The vine in Gaul--Domitian's edict to uproot it--Plantation of vineyards under Probus--Early vineyards of the Champagne--Ravages by the Northern tribes repulsed for a time by the Consul Jovinus--St. Remi and the baptism of Clovis--St. Remi's vineyards--Simultaneous progress of Christianity and the cultivation of the vine--The vine a favourite subject of ornament in the churches of the Champagne--The culture of the vine interrupted, only to be renewed with increased ardour--Early distinction between 'Vins de la Rivière' and 'Vins de la Montagne'--A prelate's counsel respecting the proper wine to drink--The Champagne desolated by war--Pope Urban II., a former Canon of Reims Cathedral--His partiality for the wine of Ay--Bequests of vineyards to religious establishments--Critical ecclesiastical topers--The wine of the Champagne causes poets to sing and rejoice--'La Bataille des Vins'--Wines of Auviller and Espernai le Bacheler 1 II. /The Wines of the Champagne from the Fourteenth to the Seventeenth Century./ Coronations at Reims and their attendant banquets--Wine flows profusely at these entertainments--The wine-trade of Reims--Presents of wine from the Reims municipality--Cultivation of the vineyards abandoned after the battle of Poitiers--Octroi levied on wine at Reims--Coronation of Charles V.--Extension of the Champagne vineyards--Abundance of wine--Visit to Reims of the royal sot Wenceslaus of Bohemia--The Etape aux Vins at Reims--Increased consumption of beer during the English occupation of the city--The Maid of Orleans at Reims--The vineyards and wine-trade alike suffer--Louis XI. is crowned at Reims--Fresh taxes upon wine followed by the Mique-Maque revolt--The Rémois the victims of pillaging foes and extortionate defenders--The Champagne vineyards attacked by noxious insects--Coronation of Louis XII.--François Premier, the Emperor Charles V., Bluff King Hal, and Leo the Magnificent all partial to the wine of Ay--Mary Queen of Scots at Reims--State kept by the opulent and libertine Cardinal of Lorraine--Brusquet, the Court Fool--Decrease in the production of wine around Reims--Gifts of wine to newly-crowned monarchs--New restrictions on vine cultivation--The wine of the Champagne crowned at the same time as Louis XIII.--Regulation price for wine established at Reims--Imposts levied on the vineyards by the Frondeurs--The country ravaged around Reims--Sufferings of the peasantry--Presents of wine to Marshal Turenne and Charles II. of England--Perfection of the Champagne wines during the reign of Louis XIV.--St. Evremond's high opinion of them--Other contemporary testimony in their favour--The Archbishop of Reims's niggardly gift to James II. of England--A poet killed by Champagne--Offerings by