The cathedral of Le Puy has been venerated and visited by practically every ruler of France from Charlemagne to Francis I. This ancient city was almost chosen as the meeting place for launching the First Crusade. Urban II paused here in 1095, and the bishop of Le Puy, Adhémar de Monteil (1087-1100), accompanied him to Clermont, and when the pope's great rallying speech was ended it was Bishop Adhémar, his face shining with enthusiasm, who first stepped forward to take the cross. Urban appointed him the spiritual chief of the expedition, and his skill in military strategics proved of use since he had been a knight before becoming a churchman. This good man died in the grievous days at Antioch, worn out with his efforts to check disorders in the crusaders' camp. To Adhémar de Monteil has been attributed the _Salve Regina_ called in the olden times the anthem of Puy. To Le Puy's famous shrine St. Louis presented a thorn from the Crown he had obtained from Constantinople, and on his way back from his first crusade he deposited in the church the curious image of a black Virgin given him in Egypt. THE CATHEDRAL OF LIMOGES[215] Bien me sourit le doux printemps, Qui fait venir fleurs et feuillages; Et bien me plait lorsque j'entends Des oiseaux le gentil ramage. Mais j'aime mieux quand sur le pré Je vois l'étendard arboré, Flottant comme un signal de guerre. Quand j'entends par mont et par vaux Courir chevalier et chevaux Et sous leur pas frémir la terre, Et gens crier: "A l'aide! A l'aide!" De voir les petits et les grands Dans les fossés roulers mourants. A ce plaisir tout plaisir cède.[216] --BERTRAN DE BORN (1140-1215). Although in plan, in the mode of construction, in the covering of chapels and various details, the resemblances between the cathedrals of Clermont and Limoges are such that it is thought the same Jean Deschamps designed both, the cathedral of St. Étienne at Limoges possesses its own individual character because of the fine-grained, compact granite of which it is built and the unusual talent of its masons. M. Viollet-le-Duc considered the apse of Limoges one of the most scientific of Gothic constructions. The very beautiful leaf foliage is as crisply cut as when it came from the master's hand. Full of character are the profiles of the molds used in the triforium for decorative effect.