It was the custom in those days, when a person wished to be revenged upon another, to make an image of him in wax or mud, as much resembling as possible.  They then took it to a priest and had it named after the person they wished to injure, with all the ceremonies of the church, and anointed it, and lastly had certain invocations pronounced over the unfortunate image.  It was then supposed that the figure had some degree of identity with the prototype, and any injury inflicted upon it would be felt by the person they wished to harm; they therefore then set to work to torture it according to their fancy, and at last would plunge a sharp instrument into that part where the heart should be placed, feeling quite satisfied they had wreaked their revenge on their enemy.  Sometimes persons were severely punished for the performance of this farce, and when any individuals experienced some great misfortune, they often imagined that it had arisen in consequence of their image having been made by their enemy, and maltreated in the manner described.

When Charles V ascended the throne in 1364, he soon began to display his taste for civilisation by collecting books to form a library in the Louvre, and rewarding merit, however humble the station of the individual by whom it was possessed; and although he received the reins of government at a period when France was surrounded with enemies, and her finances in a ruined state, such was the prudence of his measures that he completely retrieved her losses, and well earned the appellation he received of Charles the Wise; he built several churches, colleges, and hotels, none of which if standing are now appropriated to the purposes originally intended; he also had several bridges constructed, and embellished Paris with many edifices that were both useful and ornamental.  But all his efforts were paralysed in the following reign of Charles VI, justly called the Simple, partly mad, partly imbecile, and coming to the throne at twelve years of age, every misfortune that might have been expected from a country surrounded by foreign enemies without, and torn by intestine broils within, happened in the fullest force.  The English and the Burgundians united together in besieging Paris, which was ultimately entered by both their armies; what with riots amongst the Parisians, the intrigues of the Queen Isabeau de Baviere, the dissensions of the King’s uncles, and the brigandage of the nobility who overran the country, never was a nation reduced to a more pitiable condition; yet some monuments were added to Paris even during this turbulent reign, the Church of St. Gervais being entirely reconstructed in 1420, and that of St. Germain l’Auxerrois so considerably repaired as to be almost rebuilt in 1425, besides several colleges, hospitals and bridges; companies of archers, cross-bow men and armourers were also established.  Theatrical representations were first performed in this reign in the grand hall of the Hospital of the Trinity, Rue Saint-Denis,