Rouen, Its History and Monuments: A Guide to Strangers — John Shaqi
Rouen, Its History and Monuments: A Guide to StrangersLicquet, Théodore
History
Rouen, Its History and Monuments: A Guide to Strangers
Licquet, Théodore
Rouen (France) -- Guidebooks
Here then, is the first boundary of Rouen under the Romans, and
drawn-out by them: _on the south_ the Seine, the waters of which at this
time, came as high as the line occupied at present by the rue des
Bonnetiers, the place de la Calende, that of Notre-Dame on its southern
portion, and thus along to the extremity of the rue aux Ours. _On the
north_, the ditch which existed the whole length of the streets de
l'Aumône, and Fossés-Louis-VIII, that is to say, from the river Robec at
the east, to the rue de la Poterne at the west. From the latter point
draw a line in a southern direction passing across the Mew-Market, the
rue Massacre and the rue des Vergetiers, to the rue aux Ours and you
will have the _western limit_. The _eastern limit_ is naturally marked
out by the course of the Robec. The town maintained this boundary till
the Xth century, the period of the establishment of Rollon, in this
portion of Neustria to which the Normans gave their name.
I have already said, that Rouen, was an important town under the Romans,
and this truth is proved, by the fact. It does not figures, it is true,
in the notice of the dignities of the Empire, as the seat of a superior
magistrate, but, nevertheless it is spoken of, as a town having a
garrison; and, it was there that the _præfectus militum Ursariensium_
or, as we should say in English, the colonel of the regiment of the
Ursarians, resided.
The ecclesiastical annals also, prove the importance of Rouen at this
period. We find, in fact, during the first ages of christianity, the
apostles coming into Gaul, going to Rouen, and fixing their abode in a
principal town that the sacred word might be more easily spread thro'
the surrounding country.
As Saint-Nicaise did not come to Rouen, we must consider Saint-Mellon,
as its most ancient bishop. The erection, or the consecration of a first
chapel in Rouen, under the patronage of the virgin, is the only
important event which the life of this prelate contains. As to the
destruction of a temple dedicated to the pretended idol Roth, I think I
have proved in an other work[2], first, that there never existed an idol
of that name, neither was the temple situated on the ground occupied by
the church of Saint-Lo; secondly, that this temple was demolished by
Saint-Romain, nearly four hundred years later.
Nothing very remarkable happened at Rouen, under the successors of
Saint-Mellon, until Saint-Victrice. But, here commences a new era for
the town. Its population increases, its reputation extends, the temples
of the true god are multiplied; even Saint-Victrice himself works in
their erection: «He rolls the stones with his own hands, he carries them
on his shoulders.»
This town continued its career peaceably during nearly a century, until
Saint-Godard succeeded to the episcopate. Then we come to a great
historical transition.
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