Parisian Life in the Sixteenth Century
Proud, turbulent, fiercely Catholic, the citizens of sixteenth-century Paris played an important part in French history. Here N.M. Sutherland depicts them at home against the background of their daily work and pleasures.
“Paris is the chief town and capital of the most fertile kingdom of France,” wrote Braun and Hagenberg in the description of Paris for their great pictorial atlas of the sixteenth century, Civitates Orbis Terrarum. “Owing to its incredible size,” they went on, “the multitude of nobles, merchants, citizens, the great number of its students and the magnificence of its buildings, it is superior not merely to all the cities of France and Italy but also to those of the rest of Europe.”
Other observers were equally flattering. In 1599, the traveller, Thomas Platter, remarked that Paris could justifiably be called a little world apart, or “Paris sans pair.” It would be difficult, he said, in all Christendom to find so agreeable a town, where the air was mild and the climate regular, according to the season of the year.
The surrounding countryside he described as among the most fertile in France; the Ile-de-France was charming and especially rich in fruit. In it were many châteaux and pleasure houses, set amid gardens with orchards and ponds.
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.
