near
Paris.

A fire, which in 873 destroyed a portion of the church and all
its archives, occasioned, no doubt, important repairs, and this
event was the cause of a new royal confirmation of all the
possessions of the church. In 1002 it was plundered, profaned and
set on fire by the soldiers of Hermann, duke of Suabia and
Alsacia, who was then contending with Henry of Bavaria for the
imperial crown, Strasburg and its bishop Wernher having declared
for the latter. Subdued by Henry II, Hermann was compelled to
repair the damage caused to the church by placing at bishop
Wernher's disposal the income of the abbey of Saint-Stephen of
which he was the patron. With these funds, which the bishop
increased by means of a new levy of taxes and by indulgences,
he was preparing to restore his Cathedral, when in 1007 a
thunderbolt achieved its destruction.

He then formed the project of rebuilding the church on a plan of
much larger dimensions and after the style of architecture that
was then making its first appearance. The revenues of the
bishopric, contributions furnished by the clergy of Alsacia and
large sums of money granted by the head of the empire, afforded
Wernher the necessary resources for the execution of his plan.
This was examined and discussed in the presence of several
master-architects whom he had sent for. The plan once fixed upon,
stones were brought from the fine quarries of free-stone in the
Kronthal. The peasants and bondsmen of the country brought them
to the town where they were cut in the square then called
_Frohnhof_, between the Cathedral and the present palace. It was
during these labours that in 1042 the emperor Henry II came to
Strasburg; the dignified and austere deportment of the clergy of
the high chapter, the tranquillity prevailing under the roof of
the episcopal church, made such an impression on this prince,
that he for a moment resolved to resign the crown and solicit his
admittance among the canons of the Cathedral. The bishop appeared
at first to accede to this wish; but it was only to prescribe to
Henry, henceforth his subordinate, to resume the imperial
authority which Providence had bestowed on him; the emperor
acquiesced and perpetuated the remembrance of his pious wish by
the foundation of a royal prebend.

When, in 1015, a sufficient quantity of materials was collected,
they set to work by digging the ground. At the depth of more than
five fathoms they drove down stakes, filled th