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THE CATHEDRALS OF
SOUTHERN FRANCE
By FRANCIS MILTOUN y^_^
AUTHOR OF "the CATHEDRALS
of northern franc e,"
"dickens' London/' etc.,
with ninety illustrations,
plans, and diagrams,
By BLANCHE McMANUS
lnyla.^yLAMjJ^ ^ 'tyuJU^L^x.g v--
BOSTON
H. ۥ i^age anti Compani?
MDCCCCV
LIBRftRY n1 0OK6RESS
Two OoDies RflCQived
AUG 24 1904
Oopyrlffhf Entry
CLA8^ 0. XXo. Na
^^ ^ 2f-
COP Y B
Copyright, igo4
By L. C. Page & Company
(incorporated)
All rights reserved
Published August, 1904
Colonial ^rts0
Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. SImonds & Co.
Boston, Mass,, U. S. A.
CONTENTS
Introduction
1 1
Part I. Southern France in General
I. The Charm of Southern France . . 23
II. The Church in Gaul . . . -34
III. The Church Architecture of Southern
France ...••• 5°
Part II. South of the Loire
I.
Introductory . . . . . • 7'
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
. 1 12
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
. 144
XV.
St. Fulcran de Lodeve
,
•
. 152
Contents
Part III. The Rhone Valley
I.
Introductory ......
II.
St. Etienne de Chalons-sur-Saone
III.
St. Vincent de Macon
IV.
St. Jean de Lyon .
V.
St. Maurice de Vienne
VI.
St. Apollinaire de Valence
VII.
Cathedrale de Viviers
VIII.
Notre Dame d' Orange
IX.
St. Veran de Cavaillon .
X.
Notre Dame des Doms d'Avigi
ion
XI.
St. SifFrein de Carpentras
XII.
Cathedrale de Vaison
XIII.
St. Trophime d'Arles
XIV.
St. Castor de Nimes
XV.
St. Theodorit d'Uzes
XVI.
St. Jean d'Alais
XVII.
St. Pierre d'Annecy
XVIII.
Cathedrale de Chambery .
XIX.
Notre Dame de Grenoble
XX.
Belley and Aoste
XXI.
St. Jean de Maurienne
XXII.
St. Pierre de St. Claude .
XXIII.
Notre Dame de Bourg
XXIV.
Glandeve, Senez, Riez, Sisteron
XXV.
St. Jerome de Digne
XXVI.
Notre Dame de Die
XXVII.
Notre Dame et St. Castor d'Apt
XXVIII.
Notre Dame d'Embrun .
XXIX.
Notre Dame de PAssomption d
e Ga]
)
PAGE
Contents
PAGB
XXX.
Notre Dame de Vence . , , ,300
XXXI.
Cathedrale de Sion .... 302
XXXII.
St. Paul Troix Chateau . . , .305
Part IV. The Mediterranean Coast
I.
Introductory . . . . , .313
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'Agde . . , ,
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 .
. 411
VI.
Notre Dame de Lescar .
. 413
VII.
L'Eglise de la Sede : Tarbes
. 417
VIII.
Cathedrale de Condom .
. 420
vu
Contents
IX. Cathedrale de Montauban
X. St. Etienne de Cahors
XI. St. Caprias d'Agen .
XII. Ste. Marie d'Auch .
XIII. St. Etienne de Toulouse .
XIV. St. Nazaire de Carcassone
XV. Cathedrale de Pamiers
XVI. St. Bertrand de Comminges
XVII. St. Jean-Baptiste d'Aire .
XVIII. Sts. Benoit et Vincent de Castres
XIX. Notre Dame de Rodez .
XX. Ste. Cecile d'Albi .
XXI. St. Pierre de Mende
XXII. Other Old-Time Cathedrals in and about the
Basin of the Garonne
422
425
429
432
439
449
461
464
469
471
474
482
490
495
Appendices
I. Sketch Map Showing the Usual Geographical
Divisions of France ....
II. A Historical Table of the Dioceses of the
South of France up to the beginning of
the nineteenth century
III. The Classification of Architectural Styles in
France according to De Caumont's ** Abe-
cedaire d'Architecture Religieuse " .
IV. A Chronology of Architectural Styles in
France ......
V. Leading Forms of Early Cathedral Construc-
tions .......
VI. The Disposition of the Parts of a Tenth-
503
504
520
511
513
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
with the local names by which the pays et
pagi are commonly known . . .516
VIII. Sketch Map of the Bishoprics and Arch-
bishoprics of the South of France at the
Present Day . . . . .5^9
IX. Dimensions and Chronology . . .520
Index 545
IX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
St. Andre de Bordeaux
The Concordat (From Napoleon's Tomb)
St. Louis de La Rochelle .
Cathedrale de Lu9on
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. Apollinaire de Valence
St. Veran de Cavaillon
Notre Dame des Doms d' Avignon
Villeneuve-les- Avignon
Notre Dame des Doms d' Avignon
id
Frontispiece
43
82
85
87
90
93
105
III
118
1 20
1 26
134
138
143
144^
174
176
190
. 200
205
facing 2 1 2
facing 2 1 8
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
facing
List of Ilhtstrations
PAGE
St. Trophime d' Aries
• • •
228
St. Trophime d'Arles
facing
228
Cloisters, St. Trophime d'Arles
.
233
St. Castor de Nimes
.
236
St. Castor de Nimes
.
237
St. Theodorit d'Uzes
.
245
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
.
275
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's Palac
:e, 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
,
417
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-Stalls, 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)
451
•
454
facing
454
.
461
facing
464
.
469
facing
470
facing
474
.
480
facing
482
facing
490
503
510
513
5H
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) .
PAGE
528
529
532
532
533
535
536
537
537
538
539
541
542
543
XIV
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I
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
14
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
15
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:
VioUet-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,
w^hile doubtless w^ell 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 Fra^ice
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, from October until March, south
of Lyons, the nights, 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 ^^ r 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 Fra^ice
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.
Z2^
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
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 La 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
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
kings, — 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 Sottthern 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 (Touralne, 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 impulse 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-
The Concordat {From JVapoleon* 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 a 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
\r
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 Fraiice
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 Catiiednils 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."
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 mediaeval pontiffs, prel-
ates, and peoples.
52
The Cathedrals of Southern France
These relations are further barne 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 difiference
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 Provengal 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 Provencal 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 thurch — 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 Jaffa, — 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, dififering in every respect from
the Provengal 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 Che de Carcassonne; and farther
north at Clermont-Ferrand, where its north-
ern-pointed cathedral is in strong cpntrast 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 wxre 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
Tlie Cathedrals of Southern Frajice
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 1131, 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 ef^forts 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
63
The Cathedrals of Sottthern 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
65
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,
Provengal, 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.
''he bon Rot'' 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 Varbre d'or du Cevenolf 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
11
The Cathedrals of Southern France
of non-compliance with the Edicts and Dec-
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 isoere 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
III
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 where 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 w^as 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 (r6o6 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. In the episcopal palace is a
cloistered arcade, the remains of a fifteenth-
century work.
A rather pleasing situation sets off 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.
9^
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-
sace — an infrequent attribute in these parts.
The aisles are of great breadth, and are
92
r-
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 de la Grande and St.Radegonde, of the
9S
The Cathedrals of Soulhern 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 during the reign of St. Hilaire as
bishop of Poitiers, a prelate whose name still
lives in the Eglise 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 flank 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 with that class of the great
churches of France known as les grandes ca-
thedral es.
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 1162, 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 effect 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 Sottthern 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
f^
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
sufifragan 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 Fra^tce
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 w^hich 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 fox 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 Sottthern 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
ttf t^tttt
Reliquary of Thomas ct 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
v/ith 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 13 18, 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 fagade 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 bufet.
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 he
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
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
116
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
Gaiffre, 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 Eglise 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
remains 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
Francois 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
s
T. 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 allowed 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 die 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 ahnables, mais vainSj legers et
facilement oublieux, avec rien d'excessif, run d' exuberance
dans leur nature."
— Andre 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
- -"-^^^^
N
OTRE DAME
^e MOULIN S
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'' — \i 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
dififer 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
afifairs 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
Cceur 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-ofT 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 exterior 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.
^Z'i
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
times, picturesque elements which only a
blind man could fail 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 oj 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
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 be 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," — w^hose 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
^39
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 VL, Charles VIL, Louis XL, and
Charles VIIL"
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, beffroi, tour or clocher 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 rocher 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 Polignac 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
143
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 Eglise 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-century 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 effect of mellowness, on first entering,
is in every way more impressive than that of
any other cathedral south of the Loire.
The organ buffet has, in this instance, been
148
The Cathedrals of Southern France
cut away to allow of the display of the mod-
em 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 VL, 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 Sottthern 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 fagade 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
and 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-
"^53
The Cathedrals of Sozithern 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 165 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.
Lodeve 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.
^SS
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
^S9
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
rnostly 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 the 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-
vengal 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 to 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 Caste lianas; Madrid,
1779)''
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 1000 — was the
period of a great change in manners and
166
The Cathedrals of Southern France
customs throughout the kingdom. Some even
have asserted that this princess brought in
her train the troubadours w^ho spread the
taste for poetry and its accompaniments
throughout the north of France.
The " Provence rose," so celebrated in
legend and literature, can hardly be dismissed
w^ithout 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, effeminate 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 Fra7tce
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 sufifragan 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
s
T. 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
175
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 vln 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 Beau]olais. Its chief appellation comes
from that of its chief city, which in turn is
more than vague as to its etymology: Lug-
duniim 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.
Irenaeus 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 Eglise 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 affairs — 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, w^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 facade, 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
fagade 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-lover 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.
185
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 fagade 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 Frajtce
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 suffragans 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. Apollinaire
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. ApoUinaire, 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. Apolllnaire, like those of
Notre Dame de la Grande at Poitiers, and
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
clifif-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
I9S
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 months of the
Revolution. It were better had he told us
something of the architectural treasures of this
vllle de Fart 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 1 26. 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
IX
^-^
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
Provengal 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,
200
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,
w^here it w^as 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
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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 reful-
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 of 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 Eglise 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 DES 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 hiawkish, 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 and 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
k- %'
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 remains 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 Eglise 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 13 13,
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
2q8
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 affront 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 tliey 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
XIL, thirty years later, gave the work into
211
The Cathedrals of Southern France
the hands of Peter Obreri — who must have
been the VioUet-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 been eradicated, as
may be observed if one will crave entrance of
the military incumbent.
212
The Cathedrals of Soztthern France
In 1376 Pope Gregory XL left Avignon
for Rome, — after him came the two anti-
popes, — and thus ended what Petrarch has
called ^^ UEmpia 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 which 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.
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 XIL, — 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 VL, 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 hes 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 Aijzon 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 sufifragan 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.
221
The Cathedrals of Sottthern 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 tvs^o others; poor
copies of the Greco-Romain style, which, in
many 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. Siffrein, 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-
223
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. Sififrein 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.
225
XII
CATHEDRALE DE VAISON
The Provengal town of Vaison, like Car-
pentras ^nd 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 Eglise 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 eflect 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/'
ii'-j
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; among
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
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CAD
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 f agade 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 1152 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 richnessi 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
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 w^ithin 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 nest 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.
235
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 one 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
Caree 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 city^ 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 m.agnificent
scale, and here, as elsewhere, they have le^t
evidences of their skill which are man" j
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 fagade, 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 bun-
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 efifect 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 Gardon, 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 more 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
fagade 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
various 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 kingdom 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 city, 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 suffragan
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
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.
'^ 8'il est une petite ville au monde ou Von
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 t^glise de St. Andre, a thirteenth-
century structure, is a tomb of more than
usual sentimental and historical interest: that
of Bayard. It v^ill be found in the transept.
. No mention of Grenoble could well 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
160
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 pf 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, wifh 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 Eglise 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 down 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 Ca 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
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 suffragan 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 structure.
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 valle^^s 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 poor Renais-
sance affair of the fifteenth to seventeenth
centuries.
The famous Eglise 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 Eglise 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 head
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 Ktats 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 Diene.
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 in its grand retable,
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 suffragan 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-
thedral 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), and 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 surrounding
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 suffragan.
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 the 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 1414.
286
XXVI
NOTRE DAME DE DIE
The Augusta Dia of the Romans is to-day
a diminutive French 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 ex-
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 jube, 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 same era, and a Gallo-Romain sar-
cophagus of the fifth century.
As to the exterior effect 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
sssj-y^^-s-
, Gmirun
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.
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 facade, 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.
Its 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 sufifragan of Aix, Aries, and
Embrun.
The Eglise de Gap 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 TAssomption 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 CatJiednils of Sotitherii 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 SION
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 medieval.
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 ii;i6 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 suffragan bishopric
of Tarantaise, which in turn has become to-
day a suffragan 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 Sottthern 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
off, even, in their annual rush southward, in
season or 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
TPie 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
Ecole 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 Mediterranemi 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
3^3
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 manage 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!)
314
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.
Z'^'i^
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 ioxmtv 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 Trophcea 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
6*/. Sauveur d'^Aix
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 Aqiice 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 roi'' 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 1481, 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 short
3^3
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 knov/n 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, which was added
in the thirteenth century, made the first ap-
proach to a completed structure. In the next
century the choir was 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
3^5
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
2^6
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 ArI:ne.
Whatever may be 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 Soitthem 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 sufifragan
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.
ZZ^
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
Provengal 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 length of perhaps a
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 ofifers, 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
335
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
prim aire.
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
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 fourelles.
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^ Frejus
338
r
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 Eglise 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 modern 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 offering, 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 be^n 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 w^ere by Leon Vaudoyer, w^ho
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 disposi-
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.
,?49
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 13 18, 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
with it.
The capitals and the cornice which sur-
mounts them are richly ornamented with
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 Eglise St. Andre of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
35^
X
ST. PIERRE DE MONTPELLIER
La Ville de Montpellier
" Elle 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 Writer 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 seminar}^ 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
3S^
s
T. 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 XI IL, 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 ofif a west fagade. 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 bareness. However,
this porch is the distinct fragment of the
cathedral which will appeal to all w^ho 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
everywhere 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, w^hich 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
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
A«B^-
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
•So
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 w^hen 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 arrangement 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 retahle, 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.
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
tnagazins.
368
The Cathedrals of Southern France
Like the smaller and less 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 w^ith 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 o:reat
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 Soitthem 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
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 v^hich 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
^• ■ #^^^^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
VioUet-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 sufiFer in comparison.
It may be remarked that these northern
attributes of lofty vaulting and the high de-
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 and 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. fUST
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
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 who made up that re-
markable phalanx; of whose 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 Sottthern 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 except 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
like 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 addition, is supported by
much literary and historical opinion, which
has recorded its past. It is not contemptuous
390
Tlie 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
emblem, 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:
*^ lue tourhlllon, Vouragan, tous les diables
dechaines qui veulent bien emporter voire
chateau f
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 bound 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 railway 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 hyren, 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
media3val 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 SCHOLL.
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 was so in 1814 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
Vempereur; " 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 has-reliefs su-
398
The Cathedrals of Southeni 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 jube, 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 Eglise 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-mediaeval
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 Sottthern 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 Bayonne and its immediate vi-
cinity — among all that catalogue, from the
minor Spanish Invasions to Wellington's stu-
pendous activities — was undoubtedly that
406
2 he 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 w^hich 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 1140, 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 thirteenth-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 flanldng 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 ahside 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 Fra71.ce
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 ofifensive.
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,
rather 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 cit>^, 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 So^Uhern 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 Eglise 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 facade is a Renaissance
portal which of itself would be a disfigure-
ment anywhere, but which here gives the final
blow to a structure w^hich 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
I
X
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
4^5
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 Soiithent France
the direction of the bishops who held the see
from 1280 to 1324; most likely under Hugo
Geraldi (1312 — 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
w^all-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 Lot-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 effort 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
s
T. 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 is 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 skyward 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 Eglise 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 Viollet-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 Eglise
des Jacobins, but, as before said, it is not so
beautiful.
When the Renaissance came to deal with
hrique, 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 off.
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 practicaHy
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
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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 minded; 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 Cite 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, the seat of the
bishop's throne.
It Is a work unique, perhaps, in its design,
45 T
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
Viollet-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-
? T
Two Capitals of Pillars in St. Nazaire de Carcassonne ;
and the Rtide 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
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 Viollet-
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!
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
Arhbition 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
porte — 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 tomb of
Simon de Montfort, whose remains were
buried here in 12 18. At a subsequent time
they were removed to Montfort TAmaury 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 is 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 stir la rive droite de
VAriege, siege d'un eve chef 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
£glise de Notre Dame dii Camp, the ancient
]£giise 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 Eglise 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 Sottthern 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 effect 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 com-
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
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 neiorhbourinor 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-en-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
i..
^ffi ''L iff '■■■ fi/f I ii^Srl'""
>
v>^ ^
f ^
C/D
en
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.
4/1
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
N
UlKE DAMb
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 w^ere 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 hejfroi, 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 Flace 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 buffet, 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 com.bination 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 juhe 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 chceiir. 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-stalls, 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 w^hich
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 suffragan
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
s
T. 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 Sotithern 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
'' Fart 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 stcne
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 Sottthern 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, 3. curi-
osity which seems in questionable taste for
inclusion within a cathedral.
The rose window of the portal shows In the
interior with considerable effect, 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 suffragan 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 Eglise 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 fagade 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 13 18 by Rai-
mond Athone, but was suppressed in 1790.
THE END.
501
Appendices
Sketch map showing the usual geographical divisions of France.
/., north ; //., 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 kiftgdom of France.
There is in general one bishopric to a department.
The subject-matter of this book treats of all of southtvestern and
southeastern France ; with, in addition, the departments of Saont-et-
Loire, fura, Rhdne, 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, attd Digne 'we7'e 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
Bishopric
(Archbishopric)
Castres
Mende
Fourth century
1317 (?)
647 as a Benedic-
tine Abbey.
1317 as a Bish-
opric
Third century at
Civitas Gabalo-
rum. Reestab-
lished here in
the year 1000
St. Clair
Anthime
Robert, the first 1790
Abbot
St. S eve rein
and Genialis
Appendices
Name Diocese founded
Cahors
Rodez
Arisitum
Vabres
Fourth century
Fifth century
Sixth century de-
tached from the
diocese of
Rodez
Benedictine
Abbey, 862.
Bishopric, 131 7
First bishop
St. Genulphe
St. Amand
Deothaire
Date of
suppression
Rejoined
to Rodez
670
1790
Province d' Aries
Aries
(Archbishopric)
Marseilles
First century
First century
St. Trophime
St. Lazare
1790
St. Paul-Trois
Chateaux, r
Tricastin
Second century
St. Restuit
1790
Toulon
Fifth century
Honore
1790
Orange
Fifth century
St. Luce
1790
Province d^Auch
Eauze
Third century
St. Paterne
720
(Archbishopric)
Auch
Fourth century
Citerius
(Bishopric then
Archbishopric)
Dax
Third century
St. Vincent
1802
Lectoure
Sixth century
Heuterius
1790
Comminges
Sixth century
Suavis
1790
Conserans
Fifth century
St. Valere
1790
Aire
Fifth century
Marcel
Bazas
Sixth century
Sextilius
(?)
Tarbes
Sixth century
St. Justin
Oloron
Sixth century
Gratus
1790
Lescar
Fifth century
St. Julien
1790
Bayonne
Ninth century
505
Arsias Rocha
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)
Angouleme
Saintes
Poitiers
Maillezais
(afterward at
La Rochelle)
Lu9on
(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
1317
Province de Bo urges
Third century
Third century
Bourges
(Archbishopric)
Clermont-Ferrand
First bishop
St. Ruf
Date of
suppression
St.
Valentin
1790
St.
Aubin
1790
St.
Genialis
1790
Oriental
St. Pherade
Raimond de
Galard
St. Ansome
St. Eutrope
St. Nectaire
Geoff roy I.
Pierre de La
Veyrie
St. Front
Raimond de
Roquecorne
1793
St. Ursin
St. Austremoine
506
Appendices
Name
St. Flour
(Ancient priory)
Limoges
Tulle
(Seventh- c en-
t u r y Benedic-
tine abbey)
Le Puy
Diocese founded
I318
Third century
1317
Third century
Province d^Embrun
Embrun
(Archbishopric) Fourth century
Digne Fourth century
Antibes Fourth century
(afterward at
Grasse)
Grasse
Vence
Glandeve
Senez
Nice
(formerly at
Cemenelium)
Fourth century
Fifth century
Fifth century
Fourth century
Province de Lyon
First bishop
Raimond de
Vehens
St. Martial
A r n a u d de
Saint-Astier
St. Georges
Date of
suppression
St. Marcellin
1793
St. Domnin
St. Armentaire
Raimond de
1790
Villeneuve
(1245)
Eusebe
1790
Fraterne
1790
Ursus
1790
Lyon
(Archbishopric)
Autun
Macon
Chalon-sur-Saone
Langres
Dijon
(Fo u r t h-cen-
tury abbey)
Saint Claude
(F if t h-century
abbey)
The 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
1790
1790
Joseph
Madet
de
Appendices
Province de Narbonne
Name D
Hocese /ounded
First bishop
Date 0/
suppression
Narbonne
Third century
St. Paul
1802
(Archbishopric)
Saint- Pons-de-
1318
Pierre Roger
1790
Tomieres (Tenth-
,
century abbey)
Met
1318
Barthelmy
1790
(Ninth-century
abbey)
Beziers
Fourth century
St. Aphrodise
1702
Nimes
Fourth century
St. Felix
Alais
1694
Chevalier de
Saulx
1790
Lodeve
Fourth century (?)
St. Flour
1790
Uzes
Fifth century
Constance
1790
Agde
Fifth century
St. Venuste
1790
Maguelonne
Sixth century
Beotius
(afterward a t
Montpellier)
Carcassonne
Sixth century
St. Hilaire
Elne
Sixth century
Domnus
(afterward at
Perpignan)
Province de
Tarentaise
'
Tarentaise
Fifth century
St. Jacques
(Archbishopric)
Sion
Fourth century
St. Theodule
Aoste
Fourth century
St. Eustache
Chambery
1780
Michel Conseil
Province de
Toulouse
Toulouse
(Bishopric)
Third century
St. Saturnin
(Archbishopric)
1327
Pamiers
1297
Bernard Saisset
(Eleventh-cen-
tury abbey)
508
Appendices
Name Diocese fonnded
Rieux 1317
Montauban 13^7
(Ancient abbey)
Mirepoix 1318
Saint-Papoul 1317
Lombes 1328
(Tenth-century
abbey)
Lavaur 13^7
First bishop ■0«'^' °f
suppression
Guillaume
de Brutia
Bertrand du Puy
R ai m o n d i79°
Athone
Bernard de la 1790
Tour
Roger de Com- 1790
minges
Roger d'Arma- 1790
gnac
Province de Vienne
Vienne Second century
(Archbishopric)
Grenoble
Geneve (Switz.)
Annency
Valence
Die
Viviers
St. Jean de Mau-
rienne
Third century
Fourth century
1822
Fourth century
Third century
Fifth century
Fifth century
St. Crescent
Domninus
Diogene
Claude de Thi-
oUaz
Emelien
Saint Mars
Saint Janvier
Lucien
1790
1801
1790
509
Ill
The Classification of Architectural Styles in
France according to De Caumonfs ^^ 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
XI Vth century
XVth and the first part of the
XVIth century
lO
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 ;
Carlovingian, 751 ; Romanesque or Capetian period,
987; Transitional, iioo (extending in the south of
France and on the Rhine till 1300); early French
Gothic or Pointed {Gothiqiie a lancettes)^ mid-twelfth
to mid-thirteenth centuries ; decorated French Gothic
{^Gothique rayonnani)^ 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 XIL 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.
SI2
V
nm
^
Jf^o-^asifica. 'JXCe/rt:.
l^mBtufd. Crtuiijorm "XLCeniunf
T^ *^ ^ r\-
j
2^e ^matesga^
t^ Soui/fem JffaHcei fit
tSe XT Cenitujy
Jl/orman Cruxlfo'-'^ 'JlaM/
i
Leading for^ns of early cathedral constructions
~ 5^3
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
jube
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
Gevaudan
Velay
Ly onn ais-Beau j olais
Mo r van
Haute- Auvergne
Basse-Auvergne
Limousin
Agenais
Haut-Quercy
Bas-Quercy
Armagnac
Landes
Beam
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
Domes
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 Aveyron
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
516
Appendices
Bigorre
Savoie
Bourbonnais
Nivernais
Berry
Sologne
Gatinais
Saintonge
Angoumois
Perigord
Bordelais
Dauphine
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 Allier
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, Trieves,
Devoluy, Oisons, 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 Corbi^re
and the Albere mountain chain. The
population was originally pure Catalan
Appendices
Lauragais
Albigeois
Toulousain
Comminges
A stony plateau with red earth deposited
in former times by the glaciers of the
Pyrenees
A rolling and fertile country
A plain well watered by the Garonne and
the Ariege
The lofty Pyrenean valleys of the Garonne
basin
518
VIII
519
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, XII Ith 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, 151 2
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. Andre, XlVth to XVth centuries
^22
Appendices
ST. PIERRE D'ANGOULEME
City ravaged by Coligny, XVIth century
Cathedral rebuilt from foundations of primitive church, 1120
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. Francois de Sales, 1622
Tomb of Jeanne de Chantal, J 641
Episcopal palace, 1784
ST. CASTOR D'APT
Gallo-Romain sarcophagus, Vth century
Tomb of Dues de Sabron, XTIth century
Chapelle de Ste. Anne, XVIIth century
Appendices
ST. TROPHIME D'ARLES
1
St.
m
Oaitie^
IE
^
d'jTrles
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 Taurin II., 845
Another (larger) by St. Austinde, 1048
Present cathedral consecrated, 1548
Additions made and coloured glass added, 1597
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, 1 305-1 370
Avignon formally ceded to France by Treaty of Tolentino, 1797
Palais des Papes begun, Xlllth century
Pope Gregory left Avignon for Rome, 1376
Cathedral dates chiefly from Xllth century
Nave chapels, XlVth century
Frescoes in portal, XlVth century
Height of walls of papal palace, 90 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, 1213
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, 1 209
Transepts, XTIIth 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
c;26
Appendices
ST. ETIENNE DE CAHORS
Bishopric founded, IVth century
Cathedral consecrated, 1119
Cupola decorations, 1 280-1 324
Choir chapels, XVth century
Choir, 1285
Tomb of Bishop Solminiac, XVI I th
century
Choir paintings, 1315
Cloister, X Tilth 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-le-Duc, 1849
Visigoth foundation walls of old Cite, Vth to Vlllth centuries
Cite besieged by the Black Prince, 1536
Chateau of Cite and postern gate, Xlth and Xllth centuries
Outer fortifications with circular towers of the time of St. Louis,
Xlllth 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, 1090
Besieged by Simon de Montfort, 12 10
Romanesque nave of St. Nazaire, 1096
Choir and transepts, XIITth and XlVth centuries
Remains of Simon de Montfort buried here (since removed), 1218
Tomb of Bishop Radulph, 1266
Statues in choir, XlVth century
High-altar, 1522
Crypt, Xlth century
Sacristy, Xlllth century
The " Pont Vieux," Xllth and XTIIth 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 XVI Ith century
ST. VERAN DE CAVAILLON
O aval 11 on
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, 1 248-1 265
Urban II. preached the Crusades
here, 1095
Sanctuary completed, Xlllth century
Nave completed, except fagade,
XlVth century
Rose windows, XVth century
Western towers and portal, XlXth
century
Height of towers, 340 feet
Height of nave, 100 feet
^ectntlu CanijiUted
Clermont -"^t^errand
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 (?)
CATHEDRALS DE DAX
Main fabric, Xlllth century
Reconstructed, XVII Ith 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 Abbe Chisse, 1407
Former episcopal palace, Xlth century
Present episcopal palace, on same site, XVth century
Eglise St. Andre, Xlllth century
" La Grande Chartreuse," founded by St. Bruno, 1084
" La Grande Chartreuse," enlarged, XVIth to XVIIth centuries
Monks expelled, i8i6 and 1902
Appendices
ST. LOUIS DE LA ROCHELLE
City besieged unsuccessfully, 1573
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, Hid cen-
tury
Primitive cathedral, Vth century
West fa9ade of present edifice,
Xllth century
Choir, Xth century
Virgin of Le Puy, 50 feet in height
Aguille de St. Michel, 250 feet in
height, 50 feet in circumference
at top, 500 feet at base
J^moges
-a — a — n-TT
.yTiZ). Zs -^"^
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, XI Vth 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 Panse, 1658
Height of nave, 80 feet
CATHEDRALE DE LUCON
Ancient abbey, Vllth century
First bishop appointed, 131 7
Richelieu bishop here, 1616^1624
Main fabric of cathedral dates from Xllth to XVIIth centuries
Fabric restored, 1853
Cloister of episcopal palace, XVth century
c
1
Zyon
*
1
ST. JEAN DE
LYON
Bridge across Saone, Xth century
Earliest portions of cathedral, 1180
Concile generale 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, 1 536
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, 1 465-1 507
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
fh.
1
I .
^y^aroonne
Choir begun, 1272-1330
Choir rebuilt, XVII Ith 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 XVI Ith 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
536
Appendices
t
w
jre'r/^ueujC
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
d^
^i
cn
r^iy
nan
Tower, XlVth century
Re table, XIV century
Altar-screen, XIV th century
Bishop's tomb, 1695
537
Appendices
ST. PIERRE DE POITIERS
^veche'
\
S. Piera
of s. Tean
^o /' ^ i
Eglise St. Hilaire, Xth and Xlth centuries
Baptistere, IVth to Xllth centuries
St. Radegonde, Xlth and Xllth centuries
Cathedral begun, 1162
High-altar dedicated, 11 99
Choir completed, 1250
Western doorway, XVth century
Coloured glass, Xlllth and. XVIIIth centuries
Appendices
NOTRE DAME DE RODEZ
1
■
/
■s
1
■
^Je^
Dates chiefly from 1275
Choir, XlVth century
Nave, XVth century
Cross-vaults, tribune, sacristy door, and facade, from about 1535
Cloture of choir designed by Cusset
Terrace to episcopal palace designed by Philandrier, 1550
Episcopal palace itself dates, in the main, from XVIIth century
Rose window of fa9ade is the most notable in France south of the
Loire, excepting Poitiers
ST. PIERRE DE SAINTES
Eglise St. Eutrope, 1 081-1096
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. Theodule, 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, 13 18
Present cathedral begun, 1375
'* " dedicated, 1496
" " completed, 1556
Episcopal palace, 1800
Chateau de St. Flour, 1000
ST. LISIER OR COUSERANS
Former cathedral, Xllth and Xlllth centuries
Bishop's palace, XVIIth century
Appendices
STE. MARIE MAJEURE DE TOULON
Main body of fabric, Xlth 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, Illd 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, 131 7
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 XVIIIth centuries
Tour Fenestrelle, Xlllth century
Organ-case, XVIIth century
Height of the " Tour Fenestrelle," 130 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 oentury
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 Montmorin, 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, 59, 61 .
Abbey of Montmajour, 230.
Acre, 56.
Adelbert, Count of P^rigueux,
38.
Adour, River, 417.
Agde, 53, 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,
Aix, St. Sauveur de, 323-327,
521.
Ajaccio, 47.
Alais, 249-251.
Alais, St. Jean de, 249-251, 521.
Alberoni, Cardinal, 240.
Albi, 27, 41, 53, 54, 61, 95, 98,
274.
Albi, Ste. Cecile 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, Chateau at, 66.
Angers, St. Maurice d', 97.
Angouleme, 55, 61, 73, 120, 124.
Angouleme, St. Pierre de, 73,
120-125, 523.
Anjou, 45. 71-
Anjou, Duke of, 40, 44.
Anjou, Henry Plantagenet of,
39-
Anjou (La Trinite), 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, 23^ 61, 217, 228-235,
283, 293.
Aries, Archbishop of, 46.
Aries, St. Trophime de, 37, 202,
228-235, 524-
Arnaud, Bishop, 354.
Auch, St. Marie de, 432-438, 524.
Auch, College of, 438.
Augustus, 221.
Autun, Bishop of (Talleyrand-
Perigord), 46.
Auvergne, 29, 62, 72-74.
545
Index
Auzon, 221.
Avignon, 2,2,y 4i» 53' 54, 241.
Avignon, Papal Palace at, 377,
485.
Avignon, Notre Dame des Doms,
204-220, 525.
Avignon, Ruf d', 36.
Baptistere of St. Siffrein de Car-
pentras, 222.
Baptistere, The (Poitiers), 95,
96, lOI.
Basilique de Notre Dame de
Fourviere, 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, Rene, 229, 235.
Beam, Province of, 395, 406.
Beauvais, Lucien de, 37.
Becket, Thomas
535-
Narbonne (St. Paul), 37.
Nero, Reign of, 36.
Neiges, Notre Dame des, 223.
Nice, St. Reparata de, 328-331.
Nimes, 28, ^^^ 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, 144-151, 530.
Notre Dame de Die, 287, 288,
531-
Notre Dame de Doms d'Avi-
gnon, 204-220, 525.
Notre Dame d'Embrun, 292-295,
531-
Notre Dame de la Gard, 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-
i33» 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, 261,^263.
Palais de Justice (Poitiers), I02.
Palais des Papes, 54, 209.
Palais du Constantin, 230.
Palissy, Bernard, 117.
Pamiers, 461.
Pamiers, Cathedrale 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.
Perigueux, 55-57, 61.
Perigueux, 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, Chateau at, 66.
Pius VI., 194.
Pius, Pope, 210.
Plantagenet, Henry (of Maine
and Anjou), 39.
Poitiers, 42, 73, 95-97, I'z^l-
Poitiers, Notre Dame de la
Grande, 95.
Poitiers (St. Hilaire), 61.
Poitiers, St. Pierre de, 92-101,
538.
Poitou, 71-73.
Poitou, Eleanor of, 39.
Polignac, Chateau de, 75, 76*
135. 143-
550
Index
Port Royal, 45.
Provence, 32, 62, 163-167, 313.
Proven9al architecture, 54, 55,
57, 66.
Ptolemy, 159.
Puy, Bertrand du, 422.
Puy de Dome, 29, 73, 74.
Puy, Notre Dame de la, 97, 134-
143, 532-
Pyrenees, The, 393-395.
Religious movements in France,
23-48.
Rene, 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, 526.
St. Ansone, 121.
St. Apollinaire de Valence, 190-
i94» 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. Benezet, 219.
St. Benigne 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,
535-
Ste. Catherine, Church of, 303.
St. Cecile 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, 540.
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-Saone,
170-173, 529-
St. Etienne de Frejus, 335-338.
St. Etienne de Limoges, 1 04-1 11,
532-
St. Etienne de Toulouse, 439-
448, 541.
St. Eulalie d'Elne, 372-374, 531.
St. Eustache, 268.
St. Eutrope (Saintes), 115-117.
St. Felix, 241.
St. Flour, St. Odilon de, 112-
114, 540.
St. Frangois de Sales, 253.
St. Fraterne, 280.
551
Index
St. Front de Perigueux, 56, 87-
91. 97, 537-
St. Fulcran de Lodeve, 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 Bazas, 411, 412, 526.
St. Jean de Lyon, 177-185, 533.
St. Jean-de-Malte, Aix, 324.
St. Jean de Maurienne, 256, 269-
271, 534.
St. Jean de Perpignan, 368-371,
537-
Ste. Jeanne de Chantal, 253.
St. Jerome deDigne, 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), 6i.
St. Maurice, 304.
St. Maurice d'Angers, 97.
St. Maurice de Mirepoix, 501.
St. Maurice de Vienne, 179, 184,
186-189, 193, 544-
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, 112-I14,
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'Angouleme, 73, 120-
125, 523-
St. Pierre d'Annecy, 252-254,
523-
St. Pierre de Mende, 490-494, 534.
St. Pierre de Montpellier, 352-
357, 534-
St. Pierre de Poitiers, 92-101, 538.
St. Pierre de Saintes, 115-117,
539-
St. Pierre de St. Claude, 272-274,
540.
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. Saturnin (Toulouse), 37.
St. Sauveur d'Aix, 323-327, 521.
St. Siffrein de Carpentras, 221-
225, 528.
St. Taurin, 433.
St. Theodorit d'Uzes, 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 (Treves), 37.
St. Venuste, 359.
St. Veran, 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, Eutrope de, yj.
Saisset, Bernard, 463.
Saone, 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, Savinien de, y].
Sevigne, 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-Perigord (Bishop of
Autun), 46.
Tarascon, Castle at, 66.
Tarasque, The, 134.
Tarbes, 417, 418.
Tarbes, L'Eglise de la S6de,
417-419.
Tarentaise, 256, 268, 270.
Tarn, River, 422.
Thevenot, 113.
Toulon, 330, 332.
Toulon, St. Marie Majeure de,
332-334, 541-
Toulouse, 42, 439-441.
Toulouse, Musee of, 441, 447.
Toulouse, St. Etienne de, 439-
448, 541.
Toulouse, St. Saturnin, 37.
"Tour Fenestrelle," 247.
Touraine, 29,71, 72.
Tours, 29.
Tours (St. Gatien), 37.
Tours (St. Martin), 61.
Treaty of Tolentino, 210.
Treves (St. Valere), 37.
Tricastin, 305, 306.
Trinity Church, Boston, 141,346,
Tulle, Cathedrale de, 118, 119,
542.
Tuscany, T^y
Unigenitus, Pope, 45.
Urban, Pope, T^y
Urban II., 145, 149, 150, 191, 458.
Urban V., 354.
Uz6s, 245-248.
Uz6s, 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. Apollinaire 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,
544-
Voltaire, 273.
553
Index
Werner, Archbishop, 51.
Westminster Cathedral, London,
345-
William of Wykeham (England),
51-
William, Duke of Normandy, 39.
Wykeham, William of, 51.
Young, Arthur, 24, 208, 256, 273,
464.
Ypres, Bishop of, 48.
BD -2.16
554
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