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onjour!
this month we would like to dedicate our newsletter to a legendary monument belonging
to the City of Paris. With such a distinguishable facade, it inevitably draws the
attention of passers-by and arouses their curiosity. Indeed, what secrets could the
kings who once lived in this fortress possibly reveal to us today? What pain and
suffering could the ghosts of those prisoners unfortunate enough to have stayed
there share with us? Finally, what History with a capital H is hidden behind the
imposing facade of the present-day Palais de Justice (Courts of Law) that borders
the Quai de l'Horloge in the 1st arrondissement? This building is probably better
known by its traditional name, the "Conciergerie" (literally: Superintendent's apartment).
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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The Residence of the First King of the Franks
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In 496, after defeating first the Alamans, then the Visigoths, Clovis became the
first King of the Franks and the only Christian monarch in the West. He needed a
capital city worthy of his new and huge kingdom. He chose Paris because the city
was located at the center of gravity of his very large territory, and the Seine
River acted as the ideal natural shield against enemy attacks.
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La Conciergerie in Paris
(Click photo to enlarge)
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It was with great enthusiasm that the city welcomed the monarch to the former palace
of the Roman Emperor Julian, located on the Ile de la Cité, one of two islands in
the center of Paris. Back then, the Ile de la Cité was divided into 2 distinct zones.
There was a spiritual area to the east, with its temple in the very same spot where
the cathedral of Notre Dame would be built in the 11th century, and a residential
area to the west with a fortress surrounded by ramparts: this structure was the
former palace of the Roman emperor that Clovis turned into his royal residence,
and occupied the very spot where the Palais de la Cité would be built a few centuries
later. After years of conflicts and adversity, a long-lasting period of peace set in
and the city was once again able to expand on both banks of the Seine. However, this
age of prosperity would come to a brutal end when the Vikings invaded some 400 years
later.
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The Most Beautiful Palace in Europe
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After the invasions, the town folded back onto its island and came back to life
once more. In 987, Hugues Capet became the king of a territory whose borders did
not extend past the Ile-de-France province, and Paris regained its role as capital
city. The first Capetian king set up his council and his administration in the old
fortress that became the Palais de la Cité and the seat of royal power. Kings
followed one another and kept transforming the palace both to enlarge it and to
make it more comfortable. In 1285, the reign of King Philip IV the Fair offered
France a renewed period of prosperity, and he decided to make the palace a prestigious
symbol of his monarchy. From then on, the Palais de la Cité was his residence as well
as the seat of the Paris parliament, which was none other than a Supreme Court. The
new courts were expected to exercise their duties with "dignity and grandeur", as this
was the monarch's wish. The king didn't hesitate to have many neighboring houses
demolished to acquire more space for this palace. The scale of the work undertaken
was of such gigantic proportion that by the end of the 14th century, when one spoke
of the Palais de la Cité, one spoke of the most beautiful palace in all of Europe...
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Recipe for December 2009
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Smooth Chocolate Cake
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An Architectural Patchwork
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Philip IV the Fair had the twin towers built that are representative of the monument's
facade: the "Tour de César", named in honor of the Roman emperor, and the "Tour d'Argent"
(Silver Tower) where the royal treasure was kept. He also had a gallery built to connect
them to a third tower, the "Tour Bon-Bec" (Good-Beak Tower, where "beak" is slang for
mouth). Its name conjures up the suffering of those prisoners who would "open their beaks"
to confess to crimes -
whether they had actually committed them or not – after they had been tortured in
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The Pont au Change & La Conciergerie
(Click photo to enlarge)
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this cursed place. Philip the Fair also built the huge "Salle des Gens d'armes"
(Hall of Men at Arms; today's "gendarmes" are "policemen"), a unique example in
Europe of Gothic civilian architecture, as well as the "Salle des Gardes" (Hall
of Guards). These rooms were reserved for the royal guard and the very large staff
at the service of the monarch and his family, a total of about 2,000 people. It was
John II the Good who, a few years later, ordered the construction of the square tower
located at the northeast corner of the monument. This watch tower took the name of
"Tour de l'Horloge" (Clock Tower) after the very first public clock in France was
installed in it around the year 1371.
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The Concierge
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In recent times, the "concierge", or superintendent, was an employee whose responsibilities
were limited to watching over the building, tending to its maintenance, and distributing
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Cesar and Siver Towers
(Click photo to enlarge)
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the mail to the apartment residents.
However, the role of the concierge in the Middle Ages was quite different and much
more prestigious. The first concierges are mentioned in written documents as early
as the 12th century. Back then, they were the guardians of palaces or castles. It
was under Philip the Fair, that the concierge became a prominent figure in the kingdom.
Appointed by the king, his duties consisted of maintaining order and managing the police.
In 1358, Charles V, having lived through a series of tragic events, wanted to leave the
Palais de la Cité to settle in the Hôtel Saint Pol where he felt much safer (*see our
newsletter on the Place des Vosges). He assigned an intendant, or "concierge", who was
already endowed with legal power, to run this palace he was so anxious to leave. Little
by little, the Palais de la Cité lost its function as royal residence and acquired new
roles, first as a justice center, then as a prison under the concierge's supervision.
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The Palais de la Cité Becomes the Conciergerie
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At the end of the 14th century, the neighboring Châtelet prison was overcrowded,
and it wasn't unusual for some prisoners to be transferred to the cells of the
Palais de la Cité. Eventually, this building that had served as courts of law ever
since the kings had abandoned the area was transformed, rather quickly, into a prison.
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Lights in Paris at Christmas Time
(Click photo to enlarge)
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Indeed, the judges found it very convenient to keep the accused on the premises. This
proximity allowed them to question the prisoners – under torture if necessary- and
obtain their confessions in a more expeditious way. A century later, the Palais de
la Cité was the largest prison in Paris. The building was entered through a courtyard
called the "Cour du Mai", because every spring clerics would come there to plant a tree
by way of thanks for a bountiful upcoming season. No doubt the prisoners themselves
were completely insensitive to such surreal considerations, when you consider what
awaited them most of the time. Imprisonments tended to be of short duration. Often,
the poor souls only stayed there long enough to confess before being swiftly sentenced
and taken by cart to the Place de Grève (today, the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville) where
they were subjected to their punishment or simply executed before a frenzied crowd.
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The Conciergerie, the Antechamber of Death |
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During the Revolution, the Conciergerie had the reputation of being the toughest
prison in the capital. Prisoners were crammed into cells by the hundreds and housed
in dreadful unsanitary conditions. "Suspects", those assumed to be enemies of the
Revolution, lived alongside nonpolitical prisoners. The "pailleux" (straw-men), so
poor that they were reduced to sleeping on straw, shared in some way the sad fate
of the "pistoliers" (pistol-men), those who were provided with beds in their cells
in exchange for a few coins (pistols, the currency at the time) given to the
concierge or to their jailer. Paradoxically, as if to forget the tyranny and deny
the terrible fate that awaited them, the aristocrats kept on living by the social
class standards that were so important to them yet so meaningless in such tragic times.
For instance, none of them would have even thought of trying to escape, it would have
been dishonorable behavior! They played, laughed, flirted with one another; anything
was allowed to forget reality. Eventually the day they all dreaded would arrive... the
call, the goodbyes, the cart, and the guillotine.
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"The Austrian, Hang Her High!"
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Marie-Antoinette was probably one of the most famous prisoners among the thousands
who were locked up in the Conciergerie. The poor queen paid very dearly for her
excesses. She did not care to respect an etiquette she found too rigid, and her
extravagances led her to spend exorbitant amounts of money while both the country's
deficit and the hatred of the people towards her kept growing.
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La Conciergerie seen from the Right Bank
(Click photo to enlarge)
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She was more frivolous and naïve than scheming, and she wasn't able to perceive her
enemies' Machiavellian plots in time. She had married a king who was in all probability
genuinely concerned with the happiness of his people, but who nonetheless was incapable
of making decisions or putting his foot down and taking a stand when necessary. By the
time Marie-Antoinette was transferred to the Conciergerie prison on August 3, 1793, she
had already lost it all. Her husband Louis XVI had been executed on January 21 of that
same year, and her beloved children had been taken away from her, the height of horror
for her. While waiting for her trial to begin on October 15, 1793, Marie-Antoinette spent
76 agonizing days and just as many sleepless nights in her cell. Two policemen were
assigned to watch her around the clock, thus depriving her of any privacy whatsoever.
Against all odds, it was Citizen Richard, the wife of the attendant concierge, who,
moved by this prisoner's state of utter despair, tried as best she could to bring her
a little bit of daily comfort up until the morning of October 16.
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An Invitation to Travel... |
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It is always very lovely to walk through Paris, and strolling along the Seine always
seems to bring a feeling of well-being and happiness. The monuments that border the
river are both so impressive and majestic…In the face of so much beauty, it is
sometimes hard to think back to the great events that marked the history of the
city and of France, and close to impossible to imagine all the tragedies that
unfolded behind some of these facades, and yet...
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