These anecdotes are extracted from the book “L’ancienne Maîtrise de Notre-Dame de Chartres du Ve siècle à la Révolution“ by Abbé Clerval, Paris, 1899.
– « In 1581, it (the Chapter) used the great veil of Holy Thursday, which was stretched in front of the sanctuary, to cover the organ and make linen for the children »…
– « The dormitory was completed in 1595. Two beds were placed, one furnished with straw… the other, furnished with a bolster… the feathers were changed, and the pillowcases were shortened. It was repainted in 1669. Alas! It was full of bedbugs »…
– « In 1652, it was discovered that a choirboy had a mistress; he wrote her letters, several of which were intercepted, and he went out at night wearing a wig »…
– « Jean Roger (choirboy) died in a state of sanctity on August 23, 1653. His head was soon exhumed… and kept as a relic. It was mounted on a pedestal with a hook to allow it to be suspended from a wall… This head was later carried during the Revolution to Angers by a priest from Chartres: it came into the possession of a Capuchin father. He then passed it on to Canon Albin of Le Mans, and it is thanks to the kindness of this venerable canon that it returned to the Maîtrise of Chartres (1879), where it is carefully preserved in a glass case »…
– « In 1485, two children were maliciously kidnapped, probably by princes who were too fond of music, and the Chapter had to send the canons… to search for them »…
– « Queen Anne of Brittany, passing through Chartres on May 17, 1510, was so enchanted by the voice of a little choirboy from the Maîtrise that she asked the canons for him for her chapel. In return, she gave them a large bell bearing her name, saying, ‘You have given me a small voice, I want to give you a large one.’ The following year, on March 20, she sent him back with a precious chasuble »…
