For the linear thinking Abbot Bernard, the soon-to-be Saint, mystical union with the Divinity was only possible in death. There was a one-way ride to a wall called death, and then the eternal. People could only hope to live in humble awareness of their fallen state, and ignore the seduction of life (a belief shared by the Cathar heretics and Buddhists ). If this seems austerely beautiful, then you understand this Cistercian abbey church built by Bernard.#
Bernard considered himself a mystic, although he sought guidance, not mystical union in his practices. This meant he had a fair amount of time leftover to organize the affairs of his time. Bernard also had the personal will to accomplish this. He probably was more powerful and influential in Europe than the Pope himself. He excommunicated many, including Queen Eleanor's troubadour grandfather William; a poorly producing orchard, and some annoying flies. #
The emerging present, the Gothic, did have a champion in the personage of Abbot Suger of St Denis, councillor to both Louis VI and Louis VII. He was the keeper of the mystical writings of Dionysius the Areopagite. Dionysius was a 5th Century Syrian mystic who was, at the time, confused with St Denis the patron saint of France. He believed that through pure contemplation, the soul could join with "the super-essential light in which all knowledge pre-exists." When Suger was faced with renovating the royal cathedral he determined to build a reminder of the column of light, the mystic axis.#
The filtered light of the stained glass, one of Suger's inspirations, performs its magic on a tile pattern that may look familiar. The King as the second son was raised here in the abbey; his fellow novitiate was Suger; his Queen was a free-spirited daughter of a troubadour King, and his moral authority was an ascetic abbot named Bernard. Louis may well have ended up the pawn of Bernard had it not been for the joy of Suger and the backbone of Eleanor.#
In the chevet surrounding the choir of St. Denis we see many of the essential elements of Suger's new style bonded together in Dionysus's mystic light. The ribbed vaults, taking weight off the walls and allowing larger windows; the array of chapels making the chevet; the free-standing columns surrounding the altar like the order of angels, and of course the magnificent colored light all herald the birth of the Gothic. Even St Bernard commented, after he expressed his disdain, that the light filtered by the glass was much like the way we experience God in life.#
High on this hill surmounted by St Madeleine of Vezelay, St Bernard launched the armies of the Second Crusade in 1146. The king leading the crusade was Louis VII. The determined Queen Eleanor, unwilling to be left behind, is reported to have surprised Louis and Bernard by arriving with a troop of other noble women. They were all on horseback, were bare-breasted, and called themselves the Amazon Warriors. If you ignore this spectacle, along with Eleanor's extended stay in the courts of Constantinople and Louis' need to kidnap her from her uncle's castle in Antioch, the crusade was a failure. #
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France Map#
Cathedral Plan#
Bourges - Nave elevation#
Bourges - Joseph of Many Colors#
Chartres - North Rose window - 1230#
Chartres - Queen and King#
Chartres - Right Portal#
St Denis - Ambulatory floor#
St Denis - Ribbed groin vaulting#
St Denis - The world as miracle#
Fontenay - Abbey cloister and church#
Fontenay - Nave looking west#
Vezelay - Romanesque & Gothic#
Le Puy - Main sanctuary#
Le Puy - Chapel entry vaults#
Le Puy - Chapel of St Michel#
Puivert - Troubadour castle#
Puivert - Keystone medallion#
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supp#
The France map is divided into twelve regions that are important to our story. Modern France is represented here with lighter shades of green indicating higher elevations. This program covers a time period when this area was made up of many small independent feudal states. France stretches north to the English Channel, west to the Atlantic Ocean, and south to the Mediterranean Sea. Blessed with a benevolent climate, France is still a largely agrarian country today. Five great rivers drain mountain ranges from the Alps to the Pyrenees, and in medieval times, the rich river valleys supported a way of life that was wealthy enough to fund the building of the great Gothic Cathedrals of the 12th and 13th centuries.#
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Late in the day, the light of the setting sun through the westwork performs its magic on the traditional sequence of arcade, triforium, and above, the clerestory windows.#
The Old Testament Joseph of the coat-of-many-colors is shown in this window donated by the carpenter's guild, dreaming of his eleven brothers and mother and father before being sold into servitude in Eygpt.#
The most magnificent assemblages of windows are the transept rose windows. The north rose, seen here, is slightly newer. The twelve-sided outline of the tracery enhances the multi-colored rose dedicated to the Virgin and Child.#
The portal sculptures are some of the oldest at Chartres. The oak leaf clasp may well be a symbol of Aquitaine, in which case we may have a glimpse here of Eleanor and Louis VII.#
The three-dimensional composition of these figure, much like the dancing of an evening fire, stimulates and tantalizes our vision. The interplay of the city arches, halos, clothing ties and the line of a chin or inflexion of a hand also serve to keep the eye active. Even the folds of drapery, at another level of scale, add to the dynamics of this masterpiece.#
For the troubadours the Gothic was the union of many strengths and many individuals. To the French kings it was the assembling of many wills, subjugated to their supreme will. The nobles were tiles; they were the floor.#
The chevet, covered with rib groin vaults, allowed the weight of the building to be moved off the walls and concentrated on the columns. The panels of the vaults were also lighter, the weight being carried by the arch-like ribs. This made for a much lighter building, further reducing the size of the columns. All of this eliminated the cave-like qualities of the Romanesque cathedral.#
The column of light; the world axis as described by Dionysus the Areopagite, the 5th century mystical writer. Here are the Kings of France in eternal rest under the tree of light, the tree of life.#
Complete the circles over the pairs of arches and you will find they intersect the base of the center column pair. Subtle visual play, but no ornament, what an extraordinary distinction to make!#
The Cistercian church was to be nothing more than the bare minimum needed to meditate. Even for the Romanesque, this a little spartan. The austerity is its grace. It is not clumsy, only bare. There is a barrel vault; no clerestory, triforium, or gallery, and only a small window to light each bay.#
Near here St Bernard sent the armies of the 2nd Crusade marching down the valleys of the Saone and Rhone, on to liberate the Holy Land. In the lead were King Louis VII and Queen Eleanor. This crusade was not a success, but it was an adventure. #
The main sanctuary is Carolingian, from the 9th century, and the wall frescos are from the 10th century. The altar is on a platform, surrounded by a ring of columns.#
Looking back at the entry, the cave-like quality of this chapel is readily apparent. Why the vaults are groined, with a windowless wall, is a mystery. Function is not the key, but beauty may be.#
Le Puy is a town that was built to serve the 11th and 12th century pilgrimages. It was the jumping-off point for one of the four main routes to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. Besides the Cathedral of Notre Dame, there is also this Chapel of St Michel built at the summit of a 260 foot high volcanic neck. The archangel Michael, much like his Roman counterpart Mercury, was the messenger of God and in later times the image of reason quelling the dragon of emotion.#
Puivert means "green hill", and before 1210 it was a Cathar fort that garrisoned the troops of their ally, the King of Aragon. In three days it was overrun by 6000 soldiers and leveled to the ground. It rose, Phoenix-like, around 1250, after the crusade ended, and became a troubador castle.#
The keystone medallion in the chapel has been described variously as St Michel and a virgin quelling the dragon, Christ crowning the Virgin Mother and Arthur and Guinevere revealing the power of the dragon. The ambiguity is definitely the basis of troubadour poetry, and also the reason the troubadours could avoid the confrontation the Cathars could not.#
This crown of chapels dedicated to the cathedral's patron saints is called the [_CHEVET_]. Its central half-circle is usually part of the choir space, and is called the [_APSE_]. The passage space between the apse and the chapels is called the [_AMBULATORY_].#
The [_SIDE_AISLES_] run parallel to the Nave and Choir. They are usually not as high as the Nave, but if they are the same height as the Nave, the church is called a [_HALL_CHURCH_]. Chauvigny is an example of such a church.#
The part of the Nave that extends from the Transept east to the Apse is called the [_CHOIR_] because this is where the nobility and choir would sit. This is often the newest construction in the cathedral. The basement area under this section is called the [_CRYPT_], and is where the most sacred relics were kept. Sometimes, as in Chartres, an ancient sacred spring can be found, its importance recognized by the newer Christian religion.#
The [_SIDE_AISLES_] run parallel to the Nave and Choir. In this example there are double side aisles, but in many cathedrals, both Gothic and Romanesque, there were single side aisles.#
The [_SIDE_AISLES_] run parallel to the Nave and Choir. Together they provide a way of circulating around the cathedral and visiting the chapels, without entering the main worship space.#
The [_SIDE_AISLES_] run parallel to the Nave and Choir. They are generally covered with four panel [_QUADPARTITE_VAULTS_]. If the Side Aisle was two floors high, the upper level was called the [_GALLERY_]. This level was found in pilgrimage churches, and disappeared in the High Gothic style.#
The [_SOUTH_TRANSEPT_ARM_] extends to the southern [_PORTALS_] of the cathedral and this is where the great [_ROSE_WINDOWS_] are placed. The Nave and Transept were often vaulted with six panel or [_SEXPARTITE_VAULTS_]. #
This intersection of the Nave-Choir with the [_TRANSEPT_] is generally the area of highest vaulting. It may be covered with a [_DOME_]. If tower and windows are present it is called a [_LANTERN_]. This is the place of greatest significance, and therefore the [_HIGH_ALTAR_] is placed here on a platform or [_DAIS_].#
The [_NORTH_TRANSEPT_ARM_] completes the cross arm of the plan, making it the shape of the cross, with Rose Windows over the north, south, and west portals. They are placed at the wounds of Christ in the hands and feet. The Crown of Thorns is the Chevet, and the High Altar is at the heart of the schema.#
The [_NAVE_] is the main axial, vaulted space of the cathedral. One progressed from the west, the land of the dead; the cross joined to the Earth; towards the east and the rising sun; the Risen Christ. The side elevation, progressing upward, is made up of the [_ARCADE_] or arches to the Side Aisle, the [_TRIFORIUM_] or space where the roof of the Aisle joined the Nave, and the [_CLERESTORY_] or upper windows in the extension of the Nave above the Aisle between the ribs of the ceiling vaulting.#
The main entrance to the cathedral, for iconographic reasons, was placed in the west. The [_TOWERS_] would flank the main [_PORTALS_] and together they are known as the [_WESTWORK_]. Over the Portals was a semi-circular sculpted panel called the [_TYMPANUM_].#
