without doubt the beginning of
that Levee de la Fierte which preserved the memory of St. Romain until
the end of the eighteenth century. By William, the fair was originally
fixed on two days in October, and in 1468 its duration was still
further extended.[15] In the church of St. Etienne des Tonneliers,
which was put under the protection of the monks of St. Ouen at this
time, we can trace further evidence of the gradual consolidation of
various trades; even the institution of the curfew bell, at the
assembly of Caen in 1061, shows that increasing commerce had insisted
upon greater security in the public streets. The Parvis of the
Cathedral, too, was at this time not merely a place of inviolable
sanctuary, but an open space on which merchants could display their
goods and erect booths without any interference save from the canons.
These shops were built up against the crenelated wall that surrounded
the Parvis until the quarrel between canons and bourgeois pulled them
down in 1192. The place was a frequent scene of conflict, and also of
amusement, for in spite of the presence of a cemetery which extended
over the Place de la Calende and the Portail des Libraires and was
only abolished in the last century, the mystery plays were often given
here, using the cemetery as a "background," as was frequently done.
Till 1199 bakers sold bread here. Till 1429 the "Marche aux herbes et
menues denrees" was held here, and then transferred to the Clos aux
Juifs. In 1325 the working jewellers also frequented this locality,
and in the name of the great north porch of the Cathedral is still
preserved the memory of the booksellers of times far more modern.

[Footnote 15: The Champ du Pardon attained a grisly notoriety in the
fourteenth century from the presence of the "fourches Patibulaires" or
public place of execution upon the "Mont de la Justice" in one corner
of the field.]

[Illustration: THE OLDEST ROUEN SHOWING GALLO-ROMAN WALLS

MAP C.]

The foundations of another cathedral had been laid in 990, where Robec
and Aubette still defined an "Ile Notre Dame de Rouen" whose
inhabitants were under the jurisdiction of the chapterhouse. It was
brought to a conclusion by Maurilius in 1063, and in the foundation
and lower storeys of the northern tower of the west facade (known as
the Tour St. Romain) are perhaps some of the few relics that remain of
the architecture of these destructive years. But a far more beautiful
and more authentic