1685.

The very ancient church of Ste Croix, (the subject of these plates,) was
connected with the abbey, of which little now remains. There is a
tradition in the town, that it was once a temple of Ceres; and such
traditions, however uncritical or even absurd, deserve to be noticed, as
generally originating in a confused knowledge of the remote date of the
building to which they are attached. In the opinion of M. de Gerville, a
portion, at least, of the church, belongs to the edifice raised by
Charlemagne, in 805. The actual erection of such an edifice, and its
dedication to the holy cross, are facts distinctly stated in the
_Neustria Pia_: its identity with the present church does not appear to
be doubted, either by Du Monstier, or the Abbe de Billy, the historian
of St. Lo. At the same time, neither the one nor the other of these
writers was ignorant of the positive assertion in the _Gesta
Normannorum_, that, under those successful invaders--"Sancti Laudi
castrum, interfectis habitatoribus, terrae aequatum est." But, in
opposition to this, M. de Gerville contends that, either this strong
assertion is to be received with a certain degree of latitude, or that,
by the word _castrum_, is to be understood only the citadel; so that,
while that was destroyed, the domestic and religious edifices were
suffered to escape. He even thinks that the parts of the building
ascribable to the period of the Carlovingian dynasty, may be
distinguished by a practised eye, from the reparations of the eleventh
century. He traces them especially in the western front, in its
door-way, (_plate eighty-seven_) and in some herring-bone masonry,
observable over a narrow circular-headed window towards the south. But
he founds his opinion still more upon the bas-relief, representing the
Deity attended by angels, (_plate eighty-eight, fig. B._) now built into
the wall at the end of the nave, on the south side. The character of the
sculpture and the form of the letters appear to him to be almost
decisive. With regard to the latter, he observes;--"it is well known
that the Roman characters were restored by Charlemagne, especially after
he had been proclaimed emperor. This fact is sufficiently attested by
the various monuments still left us of his time, as well as by the
coins which were struck in the latter part of his reign, and during that
of Louis le Debonnaire. Elegance and simplicity in the shape of the
letters, characterized the writing of this ep