The Churches of Paris, from Clovis to Charles X

LA TOUR SAINT-JACQUES

This tower is all that remains of the church of S. Jacques de la Boucherie, which had to be demolished to make way for the Rue de Rivoli. It was commenced in 1508, and finished in 1522. The figure of S. James upon the little turret, and his friends the Evangelistic animals, by Rauch, were thrown down in 1793; but in 1836, when the municipality saved the tower by purchasing it, the statues were repaired and replaced. The church contained many tombs and slabs, some of which have found a home in the Hôtel Cluny. One of the most famous persons buried at S. Jacques was Nicholas Flamel, a member of the University, and librarian, who died in 1417, leaving large sums of money to the church. His effigy, and that of his wife, were to be seen kneeling at the Virgin's feet in the tympanum of the porch. He was venerated as their patron by the alchymists, for having, as was affirmed, discovered the philosopher's Stone; and several times his house in the Rue des Écrivains was rummaged in order to find some indication of his secret. His funeral tablet has the following epitaph engraven upon it, and is numbered 92 in the collection of the Hôtel Cluny:

 
FEU NICOLAS FLAMEL JADIX ESCRI
VAIN A LAISSÉ PAR SON TESTAMENT À
LEUSORE DE CESTE ÉGLISE CERTAINES
RENTES ET MAISONS QU'IL AVOIT
ACQUESTÉES ET ACHETÉES À SON VI-
VANT POUR FAIRE CERTAIN SERVICE
DIVIN ET DISTRIBUCIONS D'ARGENT
CHASCUN AU PAR AUMOSNE TOU-
CHANS LES QUINZE VINS: LOSTEL DI
EU ET AULTRES ÉGLISES ET HOSPITEAUX
À PARIS. – SOIT PRIÉ POURS LES TRÉPASSÉS.
 

The Tour S. Jacques is an excellent example of what may be done with the remaining portions of demolished buildings. As it stands, surrounded by gardens, it is a most beautiful object, an oasis in the desert of streets, and trams, and omnibuses, a quiet spot where children may skirmish, and mothers can sit in the open air and knit their stockings. Why cannot we do likewise in London? If churches must be felled to the ground, why cannot we leave their towers as a centre to the burial-ground gardens, or remove and re-erect them in our parks? We might with advantage follow the example of Paris, both in the preservation of the old tower of S. Jacques, and in the arrangement of the garden of the Hôtel Cluny, where, also, fragments of churches are set up as ornaments.

It was from the top of the tower of S. Jacques that Pascal made certain experiments of the density of the air; and in memory of this, his statue, in white marble, was placed under the porch.

SAINT-JACQUES DU HAUT-PAS

In no way remarkable, this church need only be mentioned as having been built between 1630-1684, in the Italian fashion. It is in the street of the same name.

SAINT-JEAN-SAINT-FRANÇOIS

Founded in 1623, in the Rue Charlot, as a chapel for the Capuchins, S. Jean contains a statue of S. Francis of Assisi, by Germain Pilon, and a S. Denis, sculptured by Jacques Sarazin for the Abbey of Montmartre, by order of Anne d'Autriche.

SAINT-JULIEN LE PAUVRE

In a little back street not far from S. Séverin is the old church of S. Julien, a fragment only of its former self, and all that remains of the ancient priory. Its locality is described in Guillot's Dict. des Rues de Paris, which gives a description in verse of the principal houses and streets in the city at the end of the 13th century, as follows: —

 
Puis la rue de Saint-Julien
Qui nous gart de mauvais lien,
M'en revins à la Buscherie
Et puis en la Poissonnerie.
 

And it appears that "il y avait jadis, près du Petit-Pont et la prison du Petit-Châtelet, une ruelle appelée ruelle du Carneaux,⁹² qui conduisait au marché au poisson d'eau douce." This fish-market evidently occupied the site of the old annexe of the Hôtel-Dieu, and doubtless was in great requisition when the priory was inhabited by its fifty brethren.

Some years ago, when S. Julien was used as the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu, it formed a picturesque object from the hospital garden, and no doubt was often a great comfort to some of the patients, who found within its walls a peaceful spot where they could be alone, and out of turmoil of sick wards and their accompaniments. But when the old hospital was pulled down, the church's very existence was threatened, and for some years it seemed as if Paris would have one more vandalism to lament. Happily its demolition was prevented, and it has been restored to God's service, for the use of members of the Greek branch of the Church.

Many were the Julians canonized by the Early Church, and it is difficult to say to which saint this edifice was dedicated, although the fact of the relics of S. Julien de Brioude, who was martyred in 304, having been placed upon the left-hand side of the High Altar, seems to point to him as the patron. S. Julien was born at Vienne in Dauphiné about 270, and became a distinguished soldier in the Roman army; but having embraced Christianity, he was beheaded during the reign of Diocletian in 304, at Brioude in Auvergne, where he had taken refuge from his persecutors. There his remains were discovered by S. Germain d'Auxerre in 431, and forthwith the town became celebrated for the many cures performed at its miraculous well. "Est enim ad hunc fontem virtus eximia," said S. Grégoire of Tours; and Sidonius Apollinaris, who died in 489, also bears witness to the Saint's burial place in a letter to a friend who was travelling in Auvergne: "Hic te suscipiet benigna Brivas Sancti quae fovet ossa Juliani." S. Grégoire, in his life of the Saint, gave a list of the churches dedicated to his memory; and although S. Julien le Pauvre is not enumerated, it would seem that it must have been one of them, as he speaks of lodging in a house attached to the little basilica, when he came to Paris, and called it S. Julien the Martyr: "His diebus Parisius adveneram et ad Basilicam Beati Juliani martyris metam habebam."

Another S. Julien was a confessor, and first bishop of Mans. He was a Roman by birth, and upon being consecrated, was sent by Pope Clement to convert the Cenomans. He arrived at Suindinum (Le Mans) while the town was besieged and deprived of water. Entering it, he caused water to spring from the ground, and henceforth the well was called Sanct-nomius, or fountain of S. Julien. The bishop worked in his diocese over 40 years, and then retired to S. Marceau, where he died in 117, his decease being revealed in a vision to his first convert, a Gaul, surnamed Le Défenseur, who caused the Saint's body to be carried back to Le Mans, and buried with great pomp at Notre-Dame du Pré. In 840 it was translated to the cathedral, where many miracles were wrought. S. Julien is generally represented destroying a dragon, symbolizing paganism, or accompanied by a young girl carrying a pitcher of water, an allegory of the miraculous well. This connection of different Saints of the same name with wells is curious, and makes it difficult to decide the patronage of S. Julien le Pauvre; for there also are two wells, one the so-called "miraculous," just outside the eastern apse of the church, and another outside one of the windows of the 17th century façade. If, as many authorities think, the old 13th century west front occupied a space in advance of the present one, this well may have been originally inside the church, an arrangement frequently adopted by Mediæval architects, and still existing in some of our old churches. There is one of exquisite beauty in the south aisle of Regensburg Cathedral, and at Coutances there are two in the transepts. S. Germain des Prés also had its miraculous well, but it is now closed up. There is yet another one at the corner of Rues S. Jacques and S. Séverin, which formerly bore the name of Julien, but is now re-christened S. Séverin. It was re-constructed in the 17th century and bore the following inscription by the poet Santeuil:

 
DUM SCANDUNT JUGA MONTIS ANHELO PECTORE NYMPHÆ,
HIC UNA E SOCIIS VALLIS AMORE SEDET.
 

Which is prettily rendered by d'Amaury Duval: "Tandis que les nymphes, haletantes, montent vers le sommet de la montagne, l'une d'elles, éprise de la beauté du vallon, y fixe sa demeure."

The third saint who disputes the patronage of this particular church is S. Julian Hospitator, who watches over travellers, ferrymen, boatmen and travelling minstrels. He was a nobleman much given to the chase, and one day, while pursuing a deer, the frightened creature turned round, and cried out, "Thou followest me, thou who wilt one day kill thy father and mother."⁹³ Thereupon Julian rushed away to a far country, where he was made a knight, and much honoured by the king. But his parents, grieved at his loss, set off to try and find him, and coming to his castle, they made themselves known to his wife, who put them in their son's chamber, and left them for the night. In the morning she went to early mass to give thanks for this great mercy, and during her absence, Julian, finding the old people in his room, and not recognizing them in the dim light of dawn, turned upon them and slew them, as it seems, somewhat hastily. Then Julian resolved to depart and devote himself to some good work; but his wife would not let him go alone, so they journeyed until they came to a great river, where many people were drowned in trying to ford it, and there they set up a hermitage and a hospital, and a ferry boat for travellers free of charge. One day, when a leper presented himself, Julian not only ferried him over, but carried him in his arms to his own bed, and tended him with the aid of his good wife. And in the morning the leper arose, transformed, and saying, "Julian, the Lord hath sent me to thee; thy penitence is accepted, and thy rest and that of thy wife is near at hand," vanished out of their sight. And shortly after, both Julian and his wife fell asleep.⁹⁴ The Cathedral of Rouen possesses a window presented by the company of bateliers-pêcheurs in the 14th century, upon which this legend of the ferry is represented.

There can be little doubt that the church was originally dedicated to Julian the Martyr, as recorded by Grégoire de Tours, and that later the culte of the other two Julians was added; particularly as we find upon one of the houses of the Rue Galande, which abuts upon one side of the church, a curious 13th century bas-relief of this very legend of the ferry. S. Julian and his wife are rowing the boat, apparently in opposite directions, and standing up is the passenger, no other than Our Lord Himself, as we see from the cruciform nimbus. Is it not probable that at some time, when repairs were going on, this bas-relief was removed from the church, and does not the situation of S. Julien le Pauvre, or des pauvres, close to a river and a fish-market, seem to be further proof that the Hospitator was one of the later patrons of the church? There are said to be nearly sixty⁹⁵ saints of this name, and as a proof of their popularity in France, we find no less than one hundred and sixty-two villages called after them. In Spain they were still more popular. Saint-Julien le Ménétrier, or des Ménétriers, was a hospital founded in 1330 by Jacques Grare and Huet le Lorrain, for fiddlers, jugglers, and acrobats. It was situated near the Rue S. Martin. One of the attributes of S. Julian Hospitator is a mask. He is thus seen on some of the windows at the cathedrals of Chartres and Rouen, the latter of the 14th century. His name also seems to have had virtue in it as an expletive, for in the Chronique des Ducs de Normendie et des Rois d'Engletierre the following exclamation occurs: "'Par Saint Julian!' dist Hubiers Gautiers li bons archevêsque de Chantorbire (Canterbury)."

S. Julien was also invoked by travellers:

 
(Saint Ylaire) saint Juliens
Qui héberge les Crestiens,
 

was a rhyme of the Moustiers de Paris, written in 1270; and a document of 1325 upon the Churches and Monasteries of Paris thus confirms the usefulness of S. Julien-le-Pauvre:

 
Or m'en iray outre le pont
Pour des autres moustiers trouver
Que l'on ne puisse réprouver,
Quar s'en mon dit faille de rien,
Premiers trouverez saint Julien
Le Povre, et bien ai regardé
Que maint compagnon a gardé
De mort, ce n'est pas mesprison
Et d'estre en vilainne prison;
Il les héberge et si les tence
De héberger a la poissance.
 

The early history of S. Julien is similar to that of all the other churches of Paris. Destroyed in 886 by the Normans,⁹⁶ it fell into lay hands, but was rebuilt in the 12th century, and became the property of Etienne de Vitry and Hugues de Monteler, who, in consequence of a vow made during sickness in the Holy Land, gave it over to the monks of Longport, near Monthéry, who rebuilt the church and erected a priory for fifty brothers.

The 13th and 14th centuries were periods of great intellectual activity. Students flocked to Paris from all parts of Europe, and the left bank of the Seine became a colony of colleges. According to Victor Hugo, there were no less than forty-two in 1465.⁹⁷ S. Julian was in the midst of these schools, and in the streets surrounding it were dwellings for the students of the various nationalities. The little Rue du Fouarre takes its name from fourrage, the straw upon which the students sat during the lectures; and so large was the attendance in 1535, that the authorities were obliged to erect two gates to prevent the circulation of carriages during the lessons. Brunetto Latini, Dante Alighieri, Petrarca, and Rabelais, were among the students of the Rue du Fouarre; the three last referring to it in their writings. Dante, especially, mentions his old master Sigier de Brabant in his Divinia Commedia:

 
Essa la luce eterna de Sigieri
Che, leggendo nel vico degli Strami,
Sillogizo' invidiosi veri. (Il Paradiso, canto x.)
 

The poet also bears witness to the violent discussions which took place in the street, and adds that he found comfort in going to S. Julien to say his prayers. Ambroise-Firmin Didot speaks of Dante living in the Rue du Fouarre, in vico stramineo; and Mézières adds his testimony: "Il est allé chercher la science à Bologne et entendre à Paris, dans la Rue du Fouarre, de la bouche de Sigier, ces leçons hardies qui effrayaient ces contemporains."

The colleges and dwelling-houses of the students, together with the buildings of the priory, formed a small town. In an old plan of the church, and its dependencies in the precincts, during the 14th century, we find a number of most curious names attached to the houses: Maison d'Angleterre, de la Hure, de Picardie, de Normandie, de l'Ymaige Notre-Dame, du Paon, de l'Escu de France, de la Nef⁹⁸ d'Argent, du Sabot, du Soufflet vert, du Papegaut, des Carneaulx, des Deux Cygnes, des Lyons, de la Heuze, des Trois Boittes, des Quatre filz Hémon, de la Corne de Daim, du Lièvre cornu, de la Cuiller, des Trois Canettes, du Poing d'or, de la Main d'argent, du Turbot, les Étuves de la Queue du Reynard, l'Escouvette d'or, and la ruelle du Trou-Punais; la maison des Sept-Arts, à la nation d'Angleterre; les Escolles du Cheval Rouge à la nation de Picardie, et la maison de la Corne de Cerf; these are only a few of the names. Many of the houses were demolished quite recently to make way for the Rue Monge. Much as I love Paris and admire it, I sometimes wish a new street were not obliged to proceed upon its way in a perfectly straight line, thereby destroying all that comes in its path. A remnant of the houses attached to S. Julien may be seen in the Rue Galande, No. 42, maison de la Heuze et de Saint-Julien– the bas-relief of the old portal, mentioned above.

For several centuries the old church was the seat of the general assemblies of the University; and by a decree of Philippe le Bel, the Provost of Paris was obliged to go there every two years, to take an oath to observe the privileges of the students, who were under his jurisdiction. He bore the title of Conservateur de l'Université with much pride; but he must have had a troublous life, for the students were always quarrelling with the citizens; and in the reign of Charles VI., the then Provost, Hugues Aubriot, rebuilt the Petit-Châtelet (which was close to S. Julien), in order to defend the city against the nocturnal incursions of the scholars. To such a pass had matters come in 1601, that the Parliament issued the following decree: "La court a faict inhibitions et défences aux dicts escolliers porter espées et dagues sur le quay de la Tournelle ny commettre aucune insolence." There were several classes of students, Boursiers and Pensionnaires (Convicteurs ou Portionnistes) living with the masters; Caméristes, rich young men who lived without control and were only provided with teaching and firing; Externes libres, or Martinets, troublesome students who gained their name because they rarely appeared before the Principal except for punishment with the rod or martinet; and the Galoches, who lived out of college (externes), and were named after the clogs (patins or galoches) with great nails which they wore to keep their feet dry in traversing the muddy or snowy streets. These were often older men whose presence at lectures flattered the professors. Up to the 16th century, S. Julien was also the scene of the election of the Rector of the Faculty of Arts, Rector Magnificus de l'Alma Parens; and upon these occasions, notably in 1524, the students seemed to have amused themselves, after their kind, by breaking doors and windows, wrenching knockers, and such like playful imbecilities. The next year Parliament decreed that the elections should take place elsewhere; the new localities chosen being, first the Mathurins, and then the College Louis le Grand.

The University of Paris was established in 1200, but the word was not commonly used until the time of S. Louis. In the time of Philippe Auguste there were three schools in Paris, at Notre-Dame, and at the abbeys of S. Victor and S. Geneviève. Naturally to keep so many students in order was no easy task, and we can easily understand that upon every excuse, every small discontent of the citizens, the scholars were only too glad to help in the scrimmage. They were at first classified in nations, or Société de Maîtres; thus in 1169 we read of la nation de France, surnamed Honoranda; la nation de Picardie, Fidellissima; la nation Normande, Veneranda; and la nation d'Angleterre, Constantissima. In the "town and gown" rows between students and citizens, the members of the University were only amenable to the Provost of Paris, who gloried in the title of Conservateur de l'Université; and when this gentleman found the gownsmen in the wrong, the University suspended its lectures.

But S. Julien was not simply the centre of the University; it was also the head-quarters of many guilds and corporations, such as the Confraternity of Notre-Dame-des-Vertus, the Paper-makers, the Ironfounders, and Roof-tilers.

Even before the Revolution, church property was not entirely exempt from taxation. The abbeys and other ecclesiastical communities possessed enormous privileges; but they were not enjoyed without certain obligations, as witness requisitions from the sovereigns to furnish supplies to carry on their little warlike pastimes. Sometimes the amount was sent in money, but more often in kind; a few silver saints, some golden shrines, and so on. S. Julien possessed a good revenue in the old days, but in the 16th century the priory had begun to decline in position and in wealth. The colleges moved up the "mountain" of S. Geneviève; teachers and scholars deserted the old quarters; the houses, which had been the greatest source of revenue, had begun to fall into decay; and the priors became indifferent to their business affairs, and were often absentees. At last things became so bad that, in 1643, a prior named E. Thiboust had to be deposed, and replaced, nominally by Pierre de la Valette, practically by Pierre Méliand, who accused his predecessor "d'avoir laissé dépérir l'église depuis l'an 1612 qu'il était entré en jouissance du prieuré. Et pendant cette jouissance, qui a duré 18 ans, le sieur Thiboust a laissé tomber une grande partie de l'église en ruine." Not only did prior Thiboust allow the buildings to fall into decay, but he must have kept back part of the revenues; for the next step was a petition to the King's procureur-général to beg him to oblige Thiboust to pay 16,500 livres, the repairs requisite having been estimated at that sum by the King's judges Villedo and Monnard. But notwithstanding this, Thiboust took upon himself to grant a lease to Nicolas Brossier and Edme Porrion for a certain stone quarry situated at Croix Faubin; and although the King confirmed Méliand in the priory, the audacious Thiboust pleaded youth at the time of his appointment, and subsequently shuffled out of payment of the whole sum.

The church was in a parlous state when prior Méliand began his repairs. The roof was in a miserable condition, with a temporary covering over the altar to keep out the rain and the door was almost in the last state of decay; so Messire Claude Menardeau was called in (he was a councillor of the King's, and a commissaire), and he decided "que des réparations seraient faites au plus tôt, d'autant que l'églize despérit journellement par la pluye et autres injures du temps, qui y tombent, comme en plaine campagne." Unfortunately the master mason, Bernard Roche, to whom the work was given, began by destroying the Gothic west front and portal, to make room for lodgings for the ecclesiastics. Then we read of plasterings, and a new front with pediment and Ionic columns, and all the Classicisms so much beloved in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In 1655 the priory and its possessions were made over to the Hôtel-Dieu; and thenceforth, until the demolition of the old building a few years ago, it was used as the hospital chapel. But previous to this, Cardinal Mazarin had turned over an annual payment of 2,500 livres to the Hôtel-Dieu from the revenue of his abbey of Saint-Étienne at Caen, and in his capacity of abbot in chief of the order of Cluny, he made a bargain which put an end to the independence of S. Julien. The prior was to resign, and all the revenues of the convent were to go to the establishment of a convalescent hospital; the Hôtel-Dieu undertaking, in return, to carry on Divine service in the church, and to fulfil the conditions of the different foundations belonging to it. At this time, 1660, the property of S. Julien consisted of thirty-eight houses and gardens in the neighbouring streets, besides certain lands in the Faubourg S. Jacques, at Montmartre, at Vitry, Villeneuve and Versailles, together with revenues in kind – corn and fodder, and donations made at burials; altogether amounting to about 2,400 livres.

It appears that the misfortunes of S. Julien were not over when it lost its independence, for Louis Roche required payment for his various "improvements," and so the poor church had to sell its plate. Nor could services be held there without the permission of the archbishop, as the curé of S. Séverin seems to have objected: "Défense lui (the chaplain of S. Julien) est faite de célébrer des messes hautes, de faire l'eau bénite, la bénédiction du pain, de reçevoir offrande, faire quête, chanter l'office et le salut, ni même exposer le Saint-Sacrament en ladite église, sans la permission de Son Eminence."

In 1705 an inventory of the furniture, vestments, and plate was taken, and a very poor collection it seems to have been; indeed, at that time, even the hospital revenues were only about a sixth of the expenses. The inhabitants of Paris had largely increased, and famines and wars had brought many of them to the Hôtel-Dieu; so full was it that seven or eight patients were packed into one bed, which, even considering the width of an 18th-century sleeping place, must have been rather unpleasant crowding.

At the Revolution, the revenues passed over to the State, and God's House was converted into the "House of Humanity." The old church became a salt warehouse, the asile was pulled down, and it was only in 1826 that S. Julien was restored to its right use.

The first time I visited the church was before the Franco-German war, when I was taken over the hospital by one of the Augustinian sisters. Two or three patients were there pouring out their sorrows, or giving thanks for mercies received. Outside, in the garden, were a few more sitting about among the trees, making a charming picture, such as Fred Walker would have delighted in. All this is now changed, and the sisters are gone with the old hospital buildings and the quaint covered bridge – a second Ponte Vecchio. Whether the poor have gained anything by being nursed by lay-women instead of religious, we cannot say; but no one will deny that the sisters were devoted to their work – kindly, patient, sweet-tempered, of the same spirit as when, in the old time, they not only nursed, but "au plus fort de l'hiver," they broke the ice of the river, "qui passe au milieu de cet hôpital, et y entrer jusqu'à la moitié du corps pour laver les linges." It was in S. Julien that the White Sisters took the veil, and devoted themselves specially to the service of God and the care of His poor.

The Miraculous Well and some of the foundations are all that remain of the first Carlovingian church; the arcades of the nave and some of the columns date back to the commencement of the 12th century, but the rest of the building belongs to the end of that period. The tower, like the portal, was improved away by Master Bernard Roche, and the old bell has at present to content itself with a little pointed roof as a covering. Its inscription is dated, and is in French:

✠

J. H. S

MARIE SUIS NOMMÉE PAR M. JEAN BOURLON, CONSEILLER DU ROY

ET GREFFIER EN SA CHAMBRE DES COMPTES, ET PAR DAME MARIE

PAJOT, FEMME DE M. ALEXANDRE REBOURS, CONSEILLER DU ROY

EN SON CONSEIL D'ÉTAT ET PRIVÉ, ET PRÉSIDENT DE LA COUR DES

AYDES DE PARIS ET V^E DE BARTHÉLEMY TOUSSAINCT MOUSSIER

GOUVERNEUR DE L'ÉGLISE DE CÉANS DELAUNAY

1640

The plan of the church was originally a nave and aisles of six bays, each terminating in an apse, but in 1675 two bays were demolished with the entire west end, to make room for a forecourt. (It is said that, of all the churches of Paris, the two which stand most truly East and West are Notre-Dame and S. Julien.) Although parts of the interior have suffered from "improvements" and neglect, the two bays of the choir and the apsidal terminations have lost nothing of their original beauty. The single-shaft pillars, recalling upon a small scale those of Notre-Dame, the clustered columns which support the vault, and the little columns of the windows; the capitals, the bosses, and the mouldings are all in the best style of the end of the 12th century. The sculpture of the details is treated with the greatest care, and the ornamentation of the capitals (about one hundred and fifty in all) has all the variety of foliage and imagery so dear to the Mediæval artists. The most curious example is on the south side of the choir. Springing from a mass of foliage are four figures of birds with female heads, bodies of feathers, outspread wings, and clawed feet. Some of the foliage is the acanthus, but still more represents the water plants which probably, in those early days, grew in the Seine; for it must be remembered that the sculptors of the Middle Ages were in the habit of taking their inspiration from the types of Nature which surrounded them. It is curious that one of the capitals in Notre-Dame, in the same position (the south side of the choir) is almost identical with the one just described. On the right side of the altar is the piscina, which is said to communicate with the Miraculous Well; the water having been held in great veneration, people came to fetch it from far and near.

The church contains no monuments of any artistic value. A curious bas-relief with a very long inscription was erected to the memory of Honorable et sage Maistre Henry Rousseau, jadis avocat en Parlement, seigneur de Chaillaut (Chaillot) … lequel trépassa l'an 1445 le IXe jour de novembre. Dieu en ait l'âme. Amen. The defunct left money to endow masses, and also for the Hôtel-Dieu. He is represented enveloped in a winding-sheet, addressing a prayer to our Lord, which is written upon a streamer. The words in italics are lost:

Peccavi super numer [um arene maris et multiplicata sunt peccata mea] non sum

Dignus videre altidinem [Celi pre multitudine iniquitatis mee q̄m̄ irrita] ram tuam.

Et malum coram te feci q̄m̄ ini [q̄ūitāt̄ē mea ego cognosco et] delictum meum

Coram me est semper. Tibi soli pecca [vi ideo deprecor] majestatem tuam

Ut tu deleas iniquitatem meam miserere mei [secundum magn̄a misericordia] tuam.

The epitaph is in Gothic letters, and in an excellent state of preservation. Above the bordering we read:

Cy devant gist honorable homme et sage maîstre Henry Rousseau,

Jadis advocat en Parlement, seigneur de Chaillaut et de

Within the framing:

Compans en partie, lequel dès son vivant a fondé en cest hostel trois messes

Par chascune sepmaine qui sont et doivent estre dites et célébrées à l'autel et

Chapelle de Mons. S. Loys, jadis Roy de France, située et assise au milieu de cest

Ostel, aux jour de Mercredi, Vendredi et Dimenche. Cest assavoir au mercredi

De Requiem, au vendredi de la Croix et au dimenche de la Solennité du jour, où

A la voulenté du célébrant, et en la fin de chascune messe qui ne serait ditte

De Requiem, le célébrant est tenu de faire mémoire des Trespassez et pour ce

Faire a fondé le dit Deffunct et donné à cest hostel XII livres de Rentes que il ou ses hoirs

Doivent faire admortir, situées et assises sur une maison et estuves assises à Paris

Devant le Palais, à l'image Saint Michel, et, pour avoir la sépulture en cette chapelle

Below the border:

a donné la somme de cent francs que aussi en son vivant il a payiez en six Livres Parisis de Rente assises sur plusieurs maisons à Paris declaires ès, Lettres sur ce faictes, tout pour le salut de son âme et des âmes de ses père et mère, parents et amis, lequel trépassa l'an 1445 te IX^e jour de novembre.

Dieu en ait l'âme. Amen

The bas-relief was originally coloured, and at the corners of the border were armorial bearings. The slab was formerly in the church of S. Blaise and S. Louis, which was destroyed in 1765, and which belonged to S. Julien, only having been separated from it by a narrow passage. It is supposed to have been either a refectory or a private chapel. In 1476 the masons and carpenters of Paris made it the seat of their guild, and built the portal in the Rue Galande; in 1684 it was reconstructed.