from assisting at the election of his successor, was referred to the ex-‘patriarch.’ In this same year canons, vicars, chaplains and _habitués_ of the cathedral were forbidden to appear at the farces of the _fête des ânes_[1072]. In 1531 the ‘patriarch’ Théobald Bucquet, recovered the right to play comedies and _jeux_ and to take the absentee fines; but in 1541 Absalon Bourgeois was refused leave _pour faire semblant de dire la messe à liesse_. The feast was cut down to the bare election of the ‘patriarch’ in 1560, and seems to have passed into the hands of a _confrérie_; all that was retained in the cathedral being the _Primes folles_ on Epiphany eve, in which the laity occupied the high stalls, and all present wore crowns of green leaves. At Rheims, a Feast of Fools in 1490 was the occasion for a satirical attack by the vicars and choir-boys on the fashion of the hoods worn by the _bourgeoises_. This led to reprisals in the form of some anti-ecclesiastical farces played on the following _dimanche des Brandons_ by the law clerks of the Rheims _Basoche_[1073]. At Châlons-sur-Marne a detailed and curious account is preserved of the way in which the Feast of Fools was celebrated in 1570[1074]. It took place on St. Stephen’s day. The chapter provided a banquet on a theatre in front of the great porch. To this the ‘bishop of Fools’ was conducted in procession from the _maîtrise des fous_, with bells and music upon a gaily trapped ass. He was then vested in cope, mitre, pectoral cross, gloves and crozier, and enjoyed a banquet with the canons who formed his ‘household.’ Meanwhile some of the inferior clergy entered the cathedral, sang gibberish, grimaced and made contortions. After the banquet, Vespers were precipitately sung, followed by a _motet_[1075]. Then came a musical cavalcade round the cathedral and through the streets. A game of _la paume_ took place in the market; then dancing and further cavalcades. Finally a band gathered before the cathedral, howled and clanged kettles and saucepans, while the bells were rung and the clergy appeared in grotesque costumes.