The Ritual Master Welcome back, friends ! I hope you’re wearing your sturdy boots since today we’re walking. After having met Aliénor and her extraordinary life, I wanted to visit the only place still standing in Paris, that she would have known in her time. And that is the Conciergerie.
So off we go, on the great island in the middle of town, to visit what was part of the Palais de la Cité, the royal palace of the French kings starting with Clovis in 508, until Charles V in the late 14th century, who decided to move the court at the Louvre.
The palace saw many transformations, and the oldest part we see today was actually built about a hundred years after the death of Aliénor, but still, these were the walls she lived in for the 14 odd years she was Queen of France. This is the Hall of the Armed Forces, built in the early 14th century as a dining hall and gathering place for the guards and servants who worked in the palace, who counted anywhere between one thousand to two thousand souls. The many pillars supporting its vaults make it hard for the untrained eye to measure its size, but it is the largest gothic hall of a non religious nature in all of Europe. For me, mediaeval constructions have a mystical dimension hidden behind the austerity of their appearance. Looking at these masterpieces of strength, who stood the test of time (700 years is impressive, you must admit), I think of the master masons who carefully chose each and every stone in order to match a plan engraved in their imagination. I see the rumble of diners served on Christmas Eve while all the servants made sure everything was ready upstairs. I hear the lone footsteps of the night guard who came to fetch a cup of wine in the dead of night. A whole world in a story told by a few stones.
There is one more place that Aliénor would have known in her time, though not in the heart of Paris today. Her first husband, king Louis VII was a very pious man, some would say even obsessive in the matters of the church. His ally and confessor was the Abbot Suger, his main minister and counsellor, and also, the mastermind behind the Saint Denis Basilica, regarded as the starting point of gothic architecture. Suger assembled during his lifetime a true treasure of the Saint Denis Basilica, with the help of the King of course. One of the most notable donations made by Louis VII to Suger for safekeeping in the treasure of Saint Denis, was a gift received on his wedding day from Aliénor. This clear quartz vase with its honeycombed pattern, is thought to be of Persian origin, and was enriched by Suger with the golden silver mount and precious stones. On its base, the Latin inscription resumes its story : This vase, Aliénor, his wife, offered to king Louis, Mitadolus to her grand sire, the king to me, Suger, who offered it to the saints.
Mitadolus was the Latin name of Imad al-Dawla Abdelmalik, muslim king of Zaragoza, who offered the vase to Aliénor’s grandfather, William the IXth of Aquitaine (the troubadour) for his help in beating the Almoravids. Despite the violence of the crusades, the Orient was a never ending source of fascination for European intellectuals, especially in the arts. This was regarded as a prized possession for Aliénor, thus making it the perfect declaration of esteem, commitment and trust to her future husband.
Today, it is kept in the Louvre as many of the treasures collected by Suger, which makes it both accessible and mysterious at the same time. An object which started off as a block of mineral matter, turned into a vase by a Persian craftsman, passed through the hands of Aliénor, was kept for centuries as a most precious gift to the saints and is before us today. Somewhat of a miracle, I would say.
Until tomorrow, happy Advent friends !
