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In this Issue: |
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La Rochelle "The White City" |
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In La Rochelle, Love is Serious Business |
As free and democratic as La Rochelle may have been back then, it was not a city
that welcomed women with loose morals or philandering men ...
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Favorite Mistresses at War with Each Other |
In the French court of 1531, far from La Rochelle, Madame d'Etampes, the favorite mistress
of King François I
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La Rochelle, The Broken Rebel |
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At the beginning of the 17th century, La Rochelle was a prosperous city, open to new ideas.
Many Protestants fleeing massacres came there to seek refuge
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The New World |
They no longer had any other choice but to flee. Some chose Holland or England, but
others, like the people of La Rochelle, saw the ocean before them as a sign of freedom
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The Corsairs |
It was inevitable that La Rochelle, a thriving city thanks to its maritime trade,
would have had its share of corsairs
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onjour!
This month we have chosen to dedicate our newsletter to La Rochelle, a one-time fishing
village that evolved over the centuries to become one of the most charming seaports on
the French coastline. At times French, and at times English, the city with the white
towers has seen it all: war, disease, and prosperity. Throughout the joyous or tragic
periods of its history, it was always able to claim a certain independence and bounce
back in the face of adversity, mostly thanks to the pride, will and intelligence of its
people. You will find this beautiful and picturesque city of character about 298 miles
southwest of Paris, on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. La Rochelle was the capital city
of “Aunis”, a former historic province now part of the “département” (an administrative unit)
of “Charente-Maritime”.
But before continuing, please remember that you can access and read all the newsletters already
published at http://www.francemonthly.com/
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A Free City
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Once a modest fishing hamlet, this little village really took off in the 12th century.
Around the year 1140, Guillaume (William) X, Count of Poitou, made La Rochelle a free
port, granting it the right to set itself up as a commune.
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The City and Harbor of La Rochelle
(Click photo to enlarge)
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From then on, the city enjoyed some administrative and judicial autonomy which greatly
reduced the influence of the lords who were seen as all too powerful by the King. However,
this also meant giving up some control, namely in the form of tax contributions to the
royal treasury. 50 years later, Eleanor of Aquitaine upheld the communal charter granted
by her father. La Rochelle then appointed Guillaume de Montmirail its first mayor, as well
as 24 municipal magistrates whose duty it was to assist the burgomaster, and 75 notables
who were given jurisdiction over the inhabitants. The people of La Rochelle enjoyed
numerous privileges, among them the right to mint their own coins in their workshops,
and the right to operate many tax-exempt franchises. The bourgeois also profited greatly
from this status. For instance, a royal decree in 1406 excused them from having to attend
the torture and execution of the condemned prisoners on the public square! What a favor!
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Eternal Gratitude
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In the 12th century, even though the economic development of the city was tied to maritime commerce,
trade was limited to neighboring countries, such as England, Holland, and Spain. Alexandre
Auffredi, a wealthy bourgeois, decided to try his luck by sending a fleet to the distant
continent of Africa, as it was rumored that it held tremendous riches. Confident of his
success, he invested all his fortune in this somewhat madcap plan. In 1196, the fleet of
seven ships loaded with salt and wine set sail for this faraway destination. As he later
spent many days hopelessly watching for the return of his ships, it seemed that he had
lost his gamble. Years went by, none of them fruitful. Only his wife remained by his side
as everyone else turned their backs on him, parents, friends, and creditors alike. Bankrupt,
he sold his town home and all his belongings to settle his debts. Seven years later, a fleet
sailed into the port, and the captain asked to meet Mr. Auffredi. He was eventually found,
panhandling in the streets of a poor neighborhood. He had given up all expectations, and
yet there were his ships, finally back home, full of gold, ivory, spices and precious wood.
He was suddenly immensely wealthy. To show his deepest gratitude, he dedicated the rest of
his life and his fortune to helping poor people. He established the St Barthelemy Hospital
where he took care of the sick with the help of his wife.
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Recipe for April 2006
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Festive Spring "Cocktail Nibbles"
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In La Rochelle, Love is Serious Business
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As free and democratic as La Rochelle may have been back then, it was not a city that welcomed
women with loose morals or philandering men. This explained the presence of an iron cage hanging
next to the Big Clock, called "gourbeille" (which meant "basket" in the local Charentais dialect).
Bad girls and adulterous women were locked in it and plunged into the stream right below.
This was not a refreshing dip, since the stream was no less that an open sewer. While
onlookers may have enjoyed the spectacle, the neighbors, on the other hand, were none
too pleased by the nauseating odors. Still, it wasn’t until 1890 that the sewer was
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La Grosse Horloge (The Big Clock)
(Click photo to enlarge)
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finally covered up. Back in 1614, a Mr. Villiers didn’t hesitate to promise marriage
to a young lady from La Rochelle in order to seduce her. Of course, once his goal was
met, he backed out of his oath. The father of the young woman was furious and took the
impostor to court. The verdict handed down to the young man was a choice of marrying
her or being hanged. This was not to his liking, so he appealed the decision. The
Parliament of Paris upheld the sentence, and he was brought back to La Rochelle in
custody. He managed to escape, only to be caught a few days later, when the poor soul
finally agreed to abide by the pitiless ruling. The happy wedding took place in May.
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Favorite Mistresses at War with Each Other
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In the French court of 1531, far from La Rochelle, Madame d'Etampes, the favorite mistress of
King François I, was young, very pretty, and full of rage this particular day: In the course
of the evening, Diane de Poitiers had been chosen as the most beautiful woman in the assembly.
Several years later, Diane became the mistress of heir apparent Henry II, son of François I.
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The City Hall from the Street
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Madame d'Etampes had not forgotten the past affront, and couldn’t stand the idea that her rival
would replace her some day, when Henri II would accede to the throne. The two women hated each
other. It was at about this time in history that the new ideas of Martin Luther were spreading
across the kingdom. Madame d'Etampes used all her charms on her royal lover to assure the
protection of her Lutheran friends; meanwhile, Diane devoted herself body and soul to the
Catholic party that was trying to denounce the danger of burgeoning Protestantism. They
both kept producing slanderous satirical tracts and insulting poems. In one of them, Diane
accused Madame d'Etampes of cheating on the King with Protestants. But the King was in love,
and to show his trust in his mistress, he took the Protestants under his wing. In retaliation
for the offensive pieces of writing, Madame d'Etampes ordered the destruction of some statues
of saints outside of several churches. Catholics were indignant. From then on, tensions
between the two sides only escalated, becoming the grim precursors of the St Barthelemy
massacre of 1572, and the terrible siege of La Rochelle in 1627.
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La Rochelle, The Broken Rebel
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At the beginning of the 17th century, La Rochelle was a prosperous city, open to new ideas.
Many Protestants fleeing massacres came there to seek refuge, so over time, La Rochelle became
the capital city of the Huguenots.
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The Beautiful Entrance of the City Hall
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As a state within a state, it wanted to keep its independence and set itself apart when in 1627,
it formed an alliance with the English. That was the last straw for Louis XIII and his minister
Richelieu, who declared war on La Rochelle. The royal authority had to take hold of this “city
of rebellion and heresy” once and for all. The only way to accomplish this was to isolate it.
Trenches were dug and 20,000 men deployed around this city that was otherwise practically
impregnable by land. Then, all that was left to do was keep the English from coming to the
rescue by sea. 4,000 workers were hired to build an enormous sea wall 66 ft high, and 4,921 ft
long. Dozens of ships loaded with rocks were sunk at the port entrance to reinforce the blockade,
with only one breach left open. So the siege began. While up on the wall that Richelieu was so
proud of, festivities followed one another (the court came along with its King and ambitious
minister), the inhabitants of La Rochelle put up a brave front while waiting in vain for
British help. As staples dwindled, a dreadful famine set in. 14 months and 16 days later,
it was a ghost town that capitulated and surrendered on October 28, 1628. Only 5,000 of
the original 28,000 residents had survived the ordeal!
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The New World |
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La Rochelle was defeated, its fortifications razed to the ground, and its communal privileges
abolished. It took several decades for the city to recover from this human and economic tragedy,
but peace did return. Richelieu granted freedom of religion to the Protestants under the condition,
however, that Catholic worship be restored in the Protestant strongholds. It was a very fragile
peace, since bringing back the Catholic faith required killing anyone who stood in the way. Then,
in 1685, King Louis XIV decided to revoke the Edict of Nantes that allowed Protestants to practice
their own religion, in an effort to bring back religious unity for good. The tentative peace was
definitely broken. Protestants still remembered the horrific massacre on the night of St Barthelemy
when thousands of people were savagely assassinated, as well as the ruthless siege of La Rochelle.
They no longer had any other choice but to flee. Some chose Holland or England, but others, like
the people of La Rochelle, saw the ocean before them as a sign of freedom, and to them it was
necessary to go even further. They immigrated to the New World, mainly to Boston, Massachusetts,
South Carolina and New York where they founded New Rochelle.
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The Corsairs
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It was inevitable that La Rochelle, a thriving city thanks to its maritime trade, would have
had its share of corsairs. Unlike pirates, corsairs were sailors officially hired by the King
to plunder any enemy ship that they might encounter at sea.
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The Saint Nicolas Tower in La Rochelle
(Click photo to enlarge)
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The loot was then brought back to His Majesty in exchange for a percentage share of it. Nicolas Gargot
was one of these men. Son of a Protestant, he had witnessed the brutal siege of 1628 and had later
enlisted with the navy. He was badly wounded in the knee by a carbine during combat, and consequently
had to have that leg amputated. But the call of the open sea remained irresistible to him. “Wooden Leg”,
as he was nicknamed after the accident, continued to pursue his favorite activity, which was to comb
the oceans in search of precious goods. One night, as he was sailing along, a revolt broke out on his
ship, instigated by the Governor of La Rochelle, who was his worst enemy and a friend of Richelieu’s.
Taken by surprise in his sleep, he tried to grab his wooden leg but his servant had hidden it.
Powerless, he fought back as best he could, but it was no use. He was arrested. His “Privateering
Letters”, which were formal documents authorizing him to carry out his business, allowed him to be
treated as a prisoner of war rather than as a pirate. That was probably not much of a consolation,
however, since he was thrown in prison just the same. Released a few years later, he tried
unsuccessfully to pick up where he’d left off. He died in La Rochelle, totally destitute.
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An Invitation to Travel |
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Some regions or cities in France are so beautiful and rich that it is simply impossible to
visit them without first going over their history. La Rochelle is one such truly exceptional
site. Only past events, whether cheerful or sorrowful, can allow one to fully understand the
colorful character of La Rochelle. Even the local architecture bears witness to the tumultuous
past of this rebellious, independent, and free-spirited city, known to the English as “the white
city”. It is mostly the fortifications and look-outs that remain today, but there are also many
public buildings that still stand as symbols of past wealth, such as the town hall, the stock
exchange, and the law courts. We will stride along the streets of this captivating city and
let you discover its unique hidden treasures in an upcoming newsletter.
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