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In this Issue: |
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"Place des Vosges" in the City of Light |
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The Revolt of the Parisian Middle Class |
Etienne Marcel came from the Parisian upper middle class. He was a very rich and very charismatic man,
and . . .
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The King Settles Down in the Marais |
When he returned to Paris in August 1358, Charles V was welcomed as a liberator
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A Fatal Tournament |
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Henri II, his spouse Catherine de Médicis, and his lover, the beautiful Diane de Poitiers
who was 20 years older than he
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An Abandoned Palace |
Ironically, Catherine de Médicis had begged her royal husband not to take part
in this tournament
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The "Place Royale" |
In 1605, King Henri IV felt, quite rightly, that Paris was missing a royal city square,
a prestigious place
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onjour!
Ah Paris... City of 1,000 shining lights in this festive period of the year,
romantic city that welcomes lovers of all ages, magical city that never
ceases to charm visitors from the whole world. What a pleasure it is to
visit these monuments that witnessed such a rich past, to stroll along
these long and beautiful avenues, to wander along the banks of the river
Seine and set out to discover these unusual and charming neighborhoods.
This month, we are dedicating our newsletter to "le Marais", one of those
Parisian neighborhoods with incomparable charm, with its townhouses and
flowering gardens, its small streets with evocative names that take us
back in time to the days when the Marais "village" was still located
outside the city walls.
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 Huge Swamp
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Thousands of years before the Celtic Parisii tribe settled down on this small island that would
become the Ile de la Cité, the Seine riverbed shrunk, dividing the river into two branches. On
the southern side was the Seine as we know it today, while on the other side,
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Rue Saint Antoine in 'Le Marais'
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"the old Seine" stretched in a huge arc of a circle from the edge of the Bois de Vincennes
east of Paris, all the way to the foot of the Chaillot and Passy hills to the west. This
river crossed the neighborhoods that we know today as Ménilmontant, Belleville and Montmartre
in the north of the city. All that was left between the two branches was a large swamp. The
river's repeated flooding eventually covered it up, leaving behind a marshy beltway that was
only of interest to the wild boars, until the arrival of the Romans. The Romans were indeed
the first to build and entirely pave a raised roadway above the swamps, to connect Lutetia
to Melun. Today's Rue St-Antoine runs over this ancient Roman way.
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Houses Built on Stilts
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Until about the year 1000, between epidemics and barbarian invasions, the inhabitants
of Lutetia would regularly seek refuge behind the wooden fences that quite modestly
protected the Ile de la Cité. Then relative peace came to the area. The 10th century
saw the development of trade and an increase in population. Little by little, people
left this town that had become too confining and settled down across the Seine on the
Right Bank. The first houses there were built on what was then called the Ile St Martin,
and rested on stilts as the soil was still very loose. Numerous religious congregations
shared this bit of land that was swampy but very fertile. The monks eventually drained
the marsh and developed truck farming, and by the Middle Ages, people were coming to the
island to buy vegetables. The religious figures became very powerful on both riverbanks,
and this did not sit well with King Philip Augustus at all. In 1190, he had huge stone
city walls built that deliberately crossed the rural fiefs on both banks with the goal
of diminishing the power of the bishop and the monasteries. The future Marais neighborhood
came to life in the 12th century.
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Recipe for Dec 2008
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The True French Toast
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The Revolt of the Parisian Middle Class
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Etienne Marcel came from the Parisian upper middle class. He was a very rich and very
charismatic man, and therefore also a very influential one. He was provost of the
Parisian merchants, a very powerful post in charge of the administration of the
city of Paris. In 1357, the young prince Charles V was facing a critical situation.
France had just been soundly defeated by the British at Poitiers, his father King
Jean le Bon was taken prisoner in London, and the kingdom's coffers were empty.
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Middle Age Houses, rue François Miron
(Click photo to enlarge)
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He convened the "états généraux" (or Estates-General, a legislative assembly of the
different French classes), of which Etienne Marcel was a representative, to levy exceptional
taxes. In exchange for this, the provost of merchants demanded an increased political and
administrative role. When the heir apparent refused his request, Etienne Marcel incited the
Parisian middle class to revolt at the idea of higher taxes and to protest all these wars
that were hurting the economy. On February 22, 1358, three thousand armed men burst into
the Palais de la Cité. To impress his power on the young prince, Etienne Marcel had two
of his advisers executed right in front of him. Charles V managed to escape and went looking
for reinforcements in Champagne. Etienne Marcel, more concerned with fulfilling his personal
ambitions than freeing Paris from the royal yoke, found himself accused of treason and was
assassinated five months later just as he was about to open the Porte St Antoine to the English.
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The King Settles Down in the Marais
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When he returned to Paris in August 1358, Charles V was welcomed as a liberator
by Parisians tired of Etienne Marcel's dictatorship.
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Hôtel de Sens, Paris
(Click photo to enlarge)
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It was out of the question for him to remain in the Palais de la Cité that he thought
of as nothing more than a mousetrap. He first chose the fortress of the Louvre, but
later, while building the city a new great wall reinforced with a fortress called the
Bastille, he settled down nearby in the Hôtel St Pol located in the Marais neighborhood.
From there, in case of danger, he could easily seek refuge in the neighboring donjon of
Vincennes or else he could escape by way of the Seine to rejoin the road to Bourgogne
and Dauphiné, his province. He really appreciated the safety he felt in this new residence.
He had it renovated, enlarged, and surrounded by magnificent gardens with fruit trees and
exotic plants. He also had a menagerie built filled with wild animals that included wild
boars, gazelles and even lions. Both the gardens and the zoo quickly became a popular
strolling destination for the Parisians. The only remainder of this immense and magnificent
estate today is the beautiful Hôtel de Sens, the townhouse of the archbishop of Sens, along
with a few street names like the "Rue des Cerisaies" and the "Rue des Lions". Charles V was
not the first king to inhabit the Marais, but through his love of art and literature, he
became the first sovereign to impart his devotion to the arts to this neighborhood.
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A Fatal Tournament
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Henri II, his spouse Catherine de Médicis, and his lover, the beautiful Diane de Poitiers
who was 20 years older than he, all lived in the splendid palace that was the Hôtel des
Tournelles in the Rue St Antoine. On the day of June 30, 1559, sumptuous festivities were
planned in honor of the double wedding of the king's daughter, Elisabeth, and his sister,
Marguerite.
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Place des Vosges in the Marais Neighborhood
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Arches of triumph were erected and the tribunes were richly decorated, but the high point
of the party was to be the tournament, scheduled to take place right in front of the palace.
The king enjoyed tournaments, and having already defeated the Duke of Savoy and the first
lieutenant of the kingdom, he challenged the Count of Montgomery. A first joust shook up
both riders but did not throw them. The young captain of the archers would have gladly
conceded victory to his king at this point, but he had to reluctantly accept the return
game that the king demanded. The horsemen faced each other and dashed forward under the
anxious eyes of the crowd. The game took a tragic turn with a fatal accident. The young
count's lance sank under the king's visor. Doctors rushed to his bedside but remained
powerless in the face of such a severe wound.
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An Abandoned Palace |
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Ironically, Catherine de Médicis had begged her royal husband not to take part in
this tournament. Her astrologer, whom she consulted regularly, had predicted the
accident. It was clear, she was told, the king would be inflicted a head wound
during a tournament in his 41st year of age. But Henri II had no use for such
silly nonsense, and his belligerent mind won over his wife's entreaties. And
then it happened. The lance had pierced his eye and he died after 10 days of
unbearable suffering. Catherine de Médicis was so distraught that she came to
hate the Hôtel des Tournelles and left to live out her sorrow at the Louvre.
Completely abandoned, the cursed palace fell into ruin, little by little. A
place once so grandiose and beautiful had sadly become nothing more than a huge
waste land. Used for a while to establish a very important horse market, it quickly
drew all of the city's outcasts, whether bandits or poor souls without any means or
any future. The site became a huge den of beggars and thieves that gave the authorities
a really hard time. It also witnessed a series of bloody and deadly duels despite numerous
royal decrees that forbid such ruthless fighting.
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The "Place Royale"
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In 1605, King Henri IV felt, quite rightly, that Paris was missing a royal city square
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Place des Vosges Strolling Gallery, Paris
(Click photo to enlarge)
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a prestigious place where he could hold sumptuous festivities, equestrian games
(no tournaments) and parades, but also a place that would be available for walks.
For the first time in the history of Parisian architecture, aesthetics came first.
The king wanted a square site surrounded by elements that would form a harmonious
whole. On each side there would be nine townhouses with strictly identical facades.
They would be three stories tall. The ground floor would feature a gallery for
strolling, the first floor would house the families, and the servants would live
in the attic. The Flemish-inspired design would call for walls built of pink brick
and white limestone, and slate roofs over the steeply pitched eaves. The king's
house was the first to go up and was to serve as the model. But the cost and the
lack of qualified manpower was such that in the end, walls were just painted in
trompe-l'il. Nonetheless, it was a very successful effect and the finished royal
public square was beautiful. It was inaugurated in 1612, with great pomp, to celebrate
the engagement of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain. Having died two
years earlier, Henri IV was unable to attend the party organized on a square that he
had dreamed of for so long.
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An Invitation to Travel... |
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On July 4, 1793, the garden was laid out and the four fountains installed on this square
that the Revolutionaries had by then baptized Place de l'Indivisibilité. The white marble
statue of Louis XIII that holds court on the central platform was added in 1818. It
replaced a previous statue of him, a gift from Richelieu in 1639 that was cause for
more mockery than admiration. Indeed, the cast of the Henri II sculpture had been used
to make it. Much shorter than his predecessor, King Louis XIII riding such a powerful
charger seemed ridiculous. It was this famous Place Royale that was renamed Place des
Vosges by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1800, to thank that particular French department for
having been the first to pay its taxes. This square would bring illustrious history
to the Marais neighborhood, as aristocrats kept building one magnificent townhouse
after the other there. We will be telling you their stories in our next newsletter.
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