Henry II. was duly crowned at Rheims in July, 1547, and the particulars recorded of the ceremony show that we have fallen off in the matter of kingly pomp. On a platform erected before the gate of the city, there was a representation of the sun, which appeared to expand like a flower. In the centre was a crimson heart, out of which stepped a young girl in costly attire, who offered the keys of the city to the monarch. Henry suffered two years to elapse before he visited his capital. On 16th June, 1549, all Paris was in commotion. A grand procession of the notabilities of the city, both lay and clerical, went out to meet and harangue him, according to the wearisome custom of the age. The king, richly dressed, rode a white horse, and was attended by the princes of the blood, foreign ambassadors, marshals of France, and knights of the various orders of chivalry, all well mounted. The glittering procession took its way through streets hung with tapestry, and under triumphal arches, to Notre Dame. After the usual _Te Deum_, Henry was escorted with boisterous acclamations to the bishop’s palace, where a royal banquet had been prepared for him in the great hall. Only the princes of the royal house ate at his table. On his right sat the Cardinals of Bourbon and Vendome: on his left the Dukes of Vendome, Montpensier, and Roche-sur-Yon. The Constable Montmorency, by virtue of his office, stood in front of him with a drawn sword. Henry remained at the palace two days, until the solemn entry of the queen. She was in a horse-litter profusely ornamented, and at her side rode the Cardinals of Amboise, Chatillon, Boulogne, and Lenoncourt. Two other litters were used by the princesses, their ladies following on hackneys, and attended by pages on foot. After the customary prayers at Notre Dame, and the dinner at the bishop’s palace, a ball was given (for churchmen could dance in those days), at which the “enfants de la ville,” some sixscore young men, danced with the court ladies, and acquitted themselves with much grace, to the evident satisfaction of Henry, who had arranged this little incident. After the ball there was a supper--a collation of preserves and sweetmeats; and to end the feast, the provost of the merchants and the aldermen presented the queen with a “buffet complet,” a complete set of double silver-gilt plate, adorned with fleur-de-lis and “crescents.”[42]