La Garde Ecossaise Historical Fiction and Early Modern Studies Newsletter

No. 9. British Travellers and their impressions of seventeenth-century France

Welcome

A warm welcome to the La Garde Ecossaise Historical Fiction newsletter – this is your fortnightly update on the novel series and early modern studies.

New Releases from La Garde Ecossaise

Podcast Season 1 Ep 3 ‘Stuart London’ [2. Leith, London and St Malo].

Podcast Season 1 Ep 4 ‘Early Modern France’ [2. Leith, London and St Malo], [3. Auberge at Marly]. 

These are episodes of the history podcast where we explore the real history behind the novel series.

The titles in the brackets correspond to book chapters.

The podcasts can be found on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and on Spotify.

Quote

‘As the lights of the Saint-Jean Chateau became visible the coach came to a shuddering halt and the horses backed up, clearly frightened by the sudden appearance of as man in the middle of the road shouting “descendez-vous!” “Descendez-vous!” at the coachman. Peter, curious rather than frightened, stepped out of the coach to see a man in dark leather breeches and a white shirt, all largely hidden under a black cloak. He was holding two flintlock pistols to the coachman’s head’. La Garde Ecossaise Book 1 p.32-33.

Pair of Flintlock Pistols c. 1686 MET MUSEUM Open Access

Early Modern Digest

Do You Know?

Such was the power of the Medici family during the Renaissance that there were at least four Medici’s elected Pope during the sixteenth century. See this short blog by Papal Artifacts with a selection of documents and an excellent video. https://www.papalartifacts.com/the-medici-popes-on-papal-artifacts/

Pope Clement VII J. Getty Museum Google Arts Project via Wikimedia Commons

Feature Article: British Travellers and their Impressions of Seventeenth-Century France.

In our historical fiction novel La Garde Ecossaise our narrator Robert Meldrum arrives on French shores and experiences what we would call ‘culture shock’ that is, the realisation that not only is he in a foreign country but that there are different values, traditions, and societal expectations:

❝

‘I was more distracted by the scenes around me as drunken men were leering and cavorting with ladies of ill repute. I sat there open mouthed and even though I had seen this behaviour many years ago I had become less used to seeing it in recent times. The innkeeper, looking at Peter asked, ‘Is he alright?’ ‘Yes, he is fine’ replied Peter. Peter continued, ‘He has lived quite a sheltered life in Scotland’.[1]

Meldrum continues:

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‘Just then one of the ladies sat on my lap…I froze. Peter let out a loud laugh, “Calm down! It is France and they do things differently here”. Indeed, that was my first encounter with the more laissez faire attitudes towards sexual relations.’[2]

What were British travellers impressions of France in the seventeenth century? What features of the country and its people did they find strange and curious?

Travel Literature in the Early Modern Period

Many British people travelled abroad in the early modern period. Sometimes they would publish the accounts of their travels for other readers. Travel literature can fall broadly into three categories:

· Detailed and immersive guides to countries with an in-depth description of notable geographical features, cities, buildings and habits of the people. They are written in such vivid detail that the reader can imagine themselves there. This would appeal to readers who are unlikely to leave Britain’s shores. An excellent example in relation to France is The Voyage of France or A compleat journey through FRANCE By P.H. D.D [Peter Heylin].[3]

· Travel guides for those who are about to embark upon a journey in a foreign country, for example, A METHORD FOR Trauell (London, 1605).[4]

· Young aristocratic gentlemen bragging about their grand tour. A grand tour was a tour of Europe for educational purposes, visiting numerous countries and cities. For example, A Tour in France & Italy Made by an English Gentleman, 1675.[5]  

So, what did the British traveller think about France during the early modern period?

 

Geography: The Lozenge or Diamond

Looking at a modern map of France we are used to seeing a Hexagon shape with well defined borders and a unified country defined by its major cities rather than its regions. 

However, as discussed in the podcast, early modern France was very different from the France we know today. 

Map of France c.1544 Sebastian Münster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Indeed, as the author of A Method for Trauell published in 1605 comments that there was disagreement over the basic shape of France at that time: 

‘Bodin [Jean Bodin] will not admit France to be square but as a Lozenge; For a matter of such generality as this, men doe alwayes set downe suppositions, not certaynties’.[6]

Indeed, although there were cartographers and maps in the early modern period, mapping was not an exact science. 

The author explains earlier that:

From Calais (for now Calais is French) to Narbone, North and South is two hundred leagues; from Rochell to Lions; West and East, is one hundred and twenty leagues. From Mets to Bayonne Northeast and Southwest, two hundred leagues; and from Morley to Bretagny, to Antibe in Provence, Northwest and Southeast, as much’.[7]  

Those of you who know about the current geography of France will notice several aspects to this passage. Note how the author states that Calais is now French, this was because it had been previously taken over by the English and returned to France as part of a treaty in 1559. Metz too had belonged to the Spanish and transferred to the French at this time too.[8] You will also notice that the south-eastern border of France halts at Antibes.

In this author’s opinion ‘Fair France’ was surrounded by ‘bad neighbours’ Spain, the Duchy of Savoy (located between Antibes and the principality of Monaco, includes Nice and Eze) and Lorraine.[9]

However, the truth of the matter lay in the fact that early modern France was not a unified state. As the author J.S. Gent describes in 1692:

‘France is divided according to the Twelve great Governments which appeared to the General Assembly of the States held in 1614, after the Majority of Lewis the thirteenth [Louis XIII]; but we must now make an addition of Lorrain and the French-County [Franche Comte], which are in its dependence, so that we will divide it into Fourteen principal parts. Four of these governments, to wit, Picardy, Normandy, the Isle of France and Champagne, are situated to the north of the Loire, and about the Seine, except the First which is more Northerly than the other Three. Those of Bretagne, Orleanois, Bourgogne, and Lyonois are about the Loire; and the other Four are to the South of the same River, to wit, Guyenne, Languedoc, about the Garonne, Dauphine, and Provence, to the east of the Rhone, one towards the North, and the other towards the South. Lorrain and the French-County are directly situated to the East of this kingdom’.[10]

This passage highlights the complexity of the early modern French state and the various centres and peripheries of political power in the early modern French kingdom. Note that at this time the Duchy of Lorraine and Franche-Comte were not officially part of French kingdom but were dependencies of the French Crown. These semi-autonomous regions tried to retain some form of independence by interacting with the many different rulers on their borders and as a result, early modern France’s borders were not secure.[11]

Indeed, the author of A Method for Trauell in 1605 comments:

‘True, that it is, that many places within this compasse are holden, but not of the King, as Avignon and what else the Pope hath: Toul, Verdun, and Mets, of the Empire: Cambray, of the House of Austrich [Hapsburgs]…so doe Lorraine also and Savoy hold of the Empire. As contrarily, there be places out of this circuit, which not-withstanding hold of this Crowne in right, and owe him fealty and homage; as the Spanyard for the counties of Flanders and Artois’.[12]  

In the sixteenth and early part of the seventeenth century, even within the Kingdom of France itself, parts of the territory were under the jurisdiction of others such as the Pope and influenced by other monarchies in Europe.[13]

Yet, according to British observers there was no doubt that the power of the French king was absolute. 

Multiple commentators note that France’s climate was temperate, blessed with hot and cold regions and this allowed France to grow some excellent food produce, especially fruit. It is also notable that each region excelled at a particular kind of food whether it be lamb, beef or wines. France, even in the early modern period, is depicted as a foodie’s paradise.[14] 

Louise Moillon, The Fruit and Vegetable Costermonger (1631) Louvre Museum Paris via Wikimedia Commons

French People: The View of Peter Heylin

In the seventeenth century France was already known for its outstanding cuisine with Peter Heylin commenting ‘Their trade is not to feed the belly, but the palette’.[15]

Indeed, he viewed French cuisine as exuberant, fulsome and luxurious compared to British cuisine, Heylin being an English protestant clergyman, surmised that their love for good food may have been tied up with their Catholic religion which through his eyes would have appeared as ornate and idolatrous. Indeed, later in the passage Heylin observes Catholic Mass in a local church and notes the disrespect shown by some attendees as they broke out into laughter - sinful parishioners were everywhere.[16]

Yet he finds the French language ‘sweet and delectable, it is cleared of all harshness, by the cutting out and leaving of consonants.’[17]  The French language had the same intonation then, as it does today. 

He comments on social codes of conduct and how fail to ‘translate’ in other cultures:

they expresse themselves with much variety of gesture, and indeed it doth not misbecome them…I have heard of a young Gallant sonne to a great Lord of one of the three British kingdomes, that spend some years in France to learn fashions; at his return he desired to see the King and his Father procured him an enterviewe; when he came within the presence chamber, he began to compose his head, and carried it, as though he had been ridden with a Martingale; next he fell to draw back his legs, and thrust out his shoulders, and that with such a graceless apishness, that the King asked him, if he meant to shoulder him out of his Chair. [18]

However, clearly social status was far more differentiated in England, than in France at this time. Heylin was appalled that titles were bestowed on the lowest in society and that beggars would speak to nobles with familiarity.[19] 

Finally, a major cultural difference between France and Britain at this time was attitudes towards sexual relations. Indeed, as with Meldrum in La Garde Ecossaise, for British travellers to France this was an unpleasant and uncomfortable eyeopener. Indeed, there is a whole chapter in Heylin’s book dedicated to the immodesty of French ladies:

‘As they are endless in their talk, so they are also regardless of the company they speak in; be he stranger or of their acquaintance it matters not. ’[20] Clearly, French women were far more assertive and forthright than their English counterparts. 

However, he adds the following:

‘though indeed no man is to them a stranger’.[21]

He also states:

‘They are abundantly full of laughter and toying, and are never without variety of lascivious songs, which spare not to sing in whose company soever: you would think modesty quite banished [in] the kingdom’.[22]  

Our fictional character’s experiences with French women were not far from the reality of Heylin’s experiences at all. 

   

Tracing Meldrum’s Journey from St Malo to Marly          

In chapters 2 and 3 of La Garde Ecossaise Book 1 Meldrum travels from St Malo in Brittany to Marly on the outskirts of Paris. 

When we read the travel literature, we discover that this was an unusual travel route for British travellers into the Kingdom of France, although we must remember that Meldrum’s ship veered off course landing off Jersey in the Channel Islands.

The traditional route for British travellers into France was via Normandy, landing at Dieppe and then taking the road to Paris.[23] 

However, to give you a flavour of Meldrum’s journey, I will use source material from the seventeenth century to show you the places he visited and what they would have looked like to an early modern traveller. 

St Malo

A Description of France describes St Malo as ‘up on the Sea, and its vast Correspondence in Foreign Countries render it one of the most considerable places of the Kingdom. It is guarded by Night by very fierce Dogs of an English Breed, which go on the Rounds of the City.’[24]

St Malo was also known for its fortress walls as displayed in this image from the later seventeenth century: 

St Malo c.1692. Printmaker: anonymous, after print by: Raulin Bougard, publisher: Pieter Persoy., CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Even today its city walls dominate the skyline as you approach from the sea. 

St Malo (2015) via Wikimedia Commons.

 Rennes

This is the capital of the province of Brittany and in the early modern period it was where the bishopric in the area was located as well as a meeting place for the regional assembly or provincial estates.[25]

 

View of Rennes c.1634 by Christophe Tassin via Wikimedia Commons

Alenḉon       

A centre of lace making during the reign of Louis XIV, it was one of the towns in France that was dominated by the kind of production and industry that Jean Baptiste Colbert, the King’s chief minister of state, wished to encourage with his economic policies.[26] 

Nogent le Rotrou

A small town dominated by its impressive chateau.

Chateau Saint-Jean, Nogent-le-Rotrou. Caroline Ernesty, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Marly-le-Roi

Marly-le-Roi as the name suggests is dominated by its association with the French Royal family. Indeed, a large royal estate was located here amongst the dense forests of Marly.  A small town grew around the chateau.  

 

Marly-le-Roi. Clicsouris, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

I hope you have enjoyed the latest edition of the newsletter. If you are reading this newsletter on the web and have any questions please leave a comment below or you can email me at [email protected]

 

 


[1] Kirsteen M MacKenzie, La Garde Ecossaise : The Life of John Hamilton c.1620-1689 Part 1 (Aberdeen, 2022) 31.

[2] MacKenzie, La Garde Ecossaise 31.

[3] P.H D.D., The Voyage of France or A Compleat journey through France (London, 1673). Indeed, headline of main pages read ‘France painted to the life’.

[4] Anon, A Method for Trauell (London, 1605).

[5] Anon, A Tour in France & Italy, Made by an English Gentleman, 1675 (London, 1605).

[6] Anon, A Method for Trauell B2, C2.

[7] Anon, A Method for Trauell (London, 1605) B2.

[8] Richard Bonney, The European Dynastic States 1494-1660 (Oxford, 1991).

[9] Anon, A Method for Trauell (London, 1605) B4.

[10] J.G. Gent, A Description of France in its Several Governments (London, 1692).

[11] Robin Briggs, Early Modern France 1560-1715 (Oxford, 1977) 75.

[12] Anon, A Method for Trauell B2.

[13] E.N. Williams, The Ancien Regime in Europe (London, 1970) 165.

[14] Anon, A Method for Trauell B2, B3; J.S. Gent, A Description of France 15.23.16.

[15] P.H. D.D. The Voyage of France 50.

[16] P.H. D.D. The Voyage of France 50.

[17] P.H.D.D. The Voyage of France 51.

[18] P.H. D.D. The Voyage of France 51-52.

[19] P.H. D.D. The Voyage of France 52.

[20] P.H. D.D. The Voyage of France 57.

[21] P.H. D.D. The Voyage of France 57.

[22] P.H. D.D. The Voyage of France 57.

[23] Anon, A Tour in France and Italy, Made by an English Gentleman, 1675 (London, 1676) 1-3; P.H. D.D. The Voyage of France 5.

[24] J.S. Gent, A Description of France 58.

[25] J.S. Gent, A Description of France 57; Williams, The Ancien Regime in Europe 166.

[26] Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, The Ancien Régime : A History of France 1610-1774 (Oxford, 1996) 174.

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