"
The outrages were curiously illustrative of the spirit of the times; the
quantity of relics and ornaments equally characterise the devotion of
the votaries, and the reputed sanctity of the place.
The royal abbey of St. Ouen had, indeed, enjoyed the veneration of the
faithful, during a lengthened series of generations. Clothair is
supposed to have been the founder of the monastery in 535; though other
authorities claim for it a still higher degree of antiquity by one
hundred and thirty years. The church, whoever the original founder may
have been, was first dedicated to the twelve apostles; but, in 689, the
body of St. Ouen was deposited in the edifice; miracles without number
were performed at his tomb; pilgrims flocked thither; his fame diffused
itself wider and wider; and at length, the allegiance of the abbey was
tranferred to him whose sanctity gave him the best claims to the
advocation.
Changes of this nature, and arising from the same cause, were frequent
in those early ages: the abbey of St.
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