The tomb of =Frédégonde= (d. 597) from St. Germain-des-Prés, is a curious mosaic figure of marble and copper, almost unique in character. It is =not= of the Queen’s own age, but was added to her shrine in the 12th century. Most of these early kings and queens, founders and benefactors of monasteries, were either actually canonized or were treated as saints by the monks whom they had benefited: and tombs in their honour were repaired or reedified after the Norman invasion and other misfortunes. Two monuments of the =children of St. Louis=, from other abbeys, carried first to Lenoir’s Museum, are now in this Basilica. They are of enamelled copper, with =repoussé= figures, executed at Limoges. The most costly, though not to my mind the most beautiful, of the Renaissance tombs is that of =François I^{er}= (d. 1547). On the summit are kneeling figures of the King, his wife Claude, and their three children. The reliefs on the pedestal represent the battles of Marignano and Cerisole. This tomb, like that of Louis XII, is ultimately based on the Visconti monument in the Certosa, but it exhibits a much later and more refined development of French Renaissance sculpture than its predecessor. It is by Germain Pilon, Philibert Delorme, and (perhaps) Jean Goujon. The architectural plan is noble and severe: but it lacks the more naïve beauty of Jean Juste’s workmanship. It was the curious custom to treat the bodies of French Kings (who, as royal, were almost sacred) much as the relics of the Saints were treated. Hence the head and heart were often preserved separately and in different places from the body to which they belonged. François I^{er} himself was interred here: but an =urn= to hold his heart was placed in the Abbaye des Hautes Bruyères, near Rambouillet. This urn is a fine Renaissance work by Pierre Bontemps. Taken to Lenoir’s Musée des Monuments at the Revolution, it was afterwards placed beside the king’s tomb in this Basilica. Look out in the Apse for the Altar of St. Denis, and his fellow-martyrs. Near it used once to hang the Oriflamme, that very sacred banner which was only removed when a King of France took the field in person. It was last used at Agincourt. A reproduction now represents it. The other monuments can be best observed by the brief notes given as we pass them. The arrangements for seeing them are quite as bad as those in our own cathedrals, and it is impossible to get near enough to examine them properly. Therefore, =take your bearings from the Nave= _before_ you enter, and try to understand the architecture of the choir as far as possible before you pass the barriers. Disregard the remarks made by the guide (who expects a tip), and read these brief notes for yourself as you pass the objects.] =Enter the enclosure.=