Pictures of the old French court

by Mrs. Bearne

THE BASTILLE.

The news of the defeat and death of Pedro was brought to Paris in the early summer, and the chronicler remarks, “and certainly many people thought that this had happened to the said Pierre because he was a very bad man and had wickedly and traitorously murdered his good, wedded wife, daughter of the Duc de Bourbon and sister of the Queen of France.” The inhabitants of Guyenne had revolted against the Black Prince, who had been taxing them too heavily; and the war with England had begun again, but this time it seemed to be going in favour of France. Fortress after fortress fell into French hands and on the 29th April, Abbeville surrendered to Hue de Châtillon.

{1370}

This and the next year passed prosperously for the kingdom. Bertrand du Guesclin, created Constable of France, was everywhere winning back towns, castles, and fortresses; the gallant Sir John Chandos was killed in Poitou, and by the end of 1370, Ponthieu, Périgord, Rouergue, Saintonge, Poitou, part of Limousin, and nearly all Guyenne had been won back. The rapid restoration of the kingdom was a marvel to every one. The hero du Guesclin was the idol of the nation; the Duc de Bourbon especially loved him because he had avenged his sister the Queen of Spain. The wise and firm government of the King brought prosperity and order into everything. His Court was magnificent, not with the wild and warlike revelry of Philippe and Jean de Valois, but with the refined and artistic luxury of a prince more cultivated than his time.

All round about Paris he restored and rebuilt the royal châteaux that had been destroyed by the English and Navarrais, taking care to fortify them at the same time. Melun, Creil, Montargis, amongst others, and St. Germain, which had been burnt by the soldiers of King Edward. He gave Paris a new bridge, walls, gates, and the Bastille, of which the first stone was laid by Aubriot, provost of Paris, in April, 1370. He had built two new royal residences, Beauté, a most delightful château at the end of the forest of Vincennes, and the hôtel de St. Paul at Paris, having taken a dislike to the Palais de la Cité, from the scenes of blood and terror that he had witnessed there. The Louvre was not large enough for the immense number of suites of apartments he wanted. Gradually it was used in his reign chiefly to entertain and lodge foreign princes. He bought several hôtels, gardens, and meadows and turned the whole into one huge palace, which, with its pleasure grounds, covered nearly all the space between the river, the rue St. Antoine, the rue St. Paul, and the Bastille. The hôtels de Sens, de Saint Maur, d’Etampes, hôtel de la Reine, and others.

The whole were surrounded with a high wall, enclosing, besides all these great hôtels which formed the palace, and were connected by twelve galleries, six meadows, eight gardens, and a number of courts. All the princes of the blood, great nobles and officers of the court had their apartments in this wonderful palace, which the King declared should for ever belong to the Crown, adding that he had there enjoyed many pleasures, endured and recovered from many illnesses, and therefore he regarded it with singular affection.

It was a curious mixture of luxury and simplicity, arm, feudal castle, and palace all in one.[71] The King delighted in the gardens and orchards and used to work in them with his own hands. Both he and Jeanne were also very fond of animals, and seem to have had an immense number of pets, for which there were enclosures and aviaries in all their palaces, but especially at their two favourite abodes, St. Paul and Beauté. They had lions and wild boars amongst other creatures, and numbers of birds. Besides the great aviaries at the Palais, the Louvre, St. Paul, and the other palaces, there were in every apartment in St. Paul bird-cages of wire painted green, and there is an account of a large octagon cage made at that palace[72] for the King’s parrot, which is called “la cage au pape-gaut du Roy.” There were numbers of fowls, pigeons, and peacocks, the wild boars were kept in a garden, the lions, of course, in dens, and there were rooms for the turtle doves and for the Queen’s dogs.

The description of the interior of this palace, or group of palaces, reads like a page out of the “Arabian Nights.” One large hôtel (one of three houses the King gave the Queen) was used for her horses, coches, and the grooms and people belonging to her stables. The conciergerie, lingerie, tapisserie, pâtisserie, pelleterie, fruiterie, lavandrie, saucisserie, panneterie, épicerie, taillerie, maison du four, jeux de paumes, garde-manger, celliers, caves, cuisines charbonnerie fauconnerie, &c., must have formed a little town in themselves. Silk, velvet, tapestry, Spanish leather, and cloth of gold covered the walls, floors, and seats. The furniture, massive and picturesque in form, was ornamented with rich carving, illumination, gold or gems. The beams of the ceiling were decorated with gold fleurs-de-lis. The rooms were heated with stoves (étuves) and huge fires on open hearths, with magnificent chimney pieces of stone sculptured often with colossal statues and figures of animals. The washing basins and all the dinner services, &c., used by the royal family were of gold or silver. All the numerous apartments of the different princes, princesses, and great personages had chapels, galleries, bath-rooms, &c., attached to them. The room of the King’s jewels was brilliant with gold, silver, and precious stones.

To say nothing of the art treasures of gold, jewels, and illuminations, what would not a lover of art and antiquity in our own day give for one of the long oak benches, for instance, ending in handles like those of baskets, carved all over with birds and animals, and mounted on many carved columns—especially for the one called “the old bench of St. Louis,” which stood in the King’s dining room at the Louvre.