a time The Fortifications are Regular and of good defence The Cathedral is consecrated to the Holy Virgin wherein are to be seen several Mausoleum's of the Dukes of Normandy with a Treasury in the Vestry which was much more considerable before the Huguenots plunder's it during the Civil Wars of the last Age. There are three Towers that serve instead of a Steeple one of which is so high that you must ascend Five hundred and fifty Steps before you come at the great Bell which is call'd George d' Amboise by reason it was made by the Order of the Cardinal d' Amboise Over the Portal of this Cathedral is to be seen a Triumphal Arch where Henry IV. is represented chasing the Lions and the Wolves out of his Sheep-Fold the League enchain'd and gnawing her Chains and the King of Spain beholding all these Trophies with a Pensive and Melancholy look There are very fair Structures at Rouen as well Sacred as Prophane which are marks of her Antiquity and Strangers always go to see the Place where the English burnt the Maid of Orleance Normandy is blest with several other good Ports as that of St. Valeri which is a very Commodious Haven But Diepe is much the Stronger This City is seated at the Foot of the Mountains from whence the River of Arques takes its rise which separates the Suburbs from the City The Castle of Pollet Commands the Haven and a Cittadel defends the other side of the Town The Streets are large adorn'd with several Churches and Market-Places The Haven brings it a good Trade and the Seamen have gain'd a Reputation in the World for that the Best Sea-Compasses and the most Exact Quadrants are there said to be made The Inhabitants also were the first that wrought in Ivory and Tortoise-Shell They are also Excellent and very quick at the Riming Exercises call'd Jeux Floraux where the best doer is rewarded with an Eglantine the Second with a Marigold in Silver which Sports are usual in this Town at Christmas and the Festival of the Assumption Havre de Grace is also a considerable Sea Town situated at the Mouth of the River Seine and is lookt upon to be one of the Havens in France upon St. George's Channel Francis I. began to fortifie it but the Huguenots having seiz'd it deliver'd it up to the English in 1562. from whom Charles IX retook it Lewis XIII added a Cittadel to it flank'd with four Bastions But Lewis XIV compleated the Work and has made it impregnable by regular Fortifications In times of Peace with England and Holland it drives a great Trade Evreux is a very ancient City dignify'd with a Bishop's See a Bailliage and a Presidial Court and adorn'd with a good number of Churches and Religious Houses among which the Abbies of St. Thurin and St. Saviour are very remarkable Several Princes of the Blood and other great Lords have been Counts of Evreux and it is said that Walter and Robert d' Evreux Earls of Essex in England came originally from this place Caen seated upon the River Orne is not so famous for the Antiquity of it as for the Privileges and Variety of Tribunals that it enjoys For it is dignify'd with a Presidial Court a Bailliage an Election a Generality an Audit of the Finances and a University for the Civil and Canon Law there founded in 1411. by Hen. VI. King of England It has had the same Fate with other Cities of Normandy as having suffer'd very much during the Troubles that shook the French Monarchy in the 16th Age. However the Town-House built upon St. Peter's Bridge is a noble Structure adorn'd with four large Towers The People boast of their Fidelity to their Prince for which reason they are permitted to bear the Three Flower-de-Luces in their Arms. William the Norman King of England lyes Buried in St. Stephen's Abby which was one of his own Foundations Mount St. Michael is a Town built at the Foot of a Mountain on the top of which stands a Church and an Abby consecrated to St. Michael the Arch-Angel For the Story goes that in the Year 708. St. Michael appear'd to Aubert Bishop of Avranches and told him 'T was the Will of God that a Church should be built upon the Hill and dedicated to him in particular Upon the same Mount stands also a very fair Castle The flowing in of the Sea makes a perfect Island of it covering for near a League together all the Land between the Mount and the firm Land which the Ebb soon after leaves dry agen Nevertheless they who Travel thither must be very exact in observing the Time of the Motion of the Water for if they should be surpriz'd in that sandy Plain they would run the risque of being Drown'd which many times falls out This place is famous for the resort of Pilgrims to St. Michael and for the Sand of which they make Salt by straining the Sea-water through it In 966 Richard I founded the Abby of the Benedictins and his Son Richard II. finish'd the Church Maine is a Province dignify'd with the Title of a Dutchy border'd by Normandy to the North by Perche Vendomois and La Beausse to the East Bretagne to the West and by Tourain and Anjou to the South This Province is fruitful in Wine Corn Fruit and Cattle and has some Iron Mines The same defects are attributed to the Manceaux as to the Normans and as to their exactness in keeping their words it is become a Proverb That a Manceau is worth a Norman and a half The Capital City of this Province is Mans seated upon the Banks of the River Sarte dignify'd with a Presidial Court and a Bishop's See This City is very Ancient and is thought to have been one of the most considerable Cities of the Gauls in the time of Charlemagne It is said to have been built by Sarthon Grandchild to Samothes King of the Gauls but being destroy'd by the Druids and the Sarrhonides it was repair'd by Le Mant K. of the Gauls who gave it his own Name But however it were there is nothing now remaining but only some few Ruins of what formerly render'd it so famous CHAP. XXIV Of Picardy PIcardy is a very large Province having Champagne to the East the Island of France to the South Normandy and part of Mance or the Ocean to the West Artois and Flanders to the North. It is fertile in Corn and Fruits But as for the People 't is said they are generally hot-headed and being apt to take Snuff upon every Trifle Men are willing to avoid their Company for fear of running themselves into Quarrels that are often attended with fatal Consequences Amiens upon the Somme dignify'd with a Bishoprick a Presidial Court a Bailliage and a Generality is the Capital City of Picardy and has been taken several times in the preceding Wars among the rest the Spaniards took it with a Bag of Nuts in the Month of March 1597. as the Learned M.
Austria An Image of our Lady in Ivory enrich'd with Pretious Stones A Missal in Manuscript the Cover of which is enrich'd with Plates of Gold A Manuscript of the Four Evangelists written above Eleven hundred Years ago in Letters of Gold and Silver upon Purple Vellum In the Third Ambrie The Head of St. Denis enrich'd with Pretious Stones His Cross of Wood all cover'd with Gold and Precious Stones as also his Travelling Stick The right Hand Flesh and Bone of the Apostle St. Thomas in a Shrine of Gold enrich'd with Pearls Rubies and great Pearls An enamell'd Shrine where through a Christal you see the Lower Chap of St. Lewis The Crown of the same St. Lewis of massy Gold beset with Pretious Stones A Seal of Gold with a Saphir Stone wherein his Image is engrav'd with these Letters S. L. A Sword which he brought in his first Expedition from the Holy Land A wooden Cup of Tamarisk wherein he drank A Shrine which he carried along with him in his Expeditions with a Bone of St. Denis His Hand of Justice of Silver gilt The Clasp of his Cloak of the same beset with Pretious Stones A Chalice of Oriental Agate with a great number of Pretious Stones The Effigies of the Queen of Sheba upon a Brouch of Agate A Gondola of Agate and Onyx The two Crowns of Lewis XIV the one of Gold the other enamell'd In the Fourth Ambrie A great Image Silver gilt of St. Benedict extreamly Rich. A great Cross of massy Gold cover'd with Pearl and enrich'd with large Saphirs The Oratory of Charlemain all of Gold where the multitudes of Saphirs Emraulds Agates and Oriental Pearls that glitter in it vastly enhaunce the Price of it This Oratory preserves an Arm of St. George The Crown of Charlemain all of Gold and embellish'd like the Oratory This Crown is carry'd to Reims at the Coronation of our Kings with the Scepter the Hand of Justice the Spurs the Clasp for the Mantle the Book of Ceremonies and Prayers for the Coronation All the Ornaments are of that Richness as befits the Use which is made of ' em The Crown of Gold that Joane of Eureux were enrich'd with Rubies Saphirs and Pearl serves for the Coronation of the Queens that is Perform'd at St. Denis Several Vessels of Gold Chrystal and other Materials very Rich. The Portraiture of Nero upon an Agate which is look'd upon as one of the Noblest Pieces of Curiosity in the Treasury In other Cupboards in General There are moreover Four other Ambries which do not contain such vast Wealth but only Reliques or Antiquities of which these are the most considerable An enamell'd Shrine embellish'd with Pretious Stones wherein lyes the Body of St. Lewis Judas's Lanthorn the Sword of the Maid of Orlean's a Unicorn's Horn seven foot long and a Stool of Copper which as they say was Dagobert's Throne Beside all these things of which I have given you a Catalogue there are several other things very remarkable which I insert not here for fear of being Tedious and therefore to conclude this Chapter I shall only inform the Reader that the Monks who shew the Treasury very distinctly give an accompt of every thing and tell you the time and the occasion that all these Curiosities were brought to this Place CHAP. XXIII Of Normandy and the Country of Maine NOrmandy is a very fair large Province of France with the Title of a Dukedom bounded Eastward by the Island of France and Picardy by the Ocean to the North by Bretagne to the West and Beausse and le Maine to the South The length of it is Seventy two Leagues de la Croix says 73. from Aumale to the Coast of Courantin and Thirty in breadth 37. says de la Croix from Alenson to the City of Eu The Name of it is absolutely German for Noort-Man signifies a Man of the North so that the Name it bears was given it by the People of the North that Pipirated upon the Seas and afterwards settl'd themselves in Normandy and ravag'd the Country to the very Walls of Paris William the Norman laid Claim to England and Invading it under Pretence of Title his Successors Kings of England became Masters of Normandy But Philip the August united it to the Crown of France Charles the Seventh expell'd the English This Province being the most Northern part of the Kingdom is also the Goldest It is divided into Upper and Lower It abounds in all sorts of Fruit especially Pears and Apples of which they make Cider and which serves 'em instead of Wine for Wine they have none but what they fetch from the Neighbouring Provinces As for Corn it produces more then suffices the Inhabitants The Dyers also have their Madder and Woad from thence The Humour of the Common People does 'em no great Credit They are look'd upon to have more defects then Perfections The Normans are accus'd to be very cholerick litigious upon every Trifle and not to be too great Slaves to their words when their Interest is concern'd So then when you deal with a Norman the first Question is whether he will insist upon the Privileges of the Country that is to say whether he will go from his word when the Bargain is concluded And therefore when a Man has fail'd of his word 't is a common thing to say He is a Norman But the Gentry and Persons well educated who have a share of Honour are to be excepted out of this Number Moreover they have as great an Antipathy against the Bretons as the Bretons have against them Rouen is the Principal City of Normandy dignify'd with an Archbishop's See and the Seat of a Parliament a Chamber of Accompts an Audit of the Treasurers of France a Chamber of Money and a Presidial Court The Parliament had that Name given it first of all by Francis I. in 1515. whereas before it was call'd the Court of Exchequer founded by Philip the Fair in 1286. This City is seated upon the Banks of the River Seine on the one side on the other in a Valley environ'd with Hills thick spread with Wood. From the East come little Rivers which run through the Town keep the Streets clean and after they have turn'd several Mills fall into the Seine But the nearness of it to the Sea is that which makes it a Town of great Trade when Commerce is open Among those things which it has most remarkable we are to admire the Bridge of Boats over the Seine Two hundred and seventy Paces in length For though it be all Pav'd and appear as firm as a Bridge of Stone yet it rises and sinks according to the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea This Bridge was made to supply the want of another Stone Bridge of 15 Arches that was ruin'd and was accompted one of the Fairest Bridges in France The Castle is fortified with Eleven great Towers which all Vessels outward or inward bound are engag'd to salute with Three Guns at
Merchandizes are brought that are transported from the Indies and besides that it is a Bishops See it is also the seat of a Presidial Jurisdiction and a Soveraign Court for the Western Salt-Pits The people in their Humour partake of the Air of the Sea which they breath and are therefore very boisterous and insolent and no less full of Vanity and Pride Rochefort is a Sea-Port Town at the Mouth of the River Charante formerly no more then a Village now a City with good Bastions upon which are planted Rows of Trees that make very pleasant Walks There is also in this place several Ware-houses and an Hospital for sick and wounded Seamen CHAP. XVII Of Bretagne BRetagne is a very large Province which is also usually call'd by the Name of Little Bretaigne to distinguish it from Great Britain which contains the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland and the small Islands adjoyning There is no Province of France that has so great a Number of Havens as this for it is environ'd by the Ocean to the North South and West Eastward it is bounded by Poitou Anjou Maine and Normandy It extends it self above Forty Leagues from South to North that is to say from the Island of Bouitz to the Mouth of the River Couenon and Sixty from East to West that is to say from Vitrey to the Point of Conquet and contains Nine Bishopricks Formerly it was govern'd by Kings for above Three hundred Years together but was afterwards contented with the Title of a Dukedom till the Year 1491. that Ann of Bretaine the only Daughter of Francis II. the last Duke married Charles the Eighth of France and after that Lewis XII who both United this Dutchy to the Crown The Soil is fertile in Corn Flax Hemp and Fruits affords good Butter and Breeds good Horses but produces little Wine to the great Grief of the Inhabitants who are great Lovers of it Between Chasteau-Briant and Martigues are several Mines of Iron and Lead In the Signory of Salle is a Source of Water that smells of Antimony and drives before it a sort of Sand of the colour of Gold and not far off upon a high Hill they find Antimony Sulphur and Copper And in another place they dig out Talc and Stone Allum which being pounded into Powder may be spun into long Threads or Candlewieks which never go out as long as there is any substance remaining and is thought to be the Asbestos of the Ancients In the Mines of Valgoet are to be found both Jasper Stones and very clear Chrystal with several other Rarities Moreover in this Province there is a great Value put upon the Secrets of the Mount Menehaldec the Beauties of the Forrest of Besban where is still to be seen the square Base of Stone call'd Perron-Merlin the ancient Divertisement of the Knights Errant and the Fountain of Balanton c. They also make great reckoning of the Amber of Bell-Isle the Aqueducts of Dal the Vaults between Rieux and Redon the Subterraneal Torrent in the Forrest of St. Aubin du Cornier the Singularities of the River Ardre and the Lake of Grandlieu near Nantes And having already told yee how the Province is seated upon the Sea I think it needless to tell yee that they are stor'd with all sorts of Fish among the rest there is taken upon the Coast of Bretaigne a certain Fish which at Marseilles is call'd Imperador or the Emperour but in Bretanie Gracieux Seigneur which is very delightful to the tast The Bretons are of a very sociable Humour and there are two sorts of People whose Company pleases 'em better then any other The first are those that can stoutly hold out to drink with 'em The next are they who in their Discourses or otherwise make appear their Hatred of the Normans For the People of those two Provinces have such an Antipathy one against another that they can never speak well of each other Rennes is the Capital City of Bretagne divided by the little River of Vilaine which brings up great Barks to the Town though it stands above Twenty Leagues from the Sea Henry II. erected a Parlament in this City which is also a Bishop's See adorn'd with fair Churches two Abbies St. Magdalens and St. Georges with several other Religious Houses and the Bell belonging to the Palace Clock is accompted one of the biggest in the Kingdom and having been formerly the Residence of the Dukes of Bretagne it is stor'd with several Reliques for Travellers to see either out of Curiosity or Devotion Nantes contends for Superiority with Rennes as being likewise a Bishops See and pretending that her Haven renders her more wealthy more famous and makes an ample amends for the Parlament with which the other is Honour'd But not to trouble my self to decide the Controversie between these two Cities I shall only observe that Nantes is very ancient and some Authors will have it that Nantes one of the Progeny of Noah was the Founder of it and gave it his own Name However it were she had once particular Counts of her own and the Beauty and Fertility of her Soil appropriated to her the Sirname of the Eye of Bretagne There is a Castle belonging to this City which secures the Port and her Presidial Court where there is a Tower and a Clock both considerable for the rarity of their Workmanship and an Election render her no less remarkable then her University for the Law founded by Pope Pius II. in the time of Francis II. the last Duke of Bretagne When you visit the Churches you shall see the Tombs of several Dukes of Bretagne The Town-House is built after the Modern Mode and her large Ware-Houses for all sorts of Merchandizes merit the View of all Travellers who will then admire the vast Wealth of this City The Edict which Hen. IV. set forth at Nantes in favour of the Protestants in April 1598. was revok'd by Lewis XIV in October 1685. St. Malo's is another famous Sea-port Town of this Province seated upon a Rock in the Sea in the Island of St. Aron joyn'd to the Land by a long Causey the entrance into which is defended by a Castle flank'd with large Towers environ'd with good Moats where there is a Garison and a Governour The Bishoprick of St. Quidalet was translated thither in the Year 1172. I have here two things to observe concerning St. Malo's one of which is true the other seems to me to be a Fable The first is That every Night they let out a dozen or fifteen great Mastiffs that presently run their Rounds about the City upon the Ramparts and infallibly tear to pieces all people that they meet with So that before they suffer 'em to walk their Patrolle there is a Bell Toll'd for some time to give people notice that the merciless Watch is a coming These Dogs are kept on purpose to preserve the City from surprize which gave occasion for some to say That Dogs had