| OCR Text |
Show J&$53& Tint A . 14 nils hp i m h u, J CONNER OFCHAT-1BOR.D& TANTA31II. HOOT SOME time ago it was announced I that the Chateau de Chambord had been sequestered by the French government, which was a polite way of saying that it hart been taken over by the ruling powers, and would he devoted to whatever trso it was seen fit to make of it. This announcement was of interest to thousands of American tourists who may have been privileged to visit the celebrated castle in their ramblings to the south of Paris, in the department of Loir-et-Cher for the chateau is situated about twelve miles to the east of Blois, the principal city of that department, de-partment, in the midst of a park 21 miles in circumference. The sequestering of the Chateau de Chambord marked the transition of one of the most interesting structures that date back to the renaissance in France. "Francis' Folly" someone has dubbed the great rambling pile of masonry ma-sonry whose spires reach heavenward, and to whose lines architects and artists ar-tists have in vain tried to attribute some semblance of grace. But whatever architectural defects the chateau may present, there is no doubt that it is one of the most notable edifices of its kind in Europe, marking as it does the transition between the fortified castle and the Italian palace, somebody has said with all the defects of both generously incorporated. The Chateau de Chambord was built at a time when money was of little account ac-count to the ruling classes if there was a whim to be gratified. It dates back to the fourteenth century. Under the counts of Blols it was a feudal manor house. The Orleans princes converted it into a sort of hunting lodge, and it was such when Francis I decided to make of it the largest and most magnificent mag-nificent chateau in France. Francis I did not believe in doing things by halves. It was a habit of his to wander about from chateau to chateau, of which he had a considerable consider-able string, with 1,800 people forming his retinue, with furniture and baggage bag-gage in proportion. It must have been a bit annoying to the restless and high-spirited king to have members of his personal staff getting close enough so that they could recognize each other. As near as can be figured out, this was the excuse for Chambord, for in its vast halls 1,800 people would rattle around like shot In n gourd, and all (he paraphernalia that accompanied these frequent hikes could be deposited In one room and leave plenty of space for a goodly portion of the attendants to devote themselves to torpsichorean nastimes. Beginning of Chambord. The foundations of Chambord were laid in 1520. but It was not until some time later that it began to stand forth In its true proportions. When Francis I died at Itambouillet In l.Vi" Cbain-bord Cbain-bord was still incomplete, although 'K) men had labored on it fnr 12 years. But enough of (he more than -!'H) rooms had been finished, so that the royal entourage could be housed hero in enm-fort, enm-fort, while the presence of su'-h a number of persons, and the attendant gayery. alone made the pla-e endurable endur-able as a human habitation. Henry II continued the work on the chateau in an indifferent manner. Charles IX and Louis XIV in turn took a hand at it. the latter appearing in the role of chief tinkorer to tLo inartistic, in-artistic, and erecting the low s.reen at the back which completes the in-closure in-closure of the court and adds to the incongruity of the whole place. The death of Its planner did not mark the pning of high life from Chambord. When the court of Francis II was driven from Amboise by the terrible ter-rible massacre, they repaired to Chambord, Cham-bord, where it was sought by the wildest wild-est of revelry to cheer up the young king. Marie Stuart shone with particular par-ticular brilliance at these orgies, but her reign in this capacity was as brief as it was sensational. Others who followed fol-lowed in her footsteps won disfavor with Catherine, who didn't propose letting let-ting any outsider weaken the hold she exercised over her sons. Charles IX, maddened by the meddlings of his mother, went to Chambord in 1507, and the boar hunt he indulged In as an outlet out-let for his anger held the record for many years. Gradually, however, courts came less frequently to Chambord. At various times it was in the possession of Louis XIII, Louis XIV and Gaston, Due d' Orleans, who puttered around attempting attempt-ing to improve the place, only to make it worse. It was the asylum of the deposed king of Poland, Stanislaus Leckzinska, who also sought to better it, but did not stay long enough. Given to Marshal Saxe. As a partial reward for his famous victory at Fontenoy, Marshal Saxe was presented with Chambord, and for some years the brilliant old soldier kept open house there. The revolution dismantled and disfigured dis-figured the chateau, and when France once more settled down to peaceful ways Chambord was little more than a i shell. Marshal Berthier had it wished ou him by Napoleon, but the pensibn j accompanying .the bestowal was rtis- continued by Louis XVIII, and It was j sold, a national subscription bestowing it upon the infant son of the Due de Berrl, the Due de Bordeaux, who thereupon there-upon took the title of Comte de Chambord. Cham-bord. As the last of the elder or Bourbon branch of the house of Valois. he was known to royalists as Henry V. Today there are shown to visitors the king's apartments, decked out with tapestries and other gew-gaws the legitimist ladles of France who hoped one day to see him king in more than name presented pre-sented to Chambord. One point In bis favor seems to have been Unit he packed nil this stuff off to the Inaccessible Inacces-sible chateau, and spent most of his life in exile, where he was spared the doubtful pleasure of being lionized by royalists. At his death without direct heirs. In 1SS:(, he bequeathed rile chateau to the Comte de Parma and his brother, the Due de Ranli, who belonged to the Spanish branch of the house of Bourbon. Bour-bon. As an architectural marvel Chambord Cham-bord has always commanded consideration. consid-eration. The fact that It is more or less of a monstrosity is not entirely the fault of the earlier architects. Much of the trouble can be attributed to the reooiistruoiionists who came later, and whose efforts only resulted in making it look more squatty and grotesque. It is topped by a vast number of minarets, cones and turrets. The roofs to the latter are larger than the parts i they cover, and at a rtisiatieo give the ! impression of a man's hat on a boy's head. Its line are painfully severe, and there nppears to have been a studied attempt to avoid anything in the way of true b-auty. There are no les than 4 to rooms in the chateau. There are t:t staireaes, the mot famous of whieTi is the eniiid, n double spiral affair of l'I steps .n the main tower, so arranged that persons per-sons ascending and descending may pass each other without meeting. , |
