Churches and castles of mediæval France

Front matter

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THE CATHEDRAL OF TOURS

CHURCHES AND CASTLES OF MEDI/EVAL FRANCE

Contents

CHAPTEK PAGE

I. Historical Monuments of France ... 1

II. The Cathedral of Amiens ..... 5

Chapter I Historical Monuments Of France

No one who has travelled in France, and visited the cathedrals, the chstteaux, and the walled towns, can fail to be deeply impressed by the meaning of the two words, " historical monument." These words are found in every guide-book. Sometimes only the initials (M. H.) are given, as in Murray. A " monument historique " in France means a church, or a castle, or a town that has been thought worthy either of restoration or preservation at the expense of the French people. There is a tax levied to provide the money necessary for these purposes, and it is astonishing how much the French are willing to pay to preserve or restore whatever has to do with their history as a nation. The money required is by no means a small sum. The restoration of Carcassonne was undertaken by Mr. VioUet-le-Duc, by the direc-

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Z HISTORICAL MONUMEKTS OF FRANCE

tion of the authorities who have these matters in charge in France. This restoration meant spending about four hundred thousand dollars on the cathedral and about three hundred thousand dollars on the walls and towers. The work is not yet completed. The ch§,teau, which was an important part of the old town, is not yet completely restored, and it will cost a large sum of money before that is finished, in the same way as the cathedral and the walls and towers have been now made nearly as they were when they were built.

The same thing has been done at Ntmes, though not at so great a cost. But this is only one among many illustrations as to the spirit of the French people in this matter. The Chateau of Pierrefonds was also restored by Mr. Viollet-le-Duc in the time of Louis Napoleon. It attests again his skill in bringing mediaeval buildings, apparently dead, back again to the life that was theirs at the time when they were built.

The outlay of money does not cease even when the restorations are completed. There must be a " custodian " for every historical monument, and he must have a house to live in and a salary to support him. Of course the fees given by visitors are no small part of his remuneration, but, nevertheless, he is a government official, and the government is responsible for his maintenance.

HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF FRANCE 3

There are many places in France where other questions as to money are involved in the preservation of the ancient monuments. Bayonne is an example in point. This was a very strongly fortified town in the Middle Ages. The walls of the town are mostly preserved. The moat is there, too, although not now full of water. The fortified gates, the ramparts, still are there, and the bastions and barbicans outside the walls. All these take up an immense amount of space, and every foot of land they cover would be valuable for business purposes, because Bayonne is a flourishing city, — a seaport, growing every day in commercial importance. Nevertheless, the old walls and moat, the barbicans and bastions, are not disturbed. They are kept as monuments to the glory of France, and also for illustration of history. They must inspire the French with patriotic devotion to their own land.

There is a lesson to be learned here as to the enlightenment of the French people at the present day, and there is another lesson to be learned, by way of contrast, in going back to the French Revolution, and seeing that no social convulsion the world has ever seen destroyed so many relics of the past as did that one. Not even the iconoclasts of Cromwell were so unsparing in wanton destruction. It seems as if the French of to-day were trying to make amends

4 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF FEANCE

for the fearful excesses of those who were goaded to madness by the tyranny of king after king, culminating in the frightful contrast between the luxury of Louis XIV.'s court and the misery of his people.

The fury past, calmness regained, free government assured, the people value as precious things all that remains in visible form to tell of their ancient history.

It is not only those connected with the government who feel in this way. The common people are in full sympathy with this feeling. The custodian of Carcassonne said, with pride, that he paid his share of the tax for the restoration of the ancient place like any other citizen, although he is a government official ; and the same thing would be said by all those who take care of the French historical monuments.

This custodian of Carcassonne is a remarkable man. He has the courtesy of a gentleman, the knowledge of a scholar about his own subject, and much intelligence about other matters beside.

The custodian of Aigues-Mortes is equally courteous and equally intelligent. The guide-books cannot tell what these men know. They have made the one thing that is entrusted to their care the sole study of their lives. They love it and they know it.

It would be well if the American people would take care of such historical monuments as they have in the same way as is the custom now in France.

Chapter II The Cathedeal Of Amiens

To one who loves Gothic architecture there are few cathedrals more interesting than the cathedral of Amiens. It was built in 1220 to 1288, — the sixtyeight years of work of the two bishops Everard, who founded it, and Godfrey, who carried it to completion and consecrated it.

The name of the architect is preserved, which is not always the case with Gothic builders. Robert of Luzarches was the designer, and Thomas de Cermont and his son R^nauet completed the building. All honor to them, for they have achieved one of the Gothic wonders of the world.

If the original plan had been carried out, the cathedral of Amiens would be without a peer among Gothic churches. Unfortunately, its exterior is sadly marred by a wooden spire which is so far too small for the church that it seems quite ridiculous, and it is marred also by the failure to complete the two western towers, which were meant to culminate in spires. The exterior is hurt also by the too close crowding around it of small buildings. It is not possible from any point of view to get an adequate idea of the whole church. When these criticisms are made, as unfortunately they must be, there is nothing more to say that does not tell of almost unlimited admiration.

To convey in words the overpowering effect of the fagade is not possible. It stands quite alone, in my mind, among all Gothic fa9ades I know, easily surpassing all the others. Here is the very essence of the Gothic builder's art. Here the exquisite lines of his construction blend in the most perfect harmony with the superb richness of his ornamentation. Mr. Ruskin says that those who built the Gothic churches really believed they were building dwelling-places for Christ, and they wished to make them as comfortable and beautiful for Him as they could. The facade of Amiens certainly bears out this idea, for the central figure in it is Christ, called "Le Bon Dieu d' Amiens," who welcomes all who come to enter its portals and gives them His benediction.

But at first the figures are not noticed individually. Arch upon arch, pinnacle above pinnacle, column above column, pier above pier, its vanishing lines lost at last in the heavens above, the wondrous fa9ade bursts upon the astonished eye in an overpowering grandeur, a wealth of sculpture, an exquisite grace of line and composition, unlike anything else in all architecture. And when the dazzled sight has become somewhat accustomed to the full blaze of this Gothic splendor, when the mind, irresistibly led at first to aspiration, can rejoice in the beauties that help make the wondrous whole, then comes the thought, " What spirit was it that inspired him who did this, and how can he move men thus through all these ages ? " And the mind, answering, says it is easy to see that perfect honesty of construction and perfect beauty are not far apart. The great rose window could not be without the strong support of buttresses that permitted so large openings in such lofty walls.

Massive solid piers must give strong foundation for spires that are to touch the clouds, and as the piers rise higher and higher, and less and less supporting work is to be done, they become lighter and lighter, vanishing one by one into pinnacles, until at last the eye is led to the one supreme pinnacle, — the nearest point toward the heavens the builder's skill could reach. This utmost touch of the spire is not here as Robert of Luzarche meant it should be, but all the lower lines are eloquent of it. In their own beauty of form and thought they point to the beauty's oonsunjmation, until the completed spire

8 THE CATHEDRAL OP AMIENS

is seen in a dream, almost, as Robert must have seen it.

But graceful lines and forms were not enough, however inspiring they might be. The portal of the house of God must be beautiful in every part. About the door must be the saints and angels who surround the Lord. The beauties of God's flowers and vines and leaves must lend adornment to these columns and enrich these arches. Thus the sculptor and the cunning carver help the builder. In the great central portal the apostles and saints stand reverently, but with most simple dignity, about their Master. Each figure has its niche in the recessed doorway, and as all stand upon the same level, — and the same order is preserved in the side portals, — the whole forms one long procession of apostles, martyrs, and saints on the Saviour's right hand and on His left, reaching from one side of the vast fa9ade to the other. Above the Saviour's figure is told in stone the thought these pious builders had about the last judgment. Many another scene or story from the Scriptures is here upon the recessed arches and the great bases of the piers, nor is one spot left without its ornament or its sacred figure, excepting such as should be left unornamented in order that grace and strength and beauty of construction might quite plainly be seen.

Far above the saints aii,d apostles who stand about the porches is another long procession, reaching from one side to the other of the fagade. These are the kings of Judah, and very majestic and king-like do they seem. At first one might think these should not occupy a higher position than the others, but only a second thought is needed to show that the architect was correct in thus placing them. He wished to put that which was most sacred, that which had most to teach, where it could most easily be seen and best impress its lesson. The kings were not so holy as the saints, and, while they give great dignity to the structure as they stand there apparently helping to support it, there is no need that each of them should tell his life story, while there is the utmost need that Christ and His disciples should speak most plainly and directly to the people. Therefore the kings are placed so high. The points of the portals are crowned with angels, the central one Gabriel, who holds the trumpet that is to voice the last summons. These seem to bring together all the lesson of the sacred story, and tell what its meaning is, and how it shall end in a heavenly home for those who love and worship.

Beside the beautiful lines and forms, the delicate aerial pinnacles and the sumptuous richness of the ornamental sculpture as well as its suggestion of all that is most sacred, there is another feature in the exterior of Amiens hardly less remarkable though not very easily to be studied except from above, and that is the flying buttresses. These are the distinctive feature of Gothic architecture, more truly so even than the pointed arch, and to make them beautiful was the Gothic architect's greatest triumph in one way, because they were not put there for beauty but for the necessary strength of construction. These of Amiens, however, are beautiful. They are pierced with arches and made as light as they can be consistently with the strength they must have. They seem like myriad long arms, as graceful as they are strong, that hold the temple in a firm and tender embrace. They would be like the hundredhanded giant of old if they were not as beautiful as they are strong.

All this is only the exterior. The chief glory of Amiens is within. The wonderful fagade is but a gateway, after all, developed into its harmonious beauty because of the thought of a welcoming entrance that might invite worshippers to God's house, and bid them come thither with a humble and a serious heart yet knowing well that peace awaits them within.

One who loves beautiful things, and wishes to know enough about them to have them leave a lasting

THE CATHEDEAL OF AMIENS 11

impression on the mind, will not ask for the custodian when he enters this church. He will avoid that person and every one else and seek to be quite alone, without any words for a long time, hoping that the whole building may tell to him its secret of beauty without confusion of impressions or that waste of mental energy that must come from an effort to comprehend at the same time the vast things and the small ones.

The outside only surrounds the dwelling-place of Christ. Within is the real home, as these builders thought about it, and he who built this cathedral certainly had this idea very close to his heart. The sacred place, sacred beyond all others, is the choir where the high altar stands. About it are the chapels which were the dwelling-places of the saints who were accounted worthy to live so near their Master.

It is for this reason that the choir and apse of Amiens are so superb. At first one does not seek any reason why it should be as it is, but is simply overwhelmed by the majesty, the grace, and the beauty of it. There is no other Gothic choir like this in the impression it gives of vast height. Though that of Beauvais is higher, it does not produce the same effect because the church is unfin - ished. There is no dome to surmount Amiens cathedral, no great tower like that of Canterbury, no lantern as at Burgos — simply and only the Gothic columns and arches spring in unbroken and exquisite lines from floor to ceiling. One must look upward even as if the heavens were opened above him. It seems like that. Whence comes that light from above? Is it all glass there, window above window from aisle to clerestory, from clerestory to the very utmost point of this great upwardreaching of the arches ?

It scarcely seems possible that so much light can come through all the wall from foundation to pinnacle of so great a building. But so it is. The builder meant the light of heaven to shine upon the Saviour's home. He meant, too, that the light should come there softly in subdued radiance, that it might not be too glaring, and that it should be beautiful with red and purple and yellow, suggesting gratitude and praise for Him who made the rainbow, and by its potent charm inviting all to come and worship in the sacred place.

After long looking in mute admiration, after communion with the spirit of worship that pervades it all, one comes at last to understand what the builder meant. The buttresses outside were for this, that there might be light within, and these towering columns in majestic procession from nave to transept, from transept to choir and apse, are there to hold on high a canopy over the holy place.

As the meaning becomes more plain, the charm of the beauty is more keenly felt, because it is the beauty of symmetry, of perfect, orderly development from a preconceived idea, and that idea the highest known to man, — the thought of absolute, devoted worship.

Mr. Ruskin says of this church in his "Bible of Amiens " : " The outside of a French cathedral, except for its sculpture, is always to be thought of as the wrong side of the stuff in which you find how the threads go that produce the inside, or right side, patterns ; and if you have no wonder in you for that choir, and its encompassing circlet of light, when you look up to it from the cross centre, you need not travel any farther in search of cathedrals, for the waiting-room of any station is a better place for you : but if it amaze you and delight you at first, then the more you know of it the more it will amaze. For it is not possible for imagination and mathematics together to do anything nobler or stranger than that procession of window, with material of glass and stone, nor anything which shall look loftier with so temperate and prudent measure of actual loftiness. . . . From the unhewn block set on end in the Druids' bethel to this Lord's house and blue vitrailed gate of heaven, you have the entire course and consummation of the northern religious builder's passion and art." The same author calls Amiens " the first virgin perfect work — the Parthenon of Gothic architecture."

There is much more in the interior of this church beside its wonderful effect as a whole. There is a choir whose wood-carving is equalled by no other in Europe except that of Cordova. A marvel it is in itself, and yet so perfectly subordinated in its exterior lines to the church, that it helps rather than hinders the general effect. This is not often true of elaborate choirs. The carving here seems to grow naturally from the great stone columns. It is the foliage of the forest or the vine that seems to love to cling about such noble tree trunks. The ornamental effect of it is more beautiful, but not more interesting, than the stories its figures tell about what happened in the Jewish days and in the time of Christ. There are more than three thousand of these figures. They are beautiful, deliciously quaint, and always suggestive of the story they mean to tell, although they are by no means perfect from the technical point of view.

Curious stories are told about the artists who made this carving. Trupin was the chief of them, and he was an artist indeed. Yet he received but a few pennies a day for his work. His apprentices were paid still less. Some only received three cents a day. What artist would work in these days for such wages ? It must be remembered, however, that the penny then would fully equal the shilling now in purchasing power.

This whole choir, with all its masterpieces of carving in figures and decorative work, cost about two thousand dollars, and it gave employment to six or eight good workmen for fourteen years. If this sum should represent ten times as much in actual value to-day, it still seems scarcely possible that such work could be done for such a price. The groups of figures are so numerous and so complicated that any detailed description of them would be uninteresting except to a student. In the smaller figures there is a good deal of a kind of grotesque humor. The portraits of the artists are curiously brought in. They seem almost like caricatures, and yet the faces are so lifelike that they must be good likenesses.

Mr. Ruskin says of it: "It is tastefully developed, flamboyant, just past the fifteenth century, and has some Flemish stolidity mixed with the playing French fire of it ; but wood-carving was the Picard's joy from his youth up, and, so far as I know, there is nothing else so beautiful cut out of the goodly trees of the world. Sweet and young-grained oak

16 THE CATHEDEAL OF AMIENS

it is : oak trained and chosen for such work, sound now as four hundred years since. Under the carver's hand it seems to cut like clay, to fold like silk, to grow into living branches, to leap like living flame. Canopy crowning canopy, pinnacle piercing pinnacle — it shoots and wreathes itself into an enchanted glade, inextricable, imperishable, fuller of leafage than any forest, and fuller of story than any book."

On the outside of the choir and in the two transepts are some most quaint and curious bas-reliefs. They illustrate scenes from the lives of St. Firmin and St. Salve, the patron saints of Amiens, the life of John the Baptist, the history of St. James the great, and the expulsion of the money-changers from the temple. These are almost as interesting as the wooden carvings of the choir, though by no means so beautiful.

A part of the head of John the Baptist is said to be here. There must be, I suppose, documents of great length to prove its genuineness, but I had no opportunity to examine them.

The graves of the two bishops who built this church are marked by two of the most remarkable bronze monuments in France. It is said that only two others remain equal to these, — the monuments to the children of St. Louis at St. Denis. The others were destroyed at the time of the Revolution.

It is well that tlie monuments of those who built the first perfect temple to God in France should remain here undisturbed, and it is fitting that the last thought as one leaves this glorious church should be one of thankfulness to the noble, selfsacrificing, loving, and pious bishops, whose lifelong efforts achieved so mighty a task, and whose earnest hope it was that blessings should come to man from their church long ages after they had gone to their rest.

Chapter III Beauvais And Chartres

The first sight of the cathedral of Beauvais is disappointing. The building is out of proportion — far too high for its length. The reason is that the Beauvais architect attempted far more than he could achieve, partly because his piers were not sufficient for their work, and partly, also, because the purse of the little town was by no means long enough to carry out his design even if it could have been possible under the most favorable conditions to erect the building as he planned, which is certainly very doubtful.

To surpass the apse of Amiens in height and bring still more light into the building with even less use of masonry and larger openings for stained glass was a task which perhaps no architect of those days — not even a Gothic one — could have achieved. The result of the attempt was partial failure. A large part of the building tumbled down, and the rest had to be strengthened by the insertion of

BEAUVAIS AND CHARTRES 19

piers not in the architect's design. Then came the other collapse of the finances, and the church was never built at all beyond the transepts, and even these were a later addition. Ambition here overleaped itself, and the attempt to surpass Amiens resulted in so complete a failure that the church of Beauvais seems now from the outside almost like a ruin.

Yet its choir is the loftiest in the world in a Gothic cathedral, considerably higher than that of Amiens. In this choir are three tiers of windows, the lower ones about the chapels, the next in the clerestory, and the third touching with their pointed arches the very roof itself. It is not easy to believe that even the smallest of these windows would seem very large in most churches, while the towering ones above that almost reach the roof would be far too high for any but the very largest buildings.

The same general plan is adopted as at Amiens, yet the effect is not so perfect because the lines of support are not so plainly to be seen. The dizzy height is attained, but at the cost of symmetry and with an uneasy suggestion of insecurity. Some one has well said of the cathedrals of Amiens and Beauvais that "Amiens seems a giant in repose, while Beauvais is a colossus on tip-toe." The vast height is not the only wonder of this choir and apse and

20 BEAUVAIS AND CHARTRES

these transepts. The stained glass is very fine, especially the lower windows of the chapels about the high altar, which glow with brilliant yellow, amethyst, and topaz and have many a story to tell about the lives of the saints. Sometimes a certain grotesqueness invades even the stained glass. That is not the case in the cathedral at Beauvais, but there is a remarkable example of it in another church in the town, — the very ancient church of St. Etienne.

There is a window here containing what is called the " Tree of Jesse," which is certainly one of the most extraordinary examples of stained glass work that can be found anywhere. In the lower part of the window are nine divisions. Poor old Jesse lies placidly slumbering in the middle one of the three lower divisions. Two great tree trunks grow, — one from each of his sides and reach over into the divisions of the window at his right and his left. Here they blossom into a king for every pane of the window, and more curious examples of royalty it would be hard to imagine. They are all splendidly arrayed, though there might be a question as to their choice of garments.

Solomon is much the funniest. He has on a poke bonnet of the most pronounced New England type, though brilliantly yellow in color, and with a crown

BEAUVAIS AND CHARTEES 21

on top of it. There is an immense jewel under the bonnet just over his forehead. Why it is there, or how it came there, no one can tell. There is a mixture of splendor and ludicrousness about him that would make an anchorite laugh.

King David is but little better off in the way of dress, but his big harp gives him a kind of seemly occupation, and is a little more in keeping with his life and character than any article in the most unfortunate costume of his son.

Above them all is an immense white lily, the topmost blossom of the tree, from the midst of whose petals emerges the Virgin, with a blaze of glory about her.

In the companion window on the right are scenes from the Last Judgment. There is a violently red devil, with a full equipment of horns, hoofs, and tail, who is holding open the huge mouth of a brilliantly green dragon, with an enormous, protruding blue eye. Into this mouth lesser devils are thrusting the unfortunate souls of the wicked as fast as they can cram them down. The dragon's capacity for eating without swallowing seems to be almost unlimited.

Strangely enough, these windows, when seen from a distance, are very beautiful in color, and there is some really good composition in them.

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There are many other interesting places in Beauvais, some of them strikingly picturesque, but it will be more interesting to contrast the stained glass of Chartres with that of this half-finished, but most impressive, cathedral.

In its stained glass Chartres is certainly one of the most beautiful churches in the world. One hundred and sixty windows of perfect form and color made at the time when this exquisite art was at the very acme of its perfection ! No one who has not seen it can even imagine the glory of them. The Gothic architect always worked for this effect of light. For this were the columns made as slender as possible, the stonework as delicate and light as it could be and still stand strong ; for this were the buttresses and flying buttresses made that the walls might stand firm even although they seem to be almost all of glass. The reason for this method of construction can easily be known in every Gothic church, but the actual effect of it can hardly be appreciated anywhere else in the same way as at Chartres.

This, then, is a new impression — something that has been dreamed of but never really seen before ' — this magnificent effulgence of gorgeous yet subdued color that tells why Gothic aisles were "pictured aisles," How can it be described? In other

THE CATHEDRAL OF CHARTRES

BEAUVAIS AND CHARTRES 23

churches the imagination has put into the windows the colors that must have been meant to be there, but at Cliartres they are really before the eye, and they surpass the dream. Here is the perfect blending of color and light. In how many different ways it can be produced! It is a revelation. The windows are not alike except in their perfect beauty. In some red predominates, in others blue, in others again a most delicious amber. Forms, figures, designs, combinations — all are infinitely varied, and yet by some marvel of art all produce an overwhelming effect of the magnificence of color, beautiful in itself, but illuminated and made to live by the sun.

It is useless to tell about the designs of the different windows, because these must be studied out with care and difficulty even in the church itself. They do not count at all in the general effect, although it is interesting to know that many of these glorious windows were given to the church by guilds of trade in the city, and each guild that gave one sought to commemorate itself by putting some thought of its trade into the design of the window.