The greater part of the principal ceremonies of the Middle Ages acquired, from various accessory and local circumstances, a character of grandeur well fitted to impress the minds of the populace.  On these memorable occasions the exhibition of some historical memorial, of certain traditional symbols, of certain relics, &c., brought to the recollection the most celebrated events in national history—­events already possessing the prestige of antiquity as well as the veneration of the people.  Thus, as a memorial of the consecration of the kings of Hungary, the actual crown of holy King Stephen was used; at the consecration of the kings of England, the actual chair of Edward the Confessor was used; at the consecration of the emperors of Germany, the imperial insignia actually used by Charlemagne formed part of the display; at the consecration of the kings of France at a certain period, the hand of justice of St. Louis, which has been before alluded to, was produced.

[Illustration:  Fig. 390.—­Standards of the Church and the Empire.—­Reduced from an Engraving of the “Entry of Charles V. and Clement VII. into Bologna,” by Lucas de Cranach, from a Fresco by Brusasorci, of Verona.]

After their consecration by the Church and by the spiritual power, the sovereigns had simply to take actual possession of their dominions, and, so to speak, of their subjects.  This positive act of sovereignty was often accompanied by another class of ceremonies, called joyous entry, or public entry. These entries, of which numerous accounts have been handed down to us by historians, and which for the most part were very varied in character, naturally took place in the capital city.  We will limit ourselves to transcribing the account given by the ancient chronicler, Juvenal des Ursins, of the entry into Paris of Queen Isabel of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI., which was a curious specimen of the public fetes of this kind.

[Illustration:  Fig. 391.—­Grand Procession of the Doge, Venice (Sixteenth Century).—­Reduced from one of fourteen Engravings representing this Ceremony, designed and engraved by J. Amman.]

“In the year 1389, the King was desirous that the Queen should make a public entry into Paris, and this he made known to the inhabitants, in order that they should make preparations for it.  And there were at each cross roads divers histoires (historical representations, pictures, or tableaux vivants), and fountains sending forth water, wine, and milk.  The people of Paris in great numbers went out to meet the Queen, with the Provost of the Merchants, crying ‘Noel!’ The bridge by which she passed was covered with blue taffeta, embroidered with golden fleurs-de-lys.  A man of light weight, dressed in the guise of an angel, came down, by means of some well-constructed machinery, from one of the towers of Notre-Dame, to the said bridge through an opening in the said blue taffeta, at the moment when