“Pilgrims are people in motion, passing
through territories not their own, seeking something we might call completions,
or perhaps the word clarity will do as well, a goal to which only the spirit’s
compass points the way.” (<Pilgrims and Pioneers> by Richard Niebuhr
(1894-1962).
Bordeaux
Our journey begins in Bordeaux, the capital of the Aquitaine
region. The historic part of the city is
on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and
architectural ensemble" of the 18th century.
Bordeaux was the capital of Aquitaine as early as during
Roman rule. When Roman power declined, it
was repeatedly ravaged by barbarians: the Vandals (3rd century), the
Visigoths (5th century), Abd
er Rahman (8th century) and
the Vikings (9th century). In
the Middle Ages, Aquitaine had pledged allegiance formally to the Carolingian
dynasty, but it remained out of Frankish central rule.
From the 12th to the 15th century, Bordeaux became an
important city following the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine (ruling duchess) with
Count of Anjou, Henri Plantagenet, who became, within months of their wedding,
King Henry II of England. The city flourished, primarily due to wine trade. It
was also the capital of an independent state
under the Black Prince (English), during the 100-Year War. After the Battle of Castillon (1453) which
ended the war, it was annexed by France (by Charles VII of France).
In the 17th century, Bordeaux adhered to the
Fronde, being effectively annexed to the Kingdom of France only after the army
of Louis XIV entered the city in 1653.
The 18th century saw the golden age of Bordeaux. Many downtown
buildings (about 5,000) are from this period. Victor Hugo found the town so
beautiful he once said: "take Versailles, add Antwerp, and you have
Bordeaux". Baron Haussmann, a long-time prefect of Bordeaux, used
Bordeaux's 18th-century big-scale rebuilding as a model when he was asked by
Emperor Napoleon III to transform a then still quasi-medieval Paris into a
"modern" capital that would make France proud. [Anyone remembers the difference between
Louis XV and Louis XVI styles?]
The Grand Theatre is a classic style building with 9 Muses
and 3 additional goddesses on the roof. Of
the latter, I could recognize one being Athena.
I assume the other 2 are Hera and Aphrodite.
Montaigne was once the mayor of Bordeaux. Goya (who had a statue in a plaza outside the
church) spent his last years and died in Bordeaux. Montesquieu’s name was mentioned by the
guide, but I believe he lived in a chateau nearby, but not in the city of
Bordeaux.
St.
Emilion:
Saint-Émilion, a World Heritage site, was named after the hermit
monk Émilion, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th
century. It was the monks who followed him that started up the commercial wine
production in the area. The guide told
us the miracle stories of St. Emilion.
He worked for the Count of Vannes, and often took advantage of his
position to steal food to give to the poor.
Once he was caught in the act, but when he opened his cloak, all food
turned into dead wood. He later
travelled south, performed another miracle somewhere (taking out bread from the
heated oven with his hands), and settled down in a stone cave here, where he
lived for 17 (?) years until his death.
We visited his hermitage, which has a “chair” carved into the rock
wall. The guide told us that the chair
has miraculous power to help barren women, and all they have to do is to sit on
the chair, and they will get pregnant after returning home. Frank remembers that there’s an image of the
Virgin of Guadalupe painted on the wall above the chair’s seat. There is also a
spring within the cave. Above the
hermitage there’s a beautiful Holy Trinity chapel with Gothic vaulting.
Next to the hermitage is the famous monolithic church, the
largest of its kind in Europe. The
construction began in the 12th (?) century after Crusaders ‘ return
and finished in the 14th (?) century. The church is impressive, having 3 tall
aisles separated by 2 rows of huge pillars.
Above the main altar, there’s a strange carving showing a man thrusting
a stick (spear?) into the throat of a dragon.
On his right side there’s another man playing violin. A chalice is in the center. There are several
interpretations of the carving, but none certain. On the high wall on one side, there’s a
painting of a seraphim (with 6 wings).
Monolithic church
Franciscan monastery
The "Great Wall" (Dominican) outside the town
The adjacent catacombs house the bodies of St. Emilion’s
followers and descendants. The unusual part
is the high dome with an opening on the top.
On top of the monolithic church, there’s a tall bell tower
which dominates the landscape of the town. It’s over 50 m high and very heavy
(how many tons? I forgot), threatening the church beneath. Special constructions have been made to
support the tower.
There’s also a large, Romanesque style, collegiate Church (12-14th
c) with a beautiful cloister. Another
surprise beauty is the Franciscan monastery, now in ruins. Also in ruins is the cardinal’s palace; only
one wall remains. Just outside the
village, there’s another rather well preserved tall wall with openings
(windows), which used to be a Dominican monastery before it was demolished.
The town is hilly.
Our pretty guide told us that in medieval times, the wealthy lived in
the upper town, and the poor in the lower town.
I’m not sure where the beautiful market place belongs. It seems to be in
the middle level. It’s quite relaxing to sit at the outdoor café in the market
place for lunch or deserts.
“The King’s tower” is the keep of the once Romanesque style
fortress. It has served as the town hall
for the “Jurade” (town council). The
establishment of this secular power was granted in the 12th century
by King John of England, who’s also the Duke of Aquitaine. It survived 4 centuries of wars; first, the 100
Years war, then the Religious War. (St. Emilion was Catholic). It finally ended when Henry of Navarre
succeeded Henry III to be the king of France, and became Henry IV. Although he was converted to Catholic, I
wonder if he really cared that much about religion.
One less known part of history: The Girondists were from this region. Their leader, Guadet, was born in St.
Emilion. He and his comrades fled to St.
Emilion and hid in various places.
Unfortunately, all but one were captured and executed, only a few days
before the end of the Reign of Terror.
The main street in St. Emilion is named after Guadet.
Lastly, we bought in St. Emilion the best macarrons we have
ever tasted.
Sarlat:
Sarlat, the capital of the Perigord Noir, was the first
place in France to be safeguarded under the Malraux law of 1964, classified as Ville d’Art et d’Histoire. It’s awarded three-star classification by the
Michelin Guide.
Sarlat developed around a large Benedictine abbey of
Carolingian origin during Pepin the Short & Charlemagne times. The medieval
Sarlat Cathedral is dedicated to St. Sacerdos (bishop of Limoges). In 1147 Saint Bernard, passing through Sarlat
on his return from the Albigensian crusade, performed-as legend has it- the
miracle of the healing loaves, which was commemorated by the tower of
Saint-Bernard, known as the Lantern of the Dead. It is situated behind the apse of the
cathedral, in the middle of Sarlat’s first cemetery.
St. Sacerdos Cathedral with Lantern of the dead.
The town suffered from the 100 Years War owing to its
position as a frontier region between the kings of France and England. The well
fortified town withstood all attacks and only became English when, by the
treaty of Brétigny of 1360, Edward III of England renounced his claim to the
throne of France in exchange for the South West of France. But 10 years later, the Constable Du Guesclin
chased the English from France and Sarlat became French once more.
But sadly, after the treaty of Castillon ended the 100 Years
War (1453), the Wars of Religion ravaged the town again. But peaceful days came
with the reign of Henry IV. The cathedral was rebuilt during this time.
Sarlat was a prosperous town throughout the 15th
to 18th century, but declined later due to its remote location from
the main stream. The city was saved
thanks to a law promulgated in 1962 (by Malraux) by which the old town received
sufficient financial aid to undertake a program of restoration.
There’re many good restaurants in Sarlat. Even a tourist’s menu, less than 20 Euros,
tastes good.
The 3 Graces
Princess in the tower waiting for her knight
Beynac:
Before seeing the Beynac castle, we first got on a boat ride
on the Dordogne River. Dordogne was the
border between the French & English in the 100 Years War. From the boat we could see 2 more nearby
castles. Castelnaud is farther, and was
an enemy town during the War. (Castelnaud was loyal to the English, whereas
Beynac to the French.) Castelnaud had a
“satellite” castle, Fayrac, as its fore guard, almost facing Beynac castle,
which is now the property of a rich Texan.
Beynac (the castle is on top of the hill)
The castle
Fayrac
The Beynac castle, on top of a near vertical cliff, was
built in the 12th century by the barons of Beynac (one of the four baronies of
Périgord) . The sheer cliff being sufficient to discourage any assault from
that side, the defences were built up on the plateau: double crenellated walls,
double moats, and double barbican.
On entering the lower courtyard, we saw a large,
square-shaped, 12th century, Romanesque keep with vertical sides and
few openings. A ramp leads us to the
upper courtyard where there’s a stable which was used in the movie “Joan of
Arc”.
We entered the castle through the door of the 14th
century machicolated keep, probably built by the English, as the castle had
been taken and occupied by Richard the Lionheart in 1189 until he was killed in
1199 near Limoges. It changed hand to
French then again to English, but finally returned to France after the 100 Years
War.
After walking up and down staircases, we reached a large medieval
state hall. This was where the nobility
of the 4 baronies of Perigord used to meet.
Their flags can be seen on the walls.
Opposite to the fireplace there is a small oratory (chapel) with painted
frescoes.
flag of Beynac
There are several old sumptuous tapestries showing hunting
and other scenes from the lives of the lords of the period. The Beynac castle has
been listed as a monument historique
by the French Ministry of Culture. It has
served as a location for several films, including “Les Visiteurs”, “La Fille de
d'Artagnan”, and “Jeanne d'Arc” by Luc Besson, in 1999. The village of Beynac
below the chateau, also served as a location for the film “Chocolat” in 2000.
Domme:
Domme is a “bastide” (a fortified medieval town), today belonging
to "The Most Beautiful Villages of France". Its history is very much like other towns in
this region. During the 100 Years' War,
the town repeatedly changed rulers throughout until the end of the War. The
Wars of Religion brought new turmoil. Protestants took the city in 1588 by
climbing the cliffs at night to open the gates. A short success, as the
Protestant captain had to hand the bastide back to the Catholics in 1592.
We took the “Domme Express” (very slow) train to go up to
the town. We only had time to visit the
Templars’ prison in the guard house.
Templar's prison
In 1307, 70 Knight Templars were imprisoned in Domme during
the trial, of which numerous Templar graffiti still bear witness. They used a
code system involving several geometric figures: the square representing the
Temple, the circle representing the prison, the octagon representing the Grail,
and the triangle surmounted by a cross representing Golgotha. Cameras are forbidden in the prison. I searched the internet after my return, but
could only find a few of the graffiti.
The prison is smaller than half a tennis court and has only
4 slit windows. Now the roof is gone,
and there’s plenty of light. But at the time of the Templars’ imprisonment, it
must have been very dark inside.
Our guide told us that fingernails and teeth were used to
scrape away the sandstone (with only bread and water, they suffered from scurvy,
and lost teeth), although stones must also have been employed. The carvings are
striking evidence of their faith – as well as the anger and despair they felt.
The first carvings are found inside the entranceway: a large
cross with a triangular base, surrounded by four smaller crosses. Known as a
Jerusalem or Crusader’s Cross, this emblem was adopted at the time of the First
Crusade, and may have been the personal arms of Godfrey of Bouillon, first
brief ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The emblem is surrounded by a circle,
representing the imprisonment of the Templars. This figure is seen repeatedly on the wall.
Another frequently seen symbol is crucified Christ within a
square – for the Templars this square was the symbol of the Temple Of Solomon. (The
Templars’ headquarters in Jerusalem was at the al-Aqsa Mosque on the south side
of the Temple Mount, what they thought of as the Temple of Solomon.)
The guide described another symbols as the Jewish menorah. (The menorah has seven branches representing
light, the seven days of Creation and, when lit, the seven planets, or the
all-seeing eyes of God. However, all the menorah signs I’ve seen have an even
top. The Templar’s signs have branches
of uneven length. )
Then there’s the Grail. The guardians of the grail in
Parzifal by Wolfram were called “Templeism”, a word taken by many to mean the
Templars. One interesting point is the
octagonal shape -- the ‘stone’ immediately above the Grail. The guide didn’t explain its symbolic
meaning.
There’s also a graffito (in the niche overlooking the valley)
that depicts Pope Clement V as a serpent being speared by the Archangel
Michael. I missed this one, but I
remember the guide mentioned 2 lines in Latin.
One closer to the entrance, saying “Clement destroys Templars”, and
another one near the “alter”, saying “Templars destroys Clement”. I wonder if this graffito is near the altar.
There are other enigmatic motifs, including a pentagram and
several Suns and crescent moons, symbolizing
protection and immortality. For
you erudites, these symbolic meanings are ascribed to the Pythagoreans and
Neoplatonists. (Frank has explained these philosophical meanings to me, but I’m
still not clear about them. These Greek philosophical teachings converged with
the Christian iconography in the Middle Ages.) Note that the sun & crescent moon are also
present in the marks of Masons.
There’s also a hand carved into the wall, probably meaning
the “protecting right hand of God” (in Christianity). However, the guide said that it could also
mean the hand of Fatima (“hamsa”) in Islam.
Personally, I’d think it highly unlikely.
The most elaborate graffiti are in the “altar” where pattern
of lace was carved around the “table”.
Beside the images of the crucifix and the Virgin, the background was
filled with innumerable little heads.
Who are those heads? The Saracens killed by the Crusaders? Or the Templars themselves? We will never know.
I was deeply moved by the sight. I could almost feel the presence of those
poor souls. I felt their strong emotional
contact with their creators, the mixture of their intense devotion to God, anger
to the injustice they suffered, and despair.
Did they anticipate what’s awaiting them in the future? None of the 70 Templars survived to tell the
story, but those carvings make us empathetic to their suffering.
Rouffignac
Cave and National Prehistorical Museum at Les Eyzies
I had great expectation for the prehistorical caves, but was
disappointed by the guide’s Franglish. I
caught about 5% of his explanations. The
Great Ceiling with most of the paintings is deep inside the long and vast cave. The animals depicted include (following the
frequency) mammoth, bison, horses, ibex, rhinoceros, and others. The artists were Homo sapiens sapiens, about 10,000 to 12,000 BC. The choice of the location was not random,
but the meaning of the paintings remains unclear.
La Roque St
Christophe
The Roque St. Christophe cliff, 300 ft above the road and
the Vezere River, stretches across half a mile long. It was first inhabited by Neanderthals
(50,000 BC), but the great period of habitation is in the Middle Ages,
beginning in the 10th century, for the purpose of protecting against
Norman invasions.
After passing a narrow gate with a lookout post on the top,
and a dark tunnel, we entered a mini-village.
It has a church, various houses (now gone), and various medieval
machinery devices (well winch, single barrel crab winch, horizontal winch,
fixed scaffolding, swing crane with beam, capstan, etc.) a forge and a
quarry. The lookout system across the
valley extended to more than 11 miles. A sound signal (a sentry blowing a horn)
from a nearby lookout site could travel miles within 6 min.
Bayonne:
The city’s history goes back to Roman times. It was later invaded by the Vikings. By the 13th century, the city was an
important port, with a Gascon population. As part of Aquitaine, it was ruled by
England between 1151 to 1452 and was a key commercial center at the southern
end of the English kingdom. At the end
of the 100 Years War, Bayonne was given to the French king, Charles VII.
Wellington's army besieged the city in the Napoleonic Wars (1813-4), and took it
by using a bridge of ships across the Adour to position artillery around the
city.
Basque pirates brought back riches and Basque sailors were
known for whaling and fishing. Bayonne
people were also known for shipbuilding, ironsmith work and had a well
developed armaments industry, giving the world the "bayonet". Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition
from 1560 brought new trades, most notably chocolate-making.
Spanish Basques also sought refuge in Bayonne in the 20th
century during Franco's repression, with Petite Bayonne still a center of
Basque nationalism. (The Nive divides Bayonne into Grande Bayonne and Petite
Bayonne, with five bridges between the two.)
We had a wonderful Scottish-Australian guide for the Basque
Museum (which used to be an orphanage).
He explained the different development of the language of the Basque and
Gascon (I’ve forgotten it.) He mentioned
2 Basque words used in English: “bizarre” and “silhouette”. He
also explained the unique structures of the Basque farmhouse and church,
“croissant”-like (my own terminology) headdress for women, the strange pagan
symbols on the tombstones, seafaring, bullfight, pirates, and pelota.
The Cathédrale Sainte-Marie is an elegant Gothic building,
constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. The south tower was completed in
the 16th century but the north tower in the 19th century. The cathedral is
noted for its charming cloisters.
After a typical Basque lunch (with Bayonne ham, which
impressed Carlo) and the museum visit, we only had time to stop by a café to
taste the famous chocolate. (An
interesting note: It is said by some that Bayonne is the birthplace of
mayonnaise, supposedly a corruption of Bayonnaise.)
Ainhoa,
Sare, Espelette & Ortillopitz farm:
Ainhoa and Sare, are border towns on the passage by the Way
of St. James (Baztan way), which goes from Bayonne to Pamplona.
Anhoa was at the border of between the Duchy of Aquitaine (run
by the Angevin Kings of England) and the Navarrese kingdom in the Middle Ages. Ainhoa paid taxes to both the King of Navarre
and the "English" Seneschal of the Landes territory and charged tolls
to the pilgrims.
In the Spanish Invasion of 1636 many villages, including
Ainhoa, were razed. Ainhoa was repopulated after the 1659 "Treaty of the
Pyrénées" between France & Spain. Ainhoa was again destroyed during
the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and then rebuilt. The only remains from before
the destruction are the church and the Machitorénéa House. We stayed at a very charming hotel and spent
the most relaxing 2 nights there.
The church
Note the multiple levels in the church. Women
on ground level
Espellet is a charming town. The local favorite seems to be
red peppers. They are hung at the
window, and the walls of many houses. Unfortunately, the church was
closed. We sat down at a tiny backyard
garden of a small café and had a pleasant conversation among friends before
having a typical Espelette dinner flavored with the local peppers.
The Ortillopitz farm is a 17th century farm
typically Basque style. The ground floor
houses animals (horses, cows & oxen), on the 2nd level lived the
old masters (grandparents), masters, and children, and the top floor was for
storage of grains. The family name was the
same as the name of the house, and the house was passed down to the eldest son
or daughter. The younger siblings had to
go out to earn their own houses. That’s the reason why so many Basque names are
“new house”. (It’s uncommon to see the
eldest son married the eldest daughter of another family for this reason.) The grandparents had the most comfortable
seats facing the fireplace. To me the
most interesting thing in the house were 2 sticks used by the wife to call back
the husband who was herding sheep or doing field work outside. The guide said that Ravel got his inspiration
from this for his famous “Bolero”. Most
of the Basque houses we’ve seen are painted red and white. The museum guide said that the red color came
from the blood of the animals, but this was not confirmed or explained by the
farm guide.
St. Jean Pied de Port:
The town was the old capital of the traditional Basque
province of Lower Navarre. This is also the starting point in the movie The Way (film).
The original town at a nearby place was razed to the ground
in 1177 by Richard the Lionheart. The Kings of Navarre refounded the town on
its present site shortly afterwards. The town was once a part of the Spanish
province of Navarre.
The town was an important point on the Way of St. James, as
it stands at the base of the Roncesvaux Pass across the Pyrenees. The routes
from Paris, Vézelay and Le Puy-en-Velay meet at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and it
was the pilgrims' last stop before the arduous mountain crossing.
The cobbled rue de la Citadelle runs downhill and over the
river from the 15th century Porte St-Jacques to the Porte d'Espagne
by the bridge. The 14th century red Gothic church, Notre-Dame-du-Bout-du-Pont,
stands by the Porte d'Espagne. The original was built by Sancho the Strong of
Navarre to commemorate the 1212 Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa where Moorish
dominance of Spain was undermined. Above
the town at the top of the hill is the citadel, remodelled by Vauban in the
17th century.
Church Notre Dame
Statue on the other side of the porte
Citadelle
Hondarribia, Spain
Hondarribia (Spanish name Fuenterrabia), the border town
holds an ancient old quarter with walls and a castle belonging to the Holy
Roman Emperor, Charles V (now a parador). Next to the castle is an ancient church,
which was, unfortunately, closed.
Charles V's castle
In 1638, the invasion force of Louis XIII besieged
Fuenterrabía for two months, leaving only 300 survivors. The city was virtually
destroyed, but nevertheless did not surrender.
Spain eventually raised the siege, which is celebrated annually on
September 8.
[Frank remembers a story about the Du Guesclin (the French
Constable who drove out English from Aquitaine) in a battle at Fuenterrabia,
but he can’t remember the detail. I only
remember that the Black Prince died (probably of dysentery) soon after he withdrew
from the Spanish campaign. The Black
Prince and Du Guesclin were on the opposite sides aiding the 2 half brothers
who fought over the Castile throne.]
St. Jean de Luz
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is located on the Atlantic coast of
France, just a few kilometres from the border with Spain. It is known for its royal wedding
connection. Cardinal Mazarin & the
French queen (regent), Ann of Austria (who was a Spaniard) set up an advantageous
peace treaty (Treaty of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques), which included the marriage
of Louis XIV to Maria Theresa, the Infanta of Spain. The wedding took place in Saint-Jean-de-Luz
in 1660.
The church
The church was, unfortunately, closed. We rested on a bench in front of the “Maison
Louis XIV”. This is the house where
Louis XIV, the Queen Mother and the Infanta stayed. The house was built in 1643 by Joannis de
Lohobiague, a rich ship owner. Next to
it is the Mayor’s hall. It’s said it was
built to obstruct the view of the Maison Louis XIV, as a revenge, because the
owner of the latter at that time was a beautiful young widow who rejected the
mayor’s advances.
Maison Louis XIV
San Sebastian
Simply beautiful!
Notes:
1 The
marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine & Henry II:
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 or 1124 – 1204) became Duchess of
Aquitaine in her own right while she was still a child. Three months after she inherited
her father’s duchy (1137), she married King Louis VII of France. She went with Louis to the unsuccessful 2nd
Crusade, and soon after her return, she sought an annulment of her marriage
(she complained to others that Louis was like a monk), but her request was
rejected by Pope Eugene III. However,
after the birth of her second daughter, Louis agreed to an annulment in
consideration of her failure to bear a son after 15 years of marriage. The
marriage was annulled in 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth
degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate and custody was awarded to
Louis, while Eleanor's lands were restored to her.
As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged
to Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy & Count of Anjou, who became King
Henry II of England in 1154. (Henry was the son of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou,
and Matilda, the only heir of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy,
and granddaughter of William the Conqueror.) Henry was her cousin of the third degree, and 9
years younger. The couple married in Poitiers in 1152, eight weeks after the
annulment of Eleanor's first marriage. Over the next thirteen years, she bore
Henry 8 children: 5 sons, William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, and 3 daughters.
Despite Henry’s infidelity, the marriage
was a harmonious one at first. Eleanor
often acted as regent in Henry’s absence.
However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged.
Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting her son Henry III’s revolt against
the father. Eleanor’s favorite son was Richard, while Henry’s was John. Some say that Henry II died of broken heart
when he found John’s name in the list of rebels. After Henry II’s death in 1189, the new King
Richard I (the Lionheart) immediately released his mother. Now queen dowager,
Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade. Eleanor
survived Richard and lived well into the reign of her youngest son King John.
Eleanor was a patroness of literature. “Courtly love” was said to have developed
during her stay in Poitiers between 1168 and 1173.
2. The 100
Years War.
The 100 Years' War was a series of battles waged from 1337
to 1453 between England and France for control of the French throne. The root
cause was a dynastic disagreement dating back to the time of William the
Conqueror, who became King of England in 1066 while still being the Duke of
Normandy. (Note: King John lost Normandy to Philip II of
France.) The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England further added
Aquitaine to England. As the rulers of lands on the continent, the English
kings owed feudal homage to the king of France. In 1337, Edward III of England
refused to pay homage to Philip VI of France, leading the French king to claim
confiscation of Edward's lands in Aquitaine.
Edward responded by declaring that he, not Philip, was the
rightful king of France, a claim dating to 1328, when French king Charles IV,
son of Philip IV, died without a male
heir. English custom dictated that the throne should be passed on to Edward’s
mother, Isabella of France, sister of Charles IV, or her descendant. But
instead, Charles’s cousin, Philip VI of Valois (who’s Philip IV's nephew), was
crowned king of France in accordance with the Salic Law. (The Salic Law disqualified
female succession and the succession of males descended through female lines).
The war is commonly divided into three phases separated by
truces: the Edwardian Era War (1337–1360), the Caroline War (1369–1389) and the
Lancastrian War (1415–1453), which saw the slow decline of English fortunes
after the appearance of Joan of Arc in 1429.
The famous Rodin sculpture “The burghers of Calais” depicts the
event after Edward III took Calais. He
consented to spare the Calais people if 6 rich burghers offered themselves to
be executed. The 6 volunteers were
eventually spared by the intervention of the English queen.
A 9 year peace followed the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360. Before the war, Edward’s territory in the
south of France was reduced to only Gascony, and with his victory (thanks to
the English long bow) and the capture of King John II of France, he was able to
expand his lands in Aquitaine (to almost 1/3 of the French territory). In exchange, Edward renounced Normandy,
Touraine, Anjou and Maine and abandoned his claim to the French throne. Edward also consented to reducing King John's
ransom by a million crowns, but this amount was still beyond the French
capability. King John eventually died in
England. However, after his death, the
new French king, Charles V (“the Victorious”) launched a counterattack, and
recovered most of the lost land. The
aging Edward III, senile and sick, did not react to the aggression.
After both Edward III and his son, the Black Prince, died,
the throne was passed to the child king Richard II. England was plagued by internal strifes; first
the peasant revolt, then the clash between the king and his cousin Henry
Bolingbroke (See Shakespeare’s “Richard II”.) The French king Charles took this opportunity
to drive out most of the English except in Calais. His successor, Charles VI (the mad king), like
Richard II, was not interested in warfare, so a peace treaty was signed between
the 2 countries.
In England, the unpopular Richard II was defeated by the
usurper, his cousin, Henry IV, who later starved him to death. But the crown had lost its sanctity, and Henry’s
reign was marked by revolts led by nobles equally qualified for the crown. (see
Shakespeare’s “Henry IV”). Henry IV’s
son, Henry V, was determined to win back the lost land in France, to prove his
legitimacy to the throne and to show that God was on his side. God might have indeed favored him, and he won
a determinant victory in the battle of Agincourt in 1415. After the Duke of Burgundy, John the
Fearless, was murdered by the French, the Burgundians made alliance with the
English, and helped Henry to enlarge his territory, from Aquitaine and Normandy
to include Paris. In 1420, Henry signed
the Treaty of Troyes with Charles VI, by which Henry married Charles' beautiful
18 year old daughter Catherine of Valois, and Henry and his heirs would inherit
the France crown after the decease of Charles VI. The Dauphin, Charles VII, was
declared illegitimate.
Henry V died 2 years later at Vincennes, at the age of 25, and
his 9 month old son, Henry VI, ascended the throne.
Henry’s brother John, Duke of Bedford
and the regent of France, kept pushing the English occupied territory to the
Loire, and laid siege to Orleans. The
appearance of the 17 year old Joan of Arc turned the tide against the
English. She raised the siege of Orleans
in 1429, and the Dauphin was crowned king of France at Reims as Charles VII in the
same year. Although Joan was captured the
following year, the resurgence of France didn’t slow down. The hurried crowning of the 10 year old Henry
VI in Paris didn’t help either, as Reims had been the official site of
coronation for the anointed kings and carried special religious meaning in the
mind of French people. The death of the
Duke of Bedford and the re-alliance of the French king with the Duke of
Burgundy further shattered the dream of the French conquest of the English. After 1450, the only land the English held was
Gascony. The Battle of Castillon (in
Gascony) in 1453 finally ended the 100 Years War, and England lost her last
French territory, Gascony.
3. Templars’
fate
In 1118 or 1119, Hughes de Payens and 8 other knights founded the order of Knights Templar to devote themselves to the protection of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem. The order was officially recognized by the pope in 1128, and St. Bernard presided over the writing of the Rules of the Order. Although the Templars vowed to live in poverty and chastity, the order soon became one of the wealthist institute in medieval Europe. The Templars' fortresses spread all over Europe. They were the earliest international bankers, as it's inconvenient for the Crusaders to carry large sum of money on their trips, they deposited the fund in one Templar's location then withdrew from another.
After the Christians were driven out of Palestine, the Templars had lost their original function. However, they were still a strong military force, enjoying papal privileges, and did not pay tax. The new king of France, Philip the Fair (grandson of St. Louis), was ambitious, cunning and badly needed money. He had a French archbishop elected as the new pope (Pope Clement V), and the headquater of papacy was moved from Rome to Avignon. The new pope thus became a tool in Philip's hand. On Friday, Oct. 13, 1307, Philip had every Templar in France (about 5000) arrested and imprisoned. They were tortured and forced to confess crimes such as heresy, idolatry, homosexuality, obscene rituals, etc.. The Grand Master Jacques de Molay and the Preceptor of Normandy, Geoffroi de Charney, both later retracted their confessions and insisted their innocence. Both were condemned to burn at the stake in Paris on March 18, 1314. At his death, the Grand Master cried out: "God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death." God may have heard him, as Pope Clement died a month later, and King Philip died in an accident before the end of the year.
Carlo gave a brief, but excellent lecture on the Templars. It's a pity that the time was too short. I wsih he had been given at least one hour to talk about this subject.
4. The Wars
of Religion.
The French Wars of Religion (1562–98) were a series of
conflicts between French Catholics and Huguenots (French Calvinists). The
conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of
France, led by the House of Bourbon (Conde) and the House of Guise (Lorraine),
and both sides received assistance from foreign sources.
It’s generally agreed that the Massacre of Vassy (Duke of
Guise massacred protestants in Vassy) in 1562 began the War of Religion, and
the Edict of Nantes (1598) concluded the wars, although many believe that the
Peace of Alais in 1629 was the actual conclusion.
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2011 Pilgrim Trip in France
Pilgrimage: Journey to a sacred site in search of spiritual significance.
Medieval pilgrimage sites:
*Holy Land – long and dangerous, especially after Jerusalem fell in the hands of Turks.
*Rome – difficult for non-Italians, because of the high Alps.
*Santiago de Compostela (where St. James’ body was buried, said to have arrived miraculously on a stone boat) – This route is easier compared to the other 2, although still dangerous. Pilgrims had to settle his financial and family affairs before leaving home. They went in groups for safety. Poor people couldn’t go until they finished their service for their lords. Thus, many pilgrims were old and not in good physical shape. It was not uncommon for pilgrims to die on the route. Rich people could pay others to go on pilgrimage for them. It took at least a year to finish the round trip. We already know the clothes, hat, and symbols of the pilgrims.
This pilgrim route we took begins at Le Puy-en-Velay and ends in Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. We went through the Spanish part about 10 years ago. (It was very well described in Paolo Coelho’s short novel “The pilgrimage”. If interested, Rong-rong has the book in Chinese translation.) The French part has 4 routes; one of them starts at Le Puy. Le Puy is in the area of the Massif Central, the area of Languedoc/Occitans. It’s the cradle for the poetry and music of the troubadours. (Troubadours were popular between 1100 to 1350, spreading from the south of France to Spain and Italy. It died out after the Black Death.) The countryside is rather hilly, very beautiful. R.L. Stevenson’s “Travel with a Donkey in the Cevennes” also mentioned Velay, although most places he visited were close by, in the Camisard region, but not on the route of the pilgrimage. We ended our tour at Toulouse, not too far from the Pyrenees (Spanish border).
Le Puy-en-Velay
The cathedral of Our Lady (left) is a UNESCO site. The earliest part was built in the 5th century (after an apparition of the Virgin). It was expanded several times and finally finished in the 12th century. The style is rather unique, difficult to classify, said to have an Arab influence. Le Puy was the departure point of the pilgrimage to Santiago Compostela. Also, Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade (400 crusaders) in 1095 here, and appointed the town bishop to lead it. The bishop was fatally wounded at Antioch, but others returned and brought with them knowledge of Oriental arts and architecture. In the Middle Ages, Le Puy was the most important shrine to Mary in France. Six Popes came to Le Puy. Many kings, including Charlemagne, St. Louis, and Francis I, also came here as pilgrims. Unfortunately, the original “Black virgin” (brought back from the Middle East or Egypt) was lost, and the replacement made in the 10th century was again destroyed during the French Revolution. Now what remains is a copy of the first copy. The Jubilee of Le Puy is when the Annunciation Day coincides with Good Friday. The last one was in 2005.
There was a special exhibition in the museum “Mary in Catholic and Muslim religions”. It included Titian’s painting “The Virgin with the white rabbit.” I wanted to go to see if there’s any explanation for the mysterious white rabbit. For it we climbed the stairs twice. (The cathedral is situated on top of a hill.) I was very disappointed to find no explanations. The posted text only said art historians are as puzzled as I am.
St. Michael rock/needle (right) is a small medieval chapel on top of a rocky hill. It takes 268 steps to climb to the chapel of St. Michael. The sculptures on the tympanum are well preserved. The carvings immediately above the gate are somewhat curious to me. It shows 2 mermaids, one with a snake tail, another a fish tail, representing those dead on land and sea. Inside the chapel there’s a 14-15th century wooden statue of St. Michael slaying the dragon. The 12-13th century murals have mostly faded, and it was dark inside the chapel. I couldn’t make much out of it, despite the explanation of the guide.
There is also a gigantic, pink statue of the Virgin “Our Lady of France” on top of a hill. It’s built in the 19th century.
Lace-making museum
I had read several French 19
th century novels/short stories mentioning lace-making and lace-makers in this region, but this is the first time I saw how it’s done. The pattern is fixed by many pins, and the knitting is done by hand using numerous bobbins. A small piece for a tea pot cushion costs 68 Euros in the museum shop. Cheap ones are sold in shops in the city, but the designs are not as elaborate. The museum guide said that she could tell if the lace is made by hand or machine with a single glance. Of course, I can’t tell any difference.
Estaing- a small fairy tale-like village on the route
Conques – a small village with a population of less than 100, but it has a magnificent church, as it was a popular pilgrimage site in medieval times. The reason: The body of St. Foy, a 12 year old virgin martyr who died in 303 AD, was there. The body was stolen by the Conques monks from Agen in the 9th century. (Stealing relics was not considered a sin in the Middle Ages.) A church was built to house the relic and it was expanded again in 11th century because the site is on the route of the pilgrimage to Santiago. In the treasury we saw the case containing her relics (reliquary): it is in the shape of a pure gold statue of the saint, encrusted with numerous jewels donated by the pilgrims. Its head looks rather masculine. It might have belonged to another statue and was “transplanted” later. The reliquary was hidden during the French Revolution and thus escaped the general fate of other reliquaries, i.e., being melted down by the government.
The church is Romanesque style. The well preserved tympanum in the main façade showing the Last Judgment is a masterpiece of Romanesque sculptures
Albigensian Crusade
Now we entered the area of the Cathars of the Middle Ages. The Cathar religion took its source from the East, which believed that there is a good God and an evil God. This belief was taken from the Manicheans. It rejected the Catholic Church, the sacraments and the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and aimed to return to the purity of early Christian times. The Cathar priests, whom their followers called “the perfect ones”, led an exemplary life, in contrast to the corrupt Catholic clergy at that time.
Pope Innocent III asked the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VI to help him in his efforts to suppress the heresy, but was refused. (Raymond was later excommunicated.) St. Dominic (a Spanish saint whose full name was Domingo de Guzmán, founder of the Order of the Dominicans) was called in to help to suppress the growing movement of the Cathars (or “Cathari”) but his preaching to them seemed also ineffective. He was convinced that these heretics would only pay attention to him when they saw that Catholic priests led as austere a life as the Cathars themselves. He failed again, even though he embraced extreme poverty, walking barefoot to the Cathar region and leading a life purer than that of Cathar priests. Then the papal legate was murdered. So the Pope proclaimed that a Crusade was necessary to put out the heresy. He asked for the help of the French king, Philip II (Auguste), but Philip was too occupied with other business (probably trying to get Normandy back from King John of England.) However, powerful feudal lords at the north answered the pope, formed a strong army and marched south in 1209. The leader, Simon de Montfort, a minor aristocrat and a cruel soldier, massacred the entire population (20,000 or 60,000 people) of the city of Bezier and burned down the town. No one was spared, because the Catholic inhabitants fought side by side with their Cathar neighbors against the invaders. Carcassonne resisted for a few months and then surrendered. The inhabitants’ lives were spared, but their punishment consisted in being driven out of town entirely naked. Other towns, including Albi, surrendered without a fight.
However, the victory of the Crusaders was transient. The tide turned against them. By 1211, Count Raymond of Toulouse had liberated more than 30 towns. He formed an ally with Peter II of Aragon, his brother-in-law, in 1213. They were defeated. Peter died and Raymond fled to England. In 1216, Raymond returned and Montfort was killed in battle in 1218.
Raymond died in 1222 and was succeeded by his son, Raymond VII, who continued the resistance. In 1225, King Louis VIII of France, hankering after the riches of the South, led a new crusade against the Cathars. Most towns surrendered. Avignon resisted for a while, then also surrendered. But Louis VIII soon died of illness, and the Queen Regent signed a treaty with Raymond VII in 1229. Although the Count still kept a large part of his land, according to the treaty he had to marry his daughter and heiress to the younger brother of Louis IX (St. Louis). This proved an advantageous move for the king, as there being no issue from this marriage, the territory of Count of Toulouse went to the French crown in 1271.
The Albigensian Crusade lasted 20 years, from 1209 to 1229.
The last stronghold of the Cathars, Montségur, fell in 1244. The siege and massacre there are detailed in Zoe Oldenbourg’s book “Massacre at Montsegur”.
The Church set up the Inquisition in 1233 to eradicate the Cathar heresy. Pope Innocent IV allowed the use of torture in 1252. This Inquisition was put in place 2 centuries earlier than the infamous Spanish one. It lasted near a century.
Cordes-sur-Ciel – a beautiful medieval village in the mountains
Cordes-sur-ciel, a “bastide”, was founded by Raymond VII in 1222 to accommodate the Carthar refugees. The walls were fortified. But after the treaty of 1229, Cordes-sur-ciel was yielded to the French crown.
Albert Camus once said: “In Cordes, everything is beautiful, even regret.”
Gaillac
We stopped by the 13th century St. Michael Abbey (Benedictine) for wine tasting. I fell asleep during the lecture, and of course, I drank nothing during the tasting.
Albi
The cathedral of St. Cecilia is another UNESCO site. Albi surrendered to the Crusaders in 1209, after the fall of Carcassone, and was annexed to the French crown in 1226. To celebrate the victory over the Cathars, the bishop of Albi decided to build a cathedral; construction began in 1282 and it took nearly 100 years to finish. The style of the cathedral is rather peculiar. It looks more like a fortress than a church. (I don’t understand why they built it like a fortress. The war was over by then.)
St. Cecelia, the patron saint of musicians, was beheaded, but according to legend didn’t die immediately. She lived for 3 more days after the execution and received the last sacrament. The Renaissance sculptor Stephano Maderno (1576-1636) made a beautiful sculpture of “the martyrdom of St. Cecelia. (The original is in the Trastevere church in Rome.) There’s a colored marble copy of this sculpture in a chapel of the cathedral.
My photos of the famous mural of the Last Judgment are out of focus. Here’s one from the internet. Note the center part of the painting was cut out to make room for another altar. The choir is magnificent and the statues of the saints all around the choir are beautiful. (Sorry, no photos.)
Albi also has a big Toulouse-Lautrec museum. (T-L was born in Albi.) The building was once the Bishop’s palace where the Inquisition was located.
Castres
We stopped by the Goya Museum in the village of Castres. It has a large collection of Spanish paintings (second largest of Hispanic art in France), but only 3 Goya paintings. The largest Goya work is rather uninteresting to my eyes. But I do like his self-portrait (when he was 52). We were really lucky that there was a special exhibition of Goya’s prints (82 in total) of the series known as “The disasters of war”. He began to work on them when he was 62, and it took him 10 years to complete. The original title was Fatal consequences of Spain's bloody war with Bonaparte, and other emphatic caprices. Many of them are nightmarish and horrifying.
Sorèze
In Sorèze, we stayed at the
Royal Abbey School. The abbey was founded by Pepin the Short, and I think (not sure) the military school was established by Louis XVI. (I missed the 1
st part of the guided tour.) The statue of Louis XVI in the yard is the only one that survived the French Revolution.
Frank was very impressed by the Abbey School because at one time it was directed by a famous 19th century Catholic priest, Henri Lacordaire, whose ideas had a world-wide influence, especially in Latin America and Mexico; his name was pronounced with reverence by the Catholics at the time of religious turmoil in Mexico. There are many mementos of the great man at this School. Lacordaire had been a lawyer and an intellectual before he took his vows as priest in the first half of the 19th century. He was supremely eloquent, and caused a great stir among the educated class with his sermons, some of which he delivered in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. He advocated de reinstatement of the religious Orders, all of which had been banned from France during the French Revolution. Since he was a fervent Catholic and favored the return of the religious Orders, Frank, not knowing much about the man and having read none of his work, had the impression that father Lacordaire probably had been a highly conservative, ultra-rightist and perhaps bigoted priest. He favored especially the Dominicans (historically associated with the infamous Inquisition), because they had been more concerned with education. However, the demoiselle that guided the tourist group through the Abbey School, constantly emphasized Lacordaire’s liberal and progressive views in education. This was probably so, since students of different religious creeds were admitted at the School during his tenure (including Muslims and Buddhists). Also, Lacordaire had been a student and associate of a controversial Catholic-priest-philosopher-political activist, Lamennais, who eventually became excommunicated because of his highly liberal views, and his attempt to combine Catholicism with some political ideas born of the French Revolution. (Frank expanded this paragraph.)
There are lots of pictures and drawings of the life of the students at this school: their activities, their games, their uniforms, and so on. It was very impressive to see the lists of students who graduated from the School in the long history (century and a half?) of its existence. The names are written in lists with fine calligraphy in parchments that are framed and hanged on the walls; one can read names of students who later became prominent, and who came to study at Soreze from places as far apart as Korea, Salvador, Mexico, Egypt, etc.
Dourgne Benedictine abbey
We attended a high mass there, listening to the monks singing Gregorian chant. It happened to be Sacred Heart Festival day. They have a huge yard – at least 10 acres by my estimate.
Durfort
A small, beautiful, sleepy town with many artisan’s shops, mostly copperware. According to a local old man, now there’re more English and American immigrants in this village than the French. Indeed, we found an English couple – both painters- set up their workshop there.
Toulouse
Toulouse was the capital of the Visigoth kingdom in the 5th century. Later it was part of Aquitaine, and then went under the Count of Toulouse. The town is encircled by the Garonne River. The “old bridge” was built in 11-12th (??) century, and the “New Bridge”, a much taller one, was built in 16th – 17th century. It took more than a century to build it! The Canal du Midi (connecting Toulouse to the Mediterranean, a UNESCO heritage) was made in 17th century.
St. Sernin Basilica
St. Sernin was a 3
rd century bishop of
Toulouse who was martyred and dragged by a bull. A church was built at his burial site. In 11
th century it was decided that a new, larger church was needed to accommodate the large number of pilgrims, and the Pope came to
Toulouse to consecrate its altar and to bless the Crusaders led by Count Raymond IV.* It was finished in 13
th century. We still can see his emblem everywhere in the city.
*Note: [The First Crusade, a barbarous invasion of the Middle East, was mostly a French, or more accurately, Frankish, affair, with some participation of the Italian Normans. Raymond was the only Crusade leader that was praised by the Byzantine historian, Princess Anna Comnena. After occupying Antioch, a priest in Raymond’s camp claimed that the Holy Lance – the lance that pierced Christ – was found. (It’s probably a fake). The morale of the crusaders was boosted by the precious relic and they won a decisive victory over the Turks (Seljuk). Raymond also played a crucial role in the sacking of Jerusalem. For it he was once offered the crown of Jerusalem but refused. (Bohemond of Taranto took the crown). After his defeat in the Crusade of 1101, Raymond was imprisoned by the regent of Antioch, Bohemond’s nephew, Tancred. (Note: This Tancred is not the Tancredi in Rossini’s opera.) Having failed to gain territories for himself, Raymond marched on to Tripoli (in Syria and Lebanon). The County of Tripoli was established and remained under Christian control until 13th century, when the ruler of Tripoli swore vassalage to the Mongol Empire and was later vanquished by the Egyptian sultan when Mongols were defeated in Egypt.]
The Jacobins Convent
The first stone of the abbey was laid down in 1229, then the church went through a series of enlargement, remodeling and raising. The Jacobins were Dominicans, called Jacobins (not to be confused with the radical political ideologists of that name in the French Revolution) because one of their convents was located on Rue St. Jacques in Paris. The order was founded by St. Dominic. After his death, the Dominicans were assigned the task of the Inquisition. The most important relics in the church were the bones of St. Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican and Doctor of the Church. He died in Italy (in a Cistercian abbey at Fossanova) in 1274, and was canonizes in 1323. By a bull of the Pope (14th century) his bones were transferred here, to Toulouse. The monks jealously guarded the relics, especially because the region was prone to anarchy, ever since the Pope moved to Avignon in 1309. They hid the head of the Saint in the St. Benedict Church in Piperno, and entrusted the remaining bones to a Count who kept them in his castle. Since the Dominicans had asked the remains of the saint to be returned to them, a bull of the Pope (14th century) ordered them transferred to Toulouse. Two Dominican friars put the precious relics in a chest, and carried by a donkey. They were stopped and searched in Florence, but the guards ignored the donkey. Thus, they safely traveled north, passed through the Alps, and finally arrived at Toulouse, where they were welcomed by 150,000 faithful, led by the duke and the archbishop.
This church is not in use now except for weddings. (All abbeys we encountered in this trip were Benedictines. This is the only Dominican abbey, but not in use. I wonder why.)
This was our final destination. Note that Toulouse is on another route, i.e., the Provençal route, of the pilgrimage.
