One of the most admirable works of the King and Queen,--for Jehanne was not only the amanuensis of her husband, but his inspirer also,--was the conception and the elaboration of the procession of the “_Fête Dieu_” and “_Les Jeux de la Tarasque_.” This pageant originated in the mind of René when, as a youth, he witnessed with emotion in 1427, at Bar-le-Duc, “_La Mystère de la Passion_,” under the direction of Conrad Bayer, Bishop of Metz. Thirty years of war and travel did not banish the impression the young Christian warrior gained, and from time to time in Anjou and elsewhere he composed _rondeaux_, _ballades_, and _chansons_, in a masque or mystery which he called “_Le Roy Avenir_.” In 1474 the King and Queen assisted at Aix at the first rendition of “_Les Jeux de la Fête Dieu_.” This was preceded by “_La Procession du Sacré_”--the Procession of the Sacred Host. All the clergy, nobles, troubadours, pretty women, and gallant knights, of Provence assisted, and all the trade corporations took part. Everybody in the procession carried upon the tip of a white wand a piece of _pain béni_. Each section of the cortège was a moving spectacle or pageant. The first section, by acclamation, exhibited “_Lon Grand Juée deis Diables_”--the Grand Play of the Devils. The devils were black and red and green, and every youth’s ambition was to figure as a Prince of Darkness; indeed, in later times a young fellow based his claim to be a devil on the fact that his father and all his ancestors had been devils, so “_c’est pourquoi ne le serrais je pas!_” To “the Devils” succeeded “the Magi,” “the Innocents of Bethlehem,” “the Apostles,” “the Queen of Sheba and Solomon,” and other _tableaux movants_ from Scriptural sources. Most amusing were “The Play of the Jews,” represented by human cats--a reference to the features characteristic of the race; “_Les Chevaux fringants_,” hobby-horses played by four-and-twenty children, dressed as knights of the “Lists”; a masque of morris-dancers. The two last spectacles were lugubrious: “The Company of Lepers” and “The March of Death.” The revels filled five whole days in and out of church, through and through the streets and squares, and out into the open pleasure-grounds. Prizes were awarded, honours bestowed, and profits made, and everybody was the better for the prodigality of “_le bon Roy_” and the graciousness of “_la bonne Royne_.”