Romain; the other,
the genealogy of Jewish kings, from whom the Holy Virgin descended.
Rouen has, from a very early period, been famous for its manufactories
of painted glass. But the windows of this church were still esteemed the
_chef d'oeuvre_ of its artists; and these had so far passed into a
proverb, that Farin[104] tells us it was common throughout France to
say, in recommendation of choice wine, that "it was as bright as the
windows of St. Godard." The saying, however, was by no means confined to
Rouen, for it was also applied to the windows of the Ste. Chapelle, at
Dijon.
It was at St. Godard that the burst of the reformation was first
manifested. The Huguenots, taking courage from the secret increase of
their numbers, broke into the building, in 1540, demolished the images,
and sold the pix to a goldsmith. But the man suffered severely for his
purchase: he was shortly afterwards sentenced, by a decree of the
parliament, to be hanged in front of his shop; and two of those
concerned in the outrage also suffered capital punishment.
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