Says the Abbé Bourassé: "In the eleventh century another cathedral was dedicated by Bishop Arnaud, and the day was made the occasion of a fête, in consideration of the restoration of the church, which had been for a long time abandoned." It seems futile to attempt to describe a church which does not exist, and though the records of the later cathedral at Maguelonne are very complete, it must perforce be passed by in favour of its descendant at Montpellier. Having obtained the consent of François I., the bishop of Maguelonne solicited from the pontiff at Rome the privilege of transferring the throne. In a bull given in 1536, it was decreed that this should be done forthwith. Accordingly, the bishop and his chapter transferred their dignity to a Benedictine monastery at Montpellier, which had been founded in 1364 by Pope Urban V. The wars of the Protestants desecrated this great church, which, like many others, suffered greatly from their violence, so much so that it was shorn entirely of its riches, its reliquaries, and much of its decoration. The dimensions of this church are not great, and its beauties are quite of a comparative quality; but for all that it is a most interesting cathedral. The very grim but majestic severity of its canopied portal--with its flanking cylindrical pillars, called by the French _tourelles élancés_--gives the key-note of it all, and a note which many a more perfect church lacks. This curious porch well bespeaks the time when the Church was both spiritual and militant, and ranks as an innovation--though an incomplete and possibly imperfect one--in the manner of finishing off a west façade. Its queer, suspended canopy and slight turreted towers are unique; though, for a fact, they suggest, in embryo, those lavish Burgundian porches; but it is only a suggestion, because of the incompleteness and bareness. However, this porch is the distinct fragment of the cathedral which will appeal to all who come into contact therewith. The general effect of the interior is even more plain than that of the outer walls, and is only remarkable because of its fine and true proportions of length, breadth, and height. The triforium is but a suggestion of an arcade, supported by black marble columns. The clerestory above is diminutive, and the window piercings are infrequent. At the present time the choir is hung with a series of curtains of _panne_--not tapestries in this case. The effect is more theatrical than ecclesiastical. The architectural embellishments are to-day practically _nil_, but instead one sees everywhere large, uninterrupted blank walls without decoration of any sort.