PAGE 96.--1. REIMS, a celebrated city in the Department of Marne, 107
miles northeast of Paris. Clovis was baptized here in 496. In the eighth
century it was made an archbishopric, and from 1179 till the time of
Charles X. it was the coronation place of the kings of France.
2. "On the fifteenth day of the month of September (1559), King Francis
II. made his entry into the city of Reims, where he was received with
all devotion and honor by the inhabitants of this city. And on the
following Monday, his Majesty was anointed and consecrated in the great
church by the Cardinal of Lorraine, in the presence of the princes of
the blood and many other great lords, and all the ceremonies required
and preserved by immemorial custom were there observed. Immediately
afterwards he departed from that place and abode for some time in the
city of Blois" (Nicole Gilles and Belle-Forest in their _Annales de
France_, quoted by Godefroy: _Le Cérémonial François_, i., p. 311).
The consecration of the King of France was attended with many elaborate
ceremonies. The new monarch made a journey to Reims, and was escorted
into the city by the high secular authorities; masses were then offered,
in which the King took part. On the coronation day he was conducted to
the Church of Notre Dame; the sacred vessel containing the anointing oil
was brought in and delivered into the hands of the archbishop. This was
followed by the administration of the oath, by which the King promised
to preserve the faith of the Church, to suppress evil-doers, to rule
with justice and mercy, and to endeavor to exterminate all heresy within
the realm. He was then anointed on the head, on the breast, between the
two shoulders, on the right and on the left shoulder, and on the right
and left arms; at each application the Monsieur de Reims exclaimed:
"Ungo te in Regem de oleo sanctificato, in nomine Patris, et Filii, et
Spiritus Sancti." The King was then clothed in his royal garments, the
sceptre placed in his hand and the crown upon his head. After the
celebration of a mass, he was led back to the palace amid the shouts of
the people: "Vivat Rex in æternum!"
PAGE 98.--1. QU'ELLE LUI EN FÎT UNE FINESSE, "that she was deceiving
him." ("La finesse dans ce sens est la finesse d'esprit conduite jusqu'à
un mauvais usage."--Littré.)
PAGE 101.--1. ANET, a chateau built in 1552 by Philibert Delorme, by
order of Henry II., for Diana of Poitiers. It was embellished by the
best artists of France,--Goujon, Pilon, Cousin, etc. The building was
partly destroyed during the Revolution.
2. CHAMBORT, a magnificent palace about ten miles west of Paris,
constructed by Pierre Napren for Francis I., and decorated by Cousin,
Pilon, and others. It was afterwards owned by King Stanislaus, then by
the family of Polignac, afterwards by Marshal Berthier. In 1821 it was
granted to the Duke of Bordeaux, and is now in the possession of his
descendants.
PAGE 110.--1. BLOIS, chief city of the Department of Loir-et-Cher, on
the right bank of the Loire, about 110 miles south-southwest of Paris.
Its Counts were of the family of Hugh Capet. During the reign of
Charles the Simple, it was in the possession of Thibaut, Count of
Chartres. It remained to his descendants till 1491, when it came into
the hands of the Duke of Orleans, afterwards Louis XII., who united it
to the possessions of the Crown. Blois then became a favorite resort of
the House of Valois; Francis I. and Charles IX. resided there. A fine
description of the palace is given in Balzac's _Catherine de Medici_.
PAGE 111.--1. QUE in the sense of _pourquoi_. (See also page 126, line
23.)
PAGE 112.--1. EST-CE DE VOUS DONT JE PARLE? such is the reading of the
edition edited by E. Flammarion, which text has been mostly followed in
this edition. A preferable reading is that of the edition of P.A.
Moutardier, edited by Étienne and Jay: _est-ce vous dont je parle?_
Compare _ce n'est pas moi dont vous parlez_ (line 24), and _ce n'est pas
vous dont vous parlez_ (page 83, line 28). The reading of the edition of
Garnier Frères is: _est-ce de vous que je parle?_
PAGE 113.--1. S'IL N'Y ALLOIT QUE DE MON INTÉRÊT, "if my interests alone
were at stake."
PAGE 115.--1. This tender and praiseworthy resolution of Madame de
Clèves furnishes the true explanation of her actions toward the Duke of
Nemours after the death of her husband,--a course of conduct which some
of Madame de La Fayette's critics find so inexplicable. (See
d'Haussonville's _Vie de Mme. de La Fayette_, p. 190.)
PAGE 116.--1. PLUS DE DEVOIR, PLUS DE VERTU, "no more requirements of
duty or virtue."