was slain in 1218, at Toulouse, John was at the University of
Toulouse, where he was made So professor, and stayed three years,
returning then to Paris. He died about the middle of the thirteenth
century. He was celebrated chiefly for his Dictionarius, a work on
the various arts and crafts of France, and for a poem "De Triumphis
Ecclesiæ."

During the Middle Ages votive crowns were often presented to churches;
among these a few are specially famous. The crowns, studded with
jewels, were suspended before the altar by jewelled chains, and often
a sort of fringe of jewelled letters was hung from the rim, forming
an inscription. The votive crown of King Suinthila, in Madrid, is
among the most ornate of these. It is the finest specimen in the
noted "Treasure of Guerrazzar," which was discovered by peasants
turning up the soil near Toledo; the crowns, of which there were
many, date from about the seventh century, and are sumptuous with
precious stones. The workmanship is not that of a barbarous nation,
though it has the fascinating irregularities of the Byzantine style.

Of the delightful work of the fifth and sixth centuries there are
scarcely any examples in Italy. The so-called Iron Crown of Monza
is one of the few early Lombard treasures. This crown has within
it a narrow band of iron, said to be a nail of the True Cross;
but the crown, as it meets the eye, is anything but iron, being
one of the most superb specimens of jewelled golden workmanship,
as fine as those in the Treasure of Guerrazzar.

[Illustration: THE TREASURE OF GUERRAZZAR.]

The crown of King Alfred the Great is mentioned in an old inventory