John the Baptist Fountain in Basel
Montaigne loved travelling. Usually he travelled for practical purposes; for his work (he has been a judge); for political missions by order of the king; for visiting friends; or because he had something to do in Paris. In 1580, Montaigne decided to make a long journey without a special purpose but only for the pleasure of travelling and for escaping the troubles in France and his domestic worries. Or so he says in the journal he kept of his travel. The travel would last one year and five months.
We don’t know exactly where and when Montaigne’s journey started, since the first pages of his journal are missing. Anyway, it was after the 6th of August 1580, when he had buried his friend Philippe de Gramont in Soissons, in Northern France. Gramont had been killed during the siege of La Fère in Picardy. From there, Montaigne might have gone to Paris, where he could have gathered his company. Be it as it may, on 5 September Montaigne was in Beaumont-sur-Oise, and from there he went via Meaux, Bar-le-Duc and Plombières to Thann, which then belonged to Germany, and from there to Mulhouse, then a Swiss town. From Mulhouse Montaigne and his company went to Basel, where they arrived on 28 September at the end of the day.
Montaigne doesn’t say where stayed in Basel, but he gives a detailed description of the inns in the region, so it’s likely that his inn in Basel must have looked something like that: “In all rooms of this sort, which are always well furnished, there will be five or six tables fitted with benches at which all the guests will dine together, each party at its own particular table. The smallest houses of entertainment will have three or four well-appointed rooms of this kind. They are pierced for many windows which are filled with rich glass, but on the whole it seems that the hosts concern themselves more with the dinner than with aught else, for the bed-chambers are often mean enough, the beds never curtained and always placed three or four together, the rooms being without chimneys, and only heated from the general stove. Beyond this there is no sign of a fire… There is much want of cleanliness in their bed-chambers, and he who gets a white sheet may deem himself fortunate: moreover, it is their fashion never to cover the pillow with sheeting; there is rarely any other covering than a feather quilt, which is very dirty.” (Journal, pp. 68-69) However, the food is excellent and Montaigne likes the wines (“They never mix water with their wine”) and also the service at table is good, though different from the way they do in Montaigne’s home region. (pp. 69-72).
Montaigne calls Basel “a fine town”. (p. 62) “They have a custom in the town, but not in the suburbs, that the clocks shall strike one hour in advance of the true time, to wit, if it should strike ten, the time would be really nine. They say the reason of this custom is that in past years an attempt against the city miscarried on account of a similar fault of the town clock.” The churches, which have become Protestant, are also after the Reformation in good condition, but the altars and images have been removed from the interiors. “The exteriors are still garnished with images and with ancient tombs unmutilated, and inscribed with prayers for the souls of the departed. The organs, the bells, the crosses on the bell towers, and all the different images in the painted windows are whole as ever they were, as well as the benches and the seats of the choirs. The Calvinists place the baptismal font where the high altar stood aforetime, and build at the head of the nave another altar to serve for their Lord’s Supper… The church of the Carthusians is a very fine building, preserved and kept up most carefully; the same furniture and ornaments are still there, a circumstance which the reformers bring forward as a testimony of their good faith, seeing that they gave a promise to maintain these at the time of their agreement.” (pp. 65-66) The quote shows that the relations between the Protestants and Roman Catholics were relatively good in Basel, despite the Reformation and although the churches had been taken over by the Protestants.
Basel has a beautiful library and even three hundred fountains, so Montaigne. The people there and in the region loved balconies that much “that in building they always leave between the windows of the chambers doorways looking over the streets, with the view of letting a balcony be built thereto at some future time.” All houses have glass windows and those of the rich are beautifully decorated. Even
the smallest church “has a magnificent clock and dial. Their work in tiles is excellent, and on this account the roofs of the houses are decorated with a medley of tiles, glazed in various colours, and the floors of their chambers are the same. Moreover it would be impossible to find more delicate work than that of their stoves, which are of pottery.” (pp. 67-68) Even today, many houses and buildings in the region “are decorated with a medley of tiles, glazed in various colours”.
...stoves, which are of pottery...
A travel party consisting of several gentlemen and servants, like Montaigne’s, couldn’t arrive unnoticed in a town like Basel, and the “city authorities did the honour to M. d’Estissac and M. de Montaigne of sending a present of wine by one of their officers, who made a long speech to them as they sat at table.” (p. 62) In those days, being a nobleman opens doors and commands respect just only because of the fact, and it gave Montaigne the opportunity to meet in Basel interesting and prominent persons, like “many learned men: Grynaeus [note 1] and the author of the Theatrum [note 2], and [the physician Felix] Platerus …, and Francis Hotman. The two last-named supped with M. de Montaigne the day after his arrival.” The table conversation gives some insight into the religious relations of those days in Basel, for Montaigne remarks that apparently “there was in Basle considerable religious discord, some calling themselves Zwinglians, some Calvinists, and others Martinists [=Lutherans], while many, as he was informed, had in their hearts a hidden liking for the Roman religion. The ordinary form of administering the sacrament is to place it in the mouth, but at the same time any one, who so wishes, may reach out his hand for it, the ministers being chary of stirring up afresh the antagonisms of religion.” I wonder whether this must be seen as a matter of religious discord and not as a matter of religious tolerance.
The journal fragments make clear that Montaigne was an attentive observer. Although he certainly must have heard of Erasmus, it is a pity that he doesn’t make any reference to him, for these two men had a lot in common in their views. But maybe Montaigne didn’t know that Erasmus had lived for some years in Basel.
Montaigne and his company left Basel on the 30th of September in the afternoon.
Notes
1) Either Samuel ((1539–1599), Swiss jurist) or Simon Grynaeus ((1539–1582), Swiss mathematician and university professor).
2) Probably Theodor Zwinger.
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