Twenty Centuries of ParisSmith, Mabell S. C. (Mabell Shippie Clarke)
History
Twenty Centuries of Paris
Smith, Mabell S. C. (Mabell Shippie Clarke)
Paris (France) -- History
“On the morrow, which was Monday, the king gave a grand dinner to a
numerous company of ladies, and at the hour of high mass the Queen
of France was conducted to the holy chapel, where she was anointed
and sanctified in the usual manner. Sir William de Viare,
Archbishop of Rouen, said mass. Shortly after mass the king, queen,
and all the ladies entered the hall: and you must know that the
great marble table which is in the hall was covered with oaken
planks four inches thick, and the royal dinner placed thereon. Near
the table, and against one of the pillars, was the king’s buffet,
magnificently decked out with gold and silver plate; and in the
hall were plenty of attendants, sergeants-at-arms, ushers, archers,
and minstrels, who played away to the best of their ability. The
kings, prelates, and ladies, having washed, seated themselves at
the tables, which were three in number: at the first, sat the King
and Queen of France, and some few of the higher nobility; and at
the other two, there were upwards of 500 ladies and damsels; but
the crowd was so great that it was with difficulty they could be
served with dinner, which indeed was plentiful and sumptuous. There
were in the hall many curiously arranged devices: a castle to
represent the city of Troy, with the palace of Ilion, from which
were displayed the banners of the Trojans; also a pavilion on which
were placed the banners of the Grecian kings, and which was moved
as it were by invisible beings to the attack of Troy, assisted by a
large ship capable of containing 100 men-at-arms; but the crowd was
so great that this amusement could not last long. There were so
many people on all sides that several were stifled by the heat, and
the queen herself almost fainted. The queen left the palace about
five o’clock, and, followed by her ladies, in litters or on
horseback, proceeded to the residence of the king at the hotel de
Saint Pol. The king took boat at the palace, and was rowed to his
hotel, where, in a large hall, he entertained the ladies at a
banquet; the queen, however, remained in her chamber where she
supped, and did not again appear that night. On Tuesday, many
superb presents were made by the Parisians to the King and Queen of
France, and the Duchess of Touraine. This day the king and queen
dined in private, at their different hotels, for at three o’clock
the tournament was to take place in the square of Saint Catherine,
where scaffolds had been erected for the accommodation of the queen
and the ladies. The knights who took part in this tournament were
thirty in number, including the king; and when the jousts began
they were carried on with great vigor, every one performing his
part in honor of the ladies. The Duke of Ireland, who was then a
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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