The ceremony of consecration filled the Cathedral with a great crowd of people. Apart from the peers, numerous prelates, dignitaries of the Kingdom, the Court, the Chapter of the Cathedral and the populace crowded in. Staging was erected for the public in the transept ends and along the choir. Before the consecration took place, the archbishop, at the head of a procession, went to receive the _Sacred Ampulla_ at the threshold of the Cathedral, brought on horseback by the Abbot of St. Remi. Returning to the altar, the prelate received the King's oath and then consecrated him, anointing him with the holy oil on his head and breast, between and on his shoulders, on the joints of his arms and in the palms of his hands, each motion being accompanied with a special prayer. Then the Peers handed the insignia of royalty to the archbishop, who, surrounded by all the Peers, placed the crown of Charlemagne on the head of the King, _while the people shouted_ "_Long live the King_." The King was then led to a throne prepared for him at the entrance to the Choir, and mass was celebrated with great pomp. The King and Queen communicated in both kinds, and the royal party then went in procession to the archbishop's palace, where the _Feast of Consecration_ was held. In 1162, the Archbishopric of Rheims, until then a county, became a Duchy and the highest peerage in France, which explains why it was given to great personages, such as Henri-de-France and Guillaume-de-Champagne, brother and brother-in-law of Louis VII. In the 12th century the archbishops, freed from the feudal rivalries, were confronted by a new power, the _bourgeoisie_ or middle classes, born of the progress of industry and commerce, and whose importance was demonstrated by the great Champagne Fairs held sometimes at Rheims and sometimes at Troyes. The first _Company of Burgesses_, founded in 1138, soon became a "_Commune_." In 1147, the suburb of St. Remi, which the archbishop refused to allow to become attached to the "_Commune_" rose in revolt and was only appeased by the intervention of St. Bernard and Suger. In 1160, Archbishop Henri-de-France, with the help of the Count of Flanders, who was occupying Rheims with a thousand horsemen, suppressed the "_Commune_" whose independence was alarming him. In 1182 a royal charter, granting to the inhabitants the right to elect for a year twelve "_échevins_" (aldermen), re-established the _Commune_ in fact, if not in name, but the struggle between the _Commune_ and the archbishop still went on. In 1211, Philippe-Auguste compelled the aldermen to hand over the keys of the city gates to the archbishop. [Illustration: THE CONSECRATION CEREMONY OF THE KINGS OF FRANCE IN THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS (_see p. 4_)]