of the pillars of the nave are carved into a fanciful
resemblance of the fabulous _Gargouille_.

Dom Pommeraye, than whom no author was ever more superstitious and more
credulous, at the same time that he terms this privilege one of the most
valuable and most noble rights of the church of Rouen,[96] admits that
the origin of it is lost in obscurity. He adduces, however, an
historical document, to prove its existence during the reign of the
Norman Dukes; and, while he candidly states the difference of opinion
among learned men on the subject, some of them treating the story as
allegorical, others setting it wholly aside, and regarding the privilege
merely as a special act of grace conceded to the church, in honor of the
Ascension, on the anniversary of which festival it was exercised, he
takes care to record his own firm belief in the miracle, and he calls
upon all pious Christians to unite with him in supporting its
authenticity.

Upon the conversion of Rollo to Christianity, and the consequent
erection of Normandy into a distinct dukedom, Rouen, as the metropolis
of the new state, necessarily acquired additional importance, and its
church additional lustre. Questions have arisen as to the spot where the
first church was built, but no doubt is to be entertained of the
existence of the cathedral, during the reign of Rollo, on the same site
which it occupies at present; for that prince himself was buried in it,
as was his son, William Longue-Epee, and their remains continue there
till this time[97]. Richard I. the son of William, and his successor on
the ducal throne, is expressly stated by Dudo of St. Quintin, to have
made great additions, both in length, width, and height, to the
"admirable church" (_mirabile monasterium_) at Rouen, dedicated to the
Holy Virgin.[98] The same author says, in terms which admit of no
misconstruction, that Robert, the son to this Duke, who was archbishop
of Rouen, and by the splendor of his works won to himself the epithet of
the _magnificent_, "completed the church, by the addition of the whole
choir, and by the work on the eastern side."

The church, raised by Robert, was dedicated by Archbishop Maurilius, in
1063; but its term of duration appears to have been unaccountably short;
for it is recorded that, after the lapse of less than a century, the
clergy of the cathedral directed their attention towards the building of
a new one; and that the year 1200 had not arrived before some prog