When Rollo, the Dane, made his treaty with Charles the Simple,
of France, by which he became a Christian and won Giselle, a
daughter of Charles, for his wife, one of the ceremonies to
be performed was to do homage. This was to kneel, clasp hands
with the king, and kiss his foot, which was covered with an
elegantly-fashioned slipper on such occasions--all in token of
submission. But the proud Rollo did all save kissing the foot.
No remonstrance, urgency or persuasion could induce him to
consent to it.
On the slipper which the pope of Rome for hundreds of years
has worn on certain state occasions, and which the kneeling
suppliant kisses, is embroidered a cross, the sacred symbol of
the divine Redeemer’s sufferings and death. (Text.)
But true homage is not ceremony, it is the attitude of the soul toward
one who is greater.
(1414)