Mars_ was one of the principal fetes of the year, and was held sometimes
in the centre of some large town, sometimes in a royal domain, and
sometimes in the open country. Bishop Gregory of Tours describes one which
was given in his diocese during the reign of Chilperic, at the Easter
festivals, at which we may be sure that the games of the circus,
re-established by Chilperic, excited the greatest interest. Charlemagne
also held _Champs de Mars_, but called them _Cours Royales,_ at which he
appeared dressed in cloth of gold studded all over with pearls and
precious stones. Under the third dynasty King Robert celebrated court days
with the same magnificence, and the people were admitted to the palace
during the royal banquet to witness the King sitting amongst his great
officers of state. The _Cours Plenieres_, which were always held at
Christmas, Twelfth-day, Easter, and on the day of Pentecost, were not less
brilliant during the reigns of Robert's successors. Louis IX. himself,
notwithstanding his natural shyness and his taste for simplicity, was
noted for the display he made on state occasions. In 1350, Philippe de
Valois wore his crown at the _Cours Plenieres_, and from that time they
were called _Cours Couronnees_. The kings of jugglers were the privileged
performers, and their feats and the other amusements, which continued on
each occasion for several days, were provided for at the sovereign's sole
expense.

[Illustration: Fig. 169.--Feats in Balancing.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in a Manuscript
in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (Thirteenth Century).]

These kings of jugglers exercised a supreme authority over the art of
jugglery and over all the members of this jovial fraternity. It must not
be imagined that these jugglers merely recited snatches from tales and
fables in rhyme; this was the least of their talents. The cleverest of
them played all sorts of musical instruments, sung songs, and repeated by
heart a multitude of stories, after the example of their reputed
forefather, King Borgabed, or Bedabie, who, according to these
troubadours, was King of Great Britain at the time that Alexander the
Great was King of Macedonia. The jugglers of a lower order especially
excelled in tumbling and in tricks of legerdemain (Figs. 169 and 170).
They threw wonderful somersaults, they leaped through hoops placed at
certain distances from one another, they played with knives, slings,
baskets, brass balls, and earthenware pl