviera tourists." The true pilgrim, the sailor who leaves a votive off.ering, or his wife or sweetheart, who goes there to pray for his safety, journeys on foot by an abrupt, stony road, — as one truly devout should. This sumptuous cathedral will not please every one, but it cannot be denied that it is an admirably planned and wonderfully ex- ecuted neo-Byzantine work. In size it is really vast, though its chief remarkable di- mension is its breadth. Its length is four hundred and sixty feet. At the crossing is a dome which rises to one hundred and ninety-seven feet, while two smaller ones are at each end of the transept, and yet others, smaller still, above the vari- ous chapels. The general effect of the interior is — as might be expected — grandoise. There is an immensely wide central nave, flanked by two others of only appreciably reduced propor- tions. Above the side aisles are galleries extending to the transepts. 347 The Cathedrals of Southern France The decorations of mosaic, glass, and mural painting have been the work of the foremost artists of modern times, and have been long in execution. The entire period of construction extended practically over the last half of the nineteenth century. The plans were by Leon Vaudoyer, who was succeeded by one Esperandieu, and again by Henri Revoil. The entire detail work may not even yet be presumed to have been completed, but still the cathedral stands to- day as the one distinct and complete achieve- ment of its class within the memory of living man. The pillars of the nave, so great is their number and so just and true their disppsi- tion, form a really decorative effect in them- selves. The choir is very long and is terminated with a domed apse, with domed chapels radi- ating therefrom in a symmetrical and beauti- ful manner. The episcopal residence is immediately to the right of the cathedral, on the Place de la Major. Marseilles has been the seat of a bishop since the days of St. Lazare in the first cen- 348 The Cathedrals of Southern France tury. It was formerly a suffragan of Aries in the Province d'Arles, as it is to-day, but its jurisdiction is confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the city. 349 IX ST. PIERRE D'ALET In St. Pierre d'Alet was a former cathe- dral of a very early date; perhaps as early as the ninth century, though the edifice was entirely rebuilt in the eleventh. To-day, even this structure — which is not to be wondered at — is in ruins. There was an ancient abbey here in the ninth century, but the bishopric was not founded until 131 8, and was suppressed in 1790. The most notable feature of this ancient church is the wall which surrounds or forms the apside. This quintupled pan is separated by four great pillars, in imitation of the Cor- inthian order; though for that matter they may as well be referred to as genuine antiques — which they probably are — and be done witK it. The capitals and the cornice which sur- mounts them, are richly ornamented with 350 The Cathedrals of Southern France sculptured foliage, and, so far as it goes, the whole effect is one of liberality and luxury of treatment. Immediately beside the ruins of this old- time cathedral is the figlise St. Andre of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 351 X ST. PIERRE DE MONTPELLIER La Ville de Montpellier " EUe est charmante et douce . . . Avec son vast ciel, toujours vibrant et pur, Elle est charmante avec ses brunes jeunes filles . . . le noir diamant de leurs yeux ! " — Henri de Bornier. Montpellier is seated upon a hill, its foot washed by two small and unimportant rivers. A sevententh-century wtriter has said: " This city is not very ancient, though now it be the biggest, fairest, and richest in Langue- doc, after Toulouse." From a passage in the records left by St. Bernard, the Abbot of Clairvaux, it is learned that there was a school or seminary of physi- cians here as early as 1155, and the perfect establishment of a university was known to have existed just previous to the year 1200. This institution was held in great esteem, and 352 IT. PIERRE > de MONTPELLIER The Cathedrals of Southern France in importance second only to Paris. To-day the present establishment merits like approba- tion, and, sheltered in part in the ancient episcopal palace, and partly enclosing the cathedral of St. Pierre, it has become insep- arable from consideration in connection there- with. The records above referred to have this to say concerning the university: " Tho' Physic has the Precendence, yet both Parts of the Law are taught in one of its Colleges, by Four Royal Professors, with the Power of making Licentiates and Doctors." Continuing, he says: "The ceremony of taking the M. D. degree is very imposing ; if only the putting on and off, seven times, the old gown of the famous Rabelais." Montpellier was one of " the towns of se- curity " granted by Henry IV. to the Protes- tants, but Louis XIIL, through the sugges- tions of his cardinals, Richelieu and Mazarin, forced them by arms to surrender this place of protection. The city was taken after a long siege and vigorous defence in 1622. Before the foundation of Montpellier, the episcopal seat was at Maguelonne, the ancient Magalonum of the Romans. The town does not exist to-day, and its memory is only per- The Cathedrals of Southern France petuated by the name Villeneuve les Mague- lonne, a small hamlet on the bay of that name, a short distance from Montpellier. The Church had a foothold here in the year 636, but the ferocity of Saracen hordes utterly destroyed all vestiges of the Christian faith in their descent upon the city. Says the Abbe Bourasse: " In the eleventh century another cathedral was dedicated by Bishop Arnaud, and the day was made the occasion of a fete, in consideration of the restoration of the church, which had been for a long time abandoned." It seems futile to attempt to describe a church which does not exist, and though the records of the later cathedral at Maguelonne are very complete, it must perforce be passed by in favour of its descendant at Montpellier. Having obtained the consent of Frangois I., the bishop of Maguelonne solicited from the pontiff at Rome the privilege of transferring the throne. In a bull given in 1536, it was decreed that this should be done forthwith. Accordingly, the bishop and his chapter transferred their dignity to a Benedictine monastery at Montpellier, which had been founded in 1364 by Pope Urban V. The wars of the Protestants desecrated this 354 The Cathedrals of Southern France great church, which, like many others, suf- fered greatly from their violence, so much so that it was shorn entirely of its riches, its rel- iquaries, and much of its decoration. The dimensions of this church are not great, and its beauties are quite of a comparative quality; but for all that it is a most inter- esting cathedral. The very grim but majestic severity of its canopied portal — with its flanking cylin- drical pillars, called by the French tourelles elances — gives the key-note of it all, and a note which many a more perfect church lacks. This curious porch well bespeaks the time when the Church was both spiritual and mili- tant, and ranks as an innovation — though an incomplete and possibly imperfect one — in the manner of finishing oflf a west facade. Its queer, suspended canopy and slight turreted towers are unique; though, for a fact, they suggest, in embryo, those lavish Burgundian porches ; but it is only a suggestion, because of the incompleteness and Hareness. However, this porch is the distinct fragment of the cathedral which will appeal to all who come into contact therewith. The general effect of the interior is even more plain than that of the outer walls, and 3SS The Cathedrals of Southern France is only remarkable because of its fine and true proportions of length, breadth, and height. The triforium is but a suggestion of an arcade, supported by black marble columns. The clerestory above is diminutive, and the window piercings are infrequent. At the present time the choir is hung with a series of curtains of panne — not tapestries in this case. The effect is more theatrical than ecclesias- tical. The architectural embellishments are to- day practically nil, but instead one sees ever5rwhere large, uninterrupted blank walls without decoration of any sort. The principal decorations of the southern portal are the only relaxation in this other- wise simple and austere fabric. Here is an elaborately carved tympanum and an orna- mented architrave, which suggests that the added mellowness of a century or two yet to come will grant to it some approach to dis- tinction. This portal is by no means an insignificant work, but it lacks that ripeness which is only obtained by the process of time. Three rectangular towers rise to unequal heights above the roof, and, like the western porch, are bare and primitive, though they 356 The Cathedrals of Southern France would be effective enough could one but get an ensemble view that would bring them into range. They are singularly unbeautiful, however, when compared with their northern brethren. 357 XI CATHEDRALE D'AGDE This tiny Mediterranean city was founded originally by the Phoenicians as a commercial port, and finally grew, in spite of its diminu- tive proportions, to great importance. Says an old writer: " Agde is not so very big, but it is Rich and Trading-Merchant- men can now come pretty near Agde and Boats somewhat large enter into the Mouth of the River; where they exchange many Commodities for the Wines of the Country." Agde formerly, as if to emphasize its early importance, had its own viscounts, whose estates fell to the share of those of Nimes; 358 The Cathedrals of Southern France but in 1 1 87, Bernard Atton, son of a Viscount of Nimes, presented to the Bishop of Agde the viscounty of the city. Thus, it is seen, a certain good-fellowship must have existed between the Church and state of a former day. Formerly travellers told tales of Agde, whereby one might conclude its aspect was as dull and gloomy as " Black Angers " of King John's time ; and from the same source we learn of the almost universal use of a dull, slate-like stone in the construction of its buildings. To-day this dulness is not to be remarked. What will strike the observer, first and foremost, as being the chief charac- teristic, is tHe castellated ci-devant cathedral church. Here is in evidence the blackish basalt, or lava rock, to a far greater extent than elsewhere in the town. It was a good medium for the architect-builder to work in, and he produced in this not great or magnifi- cent church a truly impressive structure. The bishopric was founded in the fifth century under St. Venuste, and came to its end at the suppression in 1790. Its former cathedral is cared for by the Ministere des Beaux-Arts as a monument historique. The structure was consecrated as early as the seventh century, when a completed edifice 359 The Cathedrals of Southern France was built up from the remains of a pagan temple, which formerly existed on the site. Mostly, however, the work is of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, notably the massive square tower which, one hundred and twenty feet in height, forms a beacon by sea and a landmark on shore which no wayfarer by ship, road, or rail is likely to miss. A cloister of exceedingly handsome design and arrangement is attached to the cathedral, where it is said the machicoulis is the most ancient known. This feature is also notable in the roof-line of the nave, which, with the ex- traordinary window piercings and their dis- position, heightens still more the suggestion of the manner of castle-building of the time. The functions of the two edifices were never combined, though each — in no small way — frequently partook of many of the character- istics of the other. Aside from this really beautiful cloister, and a rather gorgeous, though manifestly good, painted altar-piece, there are no other noteworthy accessories; and the interest and charm of this not really great church lie in its aspect of strength and utility as well as its environment, rather than in any real aesthetic beauty. 360 XII ST. NAZAIRE DE BEZIERS St. Nazaire de Beziers is, in its strongly fortified attributes of frowning ramparts and well-nigh invulnerable situation, a continua- tion of the suggestion that the mediaeval church was frequently a stronghold in more senses than one. The church fabric itself has not the grim- ness of power of the more magnificent St. Cecile at Albi or Notre Dame at Rodez, but their functions have been much the same; and here, as at Albi, the ancient episcopal pal- ace is duly barricaded after a manner that bespeaks, at least, forethought and strategy. These fortress-churches of the South seem to have been a product of environment as much as anything; though on the other hand it may have been an all-seeing effort to pro- vide for such contingency or emergency as might, in those mediaeval times, have sprung up anywhere. 3^3 The Cathedrals of Southern France At all events, these proclaimed shelters, from whatever persecution or disasters might befall, were not only for the benefit of the clergy, but for all their constituency; and such stronghold as they offered was for the shelter, temporary or protracted, of all the population, or such of them as could be ac- commodated. Surely this was a doubly devout and utilitarian object. In this section at any rate — the extreme south of France, and more particularly to the westward of the Bouches-du-Rhone — the regional " wars of religion " made some such protection necessary; and hence the develop- ment of this type of church-building, not only with respect to the larger cathedral churches, but of a great number of the parish churches which were erected during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The other side of the picture Is shown by the acts of intolerance on the part of the Church, for those who merely differed from them in their religious tenets and principles. Fanat- ics these outsiders may have been, and perhaps not wholly tractable or harmless, but they were, doubtless, as deserving of protection as were the faithful themselves. This was not for them, however, and as for the violence and 364 The Cathedrals of Southern France hatred with which they were held here, one has only to recall that at Beziers took place the crowning massacres of the Albigenses — " the most learned, intellectual, and philo- sophic revolters from the Church of Rome. Beneath the shadow of these grim walls and towers over twenty thousand men and women and children were slaughtered by the fanatics of orthodox France and Rome; led on and incited by the Bishop of Beziers, who has been called — and justly as it would seem — " the blackest-souled bigot who ever de- formed the face of God's earth." The cathedral at Beziers is not a great or imposing structure when taken by itself. It is only in conjunction with its fortified walls and ramparts and commanding situation that it rises to supreme rank. It is commonly classed as a work of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, and with the characteristics of its era and local environ- ment, it presents no very grand or ornate features. Its first general plan was due to a layman- architect, Gervais, which perhaps accounts for a certain lack of what might otherwise be referred to as ecclesiastical splendour. The remains of this early work are pre- The Cathedrals of Southern France sumably slight; perhaps nothing more than the foundation walls, as a fire in 1209 did a considerable damage. The transepts were added in the thirteenth century, and the two dwarfed towers in the fourteenth, at which period was built the clocher (151 feet), the apside, and the nave proper. There is not a great brilliancy or refulgent glow from the fabric from which St. Nazaire de Beziers is built; as is so frequent in secular works in this region. The stone was dark, ap- parently, to start with, and has aged consider- ably since it was put into place. This, in a great measure, accounts for the lack of liveli- ness in the design and arrangenient of this cathedral, and the only note which breaks the monotony of the exterior are the two statues, symbolical of the ancient and the modern laws of the universe, which flank the western portal — or what stands for such, did it but possess the dignity of magnitude. So far as the exterior goes, it is one's first acquaintance with St. Nazaire, when seen across the river Orb, which gives the most lively and satisfying impression. The interior attributes of worth and inter- est are more numerous and pleasing. 366 The Cathedrals of Southern France The nave is aisleless, but has numerous lateral chapels. The choir has a remarkable series of windows which preserve, even to- day, their ancient protecting grilles — a series of wonderfully worked iron scrolls. These serve to preserve much fourteenth-cen- tury glass of curious, though hardly beautiful, design. To a great extent this ancient glass is hidden from view by a massive eighteenth- century retable, which is without any worth whatever as an artistic accessory. A cloister of the fourteenth century flanks the nave on the south, and is the chief feature of really appealing quality within the con- fines of the cathedral precincts. The view from the terrace before the cathe- dral is one which is hardly approachable else- where. For many miles in all directions stretches the low, flat plain of Languedoc ; the Mediterranean lies to the east; the Cevennes and the valley of the Orb to the north ; with the lance-like Canal du Midi stretching away to the westward. As might be expected, the streets of the city are tortuous and narrow, but there are evi- dences of the march of improvement which may in time be expected to eradicate all this — to the detriment of the picturesque aspect. 367 XIII ST. JEAN DE PERPIGNAN Perpignan is another of those provincial cities of France which in manners and cus- toms sedulously imitate those of their larger and more powerful neighbours. From the fact that it is the chief town of the Department des Pyrenees-Orientales, it perhaps justifies the procedure. But it is as the ancient capital of Rousillon — only united with France in 1659 — that the im- aginative person will like to think of it — in spite of its modern cafes, tram-cars, and magazins. 368 The Cathedrals of Southern France Like the smaller and Jess progressive town of Elne, Perpignan retains much the same Catalonian flavour of " physiognomy, lan- guage, and dress;" and its narrow, tortuous streets and the jalousies and patios of its houses carry the suggestion still further. The Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 changed the course of the city's destinies, and to-day it is the fortress-city of France which commands the easterly route into Spain. The city's Christian influences began when the see was removed hither from Elne, where it had been founded as early as the sixth century. The cathedral of St. Jean is a wonderful structure. In the lines of its apside it sug- gests those of Albi, while the magnitude of its great strongly roofed nave is only com- parable with that of Bordeaux as to its gen- eral dimensions. The great distinction of this feature comes from the fact that its Ro- manesque walls are surmounted by a truly ogival vault. This great church was originally founded by the king of Majorca, who held Rousillon in ransom from the king of Aragon in 1324. The west front is entirely unworthy of the other proportions of the structure, and deci- 369 The Cathedrals of Southern France dedly the most brilliant and lively view is that of the apside and its chapels. There is an odd fourteenth-century tower, above which is suspended a clock in a cage of iron. The whole design or outline of the exterior of this not very ancient cathedral is in the main Spanish ; it is at least not French. This Spanish sentiment is further sustained by many of the interior accessories and de- tails, of which the chief and most elaborate are an altar-screen of wood and stone of great magnificence, a marble retable of the seven- teenth century, a baptismal font of the twelfth or thirteenth century, some indifferent paint- ings, the usual organ buffet with fifteenth-cen- tury carving, and a tomb of a former bishop (1695) in the transept. The altars, other than the above, are gar- ish and unappealing. A further notable effect to be seen in the massive nave is the very excellent " pointed " vaulting. There are, close beside the present church, the remains of an older St. Jean — now nought but a ruin. The Bourse (locally called La Loge, from the Spanish Lonja) has a charming cloistered courtyard of a mixed Moorish-Gothic style. 370 The Cathedrals of Southern France It is well worthy of interest, as is also the citadel and castle of the King of Majorca. The latter has a unique portal to its chapel. It is recorded that Bishop Berengarius II. of Perpignan in the year 1019 visited the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and on his re- turn built a church or chapel on similar lines in memory of his pilgrimage. No remains of it are visible to-day, nor can it be further traced. Mention of it is made here from the fact that it seems to have been a worthy under- taking, — this memorial of a prelate's de- votion to his faith. 371 <£tn* XIV STE. EULALIA D'ELNE Elne is the first in importance of the dead cities which border the Gulf of Lyons. It is the ancient Illiberis, frequently men- tioned by Pliny, Livy, and, latterly. Gibbon. To-day it is ignored by all save the commis voyageur and a comparatively small number of the genuine French touristes. Formerly the ancient province of Rousil- lon, in which Elne is situated, and which bordered upon the Spanish frontier, was dis- tinctly Spanish as to manners and customs. It is, moreover, the reputed spot where Han- 372 The Cathedrals of Southern France nibal first encamped after crossing the Pyre- nees on his march to Rome. Like Bayonne, at the other extremity of the Pyrenean mountain chain, it commanded the gateway to Spain, and even to-day is the real entrance of the railway route to Barce- lona, as is Bayonne to Madrid. Between these two cities, for a distance ap- proaching one hundred and eighty miles, there is scarce a highway over the mountain barrier along which a wheeled vehicle may travel with comfort, and the tiny Republic of Andorra, though recently threatened with the advent of the railway, is still isolated and un- spoiled from the tourist influence, as well as from undue intercourse with either France or Spain, which envelop its few square miles of area as does the Atlantic Ocean the Azores. To-day Elne is no longer the seat of a bishop, the see of Rousillon having been trans- ferred to Perpignan in the fourteenth century, after having endured from the time of the first bishop, Domnus, since the sixth century. There has been left as a reminder a very interesting and beautiful smaller cathedral church of the early eleventh century. ' Alterations and restorations, mostly of the fifteenth century, have changed its material 373 The Cathedrals of Southern France aspect but little, and it still remains a highly captivating monumental glory; which opin- ion is further sustained from the fact that the Commission des Monuments Historiques has had the fabric under its own special care for many years. It is decidedly a minor edifice, and its parts are as unimpressive as its lack of magnitude; still, for all that, the church-lovers will find much crude beauty in this Romanesque basil- ica-planned church, with its dependant clois- ter of a very beautiful flowing Gothic of the fifteenth century. The chief artistic treasures of this ancient cathedral, aside from its elegant cloister, are a benitier in white marble; a portal of some pretensions, leading from the cathedral to its cloister; a fourteen-century tomb, of some considerable artistic worth; and a bas-relief, called the "Tomb of Constans." There is little else of note, either in or about the cathedral,, and the town itself has the gen- eral air of a glory long past. 374 h at) p XV ST. JUST DE NARBONNE The ancient province of Narbonenses — afterward comprising Languedoc — had for its capital what is still the city of Narbonne. One may judge of the former magnificence of Narbonne by the following lines of Sidonius Apollinaris: " Salve Narbo potens Salubritate, Qui Urbe et Rure simul bonus Videris, Muris, Civibus, ambitu, Tabernis, Portis, Porticibus, Foro, Theatre, Delubris, Capitoliis, Monetis, Thermis, Arcubus, Harreis, Macellis, Pratis, Fontibus, Insulus, Salinis, Stagnis, Flumine, Merce, Ponte, Ponto, Unus qui jure venere divos Lenoeum, Cererum, Palem, Minervam, Spicis, Palmite, Poscius, Tapetis." Narbonne is still mighty and healthful, if one is to judge from the activities of the pres- 375 The Cathedrals of Southern France ent day; is picturesque and pleasing, and far more comfortably disposed than many cities with a more magnificently imposing situation. The city remained faithful to the Romans until the utmost decay of the western empire, at which time (462) it was delivered to the Goths. It was first the head of a kingdom, and later, when it came to the Romans, it was made the capital of a province which comprised the fourth part of Gaul. This in turn was subdivided into the provinces of Narbonenses, Viennensis, the Greek Alps, and the Maritime Alps, that is, all of the later Savoie, Dauphine, Provence, Lower Languedoc, Rousillon, Toulousan, and the Comte de Foix. Under the second race of kings, the Dukes of Septimannia took the title of Dues de Nar- bonne, but the lords of the city contented them- selves with the name of viscount, which they bore from 1134 to 1507, when Gaston de Foix — the last Viscount of Narbonne — ex- changed it for other lands, with his uncle, the French king, Louis XII. The most cred- ulous affirm that the Proconsul Sergius Pau- lus — converted by St. Paul — was the first preacher of Christianity at Narbonne. 376 The Cathedrals of Southern France The Church is here, therefore, of great an- tiquity, and there are plausible proofs which demonstrate the claim. The episcopal palace at Narbonne, closely built up with the Hotel de Ville (rebuilt by Viollet-le-Duc), is a realization of the prog- ress of the art of domestic fortified architec- ture of the time. Like its contemporary at Laon in the north, and more particularly after the manner of the papal palace at Avignon and the arch- bishop's palace at Albi, this structure com- bined the functions of a domestic and official establishment with those of a stronghold or a fortified place of no mean pretence. Dating from 1272, the cathedral of St. Just de Narbonne suggests comparison with, or at least the influence of, Amiens. It is strong, hardy, and rich, with a direct- ness of purpose with respect to its various at- tributes that in a less lofty structure is want- ing. The height of the choir-vault is perhaps a hundred and twenty odd feet, as against one hundred and forty-seven at Amiens, and ac- cordingly it does not suffer In comparison. It may be remarked that these northern attributes of lofty vaulting and the high de- 377 The Cathedrals of Southern France velopment of the arc-boutant were not gen- eral throughout the south, or indeed in any other region than the north of France. Only at Bazas, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Auch, Tou- louse, and Narbonne do we find these features in any acceptable degree of perfection. The architects of the Midi had, by resist- ance an.d defiance, conserved antique tradi- tions with much greater vigour than they had endorsed the new style, with the result that many of their structures, of a period contem- porary with the early development of the Gothic elsewhere, here favoured it little if at all. Only from the thirteenth century onward did they make general use of ogival vaulting, maintaining with great conservatism the basil- ica plan of Roman tradition. In many other respects than constructive excellence does St. Just show a pleasing as- pect. It has, between the main body of the church and the present Hotel de Ville and the remains of the ancient archeveche, a frag- mentary cloister which is grand to the point of being scenic. It dates' from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and is decidedly the most appealing feature of the entire cathedral precincts. 378 CLOISTER OF ST. JUST de NARBONNE .... The Cathedrals of Southern France The cathedral itself still remains un- achieved as to completeness, but its tourelles, its vaulting, its buttresses, and its crenelated walls are most impressive. There are some elaborate tombs in the in- terior, in general of the time of Henri IV. The tresor is rich in missals, manuscripts, ivories, and various altar ornaments and deco- rations. The choir is enclosed with a series of arena- like loges, outside which runs a double aisle. There are fragmentary evidences of the one-time possession of good glass, but what paintings are shown appear ordinary and are doubtless of little worth. Decidedly the cathedral is an unusually splendid, if not a truly magnificent, work. 379 PART V The Valley of the Garonne INTRODUCTORY The basin of the Garonne includes all of the lower Aquitanian province, Lower Langue- doc, — still a debatable and undefinable land, — and much of that region known of lovers of France, none the less than the native him- self, as the Midi. Literally the term Midi refers to the south of France, but more particularly that part which lies between the mouth of the Rhone and the western termination of the Pyrenean mountain boundary between France and Spain. The term is stamped indelibly in the pop- ular mind by the events which emanated from that wonderful march of the legion, known as " Les Rouges du Midi," in Revolutionary times. We have heard much of the excesses of the Revolution, but certainly the vivid his- tory of " Les Rouges," as recounted so well in 383 The Cathedrals of Southern France that admirable book of Felix Gras (none the less truthful because it is a novel), which' bears the same name, gives every justification to those valiant souls v^^ho made up that re- markable phalanx; of w^hose acts most his- torians and humanitarians are generally pleased to revile as cruelty and sacrilege un- speakable. Felix Gras himself has told of the ignoble subjection in which his own great-grand- father, a poor peasant, was held; and Fred- eric Mistral tells of a like incident — of lashing and beating — which was thrust upon a relative of his. If more reason were wanted, a perusal of the written records of the Mar- seilles Battalion will point the way. Written history presents many stubborn facts, difficult to digest and hard to swallow; but the his- torical novel in the hands of a master will prove much that is otherwise unacceptable. A previous acquaintance with this fascinating and lurid story is absolutely necessary for a proper realization of the spirit which en- dowed the inhabitants of this section of the pays du Midi. To-day the same spirit lives to a notable degree. The atmosphere and the native char- acter alike are both full of sunshine and 384 The Cathedrals of Southern France shadow; grown men and women are yet children, and gaiety, humour, and passion abound where, in the more austere North, would be seen nought but indifference and indolence. It is the fashion to call the South languid, but nowhere more than at Bordeaux — where the Garonne joins La Gironde — will you find so great and ceaseless an activity. The people are not, to be sure, of the peas- ant class, still they are not such town-dwellers as in many other parts, and seem to combine, as do most of the people of southern France, a languor and keenness which are intoxicating if not stimulating. Between Bordeaux and Toulouse are not many great towns, but, in the words of Taine, one well realizes that " it is a fine country." The Garonne valley, with a fine alluvial soil, grows, productively and profitably, corn, to- bacco, and hemp ; and by the utmost industry and intelligence the workers are able to pros- per exceedingly. The traveller from the Mediterranean across to the Atlantic — or the reverse — by rail, will get glimpses now and then of this wonderfully productive river-bottom, as it flows yellow-brown through its osier-bedded 385 The Cathedrals of Southern France banks ; and again, an intermittent view of the Canal du Midi, upon whose non-raging bosom is carried a vast water-borne traffic by barge and canal-boat, which even the devel- opment of the railway has not been able to appreciably curtail. Here, too, the peasant proprietor is largely in evidence, which is an undoubted factor in the general prosperity. His blockings, hedg- ings, and fencings have spoiled the expanse of hillside and vale in much the same manner as in Albion. This may be a pleasing feature to the uninitiated, but it is not a picturesque one. However, the proprietorship of small plots of land, worked by their non-luxury demanding owners, is accountable for a great deal of the peace and plenty with which all provincial France, if we exjcept certain moun- tainous regions, seems to abound. It may not provide a superabundance of this world's wealth and luxury, but the French farmer — in a small way — has few likes of that nature, and the existing conditions make for a con- tentment which the dull, brutal, and lethargic farm labourer of some parts of England might well be forced to emulate, if even by ball and chain. Flat-roofed houses, reminiscent of Spain 386 The Cathedrals of Southern France or Italy — born of a mild climate — add a pleasing variety of architectural feature, while the curiously hung bells — with their flattened belfries, like the headstones in a cemetery — suggest something quite different from the motives which inspired the northern builders, who enclosed their chimes in a roofed-over, open-sided cubicle. The bells here hang merely in apertures open to the air on each side, and ring out sharp and true to the last dying note. It is a most picturesque and unusual arrangement, hardly to be seen elsewhere as a characteristic feature outside Spain itself, and in some of the old Missions, which the Spanish Fathers built in the early days of California. Between Bayonne and Bordeaux, and bor- dered by the sea, the Garonne, and the Adour, is a nondescript land which may be likened to the deserts of Africa or Asia, except that its barrenness is of the sea salty. It is by no means unpeopled, though uncultivated and possessed of little architectural splendour of either a past or the present day. Including the half of the department of the Gironde, a corner of Lot et Garonne, and all of that which bears its name, the Landes forms of itself a great seaboard plain or morass. It 387 The Cathedrals of Southern France is said by a geographical authority that the surface so very nearly approaches the recti- linear that for a distance of twenty-eight miles between the dismal villages of Lamothe and Labonheyre the railway is " a visible merid- ian." The early eighteenth-century writers — in English — used to revile all France, so far as its topographical charms were concerned, with panegyrics upon its unloveliness and lack of variety, and of being anything more than a flat, arid land, which was not sufficient even unto itself. ' What induced this extraordinary reasoning it is hard to realize at the present day. Its beauties are by no means as thinly sown as is thought by those who know them slightly — from a window of a railway carriage, or a sojourn of a month in Brittany, a week in Provence, or a fortnight in Touraine. The ennui of a journey through France is the result of individual incapacity for obser- vation, not of the country. Above all, it is certainly not true of Guienne or Gascony, nor of Provence, nor of Dauphine, nor Auvergne, nor Savoie. As great rivers go, the Garonne is not of very great size, nor so very magnificent in its 388 The Cathedrals of Southern France reaches, nor so very picturesque, — with that minutiae associated with English rivers of a hke rank, — but it is suggestive of far more than most streams of its size and length, wher- ever found. Its source is well within the Spanish fron- tier, in the picturesque Val d'Aran, where the boundary between the two countries makes a curious detour, and leaves the crest of the Pyrenees, which it follows throughout — with this exception — from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. The Garonne becomes navigable at Ca- zeres, some distance above Toulouse, and con- tinues its course, enhanced by the confluence of the Tarn, the Lot, the Arriege, and the Dordogne, beyond the junction of which, two hundred and seventy odd miles from the head of navigation, the estuary takes on the nomen- clature of ha Gironde. Of the ancient provinces of these parts, the most famous is Guienne, that " fair duchy " once attached — by a subtle process of reason- ing — to the English crown. It is distinguished, as to its economic as- pect, by its vast vineyards, which have given the wines, so commonly esteemed, the name of claret. These and the other products of 389 The Cathedrals of Southern France the country have found their way into all markets of the world through the Atlantic coast metropolis of Bordeaux. The Gascogne of old was a large province to the southward of Guienne. A romantic land, say the chroniclers and mere litterateurs alike. " Peopled by a race fiery, ardent, and impetuous . . . with a peculiar tendency to boasting, hence the term gasconade." The peculiar and characteristic feature of Gas- cogne, as distinct from that which holds in the main throughout these parts, is that strange and wild section called the Landes, which is spoken of elsewhere. The ancient province of Languedoc, which in its lower portion is included in this section, is generally reputed to be the pride of France with regard to climate, soil, and scenery. Again, this has been ruled otherwise, but a more or less intimate acquaintance with the region does not fail to endorse the first claim. This wide, strange land has not vastly changed its aspect since the inhabitants first learned to fly instead of fight. This statement is derived to a great extent from legend, but, in addi,tion, is supported by much literary and historical opinion, which has recorded its past. It is not contemptuous 390 The Cathedrals of Southern France criticism any more than Froissart's own words; therefore let it stand. When the French had expelled the Goths beyond the Pyrenees, Charlemagne estab- lished his governors in Languedoc with the title of Counts of Toulouse. The first was Corson, in 778 ; the second St. W. du Court- nez or Aux-Cornets, from whence the princes of Orange derive their pedigree, as may be inferred from the hunting-horns in their arms. Up to the eighteenth century these states re- tained a certain independence and exercise of home rule, and had an Assembly made up of " the three orders of the kingdom," the clergy, the nobility, and the people. The Archbishop of Narbonne was president of the body, though he was seldom called upon but to give the king money. This he acquired by the laying on of an extraordinary imposition under the name of " Don-Gratuit." The wide, rolling country of Lower Lan- guedoc has no very grand topographical fea- tures, but it is watered by frequent and ample streams, and peopled with row upon row of sturdy trees, with occasional groves of mul- berries, olives, and other citrus fruits. Over all glows the luxuriant southern sun with a 391 The Cathedrals of Southern France tropical brilliance, but without its fierce burn- ing rays. Mention of the olive suggests the regard which most of us have for this tree of romantic and sentimental association. As a religious emblern, it is one of the most favoured relics which has descended to us from Biblical times. A writer on southern France has ques- tioned the beauty of the growing tree. It does, truly, look somewhat mop-headed, and it does spread somewhat like a mushroom, but, with all that, it is a picturesque and pro- lific adjunct to a southern landscape, and has been in times past a source of inspiration to poets and painters, and of immeasurable profit to the thrifty grower. The worst feature which can possibly be called up with respect to Lower Languedoc is the " skyey influences " of the Mistral, dry and piercingly cold wind which blows south- ward through all the Rhone valley with a surprising strength. Madame de Sevigne paints it thus in words: " L,e tourbillon, I'ouragan, tons les diables dechaines qui veulent bien emporter votre chateau." Foremost among the cities of the region are 392 The Cathedrals of Southern France Toulouse, Carcassonne, Montpellier, Nar- bonne, and Beziers, of which Carcassonne is preeminent as to its picturesque interest, and perhaps, as well, as to its storied past. The Pyrenees have of late attracted more and more attention from the tourist, who has become sated with the conventionality of the " trippers' tour " to Switzerland. The many attractive resorts which the Pyrenean region has will doubtless go the way of others else- where — if they are given time, but for the present this entire mountain region is pos- sessed of much that will appeal to the less conventional traveller. Of all the mountain ranges of Europe, the Pyrenees stand unique as to their regularity of configuration and strategic importance. They bind and boun-d Spain and France with a bony ligature which is indented like the edge of a saw. From the Atlantic at Bayonne to the Med- iterranean at Port Bou, the mountain chain divides its valleys and ridges with the regu- larity of a wall-trained shrub or pear-tree, and sinks on both sides to the level plains of France and Spain. In the midst of this rises the river Garonne. Its true source is in the Piedrafitta group of peaks, whence its waters 393 The Cathedrals of Southern France flow on through Toulouse, various tributaries combining to give finally to Bordeaux its com- manding situation and importance. Around its source, which is the true centre of the Pyr- enees, is the parting line between the Med- iterranean and the Atlantic. On one side the waters flow down through the fields of France to the Biscayan Bay, and on the other south- ward and westward through the Iberian pen- insula. Few of the summits exceed the height of the ridge by more than two thousand feet; whereas in the Alps many rise from six to eight thousand feet above the massif, while scenic Mont Blanc elevates its head over fif- teen thousand feet. As a barrier, the Pyrenees chain is unique. For over one hundred and eighty miles, from the Col de la Perche to Maya — practically a suburb of Bayonne — not a carriage road nor a rail-vyay crosses the range. The etymology of the name of this moun- tain chain is in dispute. Many suppose it to be from the Greek pur (fire), alluding to the volcanic origin of the peaks. This is endorsed by many, while others consider that it comes from the Celtic word byren, meaning a moun- tain. Both derivations are certainly apropos, 394 The Cathedrals of Southern France but the weight of favour must always lie with the former rather than the latter. The ancient province of Beam is essentially mediaeval to-day. Its local tongue is a pure Romance language; something quite distinct from mere patois. It is principally thought to be a compound of Latin and Teutonic with an admixture of Arabic. This seems involved, but, as it is unlike modern French, or Castilian, and modern everything else, it would seem difficult for any but an expert student of tongues to place it definitely. To most of us it appears to be but a jarring jumble of words, which may have been left behind by the followers of the vari- ous conquerors which at one time or another swept over the land. 395 II ST. ANDRE DE BORDEAUX " One finds here reminders of the Visigoths, the Franks, the Saracens, and the English; and the temples, theatres, arenas, and monuments by which each made his mark of possession yet remain." — AuRELiAN Scroll. Taine in his Garnets de Voyage says of Bordeaux: " It is a sort of second Paris, gay and magnificent . . . amusement is the main business." Bordeaux does not change. It has ever been advanced, and always a centre of gaiety. Its fetes and functions quite rival those of the capital itself, — at times, — and its opera- house is the most famed and magnificent in France, outside of Paris. It is a city of enthusiastic demonstrations. It vfz% so in 1 8 14 for the Bourbons, and again a year later for the emperor on his return from Elba. 396 The Cathedrals of Southern France In 1857 it again surpassed itself in its en- thusiasm for Louis Napoleon, when he was received in the cathedral, under a lofty dais, and led to the altar with the cry of " Vive I'emper'eur;" while during the bloody Franco-Prussian war it was the seat of the provisional government of Thiers. Here the Gothic wave of the North has produced in the cathedral of St. Andre a remarkably impressive and unexpected ex- ample of the style. In the general effect of size alone it will rank with many more important and more beautiful churches elsewhere. Its total length of over four hundred and fifty feet ranks it among the longest in France, and its vast nave, with a span of sixty feet, aisleless though it be, gives a still further expression of grandeur and magnificence. It is known that three former cathedrals were successfully destroyed by invading Goths, Saracens, and warlike Normans. Yet another structure was built in the elev- enth century, which, with the advent of the English in Guienne, in the century following, was enlarged and magnified into somewhat of an approach to the present magnificent dimensions, though no English influence pre- 397 The Cathedrals of Southern France vailed toward erecting a central tower, as might have been anticipated. Instead we have two exceedingly graceful and lofty spired towers flanking the north transept, and yet another single tower, lacking its spire, on the south. The portal of the north transept — of the fourteenth century — is an elaborate work of itself. It is divided into two bays that join beneath a dais, on which is a statue of Ber- trand de Goth, who was Pope in 1305, under the name of Clement V. He is here clothed in sacerdotal habits, and stands upright in the attitude of benediction. At the lower right-hand side are statues of six bishops, but, like that of Pope Clement, they do not form a part of the constructive elements of the portal, as did most work of a like nature in the twelfth and thirteenth cen- turies, but are made use of singly as a dec- orative motive. The spring of the arch which surrounds the tympanum is composed of a cordon of foliaged stone separating the six angels of the premiere archivolte from the twelve apostles of the second, and the fourteen patriarchs and prophets of the third. In the tympanum are three bas-reliefs su- 398 The Cathedrals of Southern France perimposed one upon the other, the upper being naturally the smaller. They represent the Christ triumphant, seated on a dais be- tween two angels, one bearing a staff and the other a veil, while above hover two other angelic figures holding respectively the moon and sun. The arrangement is not so elaborate or gracefully executed as many, but in its sim- ple and expressive symbolism, in spite of the fact that the whole added ornament appears an afterthought, is far more convincing than many more pretentious works of a similar nature. Another exterior feature of note is seen at the third pillar at the right of the choir. It is a curious double (back-to-back) statue of Ste. Anne and the Virgin. It is of stone and of the late sixteenth century, when sculpture — if it had not actually debased itself by su- perfluity of detail — was of an excellence of symmetry which was often~lacking entirely from work of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The choir-chevet is a magnificent pyram- idal mass of piers, pinnacles, and buttresses of much elegance. - The towers which flank the north transept 399 The Cathedrals of Southern France are adorned with an excellent disposition of ornament. The greater part of this cathedral was con- structed during the period of English dom- ination ; the choir would doubtless never have been achieved in its present form had it not been for the liberality of Edward I. and Pope Clement V., who had been the archbishop of the diocese. The cathedral of St. Andre dates practi- cally from 1252, and is, in inception and ex- ecution, a very complete Gothic church. Over its aisleless nave is carried one of the boldest and most magnificent vaults known. The nave is more remarkable, however, for this gigantic attribute than for any other ex- cellencies -which it possesses. In the choir, which rises much higher than the nave, there comes into being a double aisle on either side, as if to' make up for the defi- ciencies of the nave in this respect. The choir arrangement and accessories are remarkably elaborate, though many of them are not of great artistic worth. Under the organ are two sculptured Renaissance has- reliefs, taken from the ancient ]uhe, and rep- resenting a " Descent from the Cross " and " Christ Bearing the Cross." There are two 400 The Cathedrals of Southern France religious paintings of some value, one by Jor- daens, and the other by Alex. Veronese. Be- fore the left transept is a monument to Car- dinal de Cheverus, with his statue. Sur- rounding the stonework of a monument to d'Ant de Noailles (1662) is a fine work of wood-carving. The high-altar is of the period contem- porary with the main body of the cathedral, and was brought thither from the figlise de la Reole. The Province of Bordeaux, as the early ecclesiastical division was known, had its archiepiscopal seat at Bordeaux in the fourth century, though it had previously (in the third century) been made a bishopric. 401 Ill CATHEDRALE DE LECTOURE LecTOURE, though defunct as a bishopric to-day, had endured from the advent of Heu- terius, in the sixth century, until 1790. In spite of the lack of ecclesiastical remains of a very great rank, there is in its one-time cathedral a work which can hardly be con- templated except with affectionate admira- tion. The affairs of a past day, either with respect to Church or State, appear not to have been very vivid or highly coloured ; in fact, the re- verse appears to be the case. In pre-mediasval times — when the city was known as the Ro- man village of Lactora — it was strongly fortified, like most hilltop towns of Gaul. The cathedral dates for the most part from the thirteenth century, and in the massive tower which enwraps its fagade shows strong indications of the workmanship of an alien 402 The Cathedrals of Southern France hand, which was neither French nor Italian. This tower is thought to resemble the Norman work of England and the north of France, and in some measure it does, though it may be questioned as to whether this is the correct classification. This tower, whatever may have been its origin, is, however, one of those features which is to be admired for itself alone ; and it amply endorses and sustains the claim of this church to a consideration more lasting than a mere passing fancy. The entire plan is unusually light and graceful, and though, by no stretch of opin- ion could it be thought of as Gothic, it has not a little of the suggestion of the style, which at a former time must have been even more pronounced in that its western tower once possessed a spire which rose to a sky-piercing height. The lower tower still remains, but the spire, having suffered from lightning and the winds at various times, was, a century or more ago, removed. The nave has a series of lateral chapels, each surmounted by a sort of gallery or trib- une, which would be notable in any church edifice, and there is fine traceried vaulting in 403 The Cathedrals of Southern France the apsidal chapels, which also contain some effective, though modern coloured glass. The former episcopal residence is now the local Mairie. On a clear day, it is said, the towers of the cathedral at Auch may be seen to the north- ward, while in the Opposite direction the ser- rated ridge of the Pyrenees is likewise visible. 404 IV NOTRE DAME DE BAYONNE " Distant are the violet Pyrenees, wonderful and regal in their grandeur. The sun is bright, and laughs joyously at the Bearnais peasant." — Jean Rameau. Bayonne is an ancient town, and was known by the Romans as Lapurdum. As a centre of Christianity, it was behind its neigh- bours, as no bishopric was founded here until Arsias Rocha held the see in the ninth cen- tury. No church-building of remark fol- lowed for at least two centuries, when the foundations were laid upon which the present cathedral was built up. Like the cities and towns of Rousillon, at the opposite end of the Pyrenean chain, Ba- yonne has for ever been of mixed race and characteristics. Basques, Spaniards, Bearn- ese, and " alien French " — as the native calls them — ^went to make up its conglomerate 405 The Cathedrals of Southern France population in the past, and does even yet in considerable proportions. To the reader of history, the mediaeval Beam and Navarre, which to-day forms the Department of the Basses-Pyrenees in the southwest corner of France, will have the most lively interest, from the fact of its having been the principality of Henri Quatre, the " good king " whose name was so justly dear. The history of the Bearnese is a wonderful record of a people of which too little is even yet known. Bayonne itself has had many and varied historical associations, though it is not steeped in that antiquity which is the birthright of many another favoured spot. Guide-books and the " notes-and-queries columns " of antiquarian journals have un- duly enlarged upon the fact that the bayonet — to-day a well-nigh useless appendage as a weapon of war — was first invented here. It is interesting as a fact, perhaps, but it is not of aesthetic moment. The most gorgeous event of history con- nected with Bayontie and its immediate vi- cinity — among all that catalogue, from the minor Spanish invasions to Wellington's stu- pendous activities — was undoubtedly that 406 Ihe Cathedrals of Southern France which led up to the famous Pyrenean Treaty made on the Isle du Faisan, close beside the bridge, in the river Bidassoa, on the Spanish frontier. The memory of the parts played therein by Mazarin and De Haro, and not less the gor- geous pavilion in which the function was held, form a setting which the writers of " poetical plays " and " historical romances " seem to have neglected. This magnificent apartment was decorated by Velasquez, who, it is said, died of his in- glorious transformation into an upholsterer. The cathedral at Bayonne is contemporary with those at Troyes, Meaux, and Auxerre, in the north of France. It resembles greatly the latter as to general proportions and situa- tion, though it possesses two completed spires, whereas St. Etienne, at Auxerre, has but one. In size and beauty the cathedral at Bayonne is far above the lower rank of the cathedrals of France, and in spite of extensive restora- tions, it yet stands forth as a mediaeval work of great importance. From a foundation of the date of 1 140, a structure was in part completed by 1213, at which time the whole existing fabric suffered the ravages of fire. Work was immediately 407 The Cathedrals of Southern France undertaken again, commencing with the choir; and, except for the grand portal of the west front, the whole church was finished by the mid-sixteenth century. Restoration of a late date, induced by the generosity of a native of the city, has resulted in the completion of the cathedral, which, if not a really grand church to-day, is an exceed- ingly near approach thereto. The fine western towers are modern, but they form the one note which produces the effect of ensemble, which otherwise would be entirely wanting. The view from the Quai Bergemet, just across the Adour, for picturesqueness of the quality which artists — tyros and masters alike — love to sketch, is reminiscent only of St. Lo in Normandy. Aside from the charm of its general pictur- esqueness of situation and grouping, Notre Dame de Bayonne will appeal mostly by its interior arrangements and embellishments. The western portal is still lacking the great- ness which future ages may yet bestow upon it, and that of the north transept, by which one enters, is, though somewhat more ornate, not otherwise remarkable. A florid cloister of considerable size at- 408 The Cathedrals of Southern France taches itself on the south, but access is had only from the sacristy. The choir and apse are of the thirteenth century, and immediately followed the fire of 1213. Neither the transepts nor choir are of great length; indeed, they are attenuated as compared with those of the more magnificent churches of the Gothic type, of which this is, in a way, an otherwise satisfying example. The patriotic Englishman will take pride in the fact that the English arms are graven somewhere in the vaulting of the nave. He may not be able to spy them out, — probably will not be, — but they likely enough existed, as a mid- Victorian writer describes them minutely, though no modern guides or works of local repute make mention of the feature in any way. The triforium is elegantly traceried, and is the most worthy and artistic detail to be seen in the whole structure. The clerestory windows contain glass of the fifteenth century; much broken to-day, but of the same excellent quality of its century, and that immediately preceding. The re- mainder of the glass, in the clerestory and choir, is modern. In the sacristy is a remarkable series of per- 409 The Cathedrals of Southern France fectly preserved thirteehth-century sculptures in stone which truthfully — with the before- mentioned triforum — are the real " art treas- ures " of the cathedral. The three naves ; the , nave proper and its flanking aisles ; the tran- septs, attenuated though they be; and the equally shallow choir, all in some way present a really grand effect, at once harmonious and pleasing. The pavement of the sanctuary is modern, as also the high-altar, but both are generously good in design. These furnishings are mainly of Italian marbles, hung about with tapestries, which, if not of superlative excellence, are at least effective. Modern mural paintings with backgrounds in gold decorate the abside chapels. There are many attributes of picturesque quality scattered throughout the city: its unique trade customs, its shipping, its don- keys, and, above any of these, its women them- selves picturesque and beautiful. All these will give the artist many lively suggestions. Not many of the class, however, frequent this Biscayan city; which is a loss to art and to themselves. A plea is herein made that its attractions be better known by those who have become ennuied by the " resorts." 410 ST. JEAN DE BAZAS At the time the grand cathedrals of the north of France were taking on their com- pleted form, a reflex was making itself felt here in the South. Both at Bayonne and Bazas were growing into being two beautiful churches which partook of many of the attri- butes of Gothic art in its most approved form. St. Jean de Bazas is supposedly of a tenth- century foundation, but its real beginnings, so far as its later approved form is concerned, came only in 1233. From which time onward it came quickly to its completion, or at least to its dedication. It was three centuries before its west front was completed, and when so done — in the sixteenth century — it stood out, as it does to- day, a splendid example of a fagade, com- pletely covered with statues of such propor- tions and excellence that it is justly accounted the richest in the south of France. 411 The Cathedrals of Southern France It quite equals, in general effect, such well- peopled fronts as Amiens or Reims; though here the numbers are not so great, and, mani- festly, not of as great an excellence. This small but well-proportioned church has no transepts, but the columnar supports of its vaulting presume an effect of length which only Gothic in its purest forms suggests. The Huguenot rising somewhat depleted and greatly damaged the sculptured decora- tions of its fagade, and likewise much of the interior ornament, but later repairs have done much to preserve the effect of the original scheme, and the church remains to-day an exceedingly gratifying and pleasing example of transplanted Gothic forms. The diocese dates from the foundation of Sextilius, in the sixth century. 412 VI NOTRE DAME DE LESCAR The bishopric here was founded in the fifth century by St. Julian, and lasted till the sup- pression of 1790; but of all of its importance of past ages, which was great, little is left to- day of ecclesiastical dignity. Lescar itself is an attractive enough small town of France, — it contains but a scant two thousand inhabitants, — but has no great dis- tinction to important rank in any of the walks of life; indeed, its very aspect is of a glory that has departed. It has, however, like so many of the small towns of the ancient Beam, a notably fine situation: on a high coteau which rises loftily above the route nationale which runs from Toulouse to Bayonne. From the terrace of the former cathedral of Notre Dame can be seen the snow-clad ridge of the Pyrenees and the umbrageous valley and plain which lie between. In this 413 The Cathedrals of Southern France verdant land there is no suggestion of what used — in ignorance or prejudice — to be called " an aspect austere and sterile." The cathedral itself is bare, unto poverty, of tombs and monuments, but a mosaic- worked pavement indicates, by its inscriptions and symbols, that many faithful and devout souls lie buried within the walls. The edifice is of imposing proportions, though it is not to be classed as truly great. From the indications suggested by the heavy pillars and grotesquely carved capitals of its nave, it is manifest that it has been built up, at least in part, from remains of a very early date. It mostly dates from the twelfth cen- tury, but in that it was rebuilt during the period of the Renaissance, it is to the latter classification that it really belongs. The curiously carved capitals of the col- umns of the nave share, with the frescoes of the apse, the chief distinction among the ac- cessory details. They depict, in their ornate and deeply cut heads, dragons and other weird beasts of the land and fowls of the air, in conjunction with unshapely human figures, and while all are intensely grotesque, they are in no degree offensive. There is no exceeding grace or symmetry 414 The Cathedrals of Southern France of outline in any of the parts of this church, but, nevertheless, it has the inexplicable power to please, which counts for a great deal among such inanimate things as architectural forms. It would perhaps be beyond the powers of any one to explain, why this is so frequently true of a really unassuming church edifice; more so, perhaps, with regard to churches than to most other things — possibly it is be- cause of the local glamour or sentiment which so envelops a religious monument, and hovers unconsciously and ineradicably over some shrines far more than others. At any rate, the former cathedral of Notre Dame at Lescar has this indefinable quality to a far greater degree than many a more ambitiously con- ceived fabric. The round-arched window and doorway most prevail, and the portal in particular is of that deeply recessed variety which allows a mellow interior to unfold slowly to the gaze, father than jump at once into being, imme- diately one has passed the outer lintel or jamb. The entire suggestion of this church, both inside and out, is of a structure far more massive and weighty than were really needed for a church of its size, but for all that its very 415 The Cathedrals of Southern France stable dimensions were well advised in an edi- fice which was expected to endure for ages. The entire apse is covered, inside, with a series of frescoes of a very acceptable sort, which, though much defaced to-day, are the principal art attribute of the church. Their author is unknown, but they are probably the work of some Italian hand, and have even been credited to Giotto. The choir-stalls are quaintly carved, with a luxuriance which, in some manner, ap- proaches the Spanish style. They are at least representative of that branch of Renaissance art which was more representative of the highest expression than any other. In form, this old cathedral follows the basilica plan, and is perhaps two hundred feet in length, and some seventy-five in width. The grandfather of Henri IV. and his wife — la Marguerites des Marguerites — were formerly buried in this cathedral, but their remains were scattered by either the Hugue- nots or the Revolutionists. Curiously enough, too, Lescar was the for- mer habitation of a Jesuit College, founded by Henri IV. after his conversion to the Ro- man faith, but no remains of this institution exist to-day. 416 VII L'EGLISE DE LA SEDE: TARBES Froissart describes Tarbes as " a fine large town, situated in a plain country; there is a city and a town and a castle . . . the beau- tiful river Lisse which runs throughout all Tharbes, and divides it, the which river is as clear as a fountain." Froissart himself nods occasionally, and on this particular occasion has misnamed the river which flows through the city, which is the Adour. The rest of his description might well apply to-day, and the city is most charm- ingly and romantically environed. 417 The Cathedrals of Southern France Its cathedral will not receive the same adu- lation which is bestowed upon the charms of the city itself. It is a poor thing, not unlike, in appearance, a market-house or a third-rate town hall of some mean municipality. Once the Black Prince and his " fair maid of Kent" came to this town of the Bigorre, to see the Count of Armagnac, under rather doleful circumstances for the count, who was in prison and in debt to Gaston Phoebus for the amount of his ransom. The " fair maid," however, appears to have played' the part of a good fairy, and prevailed upon the magnificent Phoebus to reduce the ransom to the extent of fifty thousand francs. In this incident alone there lies a story, of which all may read in history, and which is especially recommended to those writers of swash-buckler romances who may feel in need of a new plot. There is little in Tarbes but the memory of a fair past to compel attention from the lover of antiquity, of churches, or of art; and there are no remains of any note — even of the time when the Black Prince held his court here. The bishopric is very ancient, and dates from the sixth century, when St. Justin first 418 The Cathedrals of Southern France filled' the office. In spite of this, however, there is very little inspiration to be derived from a study of this quite unconvincing ca- thedral, locally known as the figlise de la Sede. This Romanesque-Transition church, though dating from the twelfth and thir- teenth centuries, has neither the strength and character of the older style, nor the vigour of the new. The nave is wide, but short, and has no aisles. At the transept is a superimposed oc- tagonal cupola, which is quite unbeautiful and unnecessary. It is a fourteenth-century addi- tion which finally oppresses this ungainly heavy edifice beyond the hope of redemption. Built upon the fagade is a Renaissance portal which of itself would be a disfigure- ment anywhere, but which here gives the final blow to a structure which is unappealing from every point. The present-day prefecture was the former episcopal residence. The bishopric, which to-day has jurisdic- tion over the Department of the Hautes-Pyr- enees, is a suffragan of the mother-see of Auch. 419 VIII CATHEDRALE DE CONDOM The history of Condom as an ecclesiastical see is very brief. It was established only in 13 17, on an an- cient abbey foundation, whose inception is unknown. For three centuries only was it endowed with diocesan dignity. Its last titulaire was Bishop Bossuet. The fine Gothic church, which was so short- lived as a cathedral, is more worthy of admi- ration than many grander and more ancient. It dates from the early sixteenth century, and shows all the distinct marks of its era; but it is a most interesting church neverthe- less, and is possessed of a fine unworldly clois- ter, which as much as many another — more famous or more magnificent — must have been conducive to inspired meditation. The portal rises to a considerable height 420 The Cathedrals of Southern France of elegance, but the fagade is otherwise aus- tere. In the interior, a choir-screen in cut stone is the chief artistic treasure. The sacristy is a finely decorated and beautifully propor- tioned room. In the choir is a series of red brick or terra-cotta stalls of poor design and of no artistic value whatever. The ancient residence of the bishops is now the Hotel de Ville, and is a good example of late Gothic domestic architecture. It is de- cidedly the architectural piece de resistance of the town. 421 IX CATHEDRALE DE MONTAUBAN MONTAUBAN, the location of an ancient abbey, was created a bishopric, in the Prov- ince of Toulouse, in 13 17, under Bertrand du Puy. It was a suffragan of the see of Tou- louse after that city had been made an arch- bishopric in the same year, a rank it virtually holds to-day, though the mother-see is now known by the double vocable of Toulouse- Narbonne. Montauban is in many ways a remarkable little city; remarkable for its tidy pictur- esqueness, for its admirable situation, for the added attraction of the river Tarn, which rushes tumblingly past its quais on its way from the Gorges to the Garonne; in short, Montauban is a most fascinating centre of a life and activity, not so modern that it jars, nor yet so mediaeval that it is uncomfortably squalid. 422 The Cathedrals of Southern France The lover of architecture will interest him- self far more in the thirteenth-century bridge of bricks which crosses the Tarn on seven ogival arches, than he will in the painfully ordinary and unworthy cathedral, which is a combination of most of the undesirable fea- tures of Renaissance church-building. The fagade is, moreover, set about with a series of enormous sculptured effigies perched indiscriminately wherever it would appear that a foothold presented itself. There are still a few unoccupied niches and cornices, which some day may yet be peopled with other figures as gaunt. Two ungraceful towers flank a classical portico, one of which is possessed of the usual ludicrous clock-face. The interior, with its unusual flood of light from the windows of the clerestory, is cold and bare. Its imposed pilasters and heavy cornices are little in keeping with the true conception of Christian architecture, and its great height of nave — some eighty odd feet — lends a further chilliness to one's already lukewarm appreciation. The one artistic detail of Montauban's ca- thedral is the fine painting by Ingres (1781 — 1867) to be seen in the sacristy, if by any 423 The Cathedrals of Southern France chance you can find the sacristan — which is doubtful. It is one of this artist's most cele- brated paintings, and is commonly referred to as " The Vow of Louis XIII." 424 ST. ETIENNE DE CAHORS St. Genulphe was the first bishop of Ca- hors, in the fourth century. The diocese was then, as now, a suffragan of Albi. The cathe- dral of St. Etienne was consecrated in 1119, but has since — and many times — been re- built and restored. This church is but one of the many of its class, built in Aquitaine at this period, which employed the cupola as a distinct feature. It shares this attribute in common with the ca- thedrals at Poitiers, Perigueux, and Angou- leme, and the great churches of Solignac, Fontevrault, and Souillac, and is commonly supposed to be an importation or adaptation of the domes of St. Marc's at Venice. A distinct feature of this development is that, while transepts may or may not be want- ing, the structures are nearly always without side aisles. What manner of architecture this style may 425 The Cathedrals of Southern France presume to be is impossible to discuss here, but it is manifestly not Byzantine pur-sang, as most guide-books would have the tourist believe. Although much mutilated in many of its accessories and details, the cathedral at Ca- hors fairly illustrates its original plan. There are no transepts, and the nave is wide and short, its area being entirely roofed by the two circular cupolas, each perhaps fifty feet in diameter. In height these two details depart from the true hemisphere, as has al- ways been usual in dome construction. There were discovered, as late as 1890, in this church, many mural paintings of great interest. Of the greatest importance was that in the west- erly cupola, which presents an entire com- position, drawn in black and colour. The cupola is perhaps forty feet in diame- ter, and is divided by the decorations into eight sectors. The principal features of this remarkable decoration are the figures of eight of the prophets, David, Daniel, Jeremiah, Jonah, Ezra, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Habakkuk, each a dozen or more feet in height. Taken as a whole, in spite of their recent discovery, these elaborate decorations are supposed to have been undertaken by or under 426 The Cathedrals of Southern France the direction of the bishops who held the see from 1280 to 1324; most likely under Hugo Geraldi (13 12 — 16), the friend of Pope Clement V. and of the King of France. This churchman was burned to death at Avignon, and the see was afterward administered by procuration by Guillaume de Labroa (13 16 — 1324), who lived at Avignon. It is then permissible to think that these wall-paintings of the cathedral at Cahors are perhaps unique in France. Including its sus- taining wall, one of the cupolas rises to a height of eighty-two feet, and the other to one hundred and five feet. The north portal is richly sculptured ; and the choir, with its fifteenth-century ogival chapels, has been rebuilt from the original work of 1285. The interior, since the recently discovered frescoes of the cupolas, presents an exceed- ingly rich appearance, though there are ac- tually few decorative constructive elements. The apse of the choir is naturally pointed, as its era would indicate, and its chapels are ornamented with frescoes of the time of Louis XII.; neither very good nor very bad, but in no way comparable to the decorations of the cupolas. 427 The Cathedrals of Southern France The only monument of note in the interior is the tomb of Bishop Alain de Solminiac (seventeenth century). The paintings of the choir are supposed to date from 13 15, which certainly places them at a very early date. A doorway in the right of the nave gives on the fifteenth-century cloister, which, though fragmentary, must at one time have been a very satisfactory exam- ple. The ancient episcopal palace is now the prefecture. The bishop originally bore the provisional title of Count of Cahors, and was entitled to wear a sword and gauntlets, and it is recorded that he was received, upon his accession to the diocese, by the Vicomte de Sessac, who, attired in a grotesque garb, con- ducted him to his palace amid a ceremony which to-day would be accounted as buffoon- ery pure and simple. From the accounts of this ceremony, it could not have been very dignified or inspiring. The history of Cahors abounds in romantic incident, and its capture by Henry of Navarre in 1580 was a brilliant exploit. Cahors was the birthplace of one of the French Popes of Avignon, John XXII. (who is buried in Notre Dame des Doms at Avi- gnon). 428 XI ST. CAPRAIS D'AGEN Agen, with Cahors, Tulle, Limoges, Peri- gueux, Angouleme, and Poitiers, are, in a way, in a class of themselves with respect to their cathedrals. They have not favoured aggrandizement, or even restoration to the extent of mitigating the sentiment which will always surround a really ancient fabric. The cathedral at Bordeaux came strongly under the Gothic spell; so did that at Cler- mont-Ferrand, and St. Nazaire, in the Cite de Carcassonne. But those before mentioned did not, to any appreciable extent, come under the influence of the new style affected by the architects of the Isle of France during the times of Philippe- Auguste (d. 1223). At the death of Philippe le Bel (13 14), the royal domain was considerably extended, and the cathedrals at Montpellier, Carcas- sonne, and Narbonne succumbed and took on Gothic features. 429 The Cathedrals of Southern France The diocese of Agen was founded in the fourth century as a suffragan of Bordeaux. Its first bishop was St. Pherade. To-day the diocese is still under the parent jurisdiction of Bordeaux, and the see comprises the de- partment of Lof-et-Garonne. A former cathedral church — St. Etienne — was destroyed at the Revolution. The Romanesque cathedral of St. Caprais dates, as to its apses and transepts, from the eleventh century. Its size is not commonly accredited great, but for a fact its nave is over fifty-five feet in width; greater than Chartres, and nearly as great as Amiens in the north. This is a comparison which will show how futile it is not to take into consideration the peers, compeers, or contemporaries of archi- tectural types when striving to impress its salient features upon one's senses. This immense vault is covered with a series of cupolas of a modified form which finally take the feature of the early development of the ogival arch. This, then, ranks as one of the early transitions between barrel-vaulted and domed roofs, and the Gothic arched vaulting which became so common in the century following. 430 The Cathedrals of Southern France As to the general ground-plan, the area is not great. Its Romanesque nave is stunted in length, if not in width, and the transepts are equally contracted. The choir is semi- circular, and the general effect is that of a tri-apsed church, seldom seen beyond the im- mediate neighbourhood of the Rhine valley. The interior effect is considerably marred by the modern mural frescoes by Bezard, after a supposed old manner. The combination of colour can only be described as polychro- matic, and the effect is not good. There are a series of Roman capitals in the nave, which are of more decided artistic worth and interest than any other distinct feature. At the side of the cathedral is the Chapelle des Innocents, the ancient chapter-house of St. Caprais, now used as the chapel of the college. Its fagade has some remarkable sculptures, and its interior attractions of curi- ously carved capitals and some tombs — sup- posed to date from the first years of the Chris- tian era — are of as great interest as any of the specific features of the cathedral proper. 431 XII STE. MARIE D'AUCH The first bishop of Auch was Citerius, in the fourth century. Subsequently the Prov- ince d'Auch became the see of an archbishop, who was Primate of Aquitaine. This came to pass when the office was abolished or trans- ferred from Eauze in the eighth century. The diocese is thus established in antiquity, and endures to-day with suffragans at Aire, Tarbes, and Bayonne. The cathedral of Ste. Marie d'Auch is not of itself an ancient structure, dating only from the late fifteenth century. Its choir, however, ranks among the most celebrated in the Gothic style in all Europe, and the entire edifice is usually accorded as being the most thoroughly characteristic (though varied as to the excel- lence of its details) church of the Midi of France, though built at a time when the ogival style was projecting its last rays of glory over the land. 432 The Cathedrals of Southern France In its general plan it is of generous though not majestic proportions, and is rich and as- piring in its details throughout. An ancient altar in this present church is supposed to have come from the humble basil- ica which was erected here by St. Taurin, bishop of Eauze, soon after the foundation of the see. If this is so, it is certainly of great antiquity, and is exceedingly valuable as the record of an art expression of that early day. Taurin II., in 845, rebuilt a former church, which stood on the site of the present cathe- dral; but, its dimensions not proving great enough for the needs of the congregation, St. Austinde, in 1048, built a much larger church, which was consecrated early in the twelfth century. Various other structures were undertaken, some completed only in part and others to the full; but it was not until 1548 that the pres- ent Ste. Marie was actually consecrated by Jean Dumas. " This gorgeous ceremony," says the Abbe Bourasse, " was accomplished amid great pomp on the anniversary day of the dedica- tion of the eleventh-century basilica on the same site." In 1597 further additions were made to the 433 The Cathedrals of Southern France vaulting, and the fine choir glass added. Soon after this time, the glass of the nave chapels was put into place, being the gift of Domi- nique de Vic. The final building operations — as might be expected — show just the least suspicion of debasement. This quality is to be remarked in the choir-screen, the porch and towers, and in the balustrades of the chapels, to say nothing of the organ sup- ports. The west front is, in part, as late as the sev- enteenth century. In this fagade there is an elaborately tracer- ied rose window, indicating in its painted glass a " Glory of Angels." It is not a great work, as these chief decorative features of French mediaeval architecture go, but is highly ornate by reason of its florid tracery, and dates, moreover, from that period when the really great accomplishment of designing in painted glass was approaching its maturity. If any feature of remark exists to excite undue criticism, it is that of a certain incon- gruity or mixture of style, which, while not widely separated in point of time, has great variation as to excellence. In spite of this there is, in the general ensemble, an imposing picturesqueness to 434 The Cathedrals of Southern France which distance lends the proverbial degree of enchantment. The warm mouse-coloured cathedral and its archbishop's palace, when seen in con- junction with the modern ornamental gardens and escalier at the rear, produces an effect more nearly akin to an Italian composition than anything of a like nature in France. It is an ensemble most interesting and pleasing, but as a worthy artistic efi^ort it does perhaps fall short of the ideal. •The westerly towers are curious heavy works after the " French Classical " manner in vogue during the reign of Louis XIV. They are not beautiful of themselves, and quite unexpressive of the sanctity which should surround a great church. The portal is richly decorated, and con- tains statues of St. Roche and St. Austinde. It has been called an " imitation of the portal of St. Peter's at Rome," but this is an opinion wholly unwarranted by a personal acquaint- ance therewith. The two bear no resemblance except that they are both very inferior to the magnificent Gothic portals of the north. The interior embellishments are as mixed as to style, and of as varied worth, as those of the exterior. 435 The Cathedrals of Southern France The painted glass (by a Gascon artist, Ar- naud de Moles, 1573) is usually reckoned as of great beauty. This it hardly is, though of great value and importance as showing the development of the art which produced it. The colour is rich, — which it seldom is in modern glass, — but the design is coarse and crude, a distinction that most modern glass has as well. Ergo, we have not advanced greatly in this art. The chief feature of artistic merit is the series of one hundred and thirteen choir-stalls, richly and wonderfully carved in wood. If not the superior to any others in France, these remarkable examples of Renaissance wood- work are the equal of any, and demonstrate, once again, that it was in wood-carving, rather than sculptures in stone, that Renais- sance art achieved its greatest success. A distinct feature is the disposition made of the accessories of the fine choir. It is sur- rounded by an elaborate screen, surmounted by sculpture of a richness quite uncommon in any but the grander and more wealthy churches. Under the reign of St. Louis many of the grand cathedrals and the larger monastic churches were grandly favoured with this 436 The Cathedrals of Southern France accessory, notably , at Amiens and Beauvais, at Burgos in Spain, and at Canterbury. Here the elaborate screen was designed to protect the ranges of stalls and their canopied dossiers, and give a certain seclusion to the chapter and officiants. Elsewhere — out of regard for the people it is to be presumed' — this feature was in many known instances done away with, and the material of which it was constructed — often of great richness — made use of in chapels subsequently erected in the walls of the apside or in the side aisles of the nave. This is to be remarked at Rodez particularly, where the reerected cloture is still the show- piece of the cathedral. The organ buffet is, as usual (in the minds of the local resident) , a remarkably fine piece of cabinet-work and nothing more. One al- ways qualifies this by venturing the opinion that no one ever really does admire these over- powering and ungainly accessories. What triforium there is is squat and ugly, with ungraceful openings, and the high-altar is a modern work in the pseudo-classic style, quite unworthy as a work of art. The five apsidal chapels are brilliant with 437 The Cathedrals of Southern France coloured glass, but otherwise are not remark- able. In spite of all incongruity, Ste. Marie d'Auch is one of those fascinating churches in and about which one loves to linger. It is hard to explain the reason for this, ex- cept that its environment provides the atmos- phere which is the one necessary ingredient to a full realization of the appealing qualities of a stately church. The archiepiscopal palace adjoins the ca- thedral in the rear, and has a noble donjon of the fourteenth century. Its career of the past must have been quite uneventful, as his- tory records no very bloody or riotous events which have taken place within or before its walls. Fenelon was a student at the College of AucH, and his statue adorns the Promenade du Fosse. 438 IT. ETIENNE . > de TOULOUSE XIII ST. ETIENNE DE TOULOUSE The provincialism of Toulouse has been the theme of many a French writer of ability, — offensively provincial, it would seem from a consensus of these written opinions. " Life and movement in abundance, but what a life !"..." The native is saved from coarseness by his birth, but after a quarter of an hour the substratum shows itself." . . . " The working girl is graceful and has the vivacity of a bird, but there is nothing in her cackle." ..." How much more beautiful are the stars that mirror themselves in the gutter of the Rue du Bac." ..." There is a yelp in the accents of the people of the town." Contrariwise we may learn also that " the water is fine," " the quays are fine," and " fine large buildings glow in the setting sun in bright and softened hues," and " in the far distance lies the chain of the Pyrenees, like 439 The Cathedrals of Southern France a white bed of watery clouds," and " the river, dressed always in smiling verdure, gracefully skirts the city." These pessimistic and optimistic views of others found the contributors to this book in somewhat of a quandary as to the manner of mood and spirit in which they should ap- proach this provincial capital. They had heard marvels of its Romanesque church of St. Saturnin, perhaps the most perfect and elaborate of any of its kind in all France; of the curious amalgamated edifice, now the cathedral of St. Etienne, wherein two distinct church bodies are joined by an un- seemly ligature; of the church of the Jaco- bins ; and of the " seventy-seven religious establishments " enumerated by Taine. All these, or less, were enough to induce one to cast suspicion aside and descend upon the city with an open mind. Two things one must admit : Toulouse does somewhat approach the gaiety of a capital, and it h provincial. Its list of attractions for the visitor is great, and its churches numerous and splen- did, so why carp at the " ape-like manners " of the corner loafers, who, when all is said, 440 The Cathedrals of Southern France are vastly less in number here than in many a northern centre of population. The Musee is charming, both as to the dis- position of its parts and its contents. It was once a convent, and has a square courtyard or promenade surrounded by an arcade. The courtyard is set about with green shrubs, and a lofty brick tower, pierced with little arched windows and mullioned with tiny columns, rises skjrward in true conventual fashion. Altogether the Musee, in the attractiveness of its fabric and the size and importance of its collections, must rank, for interest to the tourist, at the very head of those outside Paris itself. As for the churches, there are many, the three greatest of which are the cathedral of St. Etienne, St. Saturnin, and the figlise des Jacobins; in all is to be observed the uni- versal application or adoption of des mate- riaux du pays — bricks. In the cathedral tower, and in that of the figlise des Jacobins, a Gothic scheme is worked out in these warm-toned bricks, and forms, in contrast with the usual execution of a Gothic design, a most extraordinary effect; not wholly to the detriment of the style, but certainly not in keeping with the original 441 The Cathedrals of Southern France conception and development of " pointed " architecture. In 1863 VioUet-le-Duc thoroughly and creditably restored St. Saturnin at great ex- pense, and by this treatment it remains to-day as the most perfectly preserved work extant of its class. It is vast, curious, and in a rather mixed style, though thoroughly Latin in motive. It is on the border-line of two styles; of the Italian, with respect to the full semicir- cular arches and vaulting of the nave and aisles ; the square pillars destitute of all orna- ment, except another column standing out in flat relief — an intimation of the quiet and placid force of their functions. With the transition comes a change in the flowered capitals, from the acanthus to tracery and grotesque animals. There are five domes covering the five aisles, each with a semicircular vault. The walls, with their infrequent windows, are very thick. The delightful belfry — of five octagonal stages — which rises from the crossing of the transepts, presents, from the outside, a fine and imposing arrangement. So, too, the chapelled choir, with its apse of rounded 442 The Cathedrals of Southern France vaults rising in imposing tiers. This fine church is in direct descent from the Roman manner ; built and developed as a simple idea, and, like all antique and classical work, — approaching purity, — is a living thing, in spite of the fact that it depicts the sentiment of a dead and gone past. It might not be so successfully duplicated to-day, but, considering that St. Saturnin dates from the eleventh century, its com- mencement was sufficiently in the remote past to allow of its having been promulgated under a direct and vigorous Roman influence. The brick construction of St. Saturnin and of the cathedral is not of that justly admired quality seen in the ancient Convent of the Jacobins, which dates from the thirteenth century. Here is made perhaps the most beautiful use of this style of mediaeval build- ing. It is earlier than the Pont de Montau- ban, the churches at Moissac or Lombez, and even the cathedral at Albi, but much later than the true Romanesque brickwork, which alternated rows of brick with other materials. The builders of Gallo-Romain and Mer- ovingian times favoured this earlier method, but work in this style is seldom met with of a later date than the ninth century. 443 The Cathedrals of Southern France The Eglise of St. Saturnin shows, in parts, brickwork of a century earlier than the figlise des Jacobins, but, as before said, it is not so beautiful. When the Renaissance came to deal with brique, it did not do so badly. Certainly the domestic and civil establishments of Touraine in this style — to particularize only one sec- tion — are very beautiful. Why the revival was productive of so much thorough badness when it dealt with stone is one of the things which the expert has not as yet attempted to explain; at least, not convincingly. The contrasting blend of the northern and southern motive in the hybrid cathedral at Toulouse will not remain unnoticed for long after the first sensation of surprise at its curi- ous ground-plan passes oflf. Here are seen a flamboyant northern choir and aisles in strange juxtaposition with a thirteenth-century single vaulted nave, after the purely indigenous southern manner. This nave nearly equals in immensity those in the cathedrals of Albi and Bordeaux. It has the great span of sixty-two feet, necessi- tating the employment of huge buttresses, which would be remarkable anywhere, in order to take the thrust. The unobstructed 444 The Cathedrals of Southern France flooring of this splendid nave lends an added dignity of vastness. Near the vaulted roof are the only apertures in the walls. Windows, as one knows them elsewhere, are practically absent. Nave of St. Etienne de Toulouse The congregations which assemble in this great aisleless nave present a curiously ani- mated effect by reason of the fact that they scatter themselves about in knots or groups rather than crowding against either the altar- 445 The Cathedrals of Southern France rail or pulpit, occasionally even overflowing into the adjoining choir. The nave is entirely unobstructed by decorations, such as screens, pillars, or tombs. It is a mere shell, sans gal- lery, sans aisles, and sans triforium. The development of the structure from the individual members of nave and choir is readily traced, and though these parts show not the slightest kind of relationship one to the other, it is from these two fragmentary churches that the completed, if imperfect, whole has been made. The west front, to-day more than ever, shows how badly the cathedral has been put together; the uncovered bricks creep out here and there, and buildings to the left, which formerly covered the incongruous joint be- tween the nave and choir, are now razed, making the patchwork even more apparent. The square tower which flanks the portal to the north is not unpleasing, and dates from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The portal is not particularly beautiful, and is bare of decorations of note. It appears to have been remodelled at some past time with a view to conserving the western rose win- dow. There are no transepts or collateral chapels, 446 The Cathedrals of Southern France which tends to make the ground-plan the more unusual and lacking in symmetry. The choir (1275 — 1502) is really very beautiful, taken by itself, far more so than the nave, from which it is extended on a dif- ferent axis. It was restored after a seventeenth-century fire, and is supposed to be less beautiful to-day than formerly. There are seventeen chapels in this choir, with much coloured glass of the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, all with weird poly- chromatic decorations in decidedly bad taste. Toulouse became a bishopric in the third century, with St. Saturnin as its first bishop. It was raised to the rank of archiepiscopal dignity in 1327, a distinction which it enjoys to-day in company with Narbonne. Six former suffragan bishoprics, Pamiers, Rieux, Mirepoix, Saint-Papoul, Lombez, and La- vaur were suppressed at the Revolution. In the magnificent Musee of the city is un petit monument, without an inscription, but bearing a cross gammee or Swastika, and a palm-leaf, symbols of the divine Apollo and Artemis. It seems curious that this tiny rec- ord in stone should have been found, as it was, in the mountains which separate the 447 The Cathedrals of Southern France sources of the Garonne and the Adour, as the Swastika is a symbol supposedly indigenous to the fire and sun-worshippers of the East, where it figures in a great number of their monuments. It is called, by the local antiquary, a Pyre- nean altar. If this is so, it is of course of pagan origin, and is in no way connected with Christian art. 448 C/^z^5S XIV ST. NAZAIRE DE CARCASSONNE With old and new Carcassonne one finds a contrast, if not as great as between the hyphenated Hungarian cities of Buda and Pest, at least as marked in detail. In most European settlements, where an old municipality adjoins a modern one, walls have been razed, moats filled, and much gen- eral modernization has been undertaken. With Carcassonne this is not so; its wind- ing ways, its culs-de-sacs, narrow alleys, and towering walls remain much as they always were, and the great stronghold of the Middle Ages, vulnerable — as history tells — from but one point, remains to-day, after its ad- mirable restoration of roof and capstone, much as it was in the days when modern Car- cassonne was but a scattering hamlet beneath the walls of the older fortification. One thing will always be recalled, and that 449 The Cathedrals of Southern France is that a part of the enceinte of the ancient Cite was a construction of the sixth century — the days of the Visigoths — and that its subsequent development into an almost in- vulnerable fortress was but the endorsement which later centuries gave to the work and forethought of a people who were supposed to possess no arts, and very little of ingenuity. This should suggest a line of investigation to one so niinded; while for us, who regard the ancient walls merely as a boundary which sheltered and protected a charming Gothic church, it is perhaps sufficient to recall the inconsistency in many previous estimates as , to what great abilities, if any, the Goths pos- sessed. If it is true that the Visigoths merely fol- lowed Roman tradition, so much the more creditable to them that they preserved these ancient walls to the glory of those who came after, and but added to the general plan. Old and new Carcassonne, as one might call them, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had each their own magistrates and a separate government. The Cite, elevated above the ville, held also the garrison, the presidial seat, and the first seneschalship of the province. 450 The Cathedrals of Southern France The bishopric of the Cite is not so ancient as the ville itself; for the first prelate there whose name is found upon record was one Sergius, " who subscribed to a ' Council ' held at Narbonne in 590." St. Hilaire, who founded the abbey at Poi- The Old cm de Carcassonne before and after the Restoration, tiers, came perhaps before Sergius, but his tenure is obscure as to its exact date. The cathedral of St. Michel, in the lower town, has been, since 1803, ^^ seat of the bishop's throne. It is a work unique, perhaps, in its design, 451 The Cathedrals of Southern France but entirely unfeeling and preposterous in its overelaborate decorations. It has a long par- allelogram-like nave, " entierement peinte," as the custodian refers to it. It has, to be sure, a grand vault, strong and broad, but there are no aisles, and the chapels which flank this gross nave are mere painted boxes. Episcopal dignity demanded that some show of importance should be given to the cathedral, and it was placed in the hands of VioUet-le-Duc in 1849 for restoration. What- ever his labours may have been, he doubtless was not much in sympathy with this clumsy fabric, and merely " restored " it in some measure approaching its twelfth-century form. It is with St. Nazaire de Carcassonne, the tiny eglise of the old Cite and the ci-devant cathedral that we have to do. This most fascinating church, fascinating for itself none the less than its unique envi- ronment, is, in spite of the extended centuries of its growth, almost the equal- in the purity of its Gothic to that of St. Urbain at Troyes. And this, in spite of evidences of rather bad joining up of certain warring constructive elements. The structure readily composes itself into 452 The Cathedrals of Southern France two distinct parts: that of the Romanesque (round arch and barrel vault) era and that of the Gothic of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. No consideration of St. Nazaire de Car- cassonne is possible without first coming to a realization of the construction and the func- tions of the splendidly picturesque and effect- ive ramparts which enclosed the ancient Cite, its cathedral, chateaux, and various civil and domestic establishments. In brief, its history and chronology com- mences with the Visigoth foundation, extend- ing from the fifth to the eighth centuries to the time (1356) when it successfully resisted the Black Prince in his bloody ravage, by sword and fire, of all of Languedoc. Legend has it that in Charlemagne's time, after that monarch had besieged the town for many years and was about to raise the siege in despair, a certain tower, — which flanked the chateau, — defended only by a Gauloise known as Carcaso, suddenly gave way and opened a breach by which the army was at last able to enter. A rude figure perpetuating the fame of this . Madame Carcaso — a veritable Amazon, it 453 The Cathedrals of Southern France would seem — is still seen, rudely carved, over the Porte Narbonnaise. It is the inner line of ramparts which dates from the earliest period. The chateau, the postern-gate, and most of the interior con- struction are of the eleventh and twelfth cen- Two Capitals of Pillars in St. Nasaire de Carcassonne; and the Rude Stone Carving of Carcas turies, while the outer fortification is of the time of St. Louis, the latter part of the thir- teenth century. The Saracens successfully attacked and oc- cupied the city from 713 to 759, but were routed by Pepin-le-Bref. In 1090 was first founded the strong vicomtale dynasty of the 454 en The Cathedrals of Southern France Trencavels. In 1210 the Crusaders, under Simon de Montfort and the implacable Abbot of Citeaux, laid siege to the Cite, an act which resulted in the final massacre, fifty of the be- sieged — who surrendered — being hanged, and four hundred burned alive. In addition to the walls and ramparts were fifty circular protecting towers. The extreme length of the inner enclosure is perhaps three- quarters of a mile, and of the outer nearly a full mile. It is impossible to describe the magnitude and splendour of these city walls, which, up to the time of their restoration by VioUet- le-Duc, had scarcely crumbled at all. The upper ranges of the towers, roof-tops, ram- parts, etc., had become broken, of course, and the sky-line had become serrated, but the walls, their foundations, and their outline plan had endured as few works of such mag- nitude have before or since. Carcassonne, its history, its romance, and its picturesque qualities, has ever appealed to the poet, painter, and historian alike. Something of the halo of sentiment which surrounds this marvellous fortified city will be gathered from the following praiseful ad- miration by Gustave Nadaud : 455 The Cathedrals of Southern France CARCASSONNE " ' I'm growing old, I've sixty years; I've laboured all my life in vain; In all that time of hopes and fears I've failed my dearest wish to gain; I see full well that here below Bliss unalloyed there is for none. My prayer will ne'er fulfilment know; I never have seen Carcassonne, I never have seen Carcassonne! " ' You see the city from the hill — It lies beyond the mountains blue, And yet to reach it one must still Five long and weary leagues pursue. And, to return, as many more! Ah! had the vintage plenteous grown, The grape withheld its yellow store! I shall not look on Carcassonne, I shall not look on Carcassonne! " * They tell me every day is there Not more nor less than Sunday gay; In shining robes and garments fair The people walk upon their way. One gazes there on castle walls As grand as those of Babylon, A bishop and two generals! I do not know fair Carcassonne, I do not know fair Carcassonne! 456 The Cathedrals of Southern France " ' The cure's right ; he says that we Are ever wayward, weak, and blind; He tells us in his homily Ambition ruins all mankind; Yet could I there two days have spent, While the autumn sweetly shone, Ah, me! I might have died content When I had looked on Carcassonne, When I had looked on Carcassonne! " * Thy pardon. Father, I beseech. In this my prayer if I offend; One something sees beyond his reach From childhood to his journey's end. My wife, our little boy, Aignan, Have travelled even to Narbonne, My grandchild has seen Perpignan, And I have not seen Carcassonne, And I have not seen Carcassonne ! ' "So crooned one day, close by Limoux, A peasant double bent with age, ' Rise up, my friend,' said I, ' with you I'll go upon this pilgrimage.' We left next morning his abode, But (Heaven forgive him) half way on The old man died upon the road ; He never gazed on Carcassonne, Each mortal has his Carcassonne!" St. Nazaire is possessed of a Romanesque nave which dates from 1096, but the choir 457 The Cathedrals of Southern France and transepts are of the most acceptable Gothic forms of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This choir is readily accounted as a master- work of elegance, is purely northern in style and treatment, and possesses also those other attributes of the perfectionnement of the style — fine glass, delicate fenestration, and super- lative grace throughout, as contrasted with the heavier and more cold details of the Ro- manesque variety. The nave was dedicated by Urbain II., and was doubtless intended for defence, if its square, firmly bedded towers and piers are suggestive of that quality. The principal parte — it does not rise to the grandeur of a portail — is a thorough Roman example. The interior, with its great piers, its rough barrel-vault, and its general lack of grace and elegance, bespeaks its functions as a strong- hold. A Romanesque tower in its original form stands on the side which adjoins the ramparts. With the choir comes the contrast, both inside and out. The apside, the transepts, the eleven gor- geous windows, and the extreme grace of its piers and vaulting, all combine in the fullest 458 The Cathedrals of Southern France expression of the architectural art of its time. This admirable Gothic addition was the work of Bishop Pierre de Rochefort in 1321. The transept chapels and the apse are framed with light soaring arches, and the great east- erly windows are set with brilliant glass. In a side chapel is the former totab of Simon de Montfort, whose remains were buried here in 1 218. At a subsequent time they were removed to Montfort I'Amaury in the Isle of France. Another remarkable tomb is that of Bishop Radulph (1266). It shows an unusually elaborate sculptured treat- ment for its time, and is most ornate and beau- tiful. In the choir are many fine fourteenth-cen- tury statues; a tomb with a sleeping figure, thought to be that of Bishop du Puy of Car- cassonne; statues of the Virgin, St. Nazaire, and the twelve apostles; an elaborate high- altar; and a pair of magnificent candlesticks, bearing the arms of Bishop Martin (1522). An eleventh-century crypt lies beneath the choir. The sacristy, as it is to-day, was for- merly a thirteenth-century chapel. The organ is commonly supposed to be the most ancient in France. It i« not of ranking 459 The Cathedrals of Southern France greatness as a work of art, but it is interesting to know that it has some redeeming quality, aside from its conventional ugliness. The tour carree, which is set in the inner rampart just in front of the cathedral, is known as the Bishop's Tower. It is a tower of many stages, and contains some beautifully vaulted chambers. The celebrated tour des Visigoths, which is near by, is the most ancient of all. The entrance to the old Cite is via the Pont Vieux, which is itself a mediaeval twelfth or thirteenth century architectural monument of rare beauty. In the middle of this old bridge is a very ancient iron cross. 460 XV CATHEDRALE DE PAMIERS " Une petite ville sur la rive droite de I'Ariege, siege d'un eveche." These few words, with perhaps seven accompanying lines, usually dismiss this charming little Pyrenean city, so far as information for the traveller is concerned. It is, however, one of these neglected tour- ist points which the traveller has ever passed by in his wild rush " across country." To be sure, it is considerably off the beaten track; so too are its neighbouring ancient 461 The Cathedrals of Southern France bishoprics of Mirepoix and St. Bertrand de Comminges, and for that reason they are com- paratively unspoiled. The great and charming attraction of Pamiers is its view of the serrated ridge of the Pyrenees from the promenade de Cas- tellat, just beyond the cathedral. For the rest, the cathedral, the fortified l£,glise de Notre Dame du Camp, the ancient Eglise de Cordeliers, the many old houses, and the general sub-tropical aspect of the country round about, all combine to present attractions far more edifying and gratifying than the allurements of certain of the Pyre- nean " watering-places." The cathedral itself is not a great work; its charm, as before said, lies in its environ- ments. Its chief feature — and one of real distinc- tion — is its octagonal clocher, in brick, dating from the fourteenth century. It is a singularly graceful tower, built after the local manner of the Midi of France, of which St. Saturnin and the £glise des Jacobins at Toulouse are the most notable. Its base is a broad square machicolated foundation with no openings, and suggests, as truly as does the tower at Albi, a churchly 462 The Cathedrals of Southern France stronghold unlikely to give way before any ordinary attack. In the main, the church is a rebuilt, rather than a restored edifice. The nave, and indeed nearly all of the structure, except its dominant octagonal tower, is of the seventeenth century. This work was undertaken and consummated by Mansart after the manner of that period, and is far more acceptable than the efifect pro- duced by most " restored churches." The eleventh-century abbey of St. Antoine formed originally the seat of the throne of the first bishop of Pamiers, Bernard Saisset, in 1297. 463 XVI ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES To-day St. Bertrand de Comminges, the ancient Lugdunum Convenarum (through which one traces its communistic foundation), is possessed of something less than six hundred inhabitants. Remains of the Roman ramparts are yet to be seen, and its ci-devant cathedral, — of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries -«- suppressed in 1790, still dominates the town from its heights. Arthur Young, writing in the eighteenth century, describes its situation thus: "The mountains rise proudly around and give their rough frame to this exquisite little picture." The diocese grew out of the monkish cora-| munity which had settled here in the sixth century, when the prelate Suavis became its first bishop. To-day the nearest bishop's seat is at Tarbes, in the archbishopric of Auch. As to architectural style, the cathedral pre- sents what might ordinarily be called an un- 464 HI *• •■ The Cathedrals of Southern France desirable mixture, though it is in no way uninteresting or even unpleasing. The west front has a curious Romanesque doorway, and there is a massiveness of wall and buttress which the rather diminutive pro- portions of the general plan of the church make notably apparent. Otherwise the effect, from a not too near view-point, is one of a solidity and firmness of building only to be seen in some of the neighbouring fortress- churches. A tower of rather heavy proportions is to- day capped with a pyramidal slate or tim- bered apex after the manner of the western towers at Rodez. From a distance, this fea- ture has the suggestion of the development of what may perhaps be a local type of clocher. Closer inspections, when its tempo- rary nature is made plain, disabuses this idea entirely. It is inside the walls that the great charm of this church lies. It is elaborately planned, profuse in ornament, — without be- ing in any degree redundant, — and has a warmth and brilliancy which in most Roman- esque interiors is wanting. This interior is representative, on a small scale, of that class of structure whose dis- tinctive feature is what the French architect 465 The Cathedrals of Southern France calls a nef unique, meaning, in this instance, one of those great single-chambered churches without aisles, such as are found at Perpignan, new Carcassonne, Lodeve, and in a still more amplified form at Albi. There are of course no aisles; and for a length of something over two hundred feet, and a breadth of fifty- five, the bold vault — in the early pointed style — roofs one of the most attractive and pleasing church interiors it is possible to conceive. Of the artistic accessories it is impossible to be too enthusiastic. There are sixty-six choir-stalls, most elaborately carved in wood — perhaps mahogany — of a deep rich col- ouring seldom seen. Numerous other sculp- tured details in wood and stone set off with unusual effect the great and well-nigh win- dowless side walls. The organ buffet of Renaissance workman- ship — as will naturally be inferred — is a remarkably elaborate work, much more to be admired than many of its contemporaries. Among the other decorative features are an elaborately conceived " tree of Jesse," an un- usually massive rood-loft or ]uhe, and a high- altar of much magnificence. The choir is surrounded by eleven chapels, 466 The Cathedrals of Southern France showing in some instances the pure pointed style, and in the latter ones that of the Renais- sance. A fourteenth-century funeral monument of Bishop Hugh de Castillione is an elaborate work in white marble; while a series of paintings on the choir walls, — illustrating the miracles of St. Bertrand, — though of a certain crudity, tend to heighten the interest without giving that effect of the overelabora- tion of irrelative details not unfrequently seen in some larger churches. At St. Bertrand de Comminges and the cathedrals at Aries, Cavaillon, and Aix-en- Provence, Elne-ert-Roussillon, and Le Puy- en-Velay are conserved — in a more or less perfect state of preservation — a series of de- lightful twelfth-century cloisters. These churches possess this feature in common with the purely monastic houses, whose builders so frequently lavished much thought and care on these enclosed and cloistered courtyards. As a mere detail — or accessory, if you will, — an ample cloister is expressive of much that is wanting in a great church which lacks this contributory feature. Frequently this part was the first to suc- cumb to the destroying influence of time, and 467 The Cathedrals of Southern France leave a void for which no amount of latter- day improvement could make up. Even here, while the cloister ranks as one of the most beautiful yet to be seen, it is part in a ruinous condition. 468 XVII ST. JEAN - BAPTISTE D'AIRE This city of the Landes, that wild, bleak region of sand-dunes and shepherds, abuts upon the more prosperous and fertile terri- tory of the valley of the Adour. By reason of this juxtaposition, its daily life presents a series of contrasting elements as quaint and as interesting as those of the bordering Franco-Spanish cities of Perpignan and Bayonne. From travellers in general, and lovers of architecture in particular, it has ever received 469 The Cathedrals of Southern France but scant consideration, though it is by no means the desert place that early Victorian writers would have us believe. It is in reality a well-built mediaeval town, with no very lurid events of the past to its discredit, and, truthfully, with no very marvellous attributes beyond a certain subtle charm and quaintness which is perhaps the more interesting because of its unobtrusiveness. It has been a centre of Christian activity since the days of the fifth century, when its first bishop. Marcel, was appointed to the diocese by the mother-see of Auch. The cathedral of St. Jean-Baptiste belongs to the minor class of present-day cathedrals, and is of a decidedly conglomerate architec- tural style, with no imposing dimensions, and no really vivid or lively details of ornamenta- tion. It was begun in the thirteenth century, and the work of rebuilding and restoration has been carried on well up to the present time. 470 Co to H W o o z w CO XVIII STS. BENOIT ET VINCENT DE CASTRES CasTRES will ever rank in the mind of the wayfarer along the byways of the south of France as a marvellous bit of stage scenery, rather than as a collection of profound, or even highly interesting, architectural types. It is one of those spots into which a trav- eller drops quite unconsciously en route to somewhere else; and lingers a much longer time than circumstances would seem to justify. This is perhaps inexplicable, but it is a fact, which is only in a measure accounted for by reason of the "local colour" — whatever that vague term of the popular novelist may mean — and customs which weave an entan- glement about one which is difficult to resist. The river Agout is as weird a stream as its name implies, and divides this haphazard lit- tle city of the Tarn into two distinct, and quite characteristically different, parts. 471 The Cathedrals of Southern France Intercourse between Castres and its fau- bourg, Villegondom, is carried on by two stone bridges; and from either bank of the river, or from either of the bridges, there is always in a view a ravishingly picturesque ensemble of decrepit walls and billowy roof- tops, that will make the artist of brush and pencil angry with fleeting time. The former cathedral is not an entrancingly beautiful structure ; indeed, it is not after the accepted " good form " of any distinct archi- tectural style. It is a poor battered thing which has suffered hardly in the past; notably at the hands of the Huguenots in 1567. As it stands to-day, it is practically a seventeenth- century construction, though it is yet unfin- ished and lacks its western fagade. The vaulting of the choir, and the chapels are the only constructive elements which war- rant remark. There are a few paintings in the choir, four rather attractive life-size stat- ues, and a series of severe but elegant choir- stalls. The former eveche is to-day the Hotel de Ville, but was built by Mansart in 1666, and has a fine escalier in sculptured stone. As a centre of Christianity, Castres is very 472 The Cathedrals of Southern France ancient. In 647 there was a Benedictine abbey here. The bishopric, however, did not come into being until 13 17, and was sup- pressed in 1790. 473 XIX NOTRE DAME DE RODEZ The cathedral at Rodez, whose diocese dates from the fifth century and whose first bishop was St. Amand, is, in a way, reminis- cent — in its majesty of outline and dominant situation — of that at Albi. It is not, however, after the same manner, but resembles it more particularly with re- spect to its west fagade, which is unpierced in its lower stages by either doorway or window. Here, too, the entrance is midway in its length, and its front presents that sheer flank of walled barrier which is suggestive of noth- ing but a fortification. This great church — for it is truly great, pure and simple — makes up in width what it lacks in length. Its nave and aisles are just covered by a span of one hundred and twenty feet, — a greater dimension than is possessed 474 'flV jt ~. N OTRE DAME de RODEZ . . The Cathedrals of Southern France by Chartres or Rouen, and nearly as great as Paris or Amiens. Altogether Notre Dame de Rodez is a most pleasing church, though conglomerate as to its architecture, and as bad, with respect to the Renaissance gable of its fagade, as any contemporary work in the same style. Rodez lacks, however, the great enfolding tower central of Albi. This mellow and warm-toned cathedral, from its beginnings in the latter years of the thirteenth century to the time when the Re- naissance cast its dastardly spell over the genius who inspired its original plan, was the result of the persevering though intermittent work of three centuries, and even then the two western towers were left incomplete. This perhaps was. fortunate; otherwise they might have been topped with such an excres- cence as looms up over the doorless west fagade. The Gascon compares the pyramidal roofs which cap either tower — and with some just- ness, too — to the pyramids of Egypt, and for that reason the towers are, to him, the most wonderful in the universe. Subtle hu- mour this, and the observer will have little difficulty in tracing the analogy. 475 The Cathedrals of Southern France Still, they really are preferable, as a decora- tive feature, to the tomb-like headboard which surmounts the central gable which they flank. The ground-plan is singularly uni- form, with transepts scarcely defined — ex- cept in the interior arrangements — and yet not wholly absent. The elaborate tower, called often and with some justification the beffroi, which flanks, or rather indicates, the northerly transept, is hardly pure as to its Gothic details, but it is a magnificent work nevertheless. It dates from 1510, is two hundred and sixty-five feet high, and is typical of most of the late pointed work of its era. The final stage is octagonal and is surmounted by a statue of the Virgin surrounded by the Evan- gelists. This statue may or may not be a worthy work of art; it is too elevated, how- ever, for one to decide. The decorations of the west front, except for the tombstone-like Renaissance gable, are mainly of the same period as the north tran- sept tower, and while perhaps ultra-florid, certainly make a fine appearance when viewed across the Place d'Armes. This west front, moreover, possesses that unusual attribute of a southern church, an 476 The Cathedrals of Southern France elaborate Gothic rose window; and, though it does not equal in size or design such mag- nificent examples as are seen in the north, at Reims, Amiens, or Chartres, is, after all, a notable detail of its kind. The choir, chevet, and apside are of mas- sive building, though not lacking grace, in spite of the absence of the arcs-boutants of the best Gothic. Numerous grotesque gargoyles dot the eaves and gables, though whether of the spout vari- ety or mere symbols of superstition one can hardly tell with accuracy when viewed from the ground level. The north and south portals of the tran- septs are of a florid nature, after the manner of most of the decorations throughout the structure, and are acceptable evidence of the ingenious craft of the stone-carver, if noth- ing more. The workmanship of these details, how- ever, does not rise to the heights achieved by the architect who outlined the plan and foundation upon which they were latterly imposed. They are, too, sadly disfigured, the tympanum in the north portal having been disgracefully ravished. The interior arrangements are doubly im- 477 The Cathedrals of Southern France pressive, not only from the effect of great size, but from the novel colour effect — a sort of dull, glowing pink which seems to pervade the very atmosphere, an effect which con- trasts strangely with the colder atmosphere of the Gothic churches of the north. A curi- ous feature to be noted here is that the sus- taining walls of the vault rest directly on piers sans capitals; as effective, no doubt, as the conventional manner, but in this case hardly as pleasing. Two altars, one at either end of nave and choir, duplicate the arrangement seen at Albi. The organ bu-ffet, too, is of the same mas- siveness and elaborateness, and is consequently an object of supreme pride to the local au- thorities. It seems difficult to make these useful and necessary adjuncts to a church interior of the quality of beauty shared by most other ac- cessories, such as screens, altars, and choir- stalls, which, though often of the contempo- rary Renaissance period, are generally beau- tiful in themselves. The organ-case, however, seems to run either to size, heaviness, or gro- tesqueness, or a combination of all. This is true in this case, where its great size, and 478 The Cathedrals of Southern France plentifully besprinkled rococo ornament, and unpleasantly dull and dingy " pipes " are of no aesthetic value whatever. The organ, moreover, occupies the unusual position — in a French church — of being over the western doorway. The nave is of extreme height, one hundred and ten feet, and is of unusual width, as are also the aisles. The rose window, before remarked, shows well from the inside, though its glass is not notable. A series of badly arched lancets in the choir are ungraceful and not in keeping with the other constructive details. The delicately sculptured and foliaged screen or ]uhe at the crossing is a late fifteenth-century work. In one of the chapels is now to be seen, in mutilated fragments, the ancient sixteenth- century cloture du chceur. It was a remark- able and elaborate work of bizarre stone- carving, which to-day has been reconstructed in some measure approaching its former com- pleteness by the use of still other fragments taken from the episcopal palace. The chief feature as to completeness and perfection is the doorway, which bears two lengthy inscrip- tions in Latin. The facing of the cloture 479 The Cathedrals of Southern France throughout is covered with a range of pilas- ters in Arabesque, but the niches between are Choir-stalk, Rodez to-day bare of their statues, if they ever really possessed them. The choir-stalls and bishop's throne in carved wood are excellent, as also an elab- 480 The Cathedrals of Southern France orately carved wooden grille of a mixed Ara- besque and Gothic design. There are four other chapel or alcove screens very nearly as elaborate; all of which features, taken in conjunction one with the other, form an extensive series of embellish- ments such as is seldom met with. Two fourteenth-century monuments to former prelates are situated in adjoining chapels, and a still more luxurious work of the same period — the tomb of Gilbert de Cantobre — is beneath an extensive altar which has supposedly Byzantine ornament of the tenth century. Rodez was the seat of a bishop (St. Amand) as early as the fifth century. Then, as now, the diocese was a sufifragan of Albi, whose first bishop, St. Clair, came to the mother-see in the century previous. 481 XX STE. CECILE D'ALBI The cathedral of Ste. Cecile d'Albi is one of the most interesting, as well as one of the most curious, in all France. It possesses a quality, rare among churches, which gives it at once the aspect of both a church and a fortress. As the representative of a type, it stands at the very head of the splendid fortress- churches of feudal times. The remarkable disposition of its plan is somewhat reflected' in the neighbouring cathedral at Rodez and in the church at Esnades, in the Department of the Charente-Inferieure. In the severe and aggressive lines of the easterly, or choir, end, it also resembles the famous church of St. Francis at Assisi, and the ruined church of Sainte Sophie at Fama- gousta in the Island of Cyprus. It has been likened by the imaginative French — and it needs not so very great a 482 IT. CECILE ► d'ALBI . . The Cathedrals of Southern France stretch of the imagination, either — to an im- mense vessel. Certainly its lines and propor- tions somewhat approach such a form; as much so as those of Notre Dame de Noyon, which Stevenson likened to an old-time craft with a high poop. A less aesthetic compari- son has been made with a locomotive of gigan- tic size, and, truth to tell, it is not unlike that, either, with its advancing tower. The extreme width of the great nave of this church is nearly ninety feet, and its body is constructed, after an unusual manner, of a warm, rosy-coloured brick. In fact the only considerable portions of the structure not so done are the cloture of the choir, the window- mullions, and the flamboyant Gothic porch of the south side. By reason of its uncommon constructive elements, — though by no means is it the sole representative of its kind in the south of France, — Ste. Cecile stands forth as the most considerable edifice of its kind among those which were constructed after this manner of Roman antiquity. Brickwork of this nature, as is well known, is very enduring, and it therefore makes much for the lasting qualities of a structure so built; much more so, in fact, than the crumbling soft 483 The Cathedrals of Southern France stone which is often used, and which crumbles before the march of time like lead in a fur- nace. Ste. Cecile was begun in 1282, on the ruins of the ancient church of St. Croix. It came to its completion during the latter years of the fourteenth century, when it stood much as it does to-day, grim and strong, but very beautiful. The only exterior addition of a later time is the before-remarked florid south porch. This baldaquin is very charmingly worked in a light brown stone, and, while flamboyant to an ultra degree, is more graceful in design and execution than most works of a contem- porary era which are welded to a stone fabric whose constructive and decorative details are of quite a distinctly different species. In other words, it composes and adds a graceful beauty to the brick fabric of this great church ; but likely enough it would offend exceedingly were it brought into juxtaposition with the more slim lines of early Gothic. Its detail here is the very culmination of the height to which Gothic rose before its final debase- ment, and, in its spirited non-contemporane- ous admixture with the firmly planted brick walls which form its background, may be 484 The Cathedrals of Southern France reckoned as a baroque in art rather than as a thing outre or misplaced. In further explanation of the peculiar for- tress-like qualities possessed by Ste. Cecile, it may be mentioned here that it was the out- come of a desire for the safety of the church and its adherents which caused it to take this form. It was the direct result of the terrible wars of the Albigenses, and the political and social conditions of the age in which it was built, — the days when the Church was truly militant. Here, too, to a more impressive extent than elsewhere, if we except the papal palace at Avignon, the episcopal residence as well takes on an aspect which is not far different from that possessed by some of the secular chateaux of feudal times. It closely adjoins the cathe- dral, which should perhaps dispute this. In reality, however, it does not, and its walls and foundations look far more worldly than they do devout. As to impressiveness, this strong- hold of a bishop's palace is thoroughly in keeping with the cathedral itself, and the frowning battlement of its veritable donjon and walls and ramparts suggests a deal more than the mere name by which it is known would justify. Such use as it was previously 485 The Cathedrals of Southern France put to was well served, and the history of the troublous times of the mediaeval ages, when the wars of the Protestants, " the cursed Albi- genses," and the natural political and social dissensions, form a chapter around which one could weave much of the history of this majestic cathedral and its walled and fortified environment. The interior of the cathedral will appeal first of all by its very grand proportions, and next by the curious ill-mannered decorations with which the walls are entirely covered. There is a certain gloom in this interior, in- duced by the fact that the windows are mere elongated slits in the walls. There are no aisles, no triforium, and no clerestory; noth- ing but a vast expanse of wall with bizarre decorations and these unusual window pierc- ings. The arrangement of the openings in the tower are even more remarkable — what there are of them, for in truth it is here that the greatest likeness to a fortification is seen. In the lower stages of the tower there are no openings whatever, while above they are practically nothing but loopholes. The fine choir-screen, in stone, is consid- ered one of the most beautiful and magnifi- cent in France, and to see it is to believe the 486 The Cathedrals of Southern France statement. The entire cloture of the choir is a wonderful piece of stonework, and the hundred and twenty stalls, which are within its walls, form of themselves an excess of elab- oration which perhaps in a more garish light would be oppressive. The wall-paintings or frescoes are deci- dedly not beautiful, being for the most part crudely coloured geometrical designs scat- tered about with no relation one to another. They date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and are doubtless Italian as to their workmanship, but they betray no great skill on the part of those unknowns who are re- sponsible for them. The pulpit is an unusually ornate work for a French church, but is hardly beautiful as a work of art. No more is the organ-case, which, as if in keeping with the vast interior, spreads itself over a great extent of wall space. Taken all in all, the accessories of the ca- thedral at Albi, none the less than the unique plan and execution thereof, the south porch, the massive tower, the ]uhe and cloture of the choir, the vast unobstructed interior, and the outre wall decorations, place it as one of the most consistently and thoroughly completed edifices of its rank in France. Nothing ap- 487 The Cathedrals of Southern France parently is wanting, and though possessed of no great wealth of accessory — ■ if one excepts the choir enclosure alone — it is one of those shrines which, by reason of its very individ- uality, will live long in the memory. It has been said, moreover, to stand alone as to the extensive and complete exemplification of " I' art decoratif " in France ; that is, as being distinctively French throughout. The evolution of these component elements took but the comparatively small space of time covered by two centuries — from the fourteenth to the sixteenth. The culmination resulted in what is still to be seen in all its pristine glory to-day, for Ste. Cecile has not suffered the depredation of many another shrine. The general plan is distinctly and indige- nously French; French to the very core — born of the soil of the Midi, and bears no re- semblance whatever to any exotic from an- other land. With the decorative elements the case may be somewhat qualified. The baldaquin — like the choir-screen — more than equals in delicacy and grace the portals of such mas- terworks as Notre Dame de Rouen, St. Ma- clou, or even the cathedral at Troyes, though 488 The Cathedrals of Southern France of less magnitude than any of these examples. On the other hand, it was undoubtedly in- spired by northern precept, as also were the ornamental sculptures in wood and stone which are to be seen in the interior. Albi was a bishopric as early as the fourth century, with St. Clair as its first bishop. At the time the present cathedral was begun it became an archbishopric, and as such it has endured until to-day, with suffragans at Ro- dez, Cahors, Mende, and Perpignan. 489 XXI ST. PIERRE DE MENDE In the heart of the Gevaudan, Mende is the most picturesque, mountain-locked little city imaginable, with no very remarkable fea- tures surrounding it, nor any very grand arti- ficial ones contained within it. The mountains here, unlike the more fruit- ful plains of the lower Gevaudan, are covered with snow all of the winter. It is said that the inhabitants of the mountainous upper Gevaudan used to " go into Spain every win- ter to get a livelihood." Why, it is difficult to understand. The mountain and valley towns around Mende look no less prosperous than those of Switzerland, though to be sure the inhabitants have never here had, and per- haps never will have, the influx of tourists " to live off of," as in the latter region. During an invasion of the Alemanni into Gaul, in the third century, the principal city of Gevaudan was plundered and ruined. The 490 The Cathedrals of Southern France bishop, St. Privat, fled into the Cavern of Memate or Mende, whither the Germans fol- lowed and killed him. The holy man was interred in the neigh- bouring village of Mende, and the venera- tion which people had for his memory caused them to develop it into a considerable place. Such is the popular legend, at any rate. The city had no bishop of its own, however, until the middle of the tenth century. Pre- viously the bishops were known as Bishops of Gevaudan. At last, however, the prelates fixed their seat at Mende, and " great num- bers of people resorted thither by reason of the sepulchre of St. Privat." By virtue of an agreement with Philippe- le-Bel, in 1306, the bishop became Count of Gevaudan. He claimed also the right of administering the laws and the coining of specie. Mende is worth visiting for itself alone and for its cathedral. It is difficult to say which will interest the absolute stranger the more. The spired St. Pierre de Mende is but a fourteenth-century church, with restorations of the seventeenth, but there is a certain grim- ness and primitiveness about its fabric which 491 The Cathedrals of Southern France would otherwise seem to place it as of a much earlier date. The seventeenth-century restorations amounted practically to a reconstruction, as the Calvinists had partly destroyed the fabric. The two fine towers of the century before were left standing, but without their spires. The city itself lies at a height of over seven hundred kilometres, and the pic rises another three hundred kilometres above. The surrounding " green basin of hillsides " en- closes the city in a circular depression, which, with its cathedral as the hub, radiates in long, straight roadways to the bases of these ver- dure-clad hills. It is not possible to have a general view of the cathedral without its imposing back- ground of mountain or hilltops, and for this reason, while the entire city may appear dwarfed, and its cathedral likewise dimin- ished in size, they both show in reality the strong contrasting effect of nature and art. The cathedral towers, built by Bishop de la Rovere, are of sturdy though not great pro- portions, and the half-suggested spires rise skyward in as piercing a manner as if they were continued another hundred feet. As a matter of fact one rises to a height of 492 The Cathedrals of Southern France two hundred and three feet, and the other to two hundred and seventy-six feet, so at least, they are not diminutive. The taller of these pleasing towers is really a remarkable work. The general plan of the cathedral is the conventional Gothic conception, which was not changed in the seventeenth-century recon- struction. The nave is flanked with the usual aisles, which in turn are abutted with ten chapels on either side. Just within the left portal is preserved the old bourdon called la Non-Pareille, a curi- osity which seems in questionable taste for inclusion within a cathedral. The rose window of the portal shows in the interior with considerable efifect, though it is; of not great elegance or magnificence of itself. In the Chapelle des Catechismes, immedi- ately beneath the tower, is an unusual " As- sumption." As a work of art its rank is not high, and its artist is unknown, but in its con- ception it is unique and wonderful. There are some excellent wood-carvings in the Chapelle du Baptistere, a description which applies as well to the stalls of the choir. Around the sanctuary hang seven tapes- 493 The Cathedrals of Southern France tries, ancient, it is said, but of no great beauty in themselves. In a chapel on the north side of the choir is a " miraculous statue " of la Vierge Noir. The organ buffet dates from 1640, and is of the ridiculous overpowering bulk of most works of its class. The bishopric, founded by St. Severein in the third century at Civitas Gabalorum, was reestablished at Mende in the year 1000. The Ermitage de St. Privat, the holy shrine of the former habitation of the holy man whose name it bears, is situated a few kilo- metres away on the side of Mont Mimat. It is a favourite place of pilgrimage, and from the platform of the chapel is to be had a fine view of the city and its cathedral. 494 XXII OTHER OLD - TIME CATHEDRALS IN AND ABOUT THE BASIN OF THE GARONNE Dax At Dax, an ancient thermal station of the Romans, is a small cathedral, mainly modern, with a portal of the thirteenth century. It was reconstructed from these thirteenth- century remains in the seventeenth century, and exhibits no marks of beauty which would have established its ranking greatness even at that time. Dax was a bishopric in the province of Auch in the third century, but the see was suppressed in 1802. Eauze Eauze was an archbishopric in the third century, when St. Paterne was its first dig- 495 The Cathedrals of Southern France nitary. Subsequently — in the following cen- tury — the archbishopric was transferred to Auch. As Elusa it was an important place in the time of Caesar, but was completely destroyed in the early part of the tenth century. Eauze, therefore, has no church edifice which ever ranked as a cathedral, but there is a fine Gothic church of the late fifteenth century which is, in every way, an architectural mon- ument worthy of remark. Lombez The bishopric of Lombez, in the ancient ecclesiastical province of Toulouse, endured from 1328 (a tenth-century Benedictine abbey foundation) . Its first bishop was one Roger de Com- minges, a monk who came from the monastic community of St. Bertrand de Comminges, The see was suppressed in 1790. St. Papoul St. Papoul was a bishopric from 13 17 until 1790. Its cathedral is in many respects 496 The Cathedrals of Southern France a really fine work. It was an ancient abbatial church in the Romanesque style, and has an attractive cloister built after the same manner. Rieux is perhaps the tiniest ville of France which has ever possessed episcopal dignity. It is situated on a mere rivulet — a branch of the Arize, which itself is not much more, but which in turn goes to swell the flood of La Garonne. Its one-time cathedral is per- haps not remarkable in any way, though it has a fine fifteenth-century tower in brique. The bishopric was founded in 1370 under Guillaume de Brutia, and was suppressed in 1790. Lavaur Lavaur was a bishopric, in the ecclesias- tical province of Toulouse, from 13 17 to 1790. Its cathedral of brick is of the fourteenth century, with a clocher dating from 1515, and a smaller tower, embracing a jacquemart, of the sixteenth century. In the interior is a fine sixteenth-century 497 The Cathedrals of Southern France painting, but there are no other artistic treas- ures or details of note. Oloron Oloron was a bishopric under St. Gratus in the sixth century; it ceased its functions as the head of a diocese at the suppression of 1790. The former cathedral of Ste. Marie is a fine Romanic-Ogivale edifice of the eleventh century, though its constructive era may be said to extend well toward the fifteenth be- fore it reached completion. There is a re- markably beautiful Romanesque sculptured portal. The nave is doubled, as to its aisles, and is one hundred and fifty feet or more in length and one hundred and six wide, an astonishing breadth when one comes to think of it, and a dimension which is not equalled by any minor cathedral. There are no other notable features beyond the general attractiveness of its charming environment. The ancient eveche has a fine Romanesque tower, and the cathedral itself is reckoned, by a paternal government, as a " monument historique," and as such is cared for at pub- lic expense. 498 The Cathedrals of Southern France Vabres Vabres was a bishopric which came into being as an aftergrowth of a Benedictine foundation of the ninth century, though its episcopal functions only began in 13 18, and ceased with the Revolutionary suppression. It was a sufifragan in the archiepiscopal dio- cese of Albi. Its former cathedral, while little to be remarked to-day as a really grand church edifice, was by no means an unworthy fane. It dates from the fourteenth century, and in part is thoroughly representative of the Gothic of that era. It was rebuilt in the eighteenth century, and a fine clocher added. St. Lizier or Couserans The present-day St. Lizier — a tiny Pyre- nean city — was the former Gallo-Romain city of Couserans. It retained this name when it was first made a bishopric by St. Valere in the fifth century. The see was suppressed in 1790. The figlise de St. Lizier, of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, consists of a choir and a nave, but no aisles. It shows some traces 499 The Cathedrals of Southern France of fine Roman sculpture, and a mere sugges- tion of a cloister. The former bishop's palace dates only from the seventeenth century. Sarlat A Benedictine abbey was founded here in the eighth century, and from this grew up the bishopric which took form in 13 17 under Raimond de Roquecarne, which in due course was finally abolished and the town stripped of its episcopal rank. The former cathedral dates from the elev- enth and twelfth centuries, and in part from the fifteenth. Connected therewith is a sepul- chral chapel, called the tour des Maures. It is of two etages, and dates from the twelfth century. St. Pons de Tomiers St. Pons is the seat of an ancient bishopric now suppressed. It is a charming village — it can hardly be named more ambitiously — situated at the source of the river Jaur, which rises in the Montagnes Noir in Lower Lan- guedoc. 500 The Cathedrals of Southern France ■ Its former cathedral is not of great interest as an architectural type, though it dates from the twelfth century. The facade is of the eighteenth century, but one of its side chapels dates from the four- teenth. St. Maurice de Mirepoix Mirepoix is a charming little city of the slopes of the Pyrenees. Its ancient cathedral of St. Maurice dates from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and has no very splendid features or appointments, — not even of the Renaissance order, — as might be expected from its magnitude. Its sole possession of note is the clocher, which rises to an approximate height of two hundred feet. The bishopric was founded in 1318 by Rai- mond Athone, but was suppressed in 1790. ^ J THE END. ~ \ \^ 501 Appendices Sketch map showing the usual geographical divisions of France. /., north ; II., northwest ; III.,east ; IV., southwest ; V., southeast: also the present departments into which the government is divided, with their names ; and the mediceval provinces which were gradually absorbed into the kingdom of France. There is in general one bishopric to a department. The subject-matter of this book treats of all of southwestern and southeastern France ; with, in addition, the departments of Satnt-et- Loire, Jura, Rhine, Loire, Ain, and Allier. II A Historical Table of the Dioceses of the South of France up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Province d'Aix Name Diocese founded First bishop Date of suppression Aix Nice, Avignon, Ajaccio, and Digne were allied therewith in 1802, and Marseilles and Alger in 1822. (Archbishopric) First century (?) St. Maxim (?) Antibes Transferred to Grasse Apt First century (?) St. Auspice 1790 Grasse (Jurisdiction over An- tibes.) Gap Fifth century St. Demetrius Riez Fifth century St. Prosper 1790 Frejus Fourth century Acceptus Sisteron Fifth century Chrysaphius Province d'Albi Albi Fourth century St. Clair Bishopric (Archbishopric) I3i7.(?) Anthime Castres 647 as a Benedic- tine Abbey. 1317 as a Bish- opric Robert, the first Abbot 1790 Mende Third century at Civitas Gabalo- rura. Reestab- lished here in the year 1000 St. S^verein and Genialis 504 Appendices Name Diocese /tmnded First bishop Date 0/ suppression Cahors Fourth century St. Genulphe Rodez Fifth century St. Amand Arisitum Sixth century de- Deothaire Rejoined tached from the to Rodez diocese of 670 Rodez Vabres Benedictine Abbey, 862. Bishopric, 13 17 1790 Province d' Aries Aries First century (Archbishopric) Marseilles St. Paul-Trois ChSiteaux, o r Tricastin Toulon Orange First century Second century Fifth century Fifth century St. Trophime 1790 St. Lazare St. Restuit Honor^ St. Luce 1790 1790 1790 Province d'Auch Eauze (Archbishopric) Auch (Bishopric then Archbishopric) Dax Lectoure Comminges Conserans Aire Bazas Tarbes Oloron Lescar Bayonne Third century Fourth century Third century Sixth century Sixth century Fifth century Fifth century Sixth century Sixth century Sixth century Fifth century Ninth century St. Paterne Citerius St. Vincent Heuterius Suavis St. Val^re Marcel Sextilius St. Justin Gratus St. Julien Arsias Rocha 720 1802 1790 1790 1790 (?) 1790 1790 Appendices Province d' Avignon Name Diocese founded Avignon (Bishopric, be- coming A r c h- bishopric in fif- teenth century) Carpentras Vaison Cavaillon Fourth century Third century Fourth century Fifth century Province de Bordeaux Bordeaux (Bishopric) (Archbishopric) Agen Condom (Ancient abbey — foundation date unknown) (Bishopric) Angoul6me Saintes Poitiers Maillezais (afterward at La Rochelle) Lu^on (Seventh-c e n- tury abbey) Perigueux Sarlat (Eighth-century Benedictine abbey) Third century Fourth century Fourth century Fourteenth century Third century Third century Third century Fourteenth century Second century •3"7 Province de Bourges Bourges Third century (Archbishopric) Clermont-Ferrand Third century 506 First bishop St. Ruf St. Valentin St. Aubin St. Genialis Oriental St. Pherade Raimond de Galard St. An some St. Eutrope St. Nectaire Geoff roy I. Pierre de La Veyrie St. Front Raimond de Roquecome St. Ursin St. Austremoine Date of suppression 1790 1790 1790 1793 Appendices Name Diocese founded First bishop Date of suppression St. Flour 1318 Raimond de (Ancient priory) Vehens Limoges Third century St. Martial Tulle 131 7 A r n a u d de (Seventh- cen- Saint-Astier tury Benedic- tine abbey) Le Puy Third century St. Georges Province d'Embrun Embrun (Archbishopric) Fourth century Digne Fourth century Antibes Fourth century (afterward at Grasse) Grasse Vence Glandive Senez Nice (formerly at Cemenelium) Fourth century Fifth century Fifth century Fourth century Province de Lyon St. Marcellin St. Domnin St. Armentaire Raimond de Villeneuve (1245) Eus^be Fraterne Ursus Amantius "793 1790 1790 1790 1790 Lyon (Archbishopric) Autun Micon Chalon-sur-Sadne Langres Dijon (F o u r t h-cen- tury abbey) Saint Claude (Fifth-century abbey) Tke Archbishop of Lyon was Primate of Gaul. Second century Third century Sixth century Fifth century Third century Bishopric in 1731 Bishopric in 1742 St. Pothin St. Amateur Placide Paul St. Just Jean Bonhier Joseph de Madet 1790 1790 Appendices Province de Narbonne Name Diocese /ounded Narbonne Third century (Archbishopric) S a i n t - Pons-de- I3r8 Tomiires (Tenth- century abbey) Alet 1318 (Ninth-century abbey) Beziers Fourth century Nimes Fourth century Alais 1694 ■ Lodive Uz^s Agde Maguelonne (afterward a t Montpellier) Carcassonne Elne (afterward at Perpignan) Fourth century (?) Fifth century Fifth century Sixth century Sixth century Sixth century First bishop St. Paul Datecf suppression l802 Pierre Roger 1790 Barthelmy 1790 St. Aphrodise 1702 St. Felix Chevalier de 1790 Saulx St. Flour 1790 Constance 1790 St. Venuste 1790 Beotius St. Hilaire Domnus Province de Tarentaise Tarentaise Fifth century (Archbishopric) Sion Fourth century Aoste Fourth century Chamb^ry 1780 Province de Toulouse Toulouse (Bishopric) Third century (Archbishopric) 1327 Pamiers 1297 (Eleventh-cen- tury abbey) 508 St. Jacques St. Th^odule St. Eustache Michel Conseil St. Saturnin Bernard Saisset Appendices Name D ^ioces* founded First bishop Date of suppression Rieux 1317 Guillaume de Brutia Montauban 1317 Bertrand du Puy (Ancient abbey) Mirepoix 1318 R a i m n d Athone 1790 Saint-Papoul I317 Bernard de la Tour 1790 Lombes 1328 Roger de Com- 1790 (Tenth-century minges abbey) Lavaur I317 Roger d'Arma- gnac 1790 Province de Vienne Vienna Second century St. Crescent 1790 (Archbishopric) Grenoble Third century Domninus Geneve (Swltz.) Fourth century Diogine 1801 Annency ' 1822 Claude de Thi- ollaz Valence Fourth century Emelien Di^ Third century Saint Mars Viviers Fifth century Saint Janvier 1790 St. Jean de Mau- Fifth century Lucien rienne 509 ni The Classification of Architectural Styles in France according to De Caumont's " Abe- cedaire d' Architecture Religieuse." Architecture Romaine Architecture Ogivale Primordiale Secondaire Tertiaire or transition Primitive Secondaire Tertiaire From the Vth to the Xth cen- turies. From the end of the Xth century to the beginning of the Xllth Xllth century Xlllth century XlVth century XVth and the first part of the XVIth century 510 IV A Chronology of Architectural Styles in France Following more or less upon the lines of De Cau- mont's territorial and chronological divisions of archi- tectural- style in France, the various species and periods are thus further described and defined : The Merovingian period, commencing about 480 ; Carlo vingian, 751 ; Romanesque or Capetian period, 987; Transitional, iioo (extending in the south of France and on the Rhine till 1300)5 early French Gothic or Pointed (^Gothique a lancettes)^ mid-twelfth to mid-thirteenth centuries ; decorated French Gothic (Gothique rayonnant), from the mid-thirteenth to mid- fifteenth centuries, and even in some districts as late as the last decade of the fifteenth century ; Flamboyant (^Gothique flamboyant), early fifteenth to early sixteenth ; Renaissance, dating at least from 1495, which gave rise subsequently to the style Louis XII. and style Fran- cois I. With the reign of Henri II., the change to the Italian style was complete., and its place, such as it was, definitely assured. French writers, it may be observed, at least those of a former generation and be- Appendices fore, often carry the reference to the style de la Re- naissance to a much later period, even including the neo-classical atrocities of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Bizarre or baroque details, or the style perruque, had little place on French soil, and the later exaggerations of the rococo, the styles Pompadour and Dubarri, had little if anything to do with church-building, and are relevant merely insomuch as they indicate the manner- isms of a period when great churches, if they were built at all, were constructed with somewhat of a leaning toward their baseness, if not actually favouring their eccentricities. 512 V nm ^fh JI'eaSSaiiRcaL -JXCaii: y^ l^mSat^ CniMfiv 'XlCentiHf, 9he. S^mmetgaH Of Stmifiem /S-aitett A ASman Cnuifi"" 9icutt Leading forms of early cathedral constructions VI The disposition of the parts of a tenth-century church, as defined by Viollet-le-Duc Of this class are many monastic churches, as will be evinced by the inclusion of a cloister in the diagram plan. Many of these were subsequently made use of, as the church and the cloisters, where they had not suffered the stress of time, were of course retained. St. Bertrand de Comminges is a notable example among the smaller structures. In the basilica form of ground-plan, which obtained to a modified extent, the transepts were often lacking, or at least only suggested. Subsequently they were added in many cases, but the tenth-century church pur sang was mainly a parallelogram-like structure, with, of course, an apsidal termination. 514 Appendices A The choir B The exedra, meaning literally a niche or throne — in this in- stance for the occupancy of the bishop, abbot, or prior — apart from the main edifice C The high-altar D Secondary or specially dedicated altars E The transepts, which in later centuries expanded and length- ened G The nave proper, down which was reserved a free passage separating the men from the women H The aisles I The portico or porch which precedes the nave («. e., the narthen of the primitive basilica), where the pilgrims who were temporarily forbidden to enter were allowed to wait K A separate portal or doorway to cloisters L The cloister M The towers ; often placed at the junction of transept and nave, instead of the later position, flanking the west fa9ade N The baptismal font ; usually in the central nave, but often in the aisle O Entrance to the crypt or confessional, where were usually pre- served the reliques of the saint to whom the church was erected P The tribune, in a later day often surrounded by a screen or jubi 515 VII A brief definitive gazetteer of the natural and geological divisions included in the ancient provinces and present-day departments of southern France, together with the local names by which the pays et pagi are com- monly known G^vaudan Velay Ly onn ais-Beaiij olais Morvan Haute- Auvergne Basse-Auvergne Limousin Agenais Haut-Quercy Bas-Quercy Armagnac Landes Biain Basse-Navarre In the Cevennes, a. region of forests and mountains A region of plateaux with visible lava tracks The mountain ranges which rise to the west- ward of Lyons An isolated group of porphyrons and granite elevations The mountain range of Cantal The mountain chains of Mont Dore and des DSmes A land of plateaux, ravines, and granite Rocky and mountainous, but with its valleys among the richest in all France A rolling plain, but with little fertility The plains of the Garonne, the Tarn, and the Av^yron An extensive range of petites montagnes run- ning in various directions A desert of sand, forests, and inlets of the sea A country furrowed by the ramifications of the range of the Pyrenees A Basque country situated on the northern slope of the Pyrenees Appendices Bigorre Savoie Bourbonn^ Nivernais Berry Sologne Gatinais Saintonge Angoumois P^rigord Bordelais Dauphin^ Provence Camargue Languedoc Rousillon The plain of Tortes and its neighbouring valleys A region comprising a great number of valleys made by the ramifying ranges of the Alps. The principal valleys being those of Faucigny, the Tarentaise, and the Maurienne A country of hills and valleys which, as to general limits, corresponds with the De- partment of the AUier An undulating region between the Loire and the Morvan A fertile plain, slightly elevated, to the northward of Limousin An arid plain separated by the valleys of the Cher and the Indre A barren country northeast of Sologne Slightly mountainous and covered with vine- yards — also in parts partaking of the characteristics of the Landes A hilly country covered with a growth of vines An ensemble of diverse regions, often hilly, but covered with a luxuriant forest growth (Comprising Blayais, Fronsadais, Libournais, Entre-deux-mers, Medoc, and Bazadais.) The vine-lands of the Garonne, La Gironde, and La Dordogne Another land of mountains and valleys. It is crossed by numbers of ranges and dis- tinct peaks. The principal subdivisions are Viennois, Royonnais Vercors, Tri^ves, Devoluy, Olsons, Graisivaudan, Chartreuse, Queyras Valgodemar, Champsaur. A region of fertile plains dominated by vol- canic rocks and mountains. It contains also the great pebbly plain in the extreme southwest known as the Crau The region of the Rhone delta Properly the belt of plains situated "between the foot of the Cevennes and the borders of the Mediterranean The region between the peaks of the Corbiere and the Alb^re mountain chain. The population was originally pure Catalan Appendices Lauragais A stony plateau with red earth deposited in former times by the glaciers of the Pyrenees Albigeois A rolling and fertile country Toulousain A plain well watered by the Garonne and the Ari^ge Comminges The lofty Pyrenean valleys of the Garonne basin 518 VIII i;iQ IX Dimensions and Chronology CATHEDRALE D'AGDE Bishopric founded, Vth century Bishopric suppressed, 1790 Primitive church consecrated, Vllth century Main body of present cathedral, Xlth to Xllth centuries ST. CAPRIAS D'AGEN Former cathedral of St. Etienne, destroyed at the Revolution, 1790 Apse and transepts of St. Caprias, Xlth century Width of nave, 55 feet 520 Appendices ST. JEAN BAPTISTE D'AIRE Cathedral begun, Xlllth century ST. SAVEUR D'AIX Eglise St. Jean de Malte, XlVth century Remains of a former St. Saveur's, Xlth century Choir, Xlllth century Choir elaborated, XlVth century South aisle of nave, XlVth century Tower, XlVth century Carved doors, 1503 Episcopal palace, 151 2 North aisle of nave, XVIIth century Baptistere, Vlth century ST. JEAN D'ALAIS A bishopric only from 1694 to 1790 Remains of a Xllth century church Appendices STE. CECILE D'ALBI Begun, 1277 Finished, 1512 South porch, 1380-1400 Tower completed, 1475 Choir-screen, 1475-1512 Wall paintings, XVth to XVIth centuries Organ, XVIIIth century Choir stalls, 1 20 in number Height of tower, 256 feet Length, 300 (320 ?) feet Width of nave, 88 feet Height of nave, 98 feet ST. PIERRE D'ALET Primitive cathedral, IXth century (?) Rebuilt, Xlth century Eglise St. Andr^, XlVth to XVth centuries ^22 Appendices ST. PIERRE D'ANGOULEME City ravaged by Coligny, XVIth century Cathedral rebuilt from foundations of primitive church, 1 120 Western dome, Xllth century Central and other domes, latter part of Xllth century Episcopal palace restored, XlXth century General restoration of cathedral, after the depredations of Coligny, 1628 Height of tower, 197 feet ST. PIERRE D'ANNECY Christianity first founded here, IVth century Cathedral dates from XlVth century Tomb of St. Fran9ois de Sales, 1622 Tomb of Jeanne de Chantal, 1641 Episcopal palace, 1784 ST. CASTOR D'APT Gallo-Romain sarcophagus, Vth century Tomb of Dues de Sabron, Xllth century Chapelle de Ste. Anne, XVIIth century Appendices ST. TROPHIME D'ARLES Primitive church on same site, 606 Foundations of present cathedral laid, 11 52 Nave completed, 1200 Choir and chapels, 1423-1430 Cloisters, east side, 1221 Cloisters, west side, 1250 Cloisters, north side, 1380 Length, 240 feet Width, 90 feet Height, 60 feet Height of clocher, 137 feet STE. MARIE D'AUCH Ancient altar, IVth century First cathedral built by Tauiin II., 845 Another (larger) by St. Austinde, 1048 Present cathedral consecrated, 1548 Additions made and coloured glass added, 1 597 West front, in part, XVIIth century Towers, 1 650-1 700 Episcopal palace, XlVth century Length, 347 feet Height to vaulting, 74 feet Appendices NOTRE DAME DES DOMS D'AVIGNON Territory of Avignon acquired by the Popes from Joanna of Naples, 1300 Popes reigned at Avignon, 1305-1370 Avignon formally ceded to France by Treaty of Tolentino, 1 797 Palais des Papes begun, Xlllth century Pope Gregory left Avignon for Rome, 1376 Cathedral dates chiefly from Xllth century Nave chapels, XlVth century Frescoed in portal, XlVth century Height of walls of papal palace, go feet " " tower " " " 150 feet Length of cathedral, 200 (?) feet Width of cathedral, 50 (?) feet NOTRE DAME DE BAYONNE Foundations, 1140 Choir and apse, Xllth century Destroyed by fire, 121 3 Choir rebuilt, 12 15 Completed and restored, XVIth century 525 Appendices ST. JEAN DE BAZAS Foundations date from Xth century Walls, etc., 1233 West front, XVIth century CATHEDRALE DE BELLEY Gothic portion of cathedral, XVth century ST. NAZAIRE DE BEZIERS Primitive church damaged by fire, 1209 Transepts, Xlllth century Towers, XlVth century Apside and nave, XlVth century Glass and grilles, XlVth century Cloister, XlVth century Height of clocher, 151 feet ST. ANDRE DE BORDEAUX Three cathedral churches here before the Xlth century Romanesque structure, Xlth century Present cathedral dates from 1252 North transept portal, XlVth century Noailles monument, 1662 Length, 450 feet Width of nave, 65 feet NOTRE DAME DE BOURG Main body dates from XVth to XVI Ith centuries Choir and apse, XVth to XVIth centuries Choir stalls, XVIth century 526 Appendices ST. ETIENNE DE CAHORS Bishopric founded, IVth century Catliedral consecrated, 1119 Cupola decorations, 1 280-1324 Choir chapels, XVth century Choir, 1285 Tomb of Bishop Solminiac, XVIIth century Choir paintings, 1315 Cloister, Xlllth to XVth century Cupolas of nave, 50 feet in diameter Cupolas of choir, 49 feet in height Height from pavement to cupolas of choir, 82 feet Height from pavement to cupolas of nave, 195 feet Portal and western towers, XlVth century ST. NAZAIRE DE CARCASSONNE Present-day cathedral, St. Michel, in lower town, 1083 Restored by VioUet-Ie-Duc, 1849 Visigoth foundation walls of old Cite, Vth to Vlllth centuries Cit^ besieged by the Black Prince, 1 536 Chateau of Cite and postern gate, Xlth and Xllth centuries Outer fortifications with circular towers of the time of St. Louis, XII Ith century Length inside the inner walls, ^ mile Length inside the outer walls, i mile Saracens occupied the Cite, 783 Routed by Pepin le Bref, 759 Viscountal dynasty of Trencavels, logo Besieged by Simon de Montfort, 12 10 Romanesque nave of St. Nazaire, 1096 Choir and transepts, Xlllth and XlVth centuries Remains of Simon de Montfort buried here (since removed), 121S Tomb of Bishop Radulph, 1266 Statues in choir, XlVth century High-altar, 1522 Crypt, Xlth century Sacristy, Xlllth century The " Pont Vieux," Xllth and Xlllth centuries Appendices ST. SIFFREIN DE CARPENTRAS A Roman colony under Augustus, 1st century St. Siffrein, patron of the cathedral, died, XVIth century Edifice mainly of the XVIth century Paintings in nave, XVIIIth and XlXth centuries Tomb of Bishop Buti, 17 lo Episcopal palace built, 1640 Arc de Triomphe, 1st or lid century Porte d'Orange, XlVth century ST. BENOIT DE CASTRES Cathedral dates mainly from XVIIth century ST. VERAN DE CAVAILLON Cathedral consecrated by St. Veran, in person, 1259 Tomb of Bishop Jean de Sade, XVIIth century 528 Appendices ST. ETIENNE DE CHALONS - SUR SAONE Cathedral completed, XVIth century Rebuilt, after a disastrous fire, XVIIth century Remains of early nave, dating from Xlllth century Bishopric founded, Vth century Height of nave, 90 feet Length of nave, 350 feet CATHEDRALE DE CHAMBERY First bishop, Michel Conseil, 1780 Main body of cathedral dates from XlVth century 529 Appendices NOTRE DAME DE CLERMONT- FERRAND Choir and nave, 1248-1265 Urban" II. preached the Crusades here, 1095 Sanctuary completed, Xlllth century Nave completed, except fa9ade, XlVth century Rose windows, XVth century Western towers and portal, XlXth century Height of towers, 340 feet Height of nave, 100 feet e\ J Stfctittfy Co'*'/f* t€ d cu, ti — ^r ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES First monastery here, Vlth century Present cathedral mainly Xllth to XlVth centuries First bishop, Suavis, Vlth century Monument to Bishop Hugh de Castel- lane, XlVth century Length, 210 feet (?) Width, 55 feet (?) CATHEDRALE DE DAX Main fabric, Xlllth century Reconstructed, XVIIIth century 530 Appendices NOTRE DAME DE DIE A bishopric in 1285, and from 1672 until 1801 Porch, Xlth century Romanesque fragments in " Porte Rouge," Xlth century Restored and rebuilt, XVIIth century Length of nave, 270 feet Width of nave, 76 feet CATHEDRALE D'EAUZE Town destroyed, Xth century Gothic church (not, however, the former cathedral), XVth century STE. EULALIE D'ELNE Cathedral' rebuilt from a former structure, XVth century Cloister, XVth century NOTRE DAME D'EMBRUN North porch and peristyle, Xllth century Romanesque tower rebuilt, XlVth century The " Tour Brune " Xlth century High-altar, XVIIIth century Painted triptych, 1518 Coloured glass, XVth century Organ and gallery, XVIth century NOTRE DAME DE GRENOBLE Foundations of choir, Xlth century Tabernacle, XVth century Tomb of Abb^ Chiss^, 1407 Former episcopal palace, Xlth century Present episcopal palace, on same site, XVth century Eglise St. Andr^, Xlllth century " La Grande Chartreuse," founded by St. Bruno, 1084 " La Grande Chartreuse," enlarged, XVIth to XVIIth centuries Monks expelled, 1816 and 190Z Appendices ST. LOUIS DE LA ROCHELLE City besieged unsuccessfully, IS73 City besieged and fell, XVIIth century Huguenots held the city from 1557 to 1629 Present cathedral dates from 1735 NOTRE DAME DE LE PUY First bishop, St. Georges, Illd cen- tury Primitive cathedral, Vth century West fa9ade of present edifice, Xllth century Choir, Xth century Virgin of Le Pay, 50 feet in height Aguille de St. Michel, 250 feet in height, 50 feet in circumference at top, 500 feet at base i 1 1 1 jm. ST. ETIENNE DE LIMOGES Nave, XVth and XVIth centuries Romanesque portion of nave, Xlth century Lower portion of tower, Xlth century Clocher, Xlllth century Choir, Xlllth century Transepts, XlVth and XVth cen- turies Choir-screen, 1543 Coloured glass, XVth and XlXth centuries Tomb of Bishop Brun, 1349; de la Porte, 1325; Langeac, 1541 Crypt, Xlth century Height of clocher, 240 feet Enamels of reredos, XVIIth century Appendices ST. FULCRAN DE LODEVE City converted to Christianity, 323 Earliest portion of cathedral, Xth century Main portion of fabric, Xllth century Cathedral completed, XVIth century Tomb of Bishop de la Pause, 1658 Height of nave, 80 feet CATHEDRALE DE LUCON Ancient abbey, Vllth century First bishop appointed, 1317 Richelieu bishop here, 1616-1624 Main fabric of cathedral dates from Xllth to XVIIth centuries Fabric restored, 1853 Cloister of episcopal palace, XVth century ST. JEAN DE LYON Bridge across Saone, Xth century Earliest portions of cathedral, 1 180 Concile ginirale of the Church held at Lyons, 1245 and 1274 Portail, XVth century Glass of choir, Xlllth and XlVth centuries Great bourdon, 1662 Weight of great bourdon, 10,000 kilos Chapelle des Bourbons, XVth century Astronomical clock, XVIth and XVIIth centuries 533 Appendices STE. MARIE MAJEURE DE MAR- SEILLES , First bishop, St. Lazare, 1st century Ancient cathedral built upon the ruins of a temple to Diana, Xlth century New cathedral begun, 1852 Practically completed, 1893 Length, 460 feet Height of central dome, 197 feet ST. JEAN DE MAURIENNE Relique of St. Jean Baptiste, first brought here in Vlth century Cloister, 1452 ST. PIERRE DE MENDE First bishop, Xth century Main fabric of cathedral, XlVth century Restoration, XVIIth century Towers, XVIth century Organ-case, 1640 Height of western towers, 203 and 276 feet ST. PIERRE DE MONTPELLIER Bishopric removed here from Maguelonne, 1536 Pope Urban V. consecrated present cathedral in a former Benedic- tine abbey, 1364 Length of nave, 181 feet Width of nave, 49 feet Length of choir, 43 feet Width of choir, 39 feet NOTRE DAME DE MOULINS Towers and west front, XlXth century Choir and nave, 1465-1507 Coloured glass, XVth and XVIth centuries Choir restoration completed, 1885 Sepulchre, XVIth century Height of western spires, 312 feet Chateau of Dues de Bourbon (facing the cathedral) XlVth century 534 Appendices ST. JUST DE NARBONNE Choir begun, 127 2-1 330 Choir rebuilt, XVIIIth century Remains of cloister, XlVth and XVth century Towers, XVth century Tombs of bishops, XlVth to XVIth centuries Organ buffet, 1741 Height of choir vault, 120 (127?) feet ST. CASTOR DE NIMES St. Felix the first bishop, IVth century St. Castor as bishop, 1030 Cathedral damaged by wars of XVIth and XVIIth centuries Length of grande axe of Arena, 420 feet Capacity of Arena, 80,000 persons 535 Appendices STE. MARIE D'OLORON Earliest portions, Xlth century Completed, XVth century Length of nave, 150 feet Width of nave, 106 feet NOTRE DAME D'ORANGE Orange Oldest portions, 1085 Nave, 1085-1126 CATHEDRALE DE PAMIERS Clocher, XlVth century Nave rebuilt, XVIIth century Ancient Abbey of St. Antoine, Xlth century First bishop, Bernard Saisset, 1297 Appendices ST. FRONT DE PERIGUEUX Primitive monastery founded, Vlth century Cathedral dates from 984-1047 Cathedral rebuilt, Xllth century Cathedral restored, XlXth century Pulpit in carved wood, XVIIth Confessionals, Xth or Xlth century Paintings in vaulting, Xlth century Length of nave, 197 feet Height of pillars of nave, 44 feet Height of cupola of clocher, 217 feet Height of great arches in interior, 65 feet ST. JEAN DE PERPIGNAN Tower, XlVth century Ratable, XIV century Altar-screen, XlVth century Bishop's tomb, 1695 537 Appendices ST. PIERRE DE POITIERS ^nech€ V «r. J'ean yieri\ S'o I ^ Eglise St. Hilalre, Xth and Xlth centuries Baptist^re, IVth to Xllth centuries St. Radegonde, Xlth and Xllth centuries Cathedral begun, 1162 High-altar dedicated, 1199 Choir completed, 1250 Western doorway, XVth century Coloured glass, Xlllth and XVIIIth centuries Appendices NOTRE DAME DE RODEZ 1 1 • , 1 9(0 d.^ ' Dates chiefly from 1 27 5 Choir, XlVth century Nave, XVth century Cross-vaults, tribune, sacristy door, and f ayade, from about 1 535 CIdture of choir designed by C'usset Terrace to episcopal palace designed by Philandrier, 1550 Episcopal palace itseCf dates, in the main, from XVIIth century Rose window of fayade is the most notable in France south of the Loire, excepting Poitiers ST. PIERRE DE SAINTES Eglise St. Eutrope, 1081-1096 Primitive cathedral, 11 17 Cathedral rebuilt, 1585 First two bays of transept, Xllth century Nave completed, XVth century Vaulting of choir and nave, XVth to XVIIth centuries Height of flamboyant tower (XlVth century), 236 feet 539 Appendices CATHEDRALE DE SARLAT Benedictine abbey dates from Vlllth century Cathedral mainly of Xlth and Xllth centuries Sepulchral chapel, Xllth century CATHEDRALE DE SION First bishop, St. Th^odule, IVth century Choir of Eglise Ste. Catherine, Xth or Xlth century Bishop of Sion sent as papal legate to Winchester, 1070 Main body of cathedral, XVth century ST. PIERRE DE ST. CLAUDE Abbey founded by St. Claude, Vth century Bishopric founded by Jos, de Madet, 1742 Bishopric suppressed, 1790 Bishopric revived again, 1821 Main fabric of cathedral, XlVth century Cathedral restored, XVIIIth century Length, 200 feet (approx.) Width, 85 feet " Height, 85 feet " ST. ODILON DE ST. FLOUR Bishopric founded, 1318 Present cathedral begun, 1375 " " dedicated, 1496 " " completed, 1556 Episcopal palace, 1800 Ch&teau de St. Flour, 1000 ST. LISIER OR COUSERANS Xllth ! nvna. c 540 Former cathedral, Xllth and Xlllth centuries Bishop's palace, XVIIth century Appendices STE. MARIE MAJEURE DE TOULON Main body of fabric, Xltli and Xllth centuries Fa9ade, XVIIth century Length of nave, i6o feet Width of nave, 35 feet ST. ETIENNE DE TOULOUSE Nave, Xlllth century Tower, XVth and XVIth century Choir, 1275-1502 Bishopric founded. Hid century Archbishopric founded, 1327 Width of nave, 62 feet 541 Appendices ST PAUL TROIS CHATEAUX Chapel to St. Restuit first erected here, IVth century Town devastated by the Vandals, Vth century " " " " Saracens, 736 " " " Protestants, XlVth century « •• " Catholics, XlVth century Former cathedral, Xlth and Xllth centuries CATHEDRALE DE TULLE Benedictine foundation, Vllth century Cloister, Vllth century (?) Bishopric founded, 1317 Romanesque and transition nave, Xllth century ST. THEODORIT D'UZES Inhabitants of the town, including the bishop, mostly became Protestant, XVIth century Cathedral rebuilt and restored, XVIIth and XVII Ith centuries Tour F^nestrelle, Xlllth century Organ-case, XVIIth century Height of the " Tour Fdnestrelle," 1 30 feet Appendices CATHEDRALE DE VAISON Cloister, Xlth century Eglise de St. Quinin, Vllth century ST. APOLLINAIRE DE VALENCE Cathedral rebuilt and reconsecrated by Urban II., Xlth century Reconstructed, 1604 Bishopric founded, IVth century Foundations laid, Xllth century ' Cenotaph to Pius VI., 1799 Height of tower, 187 feet CATHEDRALE DE VABRES Principally, XlVth century Rebuilt and reconstructed, and clocher added, XVIIIth century 543 Appendices NOTRE DAME DE VENCE Fabric of various eras, Vlth, Xth, Xllth, and XVth centuries Ratable, XVIth century Choir-stalls, XVth century ST. MAURICE DE VIENNE Bishopric dates from lid century St. Crescent, first bishop, ii8 Cathedral begun, 1052 Reconstructed, 151 5 Coloured glass, in part, XlVth century Tomb of Cardinal de Montraorin, XVIth century Metropolitan privileges of Vienne confirmed by Pope Paschal II., 1099 CATHEDRALE DE VIVIERS Choir, XlVth century Tower, XlVth and XVth centuries 544 INDEX Abbey of Cluny, S9i 6i. Abbey of Montmajour, 230. Acre, 56. Adelbert, Count of P^rigueuz, 38. AdouT, River, 417. Agde, S3, 358, 359. Agde, Cathedrale de, 358-360, 520. Agen, 42, 429. Agen, St. Caprais de, 429, 431, 520. Agout, River, 471. Aigues-Mortes, 228, 319, 320. Aire, St. Jean Baptiste de, 469, 470, 521. Aix, 36, 230, 283, 293, 323, 324. Aix St. Jean de Malte, 324. Abt, St. Sauveur de, 323-327, S2I. Ajaccio, 47. Alais, 249-251. Alais, St. Jean de, 249-251, 521. Alberoni, Cardinal, 240. Albi, 27, 41, S3, 54, 61, 95, 98, 274. Albi, Ste. C^cile de, 363, 482-489, 522. Albigenses, The, 365, 485, 486. Alet, 42. Alet, St. Pierre de, 350, 351, 522. Amantius, 330. Amiens, 60, 62. Andorra, Republic of, 373. Angers, Ch&teau at, 66. Angers, St. Maurice d', 97. AngoulSme, 55, 61, 73, i2o, 124. AngoulSme, St. Pierre de, 73, 120-125, 523. Anjou, 45, 71. Anjou, Duke of, 40, 44. Anjou, Henry Plantagenet of, 39- Anjou (La Trimt^), 56. Annecy, 252-254, 256. Annecy, St. Pierre de, 252-254, 523- Antibes, 330, 339, 341. Aosti, 268. Apt, 289-291. Apt, St. Castor de, 523. Aquitaine, 38, 62. Aquitanians, The, 38. Aquitanian architecture, 54, 55, 66. Arc de Triomphe (Saintes), 115. Architecture, Church, 50-56. Ariosto, 235. Aries, 28, 33, 61, 217, 228-235, 283, 293. Aries, Archbishop of, 46. Aries, St. Trophime de, 37, 202, 228-235, 524. Amaud, Bishop, 354. Auch, St. Marie de, 432-438, 524. Auch, College of, 438. Augustus, 221. Autun, Bishop of (Talleyrand- P^rigord), 46. Auvergne, 29, 62, 72-74. 545 Index Auzon, 221. Avignon, 33, 41, S3. S4. 241- Avignon, Papal Palace at, 377, 485. Avignon, Notre Dame des Doms, 204-220, 525- Avignon, Ruf d', 36. Baptistfere of St. Siifrein de Car- pentras, 222. Baptist^re, The (Poitiers), 95, 96, loi. Basilique de Notre Dame de Fourvifere, 185. Bayonne, 28, 57, 373, 387, 405- 407, 410, 411. Bayonne, Notre Dame de, 405- 410. 525- Bazas, St. Jean de, 411, 412, 526. Bazin, Ren^, 229, 235. Beam, Province of, 395, 406. Beauvais, Lucien de, 37. Becket, Thomas '4, ili. Belley, 267. Belley, Cath^drale de, 526. Benedict XII., Pope, 211, 216. Benigne, 171. Berengarius II., 371. Berri, 71, 72. Besan9on, 267, 274. Besan9on, Lin de, 36. B^thanie, Lazare de, 36. B^zard, 431. B^ziers, 53, 363-365. , B^ziers, Bishop of, 365. B^ziers, St. Nazaire de, 363-367, 526. Bichi, Alexandri, 224. Bishops of Carpentras, 221. Bishop of Ypres, 48. " Black Prince," The, 418, 453. Blois, Chateau at, 66. Breakspeare, 230. Bretagne, Slabs in, 64. Bridge of St. B^nezet, 219. Bordeaux, 57, 384, 387, 396, 397, 401. Bordeaux, St. Andr^ de, 94, 396- 401, 526. Bossuet, Bishop, 420. Bourass^, AbW, 83, 89, 328, 354, 433. Bourbons, The, 126, 127, 130. Bourg, 277-279. Bourg, Notre Dame de, 277-279, 526. Bourges, 41, 62. Bovet, Fran9ois, 281. Boyan, Bishop, 247. Buti, Bishop Laurent, 224. Cxsar, 171. Cahors, 42, 44, 425, 428. Cahors, St. Etienne de, 425-428, 527- Cairene type of mosque, 55. Calixtus II., 189. Canal du Midi, 367. Canova, 194, 334. Capet, Hugh, 38, 39. Carcassonne, 28, 53, 319, 449- 457- Carcassonne, St. Nazaire de, 57, 319, 449-460, 527. Carpentras, 221-226. Carpentras, St. Siffrein de, 221- 225, 528. Carton, Dominique de, 224. Castres, 42, 471. Castres, Sts. Benoit et Vincent de, 471-473. 528. Cath^drale d'Agde, 358-360, 520. Cathedrale de Belley, 526. Cath^drale de Chamb^ry, 255- 257. 529- Cathedrale de Condom, 420, 421. Cathedrale de Dax, 530. Cathedrale d'Eauze, 531. Cathedrale de Lectoure, 402-404. Cathedrale de Lu9on, 85, 86, 533. Cathedrale de Montauban, 422- 424. Cathedrale de Pamiers, 461-463, 536- Cathedrale de Sarlat, 540. Cathedrale de Sion, 302-304, 540. 546 Index Cathedral of St. Michel, Carcas- sonne, 451, 452. Cath^drale de Tulle, 118, iig, 542. Cath^drale de Vabres, 543. Cathedrale de Vaison, 226, 227, 543- Cathedrale de Viviers, 195, 196, 544- Cavaillon, 226. Cavaillon, St. Veran de, 200-203, 528. Cevennes, 30, 72, 76-79, 136. Chalons, Simon de, 247. Chalons-sur-Sadne, St. Etienne de, 170-173. 529- Chambery, 28, 253, 255-257, 264, 267, 270. Chambery, Cathedrale de, 529. Chapelle des Innocents, Agen, 431- Charente, River, 115. Charlemagne, 58, 59, 214. Charles V., 40, 45, 323. Charles VIII., 65. Charles the Great, 304. Charterhouse, near Grenoble, 62. Chartres, 60, 62, 232. Chartres, Aventin de, 37. Chartreuse, La Grande, 48, 162, 53'- Chavannes, Puvis de, loz, 342. Chiss^, Archbishop, 260. Chrysaphius, Bishop, 281. Church of St. Saturnin (Tou- louse), 440-444. Church of the Jacobins (Tou- louse), 440, 441, 443, 444. Clairvaux, 62. Clement V., Pope, 33, 211, 398, 400. Clement VI., 219. Clermont-Ferrand, 29, 33, 52, 57, 73. 74- Clermont-Ferrand, Notre Dame de, 144-151. 53°- Clermont (St. Austremoine), 37. Cluny, Abbey of, 51, 59. Coligny, 121. Comminges, 464. Comminges, Roger de, 496. Comminges, St. Bertrande, 62, 464-468, 530. Comte de Nice, 256. Condom, 42. Condom, Cathedrale de, 420, 421. Conflans, Ogerde, 271. Conseil, Michel, 256. Constantin, Palais de, 230. Corsica, Diocese of, 47. Coucy, Chateau at, 66. Coulon, 291. Dante, 134. Daudet, 165. Dauphine, 30, 161, 162, 297, 298. Dax, 495. Dax, Cathedrale de, 530. Delta of Rh6ne, 168. D'Entrevaux, 280. De Sade, Laura, 204, 207, 208. Deveria, 250. Die, Notre Dame de, 287, 288, 531- Digne, 281, 283-286. Dijon, 171. Dijon, St. Benigne of, 63. Dioceses of Church in France, 39. 40; Diocese of Corsica, 47. Domninus, 259. Dordogne, 29. Duclaux, Madame, 25, 229, 235. Dues de Sabron, Tomb of, 290. Duke of Anjou, 40, 44. Dumas, Jean, 433. Durance, River, 162, 292. Durer, Albrecht, 325. Eauze, 495, 496. Eauze, Cathedrale de, 531. Edward I., 400. Edwards, Miss M. E. B., 24. Eglise de Brou, 277. Eglise des Cordeliers, 207. . Eglise de Grasse, 339, 340. Eglise de la Grande Chartreuse, 263. 547 Index Eglise de St. Andr^, 260, 351. Eglise de St. Claire, 208. Eglise de St. Pol, 75. Eglise de Souillac, 55. Eglise Notre Dame du Port, 145. Eglise St. Nizier, 179. Eglise St. Quinin, 227. Eleanor of Poitou and Guienne, 39- , Elne, 369, 372, 373. Elne, Ste. Eulalia de, 372-374, 532- Emaux de Limoges, 104-107. Embrun, 230, 283, 285, 292-295, 300. Embrun, Notre Dame de, 292- 29s. S3I- Escurial of Dauphme, 62. Esperandieu, 348. Etats du Languedoc, 251. Eusfebe, 300. Evreaux, Taurin d', 37. Farel, Guillaume, 298. "Felibrage," The, 204, 218. Fenelon, 438. FSre-Alais, Marquis de la, 251. Fergusson, 99. Flanders, 30. "Fountain of Vauclause," 221. Fran9ois I., 65, 120, 124, 354. Freeman, Professor, 95, 99. Fr^jus, 330, 33S, 336. Fr^jus, St. Etienne de, 335-338. Froissart, 417. Gap, 296-299. Gap, Demetre de, 36. Gap, Notre Dame de 1' Assomp- tion de, 296, 299. Gard, 29. Gard, Notre Dame de la, 346, 347- Garonne, River, 44, 388, 389. Gascogne, 390. Geneva, 252. Geraldi, Hugo, 427. Gervais, 365. Ghirlandajo, 133. Glandive, 280. Gosse, Edmund, 29. Gothic architecture, 60-65. Grasse, 330, 339. Grasse, Eglise de, 339, 340. Grasse, Felix, 24, 384. Gregory XI., Pope, 213. Grenoble, 28, 258-264. Grenoble, Notre Dame de, 258- 264, 531. Guienne, 41, 389, 390. Guienne, Eleanor of, 39. Hamerton, Philip Gilbert, 159, 160, 170. Henri IV., 353, 406, 416. Honor^, 334. Hdtel d'Aquitaine (Poitiers), 102. Humbert, Archbishop, i8o. Humbert, Count, 271. Ingres, 423, 424. Innocent IV., 201. Innocent VI., 225. Issiore, 75. Jaffa, 56. Jalabert, 250. James, Henry, 25. Janvier, Thomas, 26. Joanna of Naples, 209. John XXII., Pope, 41, 216, 428. Jordaens, 401. L'Abbaye de Maillezais, 81. Lackland, John, 40. La Cath^drale (Poitiers), 96. La Chaise Dieu, 62, 75. Lac Leman, 252. L'Eglise de la Side Tarbes, 417- 419- " La Grande Chartreuse," 48, 162, S3"- Lake of Annecy, 252. La Madeleine, Aix, 324, Lamartine, 176. Languedoc, 32, 40, 44, 390, 391. La Rochelle, 73, 82, 83. 548 Index La Rochelle, St. Louis de, 82-84, S32- , La Trinite at Anjou, 56. Laura, Tomb of, 33. LavauT, 497, 498. Lectoure, 402. Lectoure, Cathedrale de, 402- 404. Les Ar^nes, 240. Lescar, 413. Lescar, Notre Dame de, 413-416. Lesdiguieres, Due de, 298. Les Freres du Pont, 220. Le Puy, 61, 134-136, 327- Le Puy, Notre Dame de, 97, 134- 143. S32- Limoges, 57, 79, 80, 104, 105. Limoges (St. Martial), 37. Limoges, St. Etienne de, 104- III, 532. Limousin, 71, 72. Lodeve, 246. Lodeve, St. Fulcran de, 152-155, 533- Loire valley, 30. Lombardy, 33. Lombez, 496. Lot, 44. Loudin, Noel, no. Louis IV., 240. Louis VII., 39. Louis XL, 295. Louis XIII., 353. Louis XIV., 210, 224. Louis XV., 210. Louis Napoleon, 397. Loz^re, 28. Lu9on, 42. Lu9on, Cathedrale de, 85, 86, 533. Lyon, 28, 177, 178, 259, 267, 273. Lyon, St. Jean de, 177-185, 533. Macon, St. Vincent de, 174-176. Madet, Joseph de, 273. Maguelonne, 353, 354. Maillezais, 42. Maillezais, L'Abbaye de, 81. Maine, Henry Plantagenet of, 39. Maison Car^e, The, 240. Mansard, 290. Marseilles, 36, 314-, 318, 342. Marseilles, Ste. Maxie-Majeure de, 318, 342-349. 534- Maurienne, 269-271. Maurienne, St. Jean de, 256, 269- 271. 534- Memmi, Simone (of Sienna), 211, 216. Mende, 42, 246, 490, 492. Mende in Lozere, 27. Mende, St. Pierre de, 490-494, 534- M^rimee, Prosper, 26, 30, 224. Metz, Clement de, 36. Midi, The, 383-395- Midi, Canal du, 386. Mignard, 250, 282, 290. Mimat, Mont, 494. Mirabeau, 46. Mirepoix, 501. Mirepoix, St. Maurice de, 501. Mistral, Frederic, 163, 165, 218, 228. Modane, 270. Mognon, 84. Moles, Arnaud de, 436. Monastery of La Grande Char- treuse, 260. Montauban, 422. Montauban, Cathedrale de, 422- 424. Mont de la Baume, 282. Mont Dor^-le-Bains, 74. Monte Carlo, 213. Montfort, Simon de, 455, 459. Montmajour, Abbey of, 230. Montpellier, 40, 352-354. Montpellier, St. Pierre de, 352- 357. 534- Mont St. Guillaume, 295. Morin, Abbd, 36, 37. Moulins, Notre Dame de, 126- 133. 534- Nadaud, Gustave, 455-457. Naples, Joanna of, 209. Naples, Kingdom of, 45. 549 Index Napoleon, 27, zio, 240. Narbonne, 42, 53, 54, 241, 375, 376- Narbonne, St. Just de, 375-379, 535- Narbonne (St. Paul), 37. Nero, Reign of, 36. Neiges, Notre Dame des, 223. Nice, St. Reparata de, 328-331. Ntmes, z%, 33, 40, 61, 218, 228, 229, 236-242. Nimes, St. Castor de, 236-244, 535- Notre Dame de I'Assomption de Gap, 296-299. Notre Dame de Bayonne, 405- 410, 525. Notre Dame de Bourg, 277-279, 526. Notre Dame de Clermont-Fer- rand, I44-IS'> S3°- Notre Dame de Di^, 287, 288, 531- Notre Dame de Doms d'Avi- gnon, 204-220, 525. Notre Dame d'Embrun, 292-295, 531- Notre Dame de la Card, 346, 347- Notre Dame de la Grande (Poi- tiers), 95. Notre Dame de Grenoble, 258- 264, 531. Notre Dame de Le Puy, 97, 134- 143, 532. Notre Dame de Lescar, 413-416. Notre Dame de Moulins, 126- 133. 534- Notre Dame des Neiges, 223. Notre Dame d'Orange, 197-199, 536. Notre Dame de Rodez, 363, 474- 481, 539- Notre Dame et St. Castor d'Apt, 289-291. Notre Dame de Vence, 300, 301, 544. Notre Dame du Port, 57. Noyon, 60. Obreri, Peter, 212. Oloron, 498, 536. Oloron, Ste. Marie d', 498, 536. Orange, 28, 33, 61, 225, 229. Orange, Notre Dame d', 197- 199. 536- Orb, River, 366, 367. Order of St. Bruno, 260, 26l,f263. Palais de Justice (Poitiers), loz. Palais des Papes, 54, 209. Palais du Constantin, 230. Palissy, Bernard, 117. Pamiers, 461. Pamiers, Cath^drale de, 461-463, 536- Paris, 29, 37, 46, 62, 232, 270. Parrocel, 290. Pascal, Blaise, 150, 151, 160. Paschal II., 189. Pas de Calais, 30. Pause, Plantavit de la, 154. P^rigueux, 55-57.61. P^rigueux, St. Front de, 56, 87- 91. 97. 537- Perpignan, 28, 368, 369, 373. Perpignan, St. Jean de, 368-371, 537- Petrarch, 204, 207-209, 211, 213, 221, 264. Peyer, Roger, 242. Philippe-Auguste, 40. Philippe-le-Bel, 41. Piedmont, 270. Pierrefonds, Ch&teau at, 66. Pius VI., 194. Pius, Pope, 210. Plantagenet, Henry (of Maine and Anjou), 39. Poitiers, 42, 73, 95-97. 327- Poitiers, Notre Dame de la Grande, 95. Poitiers (St. Hilaire), 61. Poitiers, St. Pierre de, 92-101, 538- Poitou, 7'-73' Foitou, Eleanor of, 39. Polignac, Chftteau de, 75, 76, 135. "43- 550 Index Port Royal, 45. Provence, 32, 62, 163-167, 313. Proven9ai architecture, 54, 55, 57,66. Ptolemy, 159. Fuy, Bertrand du, 422. Puy de D6me, 29, 73, 74. Puy, Notre Dame de la, 97, 134- H3. 532- Pyrenees, The, 393-395- Religious movements in France, 23-48. Ren^, King, 323, 326. Revoil, Henri, 348. Rheims, 60, 62, 229. Rheims, Sixte de, 37. Rhone valley, 28. Richelieu, Cardinal, 85. Rienzi, 211. Rieux, 497. Riez, 280, 281. Riom, 73. Riviera, The, 313-320. Rochefort, 73. Rocher des Doms, 213. Rodez, 29, 42, 274. Rodez, Notre Dame de, 363, 474- 481, 539- Rouen, 60. Rouen, Nicaise de, 37. Rouen (St. Ouen), 52. Rousillon, 368, 369, 372. Rousseau, 256. Rovere, Bishop de la, 492. Rubens, 340. Ruskin, 63. St. Albans in Hertfordshire, 230. St. Andre de Bordeaux, 94, 396- 401, 326. St. Ansone, I2I. St. ApoUinaire de Valence, 190- 194. 543- St. Armand, 474, 481. St. Armentaire, 339, 341. St. Astier, Armand de, 119. St. Aubin, 226. St. Auspice, 289. St. Austinde, 433, 435. St. Austremoine, 37, 150. St. Ayrald, 271. St. Binezet, 219. St. B^nigne of Dijon, 63. St. Benoit de Castres, 471-473, 528. St. Bertrand de Comminges, 62, 464-468, 530. St. Bruno, Monks of, 260-263. St. Caprais d' Agen, 429, 431, 520. St. Castor d'Apt, 523. St. Castor de Nimes, 236-244, S3S- Ste. Catherine, Church of, 303. St. Cedle d'Albi, 363, 482-489, 522. St. Clair, 489. Ste. Clara de Mont Falcone, 217. St. Claude, 272-274. St. Claude, St. Pierre de, 272- 274, S40. St. Crescent, 37, 186, 296. St. Demetrius, 296. St. Denis, The bishop of, 37. St. Denis, 51. St. Domnin, 285. St. Emilien, 253. Ste. Estelle, 218. St. Etienne, 230. St. Etienne d'Auxerre, 407. St. Etienne de Cahors, 425-428, 527. St. Etienne de Chalons-sur-Sadne, 170-173. 529- St. Etienne de Fr^jns, 335-338. St. Etienne de Limoges, 104-111, 532- St. Etienne de Toulouse, 439- 448, 541. St. Eulalie d'EIne, 372-374, 531. St. Eustache, 268. St. Eutrope (Saintes), 11 5-1 17. St. Felix, 241. St. Flour, St. Odilon de, 112- 114, 540. St. Frangois de Sales, 253. St. Fraterne, 280. 551 Index St. Front de Ferigueux, 56, 87- 9'. 97. 537- St. Fulcran de Lod^ve, 152-155, 533. St. Gatien (Tours), 37. St. Genialis, 201. St.- Georges, 137. St. Gilles, 232. St. Hilaire, 61, 95, 96. St. Honorat des Alyscamps, 231. St. Jean d'Alais, 249-251, 521. St. Jean-Baptiste d'Aire, 469, 470, 521. St. Jean de Baza.s, 411, 412, 526. St. Jean de Lyon, 177-185, 533. St. Jean-de-Malte, Aix, 324. St. Jean de Maurienne, 256, 269- 271. S34- St. Jean de Perpignan, 368-371, S37- Ste. Jeanne de Chantal, 253. St. Jerome de Digne, 28 1, 283-286. St. Julian, 413. St. Juste de Narbonne, 375-379, 535- St. Lizier, 499, 540. St. Lizier, Eglise de, 499, 500, 540. St. Louis de La Rochelle, 82-84, 532- St. Marcellin, 285. St. Marc's at Venice, 56, 87-89, 346, 425. Ste. Marie d'Auch, 432-438, 524. Ste. Marie d'Oloron, 498, 536. Ste. Marie Majeure de Marseilles, 318, 342-349, 534- Ste. Marie Majeure de Toulon, 332-334, 541- St. Mars, 287. Ste. Marthe, 134. St. Martial, 37, 107. St. Martin (Tours), 61. St. Maurice, 304. St. Maurice d'Angers, 97. St. Maurice de Mirepoix, 501. St. Maurice de Vienne, 179, 184, 186-189, 193, S44- St. Maxine, 324. St. Michel, 142. St. Nazaire de Beziers, 363-367, 526. St. Nazaire de Carcassonne, 57, 319, 449-460, 527. St. Nectaire, 73, 74, 92. St. Odilon de St. Flour, 11 2-1 14, 540. St. Ouen de Rouen, 52. St. Papoul, 496, 497. St. Paul (Narbonne), 37. St. Paul Trois Chateaux, 305- 309. 542- St. Pherade, 430. St. Pierre d'Alet, 350, 351, 522. St. Pierre d'Angoulgme, 73, 120- 125, 523. St. Pierre d'Annecy, 252-254, 523- St. Pierre de Mende, 490-494, 534. St. Pierre de Montpellier, 352- 357. S34- St. Pierre de Poitiers, 92-101, 538. St. Pierre de Saintes, 115-117, 539- St. Pierre de St. Claude, 272-274, S40- St. Pons, 42. St. Pons de Tomiers, 500, 501. St. Pothin, 179. St. Privat, 491, 494. St. Prosper, 281. St. Radegonde (Poitiers), 95-98. St. Remy, 235. St. Reparata de Nice, 328-331. St. Restuit, 305. St. Satumin (Toulouse), 37. St. Sauveur d'Aix, 323-327, 521. St. SifErein de Carpentras, 221- 225, 528. St. Taurin, 433. St. Th^odorit d'Uz^s, 245-248, 542. St. Theodule, 303. St. Thomas, 134. St. Trophime, 230, 232. St. Trophime d'Arles, 37, 202, 228-235, 524. St. Valentin, 221. 552 Index St. Valere (Trives), 37. St. Venuste, 359. St. V^ran, 301. St. Veran de Cavaillon, 200-203, 528. St. Vincent de Macon, 174-176. St. Vincent de Paul, Statue of, 285. St. Virgil, 230. Saintes, Entrope de, 37. Saisset, Bernard, 463. Sa6ne, River, 170, 174, 181. Sarlat, 42, 500. Sarlat, Cathedrale de, 540. Savoie, 30, 252, 256, 271. Scott, Sir Walter, 51, 58. Senez, 280. Senlis, 60. Sens, Savinieii de, 37. S^vign^, Madame de, 392. Sion, Cathedrale de, 302-304, 540. Sisteron, 281. Sterne, 126, 184. Stevenson, R. L., 23, 30, 135, 249. Strasbourg, 51. Suavis, 464. Suger, Abbot, 51. Talleyrand-P^rigord (Bishop of Autun), 46. Tarascon, Castle at, 66. Tarasque, The, 134. Tarbes, 417, 418. Tarbes, L'Eglise de la Sfede, 417-419. Tarentaise, 256, 268, 270. Tarn, River, 422. Thevenot, 1 13. Toulon, 330, 332. Toulon, St. Marie Majeure de, 332-334, 541. Toulouse, 42, 439-441. Toulouse, Mus^e of, 441, 447. Toulouse, St. Etienne de, 439- 448, S4I- Toulouse, St. Saturnin, 37. "Tour Fenestrelle," 247. Touraine, 29, 71, 72. Tours, 29. Tours (St. Gatien), 37. Tours (St. Martin), 6i. Treaty of Tolentino, 210. Treves (St. Val6re), 37. Tricastin, 305, 306. Trinity Church, Boston, 141, 346, Tulle, Cathedrale de, 118, 119, 542. Tuscany, 33. Unigenitus, Pope, 45. Urban, Pope, 33. Urban II., 145, 149. 150, 191, 4S8- Urban V., 354. Uzfes, 245-248. Uzfes, St. Theodorit de, 245-248, 542. Vabres, 42, 499. Vabres, Cathedrale de, 543. Vaison, 226, 227. Vaison, Cathedrale de, 226, 227, 543- Valence, 29. Valence, St. ApoUinaire de, 190- 194, 543- Vaucluse, 208. Vaudoyer, Leon, 348. Vehens, Raimond de, 112. Venasque, 222. Vence, 300, 301. Vence, Notre Dame de, 300, 301, 544- Vendee, La, 72. Veronese, Alex., 401. Veyrie, Rene de la, 85. Veyrier, 334. Vic, Dominique de, 434. Vienne, 29, 61, 229, 253, 259, 273, 296. Vienne, St. Maurice, 179, 184, 186-189, 193, 544. Villeneuve-les-Avignon, 213. Villeneuve, Raimond de, 339. VioUet-le-Duc, 88, 131, 146, 377, 442, 452, 455. Viviers, Cathedrale de, 195, 196, S44- Voltaire, 273. 553 Index Werner, Archbishop, 51. Westminster Cathedral, London, 345- William of Wykeham (England), SI- William, Duke of Normandy, 39. Wykeham, William of, 51. Young, Arthur, 24, 208, 256, 273, 464. Ypres, Bishop of, 48. 554 ^•^tit^iAwm^ «• limillliltl'lMiF^MMimMli^ ^ ^ ^IhM^llMMII^ ^ ^ ^llNfcliNMinM^llMMIhMMI^-^ ^ i»fcii»Mi»»^i^ Et^ Et« 1^ m aililliiilli liT