the Chateau of the French Kings was built near the Porte Bouvreuil
where the donjon still remains that preserves the most shameful record
in the story of the town. Rouen has kept no memory of its native
dukes.

All this will explain how it was that the French King began his rule
in a Rouen that was almost as stripped of buildings as the Rotomagus
that Rollo took. But there was the vital difference that the "unarmed
crowd" had been replaced by burgesses conscious of their strength, by
confreries whose privileges and statutes did not depend on bricks and
mortar, and by citizens who had just begun to realise the value of
their civic independence. The Knights Templars had of course their
own commanderie in so important a centre of industry and wealth, but
all vestiges of their habitation were swept away when the order was so
mercilessly suppressed by Philippe-le-Bel. I have shown elsewhere that
by 1312 this order had become as much the bankers of Europe as were
the Jews of a century before, and that the charges of witchcraft had
merely been trumped up by royal debtors who preferred hanging their
creditors to paying their bills. The sign of the Barde or Barge
Royale, now in the Musee des Antiquites is the only remnant of the
Templars left in Rouen. A "Commanderie" that lasted far longer in the
town was that of St. Antoine, which was established in 1095 to care
for those suffering from the horrible disease known as St. Anthony's
Fire. It continued its good work until 1790. Another foundation that
had its origin in the same charitable instincts was the Hospital of
the Mont-aux-Malades, founded to care for cases of the terrible
leprosy brought back by the Crusaders from the East. This was first
instituted by the citizens themselves in 1131, and a few years
afterwards was placed under the care of a priory of Augustinian monks.
The Church of St. Gilles was then founded on the same spot, and the
hospital's funds were increased by Guillaume Baril of St. Maclou. In
1162, Henry II. of England still further added to the revenues of the
priory and hospital by giving it the rent and privileges of the Foire
de St. Gilles with half of the octroi duty. It was to be held for a
week on the first of September every year, and fourteen years
afterwards the same king rebuilt the hospital entirely and placed the
new church under the patronage of St. Thomas of Canterbury.

This church is one of the few buildings of the time before Philip
August