ssa by the present of the tunic of St. Vincent, he
induced the king to found the abbey and church of St. Vincent (St.
Germain des Pres), to receive the relic and a great part of the spoil
of Toledo, consisting of jewels, golden chalices, books and crucifixes
of marvellous craftsmanship. In the same reign was begun on the site
of the present sacristy of Notre Dame a great basilica, dedicated to
St. Stephen, so magnificently decorated that it was compared to
Solomon's Temple for the beauty and the delicacy of its art. The
church of Ste. Marie or Notre Dame, already existing in 365, stood on
a site extending westward into the present Place du Parvis Notre Dame.
During this great outburst of zeal and devotion, another monastery
(St. Vincent le Rond), was established and dedicated to St. Vincent,
which subsequently became associated with the name of the earlier St.
Germain of Auxerre (l'Auxerrois).

A curious episode is found in Gregory's _Chronicle_, which is
characteristic of the times, and proves that a monastery and church of
St. Julien le Pauvre were already in existence. An impostor, claiming
to have the relics of St. Vincent and St. Felix, came to Paris, but
refused to deposit them with the bishop for verification. He was
arrested and searched, and the so-called relics were found to consist
of moles' teeth, the bones of mice, some bears' claws and other
rubbish: they were flung into the Seine and the impostor was put in
prison. Gregory, who was lodging in the monastery of St. Julien le
Pauvre, went into the church shortly after midnight to say matins, and
found the creature, who had escaped from the bishop's prison, lying
drunk on the pavement. He had him dragged away into a corner, but so
intolerable was the stench that the pavement was purified with water
and sweet smelling herbs. When the bishops, who were at Paris for a
synod, met at dinner the next day, the impostor was identified as a
fugitive slave of the bishop of Tarbes.

Dagobert the Great, who came to the throne in 628, and his favourite
minister, St. Eloy, goldsmith and bishop (founder of the convent in
Paris which long bore his name), are enshrined in the hearts of the
people in many a song and ballad: St. Eloy, with his good humour, his
ruddy countenance, his eloquence, gentleness, modesty, wit, and wide
charity, singing in the church processions _a haute gamme jubilant et
trepudiant_ like David of old before the ark: Dagobert, the Solomon of
the Frank