Dc 5"7 GpocneU Htuoeraitg ffithrarg Jlllrara, Jfrm fork BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE FISKE ENDOWMENT FUND THE BEQUEST OF WILLARD FISKE LIBRARIAN OF THE UNIVERSITY 1866-1683 1905 U" iVerSi,y Ubrary DC 33 J.T57 3 1924 022 599 991 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://archive.org/details/cu31924022599991 MEDIEVAL FRANCE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, Manager LONDON : FETTER LANE, E.C. 4 NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY CALCUTTA MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. MADRAS TORONTO : THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TOKYO: MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MEDIEVAL FRANCE A COMPANION TO FRENCH STUDIES EDITED BY ARTHUR TILLEY, M.A. FELLOW AND LECTURER OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1022 3> PREFACE THE aim of this volume is to present to the reader within a moderate compass a survey of the history (political, military, naval, economic), language, literature, and art of Medieval France. An initial chapter on geography serves as a setting both for this and for the companion volume on Modern France. The volume is the work of ten writers, of whom, as was inevitable, a considerable majority are Frenchmen. To the ready and generous cooperation of these latter special thanks are due, particularly to M. Langlois, to whom the heaviest task has fallen. In his chapter on the political history of France the reader may trace the gradual development of the monarchy from Hugh Capet, who had practically no power outside his own province of the Ile-de-France and the neigh- bouring districts, to Charles VIII, of whom, while still a boy, Philippe de Commines declared that he was "more feared and better obeyed and served by his subjects than any other prince on the earth." He said this with reference to the meeting of the States-General at Tours in 1484, which, representing, as it did, every province except Brittany, gave a signal proof of that unity which has ever since been France's greatest strength. Another feature, besides the growth of monarchy and national unity, which cannot fail to impress itself on the reader of M. Langlois's chapter is the marvellous recuperative power shown by France after the Hundred Years' War. In an arresting passage M. Langlois compares the condition of the whole country during that war with that of the devastated area at the present day, and he points out that in spite of the greater effectiveness of modern artillery "war was formerly even more murderous, because of the epidemics and famine which modern ; vi PREFACE ' ' civilisation can arrest or mitigate, ' and that ' brigandage, though less pedantically methodical than that which the present genera- tion has experienced, was hardly less thorough." But France recovered then, as she recovered later after the Wars of Religion and after the Franco-German War, and as she will recover again. The Hundred Years' War interrupted the growing commercial prosperity of the country, especially its trade by sea, but even before the war philosophy, literature, and art (except for the illumination of books) had begun to decline. The great age of scholastic philosophy was the twelfth and thirteenth centuries after that Duns Scotus introduced that reign of dialectic which was to render philosophy sterile and to exercise a baneful influence even on literature. Joinville, who completed his Life of St Louis in 1309 at the age of 85, marks the final close of that creative period of French medieval literature which began about the middle of the twelfth century with Chretien de Troyes's fcrec. The great period of French Gothic architecture may be said to begin in 1163 with Notre-Dame de Paris and to end before the close of the thirteenth century with the choir of Beauvais. For sculpture, glass, and painting the thirteenth century was the golden age, but painting continued to nourish till much later. The name of Jean Pucelle fills the years from 1320 to 1350, and the Tres Riches Heures of Jean Duke of Berry, the finest extant example of the illuminator's art, was still unfinished at the Duke's death in 1446. After that there was Jean Fouquet. But the whole story of French medieval art is one of singular interest and importance, and it has been told in these pages, from close personal observation, by two Englishmen with a knowledge and sympathy which cannot fail to stir the reader's imagination and deepen his admiration for the country that has produced such noble masterpieces. Another story, that of scholastic philosophy, is told here by an English scholar. If its appeal is less wide and less moving than that of French medieval art, it is more international. Paris in the Middle Ages was the capital of intellectual Europe. If Abelard was a Frenchman, Bonaventura and Thomas Aquinas were PREFACE Vll Italians, Albert the Great was a German, Alexander of Hales and William of Ockham were Englishmen, and Duns Scotus came probably from Scotland or Northern England. The other chapters are the work of Frenchmen who are experts in their several provinces. Apart from the knowledge these chapters impart, they are particularly valuable as lessons in method and lucidity. That on French medieval literature should dispel the charge of uniformity and impersonality which Bru- netiere brought against it. It is true that in the Middle Ages the individual was of little account in comparison with the corporate body, whether religious or lay, and that authority and tradition discouraged any departure from the old ways, but in literature, as in art, personality from time to time emerged triumphant. The authors of the Chanson de Roland and Aucassin et Nicolette, Chretien de Troyes, Jean deMeun, Joinville, Froissart, must have all been men of marked personality; the long cycle of poems of which Renart is the hero was originated by an individual writer, and there is much to be said for the recent theory of M. Ferdinand Lot that the prose Lancelot was the work of a single man; Villon and Commines, whom some critics have claimed as definitely modern writers, are but the latest medieval instances of that strong individuality which underlies every work of creative genius. Considerations of space have made short and select biblio- graphies imperative, but, as these comprise, whenever possible, works which contain full bibliographies, and also the more important recent authorities, it is hoped that the reader who wishes also to be a student will find his way to the chief sources of knowledge. The map of France is due to M. Gallois and the map showing the main routes of commerce to M. Halphen; Sir Thomas Jackson has provided the illustrations for his chapter on Archi- tecture. One of these (Plate VII) is reproduced, by permission, from The Sculptures ofChartres Cathedral, by M. and E. Marriage (Cambridge, 1909). The proofs of the translated chapters have all been submitted to the writers of the original texts, and the editor has had the advantage of their corrections and suggestions. His Vlll PREFACE thanks are also due to Dr Guillemard of Gonville and Caius College and to Dr Clapham of King's College for reading the proofs of Chapters I and v respectively, to Miss W. M. L. Hutchinson for suggesting some improvements in the transla- tions and to Mr H. S. Bennett of Emmanuel College, for making the index. Finally he must express his gratitude to Mr A. R. Waller, the Secretary of the Syndics of the University Press, for much sympathetic advice and kindly cooperation. A. T. December, 1921 CONTENTS CHAPTER I GEOGRAPHY By L. Gallois, Professor in the University of Paris I. General Observations § PAGE Extent and position ......... i Formation of the French nation ....... 2 Relief 2 Climate ........... 4 § 11. General Description Northern Region ....... 6 The Ardennes ....... 7 Alsace ......... 8 Lorraine ........ 9 Champagne. Picardy. The country round Paris. Greater Paris 10 Normandy ........ 12 Burgundy ........ 13 Nivernais. Berry. Perche and Maine 14 Valley of the Loire ...... J 5 Brittany. Poitou and Charente .... 16 The Aquitairie basin ...... 17 Pengord and Quercy. Gascony and Beam. The Landes 18 Valley of the Garonne ...... 19 French Pyrenees ....... 20 Central Plateau: Limousin and Marche ..... 20 Southern part ....... 21 Auvergne ....... 21 Eastern border ....... 22 The Lyons district ...... 22 Saone basin. The Jura. Rhone valley 23 French Alps. Lower Provence .... 25 Lower Languedoc ....... 26 Roussillon. Conclusion ...... 27 Bibliographical note ...... 29 <*5 CONTENTS CHAPTER II HISTORY By Ch. V. Langlois, Director of the Archives Nationales § I. Political and social conditions in 987 PAGE General conditions ....-••• 3° Feudal States: Flanders ......... 32 Normandy. Brittany. Aquitaine ..... 33 Languedoc. The Marches of Catalonia. Duchy of Burgundy 34 Champagne. Anjou ....... 35 Feudal organisation: Serfs and free tenants 36 Lords and Vassals 37 Fiefs and Seignories 39 Norman institutions 42 The Church . 43 The towns 46 § 11. First attempts at Government. First advance of the King's authority Brittany. Toulouse and Aquitaine ...... 48 Normandy .......... 49 Anjou. The Capetian State ....... 5° § in. Rivalry of Capets and Plantagenets Louis VII and Henry II 52 Philip Augustus 54 The battle of Bouvines . 56 Gascony and Languedoc 57 The work of Louis IX . 58 § IV. Evolution in the direction of Monarchy The Church ...... 60 Ecclesiastical jurisdiction .... 63 Population of the towns and the country 64 Grant of Charters ...... 65 Communes and bourgeois towns 66 Officers of the Crown. Administrative organisation 71 The Curia Regis ...... 71 Bailiffs and Seneschals ..... 72 Growth of the royal jurisdiction 74 Taxation ....... 75 Earliest assemblies and the beginning of political life 11 CONTENTS XI § v. External policy, 1000-1328 Pilgrimages .....