We traveled through the night and woke in the city of Rouen. It was a quiet morning so we were ablto relax on board before attending a lecture on the history of Rouen, specifically the Hundred Years War and Joan of Arc.
The city of Rouen was originally a Roman city in the region of Gaul more than 2000 years ago. The city was built on the north bank of the Seine River because the south bank of the river was known for its flooding. After the creation of dikes and dams along the Seine to control flooding, the south bank became an industrial district in the 19th century where factories were built along with housing for laborers. The south bank continues to be the industrial area of the city.
As we were walking along the river and the tour guide was telling us this information, she often referred to the banks as the right and left banks rather than north and south. I believe that this may have caused confusion with some in the group because they asked if we were walking on the left bank. Her response was, "The left bank is on the right." I could not stop laughing, but she began to discuss the banks as north and south instead! :)
We walked through the modern city and crossed a boulevard that was built on the foundation of the early city's fortified wall. The walls protected the city for centuries until it was destroyed during the undred Years War in the 15th century and left in ruins. It was completely dismantled later from the lack of need to rebuild a fortified wall.
Rouen became the capital city of Normandy in the early 900s after Vikings, led by their chief, Rollo, invaded the region and took control from the French. The French king, Charles the Simple, negotiated with the Vikings to prevent further invasion by Vikings and other tribes. The agreement made Rollo the first Duke of Normandy and a vassel of the king of France and required him to convert to Christianity. Rollo, then known as Robert, settled his capital of Normandy in Rouen. The region became known as Normandy because of Rollo and the Vikings because it means north men.
Many churches in France are known as Notre Dame because the name means Our Lady. The cathedral in Rouen is known as the Notre Dame Cathedral of Rouen. The cathedral (below) is the fourth church built on the same location. It was started in 1200 in the Romanesque style and later completed in the Gothic style. It took more than four centuries to build. It is currently being renovated, but if you look at the picture, the building was started from the left. The tower on the left side was started in 1200 in the Romanesque style with heavy limestone and smaller windows and little exterior decoration. The center portion was started in the 13th century and completed in the 14h century with the addition of the statues along the top of the section in the Gothic style. The tower on the right is called the Butter Tower and was completed in the 15th century. During that time, it was forbidden to eat butter during Lent which caused many in to struggle because butter and creamy are part of the staple diet of most French people. The people of Rouen negotiated with the bishop to pay an extra tax to the church each time that they ate butter during Lent. The tax funds went to the construction of the final tower of the cathedral which was completed in the 16th century. This is why it was called the Butter Tower.
On our way to the cathedral, we passed through many cobblestone streets that have been in place since the Middle Ages. Several of the buildings were still standing! Those buildings with overhanging second and third stories were all built before 1520. The reason for that is because the city banned the building of overhanging levels in that year for three main reasons. The first is that it was a way to skim on taxes for the building owner because taxes were based on the floor space of the first level. Many people would build smaller first levels and then expand above to save on their taxes. The second reason was the concern over fire. The buildings would have so many higher levels that overhung above the previous floor until the buildings on each side the street would nearly meet each other over the street itself. This close building allowed fires to travel through a city too quickly to control. The final reason was to prevent the spread of the plague. They did not know what cause the plague, but thought that it had something to do with the conditions of the streets. Because of the overhanging levels, the streets were nearly completely shaded and never dried from rain as well as the emptying of chamber pots out the upper level windows. It made the streets muddy, smelly, and dangerous to travel.
Rouen is also the location of the execution of Joan of Arc. As a teenager, she claimed to hear the voices of St. Michael and Margaret who told her that she was assist the king of France to be crowned in the city of Reims. The problem at the time was that France was in the fighting the British in the Hundred Years war. Joan led the French army and the king to Reims where he was crowned. She inspired the French army and turned the tide of the war into the favor of the French after many victories of the British who claimed that the English king was the rightful king of France because of his connection to William the Conqueror, a former Duke of Normandy.
Joan was captured and sold to the English by those loyal to the Duke of Burgundy who was an ally of the English. King Charles VII of France was given the opportunity to ransom her, but did not do so. Some claim that the French monarchy was too poor to pay the ransom price while others believe that Charles chose not to pay because of her claim that she received messages from above to fight the English and Charles was ready to negotiate peace.
Joan was tried, convicted, and sentences to life in prison in the city of Rouen for life by the British. Joan agreed to the terms that included the rule that she never wear men's clothing or armor again. While imprisoned, she was seen wearing armor so the French tried her for heresy and sentenced her to burning at the stake for witchcraft. In 1432, she was executed and her ashes put into the Seine. Twenty-five years later, Charles VII championed her name and with 1600 testimonials had her conviction of heresy overthrown and had her made a martyr. Some believe that this was a political move to prevent people from questioning his coronation because she was convicted as a witch and she was the reason he made it to Reims for coronation. In the late 19th century, the French used Joan as a rallying symbol after demoralizing losses to the Prussians. She became a saint in 1920.
In 1978, the city of Rouen constructed a church near the location of her execution and dedicated it to her. The Church of Sainte Jeanne d'Arc (below) was a modern construction with an eye toward the history of the city. The small garden on the right side is the location of her execution near the market square. The shape of the church had many symbols. The pointed roof was as if flames, the interior of the church was built with chessnut timber that resembles the Viking longboats of the early settlers. In addition, the church is triangular in shape with one wall nearly completed filled with stain glass windows. The windows, from the 16 century, came from a cathedral along the Seine on the outskirts of Rouen. During World War II, the windows were removed to protect them from damage. Unfortunately, the cathedral was completely destroyed during the war, leaving the windows without a home until the construction of this church.
Our walk through the city was several hours long and filled with more stories than I can share here. It was an interesting mixture of ancient, medieval, and modern construction and history.
Tomorrow we wake early to visit the beaches of Normandy - the location of the D-Day invasion of World War II. We have a bit of a hike to get there, so we are heading to sleep earlier. :)
