Notre-Dame: The Soul of France

by Agnès Poirier

Overview

The miraculous history of Notre Dame de Paris – its construction, near destructions and survival against all odds

‘Vivid and engrossing... the opening chapter repays the cover price.’ Observer

Winner of The 2022 French Heritage Society Book Award

The profound emotion felt around the world upon seeing images of Notre-Dame in flames opens up a series of questions: Why was everyone so deeply moved? Why does Notre-Dame so clearly crystallise what our civilisation is about? What makes ‘Our Lady of Paris’ the soul of a nation and a symbol of human achievement? What is it that speaks so directly to us today?

In answer, Agnès Poirier turns to the defining moments in Notre-Dame’s history. Beginning with the laying of the corner stone in 1163, she recounts the conversion of Henri IV to Catholicism, the coronation of Napoleon, Victor Hugo’s nineteenth-century campaign to preserve the cathedral, Baron Haussmann’s clearing of the streets in front of it, the Liberation in 1944, the 1950s film of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Quinn, and the state funeral of Charles de Gaulle, before returning to the present.

The conflict over Notre-Dame’s reconstruction promises to be fierce. Nothing short of a cultural war is already brewing between the wise and the daring, the sincere and the opportunist, historians and militants, the devout and secularists. It is here that Poirier reveals the deep malaise – gilet jaunes and all – at the heart of the France.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786077998
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Agnès Poirier is a writer, commentator and broadcaster. She is a regular contributor on politics and arts for the BBC, CNN, Sky News, Channel 4 and France 24, and she writes for the Guardian, Observer, The Times, Evening Standard and The New York Times, among others. Her most recent book is the acclaimed Left Bank: Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris, 1940–50. She lives in Paris and visits London regularly. @AgnesCPoirier

Table of Contents

Map xi

Prologue xiii

1 15 April 2019-The Night of the Fire 1

'That night, I died'

2 1163 - The First Stone 25

'If this monument is one day finished, no other will ever compare'

3 1594 and 1638 - The Bourbons 47

'Paris is well worth a Mass!'

4 1789-Reason, Supreme Being and Wine 55

'The ceremony should have been religious, but it was almost all military'

5 1804 - The Coronation of Napoleon 67

'Vivat imperator in aeternam!'

6 1831 - How Victor Hugo's Novel Saved Notre-Dame 89

This Will Save That

7 1844-Viollet-le-Duc 101

'I wish my life would end right here in the rose window's light'

8 1865 - Haussmann 'Unclutters' the Íle de la Cité 121

'Like an elephant in the middle of a desert'

9 1944 - De Gaulle at the Liberation 129

'The Magnificat rises. Has it ever been more ardently sung? However, shooting continues inside'

10 2013 - The Bells of Notre-Dame 145

This sonorous isle

11 2019-The Battle for the Reconstruction of Notre-Dame 155

'We will rebuild her even more beautiful than before'

Afterword 181

Bibliography 185

Notes 191

Acknowledgements 207

Index 209

Editorial Reviews

‘I doubt that any book published this year will start with a more gripping opening chapter than hers...Poirier recounts these and many other stories with terrific élan and a wry eye for eccentric details.’

The Times

‘An elegant and razor-sharp chronicle of Our Lady of Paris.’

France

'A passionately recounted history, a compelling story of destruction, restoration and the rebirth of hope.'

Michèle Roberts

'This is not so much a history of the 850-year-old cathedral as an act of thanksgiving for its unknown medieval builders and its modern restorers. Poirier has interviewed several of those involved in the salvage operations. Their emotional involvement with the cathedral and its relics is at the heart of this engaging book.’

Spectator

‘Brisk and entertaining... there is much to be learned here.’

Literary Review

'Concise and erudite.'

New European

‘An elegant and razor-sharp chronicle of Our Lady of Paris.’

France

'Notre-Dame is both the soul of France, and the beating heart of Paris. I haven’t been there in a long time. This book left me aching to return.'

Catholic Herald

‘Vivid and engrossing... the opening chapter repays the cover price: a breathless, exhaustively researched and utterly unputdownable account of the drama... elegant, witty and constantly informative.’

Observer

‘Unlocks the door to the past and illuminates Notre-Dame’s role in French culture.’

Herald

'A passionately recounted history, a compelling story of destruction, restoration and the rebirth of hope.'

Michèle Roberts

'A passionately recounted history, a compelling story of destruction, restoration and the rebirth of hope.'

Michéle Roberts

★ 2020-07-08
The great cathedral’s history as seen through the lens of its near destruction by fire in April 2019.

Poirier is commended for not setting out to write a history of Notre-Dame itself. Rather, she seeks to contextualize the history of Paris and of France through the story of the great edifice, a task she executes masterfully. The narrative is necessarily bookended by both the conflagration, which nearly destroyed the cathedral, and by the controversial plans for restoring Notre-Dame to a lasting landmark. The author begins with a detailed, emotional account of the day of the fire, describing heroic efforts to control it as well as the public shock and dismay over the unfolding tragedy. She carries the story through to the point at which the fire was under control, with President Emmanuel Macron promising that it would be rebuilt. From here, Poirier takes readers back to the origins of Notre-Dame in the 12th century, examining what is known about its design, construction, and financing while also describing life in Paris at the time. The author also examines other eras in French history—e.g., the Bourbon kings, the Revolution, the era of Napoleon—showing how the cathedral has acted as a solid background, a site of calm and reverence even in the most chaotic moments of France’s national story. Poirier then moves on to modern reformers and restorers, especially Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879), “a rebel against the academies [who] also belonged to those lovers of old stones who tirelessly campaigned to restore and treat medieval monuments with dignity.” In conclusion, the author considers the plans to rebuild Notre-Dame, noting the controversies over design and funding, all set against the backdrop of a race against time. The timing of the book—before the restoration—is also noteworthy, as Poirier captures a poignant moment in history: Paris without her Lady.

An evocative, emotionally satisfying look at one of the world’s great architectural treasures.

Kirkus Reviews