Part 10 (2/2)
The painter has chosen the moment when the citizens are making their last appeal, and he has succeeded in conveying the feeling and interest of the scene in an eminent degree; it is impossible to look at the picture without tears, which certainly must speak a great deal in its favour; criticism may come afterwards, and a few defects may make themselves observed; but the first impression is, that of pity and commiseration for the actors in the sad drama represented.
The Mayor of La Roch.e.l.le, with a mournful countenance, is listening to the words of Etienne Gentils, who was deputed as spokesman on the sad occasion: the commandant, Perrot, and his son stand by, and by their gestures confirm his statements. The Marquis de Feuquieres--a Catholic prisoner, who had become a friend of the Roch.e.l.lois, and anxiously strove to obtain for them favourable terms--is a prominent person. Paul Yvon, sire de Laden, the former mayor, adds his entreaties--Madame de Maisonneuve, his daughter, has cast herself at the feet of Guiton, with her two children, and points to the pale and fainting wife of the inflexible citizen, who lies prostrate on the ground with his dying child in her arms. The scene is fearful, and the struggle terrible; he holds the dagger in his hand, and his look, though full of sorrow, speaks of no indecision. You feel that it must have been impossible to gain over such a man to the opposite party; and you cannot but thank the artist for rescuing his memory from the reproach endeavoured to be cast upon it.
Altogether, the picture is most appropriate and interesting, and we rejoiced that we were so fortunate as to arrive at La Roch.e.l.le just at the moment that it was being placed in the Grande Salle.
With infinitely more interest than before, we now walked down to the Marche Neuf, where several elegant _tourelles_, at the corners of a street of arcades, had previously attracted our attention, for we found that the street was called Rue Guiton, and the tourelles formed part of a beautifully-ornamented house, whose facade runs along one side of the market-place. This was the mansion of the unfortunate mayor, and magnificent it must have been; it is built in the style of the Renaissance, and in the same taste as parts of the Hotel de Ville; but the carved ornaments are more delicate. It is to be regretted that the whole house could not be preserved as a memorial; but still the little that remains must be hailed with pleasure, though built into shops, and serving as receptacles for different wares. One _tourelle_ is particularly sharp and fine, and does not seem to have sustained the slightest injury from time. No doubt the house was very extensive; probably the gardens occupied the s.p.a.ce where now the market is kept. In the centre of the square is one of the numerous fountains, for which the town is famous: this is called La Fontaine des Pet.i.ts Bancs, and no doubt formerly one on the same spot adorned the gardens of the mayoralty.
No sooner had Louis XIII. gained possession of the Protestant city, than he began the work of _Reformation_. He had his monks ready in the camp, ”like greyhounds on the slip,” and three Minimes from Touraine, who had been sent as almoners, immediately commenced the building of a convent, which took the place of the Huguenot temples, under the name of Notre Dame de la Victoire. Where it stood, now stands a fort and a lazaretto.
Another convent was established at La Font, not a vestige of which remains.
The cathedral was once more restored to the old wors.h.i.+p, and on the great Fontaine du Chateau, in the square in front of it, the enemies of the Protestant party placed _bra.s.s_ tablets, full of insult to those who had so n.o.bly defended their town, and who, from a generous foe, would have commanded respect. These injurious inscriptions were, however, removed one night; nor was it ever known by whom; and the authorities did not think it advisable to replace them: the marks of their existence still remain.
Another mayor of La Roch.e.l.le obtained celebrity in much earlier times, for conduct not quite so heroic as that of Guiton.
Amongst the many scenes of war which have taken place before La Roch.e.l.le, not the least curious is one related by Froissart, which occurred at the time when France was making a desperate struggle to recover her towns from the power of England.
The Earl of Pembroke had been sent by his father, King Edward, with the famous Captain Messire Guichart d'Angle, to Poitou, with vessels and money; they set forth, commending themselves to the grace of G.o.d and St.
George, and, wind and weather favouring them, the gallant fleet soon reached the coast of Poitou, with every prospect of success in their adventure. But the King of France, Charles the Wise, who always managed to get information of everything done by his enemies--whether by means of the prescience of his astrologers or his spies is not known,--having heard that Guichart had visited England with a view of getting supplies and a new commander, had secretly prepared a hostile fleet ready to way-lay the English. Forty large s.h.i.+ps and thirteen barges, well manned and provided, were furnished by the King of Castile, and were commanded by four men whose names were a terror at the period. These were, Ambrosio de Bocca Negra the Grand Admiral of Spain, Cabeza de Vaca, Ferrant de Pion, and Radigole Roux, or Riu Diaz de Rojas.
These valiant captains had moored their fleet opposite the harbour of La Roch.e.l.le, awaiting the expected arrival of the English and their allies, for whose sails they looked anxiously forth. It was on the Vigil of St.
John the Baptist's Day, 1372, that the Spaniards espied the English approaching in gallant array, and _they_ discovered that the entrance to the town of La Roch.e.l.le was stopped, and that a contest must ensue.
The English were greatly inferior in s.h.i.+ps and numbers; but there was no want of spirit amongst them. The Earl of Pembroke made several knights on the occasion, and every nerve was strained to support the character of British valour. They had fearful odds to sustain, and terrible was the battle which was fought, in which such deeds of arms were done, that Palmerin of England, and Amadis de Gaul, seemed leading on the combatants. But it soon became too evident that the brave handful of English, and the small vessels, were no match for the opposing power.
This, the inhabitants of La Roch.e.l.le were aware of, but they were ill-disposed to interfere or to a.s.sist the English.
When Messire Jean de Harpedane, the seneschal of La Roch.e.l.le, heard the _estrif_ and _riote_ which took place without, and found in what straits his friends were placed, he implored the mayor and people of La Roch.e.l.le to arm and go to the relief of the English; he entreated them to send out the numerous vessels which crowded their quays, to aid and comfort those who were so valiantly fighting against odds. But his animated harangue was met with silence and coldness, and he found, to his great vexation, that there was no sympathy for King Edward's people.
Harpedane had been supported in his generous desire by three brave and bold knights, the Lord of Tonnay-Boutonne, Jacques de Surgieres, and Maubrun de Linieres; and when they found that no one would listen to their representations, they resolved to embark, together with all their people, and go to the succour of the English. At day-break they sailed forth, and, with some difficulty, reached the fleet, where they were joyfully welcomed, notwithstanding that they brought bad news, and confirmed the doubts of the English that no succour awaited them. They, however, resolved to fight to the last, and remained prepared for the attack of the Spaniards, who, favoured by the wind, came down upon them, and casting out irons, grappled with their s.h.i.+ps and held them close.
Then ensued a terrible contest, in which the greatest part of the English were killed, the treasure-vessels sunk, and all the others destroyed; and the day closed by the capture of the Earl of Pembroke, Guichart d'Angle, and all the brave knights of their company. The Spaniards then made great rejoicings, and sailed away with all their prisoners; but, meeting with adverse winds, they were obliged to put into the port of Santander in Biscay, where they carried them to a fortress and cast them into a deep dungeon, loading them with chains: ”No other courtesy had these Spaniards to offer them!”
After this the Roch.e.l.lois threw off their obedience to the English, and declared themselves friends and subjects of France: the manner in which this event occurred is thus related:--
The mayor of the town, Jean Coudourier, or Chaudrier, was secretly friendly to the French, and had agreed with the famous Captain Ivan, of Wales, who was before La Roch.e.l.le, to deliver the town to him. The stratagem he used was characteristic, for the governor of the Castle, Phillippot, though a brave and good knight, was in the case of William of Deloraine,--
”Of letter or line knew he never a one;”
and by this neglect in his education was he betrayed.
The artful Chaudrier, who appeared to be his intimate friend, invited the governor to dine with him one day, with some of the citizens of the town, and took occasion, before dinner, to say that he had just received news from England which concerned him. The governor desiring to know them, he replied, ”Of course you shall hear; I will fetch the letter, and it shall be read to you.” He then went to a coffer and took out an open letter, sealed, indeed, with the great seal of Edward of England, but which, in fact, related to quite other matters; the governor recognised the seal, and was satisfied that it was an official communication; but, as for the writing, ”he was ignorance itself” in that. A clerk, in the plot, was ordered to enlighten him as to its contents, and read that the King desired the mayor to send him an exact account of all the forces in La Roch.e.l.le and the castle, by the bearer of that letter, as he desired to know, and hoped soon to visit the town himself.
Thereupon the mayor begged that on the day following a muster should be made, in the grand square, of all these men-at-arms, and he offered to lend money to the governor, being so directed by the King, to pay his troops. All this was done as was projected, and the muster took place, every man-at-arms leaving the chateau, and only a few servants remaining there. Meantime the cunning mayor had provided an ambush of four hundred men, who concealed themselves in _old houses uninhabited which were in the square_, and, when all the troops were a.s.sembled, these issued out, and intercepting the return, took possession of the castle, and became masters of the citadel.
Resistance was now in vain: the governor was completely tricked, and the artful traitor had gained his end. La Roch.e.l.le became French, and the first step that was taken for the security of the town, in case of its again falling into the hands of the English, was to raze the castle to the ground, and destroy that means of defence.
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