Vieille du Temple

What's in a name?

Pierre d’Hozier might have asked the same question as he sat in his study on the Rue Vieille du Temple, binding together leaves of creamy parchment for yet another weighty volume. The date is 1623 and Pierre d’Hozier, a genealogist from Marseille has purchased this Parisian ‘hôtel particulier’ on the rue Vieille du Temple from the secretary council to King Louis XIII. Here, in the heart of the Marais, living cheek to jowl with members of the King’s court, this fastidious historian undertakes the task of researching the lineage of the great houses of France.

‘Le Rochefoucauld,’ ‘Bourneville,’ ‘Amanze’…..

A man renowned for his prodigious memory for dates, names and family relationships, Hozier was given the title of ‘historian and genealogist of France in 1634 and made responsible for verifying claims to nobility made by the various members of the King’s household. It was here, behind these great carved doors with their exquisite carvings of the Roman gods, Mars and Minerva that Hozier would have spent long afternoons toiling over birth certificates, marriage treatises and heraldic arms, every so often lifting his head from his work to look out on the same courtyard as you will now look out upon almost 400 years later.

But just as the Hotel Hozier has a story behind the name, so too does the street on which this beautiful residence is located. Rue Vieille du Temple or the ‘Old Street of the Temple’ is just one of the cartographical references in this area of the Marais to the fortress of the Knights Templar; the French Templar headquarters which stood in this area before being destroyed by Philip IV in the early 14th century.

Witchcraft, idol worship and secret initiation rights aside, modern legends associated with the Knights Templar are a far cry from the day-to-day realities of this international organization whose function was by the 13th century, less military and for the most part, financial and administrative. A powerful, rich, supra-national order answerable only to the Pope, the Templars fortress fell victim to Philip’s wrath when he couldn’t pay back his outstanding debts to the order. With the backing of Pope Clement V, Philip engineered the fall of the Templars by spreading rumors of heresy and witchcraft. On Friday October 13th 1307, Philip had all Templar associates in Paris arrested, condemned and subsequently burned at the stake.

Whereas nothing is left of the Temple fortress, much remains in terms of the urban atmosphere which the Knights established in this particular area. The presence of the fortress and its surrounding support structure saw the Knights establish a kind of ‘mini-state’ here which retains and exudes a personality of it’s very own. Kings and Courtiers build their town houses here, merchants and tradesmen established guilds, artists and craftsmen built workshops….

Now we have the privilege to visit… to walk the streets where the Knights once tread, to purchase goods at the ancient rue de Bretagne market, to lodge in Hozier’s house….

The word Marais literally means ‘marsh’, but just as little remains but place-names to recall the Temple fortress, the Marais itself has come a long way since reeds and pond weed. What’s important here is the name, the ancestry, the lineage; the recollection of a distant past and the relationship of that past with the present. Hozier recognized the importance of a name; now as we push open the great wooden doors of his residence, we open the door to his world, the Marais, Paris and all that is exciting and authentic beyond.

The apartment in the Hotel d’Hozier is a mere 3 minute walk from the Picasso Museum, an 8 minute walk to the Places des Vosges (the oldest square in Paris), a 15 minute walk to the Place de la Bastille and 10 minutes from the Place de la République.

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"... this time, I was going until 1 A.M., loading up my car with the following: 2 very large rectangular mirror frames, a lovely porcelain corner sink with its original faucet, an oak cabinet door, a small cheese cabinet door with its wooden grill, more carved marble mantle pieces, a large cast iron skillet, and bits and pieces of carved wood: from molding to cornices."

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