A poem in praise of Paris
The poem starts in the large panel at the lower left and carries on in the smaller panel in the middle, linked by the catchword “Le sainct” at the foot of the first. It is by Gilles Corrozet: the first letters of its first fourteen lines spell his name. It is his “Louenges de Paris”, printed in his Fleur des antiquitez de Paris in 1532 and lightly revised for the map (see the notes). It is in rhyming couplets of ten syllables. It runs through the city's legendary founding, its setting, its castles and great houses, its walls, bridges and churches, its courts, its university and its trade.
1Gentilz lecteurs amateurs d'escripture,Gentle readers who love the written word,
2Ioyeulx espritz regardez la staturejoyful minds, behold the stature,
3Le bastiment & la fondationthe building and the founding,
4L'accroissement & l'augmentation,the growth and the increase,
5Et la façon comment Paris la villeand the way in which the town of Paris
6S'est augmentée en matiere ciuille:has grown in its civic life:
7Considerez la sienne antiquitéconsider its antiquity,
8Ou maintz cas sont de singularité.in which many things are remarkable.
9Regardez bien tous ces beaux edificesLook well at all these fine buildings,
10Recongnoissez ses louenges propicesrecognise the praises it deserves,
11Ou on comprent sa valeur & noblessein which its worth and nobility are found,
12Son hault estat: sa doulce gentillesse,its high estate, its gentle grace,
13Et tous les biens qu'on peult en veritéand all the good that can truly
14Totallement dire d'vne cité.be said of a city.
15Noble cite & ville tant exquiseNoble city and town so exquisite,
16Dicte Paris de toutes gens requisecalled Paris, sought out by all people,
17Peult auoir loz & deseruir la gloiremay have praise and deserve the glory
18De tout honneur pour l'antique memoireof every honour, for the ancient memory
19De son premier & noble instaurateur,of its first and noble founder,
20S'il est ainsi que Paris fondateurwhether Paris was its founder,
21Ou s'ainsi est qu'auec puissant arroyor whether, with a mighty host,
22Herculez Grec ait faict fondationHercules the Greek founded
23De la cité par vne nationthe city with a people
24De son pays, ou si la gent Troyenneof his own country, or whether the Trojan race
25Ont, la cité dicte parisienne,made, built and brought into being
26Faicte & bastie, & mise en son essencethe city called Parisian.
27Ceulx cy nommez de treshaulte excellence:Those named here were of the highest excellence
28Furent iadis, & de noblesse antique,in times past, and of ancient nobility;
29Mesmement ceulx de source Dardaniqueindeed those of the line of Dardanus
30Furent trespreux, & les plus ancienswere most valiant, and the most ancient
31Qui furent onc es pays Asiens.that ever were in the lands of Asia.
32Paris aussi eust couronne royalleParis too wore a royal crown
33Et fut le Roy de France la loyalle,and was king of loyal France,
34Dont si l'vn d'eulx la faicte & instauréeso if one of them made and founded it,
35Estre ell' en doibt prisée & honorée,it ought to be prized and honoured for it.
36Pareillement la sienne antiquitéIts antiquity, likewise,
37Est de long temps, car à la veritégoes back a long way, for in truth
38Huyt cens trente ans auant que Dieu souffriteight hundred and thirty years before God suffered
39Tresdure mort, & à la croix s'offrita cruel death and offered himself on the cross,
40Paris auoit prins son commencementParis had taken its beginning
41Par les Troyens, & le sien fondement.and its foundation from the Trojans.
42Or est Paris en tres bel aer assise,Now Paris is set in very fine air;
43Entour soy a la riuiere propicearound it is the kindly river,
44Et fleuue doulx que lon appelle Seine,the gentle stream called the Seine,
45Puis est remplie de tres belle fonteine:and it is full of very fine springs.
46De l'autre part sont les foretz trespleinesElsewhere are forests full
47De venaison, champaignes, boys, & plantes,of game, and fields, woods and plants,
48Terres portans les vignes tresplaisanteslands bearing most pleasant vines,
49Aultres aussy en tous bledz habondantes,others rich in every kind of grain.
50Laer y est doulx, & la terre fertilleThe air is mild there, the soil fertile,
51Et en tous fruictz trescommode & vtille.fit and useful for every kind of fruit.
52En elle aussi sont grans chasteaulx & toursIn it too are great castles and towers,
53Plus qu'il n'ya d'icy iusques à Tours.more than there are from here to Tours.
54Maisons d'honneur on voit dedens LuteceIn Lutetia one sees noble houses,
55Maint bastillon, & riche forteressemany a bastion and rich fortress,
56Comme le Louure, & la Bastille noblelike the Louvre and the noble Bastille,
57Dont telle n'à dedens Constantinoble.whose like Constantinople has not.
58Puis des Seigneurs les maisons de plaisanceThen the lords' houses of pleasure,
59Les grans logis ou prennent ample aisancethe great lodgings where they live in ample ease,
60Comme l'hostel de Bourbon, Villeroysuch as the Hôtel de Bourbon, Villeroy
61Dict chasteau pers, & la maison du Roycalled the “château pers”, and the King's house
62Pres le palays, lequel palays à bruytby the Palace, a palace renowned
63D'estre le mieulx en bel œuure construictas the finest and best-built work
64Qu'on veit iamais en la chrestienté,ever seen in Christendom,
65Pour sa grandeur, puis on voit à plantéfor its size; then one sees in plenty
66D'aultres logis pleins de beaulx edificesother lodgings, full of fine buildings
67Pour les bourgeoys & citoyens propices.fit for the burghers and citizens.
68Ceste ville à quatorze portes closeThis town is closed by fourteen gates
69Et haultz rampars, qui n'est pas peu de choseand high ramparts, which is no small thing;
70Profondz fossez tout alentour s'estendentdeep ditches stretch all around,
71Ou maintes eaues de toutes pars se rendent,into which many waters flow from every side.
72Puis apres sont cinq grans pontz pour passerThen there are five great bridges for crossing
73Par dessus l'eaue, aussy pour rapasser,over the water, and for crossing back,
74De la Cité, en l'vniuersitéfrom the Cité to the University.
75Auec ce sont maintes eglises bellesBesides, there are many fine churches,
76Temples diuins, monasteres, chappelles,holy temples, monasteries, chapels,
77En tresgrand nombre, on peult pareillementin very great number. One may likewise
78Ceste louer pour le beau parlement.praise this city for its fine Parlement:
79Le sainct senat ou sont les Conseilliersthe holy senate, where the councillors sit,
80Nombre six vingtz hommes tressinguliers,six score men of great distinction
81De grand sçauoir, qui tiennent leur officeand great learning, who hold their office
82De par le Roy, pour faire à tous iusticefrom the King, to do justice to all
83Sur les proces à la court intimezin the suits brought before the court.
84Aultres gens sont en iustice estimezOther men are respected in justice,
85Tenant le lieu du grant preuost royalstanding in for the great royal Provost,
86Pour ordonner leur iugement loyalto give their loyal judgement
87A toutes gens selon leur cause bonneto all, according to the merits of their cause.
88Apres ya mainte docte personneThen there is many a learned person
89Estudiant aux loix pour ce establizstudying the laws, appointed to that end,
90Et de sçauoir sont tresfort ennoblizand greatly ennobled by knowledge.
91Dedens Paris les sciences florissentWithin Paris the sciences flourish,
92Et gens sçauans en ce lieu resplandissentand learned men shine in this place
93Plus qu'en nul lieu, car Palas y octroyemore than anywhere, for Pallas grants,
94Autant ou plus qu'en Athenes ou Troyeas much as or more than in Athens or Troy,
95Le sien seiour: & les muses sçauantesher dwelling here; and the learned Muses
96Font en ce lieu leur demeure tenantes,make their lasting home in this place,
97Plus que iamais ne furent sur le mondmore than ever they did on the mount
98De Aonias, ou par elle semondof Aonia, where in former days
99Estoit iadis maint homme pour apprendre,they called many a man to learning.
100Artz & mestiers, apres nous fault comprendre,Arts and crafts, next, we must include,
101Desquelz il vient tresgrande vtilitéfrom which comes very great profit
102Au lieu susdict aussy tranquilité,to the said place, and peace as well.
103Semblablement marchans de toutes guisesLikewise merchants of every kind
104Viennent illec pour toutes marchandisescome there to sell wares
105Distribuer, & tant de peuple abondeof every sort; and so many people throng
106En cestuy lieu qu'il n'ya peuple au mondeto this place that there is no people in the world
107Qui soit autant à chascun gratieuseso gracious to everyone
108Qu'est ceste cy, ny autant spatieuse.as this one, nor so spacious.
Notes
- An acrostic (lines 1–14): the opening stanza, which ends at the printer's ornament before line 15, spells GILLES CORROSET with the first letters of its lines: Gilles Corrozet (1510–1568), bookseller at the Palais and author of the first guidebooks to Paris, the Fleur des antiquitez (1532) and the Antiquitez de Paris (1550). In the Fleur the stanza is headed “Le nom et surnom de l'aucteur” (the author's name and surname) and the poem “Louenges de Paris faictes par ledict aucteur” (praises of Paris by the said author); the map leaves both headings out. Jules Cousin was the first to point the name out on the map, in 1875. We found no other acrostic: not in the rest of the poem (first or last letters, by stanza, column or panel), nor in the publishers' notice. See who made the map.
- Paris, Hercules, the Trojans (lines 19–41): the poem weighs the founding legends of its day without choosing. In one, Paris was founded by Trojan exiles: in Jean Lemaire de Belges' Illustrations de Gaule (1510–1513), Hector's son, renamed Francus, founds it and names it after his uncle Paris. Another, from the forged Antiquities of Annius of Viterbo (1498), made Paris a king of the Gauls (lines 32–33); a third credited Hercules. Dardanus (line 29) was the ancestor of the kings of Troy. None of this has any historical basis: the city takes its name from the Parisii, the Gaulish people who lived there.
- “Eight hundred and thirty years before God suffered” (line 38): about 800 BC by the legend's reckoning.
- Two lines without a partner: the poem rhymes in couplets, but lines 21 (arroy) and 74 (vniuersité) have no rhyme. The 1532 text has the missing partners: “Soit dudict lieu qui fut de Gaulle roy” (whether Paris, the founder, was king of Gaul) before line 21, and “Depuis la ville en la noble cite” (from the town to the noble Cité) before line 74. The count of 108 is of the lines as printed on the map.
- The map's text and the book's: compared with the Fleur of 1532, the map leaves out four lines (the two above and, after line 71, a couplet saying the enclosure takes in seven leagues) and changes about ten words. Some changes bring the facts up to date: the book has eleven gates and thick walls (unze portes, gros murs) where the map has fourteen gates and high ramparts (lines 68–69), and a hundred councillors where the map has six score (line 80). Others look like slips: propice (line 43) and plantes (line 47) break rhymes that the book's rassise and plaines make. Line 15 begins Noble on the map, Nostre (our) in the book. The book also helps with line 98: the map's par elle (by her) is par elles (by them, the Muses) there, and the translation follows the book. Who made the changes, and whether a later edition of the Fleur already had them, is not known.
- Lutetia (line 54): the Roman name of Paris.
- The Hôtel de Bourbon (line 60): the Petit-Bourbon, beside the Louvre.
- Villeroy, “château pers” (lines 60–61): the words are clear on the scan, the meaning is not. Villeroy is probably the town house of the Neufville family, lords of Villeroy, in the rue des Bourdonnais, whose oldest parts go back to about 1370; rebuilt in the 17th century, it still stands. Pers was a blue or blue-grey colour; we have found no source that explains the name.
- The King's house by the Palace (lines 61–62): the Palace is the Palais de la Cité, the old royal palace on the island, by then above all the seat of the Parlement (today's Palais de Justice). Which royal house beside it the poet means is not clear.
- Five great bridges (line 72): Pont Notre-Dame, Pont au Change and Pont aux Meuniers (a bridge of water mills) on the right arm of the Seine; Petit-Pont and Pont Saint-Michel on the left arm. All five are on the map.
- The holy senate (lines 78–83): the Parlement of Paris, the highest court of the realm, not an assembly. Francis I (r. 1515–1547) enlarged it with two new chambers of twenty members each and a score more judges. The 1532 text of the poem says a hundred councillors; the map says “six score” (120). We have not been able to confirm the exact figure.
- Standing in for the Provost (lines 84–87): tenant le lieu, “holding the place”, is what lieutenant means. The Prévôt de Paris was the king's judge for the city; his lieutenants, civil and criminal, did the judging in his name at the Grand Châtelet.
- Pallas, the Muses, Aonia (lines 93–99): Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom; the Muses lived on Mount Helicon in Aonia, a poetic name for Boeotia in Greece. The claim: Paris and its university outshine Athens.
The publishers' notice
Icy est le vray pourtraict naturel de la ville, cité, vniuersité & Faubourgz de Paris, ou sont iustement figurées toutes les Rues & Ruelles correspondantes l'vne à l'autre, ainsi qui sont de present situées, qui sont en nombre deux cens quatre vingtz & sept. Pareillement sont figurées toutes les Eglises, & Monasteres, qui sont en nombre cent quatre. Aussy sont figurez tous les Colleges, qui sont en nombre quarante neuf. Et pour congnoistre icelles Rues, Ruelles, Eglises, Monasteres & Colleges, vous trouuerrez leurs noms escriptz à chascun sur son propre endroict. Comme plus amplement vous pouez voir cy dessus.Here is the true portrait from life of the town, city, university and suburbs of Paris, in which all the streets and lanes are accurately drawn, each meeting the next as they now lie: two hundred and eighty-seven of them. Likewise all the churches and monasteries are drawn: one hundred and four. All the colleges are drawn too: forty-nine. And so that you may know these streets, lanes, churches, monasteries and colleges, you will find the name of each written in its own place, as you can see in full above.
A Paris, par Oliuier Truschet, & Germain Hoyau, demourans en la Rue de Montorgueil, au Chef sainct Denys.At Paris, by Olivier Truschet and Germain Hoyau, living in the rue de Montorgueil, at the sign of the Head of Saint Denis.
Notes
- The counts: the notice promises 287 streets and lanes, 104 churches and monasteries and 49 colleges. The labels read for this site name 219 streets, 91 churches and religious houses and 32 colleges; many more are drawn without a name (see how the labels were read).
- The publishers: the notice does not say who drew the city and who cut the woodblocks, and modern sources disagree. Both men belonged to the image-makers of the rue Montorgueil, who made large woodcut prints for hanging on walls: Truschet is recorded there in the 1550s as a cutter of pictures (tailleur d'histoires), at the sign of the Chef Saint-Denis; Hoyau later bought shares of a house nearby, the Bon Pasteur (1563 and 1566).
- The Chef Saint-Denis (the head of Saint Denis) was a house sign. Denis, first bishop of Paris, was beheaded on Montmartre and, in the legend, walked away carrying his head.
- The date: the notice gives none. Jules Cousin, who published the first facsimile in the 1870s, dated the plan about 1552; others say 1553. This site says c. 1550.
Other words on the map
- The title banner at the top: La ville, cité, université de Paris, “the town, the city and the university of Paris”: the three parts of Paris at the time, the Ville on the right bank, the Cité on the island, the Université on the left bank.
- The winds and the quarters: blowing heads in three corners and Latin names along the edges: Subsolanus (the east wind) at the top left, Oriens (east) at the top, Auster (the south wind) at the top right; Septentriones (north) at the bottom left, Occidens (west) at the bottom and Favonius (the west wind) at the bottom right. The map is printed with east at the top.
- The arms and the crescents at the top: the arms of France (golden lilies on blue, under a crown), the arms of Paris (the ship), and between France and the Subsolanus three interlaced crescents, the emblem of King Henri II (r. 1547–1559).
- BIBL. PUBL. BASILIENSIS, bottom left: the stamp of the public library of Basel. Its copy is the only one known; the librarian Louis Sieber recognised it in 1874.
About this transcription
Transcribed from the Basel copy and checked line by line against the scan. The long s (ſ) is printed as s, the æ ligature as ae, and the printer's abbreviations are written out (q̃ = que, p̄lemẽt = parlement, a tilde for a following n or m). Everything else is as printed: spelling, accents and their absence (cite, line 15), u for v and v for u, i for j, and word division (n'ya, que lon).
The translation follows the original line by line where the syntax allows, so a sentence sometimes runs across lines in a different order. The transcription and translation were made with Claude Code (see how this was built); corrections are welcome.
References
Everything the project reads from is on the Sources page.
- Gilles Corrozet, La fleur des antiquitez de la noble et triumphante ville et cité de Paris, second edition (1532), ed. P. Lacroix (“le bibliophile Jacob”), Paris, 1874, pp. 64–68: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF (the poem, with its acrostic stanza); comparison in the research notes.
- Jules Cousin, “Notice sur un plan de Paris du XVIe siècle nouvellement découvert à Bâle”, Mémoires de la Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Île-de-France, t. I (1875), pp. 46–59: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF (the acrostic, pp. 51–52).
- Jules Cousin, “Table des noms des rues… inscrits sur le plan de Paris publié vers 1552 par Olivier Truschet et Germain Hoyau”, Mémoires de la Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Île-de-France, t. I (1875), pp. 60–70: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.
- Catherine Hofmann, “Publishing and the Map Trade in France, 1470–1670”, in The History of Cartography, vol. 3 (University of Chicago Press, 2007), ch. 53: PDF (Truschet and Hoyau, the rue Montorgueil).
- Séverine Lepape, Gravures de la rue Montorgueil (Éditions de la BnF, 2015): OpenEdition (the Montorgueil image-makers; Hoyau and the Bon Pasteur house).
- Plan de Truschet et Hoyau, Wikipédia (the Basel copy, its rediscovery in 1874).
- Francus, Wikipedia; “The Reception of Annius of Viterbo's Forgeries: The Antiquities in Renaissance France”, journals.uchicago.edu (the founding legends).
- History of France, 1490–1715, Encyclopaedia Britannica (Francis I and the Parlement of Paris).
- Châtelet, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911 (the Prévôt and his lieutenants).
- Hôtel de Villeroy (Paris, 1st arrondissement), Wikipedia.
- The bridges, the Palace and the Petit-Bourbon: their place pages on this site, with their own sources.
Paris 1550, by Peer Blekelj.