Page:The Kiss and its History.djvu/117

Rh met with in mediæval Spanish, where paz has also the meaning of "kiss." In an ancient romance which relates how Fernando dubbed the Cid a knight, it says at the end, "He buckled a sword on his waist, and gave him 'peace' (i.e., a kiss) on the mouth":

The holy kiss occurs even in the early Christian love-feasts, the so-called, and indeed was often exchanged in the church itself by all the faithful without regard to sex, which gave the heathen cause for scandal, and its use was restricted so that only men kissed men, and women, women.

The kiss of peace was in vogue in France down to the thirteenth century. We find it in the story about a very unpleasant incident to which Queen Margaret, the wife of St Louis, was exposed. One day when she was in church and the kiss of peace was to be imparted, she saw close beside her a woman in splendid apparel, and taking the latter to be a lady of rank, she gave her the kiss of peace. It turned out, however, that the queen had made a mistake; she had kissed