order of variety.

Mazes were used as ornaments on the state robes of Christian emperors
before the ninth century, and were soon adopted in the decoration of
cathedrals and other churches. The original idea was doubtless to employ
them as symbols of the complicated folds of sin by which man is
surrounded. They began to abound in the early part of the twelfth
century, and I give an illustration of one of this period in the parish
church at St. Quentin (Fig. 1). It formed a pavement of the nave, and
its diameter is 34½ feet. The path here is the line itself. If you place
your pencil at the point A and ignore the enclosing line, the line leads
you to the centre by a long route over the entire area; but you never
have any option as to direction during your course. As we shall find in
similar cases, these early ecclesiastical mazes were generally not of a
puzzle nature, but simply long, winding paths that took you over
practically all the ground enclosed.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Maze at St. Quentin.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Maze in Chartres Cathedral.]

In the abbey church of St. Berlin, at St. Omer, is another of these
curious floors, representing the Temple of Jerusalem, with stations for
pilgrims. These mazes were actually visited and traversed by them as a
compromise for not going to the Holy Land in fulfilment of a vow. They
were also used as a means of penance, the penitent frequently being
directed to go the whole course of the maze on hands and knees.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Maze in Lucca Cathedral.]