The Churches of Paris Part 13

It is worth noting that at this time the _people were the judges in matters theological_. Rather a different state of things from that which now prevails at Rome and other places; but perhaps a return to primitive custom might not tend to increase peace, or help us out of our theological troubles.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAINT-GERMAIN AND THE MAIRIE.]

When the meeting of the synod was over, Germa.n.u.s and his companion seemed to have helped the Britons in a war against a wandering contingent of Pagan Saxons and Picts, and by a simple stratagem, worthy of a better cause, routed the enemy. Germa.n.u.s a.s.sembled the British troops in a hollow surrounded by hills, and enjoined his followers to shout "Alleluia" three times. This they did, and the echo taking up the sound, produced such an effect upon the enemy that they took flight for fear of the mult.i.tude which they thought had come out against them. The battle took place, as Constantius relates, "when the sacred days of Lent were at hand, which the presence of the divines rendered more solemn, insomuch that those instructed by their daily preaching flocked eagerly to the grace of baptism. For the great mult.i.tude of the army was desirous of the water of the laver of salvation. A church formed of interwoven branches of trees is prepared against the day of the resurrection of our Lord, and though the expedition was encamped in the field, is fitted up like that of a city. The army wet with baptism advances, the people are fervent in faith, and neglecting the protection of arms, they await the a.s.sistance of the Deity. In the meantime, this plan of proceeding, or state of the camp, is reported to the enemy, who, antic.i.p.ating a victory over an unarmed mult.i.tude, hastened with alacrity. But their approach is discovered by the scouts; and when, after concluding the solemnities of Easter, the greater part of the army, fresh from their baptism, were preparing to take up arms and give battle, Germa.n.u.s offers himself as the leader of the war." Such is Constantius' account of the opening of the battle, which may be completed with Fuller's: "G.o.d sent a hollowness into the hearts of the Pagans; so that their apprehensions added to their ears, and cowardice often resounded the same shout in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, till beaten with the reverberation thereof, without striking a blow, they confusedly ran away; and many were drowned for speed in the river Alen, lately the Christians' font, now the Pagans' grave. Thus a bloodless victory was gotten, without sword drawn, consisting of no fight, but a fright and a flight; and that 'Alleluia,' the song of the saints after conquest achieved, was here the forerunner and procurer of victory; so good a _grace_ it is to be said both before and after a battle."

Although this "Alleluiatic victory," as we have seen, is related by Bede (who copied it from Constantius) and Fuller, it does not appear that the Welsh MSS. take any notice of it, and its truth is doubted by Dr.

Whitaker in his _Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall_; but, says Mr. Yeowell, "that a battle was fought at Maesgarmon, in the parish of Mold, Flints.h.i.+re, under circ.u.mstances which were afterwards improved into a miracle, is not improbable; and there are names of places in that neighbourhood which show that the district has, for some reason or other, been tenacious of the memory of S. Germain."[80] Pelagius himself was a Welshman given to travel--he visited Italy, Africa, and even Palestine; and it was at Rome that the evil communications of one Rufinus, a man deeply imbued with the principles of Origen, corrupted his good faith in regard to the doctrine of original sin. But the heresy appears to have been introduced into Britain by Agricola, a Gallic bishop, and Celestius.

After this victory the good bishop returned to his own country; but in 447, the Pelagians again becoming aggressive, he took a second journey to Britain, and this time not only baffled the heretics, but banished them. "News is brought out of Britain," says Constantius, "that the Pelagians' perverseness is again diffused by a few preachers. The supplications of all are once more conveyed to this most blessed man that he would come and preserve the cause of G.o.d, which he had formerly won. With this pet.i.tion he hastily complies, being delighted with the labour, and willingly spending himself for Christ." This time Germa.n.u.s was attended by one of Lupus' scholars, "a man of all sanct.i.ty, who, being then consecrated bishop of Treves, was preaching the word of life to the inhabitants of Germania Prima." On their arrival, they were again met by a great mult.i.tude, whom they blessed; and then preaching the word of G.o.d, discomfited the heretics and banished them from the island.

Germa.n.u.s seems to have reformed the British Church, and modelled it upon the Gallican; for it was about his time, and no doubt through his influence, that parochial churches were founded in country places; the rural populations having previously depended upon missionaries from the towns and monasteries for their spiritual teaching. But in 442, the council of Vaison, in Gaul, decreed that presbyters should be attached to country parishes as well as to the city churches.

Germa.n.u.s is thought by some authorities to have introduced the Gallican liturgy into Britain; he certainly established schools of learning, colleges and monasteries, where study was the princ.i.p.al work accomplished. During the Roman occupation of the country, there were no doubt professors of Greek and Latin in all the chief cities, possibly at London, York, and Caerleon; for it is not probable that the edict of Gratian, which required all the chief cities of the Empire to maintain such professors.h.i.+ps, should not have been in force in Britain. But after the withdrawal of the Roman legions, it became difficult to keep up these professors.h.i.+ps; and hence the foundation of monasteries, as schools of learning for the training of youths for the service of the Church, was suggested by Germa.n.u.s; and to this end he consecrated Dubricius archbishop of Llandaff, and Daniel bishop of Bangor, besides appointing Iltutus to a place which took his name--Llan Iltut. The former founded colleges at Hentland-on-the-Wye (where he had a thousand pupils), and Llancarfan, or Llanfeithin, Caerworgorn, and Caerleon. The word _bangor_ in Welsh is simply a name for any college; and towards the end of the 5th century all Christian societies began to a.s.sume that epithet, _ban_, high; _cor_, circle or congregation. The word is written variously (in MSS.), "Ban Cor," "Banchor,"and "Bangor." Bangor Garmon, or the College of Germa.n.u.s, at Llanveiltrin, in Glamorgan, was founded by him in 460. The congregation inst.i.tuted by the Emperor Theodosius in Caer Worgorn having been destroyed by the Irish in the middle of the 5th century, was restored by Germa.n.u.s, who placed Iltutus over it. This is now called in Welsh, "Llanilltyd Vawr," in Glamorgans.h.i.+re. According to the Triads, it contained no less than two thousand four hundred members, one hundred being employed every hour in order that the praise and service of G.o.d might be continued day and night without intermission.

Gildas, the historian, and Talhaiarn, the bard, are said to have been educated there; and S. Cadvan and S. Padarn, the companions of S.

Germa.n.u.s, were among the members of the college until their appointment to similar work elsewhere. The College of S. Cadoc was also founded under the direction of Germa.n.u.s and Catog, who preferred a life of study and religion to succession to his father's princ.i.p.ality.

Little is known of the internal regulations of these colleges, but the discipline inst.i.tuted by S. Columba, about a hundred years later, was very severe. Religious offices were held three times during the day, and as often during the night. Each day office consisted of prayers and three psalms, and in the night ones, from October to February, the monks were to chant thirty-six psalms and twelve anthems at three different times; but on Sat.u.r.day and Lord's Day nights, twenty-five psalms and as many anthems. That such training raised up a set of men who went by the names of "_Ordo Apostolicus_," "_Ordo Divi Colombae_," is not astonis.h.i.+ng, although by themselves they were called "_Famuli Dei_," the servants of G.o.d.

That S. Germa.n.u.s was a remarkable man there is no doubt, as we also owe the discovery of S. Genevieve to his foresight; for when he saw her at Nanterre, on his way to Britain, he was so impressed by her piety that he consecrated her to the service of G.o.d.

The church in Paris was probably founded in commemoration of some miracle performed by the bishop during his sojourn in that city, perhaps by his namesake S. Germain of Paris, who held the memory of his brother of Auxerre in great esteem and veneration. That its origin was very ancient is shown by the record of certain gifts from King Childebert and Queen Ultrogothe. It was probably a round church in its early days, as in 866, when it was pillaged and destroyed by the Normans, it was called S. Germain-le-Rond, and it must have been in that edifice that S.

Landry, bishop of Paris, was buried. Formerly a chapter composed of a dean, a precentor, thirteen canons, and eleven chaplains, served the church, and it ranked immediately after the cathedral; but in 1744, its chapter was merged into that of Notre-Dame, and it became a simple parish church.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAINT-GERMAIN, FROM AN OLD ENGRAVING.]

The Quai and Place de l'ecole, situated near S. Germain, owed their names, as early as the 13th century, to a public school of great celebrity, which was established about, or soon after, the time of Charlemagne. S. Germain was rebuilt by King Robert, and again in the 12th century, to which period the tower belongs. The princ.i.p.al door, the choir, and the apse are of the 13th century; the porch, the greater part of the _facade_, the nave and aisles, and the chapels of the _chevet_, are of the 15th and 16th centuries. The cloister which surrounded the church has disappeared, as also the dean's house which stood in the s.p.a.ce between the church and the Louvre. It was in traversing the cloisters of S. Germain that Admiral Coligny was shot, and it was the great bell of this church which gave the signal for the ma.s.sacre of S.

Bartholomew. S. Germain was the parish church of the Louvre and the Tuileries, and some of the royal children were baptised there; and many a time the kings went there in great state to perform their paschal duties.

The portico projects in front of the three princ.i.p.al West doors, and is the work of Master Jean Gaussel. It was constructed in 1435, and is a ma.s.s of very beautiful carving. Some of the corbels are examples of the grotesque imagery of the period. The interior was decorated with frescoes some years ago, but they are in a parlous, peeling, condition.

Two of the statues are old, S. Francis of a.s.sisi, and S. Mary of Egypt holding the three little loaves which nourished her in the desert. The central doorway is of the 13th century, the two side ones are of the 15th. The whole is decorated with statues of various Saints--amongst others S. Germain, S. Vincent, and S. Genevieve holding her candle, which a hideous little demon is trying to extinguish. Round the tympanum, the subject of which is the Last Judgment, are the Wise and Foolish Virgins, the Apostles and the Martyrs. Abraham sits on one side holding a napkin on which are three little souls; while upon the other is a cauldron from the lower regions containing three lost souls (one mitred), and two horrible demons--one tormenting a soul with a whip, the other throwing a poor creature into the flames, having already torn his flesh into shreds. The gargoyles are peculiarly grotesque: a grinning savage is being ejected from the jaws of a hippopotamus; a man carries a hooded ape on his shoulders; and a showman is making a monkey dance. A corbel shows us a quant.i.ty of rats persecuted by a cat--the rats being the wicked who enc.u.mber the earth; the cat, the demon who awaits their souls.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF SAINT-GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS.]

The plan of the church is cruciform; the entire length is 240 ft., and the width at the transepts 120 ft. The interior is very plain, that is to say, what remains of the old church after the embellishments of the renovating architects of 1745. These gentlemen fluted the pillars of the choir, and converted the mouldings of the capitals into garlands and flowery festoons, giving the whole a grandly Cla.s.sic appearance.

Happily they left the arches pointed, instead of filling them in with round-headed ones as at S. Severin; and, likewise, we may be thankful that the nave was not "improved," and that the bosses and the ornament of the Lady Chapel were allowed to remain in their primitive beauty.

Among the subjects of the bosses may be cited a S. Christopher crossing a torrent with the infant Christ on his shoulder; and a S. Germain in episcopal vestments, painted and gilt, may be seen upon an openwork ground in the Lady Chapel.

In 1744 the choir was enclosed by a magnificent screen, the combined work of Pierre Lescot and Jean Goujon;[81] but the _cure_ and churchwardens, upon the suppression of the chapter, lost no time in destroying this work of art, in order to open up the east end of the church to the congregation--not the only case of its kind.

Had the modern improvers of the church only pulled this down they might have been forgiven, but they did not rest until they had appointed an architect named Bacarit to "purify" the church of its "_barbarie Gothique_." Unfortunately for the reputation of the academicians of 1745, the project submitted to, and approved by them, appears to us, so far as it was carried out, to be a decided _barbarie Cla.s.sique_; and even in the beginning of this century, when the Empire had introduced a sort of _pseudo_-Cla.s.sic style, and made it fas.h.i.+onable, people of taste were no less severe upon the re-dressing of the old pillars and capitals in Greek garments: "Nearer to my residence, and of a kindred style of architecture, is the Church of S. Germain Auxerrois. The west front is yet sound and good. Nothing particular strikes you on the entrance, but there are some interesting specimens of rich old stained gla.s.s in the windows of the transept. The choir is completely and cruelly modernised.

In the side chapels are apparently several good modern paintings; and over an altar of twisted columns, round which ivy leaves apparently composed of ivory are creeping, is a picture of three figures in the flames of purgatory. This side chapel is consecrated to the offering up of orisons 'for the souls in purgatory.' It is gloomy and repulsive.

Death's heads and thigh bones are painted in white colours upon the stained wall; and in the midst of all these fearful devices I saw three young ladies intensely occupied in their devotions at the railing facing the altar."[82]

The chapels of the _chevet_ have niches in the wall surmounted by round-headed arches, and containing statues. There are in all thirteen chapels, but four of them have been converted into a sacristy and the north door, the exterior of which is a good specimen of Renaissance work.

The abbe Lebeuf attributed some of the gla.s.s of the choir to the commencement of the 14th century, but not a vestige of this remains; there is nothing earlier than the two following centuries. Here also the good gentlemen of the 18th century "improved" much; the church was dark and gloomy, and so, forsooth, the stained gla.s.s of the nave was taken out, and the colour, and golden _fleurs-de-lys_ of the vaults and columns, were sc.r.a.ped off or whitewashed over. Thus was lost the history of S. Germain which formed the subject of the windows. But happily the rose-windows of the two transepts, four lights in the south aisle and two of the north aisle, still remain; but these being only of the 16th century, are consequently not in the best taste. Some have Gothic and some Renaissance surroundings, but the colour is, if rather bright, clear and rich. Unfortunately, time has obliterated many of the heads and hands; but enough remains to make out the subjects. In the north rose, the Eternal Father, in a Papal tiara, is surrounded by Angels, Cherubim, Martyrs, and Confessors; amongst whom may be recognised SS.

Catherine, Vincent, Margaret, Agnes, Martha, Germain, and King Louis.

Above and below are the four Fathers of the Latin Church. In the north transept the subjects are taken from The Pa.s.sion, The Acts of our Lord, Scenes in the Life of the Patriarch Abraham, a gentleman donor accompanied by his sons, and a lady followed by her daughters, a S.

Peter, and S. Anne instructing her daughter, and patronising another donor. In the southern rose, the Holy Spirit descends from Heaven in the form of a dove; The Blessed Virgin and The Apostles receiving light from above, with enthusiastic expressions upon their visages. In the southern transept: The Incredulity of S. Thomas; The Ascension; The Death of the Virgin; and The a.s.sumption. Above, the Coronation of the Virgin and a well, recalling the attribute "Well of living water" given to her by the Fathers. There are a great many modern windows, but except those in imitation of the gla.s.s in the S. Chapelle, by MM. La.s.sus and Didron, they are of little artistic value. M. La.s.sus was the architect who superintended all the later restorations and decorations.

The chapel of the Blessed Virgin is a little church in itself, with stalls, organ, pulpit, screen and altar, all richly decorated. The reredos is the tree of Jesse which surrounds the Virgin with its branches. This is in stone, of the 14th century, and comes from a church in Champagne. Some restorations in 1838 brought to light a curious 16th century wall painting, representing a cemetery with the graves giving up their dead to the sound of the Angels' trumpets. Three statues were also found of the same date as the chapel, and serve as the retable of the altar: they represent the Blessed Virgin sitting, and S. Germain and S.

Vincent (who are united in all the decorations of this church), standing on each side of her. The _banc-d'uvre_ was executed in 1648 by Mercier, from drawings by Lebrun. It is handsome in its way, and excellently carved, but utterly out of keeping with the rest of the church. It is composed of Ionic columns supporting a huge baldachino; and probably looked its best when it was filled with royal personages on high festivals and state occasions. Another exquisite example of wood carving may be seen in the chapel of Notre-Dame de Compa.s.sion, forming the retable. It belongs to the latest Gothic period, and is covered with a mult.i.tude of figures, representing the Genealogy and History of the Virgin, and the Life and Death of Christ. This came from a Belgian church. The organ, pulpit, and stalls are part of the old furniture, but are not remarkable in any way.

S. Germain was formerly a museum of tombs of the 16th and 17th centuries; but the only remaining ones are the rec.u.mbent marble figures by Laurent Magnier, of Etienne d'Aligre, and his sons, both chancellors of France, who died respectively in 1635 and 1677; two statues and several marble busts which belonged to the mausoleums of the house of Rostaing, formerly situated in S. Germain, and in a chapel of the monastery of the Feuillants; and an epitaph of a lady of Mortemart, d.u.c.h.ess of Lesdiguieres, who died in 1740.[83] Under the church is a crypt full of bones, symmetrically arranged as in the catacombs: it was excavated in 1746-7 as a burial place for the paris.h.i.+oners.

Amongst the tombs of a crowd of courtiers and statesmen were those of Malherbe, the poet; Andre Dacier, the _savant_; the painters Coypel, Houa.s.se, Stella and Santerre; the sculptors Sarazin, Desjardins, and Coyzevox; the medallist Warin; the goldsmith Balin; the engraver Israel Sylvestre; the architects Louis Levau and Francois Dorbay; the geographer Sanson; and the Comte de Caylus, the distinguished antiquary; but they have all disappeared. The grandest tomb was that erected by Charles V. to his jester. Says Sauval, in his _History of Paris_ (which was not published until after his death, in 1670): "Charles ne s'est pas contente d'avoir des fous et des plaisants; il leur a encore dresse des mausolees, presque aussi superbes que celui du connetable Du Guesclin.

Car j'apprends des registres de la chambre des Comptes, qu'il en fit enterrer un dans l'eglise de Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. Sur une grande tombe de marbre noir etait couchee de cote une figure peinte et grande comme nature, dont la tete et les mains etaient d'albatre, les cuisses, les jambes, les pieds et le corps de marbre blanc, et qui servit de modele au mausolee qu'il fit faire en 1375, a Thevenin, autre fou, dans l'eglise de Saint-Maurice (de Senlis), par Hennequin de la croix." But even in the time of Sauvel this curious work of art was no more.

A few fragments of former monuments have found a quiet resting-place in the Louvre, in the Renaissance Museum. Calvin lived near S. Germain; and at the dean's house, between the Louvre and the church, a celebrity of another kind died suddenly on Easter-Eve, 1599--"la belle Gabrielle d'Estrees." The Marechal d'Ancre (Concini) was also buried at S. Germain after his a.s.sa.s.sination; but the body was torn from the grave the next day by an infuriated mob, who drew it through the street on hurdles, then hung it, and finally burnt it.

SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE.

The Chateau of S. Germain has existed since the time of Charles V., and has received additions during the reigns of Francois I., Henri II., Henri IV., and Louis XIII. It was given over to James II. of England, and in the church is his monument, gazed at, if bronze eyes can penetrate stone walls, by M. Thiers, who sits in an arm-chair outside.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CHAPEL OF THE CHaTEAU OF SAINT-GERMAIN.]

SAINT-GERMAIN DES PReS.

The Abbey of S. Germain-in-the-fields, of which nothing remains but the church and the abbot's palace, was, after Notre-Dame, the oldest foundation in Paris. It dates back to the earliest period of the French monarchy, and its history is interwoven with that of some of the best and n.o.blest sons of France. The Saint to whom this church is dedicated was an early bishop of Paris, and must not be confounded with S. Germain of Auxerre, whose legend is described on page 178.

The foundation of the abbey was in this wise. Childebert I. having made a second expedition against the Visigoths in Spain, returned in 543 with much loot of various kinds: S. Vincent's tunic; a rich gold cross ornamented with precious stones, from Toledo; some vases which had belonged (so said tradition) to King Solomon; and a quant.i.ty of chalices, patens and golden covers for the Gospels. What could be more natural, in the 6th century, than to consult a holy man as to the future destination of such valuables? Accordingly, Childebert communed with S.

Germain on the subject, and the bishop suggesting the foundation of a church as a fitting home for the treasures, the king laid the first stone amid the green fields and woods of what is now the densely populated Faubourg S. Germain. The enclosure extended from the Rue Jacob on the north, to the Rue Ste. Marguerite on the south, while upon the east and west the boundaries were the present Rue Lachaude and the Rue Bonaparte. The buildings within the precincts were very numerous, almost forming a city in themselves, enclosed by walls and surrounded by a moat filled by the waters of the Seine. There were three gates: the Pet.i.t-Bourbon, Ste. Marguerite, and St. Benoit. The church was originally dedicated to the Holy Cross and S. Vincent, the consecration taking place upon the very day of Childebert's death in 558.[84] It was cruciform in plan; the roof, which was covered with plaques of gilt copper, was supported by enormous marble columns; the walls, decorated with paintings upon gold grounds, were pierced with numberless windows; and the pavement was laid in mosaic. At the end of the church was the chapel of S. Symphorien, which in 576 became the burial-place of good Bishop Germain, and was subsequently the scene of many wondrous and miraculous cures, so many indeed that the original patrons, S. Vincent, S. Symphorien, and the Holy Cross, drifted into almost complete oblivion; and S. Germain, getting the credit of the cures, became the acknowledged and chief patron of the famous abbey. Before the foundation of S. Denis by _le bon roy Dagobert_, S. Germain served as the burial-place of the Merovingian kings and their consorts. Thus, during the 6th and 7th centuries, the following princes were interred there: the Kings Childebert I., Cherebert,[85] Chilperic I., Clotaire II., and Childeric II.; the queens Ultrogothe, Fredegonde, Bertrude, and Bilihilde; the sons of Merovee, Clovis, and Dagobert; the princesses Chrodesinde and Chrotberge, daughters of the first Childebert. Some of these tombs were opened in the time of Dom Bouillart (1655), who gives an account of the performance in his _Histoire de l'Abbaye_. The bodies were swathed in shrouds of silk and other precious stuffs; some of them reposed on beds of odorous herbs, others were surrounded by phials of aromatic scents. The coffins were of stone, without any exterior ornament, and contained, besides the bodies, fragments of drapery, of crossbelts, and foot gear.[86] Some of these stone coffins may be seen at the Hotel Carnavalet, which, besides having been the dwelling-place of Madame de Sevigne, is most interesting on account of its unique collection of curiosities. But we have been antic.i.p.ating.

When the abbey was finished, S. Germain sent to its namesake, S.

Symphorien at Autun, for some monks to serve it. At first they followed the rules of S. Anthony and S. Basil; but shortly after the foundation, they joined the order of the great legislator of the monks of the west, S. Benedict. In the 17th century a second reform took place, and they adopted the rule of S. Maur; and it was after this return to primitive discipline that the monks of S. Germain became famous throughout Europe by the works of Jean Mabillon, Bernard de Montfaucon, and other members of their order. The abbots were formerly all-powerful, exercising spiritual and temporal jurisdiction over the whole Faubourg S. Germain; but jealousies occurring there as elsewhere, between the ecclesiastical and the lay element, and squabbles arising between the bishops and the mitred abbots, it came about that the kings, uniting their forces with those of the bishops, were enabled to restrict the power of the abbots to the immediate precincts of their abbey. Among the famous persons who bore the dignity of abbot of S. Germain were Hugues Capet, Jean Casimir, King of Poland, several princes of the House of Bourbon, and many cardinals.

When the Normans swooped down upon France, Paris was their goal, and the monasteries and churches their desire. Over and over again they came; pillaging, burning and destroying all they could not carry off. Once in, or near Paris, S. Germain lay at their feet; its fame, its riches, its magnificence, made it a mark for attack; and upon one occasion, when King Eudes had driven out the barbarians, all that was left of church and monastery was a heap of ruins. But Morard, the twenty-ninth abbot, who ruled the community from 990 to 1014, undertook the entire restoration, or rather the rebuilding of the abbey; and it is to him that we owe the oldest portions of the nave of the actual church.

Whether Morard left the work unfinished, or whether the monks resolved to improve upon his design, we know not; but about a hundred and fifty years later we find the choir being rebuilt upon a plan of great magnificence.

Situated as it was, amidst what was termed the _Pre-aux-Clercs_, the resort of students and other bellicose persons, it became necessary to guard against a.s.saults and incursions, by surrounding the monastic buildings with fortified walls and a moat, strong gates and watch-towers, from whence to keep an eye upon dangerous neighbours.

Later, when students at the University had become more civilized, when danger of civil war had faded away, and the Huguenots had been suppressed, streets took the place of the moat, and houses occupied the site of the fortifications. At the commencement of the last century the monks built several large houses from plans by Victor d'Ailly, for artisans and labourers; but for the privileges obtained by living within the abbey precincts they paid a heavy rental. These habitations formed the Rues Childebert, Ste. Marthe, Cardinale, Abbatiale, and de Furstemberg--all within the walls. Originally there were two cloisters situated to the north of the church, but with the exception of a portion of the larger one, which has been converted into dwelling-rooms, they have been completely destroyed. The round arches and Doric pilasters belong to the 17th century; the older part, which was built by Abbot Eudes, was cut through and improved away, for the completion of the Rue de l'Abbaye. The same streets, and the houses thereof, have also to answer for the destruction of the refectory, the chapter-house, the great sacristy, and the Lady Chapel, to which the little cloister gave access. The refectory was a large hall constructed during the life of Abbot Simon by the celebrated architect of the Sainte-Chapelle, Pierre de Montereau. It was filled with stained gla.s.s bearing the arms of France and of Castille, some fragments of which may be seen in the church. The stone statue of Childebert, that stood at the entrance gorgeous with painting and gilding, is now in the Renaissance Museum of the Louvre. Dom Jacques Bouillart, describing the refectory as built between 1239-44, speaks of this statue as "apparently modelled upon a more ancient one."[87] De Montereau was also the artist-builder of the chapel of the Virgin, commenced under abbot Hugues d'Issy, who died in 1247, and finished under Thomas de Mauleon, who resigned his dignities in 1255. This chapel had but one rival, the _chef-d'uvre_ of its architect; but all authorities speak of the beauty and gracefulness of the Lady Chapel, and its similarity to the Sainte-Chapelle in style and plan. When the great architect died, in 1266, the then abbot Gerard de Moret, desiring to perpetuate the memory of him who had done so much to beautify the convent, caused a magnificent tomb to be erected in the chapel of his creation. Pierre was represented with a rule and compa.s.s in his hand, and the epitaph describes him as _Flos plenus morum_ and _Doctor latomorum_.[88] Gerard be Moret was the builder of the chapter house, an oblong edifice divided into two naves by a row of four central columns, paved with encaustic tiles and illuminated with stained gla.s.s.

Pa.s.sing behind the church down the Rue de l'Abbaye, is the abbot's palace, a handsome stone and redbrick building erected by the Cardinal de Bourbon, about 1586. At the summit of one of the pavilions is a figure of a woman bearing the arms of the founder upon an escutcheon.

Fragments of the chapel of Our Lady, columns, capitals, gargoyles, bal.u.s.trades, and other remains of ornament which were found in a garden hard by, have been placed in the grounds of the Hotel Cluny; but the statue of the Virgin and Child, which was formerly upon a pier, was sent some years ago to S. Denis.

The gaol was rebuilt in the 17th century, and was flanked by four turrets. It was the scene of many horrors from time to time, the abbots possessing the power of punis.h.i.+ng as well as of trying criminals; and during the Revolution it was filled with priests and n.o.bles, who suffered for the crimes of their forefathers, as well as for their own, being the scene in 1792 of the hideous September ma.s.sacres. It was afterwards used as a military prison, and in 1854 was pulled down. The library was justly celebrated for its ma.n.u.scripts, printed books, and other objects of value; but was destroyed by fire at the commencement of the Revolution.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAINT-GERMAIN DES PReS.]

The only part of the church which contains any remains of Childebert's structure is the apse, into the triforium of which are built some early white marble capitals and some various coloured marble shafts; but inasmuch as they have been painted over, all interest in them is destroyed.

The earliest part of the present church dates from the beginning of the 11th century, the choir and apse from the second half of the 12th century. The best view of the apse with its flying-b.u.t.tresses is to be obtained from the garden of the abbot's palace; but since the clearing away of the houses which formerly were almost built on to the church, and the planting of gardens round it, the view is very picturesque from any point. An insignificant 17th century porch leads to the west door, which is underneath the tower, and has, in its tympanum, a much mutilated bas-relief of _The Last Supper_. The tower has been so much restored and renovated from time to time that little of the original remains. It has a high, but stumpy spire covered with slates. Dom Bouillart relates that on the 2nd November, 1589, Henri IV. mounted to the top of it (accompanied by only one ecclesiastic) to examine the situation of Paris; and, continued the monk, "He afterwards walked round the cloisters, and without speaking one word, departed." Of the other two towers which were formerly at the angles of the choir and transepts, nothing remains but the bases, which were considered necessary for the support of the church. It seems that they were pulled down about 1822, to save the expense of their restoration! a piece of vandalism which destroyed the originality of the building and the _raison d'etre_ for its nickname of "_l'eglise aux Trois Clochers_."