[Illustration: Fig. 397.--Entry of the Roi de l'Epinette at Lille, in the
Sixteenth Century.--From a Miniature in a Manuscript of the Library of
Rouen.]
Besides the numerous ceremonies which were purely religious, namely, the
procession of the _Fete-Dieu_, in Rogation week, and the fetes which were
both of a superstitions and burlesque character, such as _des Fous, de
l'Ane, des Innocents_, and others of the same kind, so much in vogue
during the Middle Ages, and which we shall describe more in detail
hereafter, we should like to mention the military or gymnastic fetes.
Amongst these were what were called the processions of the _Confreres de
l'Arquebuse_, the _Archers_, the _Papegaut_, the _roi de l'Epinette_, at
Lille (Fig. 397), and the _Forestier_ at Bruges. There were also what may
be termed the fetes peculiar to certain places, such as those of _Behors_,
of the _Champs Galat_ at Epinal, of the _Laboureurs_ at Montelimar, of
_Guy l'an neuf_ at Anjou. Also of the fetes of _May_, of the _sheaf_, of
the _spring_, of the _roses_, of the _fires of St. John_, &c. Then there
were the historical or commemorative fetes, such as those of the _Geant
Reuss_ at Dunkerque, of the _Gayant_ at Douai, &c.; also of _Guet de
Saint-Maxime_ at Riez in Provence, the processions of _Jeanne d'Arc_ at
Orleans, of _Jeanne Hachette_ at Beauvais; and lastly, the numerous fetes
of public corporations, such as the _Ecoliers_, the _Nations_, the
_Universites_; also the _Lendit_, the _Saint-Charlemagne_, the _Baillee
des roses au Parlement_; the literary fetes of the _Pays et Chambres de
rhetorique_ of Picardy and Flanders, of the _Clemence Isaure_ at Toulouse,
and of the _Capitole_ at Rome, &c.; the fetes of the _Serments, Metiers_,
and _Devoirs_ of the working men's corporation; and lastly, the _Fetes
Patronales_, called also _Assemblees, Ducasses, Folies, Foires, Kermesses,
Pardons_, &c.
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