ABSTRACT
1. The text begins and ends in the great and ancient abbey (now basilica) of Saint-Denis, a little to the north of Paris, which was closely associated with the kings of France, most of whom were buried there. Charlemagne himself consecrated the third church on the site in 775. In the twelfth century it was of central importance in the religious, artistic, and political life of France. From 1140, under Abbot Suger, the church was splendidly rebuilt in the new Gothic style; queens were traditionally crowned there; and, from early in the twelfth century, it was the scene of the great fair and holiday, the Lendit, which celebrated its relics of the Passion. It may well be that the Lendit crowds were the first audience for the Pèlerinage (see Bédier, IV, pp. 137–56, Coulet, pp. 211–13). For lengthy notes on the problems relating to the form Karleun in this line see Aebischer, p. 86, Koschwitz, p.52, and Tyssens, p. 30.
