s a
sort of revival of the fairs of St. Denis, founded by Dagobert, and which
for a time had fallen into disuse in the midst of the general ruin which
preceded that emperor's reign. This fair of Landit was renowned over the
whole of Europe, and attracted merchants from all countries. It was held
in the month of June, and only lasted fifteen days. Goods of all sorts,
both of home and foreign manufacture, were sold, but the sale of parchment
was the principal object of the fair, to purchase a supply of which the
University of Paris regularly went in procession. On account of its
special character, this fair was of less general importance than the six
others, which from the twelfth century were held at Troyes, Provins,
Lagny-sur-Marne, Rheims, and Bar-sur-Aube. These infused so much
commercial vitality into the province of Champagne, that the nobles for
the most part shook off the prejudice which forbad their entering into any
sort of trading association.

Fairs multiplied in the centre and in the south of France simultaneously.
Those of Puy-en-Velay, now the capital of the Haute-Loire, are looked upon
as the most ancient, and they preserved their old reputation and attracted
a considerable concourse of people, which was also increased by the
pilgrimages then made to Notre-Dame du Puy. These fairs, which were more
of a religious than of a commercial character, were then of less
importance as regards trade than those held at Beaucaire. This town rose
to great repute in the thirteenth century, and, with the Lyons market,
became at that time the largest centre of commerce in the southern
provinces. Placed at the junction of the Saone and the Rhone, Lyons owed
its commercial development to the proximity of Marseilles and the towns of
Italy. Its four annual fairs were always much frequented, and when the
kings of France transferred to it the privileges of the fairs of
Champagne, and transplanted to within its walls the silk manufactories
formerly established at Tours, Lyons really became the second city of
France.

[Illustration: Fig. 195.--Measurers of Corn in Paris.

Fig. 196.--Hay Carriers.

Fac-simile of Woodcuts from the "Royal Orders concerning the Jurisdiction
of the Company of Merchants and Shrievalty in the City of Paris," in small
folio goth.: Jacques Nyverd, 1528.]

It may be asserted as an established fact that the gradual extension of
the power of the king, produced by the fall of feudalism, was favourable
to