The Rouen Courthouse, formerly known as the Échiquier de Normandie (Exchequer of Normandy), is a building located in Rouen, in the French department of Seine-Maritime, in the Normandy region. It stands as a prominent landmark in the Norman city.
Constructed primarily between 1499 and 1507 to accommodate the Parloir aux Bourgeois and the former Exchequer of Normandy, it was designated as the Parliament of Normandy during the reign of François I in 1515. Subsequently, it functioned as a courthouse from the French Revolution onwards. In the 19th century, the building underwent expansion towards the Jeanne-d'Arc and Socrate streets.
Due to its grandeur and intricate design, the monument reflects the revived prosperity of Rouen in the late 15th century, renewing a neglected municipal heritage.
As an example of civil architecture in the Louis XII style from the early decades of the 16th century, the monument has been classified as a historical monument since 1840. Its architectural style is reminiscent of the contemporary Hôtel de Bourgtheroulde and the French Finance Office.
The courthouse in Rouen suffered significant damage during a bombing on August 26, 1944, before the city's liberation, resulting in the near destruction of the central Louis XII-style main building. Extensive restoration work was carried out to rebuild the damaged sections, leading to the building's classification as a historical monument in 1977 and its definitive inscription in 1979.
The site is located near the underground tram station Courthouse – Gisèle Halimi.
History
On March 3, 1494, the councilors of Rouen decided to construct a large hall at Neuf Marché, now known as the Salle des Procureurs (Prosecutors' room), to serve as a gathering place for merchants. This marked the beginning of the construction of the current courthouse, with the western building completed between 1499 and 1508 by architects Roger Ango and Roulland Le Roux.
In the 15th century, Norman justice was administered by an itinerant court. In 1499, King Louis XII, influenced by Cardinal Georges d'Amboise, reformed the Échiquier and established it as a permanent court.
When Louis XII established his residence in Rouen in 1508, the Royal Palace and the Exchequer of Normandy, which later became the Parliament of Normandy during the reign of François I, were built perpendicular to the north end of the first building. The current northern building's façade faces south and spans over 65 m in width. Construction likely began in 1509, with the main structure completed by 1517. This section of the building, showing a stylistic evolution, reflects the Louis XII style, bridging between Gothic art and the early Renaissance.
Between approximately 1525 and 1528, the building was extended by one bay to the east. The roof was then modified with the addition of two large dormers and openings on the upper floor. This extension was partially the work of Roulland Le Roux, the architect of the French Finance Office (Rouen's current tourist office). In 1531, a new staircase on the south bay of the Salle des Procureurs was built by Jean Delarue and Étienne Guiffart, and the eastern half of the northern building was completed around 1550.
In the 18th century, the building was considered too narrow, leading to the construction of a new wing starting in 1700 opposite the Salle des Procureurs. Designed by Jacques II Millets-Désruisseaux, it extended perpendicular to Rue Saint-Lo. To complement this new ensemble, a residential building on Place du Neuf Marché was initiated in 1739 by Pierre Jarry and finished in 1759 by Alexandre Dubois.
The west facade of the building, designed in classical style, featured a central projection that was eight bays long. It was flanked on each end by a corner pavilion set back on two bays.
In the 19th century, the deteriorating condition of these buildings led to a significant event on April 1, 1812, at ten o'clock in the evening when the main pediment collapsed. This collapse caused the ceiling which displayed Jean Jouvenet's painting The Triumph of Justice, created with his left handdue to paralysis in his right hand, to fall.
The modern-style buildings that stood in contrast to the rest of the monument were eventually replaced from 1833 to 1836 with more spacious constructions that better matched the style of the two other medieval wings. Additionally, in 1834, the pavilion in the northwest corner of the courtyard and the Gate of the Stags (on Rue aux Juifs) were demolished.
The crenellated wall on Rue aux Juifs, which was accused of darkening the court of honor too much, was replaced by a gate in 1836. In 1844, a general restoration of the façade was entrusted, despite some reservations, to Henri Charles Grégoire (1791–1854), an architect of civil buildings in the Seine-Inférieure department. Unexpectedly, the skill he demonstrated in carrying out this project led him to be recalled by the commission of historical monuments to complete the façade of the Abbey of Saint-Ouen. Concurrently, the staircase of the Salle des Procureurs, which was at risk of collapsing, was replaced with a new neo-Gothic staircase, which Grégoire relocated to the middle of the medieval wing to preserve the intricate facade design of the House.
To replace the statuary of the Courthouse, which was largely lost during the Revolution, Joseph Brun (1792–1855), the winner of the first Prix de Rome in 1817, was commissioned in 1836 to depict various social classes and personalities in their contemporary attire who played a role in the construction of the building. The sculptures includes representations of Louis XII, Anne of Brittany, Cardinal d'Amboise, François I, an allegorical figure of Justice, a ploughman, a village woman, a damsel, a lord, a monk, and an artist.
In line with the prevailing historicism, Louis Desmarest endeavored to restore the decorations of the Grande chambre and the Salle des procureurs, between 1857 and 1885. Currently, Lucien Lefort, a proponent of historicism in Rouen, undertool the reconstruction and expansion of the west wing from 1880 onwards. This wing was originally designed in the 18th century by architect Pierre Jarry.
The staircase adjacent to the medieval wing on the left side of the courtyard was rebuiltconstructed in 1904 by Paul Selmersheim. This creation in the Champenois neo-Gothic style followed the "staircase affair," which involved the dismantling of the staircase completed in 1903 by architect Lucien Lefort.
During the Second World War, the entire building was devastated on April 19, 1944, during the bombing known as the "Red Week," causing almost total destruction of the interiors of the west wing in the flamboyant Gothic style. However, due to a marking error, it was the bombing on August 26, preceding the liberation of the city, that caused the most damage by almost completely destroying the central Louis XII style residential building. Only the stone walls remained standing, while pinnacles, frameworks, and magnificent oak wood ships in the shape of an inverted hull were destroyed. All interiors, including the magnificent Assize Hall, were ravaged. The latter has since been restored with its Renaissance-style coffered ceiling, while the frameworks have been replaced by concrete hulls.
While the neo-Gothic sections of the building survived the bombing, they still show the scars as a tribute to the victims and a reminder of the city's sacrifice during the Liberation of France. The installation of Jan Vormann in 2020 stirred up controversy.
Staircase construction (1902–1904)
In the early 20th century, efforts were made to restore the original staircase of the Salle des procureurs along Rue aux Juifs. Threatened with collapse, the original staircase, built in 1531 by Jean Delarue and Étienne Guiffart, disappeared in the 1830s, replaced by a neo-Gothic design by Henri Charles Grégoire. Drawings from 1824 by Richard Parkes Bonington (now housed at the Yale Center for British Art), served as the bases for the restoration project led by architect Lucien Lefort in 1902, sparking controversy known as the "staircase affair." In response to public outcry, the commission of historical monuments was forced to approve the demolition of the staircase and its replacement with a new one. The task was assigned to Paul Selmersheim, the inspector general of historical monuments since 1885.
The new construction, with its polygonal shape, faced strong criticism from the people of Rouen due to the reconstruction of part of the crenellated wall, which had been missing since 1836. The critics argued that it obscured the rich ornamentation of the House facades. Despite defenders pointing to the identical wall of the Hôtel de Cluny in Paris, their voices went unheard. During this period, the staircases of Henri Charles Grégoire and Lucien Lefort coexisted in an unusual manner, cluttering the western part of the courtyard with their size.
In August 1903, a general dismantling process began, and the crenellated wall was covered with graffiti such as "Down with the wall", "Please urinate while passing", and "Lefort is weak."
Paul Selmersheim, responsible for dismantling and rebuilding the choir and transept of the Basilique of Saint-Urbain of Troyes, used his experience to design a vaulted porch with a suspended flight in a Champagne neo-Gothic style. This unconventional choice enabled him to create an airy architecture that met the aesthetic preferences of the people of Rouen and resolved the controversy.
Architecture
The Courthouse is a rare excample of civil Gothic architecture from the late Middle Ages in France. The building's wide facade is monumental, reflecting the post-Hundred Years' War. There was a clear intention to impress and assert urban power by drawing inspiration from the architectural style of religious buildings.
Construction work began around 1499 with the west wing, located to the left of the current ensemble. This building originally served as the Neuf Marché palace and still retains a medieval charm with its flamboyant Gothic style facade. The facade features elaborate ornamentation on multiple levels, but it avoids the decorative overload seen in the central part of the building.The roofline of this wing is adorned with pinnacles, gargoyles, and a balustrade with motifs of soufflets and mouchettes, whose curving and counter-curving motifs seem to evoke, as Michelet put it, "flames, hearts or tears." Crowning the ensemble, the flamboyant dormer windows already showcase scalloped arches surmounted by pierced arcades at their peaks. These elements will be further developed on the central wing of the building, which was constructed later. This French tradition of crowning facades with dormer windows later caught the admiration of Serlio when he arrived in France in 1540. He described that dormer windows "are great ornaments for buildings like a crown" and that the large slate-covered attics are "very pleasant and noble" architectural features.
The central body of the building, which was originally the Royal Palace of 1508, showcases a stylistic evolution with a transitional style between Gothic art and Early Renaissance. This style, known as the Louis XII style, is reminiscent of the Bourgtheroulde Hotel and the contemporary French Finance Office in its architecture.