the most beautiful of its era
extant, for it is thought to date from between 1270 and 1300, when the
art first attained any great excellence.

That which remains to-day shows foliage and diaper in great variety,
with no figures whatever, this being a distinct tenet of the Cistercian
builders, who, in the severity of their rule, frowned down all
decorative effects that bordered upon the frivolous.

These windows at Altenburg, being the best examples of their kind, are
the distinct artistic attraction of the great abbey, which is a dozen or
more miles distant from Cologne.

The choir was commenced in 1255 and completed almost immediately; but
the entire main fabric was not finished until well on in the century
following.

[Illustration]

XXVII

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE

As Rouen in Normandy was known as "the city of the Conqueror," so
Aix-la-Chapelle became known, at a much earlier date, as "the city of
Charlemagne."

Charlemagne was more than a conqueror; he was a statesman, with a
boundless ambition. He founded the German Empire, and changed tribes of
lawless barbarians into a civilized people. At Aix-la-Chapelle he
received the embassies of the Caliph of Baghdad and of the Saxon Kings
of England, and there he endeavoured to advance the enlightenment of his
people by the founding of monasteries and by giving very material aid to
the monks and priests.

Aix therefore became the scene of some of the most interesting episodes
in the life and career of Charlemagne.

At the death of his consort, Frastrade, Charlemagne was inconsolable.
Even when she had been dead for three weeks, the monarch would not hear
her death spoken of. "She did but sleep," he said; and the Emperor clung
to the chamber of his beloved, and would not abate his watchfulness
"till Frastrade woke."

Meantime the affairs of the Empire were falling into confusion.
Provinces were all but revolting, and foreign foes were mustering their
forces. The Emperor's chief counsellor was the Archbishop of Reims. One
night--though this is more legendary than historical--the archbishop was
walking by himself when he came upon a shape in the moonlight which
proclaimed itself as follows: "I am the good genius of Charlemagne. I
came to teach you how to remove the shadow from his spirit. Dig, where I
stand, a grave and let the festering body of Frastrade lie in it. But,
mark you! Ere you move her body, search beneath her tongue and take out
what you find there