It was at the close of Louis XIV.’s reign that the pain d’épice of Reims reached the summit of its renown. At the coronation of his successor, the échevins of Reims presented the monarch with several baskets of it; and when Maria Leczinska passed through Reims in January 1725, the notables offered her twelve wicker baskets, covered with damask and ornamented with ribbons, containing fresh and dried pears, conserves, preserved lemons, almond-cakes, and a new kind of gingerbread, which received the name of nonnette à la Reine.
[216] ] This escutcheon shows the arms of Reims, which at first consisted of rinçeaux or branches; subsequently a cross and a crozier, placed saltire-wise, and a sainte Ampoule, were added. When the government of the city passed from the archbishop, the entwined olive-branches and chief strewn with fleurs de lis were adopted, the old motto, ‘Dieu en soit garde,’ being retained. The iron gates of the Porte de Paris were removed to their present position in 1843, to allow of the passage of the canal.
[217] ] From the days of Charles VIII. to those of Louis XIV., it was customary on these occasions for the keys to be presented by a young girl styled the Pucelle de Reims; and J. M. C. Leber, in his work Des Cérémonies du Sacre, is of opinion that this custom arose in some way from the visit of Joan of Arc. Louis XV. was the first who received them from the lieutenant.
[218] ] Baron Taylor’s Reims, la Ville de Sacres.
[219] ] N. Menin’s Traité du Sacre et Couronnement des Rois.
[220] ] P. Tarbé’s Reims, ses Rues et ses Monuments.
[221] ] H. Taine’s L’Ancien Régime.
[222] ] Ibid.
[223] ] Arthur Young’s Travels in France in 1787–9.
[224] ] Ibid. Another grievance alleged against the monasteries was the presence of the innumerable fishponds belonging to them scattered throughout the country. The Cahier des Plaintes, Doléances, et Remontrances du Tiers Etat du Baillage de Reims, on the Assembly of the States General under Louis XVI., ask that ‘all fishponds situate outside woods and, above all, those which lie close to vineyards, may be suppressed, as hurtful to agriculture.’