A Poet Carried to his Tomb by Women

Victor Hugo, the great French poet, relates that as he was leaving the cloisters of the Cathedral of Mainz, or Mayence, he discovered a sculptured head protruding, as it were, from the wall, surmounted by a crown of flower work: "A face imprinted with that august beauty which only the workings of nature can give to the countenance of man." The hand of some native peasant had written above it, in chalk, the single word " Frauenlob." Victor Hugo remembered instantly the "Tasso of Mainz," Count Heinrich von Meissen, surnamed Frauenlob (the woman praiser). When Heinrich von Meissen died, in 1318, he was carried to his tomb in the Cathedral of Mainz by women, the procession being represented on his tombstone. In 1842 the ladies of Mainz, in honor of "the ladies' minstrel," Count Heinrich von Meissen, erected a more enduring monument on the south wall of the cloister. "The sculptor left the eyes open; and thus, in that church of sepulchres, in that cloister of the dead, the poet alone sees: he only is standing observing all."

The Cathedral of Mainz, remarkable for its antiquity, was built in the tenth century, of red sandstone; it once held a proud preeminence among the churches of Germany. The ancient building has suffered many vicissitudes from conflagrations and bombardments, and was sacked and turned into barracks under Napoleon; but through the operation of recent events, since Mainz has become an important city and fortress of the German Empire, the old cathedral has been restored. Near the beautiful entrance to the cloister there is a memorial slab to Fastrado, third wife of Charlemagne, and a number of the Electors are buried here. The old historic town of Mainz upon the Rhine abounds in relics and traditions. The tradition is still handed down by the people that in their city occurred the Vision of the Cross which converted Constantine the Great to Christianity. The field over which the Emperor was marching is still pointed out. The city occupies the site of the ancient fortress of Drusus on the Rhine, and was before his time a Celtic Settlement.

There is no doubt that the legions under Constantine were encamped near Mainz, and that the Christian religion was early taught there.