[COMPLETE] Henry the Fourth King of France and Navarre by Abbott - icequeen

[pnagami]

I don’t know any of this except that plaster of Paris has something to do with the right bank. (Or maybe not).

Thanks!

Pam

[barbara2]

I don’t know any of this except that plaster of Paris has something to do with the right bank. (Or maybe not).

Thanks!

Pam

Tim Flannery says that the mining for gypsum for the plaster of Paris almost undermined Montmartre. But the beautiful limestone of which Paris is built was mined mostly under the Left Bank (where is was nearest the surface) creating the tunnels that are sometimes called the Catacombs of Paris though only a tiny bit of them is an ossuary.

When major roads had to be built on the relatively unpopulated Left Bank - To Versailles, to Fontainebleau - suburbs grew up beside the roads. Traffic became heavier. People seem to have ignored, and to have had no record of, the limestone mines. Till, in 1774, disaster struck! 100 feet of road fell into a cavern 100 feet deep. And the engineers had to get to work shoring things up.

And there are an estimated 200 miles of these mostly unmapped tunnels under the Left Bank - deep and dark and perilous - so very inviting to intrepid explorers.

I guess Henri IV was aware of the limestone mines?

Barbara

[pnagami]

Barbara,

This is fantastic. I was hoping you would go into some of this. He might have known about them if they had military significance as a way of infiltrating the city. Did the left bank have any significance for military defense?

Pam

[barbara2]

Barbara,

This is fantastic. I hoped you would go into some of this. He might have known about them if they had military significance as a way of infiltrating the city. Did the left bank have any significance for military defense?

Pam

For defence, the Île de la Cité would traditionally have been the place to retreat to? Old images show it as heavily fortified. I can't find any connection with Henri IV and, from the maps, the tunnels run outside the City Walls of the Right Bank.

According to the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research traces of the second city wall of Paris (on the Rue de Rivoli, so Right Bank) have been unearthed. It C11, and "situated between that built in Late Antiquity (early 4th century, on the Ile de la Cité) and that of Philip Augustus (around 1200, built on both banks). " The Philip Augustus wall was crumbling and our Henri demolished it on the Left Bank and dug ditches instead.

Meanwhile, on the Right Bank, there have been 7 city walls (which the forum software might find a bit much to list).

The Resistance would hide in the tunnels and the Germans and Vichy built air raid bunkers in them.

The Romans founded the City on the Left Bank though....I just remembered seeing some ruins there, do you recall them? I gather that the Seine made a placid loop for itself at the Right Bank but was turbulent at the Left Bank. Could this have been significant for water travel and trade? And did the Seine change its course in historic times?

Who knows. Not me.

Barbara

[pnagami]

Hi Barbara,

Ah, this is great stuff!

Most of what I know about the defense of Paris goes no higher than "The Vikings" a swashbuckling show I watched on Amazon Prime. Two stirring attacks on the Île de la Cité were therein portrayed.

The oldest site I visited on the left bank was the Cluny Museum, which Wikipedia says is "partially constructed on the remnants of the third century Gallo-Roman baths." The museum consists of the frigidarium and the Hôtel de Cluny itself.

I don't know anything about the course of the Seine. The book you are reading sounds interesting!

Pam

[barbara2]

Hi Barbara,

...The book you are reading sounds interesting!

Pam

It is. But it was only the launching pad for all these speculations (which were prompted by the results of internet searches)!

Best,

Barbara

[pnagami]

Ah. It’s the new way we are scholarly.

Pam

[pnagami]

Hi Barbara,

Section 32 is up:

12:35

https://librivox.org/uploads/icequeen/henrythefourth_32_abbott_128kb.mp3

Hoping your cold is better,

Pam

[barbara2]

Hi Barbara,

Section 32 is up:

12:35

https://librivox.org/uploads/icequeen/henrythefourth_32_abbott_128kb.mp3

Hoping your cold is better,

Pam

Well, that was a more cheerful section - it was a pleasure to hear how wise Henry was in victory. I have marked it PL OK but I suspect you'll want to change 1796 to 1596 at 7:47.

About the cold I can only echo the infant Macaulay - the agony is abated. Anyway it was only the croakiness that kept me from recording. Your voice sounds as healthy as usual

Best,

Barbara

[pnagami]

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for picking up the error while riddled with viral RNA!

Pam

[pnagami]

Hi Barbara,

Section 33 is up:

11:41

https://librivox.org/uploads/icequeen/henrythefourth_33_abbott_128kb.mp3

The Edict of Nantes.

My best,

Pam

[barbara2]

Hi Barbara,

Section 33 is up:

11:41

https://librivox.org/uploads/icequeen/henrythefourth_33_abbott_128kb.mp3

The Edict of Nantes.

My best,

Pam

Perfect. PL OK.

Best,

Barbara

[pnagami]

Thank you, Barbara!

Pam

[pnagami]

Hi Barbara,

Section 34 is up:

14:03

https://librivox.org/uploads/icequeen/henrythefourth_34_abbott_128kb.mp3

My best and thank you for all of your hard work!

Pam

[barbara2]

Hi Barbara,

Section 34 is up:

14:03

https://librivox.org/uploads/icequeen/henrythefourth_34_abbott_128kb.mp3

My best and thank you for all of your hard work!

Pam

Congratulations on the end of another fine recording (and of a great monarch). Sadly ominous words in conclusion...

Best,

Barbara