here is a luxuriance of decoration in the many
chapels of different epochs.

The exterior, in general, is of excessive simplicity; but, if it is not
to be placed among those cathedrals and churches accredited the most
notable and most beautiful, it will, at least, take rank as one of the
most ancient to be seen to-day, and has the further benefit of a
glorious environment and association with the past.

[Illustration: _CATHEDRAL of S. BENIGNE DIJON_]

X

ST. BENIGNE DE DIJON

The power and wealth of the Dukes of Burgundy, whose influence extended
northward to the Netherlands, where they often held court at Ghent and
Bruges, were, in a way, responsible for the opulence and splendour of
the life of the day. So, too, Burgundian architecture became a term
synonymous for the amplitude and grandeur with which many of its
institutions were endowed.

The reign of Philippe le Bon, with that of Charles the Bold, the most
ambitious prince who ever graced his line, was the Augustan age of
Burgundian art. It was the dream of the latter to reincarnate the old
Burgundian kingdom by annexing Lorraine and subduing the advancing Swiss
Confederacy, an ambition which failed, like many others as, or more,
worthy. The conquered duke was killed at Nancy, and was finally buried
in Notre Dame at Bruges.

The Cathedral of St. Benigne is an outgrowth from the old abbey church,
from which the Italian monk, Guillaume, set forth to found that
remarkable series of monasteries in Normandy and Brittany. It is said,
too, that he crossed the Channel, and had a large share in the works
which were erected at that period in the south of England. The bishop's
throne has been established in this church only since the Revolution,
caused by the destruction of his former cathedral. The early foundations
of the old abbey date far back into antiquity, but the present cathedral
dates only from the thirteenth century. Commonly considered as of Gothic
style, it is in every way more suggestive of the late Romano-Byzantine
type, or at least of the early transition. There is, to be sure, no
poverty of style; but there is an air of stability and firmness of
purpose on the part of its builders, rather than any attempt to either
launch off into something new or untried, or even to consistently remain
in an old groove.

As a fact, it is not a very grand building. Its choir is small, and its
transepts short. In its plan, at least, it resembles the Byzantine