II. THE TOMB OF DAGOBERT AT
ST. DENIS.

When the Convention decreed the destruction of the royal tombs, ces restes du despotisme, it was understood that les monuments des arts should be preserved; and to this end a commission of artists and connoisseurs was formed to arrange the Musée des Monuments Français. It was a barbarous idea to rob churches in order to form a museum, but nevertheless a somewhat grandiose one. The Convention set the example to Napoleon, both desiring to see the finest works of art collected together in the capital; and had it not been for this fact, we should probably never have seen the Abbey Church of St. Denis restored to its pristine grandeur. The leading spirit in the preservation of the monuments was Alexander Lenoir; and, although many vandalisms were perpetrated, parts of one tomb being used to embellish another, and such like performances, yet, on the whole, the monuments met with a certain amount of respect. They were trundled along the paved road to Paris under guard of a military escort, and placed in the Convent of the Petits Augustins, where they remained until 1816, when Louis XVIII. decreed restitution to their respective churches, for many came from other parts of the country. Many of the monuments were hopelessly destroyed; some of the churches to which they belonged had been demolished, others were too poor or too indifferent to take any steps to recover their property; the chapter of Notre Dame allowed their bishops' effigies to be carted off to Versailles, and the families of the nobility were as indifferent as the clergy. Thus it happened that, in order to make a clearance for the establishment of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the disused convent, the poor statues and tombs were tossed pell-mell into the courtyard, and treated with more disrespect than by the rabid revolutionary mob, and the young men who came to study art had the opportunity of seeing the value

which their professors placed upon the Even now, it masterpieces of French art.

is said, many valuable fragments still remain in the cellars of the building, although from time to time some have been brought out to find a worthier home in a museum.

The Government of the Restoration sent the royal monuments to St. Denis; but the so-called artists, instead of placing them in their old positions, set most of the statues up on end in the crypt, and relegated the larger monuments to new sites. All sorts of curious marriages took place between kings and queens, princes and princesses, who had never known each other in life; and the tomb of Dagobert, in like manner, was rearranged. Having two sides ornamented with sculptures, what could be more seemly than to saw it down the centre, and thus form two monuments? This being done, King Dagobert and Queen Nautechilde formed ornaments for the porch, instead of occupying their original position upon the south side of the sanctuary, to which spot they were restored during the last restoration of the church, by M. Viollet

le Duc.

Much of the tomb is modern; but enough of the old work remains for purposes of study. Dagobert died in the abbey in 638, and, after being embalmed, the body was buried in the church, but no documents enlighten us upon the form of the first monument, if one was erected. The present canopied tomb has been attributed to Abbot Sugir's time, but it is evidently of a later style than the remaining portions of the church, which were built by that great architect.

The subjects represented in relief, unlike most monumental sculptures, which generally illustrate scenes, real or legendary, from the life of the defunct, refer in this case to the vision seen by a certain hermit at the passing of Dagobert. A holy anchorite named Jean, being visited by Ansoald of Poitiers on his way back to France from Sicily, related a curious vision he had had referring to the King and his doings. He was commanded to rise quickly from his sleep, and to pray for the repose of the King's soul; and no sooner had he obeyed than he saw the monarch in a boat, accompanied by a troop

of demons, who were maltreating him and beating him towards Vulcan's cave. All Dagobert could do was to call upon his good friends St. Denis, St. Maurice, and St. Martin, to whom he was particularly attached. The three friends ran to the King's assistance, although a storm was raging exceedingly fierce; and as they carried his soul to Abraham's bosom, the hermit heard the saints chant the sixty-fourth Psalm. This legend is mentioned in a letter from the Emperor Louis le Debonnaire to Hilduin, Abbot of St. Denis, as a veritable fact.

The lower zone of the tomb represents the hermit sleeping on the ground, while a bishop bends over him to awake him. In the boat are demons on each side of the King. Above are corbels, upon which the arms (a castle) of Blanche of Castile are represented. In the second zone the King's good friends have gone to his assistance. They are vested as bishops, and attended by angels holding censers and holy water stoups. The placid prelates hold the King by one hand, while a riotous demon tries to pull him back, and, in revenge for their defeat, the other devils belabour one another with rods and sticks. In the upper zone the King is saved. St. Martin and St. Denis, one vested in a cope, the other in a chasuble, hold the napkin upon which their friend stands, supported also by St. Maurice. Above is the Divine hand, between two little angels bearing censers.

The account of the tomb given by Guillaume de Nangis intimates its position in his time-the same it now occupies on the south side of the sanctuary: "Et ainsy poez entendre comment monseigneur sainct Denis délivra lame du roy Dagobert des mains aux ennemis en l'onneur et pour l'amour de ce que le roy Dagobert avoit fondé l'église de Sainct-Denis en Tonneur de luy, qu'il avoit tous jours moult onoré; et se ce ne me croyez, alez à Sainct-Denis en France, en l'église, et regardez devant l'autel ou l'en chante tous les jours la grant messe, là ou le roy Dagobert girt. La verrez vous audessus de luy ce que vous ay dit, pourtrait et de noble euvre richement enluminée."

The standing figures on each side of the slumbering King represent his wife Nautechilde, and possibly Clovis II. or Sigebert,

sons of Dagobert; the bishops kneeling on each side of the Saviour are, doubtless, the King's bɔns amis, St. Martin and St. Denis.

The tomb is a fine example of the best work of the thirteenth century, and very possibly was carved by the sculptors attached to the abbey; for during the reign of St. Louis there seems to have been an immense amount of work done there, in the way of new monuments to take the place of the older ones. There is scarcely a fragment remaining of earlier date; but the history of the abbey gives accounts of tombs erected by the King and Abbot Mathieu, for the reception of the remains of the kings which were translated in 1207 from divers other churches. The two monuments, which are undoubtedly earlier than the time of St. Louis, are the flat slab of mosaic bearing the effigy of Frédégonde, and the statue of Childebert, both of which were originally in the Church of St. Germain des Prés.

In the thirteenth century the abbey had become enormously rich, and of great importance, and the desire of St. Louis to make it the royal mausoleum naturally added to its importance. It was the home of all art industries; its school of gold and silver smithy, painting, and sculpture, was renowned all over Europe from the time of St. Eloy. It had wine-presses and a pharmacy. It undertook shoemaking, embroidering, all sorts of metal-work, ivory-carving, enamelling, and glass-staining. Its abbot was a great ecclesiastic, with supreme rights over property and lives, and answerable only to Rome. His jurisdiction stretched over twenty-six towns surrounding the abbey ; and he was allowed from ten to fourteen deacons to assist him during the celebration of mass and other religious ceremonies. Charles le Chauve was the first lay abbot (abbé commendataire) and Cardinal Retz the last.

The revenues of the abbey in the thirteenth century amounted to an enormous sum; but from that time they declined. In France it possessed nearly eighty towns and villages, twenty-nine fortified castles, thirteen priories, one hundred parishes, a large number of vineyards, mills, farms, and forests, and nine leagues of the course of the Seine, called the Waters of St. Denis. Besides these possessions, the abbey had rights over

lands, mills and salt-pits all over the kingdom.

In Germany it possessed twenty-four villages, many vast forests, and much land. In Spain, a rich priory near Burgos, and the surrounding country. Here in England, many priories, twenty-six parishes, and the port of Hastings. In Brabant, Flanders, and Hainault, twenty-six villages, much land, many monasteries and salt-pits. From Italy the revenues consisted of the produce of the entire Valteline, corn, honey, wine and silk, besides dues levied upon lands and other property. Such riches could not have been contemplated by the founder, although he did his best to appease the judgment of God by gifts to the abbey and the church. As Dom Bouquet, one of the chroniclers of the abbey, mildly puts it: "Dagobert était un prince très-adroit et rempli de finesse; il fit bien quelques actions repréhensibles aux yeux de la religion et moins sages qu'il n'eût fallu, car personne n'est parfait; cependant il est à croire que tant d'aumônes qu'il fit et les prières des saints, dont il orna les tombeaux et embellit les églises, lui auront obtenu sans peine le pardon de Dieu miséricordieux." Possibly the good monk felt undue gratitude to the sinning King for his great gifts to his church; but had the Middle Ages not produced such monstrous criminals, our artistic treasures would have been of vastly inferior quality to those we now possess the greater the sinner, the grander the peace-offering; so let us also be grateful to the "porte-sceptre qui ont fait tant de maux à la France et à l'humanité," for at all events they covered the world with a multitude of magnificent sin-offerings.

"Habingdon's Survey of Worcestershire," and it is hoped that the society may be able to complete that portion of the Habingdon MSS., which is in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, during the present year.

No part of the "Registrum Sede Vacante appears in the present series, as it was found impossible to get it ready without undue delay; the abstract is, how. ever, now completed, and the register has been returned to the Dean and Chapter. The whole of the unpublished part of this most interesting register will be printed during 1897.

In place of this register the subscribers have received the first portion of an "Index of Worcestershire Feet of Fines," which was bought for the Worcestershire Historical Library at the sale of a part of the late Sir Thomas Phillips's library in the summer of last year.

One of the most interesting of the publications of the year is the "Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Michael's, Worcester, from 1539 to 1603." These accounts have been edited by Mr. Amphlett, who has written an admirable introduction, referring to the more important parts of the MSS., and elucidating many doubtful points. As may readily be supposed, these accounts, which cover the whole of the Refor. mation period, are full of minute and valuable information. Prefixed to these accounts are those of the church of St. Helen, in the city of Worcester, for the years 1519 and 1520. They were preserved by Richard Mucklow, one of the churchwardens, and are now in the possession of his descendant, Mr. S. Zachary Lloyd, of Arcley Hall. They are the oldest known to exist in the county of Worcester, and contain many curious entries, especially as to "pewe money. The introduction has been written by

Canon Porter.

The second part of vol. xvii. of the Proceedings of the SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES has been issued. It covers the period from April 16 to June 18, 1896, and includes an unusually interesting record of work. On the opening page we have a resolution dealing with the misuse of one of the crypts of Worcester Cathe dral, a slight matter compared with the Peterborough mischief, but still pointing in the same direction, namely, towards some other controlling bodies than the deans and chapters as custodians of our national cathedrals. This subject was dealt with by the President in his annual address on St. George's Day, and the French, Swiss, and Danish systems described. It is quite clear that a change is shortly to be introduced in our own country in this matter, and is not unlikely to be taken up by the Government before long:

Archæological Societies.

PUBLICATIONS.

THE Publications of the WORCESTERSHIRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY for 1896 reached the subscribers shortly after Christmas, and fully maintain the high level of excellence which has been attained in previous years, a result which is mainly due to the efficiency with which the editor, Mr. John Amphlett, of Clent, has performed his difficult duties.

The first part consists of the fourth section of

systems in vogue in other countries, as the society appears to be doing. Passing from this important subject, we may mention the following as among other more prominent items in this part of the proceedings: A posting bill conjectured to have been carried about by Martin Luther on his preaching rounds. This curious, and perhaps unique, document was exhibited by Mr. W. G. Thorpe, and the full text is given. Some valuable notes by Mr. J. G. Waller on the painted Tabula in Norwich Cathedral, which was exhibited, follow, and are supplemented by other notes on it from Mr. W. H. St. John Hope.