whither the King goes usually twice a Month to spend two or three days during which time he gives Audience to no body unless it be to his Ministers and those that are sent for to Council which his Majesty holds there concerning the most Important Affairs of State Next to Versailles St. German on Laie may dispute for Priority before all the other Royal Houses This place is famous for the Birth of Lewis XIV upon the 5th of Septemb. 1638. He was baptiz'd in the Old Castle the 21st of April 1643. Besides the Regularity and Magnificence of the Castle there are the Gardens and Grotto's to be seen adorn'd with a Thousand Figures of Water Among the rest in one of these Grotto's there is an Orpheus playing upon his Harp and with the motion of his Head and his Body keeping time to his Instrument He is also attended by a great number of Beasts that follow him as being enchanted with the Melody of his Harp which also draws after him Rocks Trees and Plants There is likewise Paradise Hell the Sea and the Four Elements so livelily represented that you would think your self in some Enchanted Place About a League from St. Germans upon one side of Paris you meet with the Traytors Wood divided into two parts by a spacious High-Way The Branches which you break off from one side of this Wood sink but those which you break off from the other side swim in the Water In this Wood it was that the Perfidious Ganelon contriv'd his Treason against the Peers of France and all the great Captains of Charlemagne which was put in Execution at the Battel of Roncevaux so fatal to France in the Passage of the Pyreneans St. Clou is another very beautiful Royal Seat belonging to Monsieur the King 's only Brother It stands upon a Hill near the Banks of the River Seine almost half way between Paris and Versailles The Paintings are very Noble the Furniture very Rich and the Cabinet of China wherein there are an infinite number of Curiosities and vast Riches is worthy the Grandeur and Magnificence of the Prince to whom it belongs As for the Castle of Madrit Francis I. caus'd it to be built in the Wood of Boulogne in memory of his being carry'd a Prisoner into Spain to let the Spaniards understand that he held it for no shame to have been made a Prisoner of War at the Head of his Army which had never befall'n him had he contented himself to Command in his Cabinet as the Kings of Spain do They who believe this Castle to be built after the same form as that where this Monarch was kept in durance are much deceiv'd for it is little or nothing like it It is nothing so magnificent now as formerly and the little care that is tak'n to repair it shews that the King has no great Fancy for the Seat nor minds whether it go to ruin or no. The Castle of Vincennes is considerable as being the Place where Prisoners of War of great Quality are Confin'd and many times Prisoners of State witness the Princes of Conde and Conti and the Duke of Longueville in the Time of Cardinal Mazarin It is very large and flank'd with Eight great Towers Here are kept the Chains of the Streets of Paris which Charles VI. took away after he had chastiz'd that City for her Rebellion Fountainbleau is another Royal Seat so call'd from the great number of Springs in that place It lyes about Twelve Leagues from Paris and in regard it is a Country proper for Hunting the Court spends a great part of the Autumn in this Place This Castle is very large as being said to contain Nine hundred Chambers Halls Cabinets or Galleries where Art has quite exhausted her self to render every thing worthy the Residence of our Monarchs At Fontainbleau it was where Marshal Biron was disarm'd by the King's Order and where Cardinal Perron and the Sieur du Plessis-Mornai met in the Presence of Hen. 4. to Dispute upon Matters of Religion which drew thither the most Learned of both Parties and 't is said that when the two Disputants could not agree the King addressing himself to the Cardinal ask'd him Whether all those that were separated from the Roman Church were damn'd His Eminency and the rest of the Catholick Doctors assur'd him That there was nothing more certain After which the K. demanding from those of the Protestant Party whether it were a Point of their Doctrine that there was no Salvation for those that were not of their Communion They made answer 'T was none of their Opinion for that they thought the Mercy of God might extend to all Men. That being so reply'd the King ' t is my Judgment to choose the Certainty before the Vncertainty and so turn'd Roman Catholick Chantilli is a fair Seat belonging to Monsieur the Prince whither the Court often goes for the Recreation of Hunting It is an Epitome of Art and Nature 'T is observ'd that Hen. IV. being to Answer a Letter which he had receiv'd from the K. of Spain cramm'd full of Titles not only of the Kingdoms which the Kings of Spain and their Ancestors possess'd but of those they never had as also of Territories in the New World not yet discover'd took upon him no other Titles but only Citizen of Paris and Lord of Chantilli And there is much the same Story of Francis I. who writeing to Charles V. fill'd the first Page with only these words repeated King of France King of France adding only at the lower end Lord of Vauvre and Gonesse I shall say nothing of an Infinite Number of other Beautiful Seats and Houses of Pleasure in the Parts adjoyning to Paris as Ruel Meudon Conflans Seaux c. which are all fit for the Entertainment of Kings whether in respect of their Bigness or Magnificence It remains that I now say something of St. Denis the Burying-place of our Monarchs for which I design a particular Chapter Only before I conclude this I must not omit to tell yee that there is at Alincourt near Paris the Tomb of a Mother and her Children that gave Occasion to this Epitaph Here lyes the Son here lyes the Mother Here lyes the Daughter with the Father Here lyes the Sister and the Brother Here lyes the Husband here the Wife All but Three Body 's on my Life To Expound this Riddle you must know That a certain Young Stripling importun'd his Mothers Maid to grant him you may guess what who told her Mistress the Mother of the Young Man and a Widow She order'd the Servant to give him a Meeting in her Chamber where the Mother put her self in place of the Maid and having had the Company of her Son without discovering who she was at Nine Months end was brought to Bed of a Daughter which she put out till she came to such an Age and then sent for her home The Son in the mean time had been Travelling for several Years but
then returning Home and finding the Young Virgin which his Mother said was an Orphan to be very pretty Marry'd her and so of his Daughter and his Sister made her his Wife The Young Couple dy'd before the Mother who then discover'd the Secret and would needs be Interr'd in the same Tomb. CHAP. XXII Of St. Denis ST Denis is a small City in the Island of France Six Miles from Paris It was formerly call'd Catuliaca but was call'd St. Denis from St. Denis the Areopagite who being Beheaded at Montmartre carry'd his Head in his Hands as far as Catuliaque that is to say about a League and a half King Dagobert Erected a very stately Church in this place Three hundred Foot in Length Two hundred Broad and Fourscore Foot High supported by Sixty Pillars 'T is now a Royal Abby of the Benedictin Order wherein are kept all the Ornaments for the Coronation of our Kings which do not a little augment the Lustre and Riches of the Treasury of this Abby The Church is also Famous for being the Burying-Place of our Monarchs and of all the Royal Family Here follows a Catalogue of the Kings and Queens whose Tombs are to be seen in the Church of St. Denis Dagobert who dy'd in the Year 638 Clovis the Second 656 Clotaire III. 664 Thieri I. 690 Clotaire IV. 720 Childeric III. a Monk Pepin the Short 768 Charles the Bald. 877 Lewis III. 882 Charlemane 884 Eudes 898 Hugh Capet 997 Robert 1033 Henry I. 1060 Philip I. 1131 Lewis VI. 1137 Philip II. 1223 Lewis VIII 1226 Lewis IX Sirnam'd the Saint 1270 Philip III. 1285 Philip IV. 1314 Lewis X. 1316 John I. 1316 Philip V. 1322 Charles IV. 1328 Philip VI. de Valois 1350 John II. 1364 Charles V. 1380 Charles VI. 1422 Charles VII 1461 Charles VIII 1498 Lewis XII 1515 Francis I. 1547 Henry II. 1559 Francis II. 1560 Charles IX 1574 Henry III. 1589 Henry IV. 1610 Lewis XIII 1643 A Catalogue of the Queens that lye Buried at St. Denis's Nantild the Wife of Dagobert Bertha the Wife of Pepin Hermintrude the Wife of Charles the Bald. Constance the Wife of Robert Margaret the Wife of St. Lewis Isabel the Wife of Philip III. Joane of Eureux the Wife of Charles IV. Joane the Wife of Philip VI. Joane Queen of Navarre Joane Wife of Charles VI. Marie Wife of Charles VII Clandia Wife of Francis I. Blanch Second Wife of Philip VI. Ann of Bretaigne Wife of Lewis XII Catherine de Medicis Wife of Hen. II. Margaret Queen of Navarre Mary de Medicis Wife of Hen. IV. Ann of Austria Wife of Lewis XIII Henrietta Maria Queen of England Mary Teresa of Austria Wife of Lewis XIV And Marie Ann Christina Victoria Dauphiness of France who deceas'd in 1690. I do not here insert the Tombs of the Children of France nor those of the Princes and Princesses of the Blood nor of those of the Bodies of the Saints that lye in this Church for fear of being too tedious believing moreover that the Reader will take more delight to peruse the following Inventory of the most remarkable things that are to be seen in the Treasury of St. Denis's which makes so great a noise in the World and which alone draws thither such an infinite number of Forreigners Before I ascend into the Room wherein this Treasure is lockt up there is to be seen above the Chief Altar a Cross of Gold seven foot high enrich'd with Pretious Stones and Oriental Pearl A Table of Gold five foot long and three foot high in the middle of which is to be seen our Saviour in Relief together with six Apostles and four Angels the whole of Gold enrich'd with Pretious Stones and Oriental Pearls a Sea Agate a Topaze and two admirable Grenates Another Cross of Gold six foot high adorn'd with Pretious Stones So soon as you come into the Great Room entring in upon the Right you meet with in the first Cup-board or Press A great Cross of massy Gold cover'd with Rubies Saphirs Emeraulds and Oriental Pearls and under the Croison a piece of Wood which as they say is a piece of the Real Cross about a foot and a half long A Shrine of Gold enclosing a Crucifix made of the same Wood by the hands of Clement III. The Oratory of Philip the August enrich'd with an Infinite Number of Pretious Stones which encloses Thirty four sorts of Reliques among which are reck'nd one of the Thorns of our Saviour's Crown The Spunge with which they gave him Vinegar and Gall A piece of his Garment A Viol full of the Blood and Water which issu'd from his Side and some of the Myrrh which the Magi offer'd One of the Nails with which our Saviour was fasten'd to the Cross And Image of the Holy Virgin gilt and enamell'd which holds in one hand a Shrine containing her own Hair and some pieces of her Garments Another of the same holding another Casket wherein are preserv'd the Linnen made use of in Burying our Saviour An Image of the same Metal of St. John the Evangelist with one of his Teeth A Shrine of Gold containing as they assure us the Bones of several Saints An Arm-bone of St. Eustachius Such another Bone of St. Simeon in a Shrine of Gold enchac'd with Pretious Stone One of the Pitchers of Cana in Galilee The two Crowns made use of at the Coronation of Hen. IV. one of which is of Gold the other enamell'd The Scepter and the Hand of Justice in Silver of the same King This Hand of Justice is a hand at the top of a Rod held by the King as a Mark of Soveraignty Two costly Mitres of Abbots one of which is adorn'd with an Embellishment of Pretious Stones upon a Ground of Pearls A fair Crosier once an Abbots and a Battoon of Silver gilt enrich'd with Pretious Stones In the Second Press or Ambrie An enamell'd Image of St. Hilary enrich'd with Pretious Stones and Pearls A great Cross of massy Gold enrich'd with Grenates Saphirs and Pearls A Shrine of Silver gilt with a Finger Flesh and Bone of St. Bartholomew Another of the same with the Shoulder Bone as they say of John the Baptist A Cross silver gilt with a piece of the real Cross An Image silver gilt of St. Denis of Areopagus Another of the same of St. Nicholas Another of the same of St. Katherine An Eye of St. Leger Bishop of Autun A Shrine silver gilt enclosing the Reliques of the Prophet Isaiah Another of the same with a Bone of St. Pantaleon Another of Chrystal with the Hair and Garments of St. Margerie Another of Silver containing the Leprosie which Christ took from the Leper mention'd in the Gospel An Eagle of Gold enrich'd with Pretious Stones which serv'd for a Clasp for K. Dagobert's Cloak Dagobert's Scepter of Gold enamell'd An Oriental Jacinth The two Crowns of Lewis XIII the one of Gold the other enamell'd An enamell'd Crown made use of at the Funeral Pomp of Ann of
a small Copper Coyn two of which make a Sol. The Milanois Livre is worth about 10 Sols of France Milan an Archiepiscopal City is the Metropolis of the Duchy built by the Gauls when they settl'd in Italy about the year 170 after the building of Rome The Romans expell'd 'em thence 462 years after This Country was often expos'd to the Incursions of the Barbarians the Goths and Huns and after that was subdu'd by the Lombards who possess'd it till the Reign of Charlemain who made it a part of the Empire By degrees this City became so powerful that she commanded all her Neighbours and her Pride swell'd to that height that she several times rebell'd against her Sovereigns The Emperor Frederic the First was constrain'd to make use of Force to reduce her to Obedience which he brought to pass in 1160 and soon after the Empress his Wife going to Milan the People rose out the throats of the Imperial Garrison and seizing upon the Empress set her upon an Ass with her face toward the Tail which they gave her in her hand in stead of a Bridle and so led her through the whole City The Emperor justly incens'd at such a piece of Insolence besieg'd the City and forc'd it to surrender at Discretion the 3d of March 1162. Which done he levell'd it with the Earth all but three Churches drew a Plough over the whole and sow'd it with Salt as an Eternal Memorial of Reproach and Infamy upon the People who had no way to redeem their Lives but by drawing with their Teeth a Fig out of the Fundament of the Ass upon which they had set the Empress and they that refus'd to do it were put to the Sword Nine years after the City was rebuilt and rose by degrees in such a manner that now it is call'd the Great The Duchy of Milan is claim'd by the Kings of France upon account that John Galeazzo first Duke of Milan having given his Daughter Valentina in marriage to Lewis of France Duke of Orleans Second Son of Charles the Fifth surnamed the Wise it was covenanted by the Articles of the Contract That if the said John happen'd to dye without Male Issue the Duchy of Milan should descend to Lewis his Son-in-Law and his Successors So that John-Maria and Philip-Maria dying without Legitimate Offspring the Succession belong'd without dispute to Charles Duke of Orleans the Son of Lewis Charles the Fifth was not ignorant of this Pretension when he promis'd Francis the First King of France to give him the Investiture of it for one of his Sons at the Sollicitation of the Electors of the Empire But taking the advantage of his Power and the disorders of France the Emperor was so far from standing to his word that he gave the Investiture to Philip the Second his own Son and ever since the Kings of Spain have possess'd that Duchy It is observ'd that the City of Milan has been besieg'd 40 times taken 22 that it has 22 Gates including those belonging to the Suburbs 230 Churches 96 Parishes and that it is 10 miles in circuit It has a Senate consisting of a President and twelve Senators of which three must be natural Spaniards There is in it so great a number of Handicraft Tradesmen that 't is commonly said That Milan ought to be ruin'd to accommodate Italy This City is defended by a Castle fortifi'd with six Bastions lin'd with Brick and environ'd with Moats of running Waters There are three different Inclosures able to make great Resistance for which reason it is look'd upon to be one of the best Fortresses of Europe It is about a mile in compass containing whole Streets wherein all manner of Artificers keep their shops It also includes large Palaces where the Officers lodge and several Piazza's in one of which 6000 men may be drawn up in Battel-array There are in it likewise four Wells or Fountains which are never empty one Mill above 200 Pieces of Cannon mounted upon the Bastions not counting in those which are in the Arsenal which is furnish'd with all manner of Arms. In one Hall of the Castle is to be seen the Cannon that kill'd Marshal Crequi when he besieg'd Breme which is laid upon the Ground to the end it may never be made use of again The Cathedral Church which is call'd the Domo is the largest and most superb in all Italy except St. Peter's in Rome being lin'd with Marble within and without sustain'd with 60 Columns of white Marble which three men can hardly fathom the least of which cost 1000 Crowns those of Adam and St. Bartholomew are the best esteem'd The whole Church is about 250 Paces long In St. Anthony's Church is to be seen a Brazen Serpent which they would make you believe to be the same that Moses lifted up in the Desert and that the Emperor Theodosius brought it to Milan Strangers go to see the Great Hospital at Milan considerable for the largeness and magnificence of it the conveniency of the Building and the good order of the Government It is endow'd with a Revenue for the maintenance of above 4000 Persons The Chambers of the Sick are built in form of a Cross with an Altar open on four sides in the middle where the sick People go to say Mass at their going to bed Besides this Hospital there is another upon the Moat of the City wherein there are as many Chambers as there are Days in the Year There are to be seen at Milan the Ruins of Triumphal Arches Baths and other Roman Edifices and the Church of St. Lanrence built after the Model of the Roman Pantheon was a Temple dedicated to Hercules In former times the Emperors were crown'd at Milan with an Iron Crown and at Alexandria in the same Province with a Crown of Straw The other Cities belonging to this Duchy are Coma Cremona Tortona Lodi Novara Valencia Pavia c. which are all considerable in some respect or other but my purpose is to speak of Milan and Pavia only which are the principal Pavia regularle fortified is seated in a Plain upon the River Tecino In the Cathedral is to be seen a small Mast of a Ship which the People believe to be Rowland's Lance who was Nephew to Charlemain St Austin's is remarkable for the Tomb where that Saint lies Enterr'd In the Grand Piazza stands a Statue of the Emperor Constantine though some will rather have it to be the Statue of the Emperor Antoninus It stood formerly at Ravenna from whence it was remov'd to Pavia And History observes upon this Subject that Laurec the French General having taken that City by storm in 1527 a Soldier of Ravenna who enter'd first desir'd of his General that Statue for his Reward to the end he might send it back to Ravenna But the Inhabitants being more afflicted with that loss then the loss of their Estates which the Soldiers were just going to plunder from 'em or the Lives of their Country-men