House and Garden 
work of his life was undone, but the Maison 
aux Piliers still remained in the possession 
of the city. The old building was repaired 
from time to time, but in the reign of Fran¬ 
cis I. its condition had become intolerable. 
On November 15, 1529, the Bureau de la 
Ville took the matter into consideration and 
brought it to the attention of the king. 
Francis I. was a great builder. His ef¬ 
forts were, however, mainly directed toward 
the creation of comfortable homes for roy¬ 
alty away from Paris. Throughout his reign 
there was immense activity at the Chateaux 
Villers-Cotterets, F'olembray, La Muette, 
Saint-Germain en Laye, Fontainebleau, Blois, 
Chambord and Madrid. Still, he was not 
entirely devoid of public spirit, and when 
the question of the Hotel de Ville was 
brought to his attention he responded in a 
rather generous way. The city needed the 
building, certainly, but so also it needed 
many other things. The correspondence of 
the king with the municipal authorities, pre¬ 
served in the Archives Nationales, shows a 
definite intention to remodel Paris according 
to enlightened principles, which he, perhaps, 
understood as well as any man 
of his day. In speaking of 
Paris he makes especial refer¬ 
ence to the “alignement de ses 
rues” and their “ embellisse- 
ment et decoration.” That 
some definite action was taken 
is shown by an epigram of 
Clement Marot “Sur l’Ordon- 
nance que le roy fist de batir 
a Paris avec proportion.” 
“ Le roi aimant la decoration 
De son Paris, entr’autres bien ordonne 
Qu’on y batisse avec proportion, 
Et pour ce faire argent et conseil donne; 
Maison de Villey construitbelleet bonne; 
Les Lieux publics devise tous nouveaux, 
Entre lesquels, au milieu de Sorbonne, 
Doit ce dit-on, faire la place aux Veaux. ’ ’ 
Nothing came of the gen¬ 
eral plan. Paris remained as 
medieval as before. The re¬ 
construction of the Hotel de 
Ville, however, did proceed. 
The first stone of the new 
building was laid July 15, 
1533, and in the reign of 
Francis I. one storey of seven 
bays was completed. The interminable dis¬ 
cussion about the’architect of this building is 
amusing, but aside from our purpose. The 
chief architect was doubtless the first Pierre 
Chambiges, who held the title “ Maitre des 
oeuvres et du pave de la Ville de Paris.” 
Associated with him and other Frenchmen 
was one Domenico de’ Bernabei da Cortona, 
called, for no good reason, Boccador, who 
probably acted as consulting architect. Ser- 
lio and Fra Giocondo held similar positions 
in France. Immediately to the south of the 
little building of Francis I. was a right of 
way, the Rue du Martroi, so called in allusion 
to the executions of the Place de Greve, and 
immediately in the rear was the church of 
Saint-Jean. In the first year of the reign 
of Henry II. (1547—1559) an arc ^ called 
the Arcade de Saint-Jean was thrown over 
the Rue du Martroi and the three-storeyed 
Pavilion de Saint-Jean built over it. To the 
north of the central building was the Ho- 
pital du Saint-Esprit, which also had a right of 
way. To preserve this another arch was 
built, and over this the Pavilion du Saint- 
Esprit was begun in the reign of Henry 
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