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its position within the kingdom. In 1622 he convinced Pope Gregory XV (1621-1623) to name
the church the seat of the archbishop, an honor which had been sought by French kings since at
least the early fifteenth century. 64 Finally the capital of the kingdom, the city in which French
bishops traditionally held their assemblies, attained the privilege of being the principal see for
the region.
The king’s interest in the edifice began in the 1630s, at which time Louis directed his
attention to the chapel of the Virgin, an area located adjacent to the rood screen and to the right
of the choir’s entrance (fig. 96). Located near the liturgical center of the church, this space was
first created in 1627 when Anne of Austria erected an altar. 65 According to Claude Malingre, the
altarpiece consisted of a centrally-placed domed niche adorned with the arms of France and
Spain and containing a miraculous image of the Virgin. 66 Although the chapel is no longer in
existence, contemporary documents indicate that Louis XIII gave two gifts to this chapel, the
first of which was a silver lamp, donated in 1636 in thanks for the prosperity bestowed on the
kingdom of France by the Virgin Mary. 67 Intended to be lit in perpetuity, it was adorned with
six candelabras and decorated with angels, the royal arms, and fleurs-de-lis. Two years later the
king again demonstrated his devotion to the chapel by offering a large cross. 68
Louis XIII’s most significant gesture to Notre-Dame-de-Paris occurred in December
1637 with the drafting of a vow dedicating his person, the state, the crown, and the French
subjects to the Virgin Mary. 69 Louis made the oath in thanks for military victories achieved
against the Huguenots and more recently Habsburg forces, especially the taking of Corbie in
1636 on the border of the Spanish Netherlands. 70 The vow was especially important to the
cathedral because it not only venerated the church’s patron saint, but it also contained a promise
to build a new high altar, which would consist of a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the dead
Christ with Louis XIII kneeling at their feet. Although construction of the altar would only occur
in 1699, the vow along with the gifts of the lamp and cross marked the importance of Notre-
Dame-de-Paris to Louis XIII. 71
The publication of the vow in 1638 is often interpreted as an example of the king’s
devotion to the Virgin Mary, whose status was further enhanced by the establishment that same
year of a procession in Paris celebrating the Feast of the Assumption. 72 Two additional events
occurring close in time to the declaration of the vow are also viewed as being connected to the
oath. The first incident was the birth in September 1638 of the dauphin after twenty-two years of
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