Category: 16th Century

A Life in Paris – March 7, 1582

At the beginning of the month of March the King asked for private loans from the bourgeois of Paris…

IMG_8672Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

At the beginning of the month of March the King asked for private loans from the bourgeois of Paris, to pay for his pleasures and those of the mignons…in this way he exploited the people, who are not so stupid that they are not well aware of it. They complain, but can do nothing else, having to give way to a force greater than theirs.

Pierre de l’Etoile

Notes:
• From The Paris of Henry of Navarre as seen by Pierre de l’Etoile
• Pierre de l’Etoile (also spelled Estoile) was a French diarist who chronicled the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV.

A Life in Paris – February 11, 1584

On the day before Lent the King and the Duke went together through the streets of Paris, followed by all their favorites and mignons, mounted and masked…

IMG_7537Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

On the day before Lent the King and the Duke went together through the streets of Paris, followed by all their favorites and mignons, mounted and masked, disguised as merchants, priests, lawyers, etc., tearing about with loose rein, knocking down people, or beating them with sticks, especially others who were masked. This was because on this day the King wished it to be a royal privilege to go about masked. They went to the fair in St. Germain and committed infinite insolences, rioting and disturbing the good people who were there until six o’clock in the morning.

Pierre de l’Etoile

Notes:
• From The Paris of Henry of Navarre as seen by Pierre de l’Etoile
• Pierre de l’Etoile (also spelled Estoile) was a French diarist who chronicled the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV.

Thoughts on Paris – February 5, 1595

Many ballets, masquerades, and feasts were held in Paris…

IMG_1312Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

Many ballets, masquerades, and feasts were held in Paris. At the court the most beautiful women of the town were there at His Majesty’s command to entertain the ambassadors. They were richly dressed…and so covered with pearls they could hardly move.

Pierre de l’Etoile

Notes:
• From The Paris of Henry of Navarre as seen by Pierre de l’Etoile
• Pierre de l’Etoile (also spelled Estoile) was a French diarist who chronicled the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV.

A life in Paris – January 31, 1595

Most of the diseases of this season are unknown to the doctors…

IMG_1763Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

Most of the diseases of this season are unknown to the doctors, caused by the weather, humid and warm after a long, hard freeze, which always causes a lot of sickness.

Pierre de l’Etoile

Notes:
• From The Paris of Henry of Navarre as seen by Pierre de l’Etoile
• Pierre de l’Etoile (also spelled Estoile) was a French diarist who chronicled the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV.

A life in Paris – January 24, 1588

Such a great fog descended on this city of Paris and its environs, especially from noontime on, that nothing like it has ever been seen in the memory of man…

IMG_8876Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

Such a great fog descended on this city of Paris and its environs, especially from noontime on, that nothing like it has ever been seen in the memory of man. It was so thick, and the atmosphere so dark, that two people walking in the street together couldn’t see each other, and torches were needed at three o’clock. Wild geese and other creatures fell out of the air into the courtyards of houses, suffocated.

Pierre de l’Etoile

Notes:
• From The Paris of Henry of Navarre as seen by Pierre de l’Etoile
• Pierre de l’Etoile (also spelled Estoile) was a French diarist who chronicled the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV.

A life in Paris – January 10, 1587

The King called to the Louvre [various members] of the Parlement…

i-LG67L9D-X2Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

The King called to the Louvre [various members] of the Parlement, the Prévost des Marchands and Échevins, and some leading bourgeois of his good city of Paris. In the presence of [members of his Conseil] he told them he was determined to make war to the death on those of the new opinion [Protestants]…. When he paused a little, this speech was received with acclamation by all…until he said further that he was going to need from them 600,000 crowns…that would be raised by a special tax on the richer men of Paris…. At this they were at a loss for words and went home much put out.

Pierre de l’Etoile

Notes:
• From The Paris of Henry of Navarre as seen by Pierre de l’Etoile
• Pierre de l’Etoile (also spelled Estoile) was a French diarist who chronicled the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV.

A life in Paris – January 9, 1577

A memorial service was held in Notre Dame…

IMG_3013 2Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

A memorial service was held in Notre Dame for the late Maximilian of Austria, Emperor, father-in-law of the late King Charles IX, with the great and magnificent ritual customary in such cases.

Pierre de l’Etoile

Notes:
• From The Paris of Henry of Navarre as seen by Pierre de l’Etoile
• Pierre de l’Etoile (also spelled Estoile) was a French diarist who chronicled the reigns of Henry III and Henry IV.