FrenchKate

Friday, June 27: Brief architectural lesson...on donjons

  The Donjon--"Keep" in English--was a fortified tower, a citadel, that was independent of the walls of a fortress but could still protect the city. According to Viollet-le-Duc, the donjon was a direct consequence of the feudal system. A Lord was dependent on his vassals, but vassals weren't trustworthy. If they betrayed him, he needed a back-up plan. Thus, come the revolution, the lord of the domain could hole up in the donjon (as happened during the Albigensian Crusade when the wife of Simon de Montfort shut herself and her people up in the keep of the Chateau Narbonnais in Toulouse.) According to Viollet-le-Duc, there was no château without a keep just as there was no city without a château.

The 1525 donjon in Toulouse then, though  petite compared to its 13th and 14th century models, fit the criteria of a stand-alone defensive tower in which people could take shelter should their enemies approach. In the case of 16th century Toulouse, the enemy was Spanish.

The first image, a old carte postale, shows the towering donjon of Coucy, the tallest in France at 55 meters high, which was built in 1220. The Lords of Coucy defended Paris to the north and were powerful enough that they proudly boasted, "Neither king, nor prince, nor duke nor count am I. I am the Lord of Coucy." The donjon was blown up by the Germans in World War I out of spite.

The second image is a donjon from one hundred years later. Things have gotten square and towers have been added.

The third image is a rather romantic view of the Temple in Paris built by the Knights Templar from the 13th century. A building so grim always becomes a prison in France--Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were imprisoned there, in fact--and by the time of the Revolution, the landmark had become a symbol of all that was oppressive about the ancien regime. It was demolished in the first part of the 19th century.

The final image is a Viollet-le-Duc drawing of the 1400 donjon de Vez. I am not sure if the cone roofs were original or another fanciful excursion by Viollet-le-Duc  (the donjon today does not have them) but it does resemble the donjon in Toulouse.

June 24: The Donjon

The Donjon was built in 1525 as a defensible fortress in which to store gunpowder and the city archives when French and the Spanish armies were battling just 30 miles from Toulouse. For most of the next 450 years it served as the archives of the city, although by the mid-19th century, it had been sadly neglected. I remember reading the comments of one early 19th century American visitor who found chickens nesting among the books (but I'm still searching for the reference, alas.) Viollet-le-duc 1870's restoration added the fancy bits to the roof.

Originally, one of the many buildings related to city government, the donjon, the best of the lot, was preserved when Toulouse cleared out the old city buildings to create the Place du Gaulle.

The two images, the first from the 1950s (I believe) and the second from 1885, indicate the after and before.

 

May 5: the statue of Henri IV in the Capitole

The statue of Henri IV that presides over the Henri IV Courtyard in the Capitole of Toulouse was carved in 1607, one of three created and displayed in Toulouse between 1604 and 1607. The sculptor, Thomas Heurtematte, was paid 160 livres for his work, and the statue is one of the few produced in Henri IV's lifetime.

This statue was unusual. Prior to the 17th century, statues of the French king were rare in public spaces. However, although the Protestant Henri of Navarre converted to Catholicism to become King Henri IV of France--he was the one who famously said that "Paris is worth a Mass"--the need to establish the authority of the King was greater than in previous reigns. Henri IV's succession ended the wars of religion that had devoured France for fifty years, but those who preferred the Catholic League or a Spanish solution were not immediately reconciled.

While undertaking public works in Paris, the idea had occurred to Henri IV and his entourage to represent the city as a place of royal presence. Previously, formal images of the French King had been reserved for private spaces--royal palaces, funeral chapels, private estates--but Henri IV, following the Italian example, began the practice of raising statues of himself in public spaces. If you will, he was marking his territory.

It had taken Toulouse, one of the most extremely Catholic cities in the Kingdom, longer to accept Henri IV's authority. Thus, the decision by the Capitouls of Toulouse to commission not one, but three statues of the King for display in public spaces signified the city's official acceptance of Henri IV's authority. It was a big step forward for the Bourbon dynasty.

April 16: Des Jeux Floraux

In 1323, about 50 years or so after the King of France took over Toulouse and just a few years before the "end" of the troubadour culture, a group of seven educated Toulousains--a squire, a bourgeois, a couple of bankers, several merchants and a notary--started a yearly poetry contest that continues to this day; it is the oldest literary society in the world. They called themselves "the Consistoire du Gai-Savoir" but later, they were just referred to as the "Seven Troubadours." Their goal was to preserve the literature of Occitan.

The name they took for their contest was "Jeux Floraux" after a festival in ancient Rome in honor of the goddess, Flora. Competitors spoke before a select group of judges--the mainteneurs--who awarded flowers of gold or silver--wild roses, marigolds, violets, lilies--to the authors of the best poems in Occitan and French.

The first "games" were held on May 3, 1324, in the orchard of the Augustines. The day is commemorated in a truly monumental painting at the top of the great staircase in the Capitole. Painted in 1902 by by Toulouse-trained artist, Jean-Paul Laurens (1838 - 1921), the viewer sees a poet--perhaps Arnaud Vidal of Castelnaudary --reciting to the judges. In 1324, Arnaud Vidal won the context with a poem dedicated to the Virgin.

April 6: le Capitole

The place to start seeing Toulouse is on the Place du Capitole at the heart of the centre ville. The pride of the place is Toulouse's hôtel de ville, the grandly named Capitole. The 175m neo-classical building that we admire today--actually a facade--was begun in 1750 after 23 years of dickering over plans. The city fathers wanted a hôtel de ville that would be unique and distinguish Toulouse as she deserved to be distinguished (in an era when local pride stimulated civic embellishment in all self-respecting French cities,) and they wanted something that would unify (or at least mask) the motley set of buildings that comprised the seat of city government--courts, jails, gardens, the city archives, a chapel, a treasury, a torture chamber, various meeting rooms , the warehouses and customs hall containing the weights that were used to assess taxes and prevent fraud, lodgings for visitors, and, of course, the theatre. One building was an arsenal until King Louis XIV seized the muskets and cannons in 1686, then it was a court of Commutation.

What we see today is a harmonious blend of brick and stone, but architect Guillaume Cammas's 1750 structure was originally covered in white plaster. That attempt to brighten the city was only removed in 1883.

The name Capitole was suggested in 1522 by a clerk with a rich imagination, Pierre Salaman. He noted that the most famous monument in Rome was the Capitolium, and that the word for "chapter"--the medieval word designating assemblies of magistrates--was capitulum in Latin and capitol in occitan. A little word play later, the scrivener was able to enhance the prestige of his hometown, and the Capitouls of Toulouse could fancy that they were the descendents of Romans governing from Toulouse's own Capitole.

June 6: Our first day in Toulouse

This was a very leisurely day. I slept in this morning, so we didn't leave the apartment until well past noon. Our activities included a stop at the tourist bureau in the Donjon in renovated Place Charles de Gaulle (the first photo shows the fountain, not yet on) because we wanted to get the details on this weekend's "Passe ton Bach" festival, a weekend event during which half-hour Bach concerts start every hour around Toulouse. My sister and I thoroughly enjoyed this when we attended it in June 2010.

Then, our calender full, we had a ham and cheese sandwich with an orangina for lunch (photo 2)--the taste of France, my husband commented--in the shadow of the Capitole (photo 3).

There were scores of policemen around the Capitole. A group of women ("for peaceful conversation") sat in lawn chairs on the Capitole protected by armed policemen. A crowd was gathered round, and we heard the occasional shouting and what might have been prayers in arabic. The government of François Hollande recently passed legislation legalizing gay marriage and the adoption of children by gay couples, and France has had a conservative backlash in response: demonstrations across the country. It's been as bad as in the US. We believe the women were lesbians trying to reach out to the frenzied opposition.

Our historic stop of the day was to the church and conventual buildings of Les Jacobins, the head church of the Dominican order. (photo 4) Founded to preach orthodoxy to Cathar heretics in the early 13th century, the Dominican's built their church for preaching, so it has just a single row of columns, not the more traditional two. The clergy sat on one side and the laity on the other. The pulpit was in the middle. (photo 5)

The St Antony chapel off the cloister was open again; it was being restored on my previous visits to Les Jacobins so this was my first chance to see its famous wall paintings. They were spectacular. (photo 6)

We had some shopping to do, too. We stopped at the Ombre Blanche bookstore and picked up a couple of history books, at the boulangerie for a baquette for breakfast, and at Monoprix for soap and toothpaste, the mundane necessaries. 

For dinner, we went to "Le Nez Rouge" just up the street from our apartment. (photo 7) I have wanted to dine in this location since 2006, just because the building is this marvelous example of wattle & daub, but the restaurant has been out of business. It is under new, young management, however, with a crush of merry customers, and our meal was superb. I had tempera asparagus for starters, my husband had quail. Then for my main course, I had pork tenderloins with cabbage in a tandoori sauce and my husband had octopus--poulpe. I had a cherry clafouti for dessert which was not as decadent as I was hoping, but delicious nonetheless.

Then home and this. A good first day.

April 25: The north side of Saint Sernin

This is the north side of Saint Sernin--where the cloister stood until its demolition between 1803-1808.At the far end you can just make out what was once the door to the cloister and conventual buildings.

A few of the capitals from the columns of that surrounded the cloister were preserved in the Musée des Augustins. Some are intricately carved lions (first photo). Others are carved with foliage with birds, familiar animals, and other subjects.

March 11: the oldest building in Toulouse?

One of the oldest towers in Toulouse is the square building at the corner of rue du Taur and rue Perigord. Originally outside the city wall, it was originally a summer home for Pierre Maurand, a rich merchant who had  two homes with towers. Maurand was found guilty of holding Cathar beliefs, and condemned to the confiscation of his wealth and the demolition of his towers and fortifications. He was sufficently penitent, however, and his sentence was commuted to making a pilgrimage within three years, repaying the city of Toulouse 10,000 sous and knocking down his towers..

The second drawing gives you idea of the grandeur of the original tower. The only reason any of it survived is because, forfeited, it was purchased by the Bishop for the College du Perigord.

I found the third photo on the internet. It shows off th fine gothic arch in the interior of the tour de Maurand.

 

Jan 20: Germaine Chaumel

Toulouse-born, daughter of a painter and a pianist, Germaine Chaumel began taking photographs of daily Toulousain life in the mid-1930s. After her husband was imprisoned in 1940, she supported her two children as a professional photographer. In addition to acting as a stringer for newspapers such as the New York Times, Paris Soir, and regional newspapers such as La Depeche du Midi, she turned her apartment on rue Croix-Baragnon into a studio. Her bathroom became a dark room, her living room into the studio and her dining room became a waiting room. Here she took formal portraits of Toulouse's most illustrious citizens.

She took risks during the war years. She hid her Rolloflex under her coat and photographed what was forbidden, such as this rather chilling photo of German soldiers on the place due Capitole.

And in 1953, she moved to Paris and turned to other interests. When she died in 1982, she left roughly 20,000 photos: 10,000 portraits and 10,000 photos for newspapers.

Jan 15: A favorite hero of the Resistance

I've written about this before, but it bears repeating. An inspiring story of heroism from World War 2 concerns Marie-Louise Dissart (or Dissard, both seem to be used) (1880-1957). Sixty years old when France surrendered to Germany, this tiny, frail woman first supported, then, after its leaders had been captured by the Gestapo, took over and led an underground network of roughly 200 members that smuggled downed allied airmen over the Pyrenees and out of France. She helped as many as 700 men escape, and, for her courage, she was showeed with medals, including the American Medal of Freedom, the British George medal and OBE, the French Legion d'Honneur.

She was an unlikely candidate for the role of Resistance heorine. Orginally trained in couture, painting and design at the School of Fine Arts in Toulouse, she worked first as a secretary and then as a inspector of couture for the local schools. By 1940, she had her own workshop, the Modern Doll, at 40 rue de la Pomme in the heart of Toulouse. Here she produced wonderful clothes including costumes commissioned by the Théâtre du Capitole.

Described as joyful, exuberant, rigorous and severe at the same time, she was known for speaking her mind. On the day in November, 1940, when Marshall Petain came to visit Toulouse, she broadcast a message to her fellow Toulousains encouraging the French not to stop fighting and endorsing General de Gaulle. The police opened an inquiry on her in response, and finally concluded that she was mentally unstable. She was able to use this reputation later on.

It was dangerous work, what she was doing. For her first network, the Network Bertaux, she distributed leaflets to recruit members. She used the code name, "Victoire,". The network was broken up by the French police, its members (except her) imprisoned.

In the Spring of 1942, she joined the network of Ian Garrow (an English soldier who, having missed the Dunkirk evacuation, stayed behind to organize an escape route over the Pyrenees.) When Garrow was captured,  a Belgian doctor, Albert Guerisse, code named Pat O'Leary, took over. From her fashion workshop in Toulouse or travelling throughout France, Dissart organized the escape route out of Toulouse--picking up airmen, bringing them to Toulouse, housing them, feeding them, providing camouflage and conveying them to the people who could smuggle them over the Pyrenees to safety. She used the codename, Françoise.

In March, 1943, Guerisse was betrayed to the Gestapo and imprisoned and Dissart's cover was blown. Nevertheless, she persuaded the British to let her take over the escape route, and for the next two years, hiding from the Gestapo in attics, garages, and basements, she organized another 110 escapes. She was a mistress of disguise, using all her skill to pass unnoticed as a grieving widow, a peasant, or an eccentric woman to retrieve information or false papers. She managed to deflect suspicions thanks to an air of frivolity and high spirits.

Noted for her efficiency, coolness, dedication, resourcefulness and courage, she survived the war. A school in Toulouse is named for her. I think her story is amazing.

The photos are

1) Marie-Louise Dissart receiving the American Medal of Freedom.

2) Marie-Louise Dissart meeting Charles de Gaulle.

3) Dissart and her apprendices after Toulouse was liberated. Dissart is the old face in the middle, smoking with the cigarette holder.

4) A view of rue de la Pomme. Dissart ran her operation out of what is now the Imagine shop.