other priests walked in the procession in their gorgeous silk vestments sparkling with gold.  Twenty persons carried on their shoulders a huge figure of the Virgin, with the infant Saviour in her arms, splendidly decorated.  At the end of the procession were chariots and ships on wheels.  There were various groups in the procession representing scenes from the Old and New Testament, such as the Salutation of the Angels, the Visitation of the Magi, who appeared riding on camels, the Flight into Egypt, and other well-known historical incidents.  The last machine represented a dragon being led by St. Margaret with a magnificent bridle, and was followed by St. George and several brilliantly attired knights.

[Illustration:  Fig. 399.—­Sandal and Buskin of Charlemagne.—­From the Abbey of St. Denis.]

Costumes.

Influence of Ancient Costume.—­Costume in the Fifth Century.—­Hair.—­Costumes in the Time of Charlemagne.—­Origin of Modern National Dress.—­Head-dresses and Beards:  Time of St. Louis.—­Progress of Dress:  Trousers, Hose, Shoes, Coats, Surcoats, Capes.—­Changes in the Fashions of Shoes and Hoods.—­Livree,—­Cloaks and Capes.—­Edicts against Extravagant Fashions.—­Female Dress:  Gowns, Bonnets, Head-dresses, &c.—­Disappearance of Ancient Dress.—­Tight-fitting Gowns.—­General Character of Dress under Francis I.—­Uniformity of Dress.

Long garments alone were worn by the ancients, and up to the period when the barbarous tribes of the North made their appearance, or rather, until the invasion of the Roman Empire by these wandering nations, male and female dress differed but little.  The Greeks made scarcely any change in their mode of dress for centuries; but the Romans, on becoming masters of the world, partially adopted the dress and arms of the people they had conquered, where they considered them an improvement on their own, although the original style of dress was but little altered (Figs. 400 and 401).

Roman attire consisted of two garments—­the under garment, or tunic, and the outer garment, or cloak; the latter was known under the various names of chlamys, toga, and pallium, but, notwithstanding these several appellations, there was scarcely any appreciable distinction between them.  The simple tunic with sleeves, which answered to our shirt, was like the modern blouse in shape, and was called by various names.  The chiridota was a tunic with long and large sleeves, of Asiatic origin; the manuleata was a tunic with long and tight sleeves coming to the wrists; the talaris was a tunic reaching to the feet; the palmata was a state tunic, embroidered with palms, which ornamentation was often found in other parts of dress.  The lacerna, loena, cucullus, chlamys, sagum, paludamentum, were upper garments, more or less coarse, either full or scant, and usually