Reims

Some 30 Leagues to the east-northeast of Paris, the city of Reims lies on a plain
southwest of Reims Mountain and between the Vesle River and a canal to the
Marne River.

    Pre-Roman Durocortorum was the
    chief town of the Remi, a Gallic tribe
    of the Belgian nation, from whom
    Reims derives its name. Julius
    Caesar conquered them in 57 B.C.E.
    They became allies of Rome, which
    was to bring them economic gain,
    power, and prestige that lasts unto
    this day.

    By ca. 250 B.C.E. Christianity was
    well established in Reims and the
    Bishopric was founded.

The Vandals conquered Reims in 406 who slew the Archbishop, St. Nicaise. Attila
soon took the city  put it to the torch and wiped out the inhabitants. It was
however, quickly (in Medieval terms) rebuilt and repopulated.

    Clovis, King of the Franks, was
    baptized by St. Remi (Remigius in
    Latin) ca.496 who was to become the
    Patron of Reims. Legend has it that a
    Dove descended with a vial of Holy
    Oil for Clovis' baptism. The vial was
    preserved in the Abbey of St. Remi.
    This was later to be cited as basis for
    the Divine Right of French kings.
    With the defeat, in 511, of Alaric II's
    Visigoths in southern France, who
    then moved into Spain, Clovis
    became the first King of France, not
    including Burgundy.


This laid the foundation for the tradition from the early Ninth Century of holding
the Coronation of the Kings of France in Reims. Clovis was made a Roman Consul
by the Christian Emperor Anastasius. After Clovis' death in 511 his sons and
successors for the next 200 years were known as the Merovingian line ending with
Chilberic III in 752, to be followed by the Carolingian line.

The growth of Reims' eccliastical prestige and power continued to keep pace with
the secular.

    Louis IV gave the town and countship of Reims to the
    archbishop Artaldus in 940.
    By the 10th century Reims had become a centre of
    intellectual culture under the leadership of Archbishop
    Adalberon, and the monk Gerbert (afterwards Pope
    Silvester II) who founded schools where the "liberal
    arts" were taught. Adalberon was also instrumental in the
    coup which later replaced the Carolingian line with the
    Capet line.

Louis VII gave the title of duke and peer to William of Champagne, archbishop
from 1176 to 1202, and the archbishops of Reims took precedence over other
ecclesiastical peers of the realm. The most important prerogative of the
archbishops was the consecration of the kings of France.


    St. Remi, the Patron Saint of Reims, was credited with
    many miracles. Perhaps the best known is the
    Miraculous Wine Flask. King Louis of France was given
    the Flask by St. Remi with the promise that he would
    prevail in battle so long as there was yet wine in it. He
    was indeed successful in routing the Burgundians,
    Arians and Goths with the Flask never being empty until
    he returned to Paris and discovered the Flask was dry. A
    version of the Miracle is depicted in a tapestry of the
    Cloister of St. Remi with the following verse:

    A Clovis côme il fult notoire
    Ung barril de vin prépara
    Et luy dilt tu auras victoire
    Autant que le vin durera.

    To Clovis, as the story tells,
    He gave a cask bunged tight and fast
    And said, 'You'll hear the victory bells
    While this my wine will last.

Note that after several centuries, Clovis has replaced Louis as the King with the
Miraculous Flask. This is often the way with Legends.










    Reims is rife with churches containing Relics. Among
    which are relics of some six Saints who served as
    Archbishops of Reims, and at least one Pope  (the first
    French Pope) - Pope Sylvester II  Reigned 999-1003;
    also called Gerbert. And Relics of St. Jude Thaddeus,
    the Apostle, St. Helena's relics which were translated
    from Constantinople in 849, St. Clothilde (Wife of Clovis),
    St. Basil the Hermit and Blessed Odo to name a few of
    hundreds to be found in Reims.
Crusade to Jerusalem
Nov 3-5, 2007
Hosted by the Canton of Mathom Trove
The Abbey of St. Remi was
later built on the site of the
Basilica where Clovis was
baptized. The Abbey and the
Basilica of St. Remi (Remigius in
Latin) most of which were
completed by the 11th century,
house many Relics.