Wanderings by southern waters, eastern Aquitaine | Page 7

Le Baille, merchant of the town of Pontscorf, on the river Ellé,
in the diocese of Vannes, declare with truth that, returning from a
voyage to Scotland the 13th of the month of February, 1534, at about
ten o'clock at night, we were overtaken by such a violent storm that the
waves covered the vessel, in which were twenty-six persons, and we
went to the bottom. During the voyage somebody said to me: "Let us
recommend ourselves to God and to the Virgin Mary of Roc-Amadour.
Let us put her name upon this spar and trust ourselves to the care of this
good Lady." He who gave me this good counsel and myself fastened
ourselves to the spar with a rope. The tempest carried us away, but in
so fortunate a manner that the next day we found ourselves on the coast
of Bayonne. Half dead, we landed by the grace of God and the aid of
His pitiful mother, Notre Dame de Roc-Amadour. I have come here out
of gratitude for this blessing, and have accomplished the journey in
fulfilment of my vow to her, in proof of which, I have signed here with
my hand.--Louis BAILLE.'
Such streams of pilgrims crossed the country from various directions,
moving towards the sanctuary in the Haut-Quercy, that inns or 'halts'
were called into existence on the principal lines of route, and lanterns
were set up at night for the guidance of the wanderers. The last halt was
close to Roc-Amadour, at a spot still called the Hospitalet. Here were
religious, who bound up the pilgrims' bleeding feet, and provided them
with food before they descended to the burg and completed the last part

of their pilgrimage--the ascent of the steps--upon their knees. The
sportelle, or badge of Notre Dame de Roc-Amadour, ensured the
wearer against interference or ill-treatment on his journey. It is
acknowledged that the English respected it even in time of war. At the
Great Pardon of Roc-Amadour, in 1546, so great was the crowd of
pilgrims, who had come from all parts, that many persons were
suffocated. The innkeepers' tents gave the surrounding country the
appearance of a vast camp. Sixteen years later, when Roc-Amadour fell
into the hands of the Huguenots, and the religious buildings were
pillaged and partly destroyed, the pilgrimage received a blow from
which it never quite recovered. It ceased completely at the Revolution,
but has since been revived, and some thousand genuine pilgrims,
chiefly of the peasant class, now visit Roc-Amadour every year.
For nearly 300 years the history of the Quercy and Roc-Amadour was
intimately associated with that of England. Henry II. did not at first
claim the Quercy as a part of Eleanor's actual possessions in Aquitaine;
but he claimed homage from the Count of Toulouse, who was then
suzerain of the Count of Quercy. Homage being refused, Henry
invaded the county, captured Cahors, where he left Becket with a
garrison, and thence proceeded to reduce the other strongholds.
Roc-Amadour appears to have offered little if any resistance. The
Quercy was formally made over to the English in 1191 by the treaty
signed by Philip Augustus and Richard Coeur-de-Lion; but the aged
Raymond V. of Toulouse protested, and the Quercynois still more
loudly. These descendants of the Cadurci found it very difficult to
submit to English rule. Unlike the Gascons, who became thoroughly
English during those three centuries, and were so loath to change their
rulers again that they fought for the King of England to the last, the
Quercynois were never reconciled to the Plantagenets, but were ever
ready to seize an opportunity of rebelling against them. It is well
known that Richard Coeur-de-Lion lost his life at the hand of a
nobleman of the Quercy. While Guyenne was distracted by the family
quarrel of the first Plantagenets, the troubadour Bertrand de Born by his
gift of words so stirred up the patriotic and martial ardour of the
Aquitanians that a league was formed against the English, which
included Talleyrand, Count of Périgord, Guilhem (or Fortanier) de
Gourdon, a powerful lord of the Quercy, De Montfort, the Viscounts of

Turenne and Ventadour. These nobles swore upon the Gospels to
remain united and faithful to the cause of Aquitaine; but Richard, partly
by feats of war and partly by diplomacy, in which it is said the
argument of money had no inconsiderable share, broke up the league,
and Bertrand de Born, being abandoned, fell into the Plantagenet's
hands. But he was pardoned, probably because Richard was a
troubadour himself in his leisure moments, and had a fellow-feeling for
all who loved the 'gai sçavoir.' Meanwhile, the Lord of Gourdon was
not to be gained over by fair words or bribes, and Richard besieged his
castle, some ruins of which may still be seen