Note 59 — Chapter III · Some of the Primary Gothic Cathedrals: Noyon, Senlis, Sens, Laon, Soissons

For Coucy-le-Château (between Soissons and Laon) see M. Lefèvre-Pontalis’ study (1909) in the Petites Monographies series; or the Congrès Archéologique, 1911, p. 239. The XIII-century donjon was the most massive conception of the Middle Ages. Coucy’s lord ruled a hundred towns and was one of the big figures in feudal France. His proud device read: “Roi ne suis, ne prince, ne duc, ne comte aussi—Je suis le sire de Coucy.” The superb pile has been demolished in the World War. Madame Yvonne Sarcey visited Coucy in April, 1917. Of the imposing mediæval castle, hanging like a bourg to the flank of the hill, there remain two gaping porticos. “C’est tout!... C’est tout!” she lamented. “Ce paysage adorable de l’Ile-de-France portera sa croix.” The Germans blew up the castle before their strategic retirement, in 1917.