Rouen, Its History and Monuments | Page 3

villages deserted; the population massacred; the towns half destroyed, every where discord, hatred, avarice, and rapacity; all excesses united: such is the picture of the country at that period. At last Rollo, is created duke of Normandy; the proud Norwegian, becomes the benefactor of the country, to which he had so long proved a scourge. The population reappears; an active police is established, robberies are put a stop to; no more plunderers exist on the highways, or thieves in the towns. Rouen, rises from amidst its ruins, its monuments are repaired, its size increases, its political influence is becoming immense.
The second boundary is due to Rollo, the first duke, and to his son Guillaume Longue-Epée. They confined the waters of the Seine in a narrower bed. Several churches, such as Saint-Martin-de-la-Roquette, Saint-Clement, Saint-Stephen and Saint-Eloi, which had till then been situated on small islands, were united to the main land, the portion which had been gained from the river, received the name of Terres-Neuves. The limits of the town remained the same on the north, east and west.
Under the first succeeding dukes, the town extended westward, as far as the Old-Market place. The porte Cauchoise was erected about the beginning of the XIth century, that is to say, under Richard II.
The fourth boundary was effected under the last dukes. The town extended on the north to the height of the rue Pincedos: on the east, to the rue de la Chèvre. These two streets occupy the ground on which the ditches were situated at that time.
A very short time after, Philip-Augustus, who had just taken Rouen, and all Normandy from Jean-Sans-Terre, caused the old castle to be built, which was included within the interior of the town, in the middle of the XIIIth century; the fifth boundary was made in the reign of Saint-Louis. Rouen was then enlarged by the greater portion of the ground which forms the parishes of Saint-Patrice, Saint-Nicaise, Saint-Vivien, and Saint-Maclou. The gates of Martainville, Saint-Hilaire and Bouvreuil were then built.
A sixth enlargement took place about the middle of the XIVth century. The monastery of the Jacobins, which now forms a portion of the prefecture, was enclosed within the walls of the town, as also the Church of Saint-Peter-le-Portier, so that it obliged them to put the porte Cauchoise farther out. On the east, the town was enlarged by the quarter of the Marequerie.
It is not probably to Rollo, the first duke that we owe the institution of the exchequer. The first trace of it, is only found under William-the-Conqueror. Perhaps even, it was only known under his son Henry Ist ?the King Duke.? Ancient writers have thought that an exchequer existed in England before the conquest. The learned Madox, on the contrary, (vol. 1st page 177 and following) declares, that he has not found in any document prior to William's expedition, the word scaccarium (or exchequer). But he finds it shortly after that time, from which it would appear natural to conclude that, that institution had been carried over by that prince. The exchequer was removed sometimes to Rouen, at other times to Caen, and sometimes to Falaise. Louis XIIth fixed this sovereign court at Rouen, in 1449, and opened it on the 1st october of the same year. Francis Ist raised the exchequer into a parliament in the year 1515. It was interdicted in the month of August 1540, but the 7th January 1541, was reinstated.
Thick walls, deep ditches, and formidable towers, a great many turrets, bastions, casemates, and fortified gates, made Rouen an important place, before the revolution: omitting the different sieges, which it had to sustain from the Normans, we must notice in 949 those by Otho, emperor of Germany, Louis IVth, king of France, and Arnould count of Flanders; that in 1204 by Philip-Augustus, 1418, by Henry Vth king of England; that in 1449, after which, Charles VIIth retook the town from the English; lastly, that of 1591, by Henry IVth. In all these sieges, and many more which I have not mentioned, the inhabitants of Rouen always gave proofs of great valour and sometimes of a resignation without example.
All the fortifications of the town have disappeared since the revolution; its ancient appearance, is now only found in the interior, in its religious monuments and a few houses, which time or the hand of man appears to have forgotten.
Before 1790, Rouen contained thirty seven parochial churches and about as many religious communities of both sexes. It now only contains six parochial churches, and eight chapels of ease, with a church for the use of protestants.
Rouen is situated on a gentle slope, on the right bank of the Seine, which forms the southern boundary; the suburb of Saint-Sever, is situated on the left bank. The geographical position of the town is the