Gaspard de Coligny, Admiral of France, who led the siege of Poitiers, was a convert to the teaching of Calvin, and the leader of the reformed party. Touched with fanaticism, he was a valorous soldier, and was never daunted by his reverses. After a long conflict with the Church, the admiral was murdered brutally, and his body mutilated, and dragged through the streets of Paris by a rabble.
The oldest church in the town is St Jean. A basilica once stood where St Peter’s massive bulk overshadows the houses around. The towers of this church date from the thirteenth century. There are some very old stained-glass windows; in one of them are portraits of Henry II. and Eleanor of England.
Portions of the Church of St Radegonde are probably of the eleventh century. St Porchaine is another ancient church worth visiting.
The Dukes of Aquitaine lived in the city, and their palace is now a court of law. One of the halls has a fine vaulted wooden roof.
Poitiers has many winding, narrow lanes of curious old houses. It is not a busy commercial city, but it does not lack an air of comfort and prosperity. The town has to-day a population of over thirty thousand souls.
ROUEN
THE fascination of this ancient city of Normandy consists not only in its historical associations and its splendid cathedral, but in the fine setting, colour, and aspect of the place. Rouen should be approached, if possible, by boat on the Seine. The steamboat journey from the mouth of the river is very delightful, and there is no better way of gaining an impression of one of the most beautiful of the provinces of France. Hills, with frowning rocks, begirt the Seine in its tortuous course. Woods and tilled fields alternate with primitive, untamed ravines, watered by rivulets, and old sombre-hued houses and churches peer among woods. Parts of the valley recall Wales or Scotland in their ruggedness; while here and there we are reminded of the softer scenes of southern England.
The Rouen of obscure days of antiquity was probably a colony of the tribe of the Roths-magi. Many place-names in Normandy suggest that the Danes held this district, and they, rather than Norwegians, were the early conquerors. From Rouen we derive our word “roan” for a horse of a reddish colour, for the first imported Norman horses were known as “Rouens.”
In the eighth century this was a city of ecclesiastics, who erected many churches and convents. A long line of celebrated bishops ruled here, and the first church of St Ouen was probably built at this period. The Normans harried the country in 912, under the valiant Rollo, and Rouen was then made the capital of Normandy.
In the days of Duke William of Normandy, our gallant conqueror, Caen was of greater importance than Rouen, and at the first city the sovereigns built their palaces. William the Conqueror died in Rouen, but his body was taken to Caen for burial. Rufus invaded the territory in 1091, and obtained possession of all the chief forts on the Seine, up to Rouen.