During the next three centuries Notre Dame escaped anything in the nature of important change, destruction or addition; but in 1699 an era of reckless mutilation began. Between the last-named date and 1753 the Cloister, the stalls of the sixteenth century, the old high altar, many sepulchral monuments, and a vast quantity of stained glass were destroyed. The work done in the names of “repair” and “beautification” deprived the cathedral of mouldings, foliated capitals, gargoyles and pinnacles. The damage inflicted by the architect Soufflot (who designed the Panthéon) will be noticed later. Towards the end of Louis XV.’s reign the church was refloored with squares of marble. The new pavement involved the tearing up of a number of curious tombstones, some of which covered the dust of men greatly distinguished in French history. Between 1773 and 1787 minor alterations in the taste of the time were made in various parts of the building, but further additions were brought to an end by the outbreak of the Revolution. That any sculpture of a religious or royal character was spared at Notre Dame during that terrific upheaval seems to have been due to the eloquence of Citoyen Chaumette and the influence of Citoyen Dupuis. Of the great work of repair and addition performed by the architects Viollet-le-Duc and Lassus, their assistants and successors, much will be said when we consider the cathedral in detail.
We have already discussed the early story of Notre Dame, and noted the vicissitudes through which the fabric has passed. I propose, before concluding this introductory chapter, to state in the briefest possible way the great historical events with which the cathedral is connected, from the death, in 1196, of Maurice de Sully to the present time.
From the tenth century up to the end of the fifteenth century the extraordinary Fête des Fous was celebrated in Notre Dame. One of the cathedral employés was elected Evêque des Fous, and, wearing the actual vestments used in religious services, was honoured with a great banquet accompanied with grotesque dances and songs. This orgy took place in the church itself, and was so popular that it flourished in spite of the most determined efforts to suppress it. A similar custom was observed in La Sainte Chapelle. During the early years of the thirteenth century the Dominican order was established. St. Dominic himself preached once at least in Notre Dame. During his prayer before the sermon, the Virgin is said to have appeared to him in a cloud of light and to have given to him a book containing the subject-matter of his discourse. Raymond VII., Count of Toulouse, underwent the discipline of the lash for heresy before the door of the cathedral in 1229. This spot was for centuries occupied by a pillory. From 1220 onwards a series of disputes took place between the officials of the church and the university. During the long reign of St. Louis, which ended in 1271, the power of the bishop and chapter of Paris had increased enormously, and a host of vassals did homage to Bishop Etienne II. for their lands. The body of St. Louis was laid in state in Notre Dame previous to its burial at St. Denis. This custom was followed in the case of many other French monarchs and princes of the blood.
On April 10th, 1302, Philippe-le-Bel held the first meeting of the States-general in the cathedral. In the month of June, 1389, Isabeau de Bavière made a solemn entry into Paris. Froissart tells us that: “Devant ladite église de Notre-Dame, en la place, l’évêque de Paris étoit revêtu des armes de Notre-Seigneur et tout le collège. Aussi on moult avoit grand clergé et la descendit la royne et la mirent hors de sa litière les quatre ducs qui là estoyent, Berry, Bourgogne, Touraine et Bourbon.... La royne de France fut adestrée et menée parmy l’église et le chœur jusqu’au grand autel et la se mit à genoux et fit ses oraisons ainsi que bon lui sembla, et bailla et offrit à la trésorerie de Notre-Dame quatre draps d’or et la belle couronne que les anges lui avoient posée sur la porte de Paris.”
A great thanksgiving service was held when Charles VI. had been saved from burning. The King, it may be recalled, was dressed as a satyr at a palace fête with five companions. The Duke of Orleans was curious as to the identity of the disguised, and approached them with a torch, which accidentally set their clothing alight. The King was saved by the Duchess de Berri, who threw a cloak over him, but four of his companions were burned to death.
We must now turn to the time of Henry V. of England, who, after Agincourt, became Regent of France with the right of succession to the throne. After his marriage with Catherine, daughter of Charles VI., in 1420, he paid a solemn state visit to Notre Dame. On Henry’s death his son, afterwards Henry VI., was crowned King of France in the cathedral. When the English were driven from Rouen, a great service of thanksgiving was held to celebrate the entry of Charles VII. into the Norman capital.
QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE RETURNING THANKS FOR THE BIRTH OF A DAUPHIN, JANUARY 21ST, 1782.
(From “Paris à travers les Ages.”)
“In the annals of Notre Dame,” says Mr. W. F. Lonergan in his Historic Churches of Paris, “from the days of Louis XI., the rebellious dauphin who succeeded his father, Charles VII., to the reign of the fourteenth Louis, there is chiefly a long record of Te Deums after the victories of the French army. Historic Rheims, where Clovis had been baptized by S. Remi in 496, was the favoured city of the Merovingians, who had accorded it great privileges.” Amongst these was the right of crowning and consecrating the Kings of France. Save Henri Quatre and Louis XVIII., all of them were crowned at Rheims; but it was the custom of the newly made sovereigns to go in state to Notre Dame at Paris to return thanks for their advent to the throne. Amongst the most interesting of the historic events which took place in, or were magnificently celebrated at Notre Dame, were the following: the French victory over the Venetians at Agnadel or, as the Italians call it, Vaila, in 1509; the marriage of Louis XII. with Mary, sister of Henry VIII. of England; the victories of Francis I.; and the marriage of Mary Stuart with the Dauphin. The marriage of Henri, King of Navarre, with Marguerite de Valois, took place at the entrance to the cathedral, as the King was a Protestant. In 1590 the Catholic nobles swore at the altar of Notre Dame to fight this same Henri to the bitter end. In 1593, however, he became a Catholic, and attended mass at the cathedral on the occasion of his accession to the throne as the first monarch of the Bourbon line. The metropolitan see was raised to the dignity of an archbishopric by Pope Gregory XV. in 1622. In 1682, under Louis XIV., the great bell or bourdon of the church was christened Emmanuel Louis Thérèse, the King and Queen being the sponsors. Later on, in 1699, the great changes in the church, undertaken in fulfilment of the vow of Louis XIII., were begun. The first stone of the new altar was laid by the Archbishop with the utmost pomp. The foundation slab was inscribed: “Louis the Great—son of Louis the Just—after he had suppressed heresy, established the true faith in his kingdom, terminated gloriously wars by land and sea, wishing to accomplish the vow of his father, built this altar in the cathedral church of Paris, dedicating it to the God of Arms, Master of Peace and Victory, under the invocation of the Virgin, patron and protector of his State, A.D. 1699.” During the reign of the “Grand Monarque,” Te Deums were even more frequent than before.