during the war of 1870-1. [Illustration] If Reims be the titular capital of the Champagne wine-trade, Epernay can boast of containing the establishments of some of the most eminent firms engaged therein. Its connection with the production of the wines of Champagne is of the remotest. The vineyards stretching for miles around the ancient Sparnacum claim indeed an antiquity far exceeding that of any existing portion of the town itself, which, despite the remote date of its foundation, and the fact that it was a place of considerable importance as early as 445, presents a thoroughly modern aspect. Unlike Reims--so rich in the remains of antiquity--it possesses no mementoes of the days when its lord Eulogius gave it to St. Remi,[428] and he in turn bequeathed it to the Church. [Illustration] The reason is simple, for the history of Epernay may be briefly summed up in the words--fire, pestilence, and pillage. From the days when misfortune first overtook it, after the division of the Frankish monarchy on the death of Clovis, it has been burnt down on half a dozen occasions, repeatedly depopulated by the plague, and captured and sacked times out of number. The contending sovereigns of Austrasia and Neustria alternately obtained forcible possession of it, and the rival counts of Paris and Vermandois snatched it repeatedly from each other's hold, like hungry dogs contending for a bone; whilst the Normans, the Hungarians, the vassals of Charles of Lorraine, and the followers of Otho of Germany added their quota to the work of destruction during the long period of anarchy preceding the establishment of the Capetian race upon the throne of France. The founder of the said race, Hugh the Great, distinguished himself in 947 by plundering the town of Epernay, ravaging the surrounding country, and profiting by the fact that it was vintage-time to carry off all the wine of the neighbourhood.[429] Even during the epoch of comparative tranquillity which prevailed up to the English invasion, Epernay became from time to time the prey of robber knights like Thomas de Marlé and rebellious nobles like Count John of Soissons; and at the commencement of the thirteenth century Count Thibault of Champagne was fain to burn it, in order to prevent it from serving as a rallying-place for the lords who had risen against Queen Blanche and her infant son Louis IX. After the battle of Poitiers it was pillaged by the partisans of Charles the Bad of Navarre; Edward the Black Prince entered it twice as a conqueror; and John of Gaunt exacted a heavy tribute from it. In the struggles which followed the death of Henry V. of England it was again taken and re-taken, partially burnt and utterly ruined, remaining for three years absolutely depopulated after the unwelcome visit paid it by the Duke of Burgundy in 1432.