It was considered in its day the most
splendid church in France. Its roof and walls blazed with gilding and
many-tinted paintings. Its floors were of marble mosaic. Rich tapestries
hung round the choir, and its treasury was filled with masterpieces of the
goldsmith and the jeweler. This church continued to be the wonder of
Gallic Christianity until the beginning of the thirteenth century, when it
was destroyed by fire. It is remarkable to notice in the history of French
cathedrals how many of them were rebuilt just at the time when the pointed
style, which may be called preeminently the Christian style of
architecture, had come to birth almost simultaneously in various countries
of Europe.
We are obliged to come to the conclusion that the pointed arch was
introduced in Germany, France and England by the Crusaders, who had seen
it used in the East, and had considered it best fitted for buildings that
enshrined the sublime mysteries of the Christian faith. It was in the
pointed style, therefore, that the new cathedral of Rheims was built. The
name of its architect is not known, but his plan shows that he must have
been a man of profound genius.
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