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LIBRARY OF
WELLESLEY COLLEGE

MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE
ITS ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT

WITH LISTS OF MONUMENTS
AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES

ARTHUR KINGSLEY PORTER

Volume II
NORMANDY AND THE ILE DE FRANCE

NEW YORK

THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY
1909

A. KlNCSLKY P( II

Tif Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. USA.

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

CHAPTER VII

Romanesque Architecture of the Ile de France ......

The He de France in the Eleventh Century — Feudal Anarchy — Ecclesiastical
Corruption — Decline of the Episcopacy — The Gregorian Reform — Attitude of the
Monks — Attitude of the King — The New Papacy — The French Church — Internal
Strife — Religious Enthusiasm — The Crusade — The Peace of God — The Truce
of God — Intellectual Progress — Intercommunication — Corporations — Roman-
esque Architecture of the Ile de France — Southern Influence — The Ambulatory —
The School of Berry — Choirs — Barrel Vaults — Buttresses — Peculiarities of De-
sign — Ornament — School of the Ile de France — First Half of the Eleventh Cen-
tury — Last Half of the Eleventh Century — Engaged Shafts, — Ornament.

Romanesque Monuments of the Ile de France
Monuments of the First Class
Monuments of the Third Class .
Other Monuments .....

13
13
15
15

Monuments of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries of Districts Bordering
on the Ile de France.
Monuments of the First Class
Monuments of the Second Class
Monuments of the Third Class .
Other Monuments

22
22
24
26

CHAPTER VIII

The Transition .............

Definition — Limits of the Transitional Movement — Subdivisions — First Phase

— Difficulties of Chronology — Sub-Schools — Earliest Examples of the Rib Vault — ■
Origin of the Rib Vault — Lombard Influence — Wall Ribs — Doming — Groin
Vaults — Barrel Vaults — Pointed Arch — Its Advantages — Transverse Ribs Stilted

— Loaded Transverse Ribs — Increasing Use of the Pointed Arch — Pointed Arch
Preferred for Esthetic Reasons — Rib Vaults on Curved Oblong Plans — Morienval

— Precedents — Difficulties — Solution at Morienval — Later Solutions — Pontoise

— Broken Rib Vaults — Ambulatory of St. Denis — Lowered Capitals — Mastery of
the Ambulatory Vault — Significance — Second Quarter of the Twelfth Century —
Vaulted Naves — Earliest Examples — Square Plan — St. Etienne of Beauvais —

CONTENTS

PAGE

Sexpartite Vaults — Heavy Walls — The Apse — Ribbed Half-Domes — St. Martin
des Champs — The Chevet Vault — Stilting of Wall Rib -Polygonal Apses —
Second Phase of the Transition — St. Denis — Monastic Influence — Historical Signifi-
cance of St Denis - Norman Influence — Problem of the Sexpartite Vault — Octo-
partitc Vaults — Continuous Systems — Columns Introduced — System of Sens —
System of Noyon — System of Senlis — Capitals Normal to Diagonals — Flying But-
tresses— Evolution of the Flying Buttress — Early Examples — Question of their
Origin- Spin, Exterior Design — Facades — The Plan — Cloisters — Four-Storied
Designs — Ornament — Profiles — Abaci — Bases — Griffes — String-Courses — Cor-
nices— Archivolts of Arches — Windows and Doorways — Diagonals and Trans-
verse Ribs — Pure Ornament - Shafts — Classical Influence — Carolingian and
Norman Motives — Study of Nature — Conventionalization of Flora — Capitals
Accessory Arts — Frescoes — Stained Glass — Origins and Evolution of" the Art

— Influence on Architecture — Beauty of Color — Small Pieces of Glass Employed —
Small Figures — Contrast with Modern Methods — Detail — Sculpture — Origins —
Schools of the South — Classic Influence — Provence and Burgundy — Sculpture of
tlie He de France -Architectural Character — The Gothic Ideal — Iconography —
Power of Suggestion — Essentially Didactic in Character — Religion of the Clerks —
Religion of the People — Scholastic Nature of Gothic Imagery — The Cathedral an
Encyclopedia — Symbolism — Symbolic Decoration — Mystic Numbers — Symmetry

— Biblical Symbolism — Hierarchal Rank — The Four Mirrors — The Mirror of Na-
ture — The Mirror of Science — The Mirror of Morals — The Mirror of History —
Unity of the Cathedral Imagery — Limitations Imposed on the Artist — Attributes

— Composition — The Unity of the Whole — Structure Not Symbolic — Inclinato
Capite - Explanation of the Deviated Axis — Irregularities — Professor Goodyear's
"Refinements" — Historical Conditions of the Twelfth Century — La Renaissance
Francaise — Learning — Classic Revival — Heresies — ■ Economic Revolution — Robber
Barons curbed — Politics — Civilization — Cities — Summary — The Communes —
The Cathedral not a Work of the People — Evidence of the Building itself — Popu-
lar Religious Enthusiasm in the Twelfth Century — Letter of Haymo — The Cult of
Carts — No Popular Enthusiasm for Architecture — Letter of Hugh — Suger — Cart
Cult of Little Practical Service to Architecture — A Norman Institution — Account of
Robert du Mont — Summary — People and Clergy — Rise of the Communes — Le
Mans - Cambrai — St. Quentin — Beauvais — Noyon — Mantes — Laon — Amiens

— Hostility of Clergy — Reims — Sens — Policy of the King — Friction between
Bourgeois and Clergy — Religion of the People — Cure of Souls — The Cathedral a
Monument of Ecclesiastical Power — The Medieval Church — The Power of Rome

— The Age of Faith — Wealth of the Church — The House of God — Ecclesiastical
Conditions Reform of the Twelfth Century — The Cistercians — Cistercian
Churches — Clairvaux supplants Cluny — Decline of Monastic Architecture — Car-
thusian Order — Other Orders — Mendicant Orders — Dominicans and Francis-
cans— The Militant Orders — The Hospitalers — The Templars — Chapels of
the Templars — Canons Regular — Rule of St. Augustine — Collegiate Churches

— Reform of the Chapters — Reform of the Episcopacy — The French Church c.
1200 — Summary — Territorial Expansion of Gothic Architecture — The Master
Builders — Probably not Monks in the Twelfth Century — Evidence — The
Chroniclers Silent — The Medieval Monk — Jean of Le Mans — Significance of
this Incident — Lay Builders at St. Remi — The Masonic Guild — Master Builders
of the Thirteenth Century — Their Role — Drawings — Personal Supervision —
Master Builder and Client — The Master Builder a Workman — Evolution of the
Modern Architect — Extent of Activity of Master Builders — The Masons — Free-
dom of Design.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Monuments of the Transition .......... 193

Monuments of the First Class . . . . . . . . . .193

Monuments of the Second Class .......... 205

Monuments of the Third Class . . . . . . . . .216

Other Monuments 219

CHAPTER IX

The Culmination. Gothic Architecture of the North of France, c. 1180-

c. 1375 252

Suger and Gothic Architecture — Emotional Quality of Gothic Art — Its Beauties

— Its Imperfections — Fecundity — The Gothic Alphabet — Amiens, the Culmination

— The Church under Innocent III — Germs of Decadence — Heresies — The Works
of Aristotle — The Scientific Spirit — The Church Hated — The Later Crusaders —
Taxes — Corruption — The Fabliaux — Non-Residence of Clergy — Subjection of
the French Church — Anagni — Superstition — Decadence of Learning — Effect on
Architecture — Decline of Architecture in the Fourteenth Century — Economic Con-
ditions — Finances — Persecution of the Jews — The Hundred Years' War — Gothic
Construction — Suppression of the Walls — Plate Tracery — Bar Tracery — Struc-
tural Significance — Decorative Beauty — Rayonnant Tracery — Rose Windows —
Quadripartite Vaults — Monocylindrical Supports — Systems — Piers — Shafts —
Capitals — Rayonnant Systems — Flying Buttresses — Across Double Aisles — Am-
bulatory Vaults — Polygonal Chevets — Design of the Nave — Glazed Triforiums —
Triforium of Rouen — Pyramidal Sections — Wooden Roofs — Plans — Columns on
Axis — The Facade — Paris — Noyon — Laon — Amiens — Reims — Coutances —
Transept Ends — Spires — Gargoyles — Parapets — Double Walls — Norman Fa-
cades — Gothic Architecture of Normandy — Fortified Churches — Ecclesiastical
Buildings — Chapter Houses — Gothic Ornament — Crockets — Naturalistic Flora

— Gothic Fauna — Profiles — Abaci — Bases — Other Profiles — Tracery and
Gables — Polychromy — Stained Glass — Sculpture — Reliefs — Rayonnant Sculp-
ture.

List of Gothic Monuments .
Monuments of the First Class
Monuments of the Second Class
Monuments of the Third Class
Monuments of the Fourth Class

304
304
325
331
337

CHAPTER X

The Flamboyant Style ........... 363

Origins — St. Satur — English Influence — The Ogee Arch — Genesis of Flam-
boyant — Early Examples — Historical Conditions — National Disasters — Decline
of the Church — Destruction of Wealth — Enemies of the Church — Spirit of the
Reformation — Religious Sentiments of the Age — Building Activity of the Fifteenth
Century — Flamboyant Architecture — The Fifteenth Century — 1400-50 — 1450-
1500 — The Church — Building Activity of the Sixteenth Century — The Renais-
sance — Art in the Sixteenth Century — The Church Conservative — Survival of
Medieval Forms — Last Phase of Flamboyant — Structure — Pre-eminence of Orna-
ment — The Ogee Arch — Open Work — Canopies and Niches — Tracery — Lines
of Double Curvature — Spires — Facades — Angle Buttresses — Churches of Aube
— Archaistic Tendencies — Capitals — Disappearing Mouldings — Multiple Ribs —

CONTENTS

Pendants — General Design — Ornament — Profiles — Pases — Interpenetration —
Flora and Fauna Spiral Paneling — Color — Timber Roofs — Stained Glass —
Sculpture — The Death of Medieval Art.

Flamboyant Monuments ........... 389

Monuments of the Second Class .......... 389

Monuments of the Third Class .......... 393

Other Monuments ............ 397

Anpn?iPi?ii BiBfciaaiuwTiHT b i . i ■ ■■ ■ AX?

Bibliographies . ~~ . ~~ ~~ ^*"*" ' 420

i BiociGSnAPiuoAh Index ■ » i » ■'■ A < J.

General Index ............. 481 - 419

Vlll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ILL.

PAGE

154.

Section of Choir of Genouilly. (From De Kersers) .....

155.

North Aisle of Morienval .........

156.

Nave of Morienval . . . . . . . . .

157.

Section of Nave, Rhuis. (Redrawn from Lefevre-Pontalis) ....

158.

Rib Vault at Rhuis. (Redrawn from Lefevre-Pontalis) ....

. 56

159.

Rib Vault at Viffort. (Redrawn from Lefevre-Pontalis) ....

160.

Diagram of Rib Vault on an Oblong Plan. ......

. 65

161.

Rib Vault at Bethisy-St.- Pierre ........

162.

St. Etienne of Beauvais. Interior ........

163.

Narthex of St. Leu d'Esserent .........

. 68

164.

Plan of Morienval ...........

165.

Diagram of Rib Vault on a Curved Oblong Plan .....

166.

Plan of Pontoise. (From Lefevre-Pontalis) ......

167.

Diagram. Broken Rib Vaults .........

. 74

168.

Ambulatory of Sens. Perspective ........

169.

Plan (restored) of St. Denis. (From Deliio) ......

170.

Bury. Interior ...........

171.

Ribbed Half-Dome of Vauxrezis. (Redrawn from Lefevre-Pontalis)

172.

Lobed Half-Dome of St. Martin-des-Champs, Paris .....

173.

St. Germer. Interior ..........

174.

Plan of Auvers. (From Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.)

175.

Diagram of Chevet Vaults .........

176.

Plan of Noyon. (From Dehio) ........

177.

Section of St. Germer ..........

178.

St. Quiriace of Provins. Choir. (From Gurlitt) .....

179.

Sens. Interior ...........

180.

Noyon. Interior ...........

181.

System of Senlis ...........

182.

Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne. Interior ......

183.

St. Remi of Reims. Interior of Chevet .......

184.

Flying Buttresses at Domont. (From Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.)

185.

St. Germain-des-Pres, Paris. Exterior .......

186.

Morienval. Exterior ..........

187.

Spire of Bethisy-St.-Martin .........

188.

Spire of Chamant ...........

100

189.

Senlis. Exterior ...........

102

190.

Facade of Chartres ...........

102

191.

Facade of St. Denis ..........

104

192.

Facade of Sens ...........

106

193.

Facade of Vailly. (From Lefevre-Pontalis) ......

108

194.

Profiles of Abaci ............

110

195.

Profiles of Bases ............

110

196.

Profiles of Interior String-Courses .........

112

197.

Profiles of Exterior String-Courses .........

112

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Lonjrmont

ILL.

198. Profiles of Cornices

199. Profiles of Aichivolts of Arches

200. Profiles of Archivolts of Windows

201. Profiles of Archivolts of Doorways

202. Profiles of Transverse Iiihs

203. Profiles of Diagonal Ribs

204. Chevet of No von

205. Arched Corbel-Tables of Dravegny ami St. Etienne of

206. Apse of Chelles. (From Lefevre-Pontalis)

207. Capital of South Transept of Soissons

208. Capitals of Ambulatory, Morienval

209. Capitals of Nave, Bury

210. Capital of Arcading of Lady Chapel, Noyon

211. Capital in Nave, Noyon ....

212. Capital of Triforiinn String-Course, North Transept of Soissons

213. St. Etienne of Beauvais. North Transept End

214. Stained Class Window of Bourges. (From Martin et Cahier)

215. West Portal of Chartres .

216. Villard de Ilonneeourt's Design for the Cathedral of Canibrai.
216a. Diagram of the Deviated Axis .

217. Chapel of the Baptismal Founts at Laon

218. Exterior Bay and Section of Chartres. (From Dehio)

219. Clearstory of Amiens

220. St. Urbain of Troves, from the Southeast
2-21. Chevet of Le Mans
222. Facade of Laon

2-2:5. Facade of Paris ....

224. Facade of Reims ....

'21.~k Rouen. PortaD des Libraires .

226. Paris. Interior ....

227. Diagram. Piers of Laon, Paris (6th and 7th bays, Beauvais)

228. Soissons. Nave

229. Chartres. Interior .

230. Reims. Interior

231. Beauvais. Interior

232. System of Seez

233. Bourges. Interior .

234. Amiens. Interior

235. St. Satur. Choir

236. Flying buttresses of nave, Amiens

237. Reims. Exterior from North .

238. St. Ouen of Rouen. Exterior .

239. Bourges. Exterior .

240. Beauvais. Exterior.

241. Paris. Plan. (From Dehio) .

242. Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne, Ambulatory

243. Bourges. Plan. (From Dehio)

244. Soissons. Plan. (From Dehio)

245. Coutances. Plan. (From Dehio)

246. St. Denis. Interior

247. Section of Le Mans. (From Dehio)

248. Plan of Laon. (From Dehio) .

249. Plan of Chartres. (From Dehio)

Lassus)

PAGE

114
114
116
116
118
118
120
120
1-20
122
1-22
124
126
127
128
130
132
134
140
142

^>
254
256
258
260
262
264
266
268
270
270
270
270
272
272
272
274
274
274
276
276
276
278
278
278
280
280
282
282
282
283
284

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ILL.

250. Plan of Amiens. (From Durand)

251. Plan of Reims. (From Dehio)

252. Facade of Noyon

253. Facade of Amiens .

254. Central Portal of Amiens

255. Facade of Coutances

256. South Transept-end of Chartres

257. Spire of St. Pierre of Caen

258. Detail of Balustrade, Paris

259. St. Pierre of Caen. Interior

260. Albi. Exterior

261. Capital from Refectory, St. Martin des Champs, Paris. (From Lenoir)

262. Capital from Refectory, St. Martin des Champs, Paris. (From Lenoir)

263. Gothic Profiles

264. Stained Glass Windows of the Ste. Chapelle of Bourges, now in the Crypt

Cathedral. (From Meloizes)

265. Sculptures. Porte St. Firmin, Amiens

266. Le Beau Dieu of Amiens

267. The Last Judgment of Bourges

268. Reims. Statues of South Jamb of Central Portal

269. Rouen. Facade

270. Eglise de la Couture, Bernay. Portal

271. Notre Dame of Louviers, from the South .

272. Chevet of St. Pierre of Caen. (From Gurlitt)

273. Caudebec-en-Caux. Interior .

274. Rouen. Tour-de-Beurre .

275. Spire of Caudebec-en-Caux

276. Notre Dame-de-1'Epine. Facade

277. Facade of Troyes .

278. Facade of St. Maclou of Rouen

279. Notre Dame of Alencon. Facade

280. Roof Scheme of Churches of Aube

281. Abbeville. Literior

282. St. Germain of Amiens. Interior

283. St. fitienne-du-Mont, Paris. Interior

284. Notre Dame, Alencon. Interior

285. St. Pierre, Coutances. Interior

286. Eglise du St. Esprit, Rue. Door of the Stairway

287. Ste. Croix of Provins. Detail of Pier

288. Stained Glass of the late XVI century, Bourges

289. Choir Screen of Amiens ....

PAGE

285
286
286
288
288
290
292
292
294
294
296
298
298

of the

Cathedral. (From Meloizes)

300
302
302
304
304
364
366
368
368
370
372
374
376
376
378
378
380
380
380
382
382
384
386
386
388
388

MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE
CHAPTER VII

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

HISTORICAL conditions of the He de France in the XI cen-
tury were in sharp contrast to those of Normandy, where the
concentrated monarchy and the reformed church proved so favor-
able to the development of architecture at the same period. In
the royal domain, the XI century was the age of feudalism, a
time when the powerlessness of the Capetian monarch reduced
the land to practical anarchy. It was above all the age of the
degradation of the Church. Yet the historian, who possesses
the great advantage of knowing what was to come after, can
easily see that this age was all the while paving the way for the
great economic advances of the XII century, and amid the dark-
ness, he is consequently able to trace occasional flashes of the
coming light. Architecture, however, reflected only the dark-
ness; light was still in the future tense, and the material devel-
opment of art is always influenced by the present or even by
the past, rather than by the future.

The XI century was, then, in general, an age of lawless
feudalism. The Capetian king, sitting on his hollow throne,
offered a strange spectacle of mingled misery and grandeur.
The impotent monarch, notwithstanding the pomp of his title
and the prestige of his office, was totally unable to cope with
the lawless feudal lords who ran riot in the land. Fearless of
the king's authority these barons pillaged and burnt at will,
and racked the land with all the horrors of petty warfare. The
very excess of this feudal tyranny and oppression, however, at
last roused the indignation of the people, and thus was kindled
that spark of popular loyalty and democracy, which in the XII

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

century burst into so brilliant a flame, and enabled the Capetian
king to subdue and bring to order one after another of the great
lords.

Such political conditions were inevitably reflected in the Church.
At the beginning of the XI century simony was everywhere
rampant; many bishoprics had even become the hereditary
patrimony of ducal or noble families, and were used as a pro-
vision for younger sons or bastards. In Gascony a single baron
possessed no less than eight bishoprics, and passed them on to
his heir,1 while in the He de France matters seem to have been
not much better.

Under such abuse it was natural that the episcopacy should
lose its temporal power, and the authority of the bishops was
still further weakened by the claims of the popes, which as-
sumed such prominence about the middle of the century, and
by the constant struggle of the abbeys to gain independence.
The spiritual authority of the bishops, on the other hand, was
endangered by the very fact that the episcopacy had become
feudal, since prelates, who were also great lords and landed
proprietors, naturally transferred their energies from ecclesi-
astical to secular affairs.

This decadence of the episcopacy did not appear everywhere,
it is true, in the same degree. In one see the bishop was scarcely
to be distinguished from a baron; in another he preserved
something of his spiritual character, his independence, and his
dignity. But everywhere the episcopacy had become largely
feudal. In the Carolingian epoch the king had named the
bishops, and the palace had ruled the Church; but now the
Capetian had kept his authority only over the bishoprics of
Sens, Reims, Lyon, Tours, and Bourges.2 Everywhere else,
in Normandy, in Brittany, in Aquitaine, or in Languedoc, the
duke or count had supplanted the king. The bishop elect
paid the local feudal lord homage, and by this very fact the
majority of bishoprics were transformed into fiefs, and the
bishop into a feudal personage, with all the obligations of a vassal.
Here again, however, the very degradation of the Church
caused a reaction, for the danger which menaced Christianity

1 Lavisse, Histoire de la France II', 111. 2 Lavisse, op cit. II1, 108.

THE CLUNIAC REFORM

became so apparent, that in certain monasteries and at Rome
there came into being a current of opinion destined to sweep
over all Europe as the Gregorian reform. To tear the bishops
from the temporal interests which absorbed them, from the
feudal customs that debased them, to prevent the clergy from
becoming secular, — this was the program of the first phase of
the Cluniac movement.1

It was in the last half of the XI century that the question
of reform first became burning. Leo IX (1049-54) summoned
a great council at Reims. This, the first alliance of Pope and
monasteries for the purpose of reform, attacked simony and
especially the simony of bishops, several of whom were deposed.
Everything depended upon the attitude which the bishops
should assume in answer to these measures. In fact, the epis-
copacy was divided as to the course to be pursued. A few
bishops quietly acquiesced in the Cluniac program; the vast
majority, however, remained faithful to the traditions and
interests of the episcopal body, and demanded the maintenance
of old conditions. When the character of the episcopacy is
considered, the wonder is, not that the majority of the bishops
sided with the old regime, but that any accepted the ideas of
Cluny.

If the bishops were divided on the question of the Gregorian
reform, the monastic world in overwhelming majority was ultra-
montane. There could be only one result. France became in
the second half of the XI century the scene of a desperate
battle between the non-reforming bishops and the abbots.
This strife of the two clergies, the secular and the regular, was
only an incident of an antagonism as long as their existence;
but never, before nor after, did the quarrel degenerate into such
open warfare. On both sides recourse was had to physical
violence. Other powers entered the lists: the papacy and the
reforming bishops backed the cause of the abbots; the party
of the non-reforming bishops was supported by the king and
the feudal lords, that is, by those laymen who did not wish to
be deprived of their power over the Church.

This position of the king on the side opposed to reform is

] Lavisse, op. cit. II \ 108.
3

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

noteworthy. At the beginning of the XI century the Capetian
monarchs had firmly believed in the religious superiority of
the monks, and they had admired the efforts of certain reformers,
notably the abbots of Cluny, to introduce into the cloister of
the order, the regularity, the discipline of the ascetic ideal. In
consequence they had been inclined to favor the monasteries
and even to increase their power by emancipating them from
the control of the bishops. Furthermore, in addition to this
purely altruistic preference, the kings were not slow to per-
ceive that the royal authority had much more to fear from the
power of the bishops than from that of the abbots. Thus
under Robert I (996-1031) the monarchy became openly the
champion of the monks, and defended them against their en-
emies. The episcopal body complained bitterly against this
partiality, as is witnessed by a satirical poem Adalberon, bishop
of Laon.1

The extreme pretensions of the pope, however, at last tried
the patience of the Capetians, and forced them to support the
non-reforming bishops. Still this support was always half-
hearted, and after a time the king changed back again to his
original position on the side of the monks. His temporary
aid, however, enabled the bishops to prolong the strife up to
the very end of the XI century (1099).

Although king and bishop might join forces to oppose, they
were powerless to prevent the popes from founding their uni-
versal monarchy over the consciences of Christians and over
the Christian Church. All the Middle Ages had been tending
towards this end. From the days of Charlemagne, the papacy
had been steadily undermining the episcopal power, both from
above by opposing the claims to power of the archbishops, and
from below by favoring the independence of the chapters and
abbeys. The clergy of France, with some few exceptions,
ended by yielding to the irresistible force which concentrated
at Rome all the thoughts and all the energies of the religious
world.

The condition of the French Church in the XI century was
therefore one of strife and turmoil — a state of affairs far cliff er-

1 Lavisse, op. cit. II,1 119.
4

RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM

ent from that which prevailed in the Church of Normandy,
where the alliance of duke, pope, and monk had downed the
reactionary bishops almost without a struggle, and had secured
the triumph of reform half a century earlier than the Cluniac
ideas were established in France. Nor were French ecclesi-
astical conditions analogous to those which prevailed at the
same time in the Empire, where emperor was pitted against
pope, Germany against Italy, and the German episcopacy as
a rule backed the emperor. In France the struggle took on
more of a civil character, it became a battle between two in-
ternal factions of the French Church, fought to the bitter end
at a time when the pope was too busily engaged with the Em-
pire to be able to intefere effectually, and when the king was
too half-hearted to exert all his power on one side or on the
other.

This civil, internal strife, although doubtless far less dra-
matic than the spectacular struggle of the Empire and the Papacy
with its climax at Canossa, was yet in its way no less vital and
exhausting. It is, therefore, not surprising that the French
Church had no resources left for magnificent building, and that
French art remains up to the very end of the XI century falter-
ing and obscure, the most timid of all the schools of Roman-
esque Europe.

Thus between feudal anarchy and the schism in the
Church, architecture found little sustenance in the He de France
during this period. There were, however, a certain number of
circumstances favoring the growth of art. Although the fruit
of these was fully reaped only in the XII century, the founda-
tions were laid during the Romanesque period. The most
important of all these favoring causes was the enormous growth
of religious enthusiasm, — an enthusiasm that found expres-
sion in the Cluniac reform, which it stimulated and by which
it was in turn itself stimulated, but that attained its most strik-
ing manifestation in the First Crusade (1096) -- "gesta Dei per
Francos." Familiar as is the story of the expedition, it is diffi-
cult for us to-day to grasp the depth of religious feeling, the
exalted faith, the hysteria, that lay behind this extraordinary
movement. We of the XX century cannot comprehend the

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

fanaticism so blind and yet so sublime, that sent a quarter of
the population of Europe to face nearly certain death in the
Holy Land. But the crusade was only a beginning. In the XII
and XIII centuries there ensued other miracles of faith that
almost equaled this, the supreme miracle. It is significant
that the First Crusade was preeminently a French achievement;
already France was assuming that supremacy in religious
fervor and intellectual activity that she maintained so proudly
throughout the later Middle Ages.

Another manifestation of the religious feeling of the age is
to be found in two mystic institutions of the period, the Peace
of God, and the Truce of God, both ideas essentially French
which soon spread over all Europe. The Peace of God aimed
at protecting from violence certain classes of victims, whom it
was forbidden to harm at any time in the course of warfare.
The Truce of God, on the other hand, forbade all warfare
during certain periods rigidly fixed. Both institutions tended
to curb the violence of the feudal lords and add to the economic
prosperity of the country.

While the religious sense was thus awakening, there were
not lacking signs of an intellectual revival even as early as the
XI century. Berengar, the first great heretic and free thinker,
died in 1088. During the XI century were founded most of
the schools of the He de France that were afterwards to attain
such fame: -- Reims, Chartres, Laon, Angers, Paris, and Or-
leans.

Similarly, intercommunication developed in the XI century
to a most surprising degree. There was constant circulation
not only between the various parts of France, but between
France and foreign nations. This society, that it is traditional
to picture as a sort of frozen skeleton, was in reality constantly
in motion. The cities had their merchants who were contin-
ually sailing up and down the rivers of France, and who jour-
neyed into far countries by sea or by land to sell or buy their
wares. Before the XI century the merchants of Normandy
had swarmed over Britain; those of Flanders and Lorraine
frequented the markets of Germany and even those of Italy
and Spain. The clergy were always traveling, moving hither

RISE OF THE MERCHANT GUILDS

and thither on various missions, or to attend councils of the
Church. The relations, ever becoming closer, which bound
the higher clergy to the court of Rome, tended to make it obli-
gatory for each prelate to journey at least once to the See of St.
Peter; and those clerks who were intelligent or ambitious went
to attend the monastic or episcopal schools distinguished for
learning, for any priest who wished to rise must follow the les-
sons of the masters at Orleans, or Paris, or Angers, or Reims,
or Bee, or Poitiers, or Cluny. The peasants and serfs now
free, or half free, were no longer attached to the soil, and many
of them wandered here and there seeking the work of clearing
or cultivating land. These laborers who went from one place
to another offering their services to the highest bidder formed a
regularly recognized social class and are called in contempo-
rary documents "guests" (hospites, habitatores) or "strangers"
(convenae, advenae, pulvera, albani). Thus not only France,
but all Europe, was in constant motion, and an idea discovered
in one place, was not slow to make its way everywhere.

To the XI century belong the beginnings of the corporations
or merchant guilds of the Middle Ages. In the cities the work-
men of certain trades began to unite in brotherhoods of a relig-
ious character. Not being able to count on the protection of
their feudal lords, they gradually came to acquire the habit of
defending themselves, and for this end they often lived in the
same street or quarter. Thus the workmen grouped together
in the same section of the town according to their trade, com-
menced to form corporations at first directed and watched over
by the officers of the bishop or lord. These corporations, little
by little, became more independent until they acquired the power
to elect their own chiefs and make their own rules, but this
movement culminated only in the XII century.

Architecture in the XI century was weaker in the royal do-
main than elsewhere in France. Since there is extant of this
period not a single monument of size, we are forced to judge
of its progress and character as best we may from the few
unimportant country churches that have come down to us.

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

Fortunately, those documents, though very few and small, are
unusually well dated, and show quite clearly the development
of the style during at least the last half of the XI century. They
have also been studied and published with exceptional care,
so that the chronology of this architecture offers less difficulty
than that of many more important styles.

Before studying the school of the He de France itself, it is
worth while to glance at the characteristics of certain of its near
neighbors. There was a constant interchange of influence be-
tween the various schools of Romanesque FYance, and it is
impossible to study intelligently the progress of any one without
knowing something of what was going on next door. Now the

III. 154. — Section of Choir of Genouilly.
(From De Kersers)

He de France lay geographically midway between Normandy
and the South; and in fact its Romanesque architecture was
half way between the styles of Normandy and of several of the
Southern schools, and borrowed peculiarities now from one, now
from the other of these two sources.

Of the features borrowed from the South the most impor-
tant was the ambulatory, a construction which, we have seen,
had been employed at Tours and Le Alans in the Carolingi.ui
era, but which never appeared in Normandy before the Gothic
period. In tin- He de France itself the ambulatory docs not
occur before the XII century, but it was frequently employed
during the XI century in the neighboring Southern schools.
In Auvergne it became .1 regular characteristic of the local style,
with the peculiarity, however, that the radiating absidioles are

III. 1.55. - Nortli Aisle of Morienval

SCHOOL OF BERRY

even, instead of odd, in number, so that none is placed on the
axis. In the school of Berry, there are one or two examples
of XI century ambulatories, and still further north, in the de-
partement of Loiret, on the very edge of the French Romanesque
style, there is an excellent example at St.-Benoit-sur-Loire. The
primitive cathedral of Chartres seems also to have been sup-
plied with an ambulatory.

Thus the tradition of an ambulatory was kept alive just
outside the border of the He de France, and must have been
perfectly familiar to the builders of the royal domain, when in
the XII century they were ready to take up the motive and give
it so surprising a development.

No school of architecture is more closely related to the
Romanesque of the He de France than that of Berry, whose
monuments, for the most part small, have been made accessible
in large part through the systematic labors of M. de Kersers.
The most striking peculiarity of the school is perhaps the treat-
ment of the choir, which regularly consists of three aisles, each
terminating in an apse. These aisles are separated not by piers
but by round slender columns bearing arches (111. 154), — an
arrangement which became so traditional that even where the
side aisles are omitted a reminiscence of the usual design is
preserved in arcades built along the choir walls. This peculiar-
ity in the design of the choir is also frequently found in the He
de France.

The second prominent characteristic of the churches of
Berry is the use of the barrel vault, which was employed almost
invariably in the choir and transepts, apparently from the very
earliest years of the XI century.1 These barrel vaults were in
the XI century semicircular; but at Pleinpied there is a pointed
barrel vault in a church which appears to be authentically
dated 1080-92, and in the XII century the pointed barrel
vault was regularly employed in Berry. Now barrel vaults

1 The chronology of the monuments of Berry is not at all clear, owing to the unfortunate
lack of documentary evidence. It is certain, however, that the school was advanced; if its
monuments are small, they yet show skilful technique and execution. M. de Kersers has un-
fortunately not given the chronology of these churches the study it deserves. I do not hesitate,
however, to follow him in assigning St. Aoustrille and other barrel-vaulted choirs to before the
year 1050.

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

are characteristic of the royal school in the second half of the
XI century; and the earliest pointed arch that has come down
to us in the He de France dates from at least twenty years later
than the vaults of Pleinpied. Consequently it seems probable
that both these features were borrowed from Berry by the French
builders.1

In other respects the churches of the Cher differed radically
from those of the He de France, or even borrowed from the
latter school. Buttresses for the nave vaults seem seldom to
have been provided, since the small size of most of the build-
ings enabled the masons to raise a barrel vault even above a
clearstory without danger. In a few churches, however, half
barrel vaults thrown across the aisles were made to abut the
great vaults of the nave, — an arrangement entirely analogous
to the dispositions of St. Sernin of Toulouse (111. 130). Pilaster
strips marked the bays externally, and were often very salient
even at an early period. The crossing was covered usually
with a dome or an octagonal cloistered vault on squinches or
even on pendentives. These domes were a thoroughly Lom-
bard feature and one never adopted in the He de France. The
transept was almost universal in Berry even in the smallest
churches; on the other hand, the nave was often of a single
aisle, even when there were three aisles in the choir. Transeptal
absidioles were well-nigh universal. The central tower was
frequently placed on piers falling within the nave wralls, thus
leaving a passage from the nave directly into the transept.

The character and execution of the ornament in Berry was
usually inferior to contemporary work elsewhere. The chief
elements were the chevron and chipped zig-zag, both perhaps
imported from Normandy; the billet moulding and engaged
arcade of Carolingian tradition; the flat and arched corbel-
tables with grotesque carvings, derived (perhaps indirectly)
from Lombardy. The flora, on the other hand, was either na-
tive or derived from the neighboring schools of the South. While
there is a continuous and marked progress in ornamentation,
this art always remained backward, and the portals in especial,
even in the XII century, show nothing to rival the magnificent

1 Horseshoe arches occur in Berry at Charenton, Limeux, and Vesdun.

THE ROYAL SCHOOL

doorways of England, Normandy, Lombardy, or Provence.
The survival of classic tradition in Berry, as throughout the
south of France, led to a certain awkwardness in the propor-
tions of capitals and columns.

The facades of Berry were usually characterized by a Greek
cross, placed in the gable, and by the peculiar portals which
were often flanked by two blind arches, the whole being built
out into a sort of edicule submerging the buttresses. Towers
were for the most part without character or interest, and form
a sorry contrast to those of Normandy or of the He de France.
About the middle of the XII century they came to be placed at
the west end, instead of over the crossing. Rib vaults were
unknown until the middle of the XII century, when they were
introduced from the He de France at Angy-sur-1'Aubois.
Square east ends were never built before the XIII century.

Before the year 1100, the school of the royal domain re-
mained far weaker than even its modest neighbor of Berry.
The direct heir of Carolingian tradition, it seems to have pre-
served unaltered during the first half of the XI century the Caro-
lingian forms in all their crudity. Four monuments have come
down to us that may be ascribed to this epoch ; l they are all
characterized by the use of rectangular piers and archivolts
of a single order, and are constructed of rubble or herring-bone
masonry with a minimum of ornament. Vaults were used only
in the half-dome of the apse. In a word, the whole structure
shows but the slightest advance 2 over such a monument as the
Basse Oeuvre. It is interesting that one of these monuments
of the first half of the XI century — the chapel at Filain — has
a square east end. About the middle of the XI century,
certain innovations were introduced. The archivolts were
built in two orders (111. 155, 156) instead of in one, and to
support this second order a colonnette was engaged at either
end of the pier (111. 155, 156). This arrangement which be-
came very typical of the He de France persisted into the XII

filain (Aisne), St.-Remi-1'Abbaye (Oise), Sarron (Oise), and Rue-St.-Pierre (Oise).
2 The prevailing opinion that the size of the windows is a sure test of the age of a Roman-
esque structure is erroneous. The size of the windows seems to have been purely arbitrary.

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

century. The barrel vault ' also appeared in the second half
of the XI century, being employed over the choir and crossing,
and even over the transepts, although at this period the nave
was never vaulted. About the same time the groin vault came
into use (111. 155). Employed timidly at first, and only in the
side aisles (as at Rhuis, e. 1050), by the end of the century it
had been used at Trouquoy to vault even the great choir. In
the side aisles it was regularly constructed with transverse ribs
(111. 155). The plan in general preserved throughout the XI
century its Carolingian characteristics — transeptal absidioles,
and a choir lengthened at most one bay.

About the year 1075 shafts engaged on the faces of the piers
appeared in the He de France (111. 156). These shafts were
probably borrowed from Normandy, although the French
builders of this time were undoubtedly acquainted with the
architectural achievements of Lombardy. We have seen that
the Norman builders borrowed the engaged shaft together with
the alternate system from Lombardy, but rejected the trans-
verse arch.2 At the Abbaye-aux-Dames they had applied the
engaged shaft to a uniform system. Now the fact that in the
He de France the engaged shaft was always employed in con-
nection with a uniform system (the alternate system never oc-
curs in the royal domain at the period 3) seems to prove that
this feature was derived from Normandy rather than from Lom-
bardy direct. Although engaged shafts were never as uni-
versally adopted in the He de France as in Normandy — the
old flat type of pier persisted in perhaps the majority of build-
ings (111. 157) --yet the use of shafts was frequent, and examples
may be found at Morienval (111. 156), St.-Thibaud-de-Bazoches,
Berny, Riviere, etc. Most singular of all, in certain monuments
(Berny, Riviere, and St.-Leger-aux-Bois) analogous shafts are
engaged on the aisle side of the piers. This curious construc-

1 e. g. at Rhuis, Montlevon, etc.

2 How extended was Lombard influence is proved by the fact that at a later period the He
de France borrowed these transverse arches besides many other motives from Lombardy. Such
transverse arches are found at B<'thisy-St. -Martin, Tracy, Vailly, and Cerny-en-Laonnais. Ex-
amples are also found at I^vardin (Loire-et-Chcr) dating from the XI century.

3 The earliest example of the alternate system in the He de France occurs at Meluil
c. 1100.

MORIENVAL

tion is also Norman, and occurs at Notre Dame-sur-PEau of
Domfront.1

But little ornament was employed, generally speaking, in
the French Romanesque monuments of the XI century (111. 157).
Most interesting, however, is the use of griffes (111. 155) which
must have been derived from Lombardy. Chevrons and dog-
tooths do not occur in the XI century. The capitals have usu-
ally a great volute under each angle of the abacus (111. 155) ;
the bases have an attic profile. The roped moulding is com-
mon. Arched corbel-tables usually have a triangular form
peculiar to this region — a good example of this ornament may
be found at St. Baudry, Aisne. Arcades are used especially
towards the end of the century. The single ornamental inno-
vation introduced in this period was the plated ribbon mould-
ing whose character is clear from the reproduction (111. 197).
This motive, peculiar to the He de France, assumed great prom-
inence in the XII century.

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF THE ILE DE

FRANCE

Monuments of the First Class

MORIENVAL, Oise. Abbaye Notre Dame. (111. 155, 156, 1G4, 186.) This
monument offers the best extant example of two crucial periods in the history of
architecture — the Romanesque of the XI century and the first phase of the transi-
tion. The Romanesque church, as restored by M. Lefevre-Pon talis, consisted of a
nave three bays long ; of two side aisles returned across the western front so as to form
an interior narthex, over the central bay of which rose a western tower; of transepts
with eastern absidioles; and of a choir, a single bay long, ending in a semicircular
apse and flanked by two towers, whose lower stories formed a lateral chamber
opening off the transepts. The piers separating the aisles were square with four
engaged shafts, one on each face: the shafts facing the nave were continued as a
system to the roof, although the main body of the church was not vaulted, but cov-
ered with timber; those at the ends of the piers supported the second order of the
archivolts; those towards the side aisles, the transverse ribs of the groin vaults with
which these aisles were covered. The transepts had a timber roof, as did the cross-
ing; the choir was covered with a round barrel vault, and the apse with a half -dome.

1 M. Lefevre-Pontalis finds no indications that the Romanesque monuments of the He de
France were affected by foreign influence. — Architecture religieuse daiis Vancien diocese de Sois-
sons, passim.

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF THE ILK DE FRANCE

Of this church there remains to-day only the three towers, portions of the piers of
the crossing, and the piers on the north side of the nave. The aisle vaults have been
entirely reconstructed, but doubtless on the original plan, for the section of the piers
shows that transverse arches existed in the north aisle, and certain debris found in
1853 proves that the intermediate spaces were groin-vaulted. Whether these vaults
were contemporary with the original church is open to question, but probable. Since
the vaults must have been erected on an oblong plan, the restorers have probably
made no error in doming the crowns. While there is no documentary evidence for
the date of the XI century building, archaeologists are agreed in assigning it to the
last half of the XI century, and I should place it c. 10S0. At all events, early in the
XII century important works of reconstruction were begun, the old apse being re-
placed by the now world-famous ambulatory. Since the old towers of the XI century
edifice prevented access to this ambulatory from the side aisles, and since the ambu-
latory itself was extremely narrow — the distance between the piers is only 0.65 meters,
or about twro feet — this structure must have been added solely to provide room for
additional altars. The ambulatory, which comprises in all four bays, is semicircular
in plan and separated from the choir by round columns; its interest centers in the
rib vaults erected on a curved plan — the earliest known example of such a construc-
tion. These vaults are characterized by imperfectly pointed transverse arches, by
pointed arcade arches, and by much depressed wall ribs. The curved form given in
plan to the diagonal ribs seems to show an effort to avoid the extreme one-sided posi-
tion of the longitudinal ridge which would have resulted had they been straight. The
date of this ambulatory has been endlessly discussed.1 No one believes any longer
in the old attribution to c. 1080. M. An thyme St. Paul has recently brought forward
a text which relates that new relics were acquired by the church in 1122; he plausibly
suggests that the ambulatory was built to accommodate these. M. Enlart seems
inclined to agree with this hypothesis, but M. Lefevre-Pontalis assigns c. 1110 as the
latest date possible.2 I am inclined to accept the theory of M. St. Paul. The high
vaults of the choir were reconstructed about the same time (1122), the straight bay
being covered with a rib vault (which still survives) and the chevet with a ribbed half-
dome. This ribbed half-dome was subsequently (about the middle of the XIV cen-
tury) replaced by the present polygonal chevet with radiating rib vault. Thus this
part of the choir was in all three times remodeled. The remainder of the church has
also been much altered: the great chapel of the transept was added in 1240; in 1652

1 See Bibliography.

2 Since these words were written there has appeared a new contribution to the "Morienval
question." In the course of restorations executed in 1901 the bases of the columns of the chevet
were excavated. These proved that the apse of the XII century church was furnished with ribs.
It is impossible to suppose that the ribbed half-dome was not erected at the same time as the
rib vault of the straight bay of the choir. The demolition of the XI century barrel vault which
preceded the original apse was a consequence of the reconstruction of the chevet with ambula-
tory in the XII century, for this vault could not be adjusted to a pointed half-dome of higher
level. Therefore M. Lefevre-Pontalis concludes that his former hypotheses are disproved, and
that the chevet and its vaults, both of the ambulatory and the choir, were rebuilt at a single
time between the years 1120 and 1130.

MONUMENTS OF THE THIRD CLASS

the abbess Anne III Foucault vaulted the nave and the crossing; and in the XVII
century the southern side of the nave and the south side aisle were also reconstructed.

Monuments of the Third Class

RHUIS, Oise. Eglise (111. 157, 158) consists of a nave, two side aisles terminat-
ing to the eastward in rectangular walls, a choir, and a semicircular apse. A plaster
vault now occupies the place of the timber roof which formerly surmounted the nave;
the apse retains its half-dome; the eastern bay of the north aisle is covered with a
groin vault, undomed, evidently contemporary with the nave; the eastern bay of the
south aisle is surmounted by a rib vault, also undomed, clearly an addition to the
original structure since the ribs are carried on corbels; and the remainder of the side
aisles are roofed in timber, as they always have been. The plain rectangular piers
carry unmoulded arches of a single order, and the walls above are broken only by
small clearstory windows. The exterior is notable chiefly for the tower — ■ perhaps
the oldest in the He de France or Picardy — and for the apse adorned with shafted
windows and flat corbel-tables. M. Lefevre-Pontalis assigns the main body of the
church, together with the groin vault of the north aisle to the middle of the XI century;
but the rib vault of the south aisle he believes dates from the first years of the XII
century.1 (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 211; Moore, 50.)

BINSON, Marne. Prieure. "In the year of the incarnation of the Word, 1069,
while Odabric, prevot of the church of Reims was renovating this altar, he found
beneath it the sarcophagus of the blessed virgin Posenne, parts of whose body were
within, where they had been placed in former times; and as he had found it, so he
replaced it in the same spot."2 The restorations referred to in this inscription must
have included the construction of the present choir whose style indicates the last half
of the XI century. The existing nave, roofed in timber, is clearly later than the
choir, and may be assigned to the first years of the XII century. The edifice consists
of a nave four bays long, two side aisles, non-projecting transepts, a choir flanked by
lateral chambers, and three eastern apses. Pilasters are engaged on the lateral faces
of the piers to support the extra orders of the archivolts, but there is no system. The
transepts, choir, and crossing are barrel-vaulted; the apses are surmounted by half-
domes. To support the weight of the central tower, the north nave wall is carried
across the transept, unbroken save for two little archways. The southern transept,
whose vault is perpendicular to that of the crossing, opens on this part of the building
by a round arch in two orders. The choir deviates to the north. Externally the church
is notable for the tower of the XII century, the apse decorated with engaged arcades,
and the bases supplied with griffes. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 179.)

Other Monuments
BERNY-RIVIERE, Aisne. St. Martin consists of a nave preceded by a nar-

1 Vide infra, p. 58.

2 "Anno incarnati verbi mil sexag Villi renovante Odabrico Remsis. ecce. pposito. hoc
altare invenit subt. sarcofagu. beate Posinne virginis cu. partieula corporis eius [quod interiu]s
fuerat priseis tepor[ibus. dcpositum] atamen ut inpvenit ita [in eodem loco] recondidit." — Cit.
I^efe\Te-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 180.

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

thex tower, two side aisles ending in absidioles, and a semicircular apse. In the
XI century the nave was entirely roofed in timber; but in 1552 rib vaults — which,
however, have been replaced by modern imitations — were erected underneath the
tower and in the western bay. Colonnettes are engaged on all four faces of the piers:
those facing the nave are continued to form an unmeaning system; those at the ends
of the piers carry the second order of the archivolts; those facing the side aisles are
continued to form a buttress to the exterior clearstory wall — a singular disposition
paralleled in the Norman church of Notre Dame-sur-1'Eau of Domfront. The
choir is barrel-vaulted; its windows are shafted. With the exception of the tower of
the XVII century, the construction is assigned to the last years of the XI century.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 177.)

ST.-LEGER-AUX-BOIS, Oise. Prieure. A royal charter of 1083 ceded to
the abbey of Gerault the revenues, the right of justice, and the usage of the forest of
Laigue. Five monks established themselves in this solitude, and built the present
priory, which consequently cannot have been erected before 1083, although the
style of the architecture shows that the construction must have been finished before
the end of the XI century. The nave, five bays long, is flanked by two side aisles;
the transepts project; the church terminates to the eastward in three semicircular
apses, each preceded by a short rectangular bay. The apses are covered with half-
domes, and the compartments which precede them are barrel-vaulted; the other
portions of the church, — nave, side aisles, transepts, and crossing, — are entirely
roofed in timber. A pilaster, which supports nothing, is engaged on the aisle sides
of the rectangular piers. The crossing is characterized by four great arches opening
on the nave, the choir, and either transept. A window of the facade is shafted, and
adorned with a very elementary moulding; the windows of the apse are also similarly
moulded. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 226.)

NOEL-ST.-MARTIN, (near Villeneuve-sur-Verberie), Oise. Eglise consisted
originally of a single-aisled nave and an apse. This construction dated from the
last half of the XI century. About the middle of the XII century each of the nave
walls was pierced with two round arches, and side aisles were added. These side
aisles, however, were later destroyed and the arches again walled up. The present
crossing, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, was constructed on the site of the prim-
itive apse c. 1135; it is covered with an abnormally stilted rib vault with wall ribs —
an early example of the latter feature. The north transept, also rib-vaulted, was
erected c. 1150, but the existing southern transept is a work of the XVI century. A
single quadripartite rib vault erected on a square plan covers the rectangular choir,
a construction contemporary with the crossing. The wall rib of this vault is segmental,
a form which, as the other arches are all round, results in unduly doming the vault.
The facade is a work of the last half of the XI century, and the tower, which rises over
the southern transept, is assigned to c. 1080. ' (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 71.)

1 Mr. Moore, Gothic Arch., p. 63, gives a description of this monument differing widely
from that of Lefevre-Pontalis. After referring to it as a very late llomanesque church (i.e., earlier
than 1130 ?), he goes on to speak of the choir vault: "The arches of this vault are all round ex-
cept the one on the western side of the compartment, which appears to be an alteration of a later

OTHER MONUMENTS

LE TROUQUOY, Somme. Eglise is an excellent and well preserved example
of the type of rural church erected in Picardy at the end of the XI century. The mon-
ument consists of a single-aisled nave two bays long, and a rectangular choir also of
two bays. The choir is covered with a groin vault, constructed as the penetration
of two unequal barrel vaults. Broad and salient buttresses reinforce the angles
of the choir. The nave is covered with a timber roof of the late Gothic period.
(Enlart, Arch. Rom., 166.)

BERNEUIL-SUR-AISNE, Oise. Eglise. Though assigned to the X century
by Woillez, this monument, as M. Lefevre-Pontalis has pointed out, is evidently a
work of the last half of the XI century. The edifice consists of a nave three bays
long, two side aisles, transepts, and a choir of the XVI century. The second order
of the unmoulded archivolts is supported on engaged columns. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rcl. I, 174.)

MAREUIL, Somme. Eglise. Of the existing structure, the nave, the facade,
and a fragment of the choir are Romanesque; but the greater part of the choir was
rebuilt in the XV century, and the present crossing, which was originally the fifth bay
of the nave, has been much altered. To the westward the nave is prolonged beyond
the side asles, so that its unbroken walls buttress the westernmost of the great arches.
The nave has a wooden roof; the main arcades are in two orders and shafted. The
western portal is adorned with chevrons, arched corbel-tables, arched billet mould-
ings, and a tympanum sculptured in high relief — features which indicate the style
of the last years of the XII century; the rest of the facade, however, appears to be
somewhat earlier, and is assigned by M. Enlart to the second quarter of the same
century. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 140.)

OULCHY-LE-CHATEAU, Aisne. Notre Dame. According to Carlier this
monument was erected on the ruins of a more ancient church by Thibauld I (f 1089)
who founded the chapter of Oulchy about 1076. However, of the existing edifice
only the nave and the tower can be attributed to this period, for the transept and
choir show all the characteristics of the style of the last half of the XII century. It
is probable that the generous donations (1169) of Henry, Count of Champagne, made
it possible for the chapter to partially reconstruct the church at this time. The edi-
fice to-day consists of three aisles, very salient transepts, a rectangular choir, and a
tower rising at the end of the south side aisle. The nave is roofed in wood; it is
characterized by colonnettes engaged on the ends of the piers to support the extra order
of the archivolts, by cubic capitals, by bases supplied with griffes, and by a clear-
story rebuilt in the XII century. In the southern side aisle, the ancient barrel vault
still exists beneath the tower in the bay preceding the absidiole. The tower con-
sists of three stories of coupled windows in two orders, surmounted by billet mould-
ings; it is supplied with angle shafts and buttresses of a single ressaut. The exterior
of the east end, broken by three round-arched windows surmounted by a quatrefoil,
is pleasing and unusual. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 211.)

epoch and belongs to the developed Gothic vault which covers the area over the crossing of the
nave and transept." I have not examined this building on the spot, and am somewhat at a loss
to know which of two such eminent authorities to disbelieve.

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

PRESIDES, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, slightly projecting'
transepts, a tower rising over the south transept, and an apse originally flanked by
two absidioles. Except for the facade porch — an addition of the XIII century —
the monument is a homogeneous structure of the end of the XI century. The timber-
roofed nave is divided into four bays by cruciform piers which carry plain archivolts
in two orders. About the end of the XII century the existing rib vault was erected
over the crossing; the choir, however, retains the XI century barrel vault terminating
in a half-dome over the apse. This apse is externally ornamented with triangular
arched corbel-tables, ribbon mouldings, etc. (Broche.)

RETHEUIL, Aisne. St. Aubin. The Romanesque church, which terminated
in three apses, was much altered in the XVI century, so that the existing edifice con-
sists of a nave, two side aisles, and a rectangular choir. The nave, which is three
bays long, and roofed in timber, dates almost wholly from the XVI century, but the
southern side aisle has preserved in the bay underneath the tower traces of a barrel
vault and of a round-headed window. The tower itself is a monument of the last
quarter of the XI century. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rcl. I, 219.)

DEUIL, (or Deuil-sous-Montmorency), Seine-et-Oise. St. Eugene consists of
two distinct parts: a Romanesque nave of the XI century, and a Gothic choir of the
beginning of the XIII century. The nave comprises six bays: the choir, three; the
chevet (which is surrounded by an ambulatory with a column on axis), six. A sec-
ond side aisle was added in the flamboyant period. Colonnettes engaged at the
ends of the piers carry the second orders of the archivolts; shafts engaged on the face
of the piers rise towards the roof. The monument has badly suffered from modern
restorations. (Lambin, 100.)

MONTMILLE, Oise. St. Maxicn. This monument, which certainly dates
from the XI century (c. 1050), consists of a nave, transepts, and a square east end.
The side aisles which originally existed have been destroyed; the piers are square,
the archivolts of a single order unadorned. The groin vaults that at present cover
the two bays of the choir seem to be later (modern?1) additions to the original con-
struction. The rest of the church is timber-roofed. Much of the sculpture and
ornament of the facade recalls the Basse Oeuvre of Beauvais. (Woillez, M. 1.)

MOXTLEYOX, Aisne. St. Martin, consists of a nave four bays long, two side
aisles ending in absidioles, a lateral tower, transepts, and a semicircular apse. The
nave and the side aisles were originally roofed in timber, but about the end of the XVI
century the existing rib vaults were erected. The archivolts in two orders fall on col-
onnettes engaged on the rectangular piers. Although the transepts have suffered
heavily from restoration, the crossing retains its original barrel vault. The Roman-
esque portions of the monument may be assigned to the end of the XI century.

ST. BAUDRY, Aisne. Eglise. In its original form this church consisted of a
single-aisled nave and a semicircular apse; but c. 1150 a northern side aisle was added,
and the apse replaced by a square choir, while in the XVI century the plan was given
an irregular appearance by the addition of a northern chapel. The nave is separated

1 I know this monument only from Woillez's drawings, from which it is impossible to
determine this point.

OTHER MONUMENTS

from the side aisle by three rectangular piers with engaged pilasters supporting the
second order of the great pointed archivolts. Both nave and side aisle are roofed in
timber. The polygonal choir is covered with a radiating rib vault of six branches;
the ancient glass still fills the flamboyant tracery of the windows. Externally the
nave is lavishly ornamented with billets and triangular corbel-tables, and is, perhaps,
the most richly ornamented of all the Romanesque monuments of the He de France.
It must consequently date from the last years of the XI century. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. I, 223.)

JOUAIGNES, Aisne. St. Pierre. The nave, which is assigned by M. Lefevre-
Pontalis to the end of the XI century, was originally three bays long, was flanked
by two side aisles, and was roofed in timber. The archivolts were in two orders,
of which the inner was carried on a colonnette engaged in the piers. These disposi-
tions are preserved intact only in last bay of the north side; on the south side the origi-
nal side aisle was destroyed and the arches walled up, although the aisle has been
again rebuilt in modern times. The crossing was vaulted c. 1130; the south transept
is of the last half of the XII century; the north transept, like the polygonal choir
(which replaces the Romanesque apse), dates only from the XIII century. The lower
story of the tower is assigned to c. 1130, but the upper story is Gothic in style.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 185.)

LA CROIX, Aisne. Eglise consists at present of a nave, a single side aisle, and
a square choir; but in the XI century there were two side aisles ending in absidioles
and a semicircular apse preceded by a transept. In the XII century a tower was
added flanking the apse, and the existing choir was erected in the early Gothic period.
The wooden-roofed nave is three bays long; its round arcades of two orders are sup-
ported on piers. These piers are flat on the side of the nave, except that in the pier
between the second and third bay there is engaged a pilaster, which suggests a but-
tress rather than a system. On the other three sides are engaged colonnettes, support-
ing the beams of the aisle roof, or the second order of the archivolts. This nave is
assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the last quarter of the XI century. The crossing,
though bounded by arches, is not vaulted; the elegant choir of the XIII century,
however, is vaulted throughout. The facade is modern; the central tower dates from
the second quarter of the XII century. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 182.)

BITRY, Oise. Eglise of the XI century was altered at the end of the XII cen-
tury and rebuilt almost entirely in the late flamboyant period. The edifice consists
of a nave, a single side aisle — which is continued to flank the square bay of the choir,
-*- and a polygonal apse. The nave, three bays long, is a work of the XVI century;
the multiple ribs of the vaults and the archivolts are received on monocylindrical
piers without capitals. Also of the XVI century is the vault of the rectangular por-
tion of the choir, but beneath the central tower a barrel vault of the XI century, but-
tressed by two engaged columns, is still extant. The tower and spire must date from
the XII century. Angle turrets were projected but never executed. (Lefevre-Pon-
talis, Arch. Rel. II, 125.)

BREUIL-LE-VERT, Oise. Eglise is known to have been founded c. 1100
by Hugh, Count of Champagne, for the charter (1145) of his son confirming this gift

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

is vet extant. Since this confirmation was made expressly in honor of the consecra-
tion of the church, that event must have taken place about 1145. No part of the
existing edifice, however, can be assigned to this date, and it is necessary to suppose
that all the portions erected c. 114.5 were later rebuilt. The north arcade seems to
be the oldest part of the presenl structure; the archivolts in two orders, the cruciform
piers, the crude capitals, indicate the style of the third quarter of the XI century. The
remainder of the edifice must be at least a hundred years later, for the windows are
all pointed, and, while there is no true tracery, several of the lancets are grouped
together under a single relieving arch. A fine central tower lends distinction to the
exterior of this interesting church. (Woillez; Johnson.)

BRESLES, Oise. Uglise. This single-aisled country church dating perhaps
from the middle of the XI century, is roofed in timber. The archivolts have square
profiles, and there is very little ornament of any kind, except for the Greek cross in the
gable, which recalls the Basse Oeuvre of Beauvais. The most interesting part of
the monument is the central tower of c. 1110, which consists of two stories of blind
arcades and grouped windows — the tympanums of the latter pierced with bull's
eyes. (Woillez.)

ST.-THIBAUD-DE-BAZOCHES, Aisne. Prieure. A charter, which must
be earlier than 1080, mentions that this priory had been built a few years previously;
it is evident from the style, however, that the existing edifice can not be earlier than
c. 107.5. This most important monument was unfortunately in large part destroyed
in 1842; there survive only three piers of the nave and a part of the transept, but the
foundations have been excavated, so that the original dispositions can be made out.
The church consisted of a nave, six bays long, ending to the westward in an exterior
narthex-tower; of two side aisles; of transepts deeply projecting; and of three semi-
circular eastern apses. The apses were covered with half-domes; the transepts and
nave were roofed in timber: and the narthex and side aisles were, in all probability,
groin-vaulted with transverse ribs, although the remains are not sufficient to make
this absolutely certain. Four colonnettes were engaged on each pier: the two on the
ends doubtless served to support the second orders of the archivolts, the one towards
the aisle probably supported the transverse arch of the groin vault, and that facing
the nave was continued to the roof as a system, although the nave was not vaulted.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 228.)

FILAIN, Aisne. Ste. Berthe. This chapel, on the strength of its crude capitals
and triangular decoration, has often been assigned to the Carolingian era. M. Le-
fevre-Pontalis, however, has shown that it must belong to the XI century, though
not improbably to the first half. The edifice consists of a rectangular nave and a
rectangular choir, the latter divided into two transverse sections by an arcade of three
arches.

ST.-REMI-L'ABBAYE, Oise. Abbaye. The primitive structure consisted
of a wooden-roofed nave, two side aisles, transepts, and a semicircular apse; but
only the nave, the facade, and the side aisles remain, and the latter have been com-
pletely rebuilt. The piers are square, the archivolts of single order; the whole in-
terior, indeed, in its dearth of ornament recalls the Basse Oeuvre of Beauvais. The

OTHER MONUMENTS

exterior is characterized by arched string-courses and reticulated pattern work in
the tympanums. This monument may be assigned to the first half of the XI century.
(Woillez, S. 27.)

SOISSONS, Aisne. St. Medard. The crypt, which is well preserved, is assigned
to the XI century. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 169.)

St. Leger. The choir is said to resemble closely the middle chapel of Braisne.1
The crypt, though assigned by Fleury to the VIII century, in reality dates from 1090-
110O, as M. Lefevre-Pontalis has pointed out. The church itself was entirely recon-
structed in the XIII century.

BALAGNY-SUR-THERAIN, Oise. Eglise. The ornament consisting of
chevrons and billet mouldings, and the construction in herring-bone masonry indicate
that this single-aisled church must date from the end of the XI century. (Woillez.)

TILLE, Oise. Eglise, which may be ascribed with confidence to the first half
of the XI century, consists of three aisles separated by square piers. The walls are
constructed of rubble; the roof is in timber. A Greek cross in the gable recalls the
Basse Oeuvre of Beauvais. (Woillez, Appendix.)

CHIVRY-LES-ETOUVELLES, Aisne. Eglise. Of the structure of the XI
century, only two semicircular absidioles remain, the rest of the edifice having been
entirely rebuilt. The present square choir is of the XVI century; the tower is Gothic;
and the portal, Renaissance.

PLESSIS-LE-CHARMANT, Oise. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave
and a rectangular choir. The tower and choir are Romanesque, but the spire with
its turrets and dormers is a work of the XII century.

ANGIVILLERS, Oise. Eglise. The inadequate publication by W'oillez indi-
cates that the church was supplied with a single-aisled nave and transepts, ornamented
externally with arched string-courses. (Woillez, Appendix.)

SARRON, Oise. Eglise, which may be assigned to the first half of the XI cen-
tury, consists of a nave, two side aisles, and an apse masked externally. The piers
are square, the roof is in wood. The exterior is adorned with arched string-courses.
(Woillez, Appendix.)

CRAMOISY, Oise. St. Martin. The tower is a charming design of the end
of the XI century with two stories of coupled arches and a cornice composed of a flat
corbel-table.

ACHY, Oise. Eglise of small dimensions has been only inadequately published.
One of the windows is surmounted by an arcuated lintel. (Woillez, Appendix.)

ORVILLE, Somme. Eglise, notwithstanding many reconstructions, contains
some fragments of XI century architecture. (Bourlon.)

ULLY-ST.-GEORGES, Oise. Eglise is said to date from the XI, XIII, and
XVI centuries. (Woillez.)

RUE-ST-PIERRE, Oise. Eglise may be assigned to the first half of the XI
century. The facade is surmounted by a little belfry; the central doorway is plain,
except that the voussoirs are carved with a Carolingian triangular motive. (Woillez,
Appendix.)

1 Von Bezold.
21

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

ROCHY-CONDE, Oise. Chapelle St. Arnault is said to date from the XI
century.

ESTREES-ST-DENIS, Oise. Sglise. The single-aisled nave is preceded
by a facade surmounted by a belfry. (Woillez, Appendix.)

LUCHY, Oise. Eglise has been only inadequately published. (Woillez.)

MONUMENTS OF THE XI AND XII CENTURIES OF
DISTRICTS BORDERING ON THE ILE DE

FRANCE

Monuments of the First Class

VEZELAY, Yonne. Abbaye la Madeleine. This Benedictine abbey, one of
the largest in France, fell under the influence of the Cluniac reform in the XI century.
The church erected at the time of the foundation in 846 * was destroyed by fire in
1120, when 1,127 men and women are said to have perished in the flames.2 The
existing edifice was probably commenced soon after this catastrophe, for the western
portions are in the style of the last half of the XII century, and the Gothic choir of
1198-1201 doubtless replaces an older Romanesque structure. This venerable abbey,
which is thoroughly Cluniac and Burgundian in style, consists of a choir of five
aisles; a pentagonal chevet; an ambulatory; transepts; a nave, entirely groin-vaulted
except the last four bays which are rib-vaulted; and a narthex three bays long
groin-vaulted except for the last bay, the lower of whose stories is barrel-vaulted, the
upper, rib-vaulted. The masonry laid in bands alternately light and dark recalls
the school of Auvergne as do several details of ornamentation. There were originally
four towers. The main arcades of the narthex have pointed arches — a fact which
misled Viollet-le-Duc into the error of considering this an important monument of
the transitional movement. The interest of Vezelay centers in the portals, whose
sculptures are among the finest productions of the Burgundian school. (Arch, de la
Com. des Mon. Hist. II, 11; Yon Bezold.)

Monuments of the Second Class

ST.-BENOIT-SUR-LOIRE, Loiret. Abbaye. The narthex of this important
monument is usually assigned to the year 1022 on the strength of a text which I have
not been able to find; there is need, however, of but a superficial examination of the
architecture to realize that the construction can not possibly be as early as this. M.
Marignan, however, goes too far in assigning this portion of the building to a date as
late as 1160-80; it may well have been erected in the first quarter of the XII cen-
tury. Fortunately the chronology of the remainder of the church is less obscure,
and the approximate date of the choir — obviously, the oldest part of the existing
church — is established by documentary evidence: "Since the church of the blessed

'Hugo Pictavinus notarius, Historia Vizeliacensis, mon. I, (it. Sehlosser, 283; Karl II,
Urh fur Vteelay, st;s. ian. 7, B. R. L746.

- Besly, Histoire des Comtes de Poitou, p. 451 [lege 551], cit. Inkersley.

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in which rests the body of the holy father Benedict, had
fallen into ruin, partly by age, partly by fire, it seemed good to Abbot William (with
the consent of Odilo, an upright man and prior of the same church) to demolish the
old building and erect instead a new "* — "[Abbot William] commenced to build, and
laid anew the foundations of that church over which he ruled and which had been
devastated by many fires and ruined by old age, but he died before being able to fin-
ish it."2 Now, since William was abbot from 1070-80, it must have been during
this period that the reconstruction of the choir was begun. According to Rocher,3
the construction was finished only in 1103. In the meanwhile (1095), the monastery
had been ravaged by a new fire.4 This fire very probably rendered necessary the
reconstruction of the nave, whose architecture shows all the characteristics of the
style of the early years of the XII century. The design of the nave differs widely
from that of the choir in that cruciform piers with system are substituted for columns

— a lack of unity which, however, could be paralleled in many homogeneous churches
of Berry or Burgundy. Probably soon after 1103, or at least sometime in the first
half of the XII century, the narthex, which had stood isolated before the church,
was rebuilt. Finally, in 1218, the western bays of the nave were again made over,
and the whole edifice restored in the Gothic style. As the monument stands to-day,
the choir with its ambulatory and four radiating chapels may be taken as an authen-
tically dated structure of c. 1070-1103.° The central aisle is barrel-vaulted, but the
side aisles are covered with groin vaults with transverse ribs; there is a continuous
triforium, no system, and a clearstory with shafted windows. The main archivolts
are in two orders, unmoulded, and certain bases are supplied with griffes. Two
absidioles project to the eastward on each arm of the salient transepts which are
covered with pointed barrel vaults added aprcs coup about the end of the XII century.
The nave, although remade in the Gothic period, retains Romanesque groin vaults
in the side aisles; the north lateral porch of the XIII century is notable for its fine
sculpture. The narthex in two stories, entirely vaulted with groin vaults resting on
round transverse arches, is divided into nine equal squares by three aisles, of equal
height, each three bays long. The piers have engaged on each face a half column
with richly carved Corinthianesque and figured capitals. (Rocher; Marignan.)

AVALLON, Yonne. St. Ladre. The present edifice of three aisles appears
to have been commenced only in the last half of the XII century, for the facade —
evidently the oldest part of the structure — - is a fine example of rich Burgundian
ornamentation. The remarkable portals in five orders with twisted and chained

1 Basilica semper virginis Mariae Dei genetricis in qua beatus pater Benedictus corpore
quiescit partim vetustate, partim incendio demolita, visum est abbati Guillelmo, adnitente
Odilone, viro probo, ejusdem basilicae aedituo, vetus demolire et novum opus pro vetere
instaurare. — Miracula Sancti Benedicti, lib. VIII, Chap. 25, ed. Cestau, p. 317.

2 [Guillelmus] ipsam quam regebat ecelesiam multis ineendiis devastatam et senio pre-
gravatam novo jecto edificare cepit fundamento, sed rnortus praereptus consummare non potuit.

— Liber Modernorum Regum, Migne, Pat. Lot. LVIII, col. 1903.

3 p. 493.

4 Ibid.

5M. Marignan assigns it to c. 1150.

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

colonnettes show no trace of the influence of the He de France. Except for the
northwest tower of the XVI century, the remainder of the church is a homogeneous
construction of c. 1200 with pointed arches throughout except in the windows.
The vaults have no diagonal ribs, but the system is logical and continuous. The
apse is covered with a half-dome. (Nodier and Taylor.)

St. Martin, an ancient priory, has been long abandoned. The plan is in the
form of a Greek cross. Some portions are said to be Romanesque in style, but the
vaults and several of the windows are clearly Gothic. (Nodier and Taylor.)

LA CELLE, (her. Eglise is the finest example of the architecture of the XI
century in the departement of Cher. The edifice consists of a nave without clear-
story, two side-aisles, transepts with eastern absidioles, a rectangular choir, and three
apses of which the central one is polygonal externally. Except for the half-domes
of the apses and the cloistered dome on squinches, which covers the crossing, the
church is entirely covered with round barrel vaults. The vaults of the nave have
had to be reinforced by the addition of later buttresses. Externally, the monument
is remarkable chiefly for the central apse, on each angle of which is engaged a column
supporting a blind arch. (De Kersers VI, 112.)

Monuments of the Third Class

CHATEAU-MEILLANT, Cher. St. Genes. The present edifice which, with
the exception of certain portions made over in the Gothic period, dates from the end
of the XI or early XII century, consists of a nave now roofed in timber but originally
covered with a pointed barrel vault reinforced by transverse arches resting on a con-
tinuous system; of two side aisles formerly nearly as high as the nave and covered
with half barrel vaults, which buttressed the nave vaults and thus necessitated the
omission of the clearstory; of transepts; of a choir; of a central tower; and of no
less than seven apses and absidioles. The construction seems to have progressed
from east to west, the nave showing architectural forms evidently slightly later in
date than those of the choir. There are no external buttresses. (De Kersers III,
213; Deshoulieres.)

Le Chapitre or Notre Dame. This edifice of the XI century consists of a large
nave, transepts, a central tower, five apses, and two chapels added in the XVI cen-
tury, which gravely disfigure the original plan. The great apse is decorated exter-
nally with a cornice composed of blind arches separated alternately by colonnettes
and square pilasters covered with an interlacing pattern.

DTJN-LE— ROI, Cher. St. Etienne, which differs widely from most of the
Romanesque monuments of Berry, consists of a nave six bays long, two side aisles,
a semicircular apse, an ambulatory, and three apsidal chapels. The eastern part of
the building must date from the XII century, but the western bays are Gothic, while
the vaults, save those of the choir, are constructions of the XIV century, and the chapels
and western tower-porch were added in the flamboyant period. The system is
continuous; there is no clearstory. Externally the apse, with its grouped shaft but-
tresses, flat corbel-tables, and shafted windows in two orders, is thoroughly Roman-
esque in character. (De Kersers IV, 95.)

MONUMENTS OF THE THIRD CLASS

BRUERES, Cher. Abbaye de Noirlac consists of a nave, two side aisles,
transepts, a rectangular choir, and two square chapels projecting to the eastward
of the transepts, — a disposition which at once betrays the Cistercian origin of the
abbey. The choir, which is the oldest part of the structure and dates from about the
middle of the XII century, is covered with a pointed barrel vault; the transepts are
supplied with rib vaults of c. 1200; the side aisles are groin-vaulted; and the nave has
a Gothic rib vault, although there are no flying buttresses. The piers are square,
the archivolts unrelieved; the system rests on corbels placed just below the impost
level. (De Kersers VI, 102.)

PLEINPIED, Cher. Abbaye. This church, one of the most elegant medieval
structures of the neighborhood of Bourges, was commenced probably soon after 1080,
the year of the foundation of the abbey. At all events the choir must have been fin-
ished in 1092, since Archbishop Richard II was here buried at that date. The church
is cruciform with a central tower, and its three aisles terminate in three apses. There
are no transeptal absidioles. The choir is notable for its slightly pointed barrel
vaults raised over a clearstory; the choir aisles are covered with combination barrel
and groin vaults; the transepts are also barrel-vaulted, except for the cupola under
the central tower; but the nave vaults have been destroyed. Externally, the deco-
ration consists of arcades, flat corbel-tables, arched string-courses, salient buttresses,
and shafted windows. (De Kersers V, 75.)

Eglise de Givaudins. The single-aisled nave, which is assigned to the XI cen-
tury, is notable for the portal in two unornamented orders. The choir dates from
the XVI century.

AIX-D ANGILLON, Cher. St. Ythier, a monument of the early XII century
which is said to show Cluniac influence, consists of a single-aisled nave, transepts
with absidioles, a choir flanked by two side aisles covered with semicircular barrel
vaults, a central tower, and three apses. The arches of the arcades are pointed; the
piers are cylindrical; there is no system. The archivolts of the continuous triforiuni
are moulded. Externally, the apse is ornamented with shafts and engaged arcades.
(De Kersers I, 6.)

BAR-SUR-AUBE, Aube. St. Pierre consists of a nave six bays long, two side
aisles, transepts, a chevet, an ambulatory, and radiating chapels. The church, which
is rib-vaulted throughout, is almost entirely Gothic in structure, although the round
arch persists in the triforium. Each bay of the clearstory is pierced by a single lancet
very narrow for the available space; above, the longitudinal vault rib is slightly stilted.
Although the vaults are quadripartite, the system is alternate. In the intermediate
piers three colonnettes carry the archivolts of the main arcade and a single shaft sup-
porting the system of three members on which rest in turn the five vaulting ribs. The
capitals show all the characteristics of the style of the last years of the XII century.
(Arnaud, 200.)

St. Maclou. The nave, the side aisles, the transepts, the first bay of the choir,
and the first bays of the chapels which flank it, belong to the last half of the XII cen-
tury; the remainder of the choir, with its polygonal apse, is a work of the XIV cen-
tury, while the portal is modern. The nave is only three bays long, but is entirely

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

vaulted; its capitals show all the characteristics of the style of the third quarter of
the XII century. (Arnaud, 201.)

CHEZAL-BEXOiT. ("her. Abbaye. The nave of this church survives in a
ruined condition together with certain portions of the foundations of the choir. This
nave was seven bays long, and vaulted with a pointed barrel vault whose transverse
arches rest on columns engaged in the piers. Since the side aisles were covered with
vaults intended to buttress those of the nave, there could have been no clearstory.
The facade is characterized by a mixture of round and pointed arches and a rich
portal in many orders. It is known that this church was consecrated in 1104, but
only the two eastern and two western bays of the nave can date from this epoch,
the remainder of the edifice having evidently been rebuilt at a later period. (De
Kersers V, 148.)

Other Monuments

STE. GEMME, Cher, figlise. Of the ancient edifice only the nave and side
aisles survive, the choir having been recently rebuilt. The nave is rib-vaulted; the
side aisles are coVered with pointed barrel vaults whose axis is perpendicular to that
of the church. The piers are cruciform in plan with engaged half columns, which
rise to support the vault ribs. There is no clearstory, for the great longitudinal arch
opening into the aisle vault occupies all the space beneath the longitudinal rib, —
that is, the crowns of the barrel vaults of the aisles and of the rib vaults of the nave
are at about the same level. As the monument is evidently in the main a construc-
tion of the end of the XII century — notwithstanding several inscriptions which
refer to repairs executed at later epochs — these peculiar dispositions are of great
interest. (De Kersers V, 30.)

M EI I IX. (her. Notre Dame, in spite of mutilations, is still of great interest.
The choir, of horseshoe plan, is vaulted with a half-dome raised over a clearstory,
and is surrounded by an ambulatory with which it communicates by seven arcades
composed of high semicircular arches resting on rectangular piers. The ambulatory
itself is covered with a barrel vault broken by very irregular penetrations. Three
radiating chapels open to the eastward. The single-aisled nave is as broad as all
three aisles of the choir, and is covered with a pointed barrel vault. This nave
must date from late in the XII century; the choir is perhaps somewhat earlier. (De
Kersers V, 29.5.)

BOURGES, Cher. St. Jean-le-Vieiix. Certain portions of this cruciform church
date probably from 1164, although the edifice was practically rebuilt in the XVII
century. The choir and the chapels which flank it are covered with barrel vaults,
pointed like all the great arches; the rib vaults of the transepts have been destroyed,
but sufficient traces for a restoration remain. (De Kersers II, 215.)

Prieure St. Paul. Some fragments of the church, which was ruined by the Hugue-
nots in 1562 and repaired by Philippe Labbe in 1615, still survive in the court of the
barracks below Serancourt. The monument, which doubtless was erected in the XII
century, consisted of a rectangular nave and a semicircular apse. (De Kersers II,
263.)

OTHER MONUMENTS

St. Martin-des-Champs is a rectangular building of the XI century roofed in
wood. (De Kersers II, 262.)

St. Prive appears to date from the XII century. Only the timber-roofed nave
survives. (De Kersers II, 222.)

FRESNAY-SUR-SARTHE, Sarthe. Notre Dame. The primitive edifice
consisted of a single-aisled nave three bays long and rib-vaulted, of a central tower,
and of a semicircular apse; but in 1865 transepts were added. The bases are char-
acterized by the use of griff es; the fine Romanesque portal in three orders is deco-
rated with drip-mouldings, stars, chipped chevrons, etc. This monument, a most
interesting example of the transition in Maine, shows unmistakable influence from
the Plantagenet school of Anjou, and is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the third
quarter of the XII century.

ST.-CHRISTOPHE-DU-JAMBET, Sarthe. Notre Dame consists of a
single-aisled nave, three bays long; a single transept, evidently later than the rest of
the church; a central tower; and a semicircular apse. The main portal is in three
orders. The vaults, which are pointed and supported by a continuous system, are
the only portion of this structure which would lead us to suspect that the church was
erected at so late a date as that indicated by the inscription — apparently authentic
— painted upon the western vault: "In the year of the incarnation of our Lord, 1231,
in the time of Jean Francois, cure of this parish."1 (Le Guicheux; Hucher.)

CUFFY, Cher. Eglise of the XII century is cruciform in plan. The apse pre-
sents a most unusual design, being ornamented with high and narrow arcades, some
semicircular and others trilobed. Other remarkable features of the exterior design
are the central tower and the finely sculptured western portal consisting of three
orders of round arches resting on shafts. Internally, the church is covered with
pointed barrel vaults. (De Kersers IV, 236.)

MENETOU-COUTURE, Cher. Abbaye de Fontmorigny. The most ancient
portions of this much mutilated abbey date from the last hah of the XII century,
and furnish a typical example of Cistercian architecture. The choir, the crossing,
the two arms of the transept, each of the two surviving bays of the nave, are so many
squares, while four chapels, also square, open off the transept to the eastward. Choir
and the transept are both rib-vaulted, but the nave is covered with a groin vault.
(De Kersers VI, 35.)

Eglise contains fragments of architecture of many different epochs: the walls of the
nave (which never had a vault) must date from the XI century; the lower part of
the five-sided apse is Gothic; the upper portions are flamboyant; and the vault
of most degraded style is a work of the Renaissance.

BAZOUGES-SUR-LOIRE, Sarthe. St. Aubin. The primitive edifice was
replaced in the XII century by a larger one, of which the tower, the transepts with
their absidioles, the apse, and the portal still survive, although the nave was rebuilt
in the XV century. The rich west portal is of great interest, as is the central tower,
notwithstanding the fact that its spire has perished. A most interesting timber roof

1 Anno ab inearnatione domini M II C tricesimo I tempore Jacobi Franei Persone huius
ecclesie.

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

of the XV century, which still retains the original painted decoration, covers the
nave. (De la Bonillerie.)

BEXGY, Cher. Eglise of the early XII century is a fine example of the Cluniac
church of small dimensions, and consists of a single-aisled nave, a central tower, an
eastern apse, and absidioles. All the great arches and the barrel vaults are pointed,
but the nave vaults and the system on which they rest are modern. The apse is
adorned externally with a flat corbel-table and with buttress shafts. (De Kersers
I, 207.)

BLET, (Canton of Neroude), Cher. Eglise, notwithstanding disastrous res-
torations, still retains its original dispositions, and is of great interest for its sculptures.
The monument consists of a single-aisled nave, a central tower, a choir with side aisles
and three apses. The transepts, which formerly existed, have disappeared. All
the eastern portions, covered with round barrel vaults, date from the XI century
(1060-80); the nave, whose barrel vault is pointed, seems to be of about half a
century later. The interior is characterized by transverse arches, a system usually
continuous, a triforium, and the absence of a clearstory. The archivolts are of a
single order, the windows shafted. Externally the apse is decorated with buttress
shafts, flat corbel-tables, arcades, arched string-courses, and windows in two orders.
(Ue Kersers VI, 4.)

ST.-AOUSTRILLE-LES-GRACAY, Cher. Eglise consists of a nave, the
transverse arches of whose barrel vaults are carried on engaged columns; of two
side aisles, also barrel-vaulted; of transepts without absidioles; of a choir flanked
by two side aisles, and of three apses. Internally, the archivolts are of a single order,
the windows shafted. The exterior is adorned with an engaged arcade, triangular
masonry, and salient buttresses. A straight wall masks the half-dome of the apse.
The nave and facade are largely of the XIV century; as for the rest of the edifice,
while much of the decoration certainly shows the survival of Carolingian tradition,
no portion can well be earlier than the second half of the XI century, although M. de
Kersers does not hesitate to assign the construction to a date "very near 1014."

CHARLY, Cher. Eglise. In 1854 the nave and a part of the tower were en-
tirely reconstructed; but what remains of the original edifice seems to date from the
XI century. The semicircular apse is adorned internally with highly interesting
mural paintings and with three arcades borne on colonnettes; externally it is divided
into bays by columns engaged before pilasters. The tower, which rises over the cross-
ing, is of unusually gracious design; it is two stories high and crowned by a conical
spire — the only central spire in the departement of Cher — ■ and four angle turrets.
(De Kersers VI, 11.)

GERMIGNY, Cher. Eglise is one of the most remarkable monuments of
Berry. The choir, the three eastern apses, and the transepts, according to M. de
Kersers, are in the main constructions of the XI or XII century, although the upper
portions, destroyed by fire in 1772, have been restored. The single-aisled nave,
the narthex, and the western tower, may be assigned to the third quarter of the XII
century. A most remarkable pendentive dome is placed over the central bay of
the narthex, beneath the tower. (De Kersers IV, 251.)

OTHER MONUMENTS

INEUIL, Cher. Eglise consists of an apse of the XI century polygonal exter-
nally, transepts of the XII century with absidioles, and a Gothic nave. The nave
is covered with sexpartite rib vaults; the crossing has a cupola; the choir is surmounted
by round, the transepts by pointed, barrel vaults. The system of the nave is contin-
uous. Externally the central tower is adorned with arched string-courses and arched
corbel-tables. (De Kersers V, 160.)

PRIMELLES, Cher. Eglise consists of a rectangular nave roofed in timber,
a fine north lateral tower, a barrel-vaulted choir of one bay, and a semicircular apse.
The tower, which is the most interesting part of the monument, is divided into four
stories : the lowest forms the base ; the second is a blind story adorned with triangular
arches borne on colonnettes which recall the Carolingian work at Lorsch, etc.; the
third — the belfry — is characterized by two grouped arches, pierced in each face,
by a shaft engaged near each corner, and by a cornice formed of a flat corbel-table;
and the fourth consists of a conical spire and four little turrets. The lower part of
the tower and the church are assigned by M. de Kersers to the middle of the XI cen-
tury, and it is not improbable they may be nearly as early as this. (De Kersers III,
161.)

AVOR, Cher. Eglise. Except for the facade of the XII century, this monu-
ment must date from the XI century, though hardly from the first half, as has been
claimed. The edifice consists of a choir, covered with a round barrel vault and flanked
by two side aisles of nearly equal height, also barrel-vaulted and opening on the
choir by two low arcades; of a semicircular apse; and of a single-aisled timber-roofed
nave, as wide as the three aisles of the choir. The facade is adorned with arched
corbel-tables and arcades, and with a Greek cross placed in the gable. (De
Kersers I, 186.)

ALICAMPS, Cher. Eglise, of cruciform plan, is of interest only for the semi-
circular apse buttressed externally by engaged columns. The windows of this apse
are round, but the interior archivolts are pointed, and rest on columns engaged on
the faces of pilasters. (De Kersers VI, 94.)

LE MANS, Sarthe. Notre Dame-du-Pre ("Ancienne Abbaye St. Julien").
Although this establishment was founded in the first half of the XI century, the old-
est parts of the existing edifice can not be older than the last half of that century.
The structure consists of a nave, two side aisles, very deeply projecting transepts
with absidioles, a chevet, an ambulatory, and three radiating chapels. The third
and fourth bays and the vaults of the north aisle belong to the XI century; the rest
of the church is substantially a work of the XII century, with the exception of certain
alterations executed in the Gothic period. Flat pilasters are engaged in the heavier
piers of the alternate system — a peculiarity of design strongly reminiscent of the
cathedral of Le Mans as it was in the XI century. Viollet-le-Duc and Ruprich-
Robert believe that these pilasters originally supported transverse arches; at all
events, the present nave vaults were added in Gothic times. The archivolts are
in two orders; the windows simply shafted and moulded. The portal, however, is
elaborately moulded. Externally, with the exception of the Gothic windows, the
monument is thoroughly Romanesque in appearance. (Ledru; Wismes.)

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

MONT1ERAMEY, Aube. Eglise. The Romanesque nave, five bays long,
like the side aisles, is covered with rib vaults in which round and pointed arches are
used side by side: the clearstory windows are round; there are no flying buttresses;
rectangular piers, with a shaft engaged on each of their four faces, rest on octagonal
pedestals. The pentagonal choir and the transepts are lofty constructions of the early
XVI century with flying buttresses and enormous windows. (Arnaud, 119.)

ANGY-SUR— L'ATJBOIS, Cher. Eglise consists of a timber-roofed nave,
transepts with eastern absidioles, a tower rising over the southern transept, a square
choir, and a semicircular apse. The barrel vaults of the choir are pointed; that of
the crossing is semicircular; while the lower story of the tower, which seems to date
from about the middle of the XII century, is rib-vaulted, — an important and early
instance of this construction in Berry. The capitals of the nave show all the charac-
teristics of the style of the end of the XI century. (De Kersers VII, 106.)

CIVRAY, Cher. Eglise consists of a rectangular choir, a rectangular nave, and
an enormous square tower to the westward. This tower, the most ancient part of
the church, dates probably from the early part of the XII century, and is remarkable
for the groin vault of the lower story. The nave is roofed in timber; the choir is
rib- vaulted, but the ribs rest on corbels. This choir, with its angle buttresses, is
evidently a construction of the XV century. (De Kersers II, 126.)

CHAROST, Cher. St. Michel. The choir, the central cupola, and the side
aisles were rebuilt in the XV century, so that only the large and bare nave, the side
aisles of the choir, the three apses, and the transepts of the primitive structure of the
XII century survive. The tower has been moved to the south. Externally the church
is remarkable for the engaged arcades and columns which decorate the apse. (De
Kersers III, 119.)

NEUILLY-EN-DUN, Cher. Eglise. This excellently preserved monument,
notwithstanding its modest dimensions, possesses a remarkable wealth of detail.
The structure consists of a semicircular apse, a choir, a central tower, and a
single-aisled nave roofed in wood. The arches throughout are round. Externally
the edifice is remarkable for the beautiful design of the central tower, which is richly
ornamented with chevrons. (De Kersers VII, 119.)

MOUSSEY, Aube. St. Martin consists of an exterior narthex, a nave, two side
aisles, transepts with absidioles, a central tower, a choir flanked by two lateral cham-
bers not communicating with the transepts, and a semicircular apse. Although the
existing clearstory windows are pointed, the edifice may be assigned to the last half
of the XII century. The piers are rectangular; the arehivolts are of a single order;
and there is no system. Salient external buttresses exist on only one side, — a dis-
position so much the more peculiar in that the choir is the only portion of the edifice
vaulted. There is almost no decoration; were it not for the profiles of the mouldings
and the stereotomy, the monument might pass for a Carolingian structure. (De
Kersers I, 429.)

CHALIYOY-MILON, Cher. Eglise. This small monument consists of a
semicircular apse; a choir formed of two distinct parts of which the westernmost,
higher than the other, is barrel-vaulted; a south lateral tower: and a nave. Except

OTHER MONUMENTS

the arcades with pointed arches, the arched and flat corbel-tables, the mouldings,
and the very salient buttresses — all additions of the XII century, — the monument
may be assigned to the XI century. This edifice is remarkable for the many mural
paintings of various epochs that it contains.

COUST, Cher. Eglise. The rectangular nave of this edifice, which may be
assigned to the first half of the XII century, is covered with a modern plaster vault:
the narrower choir, however, retains its ancient pointed barrel vaults, and its walls
are ornamented with round arcades resting on pilasters. The semicircular apse
pierced by three windows is covered with a half-dome. To the south of the choir
stands the tower, which is surmounted by a spire. (De Kersers III, 82.)

CHARENTON, Cher. St. Martin consists of a large rectangular nave, vaulted
in plaster; a choir with round barrel vault; a south lateral tower, furnished with a
little absidiole (all these portions notwithstanding various restorations date in the
main from the second half of the XI century); and an apse, evidently later, since
the transverse arch is slightly pointed. The western portal of horseshoe form is in
several orders. (De Kersers III, 74.)

Abbaye. Some unimportant fragments remain. (De Kersers III, 76.)

CORQUOY, Cher. Eglise. To judge from the quality of the herring-bone
masonry, the primitive nave, to-day turned into a dwelling-house, must date from
the commencement of the XI century. In the XII century a reconstruction of the
edifice was projected, but only the choir, covered with a pointed barrel vault and orna-
mented with double arcades, was completed. The existing central tower rises over
a rib vault remade in the XVI century. (De Kersers III, 294.)

Abbaye de Grandmont. The chapel of this abbey is still intact, and consists of a
long nave, covered with a pointed barrel vault, and a semicircular apse, wider than the
nave itself — the whole remarkably destitute of all decoration. (De Kersers III, 295.)

CHATEAUDUN, Eure-et-Loire. La Madeleine, founded about 1140, is re-
markable for its rib-vaulted double side aisles.1 This monument, which I have not
visited, seems never to have been adequately published.

St. Valerien consists of a nave of four bays, two side aisles, transepts, two
absidioles, a choir, and a semicircular apse. The arcades of the choir, though
modernized, date from the XII century; the absidioles, also disfigured are of the
XI century; the apse is of the XII century; the docker of the XVI. (Juteau.)

St. Jean is said to be of the XII and XV centuries.

SOLESMES, Sarthe. Abbaye. The original church of the XI century seems
to have had three aisles, but in 1470 Philibert de la Croix suppressed the side aisles
and erected a multiple rib vault over the nave. In the exterior wall, however, may
still be seen traces of the ancient arcades. The choir, which formerly ended in a
semicircular apse, deviates to the southward. The lower part of the central tower
is Romanesque, but the upper story is flamboyant, and the dome dates from 1731.
This church is best known for the remarkable sculptures it contains — the earliest
(1496-1553) and among the most famous productions of the French Renaissance.
(Gueranger; De la Tremblaye; Wisrnes.)

1 Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 88.
31

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

ANNOYE, Cher. Eglise, which may be assigned to the XII century, consists
of a semicircular apse covered with a half-dome and lighted by three round-headed
windows, a choir surmounted by a pointed barrel vault with transverse arches, and
a rectangular nave lighted by small round-headed windows. The vaults which it
was intended to erect over this nave have never been executed. (De Kersers V, 54.)

TOIK'K, Sarthe. Notre Dame. Of the Romanesque church there survives
almost nothing but the great portal; the present western tower is of the XIV century,
while the remainder of the church, which consists of a nave without clearstory, two
side asles somewhat later than the nave, transepts, a choir, and a polygonal apse, is
a construction of the XYI century. The choir and transepts are vaulted with lierne
vaults, but the vault of the nave is a modern substitute for the original timber roof.
The church retains some fine glass of the XYI century. (Froger.)

VENESME, (her. Eglise dates principally from the XII century, although
the choir and the apse were vaulted in the Gothic period and the entire monument
has suffered severely from modern restorations. Most interesting is the highly domed
groin vault of the crossing, formerly surmounted by a central tower which exists no
longer. The archivolts are in two orders and pointed. The original absidiole of
the south transept survives; that of the north transept appears to have been rebuilt.
(De Kersers III, 322.)

MOXTIGXY, Cher. Eglise. The exterior has been entirely rebuilt, but the
interior preserves its original character, and is an interesting example of the so-called
transition. The edifice consists of a semicircular apse covered by a ribbed half-dome,
a barrel-vaulted choir, a nave whose timber roof has been recently rebuilt, and a west-
ern tower. The arches are pointed, and the arcade ornament occurs. (De Ker-
sers IV, 310.)

LE CHATELET, Cher. Ancienne Eglise Abbaiiale. The plan of this edifice
of the XII century is remarkable in that the piers of the central tower fall inside the
nave walls. Another most unusual disposition is the dome on pendentives which
.surmounts the crossing. Two half barrel vaults to the north and south resisting
the thrust of this dome are carried on arches; their existence is expressed externally
by two inclined roofs. The church has been frequently altered at various epochs:
there survives only one bay of the ancient choir — now terminated by a rectangular
east wall, — and only the northern of the transeptal absidioles. (De Kersers IV, 13.)

Chapelle St. Martial contains some fragments of the XII century architecture.
(De Kersers IV, 10.)

COUDRECIEUX, Sarthe. Eglise des Loges in the XI century consisted of
a single-aisled nave and a narrower choir with square east end. Later (early in the
XII century) a high tower, — remarkable for its pebble cone recalling singularly
those of Verona, — and a chapel with a small semicircular apse was added to the
south. Subsequently (1561), still another chapel was added to the north, but this
has been destroyed. The church contains practically no ornament. (Fleury.)

LIMKIX, Cher. Eglise is said to be a fine example of the style of the XI cen-
tury. The structure consists of an apse, a short choir, transepts with absidioles,
a central tower whose piers fall within the nave walls, and a timber-roofed nave

OTHER MONUMENTS

of a single aisle. Some of the arches are of horseshoe form. (De Kersers V,
220.)

ST. AMAND, (Mont-Rond), Cher. Eglise. Chapels have been added along
the sides of the nave. The choir decorated on each side by two arcades is covered
with a semicircular barrel vault; the crossing is surmounted by four dome-like vaults
supported by ribs, — a disposition which indicates the style of the end of the XII
century, and perhaps shows the influence of the Plantagenet style; the transeptal
absidioles are vaulted with half -domes; the transepts, nave, and side aisles have
pointed barrel vaults with transverse ribs. The western doorway is of the XIII
century. (De Kersers VI, 175.)

ST.-GEORGES-DE-POYSIEUX, Cher. Eglise. The most interesting part
of this much dilapidated structure is the Romanesque portal in three orders. The
rectangular nave, roofed in timber, terminates to the eastward in a wall in which is
pierced a narrow and low pointed arch. This arch is not on the axis of the nave,
but near the south wall. Another wall, parallel to the one in which is placed the
opening, with it supports the tower. The choir extends beyond this to the eastward,
and is covered by two crude rib vaults. (De Kersers VII, 207.)

OUROUER, Cher. Eglise, said to be of the XI century, is cruciform in plan,
though the transepts (supplied with eastern absidioles) are short. The nave is roofed
in timber. A fine central tower with semicircular arches dominates the exterior.
The decoration consists of arcades, flat corbel-tables, shafts, and arched string-courses,
and the apse is adorned with five blind arches carried on half-columns. (De Ker-
sers VI, 67.)

LA CELLE-CONDE, Cher. Eglise de la Celle consists of a rectangular nave
of the XII century with timber roof and a wooden-vaulted choir of the XV century,
deviating to the southward. The portal is round-arched, and its colonnettes have
capitals whose foliage recalls the style of the He de France. (De Kersers V, 141.)

Eglise de Condi. The large crypt, like the rest of the church, may be attributed
to the end of the XI century. The edifice is of a single aisle, and terminates in a
rectangular choir with a semicircular barrel vault. (De Kersers V, 142.)

LINlERES, Cher. Eglise, built in the second half of the XII century, was
altered at the end of the XVI century, and the lantern was added in 1635. The
structure consists of an apse, a choir, transepts with absidioles, and a single-aisled
nave. The piers of the central tower fall within the walls of the nave, leaving thus a
direct passage to the transept. This nave may have been originally vaulted, but is
now covered with wood. The facade, with its mixture of round and pointed arches,
is an interesting composition. (De Kersers V, 167.)

MOULINS-SUR-YEVRES, Cher. Eglise, except the western portal of the
XIII century and the nave probably of the same era, may be assigned to the XII
century. The large arches are all pointed, the small openings round-headed.
The structure consists of a single-aisled nave, a central tower whose piers fall
within the nave walls, transepts, a choir, and three apses. A dome covers the cross-
ing, but the choir is barrel-vaulted. The apse is shafted. (De Kersers I, 250.)

ROSNAY, Aube. Eglise. This edifice, erected in the third quarter of the XII

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

century but much altered in the early flamboyant period, contains a remarkable
extended crypt with ambulatory and three radiating chapels. The upper church,
which was entirely reconstructed in the X\ century except for the second bay and
the wall of the side aisle, was intended to be vaulted throughout, but the vaults of
the choir were never excuted. The ambulatory vaults are furnished with double
pendants. (Arnaud, 206.)

CHASSY, Cher. Eglise consists of a polygonal apse, a choir, a central tower,
and a nave of a single aisle. The apse and choir only, are vaulted; these portions,
though the windows are round-headed, date probably from the XIV century. The
remainder of the edifice is of the XII century. Mural paintings have been discov-
ered beneath the plaster which coats the interior walls. (De Kersers I, 215.)

POXCK. Sarthe. Eglise consists of a nave four bays long roofed in timber, a
choir flanked by two side aisles which formerly ended in absidioles, and a semicir-
cular apse. The pointed arch is everywhere used; the piers are rectangular with
colonnettes engaged in each angle; the archivolts are of a single order. The clear-
story which formerly existed has been walled up. This monument which may be
assigned to the last years of the XII century contains some remarkable mural paint-
ings. (Toublet.)

SAYIGXY-EN-SEPTAINE, Cher. Eglise is assigned to the second half of
the XII century. The three-sided apse, pierced by three little round-headed win-
dows, is surmounted by a domical rib vault; the choir, which formerly carried a
tower, is covered with a very crude rib vault: the nave is roofed in wood. (De
Kersers I, 26G.)

CHAMBON, Cher. Eglise. The bells are placed, not in a tower, but in the
timbers of the wooden roof of the rectangular nave. This nave opens by a pointed
arch on the barrel -vaulted choir, whose walls are decorated with arcades. The plan
of the apse is in the form of a segment of a circle. A portal flanked by two blind
arches characterizes the facade. (De Kersers III, 267.)

CONCRESSAULT, Cher. Eglise. The oldest portions are said to date from
the XI century, but the structure has been many times restored, and the polygonal
apse with its angle buttresses was entirely rebuilt in the flamboyant period. The
nave is roofed in wood; the choir is surmounted by barrel vaults with transverse
arches. Over the nave, near the choir, rises the tower. (De Kersers VII, 251.)

LESSAY-LOCHY, Cher. St. IlUaire, restored in 1725 and again in the XIX
century, consists of a semicircular apse with three round-headed windows, a choir
covered with a pointed barrel vault, and a timber-roofed nave of a single aisle divided
into three bays by columns engaged before pilasters. A tower formerly surmounted
the choir. The walls of the latter are decorated internally with arcades of a "trans-
itional" character. (De Kersers V, 69.)

FLAVIGNY, Cher. Eglise, assigned to the XI century, consists of a semi-
circular apse; a choir whose walls, decorated with arcades, are surmounted by a
semicircular barrel vault, although the crossing has a dome on squinches; transepts
without vaults or absidioles, and a nave also roofed in wood.

FRESNAY-LE-VICOMTE, Sarthe. Notre Dame. This church of the late

OTHER MONUMENTS

XII century consists of a single-aisled nave entirely vaulted, a central tower, and a
semicircular apse. The rich western portal is in three orders. The apse probably is
a relic of an earlier edifice, which it was intended to replace by a more pretentious
choir. (Wismes.)

GARIGNY, Cher. Eglise. The nave and the choir are at present roofed in
timber, but the walls of the choir lean outward, a fact which probably indicates that
the edifice was originally covered with vaults, which have doubtless fallen. The
choir is at present square; it was formerly surmounted by a tower and supplied with
a semicircular apse, some traces of which remain. Although the archivolts are
pointed, the whole construction doubtless dates from the XII century. (De
Kersers VI, 287.)

ARCOMPS, Cher. Eglise consists of a rectangular nave, of which the vault
has recently been rebuilt in plaster; a little tower, whose upper parts are modern, rising
in front of the facade; and a choir also plaster-vaulted. The details of ornamenta-
tion, "transitional" in character, are not without interest. (De Kersers VII, 183.)

LA CHAPELLE-HUGON, Cher. Eglise of the XII century consists of a semi-
circular apse, a choir of two bays decorated with arcades, and a nave whose vaults
have recently been replaced by a plaster imitation. All the great arches are pointed.
The structure was originally barrel-vaulted throughout except the bay under the
central tower, which retains its original dome on squinches. (De Kersers IV, 226.)

OSMERY, Cher. Eglise. Since it is known that about 1150 Ebbe, viscount
of Champallemant, left a legacy to the new church of Osmery, the date of the pres-
ent structure may be considered as approximately established. The choir is now
vaulted in plaster, but the original vault was of stone; the crossing is surmounted
by an octagonal cloistered dome on squinches; the nave is roofed in wood. All the
four great arches which support the central tower are pointed. The facade is pre-
ceded by a sort of porch adorned with arched corbel-tables and blind arches. (De
Kersers IV, 125.)

ARDENNAIS, Cher. Eglise. The ribs of the choir vault rest on short pris-
matic shafts carried on corbels. The nave, to judge from the round-headed portal,
must be Romanesque, although its original character is completely masked by a heavy
coating of modern plaster. (De Kersers IV, 1.)

BUSSY, Cher. Eglise. The nave, a construction of the early Gothic period,
is of less interest than the choir, with its two transept-like chapels of the XV century.
The eastern portions of the edifice are vaulted; but the nave is roofed in timber.
Two very richly moulded Romanesque portals are doubtless relics of an earlier edi-
fice. (De Kersers IV, 54.)

CHATEAU-LANDON, Seine-et-Marne. St. Andre. This beautiful church,
which contains some fragments of XII century architecture, is notable for its fine
narthex-tower.

Notre Dame. This fine structure of the XI, XII, and XD7 centuries is notable
for three fine Romanesque portals, and for a tower of the XIII century.

St. Ugalde, a ruined edifice of the XII and XIII centuries, is of interest for the
Romanesque tower.

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

St. Severin is said to be of the XII, XV, and XVI centuries.

TIIAUMIERS. Cher. Eglise. The oldest portions of this church are said to
date from the end of the XI century. The edifice consists of a semicircular apse, a
choir two hays long (the western hay surmounted by the central tower), and a nave.
The barrel vaults and the arches of the choir are round, but those of the nave are
pointed. The lateral portal, to-day walled up, was in several orders, and flanked by two
blind arches, the one to the left pointed. Engaged columns decorate the apse. All
the chapels were added subsequently to the original construction. (De Kersers III, 94.)

MERGEY, Aube. St. Sid/pice. The principal portal was reconstructed in
1771; the nave and the first bay of the side aisles (these portions are lower than the
rest of the edifice) may be assigned to the XII century; the five-sided apse and the
choir flanked by side aisles each of which terminates in a rectangular east wall are
known from the carved escutcheons to date from between 1505 and 1515. The choir
is rib-vaulted; the nave is roofed in timber. Certain windows of the choir contain
fine glass of the XVI century. (Fichot I, 22.)

JESSY, (her. Eglise, for the most part a structure of the XI century, consists
of a semicircular apse, a choir, and a rectangular nave, and two lateral chapels added
in the XV century. Short, heavy columns decorate the angles of the apse windows,
which are in two orders. The facade, a work of the late XII century, is decorated
with oculi, blind arches, a Greek cross, and archivolts in several orders. (De
Kersers I, 233.)

( OXGE-SUR-ORNE, Sarthe. Eglise. The Romanesque edifice of the XII
century, which consisted of a single-aisled nave and an apse, was much altered in
1540, when the present windows were opened, the apse rebuilt, and the lateral chapel
added. To the southwest stands a bell-tower of unknown date. (Eroger.)

CHAUTAY, Cher. Eglise, of small dimensions, consists of a semicircular apse
covered with a half -dome, a choir surmounted by a pointed barrel vault, and a single-
aisled nave roofed in timber. The western portal is characterized by a lintel placed
beneath a pointed discharging arch; the exterior decoration is composed of pilaster
strips, flat corbel-tables, ami arched string-courses. The monument doubtless dates
from the XII century. (De Kersers IV, 228.)

LAVARE, Sarthe. Eglise. The edifice of the end of the XI century consisted
of a single-aisled nave and a semicircular apse; but in 1518 the triumphal arch was
rebuilt, in 1551 a transept or chapel was added, and in 1533 the choir was made over.
The wooden roof of the nave is the original one of the XVI century, — a fact which
lends additional importance to this interesting little monument. (Toublet.)

BANGY, Cher. St. Martin. The Romanesque portions include the rectangular
nave and the somewhat narrower choir, whose apse was replaced in the XV century
by the present polygonal structure. (De Kersers I, 193.)

LA FLECHE, Sarthe. St. Thomas. The ancient edifice of the XI century
was restored and in part rebuilt at the end of the XII century. The facade and por-
tal of the existing structure are thoroughly Romanesque, as are the groin vaults of
tin- side aisles; the nave and choir, however, show the influence of the He de France,
while the present tower is modern. (De Eoriere.)

OTHER MONUMENTS

PITHIVIERS, Loiret. St. Salomon. Certain portions, — notably the tower
— which date from the end of the XII century, show the influence of the school of
the He de France, or rather of the Plantagenet school. The summit of the tower is
modern. (De Caumont.)

St. Georges. Of this church there survives a Gothic side aisle and a Romanesque
crypt, in addition to the ancient bell-tower of the XIII century, which now surmounts
the Hotel de Ville.

COURTENOT, Aube. Eglise consists of a narthex, a Romanesque nave, a
southern side aisle evidently an addition of the Gothic period, a central tower, and
a semicircular apse. With the exception of the rib vault beneath the tower and the
half-dome surmounting the apse, the structure is roofed in timber throughout.
(Arnaud, 93.)

ASNIERES, Sarthe. Eglise of the XII century consists of a simple rectangle
adjoined to the northwest by a plain bell-tower. (De Loriere.)

MEUNG, Loiret. Eglise, classed as a "monument hist orique" is a curious
little church which may be assigned to c. 1175, though certain fragments are doubt-
less still older. The Romanesque tower is surmounted by a stone spire.

VERAUX, Cher. Eglise consists of an apse of horseshoe form, transepts whose
absidioles have been walled off, a central tower whose upper story is decorated with
four blind arches, and a timber-roofed nave. The central western portal, a veritable
chef d'ceuvre of Romanesque art, is characterized by decoration as original as it is
refined. Like the rest of the church, this portal must date from the XII century.
(De Kersers VII, 163.)

LE PAVILLON, Aube. Eglise consists of a five-sided apse of the early XVI
century, a choir with multiple rib vaulting, transepts, and a timber-roofed nave of
the XII century. The windows of the choir contain fine glass of the XVI century.
(Fichot I, 145.)

FARGES, Cher. Eglise, a fine example of the small rural church of the XII
century, consists of a single-aisled nave, a central tower, and a semicircular apse. The
nave is roofed in wood, but the choir has a pointed barrel vault. (De Kersers I, 223.)

AUVERS-LE-HAMON, Sarthe. Eglise. The nave, of about the middle of
the XII century, contains remarkable paintings of the XV century recently discovered
on the walls beneath the modern plaster.

NOHANT-EN-GRACAY, Cher. Eglise in spite of disastrous restorations is
still of interest. Originally the edifice consisted of a nave, transepts, and a semicir-
cular apse; but the nave has been rebuilt in modern times, the transept arms have
disappeared, and a square rib-vaulted choir of the XIV century has replaced the
apse. The rich decoration of the crossing — almost the only relic of the XII century
edifice — is composed of chevrons, grotesques, etc. (De Kersers IV, 186.)

ORVAL, Cher. Eglise consists of a nave of a single aisle roofed in wood, a
choir covered with a pointed barrel vault, and a semicircular apse. The facade is
characterized by a round portal in several orders. (De Kersers VI, 159.)

VIERZON, Cher. Notre Dame. The Romanesque structure has been much
modified: the ancient semicircular apse and transepts have been replaced by the

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

existing polygonal apse and by the present choir which is three bays long and flanked
by two lateral chapels; side aisles have been added to the nave; and in the Gothic
period a central western tower forming a narthex was placed before the edifice.
(De Kersers VII, 345.)

ST. JANVRIN, Cher. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave, transepts with
absidioles, a central tower, a choir, and a semicircular apse. The tower piers fall
within the nave walls leaving a direct passage from nave to transepts. The church
is vaulted throughout with barrel vaults; those of the choir are round, those of the
nave, pointed. In the exuberant decoration as well as in the plan, the edifice shows
the influence of Burgundian models. The monument was much altered in the XV
century. (De Kersers III, 238.)

CORXUSSE, Cher. Eglise, of modest dimensions, consisted originally of a
semicircular apse, a barrel-vaulted choir, and a timber-roofed nave — the arches of
these portions are all semicircular and the decoration primitive, — -but in the XII
century a central tower was added, the choir was slightly altered, and the present
western portal with its fine rich mouldings and arched corbel-tables was erected.
(De Kersers VI, 17.)

ST. HILAIRE, Cher. Eglise of the XII century is cruciform in plan and sup-
plied with a semicircular apse. Beneath the choir, whose walls are decorated on
either side with blind arcades, extends a crypt. The angles of the transeptal absidioles
are decorated with columns. The vaults of the central tower have been rebuilt, but
probably on the original plan. Curiously enough, the round barrel vaults of choir
and transepts are surmounted by pointed arches. The single-aisled nave has been
modernized: the tower piers fall within its walls. (De Kersers V, 180.)

MACEY, Aube. St. Martin, a cruciform edifice reconstructed about the end
of the XVI century, is remarkable chiefly for the Romanesque portal preserved in
the west facade, and for the stained glass. The nave, whose walls were partly re-
built in 1615, is roofed in timber, but the choir and the chapels are vaulted, as is also
the polygonal apse partially reconstructed in 1864. (Fichot I, 118.)

LAZENAY, (her. Eglise. The nave (demolished in 1875) and the central
tower, which still stands, were erected in the XI century, but the choir is probably of
the XII century, although it was much modified in the late Gothic period, when the
present rib vaults were erected. This choir, whose axis deviates to the north, is two
bays long, and terminates in a semicircular apse. (De Kersers V, 215.)

CROSSES, (her. Eglise consisted originally of a semicircular apse, a barrel-
vaulted choir, and a rectangular nave roofed in timber. In the XII century a
central tower was added in such a manner as to form two little lateral chapels.
(De Kersers I, 221.)

ST.-GERMAIX-DES-BOIS, Cher. Eglise. The nave, with wooden ceiling,
opens by a round arch on the choir which is covered with a pointed barrel vault and
terminates in a semicircular apse. This choir was formerly surmounted by a tower,
is flanked by two chapels, and deviates to the south. The nave has been extended
westward, but the facade stiU preserves an ancient portal of the XII century. (De
Kersers IV, 142.)

OTHER MONUMENTS

Chapelle de Brou, an edifice of the XII century, consists of a rectangular nave
roofed in timber and a rectangular choir with a semicircular barrel vault. (De
Kersers IV, 143.)

RIANS, Cher. Eglise. The most ancient parts of the rectangular plaster-
vaulted nave may well date from the XII century; the square choir, however, is
later. The present rib vaults, added in the XIV century, rest on corbels; the tower
is modern. (De Kersers.)

ST. LYE, Aube. Eglise. The plan forms a rectangle to the east of which pro-
jects a five-sided apse. The most ancient portions — the nave and side aisles — date
probably from the XI century, for the crude masonry and triangular decoration of
these parts, only partly obscured by the alterations of the XIII century, recalls Caro-
lingian tradition. The nave is roofed in timber; the choir, for the most part a struc-
ture of the late XIII century, is vaulted. (Fichot I, 149.)

VILLACERF, Aube. St. Jean-Baptiste. The original structure of the end of
the XII century was disfigured in the XVI century by the addition of transepts and
lateral chapels. However, the central tower, the apse, the timber-roofed nave, and
the portal of the Romanesque edifice still remain. The choir is covered with groin
vaults with pointed transverse ribs. (Fichot I, 88.)

BLANCAFORT, Cher. Eglise. The primitive edifice of the middle of the XI
century consisted of a narrow rectangular nave, a central tower supported on the
lateral walls, and probably a semicircular apse. In the XIV or XV century, how-
ever, two lateral chapels, forming as it were transepts, were added; in the XVI cen-
tury the present central western tower was built; and in modern times the existing
side aisles were constructed. The choir is the only portion of the edifice vaulted.
(De Kersers I, 95.)

CRE-SUR-LOIRE, Sarthe. Eglise. The choir and the tower belong to the
original construction of the commencement of the XIII century, although the style
is Romanesque. The nave and the lateral chapels, built at a later epoch, have little
character. Notable are the XVI century paintings which still decorate the timbered
roof. (De la Bouillerie.)

IGNOL, Cher. Eglise. The orientation of this church, which originally con-
sisted of a nave, a central tower, and an apse, has recently been reversed; the apse
has been demolished, the tower converted into a sort of narthex. The arcades,
however, still retain their mural paintings of the XIII century. (De Kersers
VI, 25.)

ILE-AUMONT, Aube. St. Pierre et St. Paid. This edifice consists of two
parallel rectangular aisles, the northernmost of which — a Romanesque structure of
the XII century — ends in a semicircular apse. There was originally a third aisle,
but this has been demolished. The northern aisle is roofed in timber, except the
choir which is barrel-vaulted. There is a central tower; the piers are rectangular; the
archivolts and windows are of a single order; there is no system. The southern nave
is of the XVI century; its two eastern bays are covered with multiple rib vaults.
(Fichot I, 392.)

LAPAN, Cher. Eglise consists of a nave covered with a round barrel vault

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

and of a semicircular apse. Transverse arches, resting on pilasters and buttressed
externally, divide this nave into four hays. (De Kersers V, 59.)

VANNES, Auhe. Eglise de VAssomption consists of a single-aisled nave of
the XII century that has suffered much from restorations, a modern facade, Gothic
transepts, and a choir of the same epoch. The church is roofed in timber throughout,
and the well-preserved open-timber roof of the transepts and choir is the original one
of the XIII century. (Fichot I, 71.)

LERK, ('her. St. Martin. This ruined edifice has been many times rebuilt,
and contains fragments of the architecture of many different epochs. The structure
consists of a semicircular apse, a choir, a great nave, and a narthex-tower to the west-
ward. Beneath the apse is a crypt, and beyond this a chapel — these are doubtless
the oldest portions of the monument. The choir is covered with a barrel vault; the
crossing and nave, with multiple rib vaults. (De Kersers V, 21.)

Xotrc Dame. Of this desecrated church only the nave, dating from the XI, XIII,
and XIV centuries, survives. (De Kersers V, 24.)

LOYE, Cher. Eglise. Of the primitive edifice of the XI century there remain
only the lateral walls of the choir, decorated internally with arcades. At the end of
the XII century a central tower was constructed on piers placed within the walls of
the nave, and the crossing was covered with a rib vault. The nave was probably
vaulted about this same time, but the vaults have since fallen. The existing portal
dates from early in the XIII century; the choir was rebuilt with a square chevet in
the flamboyant period. (De Kersers VII, 201.)

CROSMIERES, Sarthe. St. Hippolyte et St. Laurent. The present rectangular
choir in the style of the XIII century is covered with a vault constructed of small
stones mixed with much mortar, resting upon a system of ribs strongly Plantagenet
in character. The tower seems to be about contemporary, but the single-aisled nave,
more lofty than the choir, is of the XV century. (De la Bouillerie.)

FOUCHERES, Aube. Eglise. The nave which contains a curious mixture of
round and pointed arches is of the XII century, but the choir was reconstructed in
the early Gothic period. The western portal is remarkable for its grotesque capitals.
A wooden ceiling covers the single side aisle, which flanks the north side of the nave.
The choir is rib-vaulted and supplied with a continuous system. (Arnaud, 23.)

LANTAN, Cher. Eglise consists of a rectangular nave and a semicircular
apse. The eastern portions are covered with rib vaults added in the XV century,
but the nave has a wooden ceiling, except that the westernmost bay, which carries
the tower, is, like the choir, supplied with a flamboyant rib vault. The walls of the
nave are decorated with arcades. (De Kersers IV, 120.)

ST.-ELOI-DE-GY, Cher. Eglise is formed of two separate edifices parallel
to each other. The northernmost, which is the more ancient, was the church of the
priory; it consists of a polygonal apse, a choir covered with a pointed barrel- vault,
and a nave roofed in wood. The apse is peculiar in that an angle of the plan cor-
responds with the axis. This construction is assigned by M. de Kersers to about the
middle of the Xll century. The southern church is a structure of the XVI century
with a square east end. (De Kersers VI, 220.)

OTHER MONUMENTS

NERONDES, Cher. Eglise, said to be of the XI century, consists of a semi-
circular apse, a choir whose axis deviates to the south, transepts, a southern transeptal
absidiole, a central tower, and a nave coated with plaster. The west portal, evidently
later than the rest of the construction, must date from the very end of the XII cen-
tury. Externally, the edifice is remarkable for the pointed windows and the apse
decorated with shafts and flat corbel-tables. (De Kersers VI, 52.)

MERY-ES-BOIS, Cher. Eglise contains some fragments of Romanesque
architecture, notably in the north wall. The southern chapel seems to be of the XIV
century. The vaulted apse of the XV century is three-sided. (De Kersers III, 31.)

BARBERY-ST.-SULPICE, Aube. St. Sulpice. The wooden-roofed nave
of the XII century, almost entirely rebuilt in the XVI century, terminates to the west-
ward in a temporary wooden wall. The most interesting parts of the church are
the choir with its lateral chapels and the five-sided apse. These portions, which date
from the early XVI century, are covered with simple rib vaults. (Fichot I, 99.)

ST.-CHRISTOPHE-LE-CHAUDRY, Cher. Eglise consists of a rectangular
nave with a wooden roof of 1633 and of a barrel-vaulted choir terminating in a square
east end — the latter an exceptional disposition. The western doorway in three
orders is round-headed. Externally the church is remarkable for the choir walls
adorned with blind arcades. The tower which formerly surmounted this part of the
church has disappeared. (De Kersers III, 235.)

STE. LUNAISE, Cher. Eglise. This desecrated edifice originally consisted
of a semicircular apse, of a vaulted choir, and of a rectangular nave roofed in wood.
These portions, in which the pointed arch is consistently used, must date from the
commencement of the XII century. Later in the same century a square tower was
added above the western bay of the nave. (De Kersers V, 102.)

MEREAU, Cher. Eglise consists of a semicircular apse, a choir formerly bar-
rel-vaulted, and a nave roofed in wood. The portal is of the XI or XIII century.
(De Kersers V, 236.)

NEUVY-LE-BARROIS, Cher. Eglise. A semicircular apse is preceded by
a choir of two bays covered with a pointed barrel vault. Over the first bay of this
choir rises the tower. The edifice was erected in the last half of the XII century,
but has been altered in the flamboyant period. (De Kersers VII, 129.)

SABLE, Sarthe. Notre Dame. This church was erected in the XI century,
much altered about the middle of the XII century, and largely rebuilt in the flam-
boyant period. The facade was again remodeled in 1709, and the tower in 1753.
(Wismes.)

SAGONNE, Cher. Eglise is assigned by M. de Kersers to the XI century.
The shallow polygonal apse decorated with arcades is covered with a half -dome;
the choir is supplied with a rib vault of the XV century. The nave is of a single aisle.
(De Kersers VII, 133.)

ST. CAPRAIS, Cher. Eglise appears to have originally consisted of a semicir-
cular apse, a barrel-vaulted choir, and a nave of a single aisle, but has been much
modernized. To the south rises a tower with an absidiole. (De Kersers V, 91.)

PREUILLY, Cher. Eglise, many times rebuilt, consists of a semicircular apse,

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

a barrel-vaulted choir, two chapels, and a nave of a single aisle roofed in wood. The
portal is assigned on its style to the XI century. (De Kersers V, 2-1,5.)

VTLLEQUEERS, (her. Eglise assigned to the last half of the XII century,
consists of a semicircular apse, a choir covered with a pointed barrel vault, and a
wooden-roofed nave. The windows and arcades are round-arehed. (De Kersers
I, 276.)

ALLOUIS, (her. Eglise. The oldest portions of this much modernized edi-
fice are assigned to the XI century. The apse is semicircular, the nave has a
wooden ceiling. (De Kersers Y, 262.)

GENOUILLY, (her. Prieure de Grarrumt-Fortblanche. (111. 154.) The
church, though transformed into stables and storehouses, is preserved nearly intact.
The semicircular apse is vaulted with a half-dome; the nave is covered with a slightly
pointed barrel vault. The windows are also pointed. (De Kersers IV, 165.)

GRACAY, (her. St. Martin. Only fragments of this church survive, the en-
tire nave and all the western portions having been destroyed. The transepts have
been converted into a cafe, but the choir and the three-sided apse are still intact. Ex-
ternally this apse is characterized by columns engaged in each angle, supporting blind
arches beneath which open the windows, shafted, and in several orders. The cor-
nice consists of a flat corbel-table. The construction evidently dates from late in
the XII century. (De Kersers IV, 178.)

MONTLOUIS, (her. Eglise consists of a nave of the XI century, a choir of
the XII century, and a tower of the XIII century, — the latter flanking the church.
The monument has been many times made over: the facade at present is furnished
witli penetrating buttresses; the windows are some round, some pointed; and the
nave is covered with a plaster vault. (De Kersers V, 174.)

MKXl'/rKKOL-SUR-SAULDRE, Cher. Eglise is an edifice of a single aisle
with a square east end and a wooden roof. The building dates mainly from the XV
century, but the north chapel, which is the most interesting part, is probably of the
XII century, and is doubtless a remnant of the ancient tower. (De Kersers I, 161.)

MONTCEAUX, Aube. St. Syre. The single-aisled nave vaulted in plaster
contains some fragments of architecture dating from the XII century, but has been
many times restored. The choir, constructed in 15%%, is supplied with a multiple
rib vault. (Fichot I. 417.)

RIGNY-LE-FERRON, Aube. St. Marti,,. Although the church was en-
tirely remodeled in the first half of the XVI century, .^oine fragments of the XII cen-
tury edifice survive in the nave and in the piers of the transepts. The existing choir
is flanked by side aisles, is supplied with a multiple rib vault, and ends in a live-sided
apse. It contains some fine glass. The western tower was rebuilt in the last years of
the XVII century. (Fichot I, 310.)

ST. BOUIZE, (her. Eglise of the XII century consists of two rectangles:
one, which is covered witli a pointed barrel vault in two bays and which probably
terminated originally in a semicircular apse, forms the choir; the other, supplied
with a wooden ceiling, is the nave. To the west rises a heavy tower, earlier than the
XV century. (De Kersers VII, '■>(>.)

OTHER MONUMENTS

ST.-PIERRE-DES-ETIEUX, Cher. Eglise consists of a single-aisled, wooden-
roofed nave; a choir covered with a round barrel vault, much mutilated; and two
chapels, one of which seems to be older than the church. The XII century tower
is the most interesting part of the monument; it is characterized by three stories
of shafted windows in several orders, flat corbel-tables, and a spire with turrets.
(De Kersers III, 89.)

SAVIGNY-EN-SANCERRE, Cher. Eglise consists of a nave, a choir sur-
mounted by a tower, transepts evidently later than the rest of the edifice, and an apse
semicircular internally, polygonal externally. The nave is roofed in wood; the
choir has a rib vault, which apparently replaces the original cupola. (De Kersers
V, 39.)

VORNAY, Cher. Eglise consists of a semicircular apse, a choir which orig-
inally supported a tower, and a nave of a single aisle. The gable of the interesting
facade is ornamented with a Greek cross. The church shows three different eras of
construction, all, however, falling within the XII century. (De Kersers I, 281.)

ACHERES, Cher. Eglise is assigned to "shortly after 1075" by M. de
Kersers. The semicircular apse is preceded by a barrel-vaulted choir, and
flanked by chapels of the flamboyant period. The rectangular nave is not vaulted.
(De Kersers IV, 293.)

ST. DOULCHARD, Cher. Eglise, of the XI century, consists of an apse,
transepts, transeptal absidioles, and a nave of a single aisle. The church is much
mutilated, and has lost its central tower. (De Kersers V, 305.)

NEUILLY, Cher. Eglise. The nave has recently been rebuilt; the rectangular
choir of the XII century is covered with a pointed barrel vault. (De Kersers IV, 315.)

SANCERGUES, Cher. Eglise. The choir and transepts are of the XII cen-
tury; the Gothic nave was in part demolished in 1493. The apse is semicircular;
the choir has a pointed barrel vault, and is decorated with superposed arcades. There
are transeptal absidioles. The nave is flanked by two side aisles; its vaults have
been removed. The piers are cruciform in plan, half columns being engaged on the
four faces and colonliettes in the angles. (De Kersers, VI, 334.)

EPINEUIL, Cher. Eglise. The lower portions of the great western tower
which surmounts the narthex are assigned to the end of the XII century; but the bel-
fry is a wretched affair of the Renaissance. The nave, also of the XII century, is
decorated with arcades; the choir slightly narrower terminates in a square east end.
This monument offers little of interest. (De Kersers VII, 193.)

PARASSY, Cher. Eglise consists of two long rectangles, one forming the nave,
the other, somewhat narrower, the choir, — both of the XVII century. But in the
west facade is a rich Romanesque portal adorned with chevrons — doubtless a
remnant of the XII century church.

VIREZ-SOUS-BAR, Aube. Eglise consists of an exterior narthex with a rich
Romanesque doorway; a nave, like the single side aisle, a timber-roofed Romanesque
construction, except the easternmost bay which is rib-vaulted; two lateral chapels;
and a square choir — the eastern portions all of the end of the XV or early XVI
century. (Arnaud, 94.)

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

MORNAY-BERRY, Cher. Eglise, assigned to the XII century, consists of a
semicircular apse, a choir vaulted with a half-dome on squinches and surmounted by
a central tower, and a nave of a single aisle roofed in wood. The exterior is orna-
mented with double arcades. (De Kersers VI, -46.)

VILLEMOYENNE, Aube. Eglise, remarkable for its western narthex and
transepts, possesses a nave two bays long, covered with vaults of the XVI century.
The Romanesque apse, although semicircular in plan, is roofed in wood. (Arnaud,
82.)

PRELY-LE-CHETIF, Cher. Eglise. The apse, which may be assigned to
the XII century, is decorated with paintings, unfortunately much damaged. A wall
separates this apse from the choir. The nave is furnished with a wooden ceiling;
the western portal is pointed. (De Kersers III, 37.)

SANTRANGES, (her. Eglise consists of a narthex, a nave flanked by a south-
ern chapel, a choir covered with a pointed barrel vault, and an apse semicircular
externally, polygonal internally. The nave is roofed in timber, and is supplied with
a rich round -arched portal that must date from the last quarter of the XII century.
Externally the apse is adorned with flat corbel-tables, arched string-courses, and
salient buttresses. (De Kersers V, 35.)

LA GUERCHE, Cher. Eglise du Gravier, assigned by M. de Kersers to the
second half of the XI century, consists of a semicircular apse, a choir covered with a
cupola on squinches, transepts, and a nave. Originally all the arches were semicir-
cular, but many were rebuilt in the pointed form when the church was made over
in the XV century. (De Kersers IV, 261.)

XOZIERES, Cher. Eglise. The modest nave is roofed in wood and supplied
with a round-arched portal; the choir of the XIII century, however, is rib-vaulted,
and consists of two bays and a polygonal apse. The vaulting ribs are supported by
columns resting on corbels. (De Kersers VI, 152.)

STJBDRAY, Cher. Eglise. The rib vaults of the single-aisled nave are evi-
dently an addition of the XV century, for the vaulting ribs rest on corbels. The
tower of the XII century rises over the narthex, and is characterized by a belfry with
round-headed windows, four angle turrets, and a stone spire — the latter was conical
in shape until recent restorations. Two chapels have been added to the church.
(De Kersers III, 178.)

ORCEXAIS, Cher. Eglise. It was intended to erect vaults over the nave,
but these have never been executed. The arch of the main portal is pointed. The
choir of the XIII century is notable for its exquisite details. (De Kersers VI, 155.)

REIGNY, (her. Eglise. The single-aisled nave supplied with a round-arched
portal is roofed in timber; the choir adorned with two blind arcades, one on either
wall, is surmounted by a semicircular barrel vault; and the apse is covered with a
half-dome. (De Kersers III, 233.)

ST.-GERVAIS-DE-VIC, Sarthe. Eglise, although rebuilt in 1450-98 and
again restored in the Renaissance style in 1533, still retains some fragments of Ro-
manesque architecture. The transepts have tribunes; the chevet is polygonal. Only
one bay of the nave is vaulted. (Froger.)

OTHER MONUMENTS

STE. MONTAINE, Cher. Eglise, which consists of two rectangles both with-
out vault, has so little architectural character that it is difficult to judge of its date;
M. de Kersers, however, assigns it to the XII or XIII century. The tower was erected
in 1489, when the church was severely damaged by a fire, traces of which are still
visible. (De Kersers I, 174.)

ST.-PIERRE-DES-BOIS, Cher. Eglise consists of an apse covered with a
pointed half -dome, a choir (which is vaulted in wood), and a nave roofed in timber.
A central tower formerly rose over the choir. The exterior is characterized by salient
buttresses, round windows, and flat corbel -tables. (De Kersers IV, 38.)

ST.-VITTE-LE-FLEURIEL, Cher. Eglise. Of this much mutilated edi-
fice there remain only the choir, the semicircular apse, the south transept with its
absidiole preceded by a square bay covered with a pointed barrel vault, and the single-
aisled nave, many times rebuilt. The north transept has entirely disappeared.
(De Kersers VII, 215.)

OIZON, Cher. Eglise. The single-aisled nave, roofed in timber, seems to
be the earliest portion of the edifice, for the portal is evidently a work of the XII cen-
tury. The rectangular choir of the XIII century and the lateral chapels of the flam-
boyant period are at present vaulted in plaster, but were doubtless originally
roofed in timber. (De Kersers I, 165.)

SILLE, Sarthe. Eglise. On the south side of this church a curious XII cen-
tury gable surmounts the portal which gives access to the extended crypt. The main
portal of the XIII century is superbly sculptured. Most of the structure is of very
late date, and the two chapels are modern. (Hucher.)

SALIGNY-LE-VIF, Cher. Eglise, of slight importance, consists of two wooden-
roofed rectangles, one of which serves as nave, the other as choir; the two are sep-
arated by a wall in which are opened three arches. The round-arched portal is in
three orders. (De Kersers I, 263.)

SOUTERRAIN Cher. Eglise. The nave has been recently reconstructed,
but the ancient choir, which is assigned to the XI century by M. de Kersers, still
survives. This choir is covered with a round barrel vault, and is internally decorated
with high arcades, blind on one side, but pierced by windows on the other. The apse
is vaulted with a half -dome. To the south, the church is adjoined by a chapel with
absidiole. (De Kersers VII, 188.)

BRINAY, Cher. Eglise, of little interest, consists of two rectangles, both roofed
in timber and communicating with each other by a low round archway. The build-
ing has been much rebuilt, but is assigned to the XI century by M. de Kersers. It
contains mural paintings of the XV century. (De Kersers V, 202.)

ASSIGNY, Cher. Eglise, rebuilt in the XVIU century, consists of two rectan-
gles: the nave with plaster vault contains a Romanesque portal in three orders; the
modern choir evidently replaces the original apse. (De Kersers VII, 238.)

VALLENAY, Cher. Eglise, of little interest, consists of two rectangles: the
choir, barrel -vaulted, is divided into two bays by engaged columns, whose capitals
are extremely coarse; the nave is roofed in wood. (De Kersers III, 315.)

VESDUN, Cher. Eglise, assigned to the XI century, consists of a rectangular

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

nave covered in wood and a barrel-vaulted choir whose walls are adorned with high
arcades. The triumphal arch is of horseshoe form. (De Kersers VII, 22.5.)

BOUZAIS. (her. Eglise consists of a rectangular nave of the XI century roofed
in wood and of a rib-vaulted choir of the XV century, two hays long. The vaulting
ribs of the choir are prismatic. The pointed triumphal arch is assigned to the XII
century. (De Kersers VI, 89.)

GIVARDOX. (her. Eglise. This cruciform church was struck by lightning
and burned in 1553. All the upper parts, the western facade, the transepts, and the
apse were then destroyed, and soon after rebuilt in the Renaissance style; but the
existing central tower is the original one of the XII century. (De Kersers VII, 109.)

MORNAY-SUR-ALLIER, Cher. Eglise, assigned by M. de Kersers to the
XI century, consists of a semicircular apse, a barrel-vaulted choir, and a nave roofed
in wood. The old central tower has been replaced by a new tower rising to the south
of the edifice. (De Kersers VII, 11(5.)

PAIS\-COSD()N, Aube. Eglise was rebuilt in the XVI century, although
certain portions of the edifice of the end of the XII century still survive. The monu-
ment, which is entirely roofed in timber, consists of a rectangle terminating in a three-
sided apse. (Fichot I, 307.)

SOLLAXG\ , (her. Eglise, with the exception of two modern chapels, consists
of a simple rectangle much elongated and (although the great light of the east end
has been walled up) generously supplied with windows, some of which are round-
headed, some pointed. A wooden vault covers the whole. The round-arched portal
is shafted and adorned with finely moulded archivolts; the bases of the piers are
furnished with griffes.

ST.-IIVLAIRE-DE-GONDILLY, Cher. Eglise, of very small dimensions,
consists of a semicircular apse, a choir — originally vaulted and crowned by a central
tower, but now roofed in timber, — and a nave also covered with a wooden ceiling.
(De Kersers VI, 72.)

CHAPPES, Aube. Eglise. This Romanesque structure, which was almost
entirely rebuilt in the XVI century, consists of a narthex, a nave of a single aisle, a
choir, a central tower, and a five-sided apse. (Arnaud, 85.)

NELRY-DEUX-CLOCHERS, Cher. Eglise contains a western gable and a
portal of the XII century. The choir was reconstructed in the flamboyant period,
and the large southern chapel is a work of the XIV century. (De Kersers IV, .'521.)

TROUY, Cher. Eglise consists of a semicircular apse (whose triumphal arch
rests on corbels), a chapel, and a nave of a single aisle. The chapel contains some
fine glass windows, one of which contains an inscription of 147!). (De Kersers V,
116.)

I ZW -LE-VENON, (her. Eglise consists of a choir and a nave, both rec-
tangular. The choir is two bays long and rib-vaulted, the ribs resting on corbels;
the nave is roofed in timber but the pilasters engaged on the piers were evidently
intended to carry transverse arches. (De Kersers III, 313.)

LA-CHAPELLE-ST.-URSIN, (her. Eglise, despite numerous mutilations
conserves the original dispositions: — a semicircular apse, a choir, a nave, and a west-

OTHER MONUMENTS

em tower. The choir is barrel-vaulted and decorated with arcades; the tower is
entirely modern. (De Kersers V, 274.)

MONTREAL, Yonne. Eglise is said to have been constructed in 1145 by
Anseric III, and to be a transitional edifice of the greatest interest.

BALLON, Sarthe. <S/. Mars-sous-Ballon. The Romanesque church of this
priory is said to be of interest. (Wismes.)

SO YE, Cher. Eglise. The existing edifice consists of a large rectangular
nave and a square choir, but one bay of the choir and the semicircular apse have been
destroyed. Pointed arches are employed, and the walls are decorated with arcades.
The ornament, which shows the influence of the lie de France, must date from very
late in the XII century. (De Kersers V, 110.)

VILLENEUVE, Cher. Eglise. The orientation of this edifice has recently
been reversed, but the ancient side walls and the pointed barrel vaults with trans-
verse ribs have been preserved. (De Kersers III, 185.)

ST.-GEORGES-SUR-LA-PRE, Cher. Eglise, of little interest, consists of
an apse, a choir, a nave, and a tower of the XV century placed at the west end
of the edifice. The facade is preceded by a unique porch of the XII century.
(De Kersers IV, 197.)

THENIOU, Cher. Eglise. The original construction dates from the XII
century, but in the XV century a chapel was added and the church itself gravely al-
tered. Recently the edifice has been almost entirely rebuilt. (De Kersers VII, 331.)

ETIVAL-EN-CHARNIE, Sarthe. Abbaye. Except for the transept arms,
the XII century church was entirely destroyed in the Revolution. (Triger.)

DAMPIERRE-EN-CROT, Cher. Eglise consists of a western tower, a rec-
tangular nave, a choir, and a three-sided apse. The nave and the choir have wooden
vaults; the portal is round-arched. (De Kersers VII, 258.)

LOMBRON, Sarthe. St. Martin. This church of the XII century consists
of a nave whose wooden roof was erected in 1609, transepts also roofed in timber, a
central tower, and a semicircular apse. (Froger.)

PIRMIL, Sarthe. Eglise, which dates probably from the XII century, is sup-
plied with transepts and a semicircular apse. The roof was repaired in 1429. (Froger.)

ST. JUST, Cher. Eglise has just been restored. However, the choir, covered
with a pointed barrel vault, and the apse are ancient. The transverse arches are in
two orders. (De Kersers V, 95.)

CHAMPAISSANT, Sarthe. St. Gilles is of interest only for the Romanesque
portal in three orders, richly ornamented. (Vavasseur.)

ST.-BENOIT-SUR-SEINE, Aube. Eglise. The wooden-roofed nave of this
cruciform edifice dates from the XII century, but has been many times altered. The
choir consists of a single bay covered with a multiple rib vault. (Fichot I, 46.)

VORLY, Cher. Eglise, many times rebuilt, consists of a nave of a single aisle
with plaster vault, a square choir, and a semicircular apse noticeably inclined to the
south. (De Kersers V, 119.)

GROIZES, Cher. Eglise. To the ancient rectangular nave, vaulted in wood,
has recently been added a brand-new choir. (De Kersers VI, 291.)

ROMANESQUE MONUMENTS OF CHER, ETC.

ST.-PARRES-LES-VAUDES. Eglise. To the Romanesque nave roofed in
wood was added in the flamboyant period a transept, whose vaults are supplied with
double pendants. (Arnaud, 82.)

DREVAXT, (her. Eglise, of little interest, consists of a nave with plaster
vault and a choir with rib vault. The western portal is assigned to the XII century.
(De Kersers VI, 12.5.)

Prieure has been transformed into dwellings. A few fragments of XII century
architecture survive.

HERRY. Cher. Abbaye de Chalivoy. The walls of the church of the XII cen-
tury are preserved in certain modern houses. (De Kersers VI, 296.)

COURMONONCLE, Aube. Chapelle St. Gengoul. This little wooden-roofed
monument of the XII centurv consists of a choir and nave. (Fichot I, 336.)

FUSSY, Cher. Eglise, recently rebuilt, contains an apse and tower of the late
XII century. (De Kersers VI, IDS.)

NOHANT-EN-GOUT, Cher. Eglise. This desecrated edifice consists of a
single unvaulted rectangle. It dates probably from the XII centurv, but the eastern
parts were rebuilt in the XIV centurv. (De Kersers I, 260.)

BRUERES, Cher. Chapelle St. Pierre. The nave is ruined; the walls of the
choir have been built into a modern house. The portal seems to date from the end
of the XI centurv. (De Kersers VI, 101.)

AKCAY. Cher. Eglise, almost entirely rebuilt in 1828, preserves of the ancient
structure only the semicircular apse. (De Kersers V, 56.)

CHAVANNES, Cher. Eglise is of no interest except for the Romanesque
portal assigned to the XI century. (De Kersers III, 200.)

YEZOT, Sarthe. Egli.se, in part of the XI centurv, contains mural paintings
of the XIII and XVI centuries.

SIDIAILEES, Cher. Abbaye is entirely ruined. However, traces exist of the
square apse which was flanked by two chapels, as well as of the springing of the
barrel vault which covered it. (De Kersers III, 2.54.)

VAILLY, Cher. Eglise has been many times rebuilt. The portal of the XII
centurv is round-arched; the nave is vaulted in wood, the choir in plaster; the apse
is semicircular. (De Kersers VII, 280.)

YOUZEROX, Cher. Eglise is entirely modern with the exception of the rect-
angular nave vaulted in wood. (De Kersers VII, 361.)

BOl'Y, (near Berry), Cher. Eglise. Unfortunately nothing but a few frag-
ments built into a modern house survives of this edifice which, it is known, was erected
between 1090 and 1100. (De Kersers V, 270.)

CHAMPAGNE, Sarthe. Abbaye was founded in 1188. Of the church almost
nothing remains.

BANNEGOU, Cher. St. Martin. The lower parts of the ancient walls, the
buttresses, and the portal are Romanesque. (De Kersers III, 52.)

MENETOU-RATEL, Cher. Eglise, much mutilated, consists to-day of a
rectangle vaulted in plaster. A fragment of the archivolt of the portal seems to date
from the XI century. (De Kersers VII, 25.)

OTHER MONUMENTS

LUNERY, Cher. Eglise consists of a rectangular nave vaulted in wood, and
of a semicircular apse. To the south adjoins a massive tower, whose lower parts
date from the XI century, the upper from the XIII. (De Kersers III, 136.)

CRESANCY, Cher. Eglise. The lower parts of the walls are of the XII
century. The apse is polygonal. (De Kersers VII, 10.)

CREZANCAY, Cher. Eglise consists of two wooden-roofed rectangles, the one
forming the nave, the other the choir. (De Kersers III, 301.)

ST.-MICHEL-DE-VOLANGES, Cher. Eglise contains some fragments of
Romanesque architecture.

ST.-VINCENT-DES-PRES, Sarthe. Eglise. The tower is Romanesque.

CULANT, Cher. Notre Dame. Of the primitive edifice there remains only
the round -arched west portal; the rest of this building, destroyed probably by the
Protestants, has been rebuilt in the form of a rectangle flanked by two chapels.
(De Kersers III, 225.)

SANCERRE, Cher. St. Romble. Of the structure of the XII century there
remains only the wall of one transept. (De Kersers VII, 67.)

JALOGNES, Cher. Eglise, almost entirely reconstructed, conserves of the orig-
inal structure only the lower portions of the walls together with a portal of the XI
or XII century. (De Kersers VII, 19.)

DUN-SUR-AURON, Cher. Eglise.

PANON, Sarthe. Eglise.

CHAPTER VIII

THE TRANSITION

BY the term "transitional" it is common to designate those
monuments of the lie de France which were erected dur-
ing the period in which Romanesque architecture was gradually
being transformed into Gothic. Consequently, in order to under-
stand the limits and nature of the transitional period, it is neces-
sary to anticipate a little, and inquire exactly what is meant by
the term Gothic in architecture. This question has been
the subject of much controversy. The word, first applied as an
epithet of opprobrium to all medieval buildings by the architects
of the Renaissance, was given a technical meaning by De Cau-
mont and the archaeologists of the early XIX century, who
employed it to distinguish buildings with pointed arches from
those with round arches, which were called Romanesque. At-
tention has already been called to the lack of precision and the
vagueness of the latter term. In the case of the word Gothic,
the same elusiveness exists, and has been far more generally
felt, for the monuments to which it is applied are at once more
beautiful and better known. Consequently, as deeper knowl-
edge has revealed the fact that the fundamental element of the
so-called Gothic buildings lay, not in the pointed arch, but in
certain deep-seated, underlying principles of construction, nu-
merous definitions and counter-terms have been proposed by vari-
ous archaeologists. None of these has gained wide acceptance;
the vague and unscientific meaning attached to the word Gothic
has become so deeply rooted in our language, so much part of
the daily thought and speech of the race, that there is little pros-
pect of ever establishing a more precise term, or of giving the
word itself a stricter definition.

Of all the attempts to define the term Gothic, one only, that
of Mr. Moore, deserves serious consideration. This author has

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

devoted an entire chapter * to the subject, but his views are
fairly summarized in the following passage: " He [Viollet-le-
Duc] has given a profound and exhaustive illustration of Gothic.
He has shown that this architecture consists primarily in a
peculiar structural system, — a system which was a gradual
evolution out of the arched Roman through the Romanesque, —
and that its distinctive characteristic is that the whole scheme
of the building is determined by, and its whole strength is made
to reside in, a finely organized and frankly confessed frame-
work rather than walls. This framework, made up of piers,
arches, and buttresses, is freed from every unnecessary encum-
brance of wall, and is rendered as light in all its parts as is com-
patible with strength — the strength of the fabric depending
not upon inert massiveness (except in the outermost abutments)
but upon a logical adjustment of active parts, whose opposing
forces neutralize each other and produce a perfect equilibrium.
It is a system of balanced thrusts in contradistinction to the
ancient system of inert stability. Gothic architecture is such
a system carried out in a finely artistic spirit. It is, indeed,
much more than this, but it is this primarily and always.
So fundamental and far reaching is this peculiar mode of con-
struction as the distinctive principle of Gothic, that it may be
taken as a rule, that, wherever we find it developed, there we
have a Gothic building, even though the ornamental elements
connected with it may retain many Romanesque character-
istics; while on the other hand, wherever a framework main-
tained on the principle of thrust and counter thrust is wanting,
there we have not Gothic, however freely the ornamental ele-
ments may differ from the Romanesque."

For clearness and precision, it would be impossible to im-
prove on this definition of Mr. Moore's; but, unfortunately,
such a classification excludes certain buildings that have, time
out of mind, enjoyed the appellation of Gothic, — indeed all
the pointed edifices of England, Germany, Spain, and Italy, to
say nothing of those timber-roofed churches of the He de France
itself which are in age and ornament of the self-same style as
the buildings acknowledged Gothic. Consequently, Mr. Moore's

1 Chapter I of his Gothic Architecture. The passage quoted is taken from pp. 7-8.

THE TRANSITION

definition, excellent as it is, has won but little acceptance, and
has had as its chief result the stirring up of a vast amount of
indignation among the admirers of English cathedrals, who
consider it nothing less than an insult to the old minsters to
refuse them the time-honored epithet Gothic.

I have, therefore, reluctantly concluded to abandon Mr.
Moore's definition of the word which I shall employ in the loose
meaning in which it is generally understood, to designate that
architecture which grew up in the He de France at the end of
the XII century and all other styles directly thence derived. It
should be once for all emphatically stated that the old definition
which makes the pointed arch the essential characteristic of
Gothic, is not only erroneous but positively misleading. What
the true nature and characteristics of Gothic architecture were,
are clearly summarized in the passage above quoted from Mr.
Moore; and I hope they will be made familiar to the reader of
this and of the succeeding chapter.

Just where the line is to be drawn between the transitional
and Gothic periods must, in consequence, like the term Gothic
itself, remain vague. Generally speaking, however, we may
consider the Gothic period to begin when the new principles
had gained the mastery, and the old Romanesque elements
had entirely disappeared. This era dawned with the construc-
tion of the choir of Paris, c. 1163, although in other regions a
parallel development was not reached until almost the end of
the XII century.

The beginning of the transitional period is much easier to
place, for it was signalized by the introduction of the rib vault
into the He de France. That event, in all probability, occurred
during the first ten years of the XII century, and we shall not
be far out of the way in assigning it in round numbers to the
year 1100.

This transitional period, extending thus approximately
from 1100 to 1180, is divided into two nearly equal and dis-
tinct halves by the construction of the choir of the abbey church
of St. Denis in 11 40-44. l The history of the first of these

' St. Denis is, then, exactly at the middle point of the transition, and far from being, as has
often been said by writers of the old school, the first of the transitional monuments.

THE FIRST PHASE

halves — the first phase of the transition, as we may call it —
is still somewhat obscure, although recent researches have
thrown a great and new light upon the subject. But unfor-
tunately, not a single surely dated monument of the He de
France, falling between the years 1100 and 1140, is known.
The western portions of Chartres cathedral, it is true, are dated
approximately, though the chronology of this puzzling struc-
ture has been the subject of much controversy; but these vaults
were erected at the very end of the period and in a locality some-
what removed from the center of the transitional movement.
M. Lefevre-Pontalis believes that he has found a central date
of support in the chapel at Belief ontaine ; but as M. St. Paul
has pointed out, the charter in question merely granted per-
mission in 1125 to build the chapel, and the actual construc-
tion might have been carried out at any time subsequent to
this date. The same objection applies to the church of Air-
aines, whose undated charter was signed by Thibaut, abbot
from 1108-19. Relics were brought to Morienval in 1122, and
M. St. Paul has supposed that it was in consequence of this
circumstance that the famous ambulatory was built; but this
argument has been warmly attacked by M. Lefevre-Pontalis.
For certain and unquestionable, therefore, we have only the
state of architecture as it was at the end of the XI century —
this state, as has been seen in the preceding chapter, being well
established by authentically dated structures — and the state
at which it arrived in 1140-44.

Now between these two types stand a crowd of undated mon-
uments showing every intermediate stage of the transformation,
and, if it once be granted that the transition progressed by
uniform and gradual steps, it is possible, by careful study and
comparison, to assign each of these monuments to the posi-
tion it should occupy in the logical development of the style.
Many archaeologists have attempted this delicate task with
varying success ; — notably, M. Lefevre-Pontalis has assigned
dates to the monuments of the XII century in the diocese of
Soissons in so plausible a manner, that it is beyond all reason-
able doubt that we have beneath our eyes the entire process of
evolution. However, it must be candidly recognized that these

THE TRANSITION

assigned dates offer several difficulties. Architectural progress
always describes, not a smooth curve, but a wavy line. Certain
buildings are inevitably in advance, as others are behind, their
time; strange archaic features will often appear ten, twenty,
fifty years after improvements have been discovered and gen-
erally adopted. Also it is not at all unlikely that progress may
have been much more rapid at certain times — for example,
the last part of the period — than at others, that advance may
have been made, so to speak, in an arithmetical progression.
Thus all these assigned dates must be understood to be relative
and somewhat arbitrary, and the exact time and manner of
the evolution of certain details must remain in doubt. None
the less, the broad outlines of the transitional movement must
he held to be clearly and indubitably established.

Of all the facts which these modern studies have demon-
strated, the fundamental importance of the rib vault is the most
vital. Here is the key which gives transitional architecture its
meaning, Gothic architecture its existence; here the principle
on which was more or less completely founded all the archi-
tectural history of the later Middle Ages. During the transi-
tional period, in especial, the rib vault was all important; it
was the cause from which all else followed. Other changes
were purely incidental or followed as direct consequences of
the development of this all essential feature. It is clear, there-
fore, that any study of the transitional period must commence
with the study of the rib vault.

The history of this construction falls naturally into two dis-
tinct phases, corresponding to the two halves into which the
history of the style is divided. During the first phase of the
transition, 1100-40, the builders struggled to master the rib
vault in its simpler problems; they learned to construct it on
square and on oblong plans, and even over the awkward curves
of ambulatories, but their experiments were always on a small
scale. During the second phase (1140-80) the problem of
vaulting great naves was attacked; the evolution centers in
the peculiar development which the genius of the French builders
gave to the concealed flying buttress and to the sexpartite vault,
both borrowed from Normandy. In the following pages I

SUB-SCHOOLS OF THE ILE DE FRANCE

shall try to trace the development of the rib vault in these two
periods successively.

To say that Gothic architecture originated on the soil
of the He de France, has become almost a commonplace.
The country which we call roughly the royal domain, how-
ever, was in the XII century divided architecturally into
several sub-schools, differing slightly from one another, but
all showing, in somewhat divergent ways, the same progress
towards the same goal. Which of these sub-schools was
the creative influence has recently been the subject of much
controversy. M. Lefevre-Pontalis, who on the whole carries
off the honors, claims this distinction for the school which flour-
ished in the ancient diocese of Soissons, along the valleys of
the Aisne and Oise. M. Enlart sees the formative influence
even outside the borders of the He de France, in Picardy and
the diocese of Amiens, and especially in those lands included
in the present departement of Somme. Another widely accepted
view is that long ago advanced by M. Woillez, the first of the
long line of scholars to specialize in this period — a view which
sees the cradle of Gothic in the district forming the ancient
diocese of Beauvais, and roughly corresponding to the present
departement of Oise. Less convincing is the thesis of M. St.
Paul who looks farther to the west, to the region comprised
between Paris and the Norman border.

In which of these four sub-schools the rib vault first made
its appearance can probably never be proved, nor is it a matter
of essential importance. The vital fact is that it did appear
somewhere. Once discovered, it seems to have been adopted
and developed with almost common enthusiasm by the three
sub-schools of Soissons, Amiens, and Beauvais. It is probable
that no one of these three centers was exclusively the forma-
tive influence during the transitional period; all, indeed, formed
parts of an essential whole, all contributed to the common pro-
gress. One adjustment developed and was advanced more
rapidly in one, another in another. Yet the three were never
far separated. Any material progress scored in the valley of
the Aisne was sure to make its way without long delay to the
banks of the Somme and to the Beauvoisis. Thus, while the

THE TRANSITION

three sub-schools are undoubtedly distinguished by local char-
acteristics, and it will not seldom be necessary to distinguish
between them, yet all combine to form a single unit, which may
be considered as the generative center of Gothic architecture.
After c. 1135 I should also include in this unit the school of the
West.

Although the first rib vault erected in the He de France may
very probably be forever lost to us, there is nevertheless no
doubt that this feature was introduced in the royal domain in
a spirit far different from that in which the alternate system
made its way into Normandy. Here was no Jumieges, no
surpassing work of genius where the new idea was applied at
once in all its splendor and immediately copied throughout the
land. It rather filtered in gradually, and took its place unas-
sumingly, almost imperceptibly in the humble and modest
buildings the royal school erected at this period. In fact, all
the early examples of the rib vault that have come down to us
were erected on a very small scale and in unpretending rural
churches.

Probably the very earliest rib vault in the He de France yet
described occurs beneath the tower of the little church at Acy-
en-Multien. This vault is constructed on a plan nearly square.
The heavy ribs (T.46 in width and of rectangular section have
no sculptured keystone, but are constructed absolutely in the
Lombard manner, except that the pointed arch is already used.
Another vault precisely analogous has been recently discovered
at Crouy-sur-Ourcq (Seine-et-Marne) and has been published
by M. Join-Lambert. Still another rib vault, probably almost
contemporary with that of Acy-en-Multien, is found in the
easternmost bay of the south aisle at Rhuis (111. 158). This
example, which is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the very
first years of the XII century, is also constructed on a plan
nearly square and evidently replaces an older groin vault, since
the diagonals rest on corbels. The surface is not domed, but
the ridges are perfectly horizontal, and there are no wall ' ribs.
At Viffort there is an early rib vault (111. 159) also erected

1 Wall ribs arc ribs at right angles to the transverse ribs, following the curve of the inter-
section of wall and vault surface.

III. 158. — Rib Vault at Rhuis. (Redrawn from Lefevre-Pontalis)

111. 159. — Rib Vault at Viffort. (Redrawn from
Lefevre-Pontalis)

EARLY RIB VAULTS

on a plan approximately square. Since the arches of this vault
are all round, the crown is much domed. Wall ribs exist and
the diagonals are profiled with a single great torus. M. Lefevre-
Pontalis assigns this vault to c. 1115, or to a period fifteen years
later than the vault at Rhuis. At Airaines the nave is covered
with rib vaults on a square plan possibly of about this date
(1115); and the vaults of Coudun and Catenoy are also doubt-
fully assigned to the same period.

On the basis of the scanty evidence supplied by these
earliest examples there are several important questions to be
answered. First of all, was the rib vault evolved independently
in the He de France, or was it imported from Lombardy? M.
Lefevre-Pontalis pronounces without qualification in favor of
the former alternative, and sees in the vault of Rhuis the proof
of his assertion. This vault, it is true, differs from the Lom-
bard type in not being domed (111. 158). This fact has led
M. Lefevre-Pontalis to see here the independent evolution of
the rib vault.

The theory, I confess, seems to me to offer several serious
difficulties. In the first place, from the profile of the ribs, the
vault of Rhuis is evidently later than the vaults of Acy-en-
Multien or of Crouy-sur-Ourcq, which are of the developed
Lombard form. The evolution would hence have had to work
backwards, and, although in architectural history we are often
obliged to resort to the hypothesis of the survival of rudimentary
forms in later buildings, in this case such a theory seems unnec-
essary and far-fetched.

Furthermore, I find it impossible to admit that the earliest
rib vaults were not domed.1 The whole evolution of the XII
century centered in the struggle to avoid this very doming. If
the builders of the first rib vault had been able to construct
level ridges, why was there need of fifty years of experiment
to enable their successors to learn how to do this very thing?

1 Lest this statement should seern to be made unguardedly, I hasten to add that the vaults
of Bury are not domed, and that at Morienval the side arches are but slightly lower than the groins.
In both these instances, however, the doming was avoided only at the expense of creating other
difficulties even more awkward. These exceptions, therefore, in reality tend to confirm the posi-
tion taken in the text, a position which seems to me clearly justified by the evidence, although
it has been abandoned by Mr. Moore in the second edition of his Gothic Architecture, p. 65.

THE TRANSITION

Although I have not examined the vault of Rhuis on the spot,
I strongly suspect that the extraordinary form of this vault
may be explained by supposing that a groin vault was built
first, and that subsequently, whether as a decoration, or as a
reinforcement against cracks or settlement that had begun to
appear in the masonry, ribs were fitted underneath. A confir-
mation of this view is found in the fact that the corresponding
bay in the opposite aisle retains just such a groin vault. Fur-
thermore, it is obvious that a groin vault was originally con-
structed in this compartment, for there are no shafts, and the
present ribs are carried on corbels — an evident make-shift.

Nor are indications wanting that the rib vault was brought
to the He de France from Lombardy, where we have seen that
it came into existence the better part of a century earlier, for
this self -same form, which is, after all, peculiar, appeared at
exactly the same moment in half a dozen different schools of
France. Thus rib vaults of the first twenty years of the XII
century were erected in Brittany, at Ste. Croix de Quimperle
(now replaced by a modern copy) ; in Saintonges, at Saintes in
the crypt of St. Eutrope, and at Moissac in the narthex of the
abbey, an authentically dated monument of 1100-08 (in this in-
stance the rib vaults were supplied with wall ribs and diagonals
over a meter wide) ; in Provence, at St. Victor of Marseilles,
at St.-Guilhem-du-Desert (Herault), at Maguelonne (Herault),
and at St. Gilles (Gard), the latter authentically dated 1116.
Thus all over France, from Brittany to Provence, the rib vault
appeared in the first quarter of the XII century. It is suppo-
sing too strange a coincidence to believe that all these schools
developed independently the same feature at the same moment.
The simultaneous appearance of the rib vault in such divergent
styles of architecture can only be explained by supposing that
it was imported to all from a common outside source. And that
source must have been Lombardy. The modest school of the
He de France at this epoch was not in a position to influence
Europe. The builders of the great abbey of St. Gilles would
look for models much rather to the impressive nave of the
famous church of S. Ambrogio of Milan than to the eastern bay
of the south side aisle of the country church at Rhuis.

LOMBARD INFLUENCE

How extensively the architecture of western Europe was
influenced during the XII century by Lombardy has already
been remarked; and this Lombard influence affected the archi-
tecture of the lie de France in other ways, as well as in the
introduction of the rib vault. The g-riffe and the arched corbel-
table (111. 205) had already in the XI century been borrowed
from Lombardy, as we have seen; and at the beginning of the
XII century the latter ornament came to assume in the He de
France an even more typically Lombard form. Furthermore,
I suppose there is no feature more generally recognized as es-
sentially Italian than transverse arches. Now in the XII cen-
tury these transverse arches came to be a common construction
in the He de France. A list of examples, which I add in a note,
will give some idea of the extent to which they were employed.1
It is a remarkable fact that in the same church — ■ Acy-en-Mul-
tien — occur very early examples of both the rib vault and the
transverse arch.

It is further significant that the early rib vaults of the He
de France — with the already noted exception of Rhuis — were
constructed on precisely the Lombard lines, being square (or
nearly so) in plan and highly domed. (111. 159.) Also, when
the builders of the royal domain at Airaines and Bellefontaine
first came to erect rib vaults over the naves, they adopted a
system precisely similar to that of the Lombards. At Airaines
the square compartments of the nave correspond to an equal
number of groin-vaulted compartments in the aisles; and at
Bellefontaine there is a regular Lombard system, with the
square bay of the nave embracing two bays, also square, of
the aisles.2 This Lombard construction was soon abandoned,

1 Bethisy-St. -Martin, Trucy, Vailly, Cerny-en-Laonnais (possibly of the XI century), Lav-
ardin (Loir-et-Cher, on the borders of the He de France, and perhaps also of the XI century),
Aizy, Coulonges (assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the second quarter of the XII century),
Villers-St.-Paul, Acy-en-Multien, St. Alpin of Chalons-sur-Marne (?), Ureel, Elincourt, and
Melun (c. 1100).

2 Lest this should seem to contradict what has been said above, p. 263, Vol. I, in connection
with the derivation of the sexpartite vault, it may be well to state that this nave of Bellefontaine is
an almost unique instance of the Lombard alternate system in the royal domain. Moreover,
since the nave is only one bay long, there is, strictly speaking, only one pier and hence no altera-
tion of supports. It is only much later, and long after the introduction of the sexpartite vault,
that two more solitary instances of the alternate system occur at Voulton (Seine-et-Marne) and
Arcy-Ste-Restitute. In three other isolated cases — Berteaucourt-les-Dames, Melun (c. 1100),

THE TRANSITION

but it formed the beginning from which developed the peculiarly
French type of rib vault. In view of all these considerations
it seems to me impossible to doubt that the rib vault was intro-
duced into the He de France from Lombardy.

To return to the study of the earliest rib vaults of the He de
France, one of their most striking peculiarities is the purely ar-
bitrary fashion in which the wall ribs are either retained or
omitted. Wall ribs had already been employed in Lombardy,
as, for example, in the vaults of S. Ambrogio (111. 104, 119,
Vol. I). But in Lombardy their purpose had been largely
decorative, to give a firm line of moulding to mark the inter-
section of the vault and wall surfaces; they had never been
used to mould the surface, and give the entire vault its charac-
ter. This structural use, however, after c. 1120, came to be
understood by the architects of the He de France, although
until long afterwards a certain number of vaults, especially in
country churches, continued to be built in the old manner with-
out wall ribs, as, for example, the choir of Aizy,1 a monument as
late as c. 1180. The omission or inclusion of this member is
never, then, ipso facto, an indication of date.

and Frouville (the latter later than 1150) — the piers are alternately round and clustered, but there
are no engaged shafts, and the roof is in wood. It is, then, no exaggeration to say that the
alternate system was unknown in the He de France prior to the introduction of the sexpartite vault.
Similarly, shafts engaged on the walls of the nave not meant to be vaulted, although introduced
frequently in the Romanesque of the He de France in the XI century, became really exceptional
in the XII century. Examples exist only in the nave of St. Germain -des-Pres (a monument
peculiarly Norman in its details), at Bonnes (later than 1150), at Vailly, and at Bazoches (where,
however, it was probably the intention to erect vaults). At Bussiares, pilasters engaged in the
piers on the side of the aisles are continued to form buttresses to the exterior of the clearstory.
These exceptions, I think, are sufficiently rare to fully justify the assertion that neither the
alternate system, nor the engaged shaft — the two requisites for the evolution of the sexpartite
vault — belong to the architectural style of the He de France in the first half of the XII century.
1 Vaults without wall ribs may be found at Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne (1157-83),
Bellefontaine (1125-30), at Airaines (c. 1115), at St. Martin of Laon (c. 1165), at St. Martin
d'Etampes (c. 1165), at Cambrorme (c. 1145), at Bury (c. 1125), at St. Quiriace of Provins (c.
1160), at Aizy (c. 1180), at Azy-Bonneil (c. 1175), at Glennes (c 1150), at Bonnes (c. 1 150), at
Bruyeres (c. 1130), at IVrnant (c. 1130), at Montigny-Lengrain (c. 1160), at Foulangues (c.
1140), at Lucheux (c. 1130-50), at St.-Vaast-les-Mello (c. 1125), at Saconin (c. 1135), at Fitz-
James (c. 1145), and at Rhuis (c. 1110). On the other hand, wall ribs exist after 1150 except in
exceptional cases; and before that date at St. Denis (1140-44), at Sens (c. 114. et seq.), at St.
Germer <■. 1 1 to,, at Pontoise (1140-65), at Creil (c. 1140), at Laffaux (c. 1140), at Ciry (c. 1130),
at Bailleval (c. 1130), at Eargny, (c. 1140), at Bethisy-St.-Pierre (c. 1125), at Dhuizel (c. 1125),
at Berzy-le-Sec (c. 1140), at Viffort (c. 1115), at Marizy-Ste.-Genevieve (c. 1140). From this
list of examples, incomplete as it is, it will be evident that the popularity of the wall rib steadily
inceased until (after c. 1150) its omission became exceptional.

GROIN VAULTS

While thus the early rib vaults of the He de France showed
much variation in the use of the wall rib, they were all — with
the exception of Rhuis — alike in being more or less domed.
The Lombards had domed their rib vaults because they found
it easier to construct the ribs in the form of semicircles, or of
regular curves, and subsequently to adjust the vault surfaces to
this framework, than to work out in advance the elliptical curve
of two intersecting round vaults, and construct their ribs in
this form. It is altogether probable that the early builders of
the He de France domed their vaults for precisely the same
reason. A vault surface with its planes of double curvature is
very difficult to foresee accurately, even with the aid of projec-
tions and descriptive geometry; that the builders of the crude
vaults of the first quarter of the XII century were able to figure
just what curve of the diagonals would give a level crown, there
is no reason to suppose. Later (c. 1140) they were certainly
able to do so; at first, however, they built their diagonals as
independent arches in a semicircular form, and left the vault
surface to look after itself. Since, however, this doming, purely
accidental at first, was found to possess certain structural ad-
vantages, in that it brought the greater part of the weight of
the vault on the transverse and wall ribs, which were always
more substantial and solid than the diagonals, it was retained
even after the builders had learned how to construct vaults
with level crowns, so that up to the very end of the Gothic period,
French vaults always continued to be built in a slightly dom-
ical form.

It is interesting to notice the relative popularity of the new
rib vaults and the older groin and barrel vaults. Rib vaults
seem to have been introduced into the He de France largely at
the expense of the groin vault, since the latter construction,
which had been common in the XI century and which had held
its own during the first quarter of the XII century,1 after c. 1125,
became increasingly rare. It finally passed out of use, although
at different times in different regions. The triforium of St.

1 Examples at Airaines (where the vaults are oblong in plan, c. 1125), at Juvigny (e. 1110),
at Chavigny (c. 1110), at Orgeval (e. 1100), at Allonne (c. 1100-25), at Croissy (e. 1115), at
Vregny (c. 1100-25), at St.-Vaast-de-Longmont (c. 1100-25) and at St. Cyr of Breteuil.

THE TRANSITION

Germer (c. 1140) contains the latest example of the groin vault
that I can cite in the valleys of the Oise or its tributaries; but
in the neighborhood of Paris the feature persisted until as late
as 1180 at Gallardon, Vaux-de-Cernay, and Champeaux; and
there are examples as late as c. 1140 at Poisy and c. 1155 at
Domont. Other instances of the survival of the groin vault
at a late date occur in the Chapel of the Templars at Laon
(c. 1135), at St.-Loup-de-Xaud (c. 1150), and at St. Lazare
(c. 1140). * However, after the first quarter of the XII century
the groin vault became an exceptional construction.

The barrel vault did not yield so quickly to the rivalry of
the rib vault. During the first quarter of the XII century it
was far more popular in the He de France than either the groin
or the rib vault, and has left us twice as many examples 2 as the
other two combined. It appears to have been used inter-
changeably with the other two constructions and in the same
positions: almost always under the tower, whether this was
lateral, or rose over the crossing or choir; and, occasionally,
apart from the tower in the easternmost bay of a side aisle, or
in the choir.

During the second quarter of the XII century, however,
the barrel vault, after a brief struggle,3 yielded to the victorious
rib vault, whose advantages had now come to be appreciated.
After 1150 I can cite only one example of the barrel vault: —
the narthex of Taillefontaine (c. 1160). Thus, while the bar-
rel vault for a time offered a much more vigorous resistance
than the groin vault, in the long run it showed less vitality, and
entirely passed away at a much earlier date.

The barrel vault, however, produced one very important

1 Groin vaults persisted in exceptional cases even in the Gothic period as at Vernouillet
(c. 1200.)

2 At Cerny (c. 1100), Catenoy (c. 1110?), Fontenoy (c. 1110), Bcthisy-St.-Pierre (c. 1125),
Brasle (c. 1100-30), Resons-le-Long (c. 1100), Marolles (c. 1125), Pont-St.-Mard (c. 1115),
Conde-sur-Aisne (c. 1125), Oulchy-la-Ville (c. 1125), Courthiezy (c. 1100-1125), Vieils-Maisons
(c. 1110), Orrouy (c. 1125). Also at Elincourt and Tracy.

3 Examples of barrel vaults erected in the second quarter of the XII century may be found
at Coulonges (c. 1130), Betbisy-St. -Martin (c. 1125-30), at Brecy (c. 1150), at Damery (c. 1150),
at Chelles (c. 1140), at Vieil-Arcy (c. 1130), at Sergy (c. 1130), at St.-Vaast-de-Longmont (c.
1130), at St. Lazare (c. 1140), at Verdilly (c. 1130), at Saconin (c. 1135), and Blesmes (c. 1130).
Merlemont and Ricquebourg are also barrel-vaulted.

THE POINTED ARCH

effect on the development of transitional architecture, for it
caused the pointed arch to be introduced. It is not necessary
to reiterate in this connection the history of the pointed arch,
if by the name of history may be designated the record of its
sporadic appearances all over Europe, Asia, and Africa. Like
the lintel, it seems to have been so obvious an expedient as to
be, as it were, the common heritage of human intelligence,
easily reinvented by any builder who had need of it. Suffice
it to say, that during the first ten centuries, a.d., it had been
practised by the Persians in Asia Minor, by the Copts in Egypt,
by the Arabs in Africa and Spain, and by many other peoples in
many other countries. As early as the middle of the XI cen-
tury the builders of the south of France were regularly employing
it to diminish the thrusts of their vaults; and when Jerusalem
fell into the power of the crusaders, the pointed arch had
already been long familiar in Burgundy and Perigord.1

It has been seen that the pointed arch was established in
the barrel vaults of the school of Berry, closely related to the
school of the He de France, by the last decade of the XI century.
Shortly afterwards, pointed barrel vaults appeared in the He
de France, evidently thence derived. It is altogether probable
that the rib vaults were pointed in imitation of the barrel vaults,
though the earliest extant examples of pointed rib vaults seem
about contemporary with the earliest extant barrel vaults.2
The structural advantage of the pointed arch is even more ob-
vious for a barrel vault than for a rib vault; but with the pointed
arch once under their eyes, the builders of the He de France
were not slow to recognize that it also could be applied with
advantage to rib vaults. A confirmation of this view is found

1 In justice to the older school of archaeologists who maintained the Eastern derivation of
the pointed arch, it should be stated that the fact that this construction was used in the West
before the Crusades disproves nothing. Intercourse with the East by pilgrimages long ante-
dated the Crusades; and the domed churches of the Charente, and S. Marco of Venice prove
that Western builders were quite capable of absorbing Oriental influences through this contact.
The theory of the Eastern origin of the pointed arch is, consequently, not intrinsically impos-
sible. The whole controversy, however, is not worth half the good paper and ink that have
been wasted upon it, to the exclusion of the discussion of more vital aspects of the transition. It
is, moreover, a question quite incapable of proof, one way or the other, and opinions doubtless
will always continue to differ.

2 At Vieils-Maisons is a pointed barrel vault of c. 1110 — I believe, the earliest example of
this feature in the He de France.

THE TRANSITION

in the earliest example of the pointed arch in the He de France
that is known to us, --the arch under the tower of the little
church at Rieux, near Creil, a monument probably as early as
the end of the XI century.1 This arch could not have been
used in connection with a rib vault, but if it was used in con-
nection with a vault at all, it must have been with a barrel
vault.

In order to make clear the extraordinary importance of the
relationship of the pointed arch to the development of the struc-
ture of the rib vault, it will be necessary to anticipate here events
which occurred only in the second or even the third quarter of
the XII century. It seems, however, more logical to treat to-
gether all the attempts that were made to adjust the rib vault
to an oblong plan, even at the sacrifice of strict chronological
sequence.

Now in a vault like that at Viffort (111. 159) where the plan
is approximately square, it is possible to make all the arches
round without excessively doming the crown of the vault. This
vault at Viffort may be taken as the type of the earliest rib vaults,
since all the primitive examples are constructed on plans either
square or nearly so. To erect vaults of this type was compar-
atively simple. When, however, the builders came to con-
struct rib vaults on a distinctly oblong plan such as that shown
in the figure (111. 160), difficulties ensued. For, if all the arches
were made semicircular, it was found that the diagonals would
rise to a great height; the wall ribs would be somewhat lower;
the transverse arches very low. Thus the vault surface, forced
to adjust itself to three different levels, became not only exces-
sively domed, but actually distorted.

To solve this problem, the builders resorted to many devices
of great ingenuity.2 Of these, the pointed arch was the first
and the most important. It is obvious that by means of the
pointed form an arch of any width can be made to rise to
any reasonable height without distortion. This is illustrated
by the diagram (111. 160). Consequently, by pointing the trans-

1 Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Ilel. I, 46.

2 This importanl phase of tli<- transitional movement has been capitally worked up by Mr.
Moore in his Gothic Architecture.

ADVANTAGES OF THE POINTED ARCH

verse and wall arches, the crowns of all the ribs could be
brought to the same level.

Although this principle seems so obvious to us to-day, it
cost the builders of the He de France — even after they had
begun to perceive dimly the possibilities of the construction —
at least thirty years of groping experiment to bring the solution
to its ultimate perfection. The builders of these early times
worked from practical experience and not on paper; and thus,
while at an early date the pointed arch was applied to rib

III. 160. — Diagram of Rib Vault on an Oblong Plan

vaults, especially in the transverse and longitudinal arches,
this was always done in a hesitating and partial manner; the
vault still remained domed, and the round arch was retained
wherever possible. The masons at first had clearly no idea of
what could be done by means of the pointed construction; they
employed it only as a sort of make-shift, in places where no
amount of cramping could make a round arch do service.

At the same time that they were experimenting thus with
the pointed arch, the builders of the He de France were also
trying other expedients to avoid excessive doming. In fact,
the continual efforts to obviate this doming are a conclusive

THE TRANSITION

proof that the raising of the crowns of the diagonals in this
early period resulted not from a desire to ease the weight in-
trusted to them, but from lack of skill on the part of the con-
structors. Thus at Bethisy-St. -Pierre (111. 161) a monument
dating from c. 1125, the curve of the diagonals was lowered,
being made an ellipse, or rather a segment of a circle, instead
of a semicircle. But the tracing of this irregular curve seems

III. 161. — Rib Vault at Bethisy-St.-Pierre

to have given the entire vault a distorted appearance, for the
builders of this time lacked the technique to construct segmen-
tal diagonals accurately. Better solutions were found, and
this scheme was in consequence before long abandoned.

More promising was the idea of stilting the transverse ribs
(111. 162) and by this means bringing their crowns to the desired
level, — a scheme which was tried at Morienval (c. 1122) and
at St. Etienne of Beauvais (c. 1130). The idea was perfectly
practicable, and could be applied to a pointed arch as well as
to a round one, and to the wall, as well as to the transverse rib.
In fact, this construction was ever afterwards retained, and

III. 162. — St. Etienne of Beauvais. Interior

INCREASED USE OF THE POINTED ARCH

the stilted wall rib became in the end one of the essential char-
acteristics of the developed Gothic vault.

A strange expedient was that adopted at Bury (c. 1125)
and St. Leu d'Esserent (c. 1150), where the transverse rib was
loaded with a wall of masonry in order to bring it up to the
required level. This method will be clear by reference to the
photograph (111. 163). Such a construction well illustrates
both the resourcefulness of the XII century builders and their
unswerving perserverance. It is almost unnecessary to state
that this crude expedient was so evidently unsuccessful that it
was at once abandoned.

After many such experiments and a considerable number
of failures, the builders at last learned to adopt and combine
several methods of construction, so as to erect rib vaults on an
oblong plan with perfect success. In the end, the relative
heights of the different ribs were adjusted by a combination
of stilted and pointed arches. This ultimate solution was much
advanced by the improvements in the technique of stereotomy
that were scored during the second quarter of the XII century.
In fact, a surface of double curvature, like the face of a rib
vault, offers the greatest difficulties of stone-cutting; but so
proficient did the French workmen become in this art, that
never, except in ancient Greece, has finer masonry been con-
structed than in the buildings of the He de France of the second
half of the XII century. With the mastery of stereotomy came
the skill to construct the vaults of light and thin masonry; thus
the excessive weight and thrust of the early vaults was diminished,
and grace and lightness came to supersede the ponderous cru-
dity of the constructions of the early transitional period.

Side by side with the general advance in the technical exe-
cution of the rib vault, and inseparably connected with it, came
the more and more systematic use of the pointed arch in other
parts of the edifice, as well as in the vaults. The progress of
the pointed arch was not altogether constant; it is possible to
find later buildings in which it is employed less profusely than
in the earlier ones. Nor is it safe to lay down didactic rules
as to just what date it appeared in particular positions. It is
none the less clear, however, that throughout the transitional

THE TRANSITION

period the pointed arch was constantly gaining ground and
slowly but surely superseding the semicircular form in all parts
of the edifice.

One of the direct consequences of the use of the pointed
arch in connection with the rib vault in the aisles, was the point-
ing of the arches of the main arcade. Since these arches ordi-
narily formed a highly important member of the structural
system of the vault, it became so habitual to point them, that,
after c. 1135,1 this was almost always done even when the nave
and aisles were both roofed in wood, and hence, strictly speak-
ing, when there was no structural necessity for the pointed
arch.

This is the turning-point in the history of the application
of the pointed form of arch: hitherto it had been used only as
a structural necessity, the round arch had usually been em-
ployed wherever possible; but hereafter the pointed arch came
to be used — - rarely at first, but more and more frequently —
in places where the round arch would have answered all prac-
tical purposes quite as well. The earliest instance of this non-
structural use of the pointed arch that I can name is the portal
of Cerseuil (c. 1125) — an example, however, which is excep-
tionally early. Generally speaking, pointed doorways and win-
dows came into general use only in the last third of the XII
century, and the round arch frequently persisted even into the
Gothic period. So quick were the Gothic builders to accept
a new idea where structurally necessary, and so reluctant to
abandon tradition for esthetic motives until the new way had
been clearly proved the better.

AVe must now return from a somewhat long digression to
the study of the development of the rib vault in the first quarter
of the XII century. It has been seen that as early as the year
1120, by means of the pointed arch, a certain crude mastery
had already been obtained over the rib vault on a square, and
probably also on an oblong, plan — a mastery very far short
of perfection, it is true, but which still made possible the con-
struction of these vaults in a rude manner, and on a small scale.
But in the choir of the abbey church of Morienval — a monu-

1 e. g. at Laffaux.
68

ii\

-..':, 1

. 1 '

\ .,A

III. 163. — Narthex of St. Leu d'Esserent

MORIENVAL

ment of which the date has been endlessly controverted,1 but
which I believe may be assigned to about 1122 — was intro-
duced a new feature hitherto quite without parallel in the archi-
tecture of the He de France.

Up to this moment the churches of the XII century in the
royal domain had shown only minor variations in plan from
those of the XI century — single-aisled edifices, it is true, had
now become the exception, and lateral apses and transeptal
absidioles were gradually passing out of use, although all these
XI century features occasionally survived even into the Gothic
period. But the choir of Morienval, as rebuilt in the XII
century, was a true innovation. The plan (111. 164) will make
the dispositions of this exceptional construction clear. It is
usual to speak of this choir as a chevet; yet the circular ex-
terior aisle was obviously never intended as a passage-way, for,
since the open space beneath the transverse arches is only a
foot or so wide and since this so-called ambulatory is blocked
off at both ends by towers, it never could have served, let alone
for stately processions, even for passage, but must have been
built simply to furnish space for four additional altars. In
fact, it is known that in 1122 the abbey obtained certain pre-
cious relics, and in all probability this so-called ambulatory
was erected with a view to providing space in which these relics
might be displayed. In a structure of such small size it was nat-
ural there should be no radiating chapels.

The interest of this ambulatory centers in the fact that its
four bays are rib-vaulted. Now the problem of vaulting a
semicircular aisle, especially with rib vaults, is never an easy
one; and at Morienval the awkward shape of the vaulting com-
partments, which are extremely long in proportion to their
width, and the inexperience of the builders, greatly increased
the difficulty.

Precedents, as far as we can now tell, there were none. The
Romans, or rather the Early Christians, it will be remembered,

1 See list of monuments, p. 13, for a brief discussion. It may appear illogical to accept
so early a date as c. 1125 for Bellefontaine, while considering Morienval as late as c. 1122, for
the decoration of the former certainly shows a great advance. See, however, what has been
said above, p. 54.

THE TRANSITION

had vaulted circular aisles by springing a barrel vault from
above the crowns of the arches of the main arcades (111. 44,
Vol. I); at Aix-la-Chapelle, the Carolingians had ingeniously
doubled the number of supports in the outer wall, thus dividing
the space to be vaulted by transverse arches into a series of
compartments alternately square and triangular and easily
covered with groin vaults (111. 85, 86, Vol. I), a device later
adopted by the Gothic architects.1 Broken annular groin vaults
occur in Lombardy in the baptisteries of Almeno and Arsago,
and in Auvergne; in the XI century, ambulatories had been
vaulted with interpenetrating groin vaults. But none of these
precedents, even had they been known, touched the funda-
mental difficulties that confronted the builders of Morienval.

To realize just what the problem was, imagine a vault on
a plan similar to Morienval constructed in a manner that would
be natural to builders having had experience with rib vaults
only on a square plan. The size of the compartment may be
taken as illustrated in the diagram (111. 165), by the lines ab,
be, cd, and da. First of all construct the diagonals ac and bd.
It is evident that these will intersect at the point e. But the
point e coincides with neither the points g and h, marking the
crowns of the diagonals, nor with j, the center of the vault.
That is, these ribs instead of having a common keystone at the
center of the vault, will merely intersect each other at a point
near their springing. Nor is this the end of the difficulty. The
four vault compartments, w, x, y, z, offer surfaces of very differ-
ent sizes and awkward shapes. It would be well-nigh impos-
sible to construct with stability a vault resting on such erratic
ribs, and covering such awkward fields. How disastrous the
distortions that would necessarily result, would be from an
esthetic point of view, may be readily imagined.

Even greater difficulties were caused by the construction
of the wall ribs. Supposing the diagonals and transverse ribs
in place, let us proceed to the construction of the wall arch, ab,

1 The most notable instance is at St. Martin d'Etampes, c. 11(50. But here the four-sided
compartments are trapezoidal instead of being perfectly rectangular. Hence, the diagonals,
which are straight in plan, do not intersect on the ridge. This is well illustrated in the Bulletin
Monumental for 1905, p. 247.

III. 164. — Plan of MoriVnval

RIB VAULTS ON A CURVED PLAN

and the arch of the main arcade, dc. It is evident that the
three arches ad, ab, dc, and ac all have bases of varying length.
Consequently, if they were constructed with a semicircular
radius, they would all rise to the varying heights shown in the
diagram. The impossibility of adjusting a vault surface to
all these different altitudes is perfectly evident; it is only neces-
sary to imagine the pitch of the transverse ridge, Ip, which is

P c

III. 165. — Diagram of Rib Vault on a Curved Oblong Plan

mathematically worked out in the oblique line, ml, to realize how
bizarre this construction would be.

Still another trouble is to be found in the longitudinal ridge
of the vault. This should be concentric with the walls of the
ambulatory, and lie in the center of the vault; in other words,
in the line, fji. But the crowns (g, h) of the diagonal ribs do not
lie in this line. Therefore the ridge of the vault would be forced
to run in a straight or broken line, fghi, quite unsymmetrical with
the plan of the ambulatory.

THE TRANSITION

Enough has been said to show how complicated was the
problem which confronted the builders of Morienval. How-
ever, they proved equal to the situation, and by the application
of that inexorable spirit of logic which was to become the watch-
word of Gothic progress, they constructed a vault — far from
perfect, it is true, -- but one that has stood for nearly eight
hundred years, and one which provided a solid foundation for
the achievements of their successors.

First of all, by redoubled orders, they built out the responds
at a and b (111. 10.5, Fig. 2), and contracted those at d and c,
so that the central points, / and i, of the transverse arches fell
considerably inside the center of the vault. Then the diagonals,
ac and bd, were built on a plan slightly curved (probably as
much so as the builders dared to construct them). By this
means the ridge passing through /, g, h, and i, was made con-
centric with the ambulatory, though not placed in its center.
The curving in plan of the diagonals brought the point e slightly
nearer to the center of the vault. Finally the arches of the vari-
ous ribs were made to rise to nearly the same height by depress-
ing the wall rib ab, and stilting or pointing the transverse rib
and the arch of the main arcade.

The vault of Morienval, as completed, is far from elegant,
but it is of priceless value in demonstrating the logical and
thoughtful, if somewhat groping, manner in which French archi-
tecture was feeling its way along untrodden paths. The prob-
lems attacked were not simple, and the builders lacked skill
and technique. But by dint of systematic experiment and
perserverance, not one, but a dozen methods were found for
surmounting each obstacle. Morienval marks a distinct epoch
in the evolution of French Gothic, and certainly represents the
summit of achievement in the first quarter of the XII century.

It is now necessary to abandon again for a moment strict
chronological sequence, and, before taking up the advance
made in other directions by the monuments built directly after
Morienval in the second quarter of the XII century, to trace
the ultimate solutions found for the problem of the rib-vaulted
ambulatory.

For at least ten years no other ambulatory seems to have been

III. 166. — Plan of Pontoise. From Lefevre-Pontalis

AMBULATORY VAULTS

built in the He de France, or at least none has come down to us,
and when ambulatories do appear, they are found rather in
the region to the westward, where they often continued to be
groin-vaulted * until nearly the end of the XII century. It is
probable that they finally made their way into the eastern dis-
tricts of the He de France from this direction. At all events,
probably the earliest extant rib-vaulted example after Morienval
is found at Pontoise, c. 1140.2 During the twenty years which
had elapsed since the construction of Morienval, great advances
had been made in the technique of stereotomy; and, thanks to
this, it was found possible at Pontoise to construct the diagonals
without curving them in plan. Furthermore, as this ambula-
tory happened to be supplied with semicircular radiating chapels,
the builders hit upon the device of consolidating the vault of
chapel and ambulatory by springing a fifth rib from the key-
stone to the middle of the outside wall of the chapel (111. 166).
By this means the vault surface was divided into five nearly
equal compartments.

About this same time another, and final, solution was found
for the problem of the ambulatory vault. An early example
of this new construction occurs in the cathedral of Sens (111.
168). It was discovered that by placing the keystone in the
center of the vaulting compartment and by springing thence
half ribs to each of the four corners, a symmetrical and stable
vault could be erected. Each rib thus became broken in the
middle, as it were, and was no longer a straight continuous arch
uniting the opposite corners of the vaulting compartment (111.
167). These broken rib vaults were adopted as the final type
of perfected Gothic ambulatory vault. By their use all undue
twisting and distortion of surfaces was avoided; in short, the
solution was in every way satisfactory. When the double am-
bulatory of St. Denis (111. 169) was erected in 1140-44, the
inner aisle was vaulted with a broken rib vault constructed
much more skilfully than that at Sens, and the outer aisle
was vaulted on the same system as the ambulatory of Pontoise.
It is not unlikely that St. Denis may be more ancient than

1 e. g. Poissy and St. Martin-des-Champs.

2 There is much controversy as to whether or not this ambulatory is earlier than St. Denis.

THE TRANSITION

either Pontoise or Sens; but if so, it is probable that these vault
forms were discovered in some other edifice now lost to us, for
at St. Denis the technique shows none of that timidity and hesi-
tation which almost inevitably characterized a first attempt at
new forms.

About the same time that the intersection of the diagonal
ribs was being thus perfected, means were found to bring the
crowns of the ribs all to about the same height, without produc-
ing distortions. After Morienval, owing mainly to the fact

III. 167. — Diagram. Broken Rib Vaults

that subsequent ambulatories were all erected on a broader
plan, difficulty had been experienced only with the outside wall
rib. Already in Romanesque times, if the restorers of the nave
of Morienval are to be trusted, the experiment had been tried
of springing this arch from a lower level than that of the other
ribs (111. 1.55). This same expedient was tried at Sens (111.
168), and also at Poissy x and St. Denis. Soon, however, the
builders acquired sufficient skill to adjust all their arches to
the required level by pointing, stilting, and depressing, and it
became no longer necessary to resort to this device.

Thus after c. 1140 the principle of the broken rib vault was
thoroughly established, and the problem of vaulting the am-
bulatory had been mastered. Occasionally, it is true, examples
of the earlier devices appeared long after this time, although
usually in outlying districts. Thus the ribs of the ambulatory

1 The aisles of Morienval and Poissy were, of course, groin- not rib-vaulted.

III. 168. — Ambulatory of Sens. Perspective

III. 169. — Plan (restored) of St. Denis. (From Deliinl

DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMBULATORY

of Vezelay were perfectly straight in plan; and the idea of
curving the ribs, as first essayed at Morienval, was developed
at St. Germer, and carried to the highest perfection in the fully
Gothic cathedral of Bourges (111. 243). But even when applied
with all the skill of the greatest builders of the XIII century,
the curved rib offered a twisted and uncertain appearance and
was in every way less satisfactory than the broken rib.

This comparatively early mastery of the complex problem
of the ambulatory vault was of the greatest importance for the
development of Gothic architecture, for the ambulatory was
the peculiar glory of the French style and became one of the love-
liest and most characteristic features of the French Gothic
cathedrals. It was largely by wrestling with, and overcoming,
the numerous difficulties presented by this construction that
the Gothic builders acquired the skill and technique by which
they were able to rise to the heights of the XIII century. Fur-
thermore, many of the most beautiful features of the Gothic
choir were evolved as a direct consequence of the mastery of
the ambulatory vaults. As the broken rib vault came to be
more thoroughly understood, it became possible to increase the
size and importance of the ambulatory. This, in turn, caused
the number of apsidal chapels to be made greater. At Mori-
enval (c. 1122) there had been no radiating absidioles; Poissy
(c. 1135) and Sens (c. 1135) each had one; but Pontoise and
St. Denis had five. Later these chapels were also increased
in size until they gradually came to occupy all the space between
the buttresses; and instead of being semicircular in plan, they
often (at least in the easternmost or lady chapel) consisted of
two straight bays followed by a polygonal apse. Similarly the
choir itself came to be much prolonged. Semicircular at Morien-
val (111. 164), and Pontoise (111. 166), it was lengthened at
Poissy and St. Denis (111. 169); at Noyon (111. 176) it included
three straight bays; and in 1163 at Paris (111. 241) the Gothic
choir reached its full glorious development. Similarly at St.
Martin-des- Champs (c. 1135) the aisles of the ambulatory were
doubled as far as the beginning of the radiating chapels; but
at St. Denis (111. 169), for the first time, a double ambulatory
was carried completely around the choir.

THE TRANSITION

All this has taken us far afield from the groping efforts of
the second quarter of the XII century, and it is time to return
to the study of the vaults erected immediately after Morienval.
Not content with the problem of the ambulatory vault, the
builders of the second quarter of the XII century immediately
broached a new problem almost equally important. Up to
this moment rib vaults had been attempted only over narrow
areas, such as side aisles, or, when they had been erected over
choirs or crossings, these had always been of restrained dimen-
sions, and generally surmounted by a tower, which by its down-
ward weight more than neutralized any thrust of the vault.
But from c. 1125 vaults came to be thrown across the nave.1

It is difficult to say to which of several monuments should
be given the honor of being the earliest rib-vaulted nave known.
The nave of Airaines, M. Enlart believes, is even earlier than
c. 1125, although the authenticity of this early date, I confess,
seems to me more than questionable. Of about 1125, however,
must be the vaulted naves of Bury, Belief ontaine, and St.-Vaast-
les-Mello; St. Etienne of Beauvais followed c. 1130; Villetertre
and Poissy may be assigned to c. 1135; and the vaulted naves
of Acy-en-Multien, Cambronne, Foulangues, Fay-St.-Quentin,
St. Evremond of Creil, St. Germer, and Chars were erected,
most of them before 1140, and all before the innovations wrought
at St. Denis had impressed themselves on the architecture of
the surrounding country.

A study of these vaults shows that the earliest ones — Air-
aines, Bellefontaine, Bury — were built upon a plan nearly, if
not quite, square. It was natural enough that builders who
were struggling so laboriously with the problem of the rib vault
on an oblong plan in the aisles, should not attempt this con-
struction in the far more difficult nave vaults. The system em-
ployed at Bellefontaine is thoroughly Lombard; two square
bays in the aisles equal one square compartment in the nave.
At Airaines the rib vaults of the nave are still square, but since
the aisle compartments are as long as those of the nave, they are
necessarily very oblong. The builders seem to have hesitated

1 It is remarkable that in the diocese of Soissons, in many respects the center of the tran-
sitional movement, naves came to be vaulted later than in the neighboring sub-schools.

VAULTED NAVES

to construct a rib vault over a space so excessively long in pro-
portion to its width, and consequently employed groin vaults
in these aisles. However, at Bury, where precisely this same
problem existed, the rib-vaulted nave being divided into square
compartments, and the aisle compartments being consequently
oblong, the rib vault was courageously attempted even in the
aisles. How sorely the builders of Bury were perplexed by this
problem of construction is shown by the fact that they were
forced to adopt the desperate expedient of loading the trans-
verse arch — a strange make-shift we have already described.
Nevertheless sufficient experience seems to have been gained
by such experiments to make it possible by c. 1130, to entirely
cover the large nave of St. Etienne of Beauvais with oblong rib
vaults.

These vaults of St. Etienne of Beauvais unfortunately have
not survived, although it is clear from the section of the piers
that such vaults were intended. It is even possible that the
vaults were not actually executed at this time. The fact, how-
ever, that the builders of c. 1130 felt themselves strong enough
to undertake so difficult a feat is of the greatest significance,
and we would give a great deal to know with what measure of
success they carried out so ambitious a project.

At all events, there can be no doubt that by this time the
rib vault on an oblong plan was thoroughly understood, and if
it had not already been applied with absolute success to large
naves, it was only a question of a short time and a few
experiments before it would be. But just now a strange and
unaccountable event occurred, an event without parallel in the
history of the transition. With success within easy reach,
almost under their hand, the builders turned from so promising
a beginning to adopt an entirely foreign form — the sexpartite
vault of Normandy. The oblong quadripartite form was
practically abandoned in the naves for the space of half a cen-
tury; but at the end of that time the Gothic builders, with equal
suddenness, seem to have realized its superior advantages, and
abandoning in turn the Norman form, carried their own quadri-
partite type to its logical and triumphant conclusion.

It should be noticed, before leaving for the present the sub-

THE TRANSITION

ject of nave vaults, that these early quadripartite vaults of the
He de France depended entirely on the inertia of the walls for
their stability; and as the construction at this time was still
heavy, the powerful thrust exercised by these vaults necessi-
tated very thick and ponderous walls.

While the nave vault was being developed, improvements
were simultaneously being made in the vaulting of choirs and
apses. The apse, it will be remembered, had since the days of
the Romans been invariably supplied with a half-dome. No
part of the church construction was more sanctified by tradition.
This half-dome had sometimes been pointed to harmonize with
a pointed barrel vault, but until the XII century no other change
had ever been wrought. A semicircular apse had always been
covered with a half-dome. But, when the builders of the sec-
ond quarter of the XII century came to place rib vaults over
their choirs, they found that the half -dome of the apse harmo-
nized badly with the new style of vault. They accordingly con-
ceived the idea of placing two ribs underneath this half-dome,
radiating from the keystone of the triumphal arch. These
ribs in no way supported the dome, but must be considered
merely as an ornamental addition (111. 171).

Such a ribbed half-dome originally existed in the choir of
Morienval (c. 1122), a structure which, however, has subse-
quently been rebuilt, so that the apse of Bury (c. 1125) offers
probably the most ancient surviving example of this construc-
tion. The earliest instance extant in the Soissonnais is the apse
of Vauxrezis (111. 171), a monument of c. 1130. Other examples
about contemporary exist at Bruyeres-sur-Fere and Pernant;
and in the years immediately following it became a very
favorite construction, as is witnessed by numerous examples at
Berzy-le-Sec (c. 1140), Chelles (c. 1140), Laffaux (c. 1140),
Nouvron-Vingre (c. 1140), Frouville, Trucy (c. 1150), Bonnes
(c. 1150), and elsewhere. It survived as late as c. 1160 at
Courmelles or even c. 1170 at Vailly.

The lady chapel of St. Martin-des-Champs (c. 1135) at
Paris shows a notable development of this idea. In fact, the
chevet of this church with its important structural advances,
shows that the western school has entered the arena of the

III. 171. — Ribbed Half-Dome of Vauxrezis. (Redrawn from Lefevre-Pon talis)

III. 172. — Lobed Half-Dome of St. Martin des Champs, Paris

THE CHEVET VAULT

transition as an active and formative member. The apse of
the lady chapel (111. 172) is trilobed, and the ribs are no longer
purely decorative, but have really become structural members,
since they are made to carry the three compartments of the vault
which bulge upwards from them. The step to the fully devel-
oped chevet vault with ribs completely structural was an easy
one, and was perhaps taken at Largny (c. 1140), or in the chevet
of St. Germer (111. 173), which is of about the same date. A
completely logical rib vault had now been evolved to replace
the old half -dome, although many adjustments and perfections
still remained to be made.

The chevet vault, as thus evolved in the apse, was immediately
applied to the choirs of churches with ambulatory, which indeed
offered precisely the same problem on a slightly larger scale.
An immediate consequence of the introduction of the chevet
vault in this position was the stilting of the wall rib. The
width of the bays in the chevet was always less than in the
straight portions of the church. Where the ambulatory ex-
isted, this was necessary in order to avoid making the outer
wall arch of the ambulatory vault unduly wide, and in simple
apses esthetic reasons seem to have led to the same result. Now
from such narrow bays, to raise the crown of the narrow wall
arch to the same level as the crown of the greatly wider transverse
arch, there was need not only of pointing, but also of stilting.
Thus the wall arch in the chevet came to be always highly
stilted, and so generated those singularly graceful twisted sur-
faces that characterize the developed Gothic chevet vault
(111. 173).

Stilting the wall rib, indeed, was no new idea, and had been
employed in connection with vaults on a rectangular plan as
early as c. 1125 at Dhuizel and elsewhere. In the fully devel-
oped Gothic, this construction was destined to become one of
the most typical and strongly accentuated characteristics, not
only of the chevet vaults, but of the nave vaults as well, and
more than any other single feature to give rise to the peculiar
form of the French Gothic vault. Furthermore, it was through
this stilting that the structural usefulness of the wall rib in de-
termining the form and shape of the vault was first fully demon-

THE TRANSITION

strated. From the moment when it became usual to stilt the
wall rib, this member was seldom omitted.

There seems, therefore, no reason to doubt that the wall
rib was stilted in the nave for the same reason that it was stilted
in the chevet, i.e., to raise it to the desired level. Mr. Moore,1
however, believes that this rib was stilted in order to concen-
trate thrusts. If the wall ribs be stilted, it is obvious that the
thrust of the vault will be brought to bear on a much smaller
portion of the outside wall, than if the wall ribs be not stilted,
since the conoid formed by the five converging ribs is much
narrower in the first case than in the second. Thus by stilting
the wall rib, the entire thrust of the vault is gathered on a single
vertical line, where it can easily be neutralized by a flying but-
tress. No single feature was, therefore, more essential to the
stability of the Gothic skeleton structure than this same stilted
wall rib. I believe, however, that Mr. Moore, is mistaken in
thinking that stilted wall ribs were developed in order to meet
this structural necessity. Historical evidence shows that this
stilting, which later became so integral a part of the structure of
the building, grew up long before the flying buttress had been
dreamed of, and was developed without other notion of structural
importance than the raising of the crown of the wall rib. The
apse of Largny, for example, where the problem of buttressing
could as yet have had no weight, is supplied with fully stilted
wall ribs.

A direct consequence of the development of the chevet
vault was the substitution of a polygonal for a semicircular
plan in the apses and chevets. It is true that this polygonal
plan had appeared sporadically before the chevet vault was
perfected. Outside the limits of the He de France it had
already been employed in Limousin, Velay, Provence, and even
Artois, where the polygonal apse of St. Ulmer of Boulogne is
said to date from as early as the XI century. But in the He
de France itself the earliest instance known is the church of
Coudun (c. 1125), whose apse is polygonal internally, but semi-
circular externally. At Auvers, however, side by side with one
of the earliest examples of the ribbed half -dome (c. 1131) there

1 Gothic Architecture, p. 133.
80

III. 173. — St. Germer. Interior

POLYGONAL APSES

is an apse polygonal externally (111. 174), and at Ciry is
another example about contemporary. Nevertheless it was only
in the second half of the century that this motive became
thoroughly established.1

III. 174. — Plan of Auvcrs. (From Arch, cle la Com. des
Mon. Hist.)

The lack of enthusiasm with which the polygonal apse was at
first received must be attributed to the strength of the tradition
that the east end of the church should be semicircular, for the

1 As at Azy-Bonneil, Bussiares, Chassemy, Hautevesnes, Marigny-en-Orxois, Marisy-St.-
Mard, etc.

THE TRANSITION

polygonal form offered great advantages over the older type.
Chief among these was the fact that by this means all the arches
of the east end --whether of the main arcades, the triforium,
the windows, or the wall ribs — could be built upon a straight
plan, and surfaces of double curvature thus avoided. The
new form was hence at once both easier to build and more
satisfying to the eye. Yet, in the large churches of the second
half of the transitional period, where the advantages of the new
system, it would have seemed, were most obvious, the polygonal
plan was never adopted; and it remained for the Gothic archi-
tects to translate this motive from the apse of the rustic parish
church into the chevet of the cathedral.

One further change was wrought in the construction of the
chevet vault, largely during the last phase of the transitional
movement. In large chevets, with five or more bays and con-
sequently as many radiating ribs, since all these ribs converged
on the keystone of the last transverse rib and since all exerted
thrusts in similar directions upon this keystone (111. 173, 175),
the stability of the transverse ribs seems to have been somewhat
compromised. To obviate this, the principle of the broken rib
vault, as developed in the ambulatory, was applied to the chevet
in the form shown in the diagram (111. 175). The thrust of
the half ribs, a and b, was found sufficient to neutralize the gen-
erally opposite thrusts c, d, ey and /, and the stability of the vault
was thus assured. This new construction is called the radia-
ting rib vault, and a good example of its application may be
found in the apsidal chapels of the cathedral of Noyon (111. 176).

This same principle was carried one step further in the chevet
of the same cathedral. This choir was originally vaulted with
the sexpartite system. Therefore the semicircle of the chevet
was joined to half a bay of the sexpartite system (111. 176, 175,
Fig. 4) — an arrangement which gave an adjustment perfectly
satisfactory. As long as the sexpartite system was retained, the
choirs continued to be vaulted in this manner. With the re-
turn to the quadripartite vault in the Ciothic period, however,
this system was no longer practicable, and a new adjustment
(111. 175, Fig. 3) was invented. The chevet was prolonged
beyond a semicircle and made seven-sided, and the keystone of

III. 175. — Diagram of Chevet Vaults

CONVERGING RIBS

the vault was placed, not exactly in the center of the polygon,
but in such a position that all the ribs became approximately
equal. Thus was found at last an entirely satisfactory solu-
tion to the problem.

Mr. Moore 1 has suggested another theory to account for

III. 176. — Plan of Noyon. (From Dehio)

the abandonment of that type of chevet vault which is charac-
terized by ribs converging on the keystone of the last transverse
rib. He notes that in St. Germer (111. 173) the diagonals of the
last bay are carried on corbels and not on shafts, and he
remarks that, were shafts provided, the piers x and y would

Gothic Architecture, p. 76.
83

THE TRANSITION

become unsymmetrical, there being nothing to the eastward to
balance the diagonals. Hence, he thinks, the later forms were
invented in order to preserve the symmetrical section of the pier
and at the same time provide shafts for every rib. I find it diffi-
cult to admit, however, that the builders of this time would even
to the slightest degree sacrifice construction to mere formal
symmetry. Strangely enough, no one has emphasized this
logical character of transitional architecture more effectively
than Mr. Moore himself, who, nevertheless, abandons his own
thesis in this single instance.

Before leaving this subject of the chevet vault it should be
noticed that vaults of this character were occasionally applied
even to square east ends, which became very common about
this time. At Ouideuil, for instance, the square choir is cov-
ered with a vault of five converging ribs. Three of these abut
against the east end forming a true chevet vault, although, of
course, it is somewhat distorted by the very different lengths of
the ribs.

We come now to the second phase of the transitional move-
ment. This period, into which we have already made many
excursions, is closely linked with the preceding forty years; on
the whole, however, the erection of St. Denis marks the dawn
of a new epoch with a far sharper distinction than any which
can be traced, for instance, between the transitional and the
Gothic periods. Perhaps, after all, the archaeologists of the old
school did not make a mistake in calling St. Denis the first of
the Gothic monuments. For St. Denis marks the moment when
French architecture ceased to grope obscurely with new and
strange principles in out-of-the-way country churches, and
commenced instead to apply these principles on a grand scale
to the great abbeys and cathedrals; when the rib vault, instead
of being an experiment, a tentative construction, became a
triumphant principle destined to bend all Europe to its sway;
when the architecture of the He de France from being the least
conspicuous school of the Occident, almost at a bound became
the leader of the West, imitated and copied from Cypress to the

III. 177. — Section of St. Germer

III. 178. — St. Quiriace of Provins. Choir. (From Gurlitt)

THE SECOND PHASE

Orkneys, from Gibraltar to the North Sea. History knows no
parallel to the sudden flowering of this lovely art.

Not that, necessarily, no large buildings were constructed
before 1140 — we know on the contrary from literary sources
that the reverse was the case. But the very fact that to a later
age all these monuments seemed mean and unworthy, and so
were replaced, while a whole series of important abbeys and
cathedrals erected after 1140 are still extant, is significant.
Nor should it be understood that French architecture had yet
reached its zenith — many problems still remained unsolved
and even unattempted; much crudity and lack of skill still
remained. The best part of a century of unceasing develop-
ment and growth lies between the ambulatory of St. Denis
and the nave of Amiens. Nevertheless, the year 1140 marks
the turning of the tide. From this moment French architecture
was conscious of its destiny; it was henceforth only a ques-
tion of perfecting principles already understood, of carrying
to their logical conclusion ideas already successfully applied on
a small scale. And the medieval builders never faltered in pur-
suing to its goal the road that they were traveling. They rose
from triumph to triumph still more lofty, until at Amiens they
accomplished the utmost possibility of human achievement.

The abbey of St. Denis also marks the flood tide of mo-
nastic influence over the architecture of the He de France. Up
to this moment, whether in France or Normandy, the most
important monuments, the edifices that had been used as models
for the humbler churches, had almost invariably been the great
abbey churches. But after 1140 in France the abbey fell under
the shadow of the cathedral. No abbot in France ever again
held within his hands the destinies of architecture, as did Suger
at St. Denis. The torch of progress was passed on to the
bishops, to whom was given the actual accomplishment of what
the monks had so largely made possible.

The exact relationship of the abbey of St. Denis to the sud-
den expansion of architecture, which took place in the He de
France, c. 1140, is difficult to determine. Whether it was that
the personal force of Suger and the genius of some unknown
master builder called into being at St. Denis a work far in

THE TRANSITION

advance of its time, and one which, like Hagia Sophia or Jumieges,
immediately impressed its form on the buildings of the sur-
rounding country; or whether the advances we find in all the
buildings of the He de France of about this time are merely
the result of a sudden stimulation felt throughout the school,
and not directly inspired by the abbey of Suger, has been much
discussed. The extant monuments analogous to, and nearly
contemporary with, St. Denis — such as the western portions
of the cathedral of Chartres, the cathedrals of Sens and Noyon,
the abbey of St. Germer — are none of them dated with suffi-
cient exactness to make it possible to determine the question
on the basis of chronology. There is, however, reason to be-
lieve that the influence of St. Denis was very great. For it is
more likely that the Norman influence, which is unmistakable
at St. Denis, should have radiated thence into the rest of the
He de France, than that the whole of this virile and active school
should have fallen all at once under the sway of foreign models.

This Norman influence showed itself not only in the sex-
partite vault,1 — significant as was this feature — but in other
structural peculiarities almost as important: the concealed
flying buttress, evolved in all probability at the Abbaye-aux-
Dames, appeared at precisely this moment in the architecture of
the He de France (111. 177); lanterns, a distinctly Norman
feature, were also adopted by the royal school; triforium gal-
leries, though much used by the Carolingian builders, had been
practically unknown in France before 1140, but they now be-
came well-nigh universal in larger edifices2 and acquired an im-
portance distinctly recalling the developed treatment given this
feature in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Jumieges, and similar
edifices; finally, the interior passage-ways in clearstory and
triforium that had been known in Normandy from the third
quarter of the XI century, now first made their appearance in
the He de France (111. 177).

It is easier to state the fact of this Norman influence than
to explain its cause. The sexpartite vault seems to have ex-
ercised for the medieval builders a strange attraction. The
oblong rib vault, which was understood in the He de France at

1 S<-<> p. 263, Vol. I. 2 Except Sens and a few others.

111. 179. — Sens. Interior

SEXPARTITE VAULTS

this period, was structurally and artistically preferable in every
way, as the Gothic artists a little later were not slow to recog-
nize. Yet the builders of the XII century deliberately discarded
it in favor of the sexpartite form — an awkward type of vault
which had originated in Normandy largely as the result of an
accident. Not that the quadripartite form ever quite died out;
on the contrary it always survived in the naves of small churches.
But for the naves of important edifices, during the entire second
phase of the transition, the sexpartite vault was well-nigh ex-
clusively employed. So firmly rooted did the popularity of
this form become that, in the Cathedral of Paris, although the
entire building up to the clearstory level had been designed for
a quadripartite vault, and although the supports and shafts
for this had actually been constructed, yet when it came to
the point of erecting the vault, the builders suddenly changed
their plans, abandoned the quadripartite vault intended, and
erected instead a sexpartite vault.

This sudden and radical change in the design of Paris gives
reason to believe that for some reason the builders, in the vault-
ing of great spans, found it easier, or safer, to employ a sex-
partite rather than an oblong quadripartite vault. In fact,
oblong quadripartite vaults, especially on a large scale, offered
great difficulties of construction and adjustment, and it is prob-
able that the French builders of 1140 hesitated to undertake
them in so vast an edifice as, for example, St. Denis. The con-
structors of this church were accordingly reduced to one of two
alternatives in designing the vaults for this choir: they might
build them square and quadripartite — i.e., on the old Lombard
system; or they might borrow the sexpartite system successfully
practised on a large scale in Normandy. The Norman sex-
partite vaults clearly offered a structural advantage over the
Lombard type. Since both required an approximately square
plan, for a nave of a given width it is evident that a bay vaulted
on the Lombard system would contain about the same amount
of vault surface as a double bay of the sexpartite system, and
would consequently have nearly the same weight and discharge
thrusts of about the same power. But in the Lombard system
these weights and thrusts were all gathered on the alternate

THE TRANSITION

piers; but in the sexpartite system the intermediate ribs dis-
charged a considerable part of these weights and thrusts on
the intermediate piers, thus easing very materially the strain
upon the principal supports.

The Norman system thus once established at St. Denis was
immediately copied throughout the He de France. The very fact
that a more or less satisfactory substitute had been found doubtless
deterred the builders from risking the difficult construction of
an oblong quadripartite vault on a large scale. Yet at times
they seem to have retained sexpartite vaults out of pure love
for their distorted surfaces; — at least it is difficult to explain
why else in Champagne and the bordering regions they should
have out-Heroded Herod, and invented the octopartite vault.
In this bizarre construction (111. 178) three bays were included
between a single pair of main transverse arches, with the result
of grotesquely distorting the vault surfaces.

The sexpartite vault, ipso facto, necessitated the alternate
system. And this alternate system brought to a head the prob-
lem (which had long been impending) of how to provide proper
supports for the various ribs. The Lombards had provided for
every rib a shaft which had been carried directly to the ground.
This construction, which was entirely satisfactory from both a
structural and from an esthetic point of view, was adopted in
the He de France during the first phase of the transition, except
in rare cases, where for some unavoidable reason the ribs were
carried on corbels1 (111. 162, 170, 173, etc.). Cylindrical piers
had occasionally been used in wooden-roofed churches like
Crezancy, Lucheux, or Gassicourt; but it was only at the very
end of the first phase of the transition that round piers or col-
umns were employed in connection with the vault.2

Such columns seem first to have been used in the chevet,
as, for example, at Poissy and Pontoise (111. 166), and they were
probably substituted for compound piers partly in order to
economize floor space, partly with a view to giving an appear-
ance of greater lightness to the construction. Now the use of
these columns raised the question of what to do with the vault-

1 e. g. Rhuis and the nave of Bellefontaine.
1 Morienval seems to be an exception.

III. 180. — Noyon. Interior

ADJUSTMENT OF SHAFTS

ing shafts, which, since wall ribs were now generally included,
were five in number and of no inconsiderable bulk. For the
present they were continued to the ground as of old, along the
face of the column (111. 173); but before long it was found that
floor space might be still further economized by stopping the
shafts at the abacus of the capital. This was satisfactory from
a constructive standpoint, since it is the natural function of a
capital to adjust a bulky load to a more slender support. To
place so great a bulk on only one side of the abacus, however,
necessitated an awkward distortion of the form of the latter
(111. 204), to avoid which many devices were invented.

One of the earliest of these occurs in the Cathedral of Sens.
This nave (111. 179) is of peculiar interest because here for the
first time columns were used to replace piers not only in the
chevet, but in the nave and choir. The master builder, how-
ever, seems to have mistrusted the ability of the columns to
bear the great weight of the vault and of the clearstory walls;
accordingly he dared to use them only in the intermediate or
lighter supports, and there he reinforced the construction by
coupling two columns together in the latitudinal sense. In
fact, until the Gothic period, the greater weight supported by
the alternate piers was never entrusted to columns. This
peculiar design of Sens was cleverly utilized to improve the ad-
justment of the shafts. Since columns were used only in the
intermediate supports, there were only three ribs — two wall
ribs and the intermediate transverse rib — - to be carried in the
system which rested on columns. Hence it was possible to
gather all the ribs on the capital of a single shaft, which might
easily be supported on the abacus, without undue distortion
of the latter.

At Noyon (111. 180) an entirely different and a better ad-
justment was found. Single columns were substituted for
coupled ones in the intermediate supports, and the alternate
piers were lightened by concentrating the wall and diagonal
ribs on a single shaft, so that there were thus only three shafts,
instead of five, to be carried to the ground.1 In the intermediate

1 In the two eastern (earlier) bays of the nave there are, however, five shafts. The wall
shafts have no capitals at the main impost level, but only at the top of the stilting.

THE TRANSITION

supports throe shafts rose from the abaci, which were enlarged
by eorbels so as to afford them sufficient footing. Thus both
alternate and intermediate supports had the same number of
shafts, but the sexpartite vaults with which the nave was orig-
inally covered were clearly and logically expressed by making
the individual shafts of the alternate group much heavier.

At Senlis (111. 181) the system seems to have been precisely
similar to that of the eastern bays of Noyon, that is, in the inter-
mediate supports there were three shafts resting on the abaci
of the columns and in the alternate supports five shafts carried
to the ground. This arrangement is perfectly rational and satis-
factory. At Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne (111. 182) the
system is alternate, although the vaults seem always to have been
quadripartite. The peculiar adjustment of shafts, best ex-
plained by the illustration, is due probably to the fact that the
present building is a reconstruction of an older edifice, though
at St. Alpin in the same city an arrangement exactly analogous
is to be found. At Coulonges the system is logical and con-
tinuous with five shafts and a quadripartite vault; at St. Ger-
main-des-Pres of Paris three shafts rising from the abaci of the
columns support five ribs; and in the almost Gothic chevet of
St. Remi, Reims (111. 183) five shafts rise from the abaci of the
columns.

There is no need of multiplying examples. Hardly two
buildings of the second phase of the transition show exactly
the same disposition of shafts. It was reserved for the Gothic
builders to discover the adjustments which most perfectly com-
bined structural logic, economy of material, and esthetic beauty.
The builders of the second phase of the transition, however,
fully realized the problem, and with that persevering, rational
spirit so characteristic of the age, they attempted device after
device and paved the way for the final solution. Not one of the
answers proposed is without great ingenuity and interest, and
nothing is more fascinating than to study comparatively the
various systems of the second half of the XII century, for in
the development of no other feature is the perseverance and
logic by which Gothic architecture finally arrived at perfec-
tion more strikingly illustrated.

III. 181. — System of Senlis

FLYING BUTTRESSES

As the adjustment of shafts came to be improved, it became
customary to set the capitals of the diagonal shafts normal to
the direction of the ribs they carried (111. 179), instead of plac-
ing them normal to the wall (111. 180). This was no new idea,
and had been tried in the first half of the century, as, for ex-
ample, at St. Etienne of Beauvais (111. 162) ; but it gradually
became more and more common until the older disposition was
supplanted.1

The builders of the second half of the transition were con-
fronted by another problem far more vital than these niceties
of adjustment. It was necessary to discover some means to
buttress the thrust of the rib vaults, which, when erected over
so large an area as the nave of an important church, seriously
imperiled the stability of the building, unless some substantial
abutment could be devised. Fully equal to the occasion, the
transitional builders called into being the flying buttress — a
new principle, that more than any other assured the triumph
of the rib vault, and a principle whose discovery marks the
moment when Gothic Architecture first came into being. Un-
fortunately, just how or where this new principle first saw the
light, is among the most vexed questions of the entire transi-
tional period.

Flying buttress concealed beneath the aisle roof (111. 177)
had been, as we have seen, imported from Normandy as early
as 1140. During the next fifteen years and even longer, such
buttresses were regularly employed without substantial altera-
tion of design, as, for example, at St. Germer and Creil. But-
tresses of this type, however, brought the strut to bear on a
point too low to oppose most effectively the thrust of the vault,
especially if the clearstory were of any great height. The step
to raising the flying buttress over the roof to meet more squarely
this thrust seems obvious, and was, indeed, taken. But when
and where ?

The early extant examples of flying buttresses give little
clue to the answer of this question. The chevet of Domont

1 Capitals normal to the wall, however, occur at Noyon, Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne,
St. Martin of Laon (c. 1165), Namps-au-Val (c. 1150), etc. They seem to have been so set to
adapt the abaci to the profile of the ribs they must carry. See below, p. 295.

THE TRANSITION

(111. 184) has true flying buttresses which appear to be of a type
as primitive as any that have come down to us, and which I
should assign to c. 1155; there is, however, no documentary
evidence to support this date. Other examples of flying but-
tresses of early type (111. 185) exist in the choir of Noyon (c.
1157), at Sens (c. 1160), at Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne
(c.1160), at St. Germain-des-Pres (c. 1163), at St. Martin of
Laon (c. 1165), at St. Remi of Reims (c. 1180), and at Arcy-
Ste.-Restitute (c. 1180). If all these examples were contem-
porary with the original constructions, the evolution would not
be difficult to determine ; but with the single exception of Arcy-
Ste. -Restitute, it is suspected, and apparently with good rea-
son, that every one of these buttresses was erected subsequently
to the original construction and probably in consequence of
some signs of instability that had appeared in the masonry of
the vault. They may thus have been added one or twenty years
after the buildings to which they belong were completed. Fur-
thermore, it is certain that the south transept of Soissons and
the choir of St. Remi, both large structures, were erected c. 1180
without flying buttresses.

Hence it is probable that the advantages and possibilities
of the flying buttress were not immediately appreciated at their
full value, and, while the newT construction was freely applied
in cases where the threatened fall of the vault demanded its
application, edifices even of considerable dimensions still con-
tinued to be erected without its aid. These early flying but-
• tresses were clumsy and awkward in appearance (111. 185).
The builders were as yet far from conceiving how such simple
struts could be developed to give the exterior of the church the
same beauty and aspiring character that had already long char-
acterized the interior; nor did they perceive that by means of
the flying buttress, and by this means only, the central fact of
the Gothic church --the rib vault — could be expressed ex-
ternally, and interior and exterior thus brought into one unified
and logical whole. But there can be no question that the rudi-
mentary flying buttress was known very shortly after 1160, if
not before. It is incredible that the master builder who traced
the grandiose foundations of the choir of Paris (c. 1163) could

III. 183. — St. Remi of Reims. Interior of Chevet

III. 184. — Flying Buttresses at Domont. (From Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.)

SPIRES

have conceived the execution of those mighty vaults without a
very distinct intention to provide abutment by means of flying
buttresses.

The flying buttress underwent little development in the
transitional period. The flat top, it is true, in the later examples
was gabled in order to shed rain water better, but the buttress
itself always remained in a sense inefficient, since, before the
Gothic period, it was never discovered how to apply the strut
to the exact spot in the clearstory wall where it would most
effectively neutralize the thrust of the vault. However, the
principle had been established, and it now became only a ques-
tion of carrying it to perfection.

The flying buttress marks the final step in the development
of the rib vault. After this principle had been discovered, there
remained to be carried out by the Gothic architects minor ad-
justments, but no vital changes. The evolution of the rib vault
had been completed, and in the rib vault — its great central
fact — is summed up the structural advance of the transitional
period. We have already seen how other lines of development
in general were merely corollaries and necessary consequences
of this one line of progress.

There were, however, a very few structural changes uncon-
nected with the rib vault made in the transitional era, and it
is necessary to glance at the more important of these before
closing this part of the chapter. The most interesting of all
was the development of the spire, which, as has been already
seen, was evolved from the roof of the tower. The towers
themselves underwent no essential structural modification dur-
ing the transitional period. It became increasingly rare, it is
true, to place them at the west ends of country churches as had
frequently been done in the XI century, and at last this usage
entirely passed away. But they continued to be square, or
rarely octagonal,1 in form, quite as they always had been. The
only true advance was made in the direction of ornament rather
than of construction. Designs of ever-increasing dignity and
beauty came to be produced; the pointed arch appeared in

1 e. g. at Blangy-sur-Poix, St. Martin, Cauvigny, Orgeval, Juvigny, Bouconvillers, Cam-
bronne, Lierville, and Feucherolles.

THE TRANSITION

windows and openings, while the lovely flora of early Gothic
ornament blossomed on capital, string-course, and cornice.

It was probably in the He de France rather than in Nor-
mandy that the Gothic spire was developed, although the two
schools advanced along much the same paths. The exact
stages of progress in this evolution are difficult to determine;
there is always the possibility that any given spire was added
long after the completion of the tower on which it stands, and,
as the spires themselves are seldom furnished with ornament,
it is impossible to obtain even an approximate idea of their
date from the style of the details. The XII century has left us
in the He de France, however, a splendid series of monuments *
showing all stages of the evolution of the spire from the plain
pyramidal tower roof, through the forms where the transition
from square to octagon is managed more or less crudely by
means of angle turrets and dormers (111. 186, 187, 188), until
at Chartres (111. 190) and Senlis (111. 189) the fully developed
Gothic spire appears in all its glory. These Gothic spires, al-
though perhaps inferior to the spires of Normandy, are yet
among the most lovely architectural compositions ever designed.
Nothing could be more skilful than the means by which the
transition from square base to octagonal pyramid is compassed;
the eye travels smoothly from base to summit scarcely conscious
of the change in form. At Senlis and Chartres 2 this transition
is effected not only by means of dormers and turrets, but the
upper story of the tower itself is made octagonal. Thus was
reached the final solution of this difficult point of design. To
appreciate the achievement represented by these Gothic spires,
it is necessary to study the long experiments in proportion and
adjustment made in the earlier examples, for here, as in every
other part of the edifice, the patience and perseverance of the
transitional period made possible the perfection of the Gothic.

1 At Mogneville (c. 1175), Orgeval, Marolles, Jouy-le-Moustier (1125-1150), Cauvigny,
Frouville, St.-Vaast-de-Ix>ngmont, Plessis-le-Charmant, Linay, Saintines, Athis, St.-Gervais-de-
Pontpoint, St. Germer, Cambronne, Bethisy-St.-Martin, Nesles, Feueherolles, La-Ferte-Aleps,
Nogent-sur-Marne, etc.

2 To appreciate this tower it is necessary to consider it by itself, or rather imagine it as
flanking a gable of about the height of the three pointed windows beneath the rose. The pres-
ent lofty gable spoils the effect of the old tower and dwarfs its proportions.

CLOISTERS

Of all the exterior, only the tower and the facade showed
during the transitional period a development to correspond
with the vast changes that had been wrought in the interior of
the edifice. Flying buttresses appeared commonly only in the
last twenty years of the XII century, and up to that time, save
perhaps for an occasional pointed arch, or a deeper buttress
here and there, the exterior of the main body of the church re-
mained essentially Romanesque in appearance. As early as
1140, however, the facades of great churches like St. Denis
(111. 191) or Chartres 1 (111. 190) began to show a changed
character, the old Carolingian idea of flanking the central gable
on either side by towers being developed into a new significance.
The facade of Sens (111. 192), which retains some transitional
fragments, is of interest for the arcade or gallery that seems to
have been carried across it ; — a feature which was nobly devel-
oped in the Gothic period. The builders of the He de France
also employed a type of facade we have studied in Normandy,
the central gable being flanked by turrets in lieu of towers. On
the other hand, in country edifices they often accepted the some-
what awkward section of a three-aisled church without making:
any attempt to soften the outlines (111. 193).

In the treatment of the plan, outside of the addition and
development of the ambulatory already described, few changes
were introduced during the transitional era. Dimensions came
to be greatly enlarged, but the typical dispositions were only
slightly varied. Semicircular transept-ends were introduced
at Noyon (111. 176), perhaps from Germany, and this singular
motive was afterwards repeated in the south transept at Sois-
sons and in the flamboyant period in the XV century church
of Neufchatel (Seine-Inferieure). The plan of Noyon (111.
176) is also peculiar for a second transept introduced at the
west end adjoining the facade — a disposition of interest as
finding analogies in England.2

Cloisters were doubtless constructed at this time in France
in connection with all cathedral and abbey churches, but these

1 It should, of course, be remembered that only the lower portions of the facade of Chartres,
together with the southern tower, date from this period.

2 e. g. at Ely. A western transept was planned at St. Germer but was never carried out.

THE TRANSITION

lovely courts became the special object of attack in the Revo-
lution and other iconoclastic periods of French history, with
the result that practically all examples, whether of the transi-
tional or Gothic epoch, have entirely disappeared. Fragments
survive at Xoyon, St. Jean-des-Yignes of Soissons and else-
where; but I can not name a single well-preserved cloister
nearer the He de France than Mt.-St.-Michel,1 a monument
which is much more English than French in style. Conse-
quently we can only imagine, on analogy with cloisters in other
countries, especially England, what the cloister of the He de
France must have been.

'While thus the changes wrought in the exterior of the design
apart from the rib vault and its corollaries were few, there was
only one new feature of importance independent of that all-
controlling principle introduced in the interior. It has been
seen that the habit of building high triforium galleries had been
introduced from Normandy at St. Denis. Now the introduc-
tion of this gallery led to a noteworthy innovation in design.
Since the triforium arcade had always been used to occupy
the wall space beneath the lean-to roof of the aisles, when this
roof was placed above the gallery, it was natural to place here
also the triforium arcade, even though a triforium gallery
already existed below (111. 173). Hence it resulted that the
nave was divided into four stories: the main arcade, the gal-
lery, the triforium, and the clearstory. The effect of this four-
fold design, as may be seen in the illustrations of the naves of
Noyon (111. 180), of Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne (111.
182), and of St. Remi of Reims (111. 183), was not altogether
happy. It tended to multiply the horizontal lines, whereas
the true destiny of Gothic lay in the emphasis of the vertical
line. However, doubtless owing to the fact that it tended to
raise high the concealed flying buttresses, the four-storied de-
sign was very generally employed in the larger monuments of
the second phase of the transition.

In the choir of St. Remi (111. 183) an attempt was made,
while preserving the four-storied design, to overcome the effects

1 The most ancient cloister extant in Normandy is, I believe, that of Abbaye Blanche of
Mortain, dating from the end of the XII century.

III. 18(i. — Morienval. Exterior

ORNAMENT

of the extra horizontal lines, by binding together into one
composition clearstory and triforium. This experiment which
had already been tried at St. Germain-des-Pres and at Cam-
bronne was so successful, that it was later borrowed in the nave
of Amiens, and formed the basis of the glazed triforiums of the
rayonnant period.

In Gothic architecture structure is so ornamental, and orna-
ment is so structural, that it is impossible to draw a sharp line
between the essential body of the building and its applied deco-
ration. As Romanesque ornament was transformed by almost
imperceptible stages into Gothic ornament, the forms which
had hitherto had little but purely decorative significance, at
once commenced to assume a share, however modest, in the
task of holding the building together.

This is most strikingly illustrated in the profiles of mould-
ings, features which had always been the most purely esthetic
and decorative part of a building, but which in the transitional
period came to assume distinctly structural functions. Such
structural mouldings are found in the abaci and bases of piers,
in interior and exterior string-courses and cornices, in the archi-
volts of arches, windows, and doorways, and in the transverse
and diagonal vaulting ribs. The variety and combinations of
profiles used in each of these positions is legion, and it would
be well-nigh impossible to exhaust all the various types. Yet
amid all this infinite variety of design, this exuberance of in-
vention, there are none the less certain governing structural
principles. The artists who designed and executed these pro-
files possessed a fertile imagination which was restrained solely
by the dictates of structural truth and expediency.

A capital, as I believe Viollet-le-Duc first pointed out, is
of structural significance only when it serves to adjust a greater
load to a more slender support. A Roman Corinthian colon-
nade would stand quite as well were the capitals omitted and
the architrave placed directly on the shafts. On the other
hand, if the capitals were omitted in a Byzantine or Gothic
arch-construction such as, for example, the chevet of Noyon

THE TRANSITION

(111. 204) the safety of the building would at once be compro-
mised, for the archivolts would overhang the shaft to a danger-
ous extent. Now in the Romanesque and early transitional
periods, the capitals had received loads only slightly more
bulky than the supporting pier; but as the transition advanced,
the load commenced to be made larger and larger, and the
capital hence given more and more of a structural significance.
In consequence of this larger load it came to be seen that it
was of great importance to thicken the abacus, since such addi-
tional thickness was needed to strengthen this member against
the weight of the overhanging corners. Thus in the second
phase of the transitional movement it became the rule that the
thickness of the abacus should be proportioned to the spread of
the capital.1 And by one of those happy coincidences so fre-
quent in Gothic that we half come to suspect they were not
coincidences at all, what satisfied structural logic also satis-
fied the eye. Compare, for example, the illustrations of the
broad abacus with its heavy load in the ambulatory of Notre
Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne (111. 242), and the extremely thin
abacus with its light load in the triforium of Noyon (111. 180).

Of the actual profiles of abaci, the plate (111. 194) speaks
for itself. The design was almost infinitely varied, and only
a few general statements can be made. The top member,
however, was always a plinth, giving virility and strength to
the outline; and at this period it is to be noticed that the abacus
was always square in plan. The habit of continuing the abacus
as a string-course was common from the second quarter of the
XII century. After c. 1145 the abacus almost invariably in-
cluded a half-round projecting fillet somewhere among its
members. As the transition period approached its close the
outline of the profile became more refined, the shaping of the
members more delicate, the undercutting deeper. There was
also a tendency to increase the number of mouldings. But the
profile was never allowed to approach anything like complexity,
and to the end remained simple and dignified.

Bases show much the same structural evolution. The old
Attic profile of two tori separated by a scotia was usually

1 Moore, 304.
98

III. 187. — Spire of Bethisy-St.- Martin

GRIFFES

retained in a general way, though its proportions were freely
altered to suit individual cases (111. 195). Since, however, the
greater weight which now came to be concentrated on the col-
umn rendered the base far more liable to lateral movement than
had been the case in classic times, the stability of the base was
increased by making the plinth higher and more spreading than
had ever been done before. Thus was evolved the Gothic
base stone,1 which for greater effectiveness was often doubled.
Here again beauty seemed to wait on structural truth. No
footing has ever been devised more secure than these mighty
Gothic bases which seem to defy time and destruction; and
at the same time it would be impossible to improve on the pro-
portions and profiles of the mouldings. Particularly when
the lower torus was flattened and the scotia deeply undercut
it is safe to say the Greeks themselves never devised a profile
more subtle or refined.

Transitional bases were almost always supplied with griffes,
which, although they had been used from the XI century,
reached their most expressive development when the base plinth
began to be much spread out, thus leaving large corners to be
filled between the torus and the angles of the plinth. A griff e
cannot be said to contribute to the stability of the building;
it does, however, satisfy the eye, and when executed by the
wonder-working hand of the early Gothic sculptors, makes
a spot of beauty of what would otherwise be an awkward pro-
jecting corner. This feature may thus be said to have, to a cer-
tain extent, made possible the spreading base.

The development of the string-course (111. 197) was also
structural. Until the XII century string-courses had been com-
posed of various simple projecting mouldings, and had always
been flat on top. Since this flat top offered a ledge where snow
and rain-water might lodge and consequently disintegrate the
stone, the transitional builders gave the upper member a slop-
ing form, in order that the rain and snow might be thrown off.
The earliest extant example where this was done, is, I believe,
Berzy-le-Sec (111. 197), an edifice of c. 1140. Later the drip
stone, as this upper sloping member is called, came to be deeply

1 Moore, 318.
99

THE TRANSITION

undercut, so that water could not trickle on down the wall. The
exterior string-course thus became a highly important factor
in the actual conservation of the walls, since it not only ceased
to injure the wall above by causing the rain to spatter up against
it, but it also actually protected a portion of the wall below.

That the peculiar form of the drip stone moulding was
adopted from purely structural considerations is proved by
the fact that this profile was rarely employed internally; when
it was so used, it was generally in cases where it was desired not
to shut from sight some detail immediately above. Thus in
the cathedral of Paris the triforium string was given a sloping
top member, in order to avoid hiding the bases of the triforium
arcade.1 The general character of internal string-courses is
shown by the plate (111. 19G). It is to be remarked that the
string-course is almost the only projecting moulding allowed on
the French interior.

For cornices (111. 198) the only structural requirement was
that the profile should be receding, so that rain-water could not
trickle down from the roof to the walls. Within this limita-
tion the mouldings were varied almost without restriction.
Flat and arched and double arched corbel-tables carved with
grotesque figures (111. 205) were commonly applied as orna-
ments to this crowning member, as were also bands or friezes
of grotesques, of Byzantinesque acanthus-leaves, and of rinceaux.

The archivolts of the arches of the main arcades in France
were always simple. During the first half of the XII century,
and indeed, at times, even in the second half of that century,
as for example at Noyon (111. 180), the archivolts were made
perfectly plain and unmoulded, or were merely broken into
one or two orders, although the moulded form was used as early
as c. 1125 at Bellefontaine (111. 199). The interesting and
exceptionally advanced archivolts of this church consisted of
double orders, each corner being softened by a roll moulding.
This same form with the addition of curved undercutting (111.
199) became the characteristic type of Gothic archivolts, which
in the best period were never elaborate. Except in Normandy,
projecting mouldings were not added. Projecting mouldings

1 Moore, 329.
100

III. 188. — Spire of Chamant

PROFILES

when used externally over windows and doorways, had their
structural function in shedding rain-water; but to apply them
internally as mere ornament was contrary to the Gothic sense
of architectural truth.1 Thus the archivolts were allowed to
retain throughout the Gothic period their primitive simplicity.

The arched string-course of Carolingian tradition was the
prototype of the projecting external member of the archivolts
of windows and doorways (111. 200, 201). Flat at first, these
projecting mouldings, on precise analogy with the drip stone,
came to be given a sloping topmost member. As a further
protection from the weather for the delicate mouldings and the
rich ornament which were used to decorate the portals, even as
early as the transitional period, a sort of gable was built out from
the facade over the entrance arch. The mouldings of the door-
ways become fine and complicated (111. 201), and the orna-
ment, which was often exceedingly rich, seems to have followed
closely the Norman style. In windows the profiles remained
far more simple. On the interior, the archivolt of the window
usually consisted merely of a simple roll moulding supported
on a shaft (111. 200).

The profiling of diagonal and transverse ribs (111. 202, 203)
is a difficult subject, since the transitional architects seem to have
especially delighted in devising new and varied forms for these
important members. The earliest section of both was prob-
ably a simple rectangle. Then in the diagonals this rectangular
section came to be moulded into a single torus, and later into
three tori, while the transverse rib was first chamfered, then
provided with a roll moulding on each edge. After this ensued
the greatest variety of forms, as the builders acquired greater
skill and technique. In general, the better proportioned and
more delicate the profile, the later the moulding. As in later
times the size of the ribs was diminished, the profiles became
less complicated, and included fewer small members. The
transverse ribs continued to be generally square in form, but
the diagonals tended to assume a triangular shape, usually
preserving, however much altered by other elements, the three

1 There are a few exceptional cases where such projecting mouldings occur, as at Arcy-Ste.
Restitute, etc.

101

THE TRANSITION

original tori, of which the central one tended to become larger
and project beyond the others. As early as c. 1125 at Belle-
fontaine this torus had assumed the pointed form that was
destined to become very characteristic of Gothic profiles; later
it was gouged in the center, or else (towards the end of the XII
century) a fillet was added along the ridge. In measure as the
Gothic period approached, the undercutting became deeper
and more skilful, and the lines of shadow were cut in subtle
curves, producing thus a much more delicate effect of shading.

In the composition of geometric ornament, transitional
architecture showed less originality than in the design of pro-
files. Shafting was a favorite motive which was used freely in
the jambs of doorways and windows, on the angles of buttresses
and towers, and groups of shafts, or rather columns, were em-
ployed as external buttresses for the apse. In the second half
of the XII century it became customary to ornament the shafts,
especially when employed internally to support a system, with
bands or rings placed at regular intervals. The chevet of Noyon
(111. 204) offers a characteristic example of this feature. About
the same time, the shafts in the jambs of the portals came to be
covered with rich diaper patterns, chevrons, lozenges, etc. — a
motive which appears to be of southern (Burgundian) origin.

Also from Burgundy in all probability came the very evi-
dent classical reminiscences, the rinceaux and acanthus-leaves
and anthemia, that flourish so luxuriantly about the portals of
St. Denis or Rouen or Chartres (111. 215) and throughout the
decoration of St. Remi of Reims and Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-
Marne. This classic influence gradually disappeared as the
Gothic period approached, although it now and then would
come to light in the most unexpected places; as, for example,
in certain capitals (111. 207) in the south transept of Soissons —
a structure almost completely Gothic.

The Carolingian billet moulding continued to be used in
exterior string-courses and over windows until the middle of
the XII century, when it gradually yielded to the drip stone.
The chevron made its way from Normandy, probably as early
as the first quarter of the century, and became very popular,
being employed with rich effect in doorways, over windows,

102

III. 189. — Senlis. Exterior

III. 190. — Facade of Chartres

IMITATION OF NATURAL FLORA

and on archivolts; its use was also extended to ribs, usually
in monuments about contemporary with St. Denis, such as St.
Germer (111. 173), Namps-au-Val, Trie-la- Ville, and Monchy-
St.-Eloi. iVfter c. 1170, however, the chevron passed out of
use. The dog-tooth ornament, near relative of the chevron,
also appeared in the lie de France in the second half of the XII
century, as, for example, at Courmelles.

Thus as the transition advanced, purely geometrical orna-
ment came to be less and less used. The artists learned grad-
ually to look more and more to the natural forms of leaves and
plants growing about them for inspiration and models for their
designs. This turning to nature is to the history of transitional
ornament what the rib vault is to the history of transitional
structure — it is the key, the central fact about which all cen-
ters. The naturalistic tendency never took the form of servile
imitation in the best period of Gothic art, and least of all in the
transition; for the early Gothic architects had learned from
classic tradition the great lesson that natural forms must be con-
ventionalized to be suitable for architectural ornament ; that such
decorations must be made an integral part of the composition;
and that the foliage of capitals and string-courses must not
distract the eye from the contemplation of the whole. This
result can be effected only when the patterns are of a certain
large character, with plainly marked divisions to which the
smaller detail is rigidly subjected, since, if the detail all be
made equally prominent, as is necessary in realistic imitation,
the proportional emphasis of part and whole is immediately
destroyed. Any of the later Gothic buildings where naturalistic
foliage is employed will offer a graphic illustration of this truth.

Thus in the transitional period the artists avoided actual
imitation of nature in their ornament. They preserved all that
was best in classic tradition — the restraint, the strict subordina-
tion of the parts to the whole, the generally conventional charac-
ter. They merely gave new life to old principles. For the
traditional acanthus-leaf they substituted the tender forms of
the spring plants they saw about them, for the volutes of the
Corinthian capital, the yet unrolled bulbous form of the fern
as it first appears in the springtime. The finest sense of judg-

103

THE TRANSITION

ment was displayed in the selection of those natural forms
which by their simplicity and grace were well adapted for archi-
tectural purposes; serrated or complicated leaf patterns were
never used in the early period of Gothic foliage. On the other
hand, the broad flat leaves of water plants and others of a sim-
ilar character were freely employed, being conventionalized
just enough to preserve strict architectural harmony.

These plant forms came into usage in their full beauty only
at the very end of the transitional period. In the early XII
century the capitals and string-courses were thoroughly Roman-
esque in character (111. 206), although the crude Byzantinesque
surface decoration was often modified by the addition of other
elements, strongly Lombard in character, such as grotesques,
rude sculptured figures, strings, and interlaces (111. 208, 209,
210). This Lombard-Byzantinesque style of ornament became
increasingly popular until about 1140; in the second phase of
the transition, however, it passed out of use. Although this
decoration is unquestionably crude and unrefined, it yet does
not lack a certain rough grace (111. 210), and among the gro-
tesques that ran riot in the corbel-tables and cornices of the
early XII century, it is possible to find more than one figure
that presages the charm of the Gothic gargoyle.

About 1130 the acanthus-leaf, which had been attempted
occasionally even as early as the first quarter of the XII century,
appeared prominently in the capitals, and speedily became one
of the characteristic ornaments of the style. The Byzantine,
rather than the Roman version (111. 207), was adopted, and
the leaves were seldom undercut. At first rude and archaic
in appearance, these acanthus-leaves gradually came to be
treated with greater freedom, until, by the middle of the XII
century, they commenced to assume the most graceful forms.

After this the naturalistic types came little by little to re-
place the acanthus, though the latter long persisted, often varied
in a beautiful and striking manner, as in certain capitals of the
south transept of Soissons (111. 207). Even in fully developed
Gothic capitals, such as the gracious example from the nave of
Xoyon (111. 211), the essential elements of the Corinthian order
were preserved in the bell-shaped form of the capital and in

104

III. 191. — Facade of St. Denis

MURAL PAINTING

the curled leaves which replace the ancient volutes. In this
Noyon capital besides the four leaves, whose ends support the
corners of the abacus and hence acquire a structural signifi-
cance, four other similar leaves are added in the center of each
face to complete the design, or perhaps as a reminiscence of
the rows of acanthus-leaves of the classical order. The step
from this form to the fully developed crocketed capital (111. 212)
was a very short one, but was not taken before the Gothic period.

In the design of the capitals, as in every other part of the
decoration, the churches of the transition show a variety that
is without limit. It is almost impossible to find any two cap-
itals, any two ornaments, any two profiles exactly similar. This
wonderful versatility gives to the buildings, especially of the
later part of the period, a variety of interest that is paralleled
only in Nature itself; and yet, thanks to the rigid subordination
of detail to the main lines of construction, confusion never
results.

Before we take up the subject of the accessory arts, there
remains one singular manifestation of transitional ornament to
be noticed. The "wheel of fortune" of the north transept of
St. Etienne of Beauvais (111. 213) is a composition as full of
interest as it is entirely without analogy among contemporary
designs of the He de France. The spokes which subdivide the
composition seem to foreshadow Gothic tracery to a surprising
degree. Even the size of this oculus — which is large enough
indeed to merit the distinction of being called the first rose
window — is astounding, for although oculi had been com-
mon in the Romanesque period, another circular window of
this importance was hardly designed before the XIII century.

Of the accessory arts, the first in point of chronology was
undoubtedly mural painting. Although only a very few ex-
amples of this decoration have come down to us, it unquestion-
ably played an important part in the adornment of buildings,
not only in the transitional but in the Gothic period. Until
the XII century the art of fresco painting in northern Europe
remained what the Carolingians had made it. The walls of

105

THE TRANSITION

churches seem to have been covered with great rhythmical com-
positions of figures of saints and martyrs, and the half -domes
of the apses, the tympanums and vaults, in short all those por-
tions of the church that the Early Christians had usually treated
with mosaic, wen1 similarly adorned. About the middle of the
XI I century, however, this art underwent a transformation as
radical as that which about the same time affected architec-
tural sculpture. The figures became freed from certain tradi-
tions, the gestures became more natural, the composition lighter
and more simple, although the general character of the design
remained strictly architectural and subordinate to the structural
requirements of the building. The pure ornament deserted
Romanesque types, and adopted conventionalized natural forms.
The range of color tones was greatly enriched. In the XIII
century the painted decoration, although retaining the improved
technique of the transitional era, became entirely subordinated
to architecture, and the human figure was relegated to an
almost wholly ornamental role. But from the end of the XIV
century, the naturalistic tendencies that revolutionized the other
arts reversed this relationship. The figure again became pre-
dominant, and mural decorations resumed the character of
paintings.

At just what date the art of painting was transferred from
the walls to the glass of the windows, is a much debated ques-
tion. The earliest authentically dated stained glass windows
extant are of c. 1140. It is certain, however, that the art is
older. Even as early as the first centuries of the Christian era,
the Romans had formed windows of pieces of colored glass
mounted in perforated stone slabs, and this practice had been
perpetuated by the Byzantines. It is probable that the Caro-
lingians of the IX century combined these small pieces of glass
of various colors with lead instead of with stone, forming thus
a sort of translucent glass mosaic.1 These mosaics were then
gradually developed until figures and ornaments came to be

1 A passage in Floardus, Hist. Rem. Ill, 5, tit. Schlosser, 250, would seem to imply that
picture windows existed as early as the IX century in Champagne. The text, whose exact mean-
ing is not, unfortunately, altogether clear, occurs in a description of the cathedral of Reims
erected by Hincmar in the IX century: Tecta templum plumbis cobperint tabulis, ipsumque
templum pictis decoravit cameris, fenestris etiam Ulustravit vitreis, etc.

106

III. 192. — Facade of Sens

STAINED GLASS

represented partly by painting on the glass itself, partly by giv-
ing the pieces of glass and the lead interstices the form of out-
lines.

It must be confessed that the documentary evidence for
this derivation of painted glass is scant; but from the internal
evidence of the stained glass of the XII century itself, it is pos-
sible to deduce with confidence two conclusions: the first, that
the art of stained glass existed much before the middle of the
XII century; the second, that it originated in France. The art
as we find it in the earliest dated examples at St. Denis, at Le
Mans, at Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne, or at Sens, is
already at its apex. The glass of the XIII century shows ad-
vances in certain directions, but in general, a decline; it may
be said to compare with the preceding period as works of Greek
sculpture of the IV century compare with works executed in the
V century. Such a highly developed art as this glass of the XII
century implies, ipso facto, a long period of growth. Further-
more, although we have a whole treatise on the art of glass paint-
ing by a certain monk Theophilus who lived in the XII century,
and although Suger in his account of St. Denis has left us a full
account of the windows of that abbey, neither of these authors
says anything of painted glass being a new art. Finally, there
are extant in the aisles of the cathedral of Le Mans, at Notre
Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne, and in the crypt of Bourges, a
few fragments of picture glass, that, while not authentically
dated, still seem to be earlier than any of the dated examples,
and may be assigned with confidence to the first phase of the
transition.

The claim of France to have invented stained glass can be
challenged only by Germany; and, in fact, the cathedral of
Strassburg contains some very primitive examples of picture
glass. It must be admitted that French influence spread in
this direction at a very early date. In other countries stained
glass seems to have made its way hand in hand with Gothic
architecture. There is not a trace of primitive glass extant in
Italy, in Spain, or in England. The earliest stained glass I
can name in Normandy is in the abbey of Lessay and must date
from the third quarter of the XII century. As for the fragments

107

THE TRANSITION

of blue glass found at the bottom of one of the windows of S.
Abondio, Como, these — as M. Dartein has already recog-
nized x -- can not possibly be contemporary with the original
construction. Theophilus, it is true, speaks of the various
methods of making glass in Germany, Italy, and Spain, but there
is no reason to believe that this author wrote much before the
end of the XII century.

It is usually stated in the hand-books that the art of stained
glass developed in consequence of the growth of Gothic archi-
tecture, because it was necessary to find some means to subdue
the vast quantity of light admitted by the great windows which
came to characterize that style. As a matter of fact, the case
was exactly the reverse, for in 1140, when stained glass had
already been perfected, the area of the windows had not yet
been materially increased. It was rather because the Gothic
builders appreciated the new decoration in all its architectural
possibilities that they conceived the daring idea of turning the
entire cathedral into a translucent wall of glass merely supported
and held together by a stone framework. Thus, next to the rib
vault, the invention of painted glass may be said to have played
the most important role in the evolution of Gothic architecture.
It made possible that suppression of the wall surface which was
to be the great advance of the early Gothic period.

And indeed when we look at one of these stained windows
of the transitional or early Gothic periods, we can readily under-
stand why the Gothic architects immediately adopted them as
the chief feature of their designs. Lovelier color the hand of
man has not produced. There are times when human art
seems to be something more than mortal ; when it rises to heights
infinitely above the ordinary achievements of men. French
glass of the XII century is such an art. It is impossible to
stand in the presence of these translucent mosaics without ex-
periencing a depth of esthetic emotion that at once disarms
the critical faculty. Such sensuous beauty of tone, such rich-
ness of color has been equaled by no painter of the Renais-
sance, by no Byzantine worker in mosaics. Yet it is not only
for their absolute beauty, but also for their perfectly architec-

1 Arch. Lom.. 1!).5.
108

III. 193. — Facade of Vailly. (From Lefevre-Pontalis)

STAINED GLASS

tural character that these windows claim unqualified admira-
tion.

In fact, the first characteristic of these earliest windows to
strike the eye is the small size of the individual spots of color.
The separate pieces of glass, which are each of one solid tone
though more or less drawing is usually superposed, are seldom
more than an inch or so in length, and are often very much
smaller. The predominating colors are peculiarly luscious
shades of rich reds and deep ultramarine blues, but with these
are mixed, always in very much less quantities, other colors,
such as yellow or green. Owing to the small size of the sep-
arate pieces, from a distance the distinction between these colors
is lost; the whole merges into a purple of wonderful richness,
varying in tone in different windows according to the propor-
tions of the various colors used. This purple — the veritable
apotheosis of pure color — is like no tone ever produced in any
other manner. The pointillistes of the XIX century made a
clever discovery when they found that instead of mixing their
colors on the palette, more lovely effects could be produced by
placing beside each other on the canvas small patches of the
original colors and leaving the eye to fuse them. But precisely
the same principle had been employed in the glass of the middle
of the XII century to produce effects far more beautiful than
any dreamed of by Monticelli or Childe Hassam.

As a necessary consequence of this, which for lack of a
better name we may call pointilliste, style of coloring, the fig-
ures were always small. In the XII century a very large part
of the window surface was occupied with pure ornament. Fig-
ures were used only in a series of medallions, which whether
circular, diamond-shaped, or quatref oiled, were disposed upon
a field of conventional design, and themselves formed a central
motive in this design. From a distance this purely conventional
central pattern is all that can be perceived. On nearer ap-
proach, however, each medallion is seen to contain a group of
figures illustrating some scene of sacred or legendary history.
The height of each individual figure is usually only about six
inches or so; the figures are composed of a number of pieces of
glass of different colors so arranged as in no way to acquire

109

THE TRANSITION

prominence over the background. The drawing, although often
good for the age in which it was executed, is of no more im-
portance than the drawing in a Whistler symphony; it was
color which the artists sought primarily, and to color the draw-
ing was purposely subordinated (111. 214).

It is hardly necessary to point out how infinitely more suit-
able and architectural is this art of the XII century than the
great figure windows of Renaissance or modern times. A
stained glass window by Air. La Farge for example, judged by
itself and as a picture, may be admirable; the drawing may be
impeccable, the composition pleasing, the colors harmonious.
Hut the window as a decoration is none the less an architectural
anomaly. The great figures life size or more in the strong light
of the translucent material distract the eye from all points of
view; instead of being subordinated to the general scheme of
the edifice, these staring forms seem fairly to jump out from the
wall surface, and at once destroy the effect of the architecture.
Injudicious mural paintings may much injure an architectural
composition, but no mural painting can possibly acquire the
prominence and consequent power for evil of a modern stained
glass window. Similarly the broad fields of solid color in mod-
ern work, even if — as is seldom the case — these colors be
rich and harmonious in themselves, inevitably impair the archi-
tectural unity by acquiring undue emphasis. The eye goes
not to the structure, but to the staring field of deep blue or bright
crimson. Unrest and lack of harmony between parts and
whole inevitably result from such over-emphasis of an element
primarily decorative. Thus the wisdom of the Gothic archi-
tects in treating stained glass as a purely decorative art is not
open to question. And however much they subordinated the
glass to architectural requirements, they none the less succeeded
in creating windows which in themselves are more beautiful
than anything that has since been produced.

That figures were not altogether omitted was doubtless
due partly to the Gothic taste for didactic representations of
sacred subjects, partly to the Gothic love of fine detail. Fig-
ures are infinitely more interesting to examine carefully than
mere conventional patterns. Accordingly in the windows, as

110

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III. 194. — Profiles of Abaci

ST VAJkST DE - LO/iG/AO/iT
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III. 195. — Profiles of Bases

SCULPTURE

in every other part of the church, the Gothic genius spared no
pains to give the detail the most exquisite possible form, while
never allowing it to encroach upon, or obscure, the structural
lines. Thus the separate pieces of glass combine to form a
figure; the figures combine to form a medallion; the medallions
combine to form the main pattern of the window; the windows
combine to decorate the wall surface. On entering the church
the eye merely perceives windows of blazing color perfectly
subordinated to the general architectural structure; the eye,
however much charmed, is not distracted. On closer examina-
tion the pattern of the medallions is made out, but it is only on
the closest inspection that the groups of figures are perceived.
Since each of these divisions is a delight in itself, as the visitor
approaches new and unexpected beauties keep ever opening
before him.

Exactly the same laws of proportion govern the use of sculp-
ture in the transitional and early Gothic periods, and this art
was as inexorably subordinated to architectural requirements,
as was the stained glass.

The origin of the sculpture of the He de France is a subject
of great difficulty. While, on the whole, we possess more mon-
umental evidence for the beginnings of this art than for the origin
of stained glass, yet the early examples are few, never surely
dated, and often show seemingly contradictory tendencies.
Thus of the numerous critics who have treated this subject no
two are in accord. One fact, however, is indisputable. The
opening of the second phase of the transition was marked by the
appearance in the He de France of a school of sculpture that
in its technique, its artistic sense, its virility, had nothing in
common with the sculptors who during the first phase of the
transition had crudely carved figures and grotesques on capi-
tals, corbel-tables, or cornices. The nearest approach to pure
sculpture to be found in the He de France during the first half
of the XII century is perhaps the wheel of fortune of the north
transept of St. Etienne of Beauvais (111. 213). But it is only
necessary to compare the poverty of invention and technique
displayed in these rude figures with the majestic forms which
adorn the west portals of Chartres (111. 215) or St. Denis, to

111

THE TRANSITION

appreciate the gulf that separates the two. There is nothing
in the sculptures of the early XII century to show any remark-
able growth, or in any way to foreshadow the achievement of
the last phase of the transition. It seems certain therefore that,
unlike stained glass, the sculpture of the royal domain was im-
ported from abroad, though it is by no means obvious from
whence it came.

During the XII century there flourished in the south of
France several schools of sculpture, of which the two most im-
portant centered in Provence and Burgundy, although the school
of Languedoc with its chief centers at Toulouse and Moissac
is hardly less interesting. AYhile the chronology and genealogy
of all these schools are unknown and while their monuments
are assigned to the most widely varying periods by different
authorities, there is, nevertheless, one central fact which con-
nects them all --the revival of classic influence. There can
be no doubt that the XII century renaissance of French sculp-
ture, wherever it originated, came about directly through the
study of the Gallo-Roman remains, so numerous in certain
portions of the country. All the schools, while differing con-
siderably from each other in point of technique and detail,
show unmistakably this classical influence, and even as late as
the XIII century certain statues of the cathedral of Reims
prove that the sculptors of the He de France, even in the Gothic
period continued to study directly the antique. Further than
the fact of the common classic character, it is safe to say
that the school of the He de France shows points of contact
with all the schools of the South, while at the same time its
most important characteristics are peculiar to itself.

The school of Provence, perhaps in consequence of the great
number of Roman remains to be found in that region, was
influenced by classic tendencies even more strongly than its sister-
schools. Largely on the strength of this fact Herr Voge recog-
nizes this school, as, so to speak, the parent of French sculpture.
He finds a great similarity between the tympanum of St. Tro-
phime of Aries, and the tympanum of the western portal at
Chartres — a similarity assuredly undeniable, but which per-
haps rests rather on the iconography and the grouping of fig-

112

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III. 1!)G. — Profiles of Interior String-Courses

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III. 197. — Profiles of Exterior String-Courses

ORIGINS OF FRENCH SCULPTURE

ures, — a tradition common to all Christendom — than on the
details of technique and execution, by which the fact of relation-
ship of style must be established. Basing his argument upon
this somewhat questionable assumption, Herr Voge concludes
that the sculpture of the He de France originated at Chartres
and was derived directly from that of Provence. He recog-
nizes, however, above all the creative originality of the "head
sculptor" and of his assistants at Chartres. The style of the
sculptures of Chartres was adopted, he holds, at St. Denis, but
was modified by influence from Burgundy and Languedoc.

This theory has been sharply attacked by recent writers,
chief among whom is M. de Lasteyrie. Relying mainly on
arguments of comparative style M. de Lasteyrie assigns the west
portal of Chartres to the extraordinarily late date 11 50-75. *
The date of the north aisle of the cloister at Aries he believes
he has established with certainty as c. 1180, and by a compar-
ison of style he concludes that the west portal of Aries must
date from 1180-90. The earliest sculptures of St. Gilles he
assigns to c. 1150. Since an earlier monument obviously could
not have been derived from a later, this critic concludes that
the school of the He de France could not have originated in
Provence. This origin, he consequently seeks in Burgundy.

Many of M. de Lasteyrie's dates, I confess, seem to me ex-
treme and untenable. His work appears chiefly valuable for
having established the strong presumption, if not the certainty,
that no monument of Provence that is left to us can be older
than the earliest sculpture of the royal domain. Hence, Herr
Voge's theory at once falls to the ground. M. de Lasteyrie is
probably correct in seeking the origins of the French school in
Burgundy, although he cannot be said definitely to have proved
his point.

However the school of the He de France came into being,
when once established it immediately displayed the most marked
and individual characteristics. The human form was treated
in precisely the same restrained spirit as were the leaves of plants

1 For a short discussion of this chronology see list of monuments, p. 309. I find it impos-
sible to accept M. de Lasteyrie's date for this portal which may, I believe, be assigned with con-
fidence to the year 1145.

113

THE TRANSITION

in the purely ornamental decoration of the period. Just as
the flora had been conventionalized to suit it for its position on
the capitals, so the human figure was conventionalized to adapt
it to architectural needs. Thus the statues in the jambs, where
vertical lines were necessary, were extremely elongated, and
the vertical effect was further increased by the conventional
folds of the long, clinging drapery. So as not to disturb these
lines the hands and arms were kept close to the body in a re-
strained gesture; it seems as if the sculptor had been unwilling
to sacrifice to the least degree the vertical contours of his com-
position (111. 215).

It is perfectly evident that this elongation of the figure was
done purposely for architectural effect. That the sculptors
knew well that these were not the true proportions of the human
figure is shown by the tympanum of the portal of Chartres,
where, since it was required to emphasize the horizontal line,
the figures are made very broad in proportion to their height.
Precisely as in the case of floral carving, the sculptor took from
nature only a hint which he conventionalized just sufficiently
to suit his needs.

These statues are consequently not realistic, and it would
be a mistake to look at them in the spirit in which we study a
portrait by Holbein. They are, on the contrary, eminently
idealistic and typical, in this respect being strangely removed
from the tendencies of modern art. As the Greek sculptors of
the Doric school in all their statues, however varied the subject,
ever sought to express only the perfection of the body, so the
early Gothic sculptors sought to express only the perfection of
the soul. Their statues are thus not highly individualized.
The same serenity, the same meekness, the same gentle dignity
invests saint and martyr, bishop and apostle, and all alike are
thoroughly imbued with the serene spirit of medieval religion.
Rows of such statues form a most dignified and impressive
entrance to the house of God. The worshiper, in spite of
himself, must be moved upon entering the church to pass these
lines of majestic and dignified figures, whose outward forms so
well express internal holiness and sanctity.

Thus the sculptures of the XII century are something more

114

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III. 198. — Profiles of Cornices

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III. 199. — Profiles of Archivolts of Arches

ICONOGRAPHY

than mere architectural ornaments, they are greater than, for
example, the sculptures of ancient Egypt which, although quite
satisfactory as architectural accessories, yet beside these French
statues seem cold and lifeless. The French sculptures for all
their lack of realism, for all their subordination to the architec-
ture, are none the less instinct with life. Although each
face expresses the same, or a kindred emotion, although there
is no delineation of individual character, yet a single sentiment
is denoted in a thousand different ways, and there is no stereo-
typed cast of features. Bearded saint stands next to beardless
monk, youthful virgin by aged martyr. All shades and con-
ditions of men and women are represented with as infinite a
variety of feature as in life itself.

In many of these faces there is the greatest beauty — a
beauty at first a little baffling for us of the XX century, who
have been educated on the regular features and classic profiles
of Greek sculpture. But the longer these statues are studied, the
greater will be the realization of their esthetic charm. No art
demands longer or more painstaking study for appreciation than
XII century sculpture, but no art brings a greater or surer reward
for application. As these works grow more familiar, the features
that at first seemed archaic and crude assume an almost celestial
radiance; the drapery which seemed stiff and conventional is
seen to fall in folds of the most exquisite grace; and the very
distortion of anatomy seems to lend added dignity and charm.

To understand and appreciate the stained glass and sculp-
ture of the Middle Ages it is necessary to know something of the
subjects represented and the manner of presenting them. An
adequate study of medieval iconography would require several
volumes by itself, since it would necessitate a thorough inves-
tigation of the vastly complicated and difficult subjects of the
symbolism and the legendary and apocryphal lore of the Middle
Ages. Moreover, it would require a separate account for the
XII, XIII, XIV, and XV centuries each, for iconography changed
and developed as quickly as technique. Lack of space clearly
makes impossible any such study here, and I can only sketch
hurriedly a few of the more salient principles which governed
pictorial composition. I shall try to describe iconography as

115

THE TRANSITION

it was at the best period of the XIII century, and I believe in
general the broad facts will be found true, though in perhaps
less degree, for the XII and XIV centuries.

Richard Wagner devised a new form of opera. He pro-
duced effects of the most poignant emotion by means of remi-
niscences and repetitions of certain musical phrases. Briinnhilde,
before flinging herself on the blazing funeral pyre, sings the old
familiar call of the Walkuren; Siegfried's funeral march passes
in review the life of that hero; the dying Tristan sings snatches
of the love duet with Isolde. Every one is familiar with the
wonderful results Wagner has obtained by the use of this device.

" Nessun maggiore dolore
Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria."

John Milton, several centuries before, had made use of
precisely this same device of reminiscence. No music other
than the melody of his verse was at the command of the poet,
but he employed allusion to things familiar to the reader witli
much the same effect that Wagner used themes made known in
earlier passages of his own music-dramas. Macaulay finely
appreciated this side of Milton's technique, when he pointed
out that many of the best-known passages of "Paradise Lost"
are little more than muster-rolls of proper names. "They are
not always more appropriate or melodious than other names,
but they are charmed names. Every one of them is the first
link in a long chain of associated ideas. Like the dwelling-
place of our infancy revisited in manhood, like the song of our
country heard in a strange land, they produce upon us an effect
wholly independent of their intrinsic value. One transports
us back to a remote period of history. Another places us among
the novel scenes and manners of a distant region. A third evokes
all the dear classical recollections of childhood, the school room,
the dog-eared Virgil, the holiday, and the prize. A fourth brings
before us all the splendid phantoms of chivalrous romance, the
trophied lists, the embroidered housings, the quaint devices,
the haunted gardens, the enchanted forests, and the smiles of
rescued princesses."

116

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111. 200. — Profiles of Archivolts of Windows

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III. 201 — Profiles of Archi volts of Doorways

"THE BIBLE OF THE POOR"

Now this same device of reminiscence the sculptors and
glass painters of the Middle Ages applied to the cathedral.
Everywhere from pavement to vault thousands of statues and
thousands of window paintings called to mind the best loved
scenes of Bible and Golden Legend. We have all experienced
the thrill of pleasure that comes at the recognition of a favor-
ite subject in a painting; to the little-read man of medieval
times this thrill must have been far more intense when he saw
such ample representations of the only subjects to which his
learning extended. He must have experienced a pleasure, the
extent of which we, who have completely lost touch with all
this medieval mythology, can but dimly imagine.

That the cathedral was the Bible of the poor, as has been
beautifully said, is, then, in part true. There can be no doubt
that sculptures and glass paintings were favored by the clergy
as stimulating interest in sacred subjects. These works of art,
however, were not intended to instruct the ignorant. The poor
man might here find allusions which would constantly refresh
his memory on subjects with which he was already acquainted;
but to believe that his knowledge could be materially increased
by the mere contemplation of such pictured scenes, is to credit
the medieval peasant with a supernatural amount of acumen.
Many of the subjects are so exceedingly obscure that to decipher
them, even to-day, often baffles the certainly developed critical
perceptions of archaeologists who have given up their life to
this work, and who are fairly steeped in all the turns and
vagaries of medieval thought.

It was not to educate the peasant that pictured history was
spread over the cathedral. How simple was his understanding
the Church well knew, and when it was a question of in-
structing him, she had recourse, not to the profound scholastic
theology reflected in the decoration of the cathedral, but to the
na'ive, almost grotesque, conceptions of the miracle plays. For
never in ancient Egypt was the religion of the common people
more sharply differentiated from that of the priesthood than in
medieval Europe. This important fact is often slighted, because
the popular religion has vanished, leaving practically no traces
of its existence save only in the miracle play and the tradition

117

THE TRANSITION

of certain festivals, such as the fete of the fool or of the ass; it
is only the religion of the clerks and doctors that has come down
to us in works of literature. The priests never purposely shut
the masses from knowledge; but medieval scholastic philos-
ophy, as any one who has read, ever so casually, in these for-
midable tomes can appreciate, is not food for an undeveloped
intelligence. Since the medieval Church did not consider that
knowledge was necessary to salvation, but held on the contrary
that future safety could be assured by faith and good works,
it was perfectly logical that the clerks, the intellectual class,
should follow out their own theology and leave the people to
understand what they could. How little this was, is shown by
the miracle play.1

Now it is not at all the simple popular religion that is re-
flected in the statuary and stained glass of the Gothic church;
it is, on the contrary, the most subtle, the most intellectual type
of scholastic philosophy. All that was deepest, all that was
most complex, in the learned thought of the age, finds its ex-
pression in the Gothic iconography. It is therefore necessary
to conclude that the imagery of the cathedral was intended to
appeal not to the masses but to the intellectually cultivated.
Viollet-le-Duc made a profound error in asserting the popular
character of the Gothic church. Misled by the example of
the great archaeologist, practically every critic 2 who has since
written on the subject has insisted upon this supposed popular
spirit of the imagery, and has imagined the serfs of the XIII
century as being highly edified at conceptions whose subtle
mysticism is beyond the most astute intellects of the present
day. This is a radical and fundamental misconception of the
spirit of Gothic iconography. In all the imagery of the cathe-
dral, probably the only trace of distinctly popular religion to
be found is in the monsters and grotesques that climb among
the gargoyles and buttresses, or peer over the balustrades; all
the serious representations are preeminently scholastic, although

1 Miracle plays were often written by clerks and not infrequently contained recondite allu-
sions. Their general character, however, was distinctly popular.

- The credit for having established the scholastic character of Gothic imagery is due solely
to M. Male, who, however, strangely enough hesitates to deny that the people comprehended
the iconography.

118

A\ORlE/iVAL GU&Z

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G 1180

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III. 202. — Profiles of Transverse Ribs

/AORjmVAL CULL £>ERZY-L£-<3EC G 1140

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BFLE/SY G II £,3 GOULOAGE5 G 1170

III. 203. — Profiles of Diagonal Ribs

UNITY OF THE CATHEDRAL IMAGERY

rarely, as in certain of the guild windows of Cliartres and
Bourges, the ecclesiastical and popular seem to approach so
closely to one another as to be well-nigh indistinguishable.

In a recent work of great brilliance, M. Male has set in a
clear light the general thought of the medieval designers. He
has pointed out that the XIII century was above all the age of
encyclopedias, an age when men delighted in attempting to
gather into one compendium all human knowledge. A monk
planning to write a history of his own times would almost in-
variably commence with the creation of the world; Vincent of
Beauvais even went so far as to try to collect the entire sum of
all human knowledge, and catalogue it under the head of four
"mirrors" — the mirrors of nature, of science, of morals, and
of history. Now this same encyclopedic tendency is notice-
able in the pictorial compositions of the cathedral. It seems to
have been the aim to reproduce an image of everything in the
Universe. Never (except where exigencies of space demanded)
were one or two apostles depicted, but always all twelve; the
windows showed not one scene from the life of a saint, but a
whole series representing the entire history of the holy man
from his birth to his death; Heaven never appears without
Hell; and so on throughout the entire category. Ruskin, in
whose writings such brilliant flashes of light occasionally shine
amid so much darkness, divined, rather than comprehended, a
unity in the facade of Amiens; but it remained for M. Male
to establish as a scientific fact, that all the imagery of each
cathedral, all the various scenes represented in the glass of the
windows, the sculptures of the portals and of the facade, far
from being unrelated or chance compositions, all combine among
themselves to produce a single great whole; and that, in short,
this grand composition in a general way consists of four great
parts corresponding to the four mirrors of nature, science, morals,
and history of the encyclopedia of Vincent of Beauvais.1

This grandiose conception, which outside of the Divina Corn-
media finds no parallel in art, to the sophisticated world-child

1 It should not be understood from this, of course, that the Gothic artists set out to illustrate
Vincent of Beauvais. It is merely that both gave expression in different forms to the same scho-
lastic philosophy which was the common heritage of the time.

119

THE TRANSITION

of the XX century seems at first somewhat over-naive — at
once too simple and too ambitious -- just as a similar impres-
sion is ordinarily produced on first acquaintance with Dante's
great poem. It is necessary to approach closely, to study care-
fully the masterly manner in which this colossal design is exe-
cuted, the sure grasp by which so much divergent material is
reduced to a strict unity, in order to appreciate the true gran-

^"^V

. far*

fr)

(.. i

fun

'-— y—i

III. 205. - Arched Corbel Tables of Dravegny and St. Etienne
of Longmont

deur of such a composition. The XIII century was an age that
delighted above all in orderly arrangement, and this taste found
its fullest expression in the disposal of the imagery of the cathe-
dral. Except in Dante, such mastery of composition has never
elsewhere been achieved in the entire realm of art. To put
together in one unified composition such a vast mass of little
related subject matter, to group the lesser about the greater,
to emphasize the more important parts, to shape the whole into
a perfectly logical, comprehensible design, a grand hymn in
praise of creation — this was a task of almost inconceiv-

120

III. 204. — Chevet of Noyon

SYMBOLISM

able difficulty, but one which the XIII century triumphantly
achieved.

One of the chief means employed to establish this unity of the
imagery was the use of allegory. To the great minds of the
Middle Ages, all the world, from its largest principles to its
minutest detail, was only a symbol. This mystic philosophy,
this allegorical interpretation of the universe, had its begin-
ings even in the New Testament; it was much developed by
the early Church fathers, especially by St. Jerome; and in the
XIII century it had become a developed system of the most sur-
prising complexity, recognized as an official dogma of the Church.
Much of this mystic interpretation, particularly in its more
poetic forms, had begun as the individual fancy of some con-
templative soul ; but the encyclopedic nature of medieval thought
gathered together all these fragments, and formed out of them a
comprehensive system which became an essential part of scho-
lastic philosophy.

The key to the allegory of the world was sought in the Bible,
the book of double meaning, in which God was believed to have
placed the solution of all mysteries, if men could only compre-
hend. Thus for the medieval mind, roses were not only a flower,
but they were the symbol of the blood of martyrs, since it is
written: "Roses wither near the living waters." Thistles sig-
nified the boldness of vice, since according to Isaiah: "In their
house shall spring forth the thorn and the thistle." Chaff
symbolized sinners, for it is written in Job: "They shall be like
chaff before the face of the wind."

But many of the most ingenious and beautiful allegories
that the Middle Ages have left us originated in pure fancy.
Although God had placed the key to everything in the Bible,
yet the soul of the Middle Ages in its passionate longing for
mysticism, when unable to find the clue in the sacred book,
sometimes allowed itself to wander far from the scriptural text.
For the rapt contemplation of the mystic of the XIII century,
every being, every object in the world, became a word full of
meaning. In his conception the ignorant man looks, sees the
figures, the mysterious letters, and understands nothing of
their significance. But the wise man rises from things visible

121

THE TRANSITION

to things invisible; in reading in Nature he reads in the thought

Of (iod.

Adam of St. Victor, seated in the refectory of his monastery,
holds in his hand a nut. 'What is a nut," says he, "but the
image of Jesus Christ? The green and flesh-like burr which
covers it is His flesh, His humanity. The wood of the shell,
that is the wood of the cross upon which this flesh suffered.

III. 207. — Capital of South Transept of Soissons

But the interior of the nut, which is food for man, that is His
hidden divinity." Thus beneath every physical object was
thought to be concealed the symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus,
the idea of the Church, the image of the virtues and vices. The
spiritual and the physical world were thought of as forming
only one single whole.1

Hugh of St. Victor contemplates a dove, and immediately
thinks of the Church. The dove has two wings, as there are
for the Christian two kinds of life, the active and the contempla-

1 Male, Art Rel, p. 46.
122

III. "208. — Capitals of Ambulatory. Morienval

MYSTICISM

tive. The blue feathers of these wings stand for thoughts of
Heaven. The mottled color of the rest of the body, which
makes us think of a stormy sea, symbolizes the ocean of human
passions on which the Church is tossed about. Why has the
dove yellow eyes ? Since yellow, the color of ripe fruits, stands
for experience and maturity, the yellow eyes of the dove are the
look full of wisdom that the Church throws upon the future.
If the dove has red feet, it is because the Church advances across
the centuries, her feet stained by the blood of martyrs.1

Not only the objects, but also the natural phenomena of
the Universe were considered as symbolic. The sun, the con-
stellations, light, the evening, the seasons, all spoke a language
full of allegorical meaning to the medieval mystic. In winter,
when the days grow short and sad, when night seems about to
triumph forever over day, the Middle Ages thought of the long
centuries of twilight that preceded the coming of Christ. These
weeks of December were called Advent (Adventus) and the
waiting of the Old World for the coming of light was clearly
expressed in the special liturgies for the season. And through-
out the year, days, nights, seasons, were similarly made the
reflection of the divine tragedy.2

Space will not permit more examples of this mystic reason-
ing, and I can only refer the reader for a fuller account to the
excellent work of M. Male who has combined fine scholarship
with deep sympathy and a style of great charm, in treating of
this fascinating subject. Suffice it to say that this poetic, mystic
conception of life permeated all medieval thought, and formed
the true basis of the best intellectual activity of the Middle
Ages.

Now, since all nature was thus considered as a symbol and
the imagery of the cathedral was intended to reflect not only
all nature but all knowledge, it is not surprising that such subtle
allegorical reasoning should be applied to the decoration of the
church in all its parts. And, in fact, mysticism underlay not
only the general composition of the imagery, but even its
apparently most minute and casual details.

Just how far this intentional symbolism was carried has

1 Ibid. 2 Op. cit.

123

THE TRANSITION

been much discussed. In the greater number of the serious
figures of statuary this thought was evidently present; on the
other hand in the flora of Gothic decoration the artist seems
to have worked for the love of art without hidden meaning.
Also in the gargoyles and grotesques, popular imagination un-
doubtedly held full sway, and it is impossible to admit the
claim of certain archaeologists, that here, too, is hidden a moral
lesson. There are even a few windows which evidently have
no other purpose than to recall the events or characters which
they portray, although the vast majority are quite as evidently
intended to suggest not only the reality which they represent,
but also another reality of which the first was merely the shadow
in the thought of the time. Between these two classes — the
one clearly symbolic, the other clearly non-symbolic — there
stands a third class of images which may or may not be allegor-
ical. Modern writers have fairly out-mystified the Middle
Ages in inventing subtle interpretations of these supposed alle-
gories. All such attempts to guess a lost secret are untrust-
worthy, and most are absurd in measure as they are sentimental,
since sentimentality was one thing happily unknown in medieval
times. In general it is safe to accept only such symbolic inter-
pretations of medieval iconography as are based upon ancient
texts.

The composition of the cathedral imagery was founded
upon two strange vagaries of medieval allegory. The first of
these was the secret power of numbers, — a power never doubted
in the Middle Ages. "Divine wisdom," says St. Augustine,
"is recognized in the numbers imprinted on everything." The
physical and moral world were thought to be constructed on
eternal numbers, so that who could grasp and understand the
mystic meaning of these would hold in his hand the key of the
Universe. We of the XX century admit that the charm of music
or of the dance lies in rhythm, that is to say in a number; but
the medieval thinkers went farther. For them beauty itself was
only a cadence, a harmonious numeral. Furthermore, special
properties were associated with certain numbers. Every one
is familiar with the mystic meaning so poetically attached by
Dante to the number three and its multiple nine, and recalls the

124

SYMMETRY

strangely beautiful effect with which this symbolism is used in
the Vita Nuova and the Divina Commedia. Two other nu-
merals were equally significant to the medieval mind : four; and
the multiple of four and three, twelve.

Together with this belief in the symbolism of numbers, and
in effect largely in consequence of it, developed a love of sym-
metry. No idea did the Middle Ages adopt more passionately.
The artists loved to place side by side the twelve patriarchs or
the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament, and the twelve
apostles of the New ; the four major prophets and the four evan-
gelists. At Chartres a window of the south transept shows the
four prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jeremiah, like so
many St. Christophers, carrying on their shoulders the four evan-
gelists, Matthew, John, Mark, and Luke. This is obviously not
a scene of actual biblical history; the artist wished to indicate
that the four evangelists found in the four prophets their point
of support, but that they saw higher and farther.

This love of numbers and symmetry permeated the Middle
Ages. Dante is full of it. The Divina Commedia includes a
hundred cantos, all told, of which one forms the proemio or
introduction. There are three main divisions, the Inferno, the
Purgatorio, the Paradiso. Each division contains thirty-three
cantos. There are nine circles in Hell, seven girone in Purga-
tory, and nine divisions of Paradise, etc. In general who has
well understood the inner meaning and symbolism of Dante
will not find himself in unknown territory in the iconography
of the cathedral, for the Italian poet has given expression to
much the same thoughts that were plastically presented by the
sculptors and glass-painters of France.

The second basic principle of the symbolism of the cathedral
was the custom which is frequently illustrated in the literature
of the period, of regarding the Bible itself as an allegory. Each
incident, each character in the scriptures was considered not only
as true in itself but as containing a mystery; as being the hidden
symbol of some other character or incident. Thus on the facade
of the cathedral such or such a person of the Old Testament
must be regarded only as a figure ; in reality he stands for Christ,
the Virgin, or the Church. At Chartres, Melchisedek, priest

125

THE TRANSITION

and king, carrying bread and wine to offer to Abraham, should
recall to us another priest and another king who offered bread
and wine to His apostles. At Laon, Gideon calling on his
fleece extended on the earth the rain of Heaven, is intended to
remind us that the Virgin was that fleece on which fell the dew
from on high.1

The patriarch Joseph prefigures Christ not in an isolated

III. 210. — Capital of Arcading of Lady Chapel, Noyon

incident, but in his entire life. A window of Bourges repre-
sents this history. The first medallion, apparently portraying
the dream of Joseph, really alludes to the reign of Christ. Joseph
dreams that the sun and moon worship him, because it has been
said of Christ, "The moon and the sun shall worship thee, and
all the stars." His brothers become angry with him when he
tells his dream, as the Jews, among whom Jesus was born and
whom he called his brethren, became angry at the Saviour.
Joseph, who is seen in the following medallions stripped of his
cloak, thrown in the pit, and sold to the merchants of Ishmael

1 Male, op. cit., p. 29.
126

BIBLICAL ALLEGORIES

for twenty pieces of silver, symbolizes Jesus in the betrayal,
the passion, and the crucifixion. The cloak which is torn from
Him is the humanity with which the Saviour was clothed and
which was stripped from Him when He was killed upon the
cross. The pit where Joseph was thrown figures Hell, where
Jesus descended after His death. The twenty pieces of silver
for which Joseph was sold recall the twenty pieces given Judas.
The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife which follows is a new
allusion to the passion. The wife of Potiphar is the Synagogue,
accustomed to commit adultery with strange gods. She seeks

III. 211. — Capital in Nave, Noyon

to seduce Jesus, who rejects her doctrine but leaves in her hands
His cloak, that is, His body, of which He was despoiled upon
the cross. The triumph of Joseph figures the victory of Jesus
over death and His eternal kingdom.

This same allegorical interpretation extends to the New
Testament. The artists in portraying the crucifixion did not
undertake to wring our hearts by a vivid portrayal of the
sufferings of Christ, as became conventional in later, more senti-
mental ages; they were primarily interested in portraying two
dogmatic ideas ; the first, that Christ is the new Adam come into
the world to efface the fault of the first; the second, that by the

127

THE TRANSITION

crucifixion He gave birth to the Church and abolished forever
the powers of the Synagogue. As Eve was fashioned from the
side of Adam while he slept, so the Church, to save humanity,
issued from the side of Jesus dead. The blood and the water

III. 212. — Capital of Triforium String Course, North Transept of Soissons

which flowed from the wound of Christ are the symbols of the
two principal sacraments of the church, baptism and the Eucha-
rist. Mary was the familiar figure of the new Eve, and hence
also of the Church. She was therefore placed in the position
of honor at the right of the cross, and held a chalice in which
she caught the blood from the Saviour's side. That she might

128

THE BESTIARIES

conveniently do this, the wound had to be transferred — in
direct contradiction to the scriptural account — from the left
to the right side.1 On the left stands the figure of the Syna-
gogue, with eyes blindfolded, the crown falling from her head, a
broken standard in her hand. Or sometimes the Synagogue is
replaced by John, a much more subtle symbol of the same idea.
It will be remembered that when John and Peter (the Church)
came to the tomb of Christ, John feared to enter in. There-
fore, for the Middle Ages, he became the symbol of the Syna-
gogue. Sometimes in the representations of the crucifixion
Mary is replaced by the centurion and the Synagogue by the
sponge-bearer. The meaning is the same. The centurion,
who after having pierced the side of Christ was converted and
proclaimed his belief, is the New Church. The vinegar of
the sponge-bearer is the wine of the ancient law which has be-
come decomposed; henceforth the Church shall pour the true
wine.

This same principle of the allegorical interpretation of the
Bible applies to the composition of many windows, where, for
example, each one of a series of medallions dealing with the
history of New Testament scenes will be surrounded by smaller
medallions with scenes from the Old Testament prefiguring
the main incident. Thus the story of the passion is regularly
accompanied by medallions representing Abraham, the father,
sacrificing Isaac, his only beloved son; the resurrection natu-
rally suggested the story of Jonah who returned to life after
three days of death in the fish's belly.

But the Gospels were thought to be prefigured not only by
the Old Testament. The bestiaries supplied the medieval
mystics with many allegories. The lion, for example, always
stands for the resurrection, since according to the bestiaries
the lioness gives birth to cubs, seemingly still born, that for
three days betray no sign of life, until on the third day the lion
comes, breathes upon them, and thus brings them to life. So
the apparent death of the lion cub figures the descent of Christ
into the tomb, since he also came to life on the third day. The

1 It is unnecessary to recall that there is no basis for this entire incident in the story of the
Gospels.

129

THE TRANSITION

pelican typified the resurrection because it was believed to have
brought its young to life by blood drawn from its own breast;
and the eagle stood for the Redemption inasmuch as it carried
its young (humanity) upon its broad wings (the cross). The
unicorn (Christ) submitted to the hunters (man) only upon the
breast of a virgin (Mary). The basilisk (111. 266), with the head
of a cock and the tail of a snake, typified death; the aspic (111.
'266), a strange creature with the body of a dragon, signified sin,
and is always represented as stopping one ear and placing the
other on the ground. Thus many symbolical interpretations
of various animals and monsters were drawn from these strange
natural histories, which, of course, were universally believed in
the XIII century. Other allegorical figures, derived from a
misunderstanding of the Apocalypse, were the man (not angel)
of St. Matthew, the eagle of St. John, the lion of St. Mark, and
the calf of St. Luke (111. 215).

In medieval glass and statuary the symbolism is often ex-
tended with the most astounding thoughtfulness to the smallest
detail. Under the bases which support large statues, for ex-
ample, may almost always be seen crouched figures (111. 215,
265, 268). These would seem, superficially, to be works of
pure decoration ; in reality each of the personages so represented
is in relation to the principal figure. The apostles trample
under their feet the kings who have persecuted them. Moses
treads on the golden calf; the angels on the dragon; Jesus on
the aspic (sin) and the basilisk (death). Sometimes the em-
blem of the base expresses not the idea of triumph, but some
trait of the life or character of the person represented. At
Chartres beneath the feet of Balaam is his ass; a negro charged
with gifts of Ophir is placed beneath the Queen of Sheba. The
relationship between base and statue is so close that in the
cathedral of Paris it has been possible to restore with practical
certainty the lost statues of the portal from the bases which
supported them.1

Thus the subjects depicted in the imagery of the cathedral,
even to the smallest details, had almost always a double sig-
nificance. Principles very similar governed the design of the

1 Male, Art. Rel., p. 22.
130

1 "BgMi

III. 213. — St. fitienne or Beauvais. North Transept End

THE FOUR MIRRORS

larger aspects of the composition — the representations of the
four mirrors. The mirror of nature, in Vincent of Beauvais,
consists of a commentary on the seven days of creation, when
God made Heaven and Earth and all the creatures therein. To
this mirror, therefore, belong not only all the numerous scenes
of the creation itself which are so frequently portrayed in the
windows and statuary of the cathedral, but also all the vegetable
ornament, the animals and monsters and grotesques with which
the cathedral was adorned from base to summit.

The mirror of science included the handicrafts and practical
knowledge of man. Thus all the useful arts and trades found
their representation in the cathedral imagery. At Chartres
and Bourges, at the bottom of the windows given by the various
corporations, the donors are portrayed plying the spade, the
hammer, the loom, the baker's rolling pin, the butcher's knife.
There was felt no incongruity in placing these pictures of daily
life side by side with the heroic scenes from the lives of saints.
Beneath the signs of the zodiac on the facade of Amiens appeared
genre scenes depicting the forms of agricultural life appropriate
to each season — the sowing of the grain, the harvest, the vint-
age, etc. (111. 265). Under this mirror were also included alle-
gorical representations of the seven arts, which according to
the medieval idea comprised the possibilities of human intellec-
tual activity, outside of the Revelation; these arts were: Gram-
mar, Rhetoric, Dialectics, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy,
and Music. Over the seven arts arose Philosophy, their mother.
The artists of the XIII century almost never failed to sculpture
on the facade of the cathedral these eight figures which are
presented usually in the form of young women, full of dignity.
Grammar holds the rod as her attribute; at her feet are often
gathered children deep in reading. The attribute of Dialectics
is a serpent or scorpion; Rhetoric makes a gesture of oratory,
and writes in her tablets; Arithmetic is usually made known
by her counting-board; Geometry has a compass and a table
on which she traces figures; Astronomy carries a curious disc-
like instrument with which to measure the distances of the
stars; Music is seated, and strikes three or four suspended
bells. Philosophy sits with her head in the clouds — her era-

131

THE TRANSITION

blems are books in her right hand, a scepter in her left, and
sometimes a ladder.

The mirror of morals concerned itself above all with the
depiction of the virtues and vices. The virtues in the earliest
times were represented as warrior maidens, fighting in battle
against the opposite vice. But in the XIII century the psy-
chomachia gave place to a new mode of presentation. The
virtues, sculptured in low relief, are women, calm, composed,
majestic; they carry shields with heraldic devices, witnessing
their nobility. As for the vices, they are no longer personified,
but represented by genre scenes placed below each virtue. A
husband beating his wife is Discord; Inconstancy is a monk
who flies from his monastery throwing off his cloak. The
selection of the particular virtues and vices to be represented
seems to have been governed by principles not altogether clear.
The three theological virtues were Faith, Hope, and Charity;
the opposite vices, Idolatry, Despair, and Avarice. The car-
dinal virtues were Temperance, Force, Prudence, and Justice.
But this classification the sculptors seem to have treated freely,
often omitting certain virtues or vices and adding others.

The mirror of history, the most important of all the mirrors,
included subjects drawn from the Old and New Testaments,
the apocrypha, and the lives of the saints, thus comprising, from
the creation of the world, all events that seemed of importance
to the medieval mind — i.e., those which were related to reli-
gion. It was mainly in this mirror that mystic and symbolic
compositions found their place. Profane history did not enter,
and the galleries of the kings, as are called the long line of royal
statues that ordinarily stretched across the cathedral facade,
represented not kings of France, as has been erroneously main-
tained by Viollet-le-Duc and others, but kings of Judah. These
royal statues thus formed, in fact, a sort of Jesse tree, repre-
senting the genealogy of the Virgin. Especially in windows
were represented the legends of the saints; and the saint selected
was often the patron saint of the corporation that gave the
window.

Thus it will be seen that the task imposed upon the Gothic
designers of stained glass and statuary was a highly complex

132

III. 214. — Stained Glass Window of Bourges. (From
Martin et Cahier)

CONVENTIONAL ATTRIBUTES

one. Not only must they produce works beautiful in themselves, *
not only must they strictly subordinate them to the architectural
scheme, but they must also make allusions to the dogmas of
scholastic philosophy, and they must combine all these countless
divergent subjects representing the sum of all knowledge into
a single and unified whole. To accomplish this difficult task,
resort was had to the use of attributes, more or less conventional,
to distinguish different persons and subjects. The imagery
thus possessed a sort of hieroglyphic character for those able
to read it. Many of the attributes, it is true, were merely sur-
vivals of the tradition of a cruder age. For the Romanesque
sculptor, who was unable to raise the dignity of his figure of
Christ above the level of the grotesque figures of men, a peculiar
nimbus was necessary to distinguish the figure of the Deity.
The Gothic sculptors, on the other hand, were well able to in-
vest their representations of the 'beau Dieu' with a matchless
dignity and gentleness that must be immediately recognized by
the most dull (111. 266). Yet they still retained at times the
conventional attribute (111. 267).

The list of these symbols is a long one, and it is possible to
mention only a few of the more important to illustrate their
general character. The halo placed like a circular disc behind
the head of a figure expresses sanctity (111. 215) ; when this halo
is inscribed with a Greek cross it signifies the divinity (111. 215,
266). The elliptical aureole, which may be seen in the illustra-
tion of the portal of Chartres (111. 215) surrounding the entire
figure of Christ in the tympanum, is used only in connection
with the three persons of the Trinity, the Virgin, and the souls
of the blessed, and seems to express eternal happiness. God,
the angels, Christ (111. 266, 215), and the apostles always have
bare feet; never the Virgin or the saints (111. 265, 268). A
tower pierced with a door signifies a city, but if an angel watch
between the battlements it becomes the heavenly Jerusalem.
St. Peter always has curly hair, a short thick beard, and on top
of his head a bald spot; St. Paul has a bald forehead and a
long beard. The Virgin wears upon her head a veil, the symbol
of virginity. Jews may always be recognized by their conical
bonnets.

133

THE TRANSITION

A similar hieroglyphic purpose, mingled with the medieval
love of order, governed the position of individual persons in
the group and the arrangement of the groups themselves. The
center of the composition was always the place of honor, right
had preference over left, and higher over lower. Thus every
personage, every scene, was graded according to strict hierarchal
rank, and the position in the composition was accordingly de-
termined. This grouping dominated over the division accord-
ing to the four mirrors of nature: that is, subjects belonging to
different mirrors were mingled and placed beside each other if the
rule of hierarchal precedence demanded it. This law, therefore,
even more than the symbolism, served to bind the imagery of
the cathedral into a centralized and unified whole. Although
the composition was freely varied in every individual cathedral,
in the XIII century certain general principles of grouping came
to be established, largely in consequence of this rule of hie-
rarchal precedence. In the central support of the central door-
way of the west facade — the place of highest honor since it
was the center of the entire composition — was regularly placed
the figure of Christ. To the right and left in the jambs stood the
twelve apostles placed according to their rank, and behind them
in due order the majestic figures of the four major, and the twelve
minor, prophets. In the two side portals flanking the great
central portal were placed usually the Virgin and the local
patron saint of the diocese. Thus at Amiens, St. Firmin occu-
pies the position of honor in the center of the portal to the right
of the Saviour; the jambs of this portal are adorned with statues
of the other saints of whom the cathedral possessed relics. In
the portal to the left of the Saviour was placed the Virgin, who
although the titulary saint of the church thus yielded to St.
Firmin in honor; on the jambs of this south portal were depicted
scenes from her life. Above the three portals, across the facade,
stretched the gallery of the kings of Judah, recalling the gene-
alogy of the Virgin and Christ. The facade of the transept
which faced the north, the region of cold and of winter and of
night, was usually devoted to scenes from the Old Testament;
the facade which faced the south, the region of light and warmth,
was adorned with subjects drawn from the Gospels. In the tym-

134

III. 815. — West Portal of Cliartres

THE LAST JUDGMENT

panum of the central portal of the west facade, over the cen-
tral figure of Christ, was almost invariably displayed the
solemn drama of the Last Judgment, so placed that the
last rays of the setting sun might illumine this terrible
scene of the last evening of the world — a scene which it
was the great mission of Christ to teach, and prepare the world
to endure.

Gothic sculpture in relief is at its best in the portrayal of
this subject, which so strangely preoccupied the thoughts of
the Middle Ages. In the center of the upper of the three zones
into which this composition was generally divided (111. 267) was
placed the figure of Christ, sitting upon His throne, and sur-
rounded by the archangels; on either side the Virgin and the
saints kneel in supplication, while Gabriel sounds the last dread
trumpet. In the second zone, the archangel Raphael balances
in his hand the scales of justice. In either disc rests a soul;
notwithstanding the efforts of the malignant devil who tries
to pull down the balance on the wrong side, the weight inclines
towards salvation, and the gentle archangel places his hand
upon the head of the spirit awaiting judgment with infinite
kindliness and love. To the left of Raphael stand hideous
devils ready to seize the condemned ; they bind them with chains,
poke them with pitchforks, hurl them headforemost into the
gaping jaws of Hell. Kings, bishops, priests, monks, form ordi-
narily a goodly portion of this company of the damned. On
the other side in calm procession the blessed walk serenely
towards the joys of Paradise, or angels bear the naked souls in
napkins straight to Abraham's bosom. In the lower field is
represented the resurrection of the dead. The departed, naked,
reincarnated in the perfect flower of youth, men and women,
saints and sinners, burst open the lids of their coffins, and arise
to await judgment. Meanwhile all around this solemn scene
on the voussoirs of the orders, are sculptured the hosts in glory:
crowds of angels, martyrs, confessors, witnesses of the awful
scene. (111. 267.)

I should hardly know how to put in words the stern grandeur
and tragic power of these terrible representations of the Last
Judgment. Fortunately, the XIII century itself has expressed

135

THE TRANSITION

not only in stone, but in poetry, this terrible conception, which
so fascinated the medieval mind :

Dies irae, dies ilia
Solvet saeclum in favilla,

Teste David cum Si bulla.

Quanta* tremor est futurus,
Quatulo judex est Venturas
Cuncta stride discussurus.

Tuba minim spargens sonum
Per sepulchra rcgionum
Coget omnes ante tlironum.

Mors stupebit et natura,
Cum rcsurget creatura
Judicanti responsura.

Liber script us proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicefur.

Judex ergo cum sedebit,
Quidquid lafet apparebit,
Nil inultum remanebit.

Quid sum miser time dicturus?
Quern patronum rogaturus,
Quum vix Justus sit sccurus?

Rex tremendae majestatis.
Qui salvandos salens gratis,
Salva me fons pietatis!

Recordare, Jesa pie,
Quod sum causa tuae viae,
Ne me perdas ilia die!

Quaerens me sedisti lassus;
Redemisti, crucem passus;
Tardus labor non sit cassus!

Justae judex uttionis,
Donum fac remission is,
Ante diem rationis!
130

THE "DIES IRAE

Ingemisco tanquam reus,
Culpa rubet vulius mens,
Supplicanti parce deus!

Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Et latronem exaudisti,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Preces meae non surd dignae,
Sed tu bonus fac benigne,
Ne perenni cremer igne!

Inter oves locum praesta,
Et ab hoedis me sequestra,
Statuens in parte dextra!

Confutatis maledictis,
Flamnis arcibus addictis,
Voca me cum benedictis!

Oro supplex et acclinis,
Cor contrition quasi cinis,
Gere curam mci finis!

Lacrymosa dies ilia,
Qua resurget ex favilla,
Judicandus homo reus.

Huic ergo parce deus,
Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem.

The "Dies Irae," kitchen Latin though it be, one of the
master lyrics of all time, is, as it were, the literary translation,
not of the details of iconography, but of the spirit of the Gothic
reliefs of the Last Judgment. Surely there could be no more
fitting place for this impressive subject than the tympanum of
the main portal of the cathedral, where the pictured narrative
warned each sinner who entered the house of God, to repent
while there was yet time.

Thus throughout the Gothic cathedral, from pavement to
spire, every detail of imagery occupied its definite and logical
position in the powerful unity that dominated the whole. It is

137

THE TRANSITION

never by chance that one subject, instead of another, is treated
in a given window; no two statues of the facade could be
transposed without injury to the entire scheme of iconography.
Gothic sculpture and glass are arts supremely. beautiful in them-
selves; but it is only when it is considered how much else these
arts are, besides being merely beautiful, that the full genius of
the Gothic artist is comprehended. At the same time that he
created images architectural as no other plastic art has ever
been architectural, at the same time that he so successfully
filled fields more difficult than any other sculptors have ever
been required to decorate, at the same time that he imbued
his figures with the breath of life, and with a consummate beauty,
the Gothic designer was also able to conceive a vast unity of
composition that must rank as one of the most impressive achieve-
ments of any art, and to imprint upon the whole a depth of inner
poetic meaning and symbolism, which sums up the best in
scholastic philosophy.

All this was certainly a sufficient attainment for any art or
artists, but modern writers in their admiration for Gothic de-
sign have gone even farther, and have insisted on reading sym-
bolism where it almost certainly does not exist — i.e., in the
structural forms of the building. The three aisles, the three
divisions in which Gothic windows were usually divided by
mullions, are considered by authors of this class as so many
symbols of the Trinity; the cruciform plan was long unques-
tioningly accepted as an allegory, and even the deviation of axis
that sometimes occurs in the choirs of churches has been seri-
ously thought to have been a reminiscence of the head of the
Saviour which fell to one side when he died upon the cross.

In point of fact, however, although medieval mysticism
was extremely apt at inventing allegorical interpretations of
structural forms already existing, there is not a single instance
known where this spirit governed the design of anything but
the decoration, or where the development of architecture proper
was subordinated to other considerations than the logic of
structure. In the Carolingian period, the mystics delighted
above all in the allegorical interpretation of the dome which was
taken to symbolize Heaven, crowned and sealed by one keystone,

138

DEVIATED AXIS

Christ. But this allegory, popular as it was, did not prevent
the dome from being discarded in the Gothic period. Hence,
even if texts could be cited in favor of the allegorical inter-
pretation of Gothic structure — which has not been done — I
should be inclined to hold such interpretations rather as the
chance imaginings of some mystic, invented apres coup, than as
having influenced the choice of forms adopted. The cruci-
form plan, developed purely out of liturgical needs, only at a
very late date and quite by accident came to assume the form
of a Latin cross. As for the theory of the "inclinato capite"
its sentimentality is so thoroughly out of keeping with the
eminently unsentimental XIII century, that it is difficult to
understand what has induced so many eminent archaeologists
to accept it.

M. A. St. Paul (who has since, however, with admirable
frankness acknowledged himself in the wrong) was the principal
champion who kept this strange theory in vogue until the last year
or so, although even such scholars as Viollet-le-Duc and M. Male
had hesitated to pronounce against it. M. de Lasteyrie, how-
ever, in a recent forceful article, has pointed out that no ancient
text supports the allegorical interpretation of the deviated axis,
which cannot be traced to a period more remote than the XIX
century; that deviation frequently occurs in churches without
transept, where it could not possibly have been symbolical ; x
that in the XIII century the crucifixion was rarely if ever repre-
sented with the Saviour's head drooping, that detail having been
added by a later age, while the XIII century was much more
concerned with dogma than sentimentality in portraying the
scenes of the passion; and finally, that since the deviation was
quite as often to the south as to the north, it could not refer
to the Saviour's head, which always was represented as falling
to the right.

This article, as M. St. Paul himself confesses, settles the
question of symbolism. But it remains to account for the
deviation of axis, which unquestionably exists in a large per-

1 Aji excellent instance of this which M. de Lasteyrie does not mention is found at St.-Nich-
olas-du-Port (Meurthe-et-Moselle) where one of the most exaggerated examples of deviation I
know occurs in a church without transepts.

139

THE TRANSITION

centage, if not in a majority, of medieval churches.1 M. de
Lasteyrie notes that this deviation usually coincides with a
break in the works; he concludes in consequence that the work-
men in continuing the old construction were careless in laying
out the new lines, and allowed them to vary slightly from the
direction of the old lines they continued. M. St. Paul suggests
that in rebuilding an older church, the larger choir was con-
structed with improved orientation, without foreseeing the
extra land it would require in the nave, and the buildings with
which it might interfere ; that, however, when it came to build-
ing the nave these objections were realized and the axis con-
sequently diverted.

Both these theories, and the many others that account for
the deviation of the axis by supposing carelessness on the part
of the builders, while fully adequate to explain any individual
instance, still seem insufficient to account for all the very
numerous instances of this phenomenon that occur. It is a
well-known fact that in practically all medieval churches works
were interrupted at the choir. It was the regular formula
of procedure to reconstruct the old choir first; when this was
finished, works were suspended until sufficient funds were col-
lected to resume work on the transepts and nave. I suspect
that were the few churches in France, where no such interrup-
tion in the construction occurs, to be carefully examined, the
percentage of deviated axes would be found to be quite as large
as in those in which the break is found. Certainly in at least
two instances that I can name — the churches at Coudun (Oise)
and of Guilray at Falaise, — there exists a marked deviation
in the axis which corresponds to no break in the construction.
The idea of M. St. Paul, on the other hand, is perfectly plaus-
ible for a cathedral like that of Paris, which was placed in a
great city where land was dear and which was surrounded by
conventual buildings. But how extend it to country churches,
where the building stood free and land was cheap? Yet the
deviated axis is of frequent occurrence in just such struc-

] No statistics have ever been compiled to show the exact facts in regard to the deviation of
the axis. Until such statistics, made from accurate measurements, are accessible, no definitive
solution of the problem is possible.

140

III. 216. — Villard de Honnecourt's Design for the Cathedral of Cambrai. (From Lassus)

DEVIATED AXIS

tures: witness the churches at Solesmes (Sarthe), Nerondes
(Cher),Vorly (Cher), Lagenay (Cher), Binson (Marne), etc., etc.

Furthermore I confess I find it difficult to admit that the
Gothic builders, with all their skill of technique, with all their
strong artistic conscience, were still unable, or did not take the
pains, to trace on the ground a line quite as straight as they
desired. Any child could tie a string at one end of a building
and stretch it taut; that the creators of Paris and Amiens could
not carry out this simplest of operations seems incredible.

Consequently the conclusion that the deviated axis was
intentional seems inevitable; and I believe that this singular
construction was adopted for the purpose of increasing the ap-
parent length of the building. Every one is familiar with the
law of perspective, by which equal distances seem to diminish
as they are far from the eye. Now in a church, the lines of the
vertical bays give the scale by which the eye instinctively meas-
ures the length of the whole. To a man standing at the west
end of the edifice and looking east, the first of these divisions
will seem large; the second smaller; and so on until at a cer-
tain point one set of vertical lines will merge into the next and
the division of bays will be lost. After this point is reached,
a difference of fifty or even a hundred feet in the length of the
edifice becomes hardly apparent.1

The point is aptly illustrated in certain English cathedrals,
notably Salisbury. This structure of immense length the medi-
eval builders had wisely divided into two distinct parts by the
use of high choir screens, each part being of sufficient length
to obtain the greatest sense of perspective possible. Modern
restorers pulled down the choir screen, and hoped by this means
to obtain an effect of added length. But they were mistaken.
The building twice as long as formerly appeared to have no
greater length than either one of the original halves. The
French medieval builders also realized that to increase the
length of a church beyond a certain point was effort thrown
away; hence, since they did not employ the high choir screens

1 Mr. Goodyear has suggested that the axis was deviated for esthetic reasons, though he
has not, so far as I know, advanced this particular explanation. He has found, however,
many analogous cases of optical illusions in medieval buildings.

141

THE TRANSITION

of the English, they seldom erected cathedrals of much over
350 feet in length. It therefore is not unreasonable to suppose
that the axis was deviated in order to overcome this tendency
of perspective to minimize the apparent length of a rectangular
nave by foreshortening the far bays. The principle will be
clear on reference to the diagram (111. 216a). In the left hand

III. 216a. — Diagram of the Deviated Axis

figure, for a man standing at x, the equal divisions a, b, c, d,
will be projected in such small angles that the perspective will
much diminish the apparent length of the choir. If, however,
the axis be deviated, as in the second figure, the angles of pro-
jection will be increased, and the choir will appear at much
more nearly its true length. The deviation of axis in Gothic
buildings is seldom so acute as to be noticeable, except upon the
closest examination; it is, however, sufficient to increase mate-
rially the apparent length of the building.

The entire subject of the irregularities of medieval build-

142

PROF. GOODYEAR'S "REFINEMENTS"

ings has lately been brought very much into the limelight by
the researches of Prof. Goodyear. Prof. Goodyear, starting
at the Maison Carree at Nimes and proceeding thence through
the medieval buildings of Italy and France, remarked that
practically all the structures of the Middle Ages, instead of fol-
lowing rule and plumb-line, are irregular; that lines apparently
straight wander up and down to a considerable extent, that
the distances between the piers vary, and, most remarkable of
all, that the plans are frequently laid out on distinctly curved
lines. Therefore, on analogy with the discoveries of Penrose
at the Parthenon, Prof. Goodyear concluded that these irregu-
larities were the result of intentional and carefully planned devi-
ations from the straight line ; that they represented an unbroken
tradition extending from Greek times to the Renaissance; that
they were, in fact, so many refinements perfectly analogous to
those which occur in Greek work. This theory, which he has
sought to establish by means of photographs and minute measure-
ments, has been broadly accepted, especially in America, though
it has met with much scepticism and some ridicule in Europe.
The question is still before the archaeological courts, and
must be left to time and the specialists in optics and perspective
to determine. As yet, however, although Prof. Goodyear has
certainly succeeded in establishing remarkable facts, I find great
difficulty in accepting his theory as a whole, and am strongly
inclined to believe that there is nothing carefully planned about
medieval irregularities.1 Settling of the foundations and the
continuous outward thrust of the vaults for six centuries are
amply sufficient to account for the greater part of the "curves"
Prof. Goodyear has discovered in the superstructure. As for
such irregularities as did exist in the original buildings — the
irregular spacing of the bays, lines of mouldings apparently
parallel that are not so in fact, the bases of different heights,
the horizontal lines that curve upwards or downwards, etc. -
these may easily be explained without resorting to the difficult
hypothesis of scientific refinements. In the study of this prob-
lem it is necessary to bear in mind the evolution of Gothic archi-

1 However, I confess I am at a loss to account for several instances of curvature in plan,
notably that of the steps of S. Marco, Venice.

143

THE TRANSITION

tecture, and the fact that in Carolingian, even in Romanesque,
times, precision of architectural technique had been unknown.
Buildings had been crudely constructed in a haphazard man-
ner. In the Gothic period, although technique was vastly
improved, the old manner of building was not completely dis-
carded. The lines of a Gothic church are so nearly true that
the irregularities are not perceived by one eye in a thousand
not especially on the watch for them; and in the Gothic age
such vagaries as do exist must have been even less noticeable,
since in that day people were not accustomed to our modern
machine-made architecture.

In the most flawless and lifeless of modern work, it is cer-
tain that all lines are not absolutely true; the deviations may
be of a hundred-thousandth of an inch, but they exist. Thus
the Gothic builders, who constructed far more accurately than
their predecessors, may well have felt about their edifices just
as we do about ours — that they were sufficiently accurate for
all practical purposes. Moreover, even had they known mod-
ern mechanical precision, I strongly suspect that they were too
great artists to have wished to copy it. As a matter of fact
there is nothing which adds more to the charm of Gothic work,
nothing which does more to give the medieval building its
distinct, if intangible superiority over modern imitations, than
this very deviation from the mathematically exact. If the
Gothic builders had ever thought of constructing with cold
precision, this consideration would have deterred them. Prof.
Goodyear has not succeeded in showing that the exact varia-
tions were nicely calculated. The Gothic builders felt that
an irregular line was more effective than a straight one; they
did not work out a geometrical curve which should bulge two
inches here, three inches there. The artist, when he wishes
to draw on his canvas the line of the horizon separating sea and
sky, does not take his T-square and triangle; he knows rigid
mechanical accuracy is fatal to artistic effect. Neither does
he measure out mathematically that this line shall curve up-
wards a hundredth of an inch here, and downwards a thousandth
there. He simply draws a bold, strong, free-hand line. It
matters not just where or how it curves; it is only of importance

144

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

that it be in the main true, but without the disagreeable hardness
of mechanical work. It is the same with Gothic architecture.
True enough for all practical purposes, the slight irregularities
of its lines give it a life, a charm, and an artistic quality,
perfectly analogous to that of a free-hand drawing. The
same distinction separates Gothic from modern architecture
that separates an etching by Haig from a photograph.

The greatest of all the marvels of the Gothic cathedral is
the age which produced it. Amid the broils of robber-barons,
amid the clamor of communes and contending factions, amid
the ignorance and superstition of the Church, this lovely art,
at once so intellectual and so ideal, suddenly burst into flower.
It seems almost like an anachronism, that this architecture
should have arisen in the turbulent Middle Ages. Yet Gothic
architecture, although in a sense so distinctly opposed to the
spirit of the times, was none the less deeply imbued with that
spirit, and can be understood only when considered in relation
to contemporary political, ecclesiastical, economic, and social
conditions. For the XII century, despite its darkness, was
yet a period far in advance of what had gone before — so far
that M. Luchaire does not hesitate to name it "la Renaissance
francaise."

Especially in the field of literature was this advance con-
spicuous. The Alexis, the oldest monument in the French
vernacular, had been written at Rouen as early as 1040-50; but
it remained an almost isolated example until in the XII century
vernacular literature truly came into existence. Latin poetry
on secular subjects began to appear at this same time ; the writing
of history became an art; sermons multiplied. The XII cen-
tury is the age of the earliest and most beautiful of the chansons
de geste — the Chanson de Roland and the Pelerinage de Charle-
magne. These feudal epics continued from this time to in-
crease in number, until in the XIII century they reached their
zenith contemporaneously with Gothic architecture. In the
South, the trouveres began to sing their courtly lays as early
as the beginning of the XII century, and ceased only when the

145

THE TRANSITION

horrible Albigensian Crusade ruined the budding culture of
the Midi. About the year 1180 through Chretien of Troyes
the famous cycle of the Grail legends spread from France over
all Europe. Even earlier the miracle play had come into being,
no longer as part of the liturgy, but as a separate and self-suffi-
cient drama, largely in the vernacular tongue. In short, the

XII century saw the beginnings and the development of a sec-
ular and national literature.

Also in the more intellectual and less popular learning of
the clerks there took place a great advance. Not only in such
great names as those of Abelard and St. Bernard — giants who
loom up across the centuries and influence even the thought of
our own times -- but in the hosts of smaller scholars, men whose
very names are now forgotten, are to be found some of the
keenest intellects that the Middle Ages produced. The XII
century was the age of dialectics and scholasticism; the age of
the controversy of realist and nominalist; the age when was
produced and codified the best of medieval thought and dogma;
the age when flourished the famous schools of Chartres, of Or-
leans, of Laon, and when the foundations were laid for the great
University of Paris, destined to rise to such greatness in the

XIII century.

The revival spread even to channels unconnected with the
ecclesiastical dogma, which, up to this moment, had absorbed
all the intellectual activity of the Middle Ages. The study of
Roman law, which had already been resuscitated in Italy, was
passionately taken up by the scholars of the North. Classical
literature, from the most secular poets to the most religious
early fathers, from the most edifying discourses to the most
immoral lyrics, was studied and imitated with an enthusiasm
equaled only by that of the humanists of the Renaissance.
Above all the XII century is marked by the spread of the first
serious heresies. Men were beginning to think for themselves
even against the universal Church. Two peasants were burned
for heresy at Soissons between 1108 and 1126. In 1145 a heret-
ical sect was suppressed at Cologne. Soon after, the heretics
Henri de Lausanne and Pierre de Bruis obtained such a numerous
following that it required the personal efforts of St. Bernard

146

ADVANCE OF CIVILIZATION

and of the pope himself to suppress the uprising. Even so,
the heresy was not extirpated but really formed the basis
of the sect of the Vaudois and Albigeois, which in the early XIII
century had disaffected the entire Midi, and was put down only
after thirteen years of massacre by the united forces of Christen-
dom.

The intellectual revolution was accompanied by an economic
upheaval no less radical. Herr Schmoller has even compared
it to that which took place in the XIX century. In the cities
the workmen were freed from serfage, and commenced to unite
themselves into free corporations; and the same process was
at work in a less degree among the villains or serfs of the country.
The economic advantages of this emancipation were incalculable.
The pilgrimages, the journeys of the French chivalry into all
parts of Europe, above all, the crusades, opened to the
merchants a field of activity undreamed of heretofore. The
guilds of merchants, which ever became more numerous and
stronger; the commercial relations that were established be-
tween Normandy and England; the redoubled prosperity of
Montpellier and Marseille; the multiplication of markets; the
increasing importance of the great fairs of Champagne — all
these conditions betray a radical transformation in the material
condition of the population. Everywhere the condition of the
laborer was made easier; everywhere the cities increased their
economic production, and extended their traffic; everywhere
bridges were rebuilt and repaired; everywhere new roads were
opened. And with commerce, came wealth.

The power for evil of the robber-barons, while certainly not
destroyed, was vastly diminished. These plagues of society
still continued to prey upon Church and peasant, but the rising
monarchy had already broken their power. The great aim of
Louis VI (1108-37) had been to curb the violence of his vassals;
Louis VII (1137-80) and Philippe Auguste (1180-1223) con-
tinued and extended this policy. Thus about the year 1200 the
barons were more nearly subdued to the royal authority than
at any other time during the Middle Ages.

In the domain of politics, the same prosperity was not alto-
gether maintained. Under Louis VII (1137-80) the Capetian

147

THE TRANSITION

lost not only diplomatic prestige but much land. The marriage
of Eleanor with Henry II united all the west of France with
England under the Plantagenet dynasty. Between this millstone
on the one side and the Empire on the other, the French
monarch found himself stripped of one piece of land after
another. His very powerlessness, however, forced him to keep
peace, even with dishonor, and thus the XII century in France
was a period comparatively free from war — a fact which doubt-
less favored material development. And, although the mon-
archy lost physical power and its domain was lessened, still
even the reign of Louis VII was rich in domestic moral con-
quests, since the influence of the king was extended to the
remotest parts of France and the foundations for French unity
and patriotism were securely laid. This patriotism long lay
smoldering, but when Philippe-Auguste (1180-1223) was able
to lead this nation so newly conscious of itself from victory to
victory, to overthrow the empire of the Plantagenets, to double
the size of his dominions, and finally at Bouvines (1214) to over-
whelm at one blow English king, German emperor, and revolted
baron, the popular national enthusiasm flared into a brilliant
flame. In the patriotic demonstrations which accompanied
the triumphal progress of Philippe-Auguste from Bouvines to
Paris might well be found sufficient cause for a sudden out-
burst of architectural activity such as seems invariably to
follow great military conquests. But as a matter of fact,
Gothic architecture had no need of such a stimulant; from
the moment of St. Denis, Amiens had become inevitable.

Thus the XII century saw a progress in civilization not un-
worthy of the name of renaissance. Yet however light appears
the twilight of this period compared with the darkness that
preceded, it should not be forgotten that it was absolutely very
dim. The nobility had been at heart but little touched by the
dawning ideals of chivalry, and their sole occupation still re-
mained the art of war. The country was torn from one end to
the other by petty feuds carrying in their wake devastation and
misery; the brief intervals which intervened between these
feuds were occupied by tournaments and jousts the imitation
of war, and hardly less bloody. The bands of brigands who

148

LACK OF SANITATION

swarmed everywhere over the land made all traveling danger-
ous. Regularly in league with the barons and even with the
Church, with whom they shared their spoils, these robbers were
strong enough at times to defy a royal army. The taxes levied
on the laborer by the king, by the Church, and by the feudal
lords not unfrequently amounted all told to a third or even a
half of his total produce. Famines were of such frequent occur-
rence that no less than eleven are recorded during the reign of
Philippe-Auguste, and so severe were these periods of want that
the peasants were reduced to eating roots, dogs, even, it was
said, human flesh. The famine of 1195 lasted four years; in
the second year an innumerable number perished from starva-
tion— innumeri fame perempti sunt. Expressions like these:
multi fame perierunt, moriuntur fame millia millium recur with
sickening frequency throughout the chronicles of the XII cen-
tury.

Nor is the picture even of the more prosperous cities of the
epoch an altogether attractive one. The houses were built
almost entirely of wood; the streets were narrow and winding.
There was constant danger from fire, and when a conflagration
was once started there was nothing but the destruction of the
entire city which could check the flames. Rouen was burned
six times between 1200 and 1225. In the single year 1188 Rouen,
Troyes, Beauvais, Provins, Arras, Poitiers, and Moissac were
all destroyed by fire. Hundreds of persons perished in the great
fire of Chartres in 1194. To these accidental catastrophes
were added the fires which resulted in the course of wars. Every
army included, besides the foragers, a special corps of officials
whose duty it was to set fire to granaries, houses, villages, and
cities.

Even more disastrous were the plagues and epidemics which
raged especially in the towns. The population had not the
most elementary ideas of cleanliness or hygiene; the unpaved
streets were merely open sewers. In Paris, "the most beautiful
of cities," in the cemetery of Champeaux situated almost in
the center of the town, the dead were buried so near the surface
that in time of rain the stench became intolerable. It is not
surprising that disease spread among this unwashed people.

149

THE TRANSITION

To these natural evils was added the violence of man. Since
there was practically no police — no attempt of any kind to pre-
vent crime, — assassination, murder, theft, and rape were
committed at will. Street broils, usually with fatal termina-
tions, were of daily occurrence; no availing effort was made by
the government to protect the lives of citizens or their property.

AVhen this side of the picture is considered, it becomes diffi-
cult to explain the growth of Gothic architecture merely as a
result of the generally increased prosperity of the XII century.
Gothic architecture, moreover, was so essentially the product
of the single province of the lie de France, that it seems as if
some peculiar local condition in the royal domain must have
favored its growth. This stimulus Viollet-le-Duc saw in the
commune. In his view the cathedral was little more than a
town hall — a vast monument of civic pride, erected as much
for secular as for ecclesiastical ends, and essentially the work
of the bourgeoisie.

The thesis is attractive. It is pleasant to believe in the
democracy of great art. Consequently the great majority of
archaeologists have accepted Viollet-le-Duc's opinion, although
of late years there has been a growing tendency to view with a
more or less openly expressed scepticism the supposed popular
character of the Gothic church. It is, therefore, worth while
to examine in some detail the evidence upon which this theory
is based.

The cathedral itself offers but slight confirmation of such a
theory. Many windows at Chartres and Bourges, it is true,
were given by various trade guilds, as is known from the lower
medallions which depict the particular handicrafts of the
donors. At Amiens and elsewhere, beneath the signs of
the zodiac, are sculptured genre scenes portraying the life of the
peasant at various seasons (111. 265), and beneath the virtues are
similar genre scenes portraying the vices. The grotesque carvings,
as has been mentioned, also seem to be of popular character.
This is the extent of the distinctly democratic elements that
can be traced in Gothic ornament. The guild windows prove
that the corporations did contribute a certain amount of stained
glass towards the erection of the building. As for the sculp-

150

LETTER OF HAYMO

tures and grotesques, such small details are they in the vast mass
of ecclesiastical ornament, that here the artist may well have
slipped away a moment from the strict tutelage of the clerks.

More serious are certain texts which date especially from
about the middle of the XII century and bear witness to a most
remarkable condition of popular religious enthusiasm. The
most illuminating of all these is a letter of Haymo, abbot of
St.-Pierre-sur-Dives, in Normandy, — a letter which it will be
well to let speak for itself.

"Who ever saw, who ever heard in all former generations,
of such a thing, that rulers, princes, potentates, full of the
honors and riches of the world, men and women of noble
birth, should submit their haughty and puft'ed-up necks to
be bound by straps to carts, and like beasts of burden
should drag to the asylum of Christ loads of wine, wheat,
oil, mortar, stones, wood, and whatever else is necessary for
the maintenance of life or for the construction of the church ?
Moreover, it is wonderful to see how, although a thousand or
even more men and women are yoked to one cart (so great is
the size of the carts and so heavy the load piled upon them),
nevertheless the whole company marches along in such silence
that no voice, no sound is heard; and unless you saw with your
eyes, far from believing that such a multitude was present,
you would not think that there was a single person. And when
a halt is made on the road, there is no other sound but the con-
fession of faults and orison to God, and holy prayer for the for-
giveness of sins. During these halts the priests preach peace,
and straightway hatred is lulled to sleep, discords are driven
out, debts are forgiven, and the unity of spirits restored. More-
over, if any one has fallen into such an evil way that he is unwill-
ing to humble himself as a sinner, or, when piously admonished,
to obey the priests, immediately his portion is cast from the
cart as unclean, and he himself with much shame and ignominy
is separated from the company of the holy people. There, as
the faithful relate, you might see the infirm and those smitten
with diverse ailments arise cured from the carts to which they
had been harnessed; you might see the dumb open their mouths
in the praise of God; you might see those troubled by unclean

151

THE TRANSITION

spirits recover their sanity; you might see the priests, who
presided over the various carts of Christ, exhort all to peni-
tence, to confession, to lamentation, and to the leading of a
better life; you might see the people themselves prostrate on
the ground, lying flat on their bellies, kissing long the dust; you
might see old men and young, and boys of tender age, calling
on the mother of God and appealing to her with sobs and sighs
from the bottom of their hearts, in the voice of confession and
praise. All this is known to be the work of Christ, but after
Him, especially of the Virgin, for she herself, after Him, par-
ticularly showed her graciousness in these events. She it was
who made famous first the church of Chartres and then ours,
both dedicated to herself, by means of so many wonderful mira-
cles, that if I wished to tell what I have seen in even a single
night my memory would fail and my tongue be exhausted. . . .
To return, therefore, to what I began to tell, when the faithful
set out upon the road, to the sounding of trumpets and to the
waving of the banners carried before, nothing retarded them
in their progress, neither the height of mountains nor the inter-
vening depths of waters. And when the different troops came
to a river which must be crossed, even in a place that had never
been attempted before, just as the people of the Hebrews of
old boldly entered into the Jordan, so these troops entered with-
out hesitation into the waters; and verily at the place which is
called Port-Ste. -Marie the waves of the sea stood back for them
to pass while they crossed over to us who were coining to meet
them; — a miracle which is faithfully witnessed. It is compre-
hensible that old men and the aged should undertake this labor
and service because of the number of their sins. But what
induced boys and children to do it? Who persuaded them, if
not that good doctor who achieved His glory by the word and
deed of babes and sucklings? . . . And such children you might
see, together with kings and potentates, yoked to, and dragging,
the heavy carts. These children are not bent down by the bur-
den as are the elders, but stand erect, and advance just as if
bearing no weight; and what is still more miraculous, they
outstrip their elders in speed and agility. . . . [In a pas-
sage which I omit it is described how the people arrive at the

152

LETTER OF HAYMO

church dragging the carts and begin to pray for miracles of
healing]. ... If, moreover, the cures are a little slow in com-
ing, and at the prayer do not immediately take place, you might
see the people strip off all their garments, men and women
make themselves naked above the loins, and in all abject con-
fusion fall on the ground, while the boys and children act in
even a more devout manner. For they fall prone on the ground,
and no longer creeping on hands and knees but rather dragging
the whole body in the dust, they seek first the great altar and
then the various other altars, calling all the while upon the Mother
of Mercy. This new sort of supplication certainly moves her
to make petitions in their behalf. For it does not suffice — what
certainly was to be wondered at in that tender youth — that
immense uproar with weeping; it does not suffice, I say, that
pouring out of tears ; but to obtain more quickly the cure of the
sick, voluntary corporal punishment is resorted to. Therefore
the priests, though with tears, stand above them, striking with
whips the tender exposed limbs, and those who are struck pray
them not to spare nor do they wish them to be merciful. A single
voice sounds forth from all: 'Strike, whip, smite, and spare not! '
"Such sacred scenes had first taken place in connection
with the building of the church at Chartres, and thence the holy
institution came to be established among us in consequence of
innumerable miracles; at last it spread throughout the length
and breadth of almost all Normandy, and especially was estab-
lished in almost all places dedicated to the Mother of Mercy.
But our church — that is to say, hers — in which we unworthy
serve her and her sweetest Son, she herself, — merciful and gra-
cious lady — made glorious (as we have said above) with so
many miracles and distinguished by so many clear tokens as an
everlasting memorial to her benign Son and to herself, that the
multitude of faithful ran hither from different and very remote
parts of the world, and here obtained the speedy fulfilment of
their petitions in whatsoever necessity they supplicated."1

1 Quis enim vidit umquam, quis audivit in omnibus generationibus retroactis, ut tyranni,
principes, potentes in saeculo honoribus et divitiis inflati, nobiles natu viri et mulieres superba ac
tumida colla loris nexa plaustris sumnritterent, et onusta vino, tritico, oleo, calce, Iapidibus, lig
nis, caeterisque vel vitae usui vel structurae ecclesiarum necessariis ad Christi asilum, animal

153

THE TRANSITION

I should not know where to find a more vivid portrayal of
the spirit of medieval religion than is afforded by this passage;
— medieval religion in its fanaticism, its belief in miracles, its
mortification of the flesh, its hysteria. With all due allowances
of the exaggeration of the edified abbot, this vivid account by
an eve witness brings us face to face with the fervent religious
enthusiasm of the masses in the XII century. There is nothing
in this text, however, to show that the extraordinary scenes
described were in any way stimulated by popular enthusiasm
for architecture. The people yoked themselves to the carts,
not because they were interested in having a fine church in
their town, but because they wished to acquire salvation by
humiliating the flesh. The scene of the flagellation in the
church, and, indeed, the whole tenor of the description makes
this clear. The monks were merely shrewd enough to turn this
religious enthusiasm of the multitude to their own advantage.
That they even went so far as to stimulate such hysteria with
the express purpose of profiting from it, seems to be proved by

ium more brutorum, pcrtraherent ?. In trahendo autem illuol mirabile videre est, ut cum mille
interdum vel eo amplius viri vel feminae plaustro iimexi shit (tanta quippe moles est, tanta ma-
china, tantum et onus impositum) tanto tamen silentio incedatur ut nullius vox, nullius certe
mussitatio audiatur, ac, nisi videas ocnlis, adesse nemo in tanta multitudine estimetur. Ubi
autem in via subsistitur, nihil aliud resonat nisi confessio criminum et supplex ad Deum puraque
oratio pro impctranda venia delicto rum; ibi praedicantil)us paceni sacerdotibus sopiuntur odia,
disoordia propnlsantnr, relaxantur debita et animorum unites reparatur. Si quis autem in ten-
turn malum progressus fuerit, ut nolit peccanti in se demittere aut unde pie admonetur sacerdo-
tibus obedire, statim ejus oblatio tanquam immunda de plaustro alvjecitur, et ipse cum pudore
multoet ignominia a sacri populi consortio separatur. Ibi ad orationes fidelium videas infirmos
quosque et languoribus variis debiles ex plaustris quibus impositi fuerunt sanos exsurgere, mutos
ad laudes Domini ora aperire et vexatos a daemonibus saniorem mentem recipere. Videas
sacerdotes, Christi plaustris singulis praesidentes, ad poenitentiam, ad confessionem, ad lamente,
ad melioris vitae propositum universos hortari, ipsos humi prostratos ac toto corpore incum-
l>entes terrain diutius osculari, senes cum junioribus et pueris tantillae aetatis niatrem Domini
conclamare atque ad ipsani praecipue singultis suspiriaque ab intimis praecordiis cum voce
confession is et laudis diri^ere; ejus enim post benignum filium niaxime hoc opus esse dig-
noscitur; ipsa se in hoc opere post ipsum praecipue conunendavit, ipsa primum Carnotensem
ecclesiain ac turn nostram, dicatam til>i, tot ac tantis virtutibus ac jniraculis illustravit, ut si ea
quae sub una tantum node videre inerui velini expriniere, niemoria prorsus et lingua deficiat.
. . . Ubi autem fidelis populus, ut ad coepta redeam, ad clangorem tubarum, ad erectionem
vexillornin praeeuntium sese viae reddidit, quod dictu nhrabile est, tanta facilitate res agitur,
ut eos ali itinere nil retardet, non ardua montium, non profunditas interjecta aquarum, sed
sicut de antiquo illo Hebraeorum populo legitur quod Jordanem ingressi sint per turmas suas,
ita singuli, cum ad flumen transmeandum venerint, e regione subito, ducente eos Domino, in-
cunctanter ingrediantur, adeo ut etiam fluctus maris, in loco qui dicitur Tortus Sanctee Mariae
dum transirent ad dos venientes, stetisse ab ipsis transeuntibus fideliler asseratur. Nee mirandum

154

MEDIEVAL RELIGION

another passage of the same letter: "When the fame of the
miracles (by which the blessed mother of God and immaculate
Virgin Mary had shown she and her son were benignly present
at Chartres) had spread far and wide and came also to us her
unworthy servants, and when these miracles had acquired
great celebrity by the witness of the faithful, a greater devotion
for her commenced to be noticeable in our church together with
a daily increase in her worship, and a veneration much more
profound than usual. Therefore, since our monks had heard
that at Chartres certain carts, built in a new manner, had been
loaded with materials necessary for the church of the sin-freeing
pious mother of God and had been dragged by the French popu-
lace, they also with great diligence constructed a cart in honor
of the same mother of God, and this they devotedly dedicated
to completing the new church building, which had been com-
menced in the times of King Henry, but whose construction had
now been interrupted many years." x This significant passage

sane est seniores et majores aetate id laboris et oneris propter multitudinem peccatorum suorum
assumere. Puerulos autem et infantes quid ad id compulit ? quis adduxit ? nisi ille doctor bonus
qui laudem suam et ore et opere infantium laetentiumque perfeeit. . . . Hos enim videas, eurn
regibus suis simul et ducibus, plaustris suis onustis innexos, non incurvos sicut majores trahere,
sed erectos et tanquam nil oneris perferentes incedere, et, quod his mirabilius est, alaeritate
simul velocitate majores praecedere. ... Si autem sanitates ad modicum tardaverint, et non
statim ad votum fuerint subsecutae illico, videas universos vestes abjecere, nudos simul viros
cum mulieribus a lumbis et supra, confusione omni abjecta, solo incumbere, puerulos et infantes
idem devotius agere et ab ecclesiae atriis solo stratos non jam genibus et manibus sed potius
tractu corporis totius primum ad altare majus dein ad altaria singula repere, matrem misericordiae,
novo quodam obsecrantium penere, inclamare atque ibi statim ab ea petitionum suarum pia
desideria extorquere certe. Non enim sufficit quod certe mirandum esset in tenella aetate, clamor
ille immensus cum fletu, non sufficit, inquam, lacrimarum ilia profusio, ni adliibeatur etiam pro
salute debilium impetranda celerius ultronea corporalis afHieto. Astant ergo desuper sacerdotes
cum lacrimis membra tenerrima exposita flagellis cedentes et ne parcant orantur a caesis neve
esse velint in feriendo clementes. Omnium ibi una vox resonat: "Caedite, percutite, verberate
et nolite parcere!" . . . Hujus sacrae institutions ritus apud Carnotensem est ecclesiam in-
choatus, ac deinde in nostra virtutibus innumeris confirmatus; postremo per totam fere Nor-
maniam longe lateque convaluit ac loca pene singula, matri misericordiae dicata, praecipue
oecupavit. Nostram autem, immo suam, in qua ei post dulcissimum filium suum indigni licet
deservimus, tanta miraculorum gloria clemens ipsa et benignissima domina, ut supra diximus,
illustravit, tanta signorum claritate ad perennem benigni filii suamque memoriam sublimavit,
ut de diversis longeque remotis mundi partibus ad earn fidelium multitudo conveniat, ibique
petitionum suarum effectum celerem, de quacumque clamaverit necessitate, obtineat. ■ — Haymo,
abbas S. Petri Divensis, Relatio de miraculis b. Mariae, Ed. Leop. Delisle in Bibliotheque de
l'Ecole des Chartes. Ser V. Tom. I. 1860, p. 120-139. Also in Bouquet, Recueil des historiens
des Gaules et de la France, XIV, p. 318, 319.

1 Cum miraculorum, in quibus beata Domini mater et perpetua virgo Maria filii sui suam

155

THE TRANSITION

makes it evident that the popular hysteria was merely utilized
by the monks to aid in the construction of the church, and that
it was not the church building itself that carried the people to
such spectacular extremes of religious emotion.

Noteworthy is Haymo's account of the spread of this peculiar
cult. Begun at Chartres (1144) it was copied at St. Pierre-
sur-Dives in 1145, whence it spread through all Normandy.
These facts, which are reiterated no less than three times in
the account of Haymo, are further confirmed by a letter of Hugh,
bishop of Rouen, to Thierry, bishop of Amiens, dating from
this same year, 1145. "Hugh, priest of Rouen to the reverend
father Thierry, bishop of Amiens; may thou ever prosper in
Christ. The great works of the Lord are shown in all His
designs. At Chartres they commenced in humility to draw
carts and beams for the construction of the church, and this
humility brought forth miracles. The fame of these spread
abroad and excited our Normandy. Therefore our diocesans,
having accepted our blessing, went to Chartres and fulfilled
their vows. After this,1 in a similar manner, they commenced
to come from throughout our diocese to their own cathedral
church of Rouen, having made this condition, that no one should
come in their company unless he should first confess and re-
pent, and unless he should lay aside wrath and envy. Thus
those who were formerly enemies came into abiding concord
and peace. These requisites filled, one among them is made
chief, at whose command they drag with their own arms the

que benignam praesentiam commendabat, fama longe lateque erebresceret et ad nos usque,
indignos licet, ejus famulus attestatione fideliuiu celebratior perveuisset, turn circa earn devotio
major coepit exeresccre, et quotidianus incrementis cultus ejus apud nos, veneratioque multo
solito amplior pullulate. Sed et nostri, comperto quod in Galliis plaustra quaedam novi fierent
apparatus, atque a Galliarum populis Carnotum onusta emendandae piae Domini genitricis
basilicae necessariis ducerentur, plaustrum et ipsi in honore ejusdem matris Domini multa cum
diligentia extruxerunt, quod et perficiendo novo operi, inchoate a regis Hcnrici temporibus,
sed a multis jam annis intermisso, devotissime dedicarunt.

1 The interpretation of this passage is open to doubt. An alternative translation would
be: — "After this, [other bands of pilgrims departing] from our diocese [for Chartres], commenced
to come [to receive our blessing] to their own cathedral church of Rouen [before departing]."
The Latin is unfortunately so ambiguous that it is possible to understand it in either sense.
The reading I have adopted, however, which is that authorized by M. Loisel, seems more natural
than the alternative, and better suits the context. It is certain that the cart cult spread through
Normandy at this epoch, and also that works were in progress about this time at the cathedral
of Rouen; this translation, therefore, is consistent with known conditions.

156

THE CULT OF CARTS

carts, advancing in humility and silence, and bringing thus
their offering not without discipline and tears. These three
conditions which we have related, — confession with penitence,
the laying aside of all malevolence, humility and obedience in
following their leader, we required from them when they came
to us, and we received them piously, and absolved and blessed
them if these three conditions were fulfilled. While in this
spirit they were accomplishing their journey, very many mir-
acles took place in our churches, and the sick who had come
with them were made whole. And we permitted our diocesans
to go out of our see, but we forbade them to go to those excom-
municated or under the interdict. These things were done in
the year of the incarnation of the word 1145. Farewell."1

Noteworthy is the fact that this cult of dragging carts,
although begun at Chartres, flourished especially in Normandy.
Now Normandy, at precisely this moment, was peculiarly back-
ward in architectural development. If the cult of carts had been
a result of any popular enthusiasm for building a great church,
we should expect to find just the opposite the case. On the
other hand in the He de France, where Gothic art was germi-
nating, there are very few traces of this cult. Outside of Chartres
the only records of such demonstrations occur in connection with
St. Denis.

The account which Abbe Suger has left us of the cart cult

1 Reverendo patri T. Ambaniensium episcopo, Hugo, Rothomagensium sacerdos, pros-
perari semper in Christo. Magna opera Domini exquisita in omnes voluntates ejus. Apud
Carnotum coeperunt in humilitate quadrigas et carpentra trahere ad opus ecclesiae constru-
endae, eorum humilitas etiam miraeulis ehoruscare. Haec fama Celebris circumquaque per-
venit, nostram denique Normaniam excitavit. Nostrates igitur, benedictione a nobis aeeepta,
illuc usque profeeti sunt, et vota sua persolverunt. Deinde forma simili ad matrem suam eccle-
siam in diocesi nostra per episeopatus nostras venire coeperunt, sub tali proposito quod nemo in
eorum comitatu veniret, nisi prius data confessione et poenitentia suscepta, nisi deposita ira et
malivolentia, qut prius inimici fuerant convenirent in concordiam et pacem firmam. His prae-
missis, unus eorum princeps statuitur, cujus imperio in humilitate et silentio trahunt quadrigas
suas humeris suis, et praesentant oblationem suam non sine disciplina et lacrimis. Tria ilia
quae praemisimus, confessionem videlicet cum poenitentia, et concordiam de omni malivolentia,
et humilitatem veniendi cum obedentia, requirimus ab eis cum ad nos veniunt, eosque pie re-
cepimus et absolvimus et benedicimus si tria ilia deferunt. Dum sic informati in itinere
veniunt, quandoque et in ecclesiis nostris quam maxime miracula creberrima fiunt, de suis etiam
quos secum deferunt infirmis, et redecunt sanos quos secum attulerunt invalidos. Et nos per-
mittimus nostras ire extra episeopatus nostros, sed prohibemus eos ne intrent ad excommuni-
catos vel interdictos. Facta sunt haec, anno incarnati Verbi M° C° XL° V°. Bene Vale. —
Bibl. Nat. Ms. Latin 14146, fol. 167, V°. Cit. Loisel.

157

THE TRANSITION

at this abbey deserves careful study: "How often did both our
own people and our very devoted neighbors, nobles and serfs
together, tie about their arms, their chests, their shoulders, the
ropes attached to the columns to drag them up a hill! Thus
instead of beasts of burden did they labor. And when they
had advanced halfway up the hill, different officers of the castle,
leaving the tools of their toil, would come to offer their aid to
the difficulty of the way, by this timely aid ingratiating them-
selves to God and the holy martyrs." ' Thus by the testimony
of another eye witness, it was the hope of acquiring salvation
and no especial appreciation of architectural art that moved the
people. For the rest this enthusiasm at St. Denis seems to have
been but of the slightest possible aid in the actual construction
of the church. Men, after all, are not a particularly practical
substitute for horses, and a few teams of oxen would doubtless
have transported the building materials quite as effectively
as the thousands of faithful. Without question the Church
profited by all this enthusiasm; but she spent these resources
in the construction of monuments which reflected her own ideas,
not those of the people. Suger, in his two works relating to
the rebuilding of St. Denis — works in which he describes with
the greatest detail not only the actual course of the construction,
but such minutiae as the means by which he raised resources to
defray the expenses of the building, and his efforts to obtain suit-
able materials — refers to cooperation on the part of the people
only in the few lines quoted above. It is easy to see of how
little practical account he holds their aid. And yet at St. Denis
the relations between people and monk were extraordinarily
cordial. Suger had been the most liberal of abbots; and he
himself tells us that on festivals so great a number of people
attended mass in the abbey church, that the women with much
uproar pressed to the altar "walking upon the heads of the men
as upon a pavement!" It was at times even necessary to ab-

1 Quotiens autem columnae ab imo declivo fundibus imiodatis cxtrahebantur, tarn nos-
trates quam loci affines bene devoti, nobiles et innobiies, bracbiis, pectoribus, et laeertis fundi-
bus adstricti vice trahentium animaliurn educebant; et per medium castri declivium diversi
officiales, relictis officionim suorum instrumentis, vires proprias itineris diffieultati offerentes,
obviabant, quanta poterant ope Deo sanctisque Martyribus obsequentes. (Sugerii, De con.
Ec. II.)

158

THE CULT OF CARTS

stract the host from the altar in order to protect it from desecra-
tion by the too eager multitude.1

Outside of Chartres and St. Denis there is no instance in
the He de France where it is recorded that the people col-
laborated in the construction of the abbey or cathedral. An
attempt seems to have been made at Chartres to revive the
scenes of 1144 again after the fire of 1194, 2 but this effort met with
only partial success. Since the chroniclers of the Middle Ages
especially delighted in recording all events which redounded
to the glory of Mother Church, it is quite safe to conclude from
their silence that the cult of carts never spread farther in the
He de France. In Normandy itself the cult is never heard of
after 1145. Consequently this idea of dragging carts, while a
most typical and instructive manifestation of medieval religion,
was not one that was widely spread or of long duration.

A passage in Robert de Mont, while seeming to contradict,
in reality confirms this view: — "In this very year (1144) at
Chartres men first began to drag with their own arms carts
loaded with blocks of stone and beams and grain and other
things for the construction of the church, whose towers were then
building. Who has not seen these things never will see the like.
Not only at Chartres, but indeed in almost all France and Nor-
mandy and in many other places, everywhere there was humility
and mortification. Men submitted to crawl through deep
swamps on hands and knees, and to be struck with whips ; every-
where many miracles came to pass, and song and praise were
rendered God. For there is extant about this thing unheard-
of before, a letter of Hugh, archbishop of Rouen, to Thierry,
bishop of Amiens, who wrote to inquire on this subject/'3

1 The original text is quoted in the List of Monuments, p. 198.

2 See Le Lime des Miracles de Noire Dame de Chartres, written in verse in the XIII century
by Jehan le Marehant and published by M. G. Duplessis, Chartres, 1855, 8vo.

3 Hoc eodem anno ceperunt homines prius apud Carnotum carros lapidibus onustos et
lignis, annona et rebus aliis, suis humeris trahere ad opus ecclesie, cuius turres tunc fiebant.
Que qui non vidit, iam similia non vidcbit. Non solum ibi, sed etiam in tota pene Francia et
Normannia et aliis multis locis, ubique humilitas et afflicto, profundas paludes genibus trahere,
verberibus cedi, creba ubique miracula fieri, Deo cantus et iubilos reddi. Extat enim de hac
re prius inaudita Hugonis epistola Rothomagensis archiepiscopi ad Theodoricum episcopum
Ambianensem, super hac rescicit autem. — Roberti de Monte, Cronica. (Mon. Germ. Hist.
Scriptores, VI, p. 496.)

159

THE TRANSITION

Not to be misled by this text it is necessary to remember
that Robert de Mont was not an eye witness of these things.
He wrote about the year 1184, or forty years after the events
which he describes. Since the whole tone of his narrative im-
plies that such scenes were unknown to his own observation, it
it safe to assume that the cart cult had ceased to exist long before
1184. It therefore could have enjoyed but a very brief existence.
Robert du Mont clearly compiled his account on second-hand
materials, and he is so unusually kind as to name for us his
main source, the very letter of Bishop Hugh, which we have
already studied in the original. This letter, as has been seen,
contained nothing to imply that the cart cult spread to "almost
all France and many other places." There is consequently
every reason to believe that these words are an addition — and
a very natural one — made by Robert du Mont himself, to
give a round turn to his sentence. Besides, this writer is not
above the charge of inaccuracy and carelessness in recording
the events even of his own times.

These facts justify the conclusion that Viollet-le-Duc and
other historians of architecture have laid too much stress upon
the cart cult and its relation to the building activity of the time.
This form of religious hysteria never was widely extended in
the He de France; it died out entirely a very few years after
its commencement in 1144; and the dragging of carts, far from
being inspired by interest in the church building, was merely
a form of religious penitence, practised in precisely the same
spirit as other ascetic mortifications of the flesh, such as, for
example, flagellation.

Nor was the general relationship of people and clergy one
of cordiality at this period. It is always dangerous to general-
ize on the Middle Ages; each locality had its own local peculi-
arities which caused wide divergencies in the relationship of
classes. Thus in some few places, at Chartres, at St. Denis,
and elsewhere, there seems to have been accord between the
people and the clerks. But such was far from being the gen-
eral case.

Nothing contributed more largely to bring about an estrange-
ment between the people and the Church than the rise of the

160

RISE OF THE COMMUNES

communes. Almost every city of France witnessed in the XII
century a protracted struggle on the part of the bourgeois to
emancipate themselves from the feudal jurisdiction of the abbot
or bishop; as an inevitable result there grew up between the two
classes an enmity which long outlived the success or suppres-
sion of the revolt.

The first attempt to establish a commune occurred at Le
Mans as early as 1069. At first the bishop allied himself with
the bourgeois against the authority of the count, but he soon
afterwards discovered the mistake of this policy and promptly
changed sides. Deprived of the aid of the Church, the com-
mune was quickly suppressed. The contagion, however, had
spread to Cambrai (1076). Here, since the bishop was the feudal
lord of the city, an open war ensued between him and the bour-
geoisie. As at Le Mans, the Church proved stronger than the
people, and in the end the commune was put down. On the
other hand, at St. Quentin, where the claims of the bourgeois
interfered not with the Church, but only with the local baron,
the commune was successfully established after a brief struggle
(1080).

Some years later the rich city of Beauvais rose in revolt.
Unfortunately the details of this struggle are not clear. How-
ever, since it is known that Bishop Ansel recognized the corpora-
tion of the bourgeois in 1099, it is probable that the commune
was established rather at the expense of the chapter of St. Pierre
and of the local baron, than at that of the bishop. There is
no doubt of the general indignation this insurrection excited
in the bosom of the Church. Ive of Chartres denounced it as
a "turbulent conspiracy," and affirmed that the bishop of Beau-
vais was in no manner obliged to observe the oath he had sworn
to the bourgeois, since such compacts are null and void, being
contrary to the canons and decisions of the fathers. Thus from
the beginning the church anathematized the communal move-
ment, in the name of tradition and of the canon law. "Com-
mune, name new, name detestable!" cried with pious horror the
abbot Guibert de Nogent.

In fact, the privileges of the Church were seriously menaced
by the development of civic liberty, which she accordingly

161

THE TRANSITION

gathered all her powers to oppose. However, certain prelates,
surprised by the explosion of popular power and by the rapid-
ity of the movement, bowed before accomplished facts, and
consented to bind themselves by oath to maintain the victorious
bourgeoisie. The bishop of Noyon, Baudri, asked the king of
France to confirm the charter he had himself granted (1109),
under just what compulsion is not known. It seems probable
that the citizens of Noyon had allied themselves with the local
baron, instead of treating him, as had the citizens of Beauvais,
as their chief enemy. To such a degree did the conditions
vary in different cities.

In 1111 the town of Laon rose against its bishop. Isolated
on their steep rock the inhabitants of this city lived amid constant
civil war and class hatred; noble held bourgeois for ransom,
bourgeois robbed and pillaged peasant.1 The king himself was
not safe in this strange town. Gaudri, bishop of Laon,
was blessed with a character almost as pleasant as that of his
people. He treated his townsmen as serfs, thought only of
war and hunting, and always appeared in public followed by
a negro slave who was his official executioner. To dispose of
a baron who annoyed him this Christian prelate did not hesi-
tate to have him assassinated in a church.

Profiting by the absence of Gaudri in England the bour-
geois bought from the clergy and nobles the privilege of form-
ing a corporation. When the bishop returned and learned of
this transaction, he was furious; but he was appeased by a
large sum of money, and even swore to protect the commune.
Louis VI, also well paid, confirmed the charter (1111).

The following year the King happened to come to Laon,
and Gaudri planned to improve the opportunity afforded by
his presence to destroy the commune. The bourgeois discov-
ered the plot, and offered Louis 400 pounds to remain faithful to

1 In a recent monograph in the Nouvelle Revue Historique de Droit Francais et Etranger,
for November-December, 1901, entitled "Documents relatijs aux rapports de Veveque et de la
rommune de Laon au moyen age,'1'' M. Lucien Broche shows that the bourgeois of Laon always
struggled against taking the oath of faith and homage to the bishop. This ceremony pricked
their pride by recalling their dependence on the bishop, their lord. Numerous contests had
arisen on this subject, when in 1239 the commune and the bishop finally submitted the question
to the arbitration of the archbishop of Reims.

162

COMMUNE OF LAON

his promise; but the bishop offered him 700 to break it. The
last bid being highest the commune was abolished. At this,
the popular indignation not unnaturally ran high. The King
found it prudent to slip out of the city before day-break. At sun-
rise bands of bourgeois armed with swords and axes rushed upon
the episcopal palace, and massacred all within. A serf knocked
out the brains of the bishop by a blow of his ax. Then the
tumult extended, the houses of nobles and clergy were attacked,
and the inmates escaped only by disguising themselves and
taking flight. Fire and pillage followed; the cathedral church
was burned to the ground.

The murder of a bishop could not be left unavenged. The
royal army accordingly marched against the revolted city, and
took it by storm. Then it was the turn of the nobles and clergy
to massacre the bourgeois. Finally the peasants of the neighbor-
hood swarmed into the ruined town, and pillaged the deserted
houses. The commune was wiped out in blood (1114). Sixteen
years later, however, it was reestablished. Political circum-
stances had forced the King and the Church to grant municipal
government to the bourgeois under the title of an Institution of
Peace (1128). It is not difficult to imagine how cordially the
bishop of Laon and his good bourgeois must have loved each
other after all this.1

The bourgeois of Amiens rose in revolt about the same
time (1113). Their commune was established only after four
years of bitter warfare, although the bishop backed the towns-
men against the count. Louis VI at last turned the balance in
favor of the bourgeois. At Corbie (1120), on the contrary,
the bourgeois allied themselves with the count and thus wrung
a charter from the abbot. At St. Riquier before 1126 an alliance
of the same powers was equally successful. To shake off the
yoke of their bishop, the people of Soissons seem to have taken
advantage of the minority of their count, Renaud III.

1 Yet the people none the less seem to have aided the reconstruction of the cathedral, by
one of those puzzling reversals of popular feeling that so baffle the historian of the Middle Ages.
"Excites par le pieux eveque, tous les habitants de la ville et un grand nombre d'etrangers vou-
lurent y prendre part. Les uns allaient extraire les pierres dans les carrieres, les autres les trans-
portaient a grand peine jusqu'au sommet de la montagne." — M. de Florival, Etude historique
sur le XHme siecle."

163

THE TRANSITION

Wlien communes had been once established, the clergy
complained bitterly of the consequences. The abbot of St.
Riquier called the King to his aid (1120). His bourgeois dare
tax the subjects of his abbey! They hinder the abbot from
collecting his own revenues, they draw into their association
the peasants of the neighboring regions, they hold their meetings
in the church, and ring the bells for their own purposes! The
bishop of Soissons also complained: not content with making
a propaganda in the neighboring country, his commune appro-
priated the episcopal buildings for its town meetings and even
used them as a jail!

Louis VI, the eldest son of the Church, could not but inter-
fere. But it was in vain he opposed himself to the movement.
The tide was rising everywhere. In 1130 it was the turn of
Abbeville to revolt. In 1139 the great city of Reims, the eccle-
siastical capital of the kingdom, was affected by the contagion.
The archbishops, powerful feudal lords, were little disposed
to see their rights encroached upon. Thanks, however, to two
exceptional circumstances — a prolonged vacancy of the metro-
politan throne, and the active help of Louis VII, — the com-
mune was nevertheless established. Reims, the city of the
coronation, had become a commune, and raised its power in
the very face of the primate of all Gaul! The universal Church
was indignant at such a scandal. St. Bernard denounced the
44 insolence of the people of Reims"; the Papacy launched all
its thunders, and even compelled Louis VII to use force against
the bourgeois. The commune soon disappeared beneath the
combined strength of its enemies.

In 1146 Louis VII had granted a charter to the inhabitants
of Sens. Three years later he revoked it on the petition of the
abbot of St.-Pierre-le-Vif. A terrible riot immediately broke
out; the bourgeois forced the doors of the abbey, killed the
abbot and his nephew. This revolt was cruelly suppressed.
The people of Vezelay rivaled in violence even the inhabitants
of Laon. Before thinking of a commune, they had massacred
their abbot Artaud (1106). The abbots finally succeeded in
suppressing their insurrections, which were constantly renewed,
only at the very end of the XII century.

164

BOURGEOIS AND ECCLESIASTIC

At Orleans the uprising of 1137 was unsuccessful; but Poi-
tiers, St. Omer, Lille, Bruges, and Gand obtained their charters
peacefully. Thus in the long run the struggle of the communes
was a gaining one, and after the middle of the XII century,
the corporations of bourgeois were well established throughout
the land. Louis VI (1108-37) had been indifferent and vacillat-
ing in his treatment of the bourgeois; but Louis VII (1137-80)
inclined rather to the popular party, and at last Philippe-Auguste
(1180-1223) identified his cause with that of the people. Thus
the great enemy of the bourgeois was the Church. It was
against the desperate, if unavailing, efforts of the bishops, the
abbots, and the chapters that the communes were finally estab-
lished. The enmity between bourgeois and clerk thus begun,
long outlived the settlement of the question of communes.1

The very existence of municipal government brought this
authority into constant conflict with the jurisdiction of the
church. The records of the XII and XIII centuries are full
of accounts of broils between ecclesiastic and townsman — - broils
that sometimes took the form of street riots, sometimes of law
suits, more often of both. For example, in 1226 the people
of the commune of Newport, near Dunkirk, were in conflict
with the canons of Ste. Valburge, Furnes, about a tax on fish.
When the representatives of the chapter tried to collect this
impost, the people attacked them, killed two, and wounded a
third. The bishops of Cambrai, Jean III and Godefroi, excom-
municated the commune of that city and suppressed it by force
(1206-09). The bourgeois of Soissons attacked the abbey of
St. Medard in 1185; the clergy of Sens anathematized five times
the chief citizens (1213). The bourgeoisie of Beauvais de-
stroyed the house of a servant of the bishop (1119), and were
in consequence summoned to appear before the judges. The
bishop of Tournai engaged in civil war with his bourgeois
(1190-96); the chapter of Laon excommunicated the commune
(1213). At St. Omer the bourgeois made such head against
their abbot that the pope was obliged to excommunicate the citi-
zens and place the entire city under the interdict; but the
nobles sustained the populace and helped them to pillage the

1 Lavisse, Histoire de France, II2, p. 347 seq.
165

THE TRANSITION

abbey. On Easter Sunday, 1194, the houses of the canons
of Rouen were sacked by the bourgeois, and all the household
chattels carried off. In 1207 another riot took place in the
same citv, which was in consequence put under the interdict.
The king, Philippe-Auguste, was obliged to interfere to restore
order.1

In 1174 the support of Louis VII had enabled the peasants
of the Laonnais to organize in a confederation of seventeen
villages. Three years later, however, the bishop of Laon,
Roger de Rozoi, aided by the local nobility, took his revenge;
he trapped the serfs near Comporte and made a horrible
butchery. In 1185 Philippe-Auguste, who was at odds with
this bishop, appointed himself mediator. He limited the taxes
that could be collected by the bishop, and even reestablished
the commune. In 1190, however, when his policy demanded
a reconciliation with the clergy before starting on the crusade,
the king suppressed the confederation. In the early XIII
century, the seventeen villages, still cruelly oppressed, tried to
emigrate en masse to the territory of the neighboring Sire of
Coucy, but the effort was unsuccessful. Two years later, 1206,
when a quarrel broke out between the bishop and the chapter
of Laon, the villages induced the chapter to champion their
cause. The case was brought before the tribunal of the metro-
politan chapter of Reims, where the rights of the villages were
sustained. This decision so humiliated the good bishop of
Laon that it is said to have caused his death, which occurred
soon after.

At Noyon in 1222 a servant of the canons, named Jean Buche,
detected in gross immorality, was arrested in the cemetery of
the cathedral by order of the municipal magistrates. The
canons demanded that the culprit should be given over to their
jurisdiction. The bishop, chosen as arbitrator, decided in favor
of the canons, but the bourgeois refused to obey this decision,
and a riot broke out. The official, who happened to be stand-
ing at the door of the cathedral, was maltreated by the mob,
and his garments torn. While the canons were saying mass,
the crowd broke the doors, burst into the church, and beat the

1 Lavisse, op cit. Ill1, 405.
166

UNPOPULARITY OF THE CLERGY

dean of the chapter. At nightfall the cathedral doors were
pelted with stones and the watchmen insulted and threatened.
The canons dared not go out of their houses into the streets.
The affair was finally settled only by intervention of the king.1

In 1248 the monks of St. Ouen, Rouen, wishing to rebuild
their abbey, had to have it guarded during the night by six
" champions," lest the bourgeois should destroy in the evening
what the builders had erected during the day.

In 1235 at Reims during the construction of the cathedral,
a broil broke out between the people and the ecclesiastics. The
stones intended for the works on the cathedral were diverted
to strange uses; as the workmen brought them to the town,
the people seized them to construct barricades and engines of
war. The archbishop Henri de Braisne was besieged in his
castle; the canons were obliged to flee from the city and take
refuge at Cormicy and Courville. Their exile lasted two years
and two months, nor during that time did they dare to show
themselves in Reims.2

Nothing would be easier than to multiply indefinitely sim-
ilar instances. The annals of the XII and XIII centuries
relate an endless number of such broils. These contemporary
records make it perfectly clear that the supposed cordial co-
operation of Church and people in the XII and XIII centuries,
the brotherly love of those two powers, walking hand in hand,
as it were, across the centuries — this ideal picture so charmingly
painted by Viollet-le-Duc and other writers — is based on
imagination, not on historical fact. The undoubted religious
enthusiasm of the people should not mislead us here. This
force so strikingly witnessed in the cart cult, in the crusades, in
the belief of miracles, was undoubtedly the means by which
more than by any other the power of the Church was sustained.
The people accepted and believed in religion most implicitly,
even at the moment when the ecclesiastics were hated most
bitterly. The same populace which murdered, robbed, and
maltreated the priests recoiled in horror the moment the inter-
dict deprived them of the mass and threatened their souls with

1 Lefevre-Pontalis, Hist, de la Cath. de Noyon, p. 34.

2 Dernaison, Album de la Cath. de Reims, p. 6.

167

THE TRANSITION

everlasting torment. The naivete of this psychology, almost
incomprehensible to the modern mind, is nevertheless one of
the basic facts of medieval history.

That an individual, therefore, should make the safety of
his soul the chief end of his life, and should be willing and anxious
to secure this eternal salvation by good works, — by submitting
to flagellation, by humiliating himself to drag carts, even by
contributing (especially on his death-bed) to the support of
holy Mother Church — was by no means incompatible with
the same individual cherishing the liveliest hatred of the monks
and priests. That this hatred, or at least indifference, should
be extended to the great monuments of ecclesiastical power and
glory, followed as a logical corollary. In all the hundreds of
accounts of the building of abbeys and cathedrals that have
come down to us the formula almost never varies: such and
such an abbot or bishop or chapter built (i.e., caused to be built)
such and such a portion of the church in such and such a year.
The cathedral is as distinctly the emblem of the ecclesiastical
power as the castle is the emblem of feudal might; one, as little
as the other, was the work of the people.

To understand the cathedral, therefore, it is necessary to
understand what was this ecclesiastical power in the XII and
XIII centuries, this force that ruled the civilized world, that
was supported and strengthened by the very people who hated
it most, that made and unmade kings, that decreed wars and
crusades, that dictated even the smallest details in the life of
the individual. For it is no coincidence that the reign of Inno-
cent III, the culmination of ecclesiastical power, is exactly
contemporary with the culmination of Gothic architecture.

France was the eldest child of the Church, and ever since
the days of Pipin and Clovis the French king had been known
as the ally of Rome. Furthermore, in no country of Europe
had the Reform of the Church been so thoroughly carried out
or so enthusiastically adopted as in XII century France.
Louis VI, "the king of clerks," modeled his whole policy with
a view rather to the interests of the Church than to those of the
monarchy; even Philippe-Auguste, that most unscrupulous of
politicians, when it came to a rupture with the See of St. Peter,

108

RELIGIOUS FERVOR

hesitated and compromised. Thus the political power of the
Church in France in the XII and XIII centuries was great as
it has never been elsewhere, or at any other time.

The Church derived power from the faith — or fanaticism
— of its very enemies, the lower classes. We have already
seen many striking manifestations of the intensity of the popular
religion; but the extraordinary scenes which accompanied the
First Crusade — - essentially a French expedition, — scenes fresh
in every memory, are perhaps the most striking manifestation
of all. The Second Crusade of 1147 was scarcely less the work
of a French king, Louis VII, and of a French monk, St. Ber-
nard. On the Third Crusade, 1189, another French king,
Philippe- Auguste, was among the leaders. The Fourth Cru-
sade of 1202, a spectacle little edifying it is true, was primarily
a plundering excursion of the French nobility.

Thus all these extraordinary campaigns that sent the flower
of Europe to perish in the Holy Land, these campaigns so fool-
hardy, yet so sublime, so ideal in conception, so worldly in prac-
tice, in which were summed up what was best as well as what
was worst in the. XII century, were all primarily French, all
instigated and directed by Frenchmen. French, too, was the
far from heroic Albigensian Crusade — or massacre — of 1209-
24; and of French origin was the Children's Crusade of. 1212,
that most pathetic of all historical pages. These people of the
XII century seem to have lived in a dream-world of imagina-
tion — a world peopled with phantoms now of the most inspir-
ing beauty, now of the most repulsive ugliness. The whole
universe was seen through a haze of mysticism which trans-
formed mundane objects and seemed at times to clothe even the
most commonplace facts of life with a supernatural radiance.
Miracles were reported from one end of the land to the other
in such vast numbers that the chronicles of the period are often
little more than unending repetitions of miraculous appari-
tions, cures, and events. The passion for relics was carried
to incredible lengths. In fact, the whole nation was carried
away by a wave of piety and religious enthusiasm such as the
world had never seen before, nor will ever know again.

This piety could only result in increasing enormously the

169

THE TRANSITION

wealth of the clergy. A jeopardized soul could always be
saved, even at the eleventh hour, by death-bed donations to
the universal Church, -- provided always the donations were
sufficiently large. Thus gifts were showered upon the bishop-
rics and abbeys, not for any love of the priests, nor from any
pride in the local cathedral, but only in the hope that the years
of Purgatory might by this means be lessened.

This wealth was, as a rule, well husbanded by bishop and
abbot, and handed on to the successor increased rather than
diminished. Since the reform of the Church, the personnel
of the higher clergy, especially in the north of France, had been
on the whole extraordinarily high. The ecclesiastical dignitary
was usually fairly honest, thrifty, and devoted heart and soul
to the interests of Rome and of his own diocese or abbey. "With
all his vastly increased revenues, he had, moreover, no such
expenses or feudal obligations as those which confronted the
baron. He must still, it is true, obey the king's summons to
war and furnish his quota of troops; but in the reign of
Philippe-Auguste public opinion became strong against this
usage, and the bishops of the He de France seem to have been
more and more successful in avoiding military service.

But notwithstanding the immense wealth of the bishops
and chapters, the keen rivalry that existed between neighboring
dioceses — each trying to out-do the other in the splendor and
magnificence of its cathedral - led to the erection of edifices
far more costly than the resources of even the medieval Church
could bear. The cost of a building like Amiens would fairly
stagger even XX century prosperity; and, when the vast number
of ecclesiastical edifices erected in the He de France between the
middle of the XII and the middle of the XIII century is con-
sidered, it is not surprising that such lavish building speedily
reduced the French Church to a condition of financial ruin.
In almost every case the revenues proved insufficient to carry
the cathedral to completion. It consequently became necessary
to raise funds from among the people. That the faithful con-
tributed to this cause, not at all out of enthusiasm for archi-
tecture, is shown by the methods employed to wring money
from them. Bull after bull was obtained from the pope grant-

170

THE HOUSE OF GOD

ing indulgences to those who would visit on such and such a
day a certain church and contribute towards the expenses of
construction. When this means failed, the relics possessed
by the cathedral were peddled through the country. Such
expeditions visited not only the local diocese, but regularly
trespassed upon the domains of neighboring bishops, who not
seldom strenuously objected to having their sheep fleeced by a
stranger. To obtain funds for the cathedral of Laon relics
were carried even so far as into England. Wherever these
relics passed, miracles were performed, indulgences granted,
and the popular hysteria was worked up to the fever pitch. It
has already been remarked how passionately the Middle Ages
loved relics. There was no surer short-cut through Purgatory
than to contribute towards a church in which the thigh-bone
of St. Firmin might be fittingly lodged. Furthermore, the relics
were ordinarily carried so far from home that the people had no
cause for particular hatred against the bishop or chapter whose
cathedral was building. Even rival bishops would occasionally
come to one another's aid; in 1131 the pope practically com-
manded the archbishops of Rouen and Sens to aid the bishop of
Noyon whose cathedral had just been burned.

Back of the pride of the bishop and chapter in the cathedral,
or of the abbot in the abbey, there was, moreover, always the
feeling that the church was the house of God, and a work
especially pleasing in His eyes. It was sacrilege to harm the
edifice. In the bitterest broils of bourgeois and ecclesiastic, the
church building was rarely harmed, and whoever raised hand
against it felt that he stood in immediate danger of Hell fire.
In the most merciless of wars the churches were generally spared,
or if by necessity one was destroyed the king ordinarily under-
took to rebuild it from his own resources more sumptuously than
before. The sanctity of the house of God was not merely a
convenient doctrine of the Church to protect its own property;
it was a fundamental part of medieval religion and faith. The
church building, however much it might be the symbol of
the power of the chapter or bishop, however much it might
be the work of the worldly vanity of the abbot, nevertheless
possessed a sacred and inviolate character. Just as the religion

171

THE TRANSITION

of the people was the fundamental faet on which rested the power
of the prelate against whom they struggled so desperately, so
this same religion of the people was the fundamental fact which
made possible the cathedral, the symbol of his glory. In this
limited sense Gothic architecture may be said to be a popular
art.

The inner history of the Church during the XII century is
full of meaning for the history of architecture. The Grego-
rian reform of the XI century had been only partially successful.
The monarchy had still retained practically unimpaired its
rights of investiture, against which the Cluniac movement
had been chiefly directed; and although the Capetian monarchs
subsequently renounced those forms of investiture which the
church held illegal, it was of their own good-will, and not under
compulsion. The purification of the clergy had also met with
but partial success. The order of Cluny, it is true, had been
established in several monasteries and chapters, and the per-
sonnel of the higher clergy, especially of the bishops, had been
improved. But the great mass of the clergy remained sunk in
simony and corruption, married and living rather as feudal
lords than as servants of the Church.

The reform of the XII century, while a supplement to the
Gregorian movement, was in reality distinct from it. Cluny
had already fallen from the heights of the XI century; success
had brought wealth, and wealth corruption. The order had
thus become a prey to the very evils it had been called into
existence to combat, and this decadence increased from year
to year, until finally in the XIII century the order sank into
ignominy.

Hence as a living satire on Cluny was founded the monastery
of Citeaux. St. Bernard (1100-53), abbot of Clairvaux, became
the central figure, the real founder of this new Cistercian order,
upon whose shoulders fell the mantle of ideal asceticism that
was so rapidly slipping from the grasp of Cluny. Clairvaux
became henceforward the model abbey. Since the austere
Cistercian rule demanded that the monk should come in con-
tact as little as possible with the outside world, the abbeys of
this order were preferably built far from cities, in places diffi-

172

THE CISTERCIANS

cult of access. Everything of the outside world was feared;
books, literature, and science were proscribed. The Cistercian
monk guilty of having composed verses was heavily punished.
From the Cistercian church was banished pitilessly all that
charmed the eyes, all that could distract the soul from contem-
plation and prayer. Thus the walls were bare; no ornate
pavements, no mosaics, no colored glass windows, no mural
paintings, no sculptures, even no stone towers were allowed.

Such a severe rule demanded radical changes in the sumptu-
ous type of ecclesiastical edifice that had been developed by
the old Benedictine and Cluniac orders. The Cistercian church
beside its general plainness and poverty of ornament came to
be characterized by a peculiar plan and certain stereotyped
dispositions, which make it possible to recognize at a glance a
church belonging to this order. There was ordinarily only a
single aisle; the transept was very much developed and sup-
plied with square eastern chapels, often as many as four or six
in number. Square also (with a very few exceptions) was the
east end. Over the crossing rose a wooden tower. Externally,
as internally, everything was as bare and simple as possible;
there was no carving, no sculpture; even flying buttresses were
seldom used.

Such an austere edifice, it is evident, offered few opportu-
nities for elaborate architectural adornment. While the Cis-
tercians adopted the improvements discovered elsewhere in
the construction of the skeleton structure and in the use of the
rib vault, they accounted the art of architecture in general a
vanity, to be in consequence avoided. Clairvaux in this was
the direct antithesis of Cluny. The Cluniac churches, too,
had had their special characteristics, the choir had been flanked
by two eastern towers, and between the two western towers
an interior narthex had been placed, — but the principal
characteristic which had invariably distinguished the Cluniac
abbeys had been the wealth and richness of their architectural
adornment. The rise of Clairvaux and the fall of Cluny was
consequently full of portentous meaning for architectural devel-
opment. The torch of progress passed from the monks to the
chapters; from the regular to the secular clergy. And this all-

173

THE TRANSITION

important change took place precisely at the opening of the
second phase of the transition.

The construction of St. Denis marks at once the highest
development and the end of the monastic power over Gothic
architecture. At this moment (1144) the ecclesiastical reform
was at its height; the old Benedictine monasticism was being
transformed by Cistercian asceticism; St. Bernard and the
apostles of austerity were on the point of disengaging the reg-
ular clergy from their old paths to launch them on a search
after new ideals. But Suger, the last of the great Benedictine
monks, was still at the height of his power, — Suger the ad-
mirable administrator, the model regent, the antithesis of the
new spirit, the clerk among whose writings are found only
works of administration and history, but not a sermon, not a
treatise on morals, not even a theological discourse! A lover
of art, a passionate collector of jewels and precious stones, this
abbot appreciated beauty to the full and adorned his church
with all that pleased and charmed the imagination or the senses.
In the times of St. Bernard, Bruno, Robert of Arbuissel, and
Stephen of Muret, those austere souls who hated the flesh and
despised the material, who sought the savage wilds and cursed
civilization, Suger stood the humanist, the courtier, the diplo-
mat, the lover of the beautiful. But he was the last of the old
Benedictine school. From his time the ideals of Clairvaux
and of St. Bernard dominated French monasticism; the reg-
ular clergy scorned the esthetic, and were indifferent to the art
of architecture. Not that the Benedictine and Cluniac orders
ceased to exist, or even to build extensively. But the best blood
was turned to the new reforming orders. Theirs was now the
wealth, the power given by public approbation; the old orders
lost the vigor and the popularity necessary for great architec-
tural attainment. Their churches merely reproduced the great
improvements discovered in the cathedrals.

Even in the XIII century, when the Cistercian order trod
the same road of decline that seemed to be the inevitable des-
tiny of all the reforming bodies of the Middle Ages, the tradi-
tion of a simple church seems to have been preserved. The
monks yielded to every other excess, were conquered by every

174

THE CARTHUSIANS

other temptation. But where it was held a sin to construct
a sumptuous edifice, the money might well be saved for more
sensuous enjoyments.

The Cistercians, while the most important, were far from
being the only new order to lead the reaction against Cluny.
Bruno (1030-1101), a German monk who had lived long at
Reims and had there imbibed the French zeal for reform, founded
the Carthusian Order as early as 1084. His ideals were sim-
ilar to those of St. Bernard; the cradle of the new order was
placed in the wild solitudes of the Alps. The rule demanded
the most rigorous asceticism: almost perpetual silence, poverty,
garments of horse-hair, food of bread and milk, and daily labor.
Although the Carthusian abbey always included a cloister, the
monks did not live, as did the other orders, in a common dor-
mitory. Each had his own individual cell and in this cell he
worked, slept, and ate in solitude. This order, like the Cis-
tercians, frowned upon elaborate church buildings, although
at a later epoch, especially in Italy, corruption assailed also
these monks, and the monasteries of Carthusians came to
be erected with a splendor which Cluny itself could not
rival.1

Many other orders, founded for the most part in the XI
century, rose to prominence with the high tide of reform in the
middle of the XII century. Such orders came into being at
St. Martin of Pontoise (1069), Grandmont (1073), Molesme
(1075), Fontevrault (1096), Tiron (1112), and Paraclet (1131).
Enjoying greater or less popularity, these rules all alike at first
demanded increased austerity. Thus their ideals tended to
turn the monk from the thought of the material adornment of
the house of God.

In the XIII century a new class of orders sprang up, even
more powerful in diverting the monastic world from thoughts
of architecture. The mendicant or preaching friars originated
in a reaction against the gradually declining orders of the XII
century, as these orders themselves had been a reaction against
Cluny, and as Cluny had been a reaction against the rule of St.
Benedict. Not only individual but collective poverty was im-

1 e. g., the famous Certosa of Pavia.
175

THE TRANSITION

posed upon the mendicant brothers, who must live by begging
charity. The Dominicans, founded by St. Dominic (1216),
were allowed to have monasteries; the Franciscans, however,
established 1210-23 by St. Francis of Assissi, possessed no fixed
home or abiding place. In spite of the rule, however, in the
end the inevitable happened; the beggars became wealthy
landed proprietors. They obtained from the pope the right
of confession, and thus even entered into serious rivalry with
the regular clergy.

One of the most striking ecclesiastical events of the XII
century was the rise of the military orders. These orders, which
were characteristic manifestations of the religious spirit of the
period, were organized primarily to aid in the conquest and
protection of the Holy Land, being thus essentially part of the
crusading movement. The Hospitalers, or Knights of St. John,
were founded in 1099; the Templars, founded in 1119, num-
bered only nine members until 1128, when St. Bernard estab-
lished the popularity of the order. These Templars were in
reality warrior-monks; they were submitted to the rules of
poverty, chastity, and obedience, but their ranks were recruited
from the noble classes, and the order was created especially
with a view to military service. During the XII century only
nobles were admitted, except the priests who served as chap-
lains; but in the XIII century non-nobles commenced to be-
come members. The order acquired enormous power, and
was finally suppressed by Philippe-le-Bel.

The Order of the Temple is especially interesting from an
architectural standpoint owing to the circumstance that the
members considered themselves guardians of the temple at
Jerusalem, which they naively believed to be the very construc-
tion of Solomon. Consequently they constructed their chapels
in imitation of this edifice, on a round or polygonal plan.1 The
chapels of the Templars in France are thus remarkable as the
only circular churches erected in that country in the transitional
and Gothic periods. A capital example, full of interest, is
preserved at Laon; it is to be regretted that among all the great

1 However, in the smaller houses — for example, at Grand-Selve and Frenaux (Oise) —
the chapels were of rectangular plan.

176

RULE OF ST. AUGUSTINE

establishments of the Templars in France, this alone has come
down to our days uninjured.

The reform movement of the XII century spread from the
regular to the secular Church largely through the introduc-
tion of the rule of St. Augustine. The reformers, led by the
pope, were able to reach the dissolute canons and bishops only
by means of regularization. Accordingly the chapters were
submitted to this rule, which was inspired by the new monastic
spirit, but compatible with the necessities of the pastoral office.
Ive of Chartres had applied the idea as early as 1078 in the church
of St. Quentin of Beauvais, and in the XII century the new order
attained the greatest success. Nobles wishing to make a pious
donation, instead of building abbeys, founded collegiate churches,
the canons being especially charged to pray for the founders
and their families. The vogue of these establishments became
so great as to excite the jealousy of the regular monks. They
believed it necessary to remind the world that after all the mo-
nastic life was the ideal religious condition. A polemic ensued,
canon and monk vaunted the excellence of their particular
calling. But the popularity of the canons regular continued to
grow, and new orders came into being at Premontre and St.
Victor (1113). In fact, it is not too much to say that the
chapters became the richest and most powerful members
of the Church hierarchy in the XIII century. Much more
than the bishops, the chapters were responsible for the build-
ing of the great cathedrals, which were often executed prin-
cipally at their initiative and expense. The collegiate church
of St. Quentin in size and splendor ranks with the most im-
portant abbeys and cathedrals.

Notwithstanding its subsequent popularity, the rule of
St. Augustine was not established in the chapters without
a struggle. It was one thing to found colleges of reforming
canons, it was another to oust the established simoniacal
chapters of the cathedrals, and substitute for them priests
of the new order. The Church, however, set courageously
about the task. The strife was long and severe, and often
degenerated into riots, physical violence, and murder, but in
the end the party of the reform gained the upper hand in

177

THE TRANSITION

almost every instance, for it was supported by the religious sen-
timent of the age.

The chapters reformed, the reform of the episcopacy followed
as a matter of course, for at this epoch — although the king and
the pope retained rights in the elections and in rare cases inter-
fered,-- the choice of bishop lay for all practical purposes with
the canons. Whenever a bishop showed himself hostile to the
work of reform, moreover, he was promptly held in check by
the pope, who in this work was the natural ally of the reformed
chapters. Hence the power of the bishops came to be dimin-
ished; they found their authority usurped by the chapter, which
was becoming by rapid strides the chief ecclesiastical power in
the diocese.

Thus by the end of the XII century the work of reform had
been thoroughly accomplished. While it would certainly be
a mistake to represent conditions in the French Church c. 1200
as ideal — discords, scandals, strifes, riots, even acts of physical
violence were of almost daily occurrence among its hostile mem-
bers — still the ideal of the catholic and universal Church has
probably never been more nearly realized than it was in north-
ern France at this epoch. A people profoundly religious, a
clergy newly reformed and full of ascetic enthusiasm, an episco-
pacy devoted to the interests of Rome — in these three condi-
tions is found the lever by which the pope was able to dominate
this Church as he has never been able to dominate any other,
the power by which he was able to make his word an absolute
law from which there was no appeal. The strength of the French
Church lay in this strong centralization, in this absolute subordi-
nation of the clergy to the catholic power, in this greater loyalty,
which overshadowed local jealousies and caused the monk to
forget his hatred for the priest, the bishop to join hands with
his enemy the canon, in the great common devotion to Rome.
No monarchy less strong, less absolute, than the papacy of the
epoch of Innocent III could have held together all these discord-
ant elements; nor could even an Innocent III have accomplished
such a task, had not the reform left the personnel of the French
clergy extraordinarily high. No priesthood before or since
has been so thoroughly, so unselfishly sincere; and since a pri-

178

GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES

mary dogma of XII century religion was the duty of advancing
the temporal welfare of the Church, this sincerity ipso facto
implied the liveliest loyalty to Rome. No wonder that the
pious and reforming spirits of all Europe looked to France as
to a Utopia where religious conditions had reached the happiest
possible expression; no wonder the successor of St. Peter proudly
pointed to France as the eldest child of the Church; no wonder
the bishops and chapters set about erecting architectural memo-
rials to glorify this ecclesiastical power with an enthusiasm that
the world has hardly equaled.

In this connection it is interesting to remark that the nais-
sant Gothic architecture, in the transitional period, found its
territorial boundaries — not, as is often erroneously stated, in
the limits of the Capetian domain — but in the limits of the
influence of the French Church.

Even in the earliest times, although it is convenient to refer
to the school of the He de France, the transitional movement
had centered not at Paris, but much farther to the eastward, in
the neighborhood of Senlis. It thus comprised only a part of
the royal domain, while on the other hand, it included many
lands lying outside of the He de France, such as certain parts
of Picardy. Later, when Gothic architecture came to spread
to the other provinces of France and Europe, this extension of
its territory took place in a manner so subtle that it is impos-
sible to trace the exact stages by which it progressed. The
local styles first showed faint traces of French influence, which
grew more and more pronounced until at last the French style
was unmistakably established, though always in a more or less
modified form. In this manner the limits of the French
school, especially during the second phase of the transitional
movement, were constantly, if irregularly, increasing, and ever
absorbing new areas. The nature of this growth might be
illustrated by placing a wet pen on a piece of blotting paper;
the resulting ink spot gradually increases, the color traveling
often beneath the surface and so imperceptibly that at no mo-
ment is it possible to define exactly the affected area, although
it is always evident that the spot is increasing in size. In Nor-
mandy, as has been seen, the French school was fully established

179

THE TRANSITION

only at the beginning of the XIII century. In Maine, except
for the nave of the cathedral of Le Mans, Gothic appeared
even later. The lands to the south of the He de France,
including the present departements of Yonne, Aube, and Loiret,
seem to have become associated with the Gothic school during
the second phase of the transition; and even as far south as
Blois, the fine transitional church of St. Laumer might as well
have been built on the banks of the Oise as of the Loire. Cham-
pagne had joined the movement even earlier. In the Centre,
however, in the region comprised in the present departement of
Cher, the strong local school long resisted foreign influence.
The first clumsy examples of the rib vault, it is true, may be
found in this district as early as the middle of the XII century;
but Gothic was first cordially adopted in 1295, when the cathe-
dral of Bourges, one of the marvels of the new style, was com-
menced in the manner of the He de France. This region is
unique in that it shows no period of hesitation or mixture of
Gothic and Romanesque; after 1295 it followed the architec-
ture of the royal school in as uncompromising a manner as it
had previously followed the school of Berry. Now if the his-
torical growth of the French Church organization be traced,
it will be found in every instance to have permeated these sur-
rounding regions in the same intangible manner, and at about
the same time that, by a study of the monuments, we have found
that Gothic architecture spread to the same districts.

In none of these regions immediately adjacent to the He
de France (except Normandy) did local tradition modify the
Gothic forms so sensibly as to give birth to a really separate local
school. In the following chapters, therefore, by the term French
Gothic we shall include monuments of the present departements of
Somme, Aisne,Oise, Seine, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-et-Oise, Marne,
Aube, Eure-et-Loire, Loiret, Sarthe, Yonne, and Cher.1 This
boundary, it should be frankly recognized, is purely arbitrary.
It excludes many purely Gothic buildings like the cathedral of
Tours or the abbey of Montier-en-Der; on the other hand, it
includes a certain number of churches like the abbey of Vezelay,

1 Norman Gothic is included in the departements of Calvados, Manche, Seine-Inferieure,
Eure, Orne.

180

MONK MASTER BUILDERS

it were better to leave out. Still a rigid territorial division is
needful, and this, as long as it be understood to be merely ap-
proximate, will answer the present purposes.

There is one final question which must be considered be-
fore closing this over-long chapter. The Gothic cathedral, it
has been seen, was the work of the Church, erected by the
chapter as a monument of ecclesiastical vanity. But by whom
and how was the actual execution carried out ?

For the XIII century, although the question offers certain
difficulties, the answer is for the most part clear. The abbot or
bishop or chapter entrusted to a lay architect or master builder
the drawing of the plans and the supervision of the work. But
many archaeologists, — practically all who have studied this
subject — believe that in the first half of the XII century things
were otherwise. As has been seen, at this period monasticism
dominated architecture; consequently it has been generally
inferred that the monks themselves were the master builders
and even the masons. Viollet-le-Duc found in this supposition
the starting-point for his unfortunate idea of the secular cathe-
dral; but the theory has been since followed by many writers
who are far safer guides in historical matters. Thus Messrs.
Enlart,1 St. Paul, Ruprich-Robert,2 Lavisse,3 Moore,4 Lenoir,5
Montalembert,6 all state this hypothesis as a fact beyond ques-
tion. Yet it rests upon the slimmest sort of documentary evi-
dence, and can be considered at most no more than a plausible
conjecture.

In fact, the amount of documentary evidence that can be
adduced on one side or on the other of this question is small.
Nothing is more exasperating than the silence of the chroniclers
on the subject. The formula is ever the same in all the hun-
dreds and thousands of accounts of the construction of churches
that have come down to us. Such and such an abbot began to
build such and such a church in such and such a year. Did
the abbot build himself with his own hands ? Clearly not, since
the same words are employed in the XIII century in connection

1 Man. d'Arch. I, 62. * Gothic Architecture, p. 27.

2 Arch. Norm., p. 248. 5 Arch. Mori., p. 36.

3 Hist, de France II2, 407. 6 Les Moines d' Occident VI, p. 242 et seq.

181

THE TRANSITION

with buildings which it is known were erected by a master builder.
Consequently the verb "build" must be understood to mean
"caused to be built." But who did the actual building?

The silence of the chroniclers on this point is so complete
as to be unnatural. In all the voluminous records of the XII
century no hint, no reference has betrayed the secret. Suger
wrote two works on the construction of St. Denis; he relates
all the details of the construction, the design of the stained glass
windows, the quarries from which came the stone, the forests
where the timber was obtained; but so carefully does he avoid
all mention of this vital point, that his work may be taken as an
argument on one side as much as on the other. Was the edi-
fice constructed by monks who in humility refrained from pass-
ing their names on to posterity ? This explanation might account
for any individual case, even for the majority of cases. But it
is impossible to believe that in all the XII century there would
not have been some monk-artist so proud of his work that he
would have allowed a tell-tale "my" to slip into his chronicle.
And there was no reason why a chronicler who was not a master
builder should have hidden his brother's light under a bushel.
It is easier to account for this silence of the chroniclers by the
habitual scorn of the ecclesiastic, and indeed of all the higher
classes, for the bourgeois and serf. In consequence of this
contempt, the clerks were doubtless little interested in the names
of the workmen who carried out the construction of their abbey,
and considered the memory of such serfs unworthy to transmit
to posterity. The important man was the abbot who raised the
resources, undertook a general supervision of the entire con-
struction, and hired the artists. Since we know that this — in
slightly less degree — was precisely the attitude of the chroni-
clers in the XIII century, in default of all positive evidence to
the contrary, it is reasonable to suppose that the historians of
the XII did not mention lay builders, not because such did
not exist, but because they did not consider them worthy of
mention. In Gothic art, the work was everything, the artist
nothing.

Against this argument it may be urged that it would have
been quite the spirit of the times for the monks themselves to

182

MASTER BUILDERS IN THE XII CENTURY

undertake the work of building. In the Middle Ages the monk
turned his hand to everything. Not only was he concerned
with books and learning, but he also busied himself with all
sorts of manual and practical labor. The painters of the XIII
century in Italy were monks, and the illuminations of manu-
scripts testify to the survival throughout the medieval period
of the finest artistic sense in the monasteries. Moreover in
one case there is actual documentary proof that a monk of the
XII century did direct building construction.

In 1110 Geoff roy, abbot of the Trinity at Vendome, lent to
Hildebert, bishop of Le Mans, who was then reconstructing
his cathedral, a monk named Jean, since the latter had the rep-
utation of being an excellent master builder. Hildebert, in
fact, was so pleased with his services that he was unwilling to
send him back when the stipulated time was up. Geoff roy
demanded his architect in vain; the bishop of Le Mans paid no
attention to his remonstrances, and Jean remained with Hilde-
bert in spite of the excommunication pronounced against him.1

This incident, and one or two others of similar character,
the strongest evidence in favor of the theory that the XII
century builders were monks, prove indeed that certain monks
in the first half of the XII century were master builders.
They do not prove that all master builders were monks. In
the XIII century, in the full sway of the lay builders there
is no reason to believe that monks may not occasionally have
been architects, as they at times practised almost any profes-
sion. In England Alan of Walsingham is a conspicuous in-
stance of an ecclesiastic who was also a master builder even in
the late Gothic period.

With this text, moreover, should be placed another, which
is so well known that I am surprised at never having seen it
cited in this connection, a text which dates from the first half of
the XI century and occurs in a description of Airard's recon-
struction of St. Remi in Reims: ''Therefore having summoned
men who were said to be skilled in architecture ... he com-

> Geoffridi abbatis Vindocinencis, Ep., lib. Ill, ep. XXV, XXVI, XXIX, XXI, cit. Le-
fevre-Pontalis. M. Enlart (Man. a" Arch. I, 62) mentions one or two other instances of
monk master builders.

183

THE TRANSITION

menced to build." Quapropter viris qui architecturae periti
fcrebantur ascitis . . . fabricam . . . erigere coepit. The use of
the word viris, men, instead of some word like monks or lay
brothers seems to prove conclusively that these builders were
laymen. A little further on in the same manuscript is found a
similar passage — "This building he almost destroyed, but
left certain foundations, which the architects thought would be
useful for the future building" — " Quo poene diruto et fund-
mentis quibusdam relictis, quae architectis visa sunt necessaria
fore futuris aedificiis, divinam domum coepit." l If in the
XI century and in the XIII there were lay architects, there
is no reason to suppose that there were none in the XII
century.

It has been argued that inasmuch as it is known that the
guild of masons was organized in the XII century, it may be
inferred that the secular trade originated at this same time.
There is, however, not the slightest reason to suppose that the
trade may not have long antedated the corporation. No one
denies, for example, that butchers, bakers, and shoe-makers
existed before Louis VII granted them charters, nor would any
one think of ascribing these occupations exclusively to monks.
Furthermore, if all the architects were ecclesiastics, who con-
structed the lay buildings of the XII century — the castles, the
walls, the fortifications, the houses ? — And who constructed
the small country churches of the He de France where most of
the great architectural discoveries of the XII century originated ?
And how were the laymen suddenly educated to take up this
great work ? How was it possible in a moment to call into
being enough skilled masons and architects to cover all France
with the vast cathedrals and churches of the early Gothic period ?
And why did the monks all at once cease to play the role of
master builders ? Until all these difficulties are explained, we are
forced to assume that the building trades in the XII century,
while doubtless less developed, were still not radically different
in nature from those which we know existed in the XIII century.

In the Gothic period the relationship of master builder —
the use of the word "architect" in the passage of Ansel m cited

1 For these texts in full see List of Monuments, p. 20G.
184

VILLARD DE HONNECOURT

above is altogether exceptional in medieval usage, and best
avoided — to bishop or chapter was roughly parallel to that
of the modern architect to his client. The master builder
was decidedly a man of profession, who often traveled great
distances in order to obtain important commissions. Thus
even as early as 1174, William of Sens journeyed to England to
apply for the work of rebuilding the cathedral of Canterbury,
which had just been destroyed by fire. Villard de Honnecourt,
a master builder of the second half of the XIII century, whose
album of sketches has come down to us, went to Hungary to
take charge of the building of a church. This same Villard de
Honnecourt also seems to have traveled much for purely educa-
tional purposes, since his album contains sketches made at
such widely separated centers as Laon, Reims, Chartres, and
Lausanne. The sketches are usually accompanied by com-
ments scrawled in the margin; thus opposite the towers 'of Laon
which he especially admired, and which he carefully drew in
plan and perspective, he added a note to the effect that he had
traveled far and seen many towers, but none like those of Laon.
The window tracery of Reims also struck his fancy and he jotted
down that it was his intention to reproduce the design in
the cathedral of Cambrai, which he was building at the time.
Thus it is evident that the master builders moved about
freely from place to place for education as well as for busi-
ness, and readily undertook even long journeys to obtain
commissions.

When a new construction of importance had been deter-
mined upon, the bishop or chapter or abbot, as the case might
be, let the fact be known. Usually several applicants for the
position of master builder would present themselves. From
these was selected the one who made the most favorable impres-
sion — either as promising to carry out the work more econom-
ically, or as being the best qualified by previous training and
experience. Other considerations, such as the pay demanded,
or how much of the old edifice the various applicants promised
to preserve, also influenced the selection.

After the successful candidate had been chosen, he entered
into agreement with the ecclesiastical powers, and for a definite

185

THE TRANSITION

wage undertook to carry out the stipulated eonstruction.1 Only
in exceptional eases was there anything approaching a contract;
as a general rule in the XIII century the master builder was
paid a regular salary just as were the men who worked under
him.

The services he must render in return for this wage were
various. First of all he must make the drawings; for the mod-
ern impression that the medieval building was erected without
drawn plans is entirely a flight of the imagination. The Gothic
cathedral, in which the last stone of the vault was foreseen from
the first stone of the foundations, could not possibly have been
erected without the use of plans. Indeed it is probable that
no medieval buildings were built in the haphazard way certain
present-day writers love to picture, and that the use of archi-
tectural drawings survived, an unbroken tradition, from An-
tiquity to the Renaissance. There is extant a ground plan of
the monastery of S. Gallo, dating from the IX century; and the
album of Villard de Honnecourt, although a collection of trav-
eler's sketches, rather than a series of architectural drawings,
still serves to give an excellent idea of the kind of drawings made
for a medieval cathedral.2 These, we may be sure, were thor-
oughly unlike our modern architectural drawings, where more
thought is given to the rendering than to the design, to the pres-
entation than to the thought; where all the resources of another
art are employed to hide the imperfections of the architecture.
The medieval plans were plain, straightforward line drawings,
made for use, not for display; doubtless sufficiently accurate
for their purpose, but largely undetailed. The building was
conceived as an entity, as an existing reality, in the master

1 There were often suits and difficulties on this score. See for example the Inventaire of
Vernon cited by De la Halle: "Item en une boite ronde, signee xxj est un proces devant l'abbe
de St. Magloire, men entre le chapitre de Vernon et Me Jean Antabour, macon, maistre des
oeuvres pour le Roy, a cause du cuer de 1 'eglise dont lors f ut marche fait avec le dit maistre Jehan
d'abattre le vielle maconnerie des voustes du choeur et reediffier; lesquelles choses sont plus au
large contenues en dit proces, et ne fut pas la dite ouvrage faite ainsy que le marche le contenait
et peut estre garde pour autre avis sur la perfection de l'ouvrage encommence si on la voulait
parfaire, et fut iceluy proces mis et discute devant le dit abe de Saint Magloire, comme fuge donne
a l'eglise de Vernon par vcrtu de la bullc cy devant enregistree et coltee en la boitte cy devant
xvij. Lequel proces fut mis devant le dit abe Pan 1380.

2 There are extant also several other architectural drawings of the XIII century. A list
of these is given by M. Enlart, Man. d 'Arch. I, 65.

18G

DUTIES OF MASTER BUILDER

builder's brain; the plan was merely a sketch to assist in the
execution. (111. 216.)

Beside the drawings it is altogether probable that the master
builders prepared models of their buildings. Such models
were common in classical times. Dr. Bendorf1 publishes sev-
eral Greek coins and reliefs on which are represented such build-
ing models, held in the hands of various personages, doubtless
as votive offerings, and an actual example of an ancient build-
ing model has lately come to light in Ephesus. Since, there-
fore, building models were employed in Antiquity and in the
Renaissance, there seems no reason to doubt that they were
used also in the Middle Ages. Indeed, Mr. Frothingham 2 has
just discovered what he believes to be the original model for the
church of St. Maclou, Rouen; if this model should prove to be
genuine it would establish the fact that building models were
employed at least in the flamboyant period.

The duties of the master builder, far from ending with the
preparation of drawings and models, demanded that he should
supervise the entire construction to the most minute detail.
He accordingly went to live in the town where his work was
situated, and never deserted his charge until the work was
finished, or, as often happened, his own life ended first.3 One
building thus became his life work; on this one production
was concentrated all his energy, all his thoughts, all his ability.
Such singleness of purpose must have meant a whole-souled
devotion to art such as we of the XX century can hardly imagine.

It was only human nature that this lofty ideal should not
always be realized ; and that master builders at times fell from
grace is revealed by an interesting passage in the Chronicle of
Bee: " Therefore when the foundations had been laid deep, the
abbot himself surrounded by his monks laid the first stone of
the foundations on the first day of Lent; and Ingebram, master
builder of Notre Dame of Rouen, directed and aided in the con-
struction. And to his superintendence the abbot entrusted

' Jh. Oesterr. Arch. I, V, 1902, pp. 175-195.

2 Architectural Record, August, 1907.

3 When the edifice was small, and after c. 1250, the master builder frequently did not
reside, but merely visited the construction at stipulated intervals.

187

THE TRANSITION

the beginning and care of that work, and for the first year Inge-
brain worked hard at the building, and constructed it with great
success, altering the facade and increasing the length of the
nave and wonderfully adorning it with two broad towers; but
after a year and a half he commenced to absent himself occa-
sionally, neglecting the work and not finishing it as he had
promised. When the abbot saw and understood this, he took
wise council, and, when now a year and eight months had passed,
he removed Ingebram from the sacred place, and handed the
work over to the master builder Walter of Melun, who finished
it in the third year." *

This passage shows that the relation of master builder and
client was a very close one — a fact also made evident in Ger-
vase's account of the rebuilding of Canterbury. The responsi-
bility of the abbot or bishop did not end when the master builder
was engaged. On the contrary, he watched carefully every
detail, saw to providing building materials, and frequently
interfered even in purely architectural and artistic matters.
At St. Denis, Suger, the abbot, directed where and how work
should be begun, decided from what quarries stone should be
taken, devised how to procure suitable columns, and hunted in
the forests for timber. He even superintended the details of
the design of the stained glass windows.

This strict control exercised by the ecclesiastical authorities
explains the eminently scholastic character of the Gothic church.
The master builder and the clerk walked hand in hand. The
function of the former was not to dictate, to impose his artistic
conception on the priest; he was simply an expert, a man with
practical experience called in to execute the desired work in
the best manner possible, to oversee the workmen, and to under-

1 Igitur jac-tis in altum fundamentis, ipse manibus suis prifflum lapidem circumstante <<>ii-
ventu suo super fundamentum posuit, prima die lunae quadragesimae procurante et eooperante
lngebramno magistro operis Beatae Mariae Rothom. Cujus consilio se commisit ad illud opus
inehoandum et proeurandum, idem vero Ingcbramnus viriliter ageus opus ineeptum primo anno
cum magna virtute aedifieavit, et frontem eeelesiae et navem in longitudinem auxit, et duabus
aniplissimis turribus mirefice adomavit; peraeto autem anno et semi, retraxit se aliquantulum
opus retardando et non, ut promiscrat, perfieiendo. Quo viso et comperto abbas, sapienti usus
consibo, jam uno anno et octo mensibus expletis, amoto lngebramno i'oro saneto, tradklit illud
opus ad perficiendum magistro Walterio de Mellente qui tertio anno adduxit. — Beati Lan-
franci. Opera Omnia, Paris, 1648.

188

DUTIES OF MASTER BUILDER

take those matters for which the bishop or abbot lacked the
requisite technical knowledge. How close this union of client
and master builder was, the thoroughly ecclesiastical character
of the cathedral itself is the best witness. That disagreements,
disputes, and misunderstandings of various kinds should arise
was only natural, but in all such altercations the ecclesiastical
authorities always retained the upper hand. It is amusing to
read in Gervase what infinite tact William of Sens was forced
to employ to persuade the reluctant monks that it was
necessary to destroy the charred fragments of the glorious choir
of Conrad.1

Also the relationship of the master builder to the men under
him was far closer than that existing between the modern archi-
tect and the laborers. The medieval master builder not only
superintended everything connected with the building — the
quarrying of the stone, the stereotomy, the construction of scaf-
folds and centerings — but he seems also to have labored much
with his own hands. Willliam of Sens, called from France to
direct the construction of the cathedral of Canterbury, was
seriously injured by falling from the scaffold; and the entire
tone of Gervase's account of the activities of this master
builder gives the impression that he actually performed with
his own hands much manual labor. However, that master
builders who confined their activity to merely directing the
construction from afar were not unknown, especially in the
latter part of the Middle Ages, seems to be shown by two texts.
The first, a curious mixture of bad Latin and old French, is
from a sermon of Nicolas of Berne 2 and may thus be translated :
"The master builders with rule and compass in hand, say to
others, 'Cut this here for me,' and do not work themselves, and
yet they receive higher pay, like many modern prelates." The
second is even more explicit: "Some work by word alone.
For take notice. In great buildings there is usually a single
master builder who directs the construction by word alone,

1 For this text see List of Monuments under Canterbury in Vol. III.

2 Published in the Romania of 1889, p. 289. Magistri cementarium virgam et cyrothecas
in manibus habentes, aliis dicunt: Par ci le me taille, et nihil laborant; et tamen majorem mer-
cedem accipiunt, quod faciunt multi moderni prelati.

189

THE TRANSITION

and seldom or never does manual labor, but nevertheless he
receives higher pay than the others. So there are many in the
Church who possess fat benefices, but God knows what good
they do; they work by their tongue alone, saying 'thus you ought
to do,' but themselves do not so at all." !

This last text, it should be noticed, is of the XIV century,
and the increased dignity for the office of master builder that it
implies is part of a distinct evolution of which we catch glimpses
now and then across the darkness of the centuries. In the early
part of the XII century the master builder seems to have been
merely a workman not distinguished from his fellows by the
chroniclers. At the end of the same century William of Sens
had risen to a certain amount of importance, but was still dis-
tinctly an artisan. In the XIII century Villard de Honnecourt
was an educated man; he traveled over most of Europe and was
able to write. The master builder had ceased to be a laborer
and had become a man of profession. From this moment he
stepped more and more into prominence; he occupied an ever-
increasing space in literary records, and in the flamboyant
period very frequently signed his work by an inscription placed
in a conspicuous position upon the edifice. In the period of
the Renaissance the evolution of the modern architect was
completed.

Nothing could be more interesting than to know to just
what extent the master builder of the XIII century supervised
the carving of the sculpture and floral ornament. Did he
merely turn over to separate artisans the spaces to be adorned
with sculptured ornament, and allow these artists to execute
designs of their own fancy ? The assertion has been many times
repeated by modern writers. I should, however, hesitate to
affirm it. Although the evidence that has come down to us
of this subject is scarcely sufficient to permit a positive judg-
ment, the sketch book of Villard de Honnecourt certainly seems
no less occupied with studies for statues and ornamental sculp-

1 Operantur aliqui solo verbo. Nota. In istis magnis aedificiis solet esse unus magister
principalis qui solum ordinat ipso verbo, raro aut aunquam appoint manum et tamen accepit
majora stipendia aliis. Sic imilti sunt in ecclesia qui habent pinguia beneficia et Deus scit quan-
tum faciant de bono; operantur in ea solum lingua diccntes, "Sic debetis facere" et ipsi nihil
horum faciunt. — Vib. Nat. fo. 30, col. 2, no. L6490.

190

THE MASONIC GUILD

ture than with mechanical engines and architecture proper.
This fact certainly implies that in the thought of the Middle
Ages the arts were not separated. The strict unity of archi-
tecture, statuary, and ornament so noticeable in the early
buildings rather confirms this impression.1 But to decide
definitely this question we should have to know much more
than it is probable that we ever can know about the workmen
of the Middle Ages, and their methods.

For the medieval laborer has left few traces on the page of
history. Who were these masons ? Were they local work-
men or, like the master builders, did they move about from
place to place ? Were there several degrees and qualities among
them, one mixing mortar, another carrying stone, a third carv-
ing capitals, a fourth executing sculpture ? Unless some long
forgotten text, hidden among the musty chronicles, be discovered
to reveal these secrets, however much we may conjecture, we
can never know the inner workings of the construction of the
Gothic cathedral.

A chance fact that has come down to us here and there
serves only to make more confusing the maze that would mean so
much, could it only be unraveled. It is known, for example,
that the masons, like the tanners, the bakers, or the butchers
were united in guilds or corporations.2 Unfortunately, how-
ever, this particular guild seems to have left little trace of its
nature and peculiarities. The usual character of the medieval
guild is familiar enough — a body of artisans who possessed
the monopoly of trade in a particular town,3 banded together to

1 This thought has been finely expressed by Herr Voge : — Was sich jedoch aus der kunst-
lerichen Kritik dieser [Chartreren] Skulpturen unmittelbar abnehmen lasst, ist nicht die monch-
ische Herkunft, sondern die unbedingte Unterordnung der Kiinstler unter die Architektur. Wenn
die Werkmeister, die hier nacheinander die plastischen Arbeiten fur das Portal geleitet haben,
wenn der Chartrerer Hauptmeister und der "Meister der beiden Madonnen" nicht geradezu zu
identificieren sind mit den Baumeistern die zu der selben Zeit an der Kathedrale thiitig waren,
so standen sie jedenfalls unter ihrer unmittelbaren Leitung. Dass sieh die Skulpturen als eine
abgeschlossene Kaste von Kunstlern aus der Menge der iibrigen Werkleute heraushoben, dafiir
fehlt, wie wir sahen, jeder Anhalt. Die technische Leitung der Bauten lag hier aber allem
Anschien nach in der Hand von Laienbaumeistern denn wir finden bereits in der altesten Redak-
tion des Chartrerer Necrologiums mehrere Kiinstler der Kathedrale bei Namen genannt." —
p. 282.

2 The little which is known of the guild of masons has been ably summarized by M.
Enlart, Man. d'Arch. I, 68.

3 Uniformity did not exist in the Middle Ages in the organization of labor. It is usually

191

THE TRANSITION

advance their common interests. The guild was headed by a
chief officer, usually elected by vote, whose duty it was to pro-
tect the interests of the association. These corporations were
often "close" and "hereditary"; that is to say, no one might
practise the given trade unless he belonged to the corporation,
and none could belong to the corporation unless his father had
belonged before him, and unless he himself had served a long
period of apprenticeship. The members of the guild lived in
a separate quarter or street, and formed, in fact, a community
by themselves.

It seems as if the guild of the masons could not have con-
formed very closely to this general type. This guild, it is
known, was "free" — that is, no fee was demanded of those
who entered the trade. But with the exception of the legitimate
sons of masters, each novice had to serve an apprenticeship of
six years, and no master was allowed to have more than one
apprentice. The great number of skilled workmen required
to construct a cathedral could hardly have found sufficient
work to support them in the city when works on the church
were not in progress. It is therefore probable that, like the
master builders, they moved about from place to place, probably
with their wives and families. But did they move in mass,
in great bands ? The fact of the corporation seems to imply
it, for it is difficult to see how a guild could exist, if the
members were constantly shifting from one city to another.
And in what relationship could the master builder have stood
to these corporations ? Was he merely the chief man of the
band elected by his fellows ? What is known of the master
builders seems to contradict such an hypothesis.

But it is the part of wisdom to trim sail at this point and to
venture no farther upon that sea of conjectures which the mys-
teries of this period open up to us. For once launched upon these
unknown waters — especially if the helmsmen be of a senti-

imagined that all the trades were formed into "close" corporations, that is to say into privileged

c panics having the absolute monopoly of manufacture and sale. This is an error even for

the XV century; much more so for the XII or XIII. The organization of a close corporation
did not by any means always imply the suppression of independent artisans. The guilds, more-
over, were often not hereditary until the XV century, although sons might follow their fathers'
calling. — Lavisse, Hid. de France IV,2 pp. 132, 136, 137.

192

ST. DENIS

mental turn of mind, — there is no telling on what imagina-
tive shores we may not bring up. Hidden away beneath the
dust and mould of centuries, there doubtless yet survives many
a medieval manuscript unknown and unpublished. Some day
there may be brought to light one of these that will reveal much
that is now dark in the methods and customs of the medieval
builders. Until such time we can only wait — solaced, perhaps,
by the negative comfort that this is far from being the only
mystery enclosed beneath the silent vaults of the medieval
cathedral. These venerable monuments indeed are full of
mysteries — mysteries so deep and incomprehensible that their
very existence has been unsuspected. Every year the world
is surprised when the researches of some scholar bring to light
some new perfection, some unexpected beauty; and however
much these piles are studied, however carefully they are scru-
tinized, there seems always to remain an inexhaustible supply
of new beauties undiscovered. And even should the last and
most minute of the detailed perfections — some day in the very
far future — be disclosed, yet, after all, the chief mystery, the
miracle of miracles — the Gothic cathedral itself — would still
remain to baffle men; for this mystery, in all its complexity, in
all its symbolism, in all its manifold beauty, the human mind
is hardly large enough or broad enough to master.

MONUMENTS OF THE TRANSITION

First Class Monuments

ST. DENIS, Seine. Abbaye. (111. 169, 191, 246.) This, the most important
of all transitional monuments, is surpassed in historical, archaeological, and artistic
interest by few churches of Europe. Founded by Dagobert (628-638), St. Denis
has ever been the royal abbey of France, enriched by the munificence, and protected
by the favor, of her kings, who almost without exception here found their burial place.
There was a tradition that the basilica which Suger rebuilt in the XII century was the
very church erected by Dagobert, and this pious legend Suger, with the character-
istic diplomacy of the Church, did not correct, although several of the numerous
texts which prove that the edifice was reconstructed at the end of the VIII century must
have been before the eyes of the venerable abbot. Thus a couplet of Alcuin records:
"This beloved house of God was renewed with great splendor, as thou seest, reader,

193

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

in his [FulracTs (f 784)] time".1 Another text refers to " . . . the church of St.
Denis where that precious master with his disciples rests in body, and over which
rules the abbot Fulrad, — a church which, by the aid of Christ, wc [Charlemagne]
built anew, and ordered to be dedicated with great splendor."2 A third states that:
"When the basilica of the saints, which had been begun by King Pippin after the first
church was detroyed, had been rebuilt in greater splendor by Charlemagne his suc-
cessor . . . and when the tower had been finished, the bells, as is customary, were
hung."3 This church of c. 780 with its bell towers4 doubtless stood until the
middle of the XII century, when Suger determined to erect a new edifice. That
abbot himself has left us no less than two works relating in great detail the story of this
reconstruction; of these it is possible to quote here only a few of the more significant
passages: — "The glorious and famous king of the Franks, Dagobert, . . . with
remarkable generosity ordered that the church of the saints be built with regal munifi-
cence, and he not only made splendid the building with a marvelous variety of marble
columns, but he also enriched it with bountiful treasures of the purest gold and silver,
and caused to be hung on the walls and columns and arches tapestries woven with
gold and adorned with many sorts of jewels. This church, as far as its ornaments
went, seemed to excel all others, and in every way to shine with incomparable radi-
ance, and to surpass in gorgeous decoration the beauty of the whole world; and yet
in this one thing alone was lacking, that it did not have the large dimensions needful.
Not that the devotion or good will of the founder was in any way blameworthy, for
doubtless at that early time no church had yet been built greater, or even as great.
. . . Therefore, with the help of God, we energetically set to work in the front part
of the church, on the north side by the central doorway of the main portal, whose
span was narrowed on both sides by twin towers, for these towers, not high nor es-
pecially beautiful, threatened ruin; and here we laid very firm foundations for a new
entrance and new twin towers. . . . Meanwhile, we became anxious about the har-
mony of the edifice, fearing that a lack of unity between the old and the new work
might be apparent. Therefore we took thought, and devised, and searched through
different regions of remote countries, seeking columns of marble or something to take
their place. When we found nothing, one resource only seemed left to us in our
perplexity, and that was to have columns sent to us from the city (for at Rome in the
Palace of Diocletian and in the other baths we had often seen wonderful columns)

1 Haec domus alma dei magno est renovata decore,

Ut cernis, lector, tempore quippe suo. — Alcuini, ('arm., 92.
See also Fanlulfi, Camnina II, 4.

2 ... ad ecelesiam s. Dionisii ubi ipse praeciosus Dominus cum sociis suis corpore quies-
cunt et vcnerahilis vir Fulradus abbas praeesse videtur, et nos, Christo propitio, a novo aedi-
ficavimus opere, et modo cum magno deeore iussimus dcdicari. — Karl d. Gr. Urk. fur St. Denis,
775, Febr. 25, M. 175, cit. Schlosser, 211.

3 Cum basilicam sanctorum (diruta priore, quae coepta Pippino rege) augustius a Karolo
regni successore consummata est, opifices architeetarentur, unus clavorum, quibus teeto tabulae
adfigebantur cecedit. . . . Basilicae fabrica completa, impositaque turri, in qua signa, ut moris
est, penderent. ... — Miranda S. Dionysii, c. 14, 15, cit. Schlosser, 211.

4 There were in fact two towers flanking the west facade, as the account of Suger proves.
See below, p. 198.

194

ST. DENIS

by ship through the Mediterranean Sea and by way of England and the tortuous
windings of the Seine; for thus we thought to obtain them at the expense of our friends
but by the labor of our enemies the Saracens. . . . [However, by a miracle a quarry
was discovered near at hand, as is described in a passage here omitted.] . . . When
the work had thus been practically finished, and the new and old buildings joined
into one, then we laid aside the great fear we had long entertained on account of the
threatened ruin of the old construction, and we joyfully repaired the cracks which
had appeared in the capitals and bases of the columns. After that we consulted the
local carpenters and those of Paris about finding beams [for the roof], but all replied

— as they thought, truthfully — that large enough beams could not be found in our
country owing to the lack of forests, but that they must be brought from Auxerre.
. . . [Nevertheless, by another miracle, twelve trees of sufficient size were found.]
. . . Constantly encouraged in our labor by such and so manifest tokens of divine
favor, we energetically pressed on to the completion of the work, until at last the new
structure was ready for the solemn consecration which took place as I have described
above. . . . The date of this consecration ... is commemorated by an inscription,
that may still be read over the portal (unless it has become effaced) — an inscription
whose letters we gilded in the honor of God and the saints : — 'It was in the year one
thousand one hundred and forty of the Word, when this was consecrated.' After
that . . . consecration, partly because our zeal was kindled by its own happy ac-
complishments, partly because of our love for the saints who had so long been op-
pressed by the unbearably small size of the church, we determined to abandon the
work I have just described; to defer the completion of the towers and upper parts;
to proceed instead to enlarge, according to the best of our ability, the main body of
the church, in which, though so small, divine Providence had gathered so much nobil-
ity — so many mighty kings and pious abbots ; and to carry out this reconstruction
in a manner as logical and beautiful as could be done. And we communicated this
thought to our very devoted brothers, 'whose hearts straightway burned with Jesus
while he talked to them by the way,' x and after deliberation with them, by the
inspiration of God, we decided that, because of that dedication which, as the blessed
scriptures bear witness, God has decreed shall take place when a church has been
enlarged — even though it had formerly been consecrated, — we should remove for
a time the relics from the ancient choir and begin to ennoble with the beauty of length
and breadth the church that, under the pressure of such urgent necessity, we had
begun to build anew. And after deliberation it was agreed that that higher part
that stood above the apse and contained the bodies of our masters, the saints, should
be renewed as far as the upper part of the vault of the crypt on which it stood. . . .
It was planned with the greatest nicety by means of arithmetical and geometrical
instruments to make the length of the arches of the main arcade — that is, the dis-
tance between the bases of the great piers (these piers rested on the piers of the crypt)

— the same in the new addition, as in the ancient nave of the church, so that there
might be no unpleasant contrast between the larger bays of the older portions of the
edifice and the smaller bays of the new; however, we introduced a beautiful and

1 Luke xxiv. 32.
195

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

praiseworthy innovation in the circle of chapels, i.e., the ambulatory, which at pres-
ent causes the whole interior, bathed in the wonderful and graduated light shed by
the holy windows, to shine in beauty. . . . Fearing lest God should justly complain
of us "thine eves did see my substance being yet imperfect,'1 we hurried the work
on, at great expense, employing summer and winter a large number of workmen, and
at length, bv divine aid, we finished it. . . . Nor did we think that we ought to re-
main silent in regard to the following fact. When the walls of the new addition had
been carried up to their full height, — that is to the level of the capitals of the
vaulting shafts — but while the ribs were still standing by themselves and had not
yet been reinforced by the construction of the vault, a terrible and unendurable
tempest arose, with dark masses of clouds and floods of rain and a sudden, most
powerful rush of wind. And this storm increased in violence so that it blew down
stout houses and even stone towers and wooden battlements. During this tempest,
which occurred on the anniversary of the glorious king Dagobert, Ganfred, the
venerable bishop of Chartres, was celebrating a high mass for the repose of that
monarch's soul at the principal altar of the abbey, when there came such a force of
opposing winds dashing against the arches, which were in no way propped up, nor
supported by any scaffolding, that shaking miserably and swaying backwards and
forwards they menaced sudden and disastrous ruin. But when the bishop perceived
that the walls were in danger of falling he many times extended his hand in
benediction towards that part of the church, and courageously raised his arm
against the blast, making the sign of St. Simeon, since manifestly no firmness of
his own, but only the mercy of God and the merit of the saints could avert the
impending ruin. And lo! although much damage was done to many neighboring
buildings, placed, it was believed, in the safest places, but not protected by divine
favor, no mischief befell the new arches of the abbey trembling at the height of the
sun. At length the end of our arduous labor made fitting a new consecration of
the church . . . and ... we decided that this should take place upon the second
Sunday of June, which fell upon the 11th day of the month, [1144]." 2

1 Psalms exxxix, 16.

2 Gloriosus et famosus rex Francorum Dagobertus . . . basilicam sanctorum regia muni-
ficentia fabricatum iri affectu mirabili imperavit. Quam cum mirifica marmorearum colum-
narum varietate componens, copiosis purissimi auri et argenti thesauris inaestimabiliter
locupletasset, ipsiusque parietibus et columnis et arcubus auro tectas vestes, margaritarum
varietatibus multipliciter exornatas, suspendi fecisset, quatinus aliarum ecclesiarum ornamentis
praecellere videretur, et omni modis incoinparabili nitore vernans, et omni terra pulcliritudine
compta inaestimabili decore splendesceret, hoc solum ei defuit, quod quam oporteret magni-
tudinem non admisit. Non quod aliquid ejus devotioni aut voluntati deeset, sed quod forsitan
tunc temporis in primitiva ecclesia nulla adhuc aut major aut aequalis existeret. . . . Quia
igitur in anteriori parte, ab aqilone, prineipali ingressu principalium valvarum, porticus arctus,
hinc et inde gemellis, nee altis, nee aptis multum, scd minantibus ruinam, turribus angebatur,
ea in parte initio directae testitudinis et geniinarum turrium robusto valde fundamento materiali
. . . laborare strenue Deo cooperante ineoepimus. ... In agendis siquidem hujus modi, ap-
prime de convenientia <t cohaerentia antiqui et novi open's sollicitus unde marmoreas aut mar-
moreis acquipollentes haberemus columnas, co^itando, speculando, investigando per diversas
partium remotarum regiones, cum nullam offenderemus, hoc solum mente laborantibus et animo
supererat, ut ab urbe (Romae enim in palatio Diocletiani et aliis termes [lege, thermis] sacpe

196

ST. DENIS

Equally significant is the account of the building of St. Denis that Suger has left
us in his works on his administration. I translate some of the more important
passages beginning with Section XXV: — "Now . . . on festivals, such as those of St.

mirabiles conspexeramus) ut per mare Mediterraneum, tuta classe, exinde per Anglieum et per
tortuosam fluvii Sequanae reflexionem, eas magno sumptu amicorum, inimieorum etiam
Sarracenorum proximorum conductu haberemus. . . . Peraeto siquidem magna et parte opere,
et compactis novi et antiqui aedificii tabulatis, magnoque deposito quem diu habueramus timore,
propter illas patulas antiquarum maceriarum rimas, magnorum capitellorum et basium
columnas deportantium disruptionem exhilarati, deaptare sollicitabamur. Cumque pro trabium
inventione tarn nostros quam Parisienses lignorum artifices consuluissemus, responsum nobis
est pro eorum existimatione verum, in finibus istis propter silvarum inopiam minime inveniri
posse, vel ab Autissiodorensi pago necessari devehi oportere. . . . Tantis itaque et tarn mani-
fests tantorum operum intersigniis constanter animati, ad praefati perfectionem aedificii instanter
properantes, quomodo et quibus personis et quod valde solemniter Deo omnipotenti con-
secraretur . . . decantabamus. . . . De termino vero haec est veritatis consistentia, sicut
legitur, si tamen non obscuretur, in aureo super portas quas ad honorem Dei et sanctorum
deauratas fieri fecimus, epitaphio:

Annus millesimus centenus et quadragenus
Annus erat verbi, quando sacrata fuit.

Igitur post illam . . . consecrationem, nostra qua tarn ex ipsa sui prosperitate anima-
batur devotio, quam ipsa cura sanctorum quos tanto tempore tam intolerabiliter opprimebat
coarctatio, votum nostrum illo convertit: ut praefato vacantes operi, turriumque differendo
prosecutionem in superiori parte, augmentation! matris ecclesiae operam et impensam pro toto
posse, pro gratiarum actione, eo quod tantillo tantorum regum et abbatum nobilitati succedenti
tantum opus divina dignatio reservasset, quam decentius, quam gloriosus rationabiliter effici
possit fieri inniteremur. Communicato siquidem cum fratis nostris bene devotis consilio quorum
"cor ardens de Jesu dum loqueretur eis in via" hoc Deo inspirante deliberando elegimus, ut
propter earn quam divina operatio, sicut veneranda scripta testantur, propria et manuali exten-
sione ecclesiae consecrationi antiquae imposuit benedictionem, ipsis sacratis lapidibus tanquam
reliquiis deferremus, illam quae tanta exigente necessitate novitas inchoaretur, Iongitudinis et
latitudinis pulchritudine inniteremur nobilitare. Consultati siquidem decretum est illam al-
tiori inaequalem, quae super absidem sanctorum dominorum nostrorum corpora retinentem
operiebat, renovari voltam usque ad superficiem criptae cui adhaerebat. . . . Provisum est
sagiciter ut superioribus columnis et arcubus mediis qui in inferioribus in cripta fundatis super-
ponerentur, geometricis et aritmeticis instrumentis medium antiquae testitudinis ecclesiae
augmenti novi medio aequaretur, nee minus antiquarum quantitas aliarum novarum quantitati
adaptaretur; excepto illo urbano et approbato in circuitu oratorium incremento, quo tota
sacratissimarum vitrearum luce miribili et continua interiorem perlustrante pulchritudinem
eniteret . . . Insistentes igitur per triennium multo sumptu, populoso operariorum conventu,
aestate et hieme, operis perfectioni, ne nobis conqueri Deo "Imperfectum meum viderunt oculi
tui" jure oporteret, admodum ipso cobperante proficiebamus. . . . Nee illud etiam silere dignum
duximus, quod dum praefatum novi augmenti opus capitellis et arcubus superioribus et ad alti-
tudinis cacumen produceretur, cum necdum principales arcus singulariter veluti voltarum cum-
ulo cohaererent, terribilis et pene tolerabilis obnubilatione nubium inundatione imbrium, impetu
validissimo ventorum subito tempestatis exorta est procella; quae usque adeo invaluit ut non
solum validas domos, sed etiam lapideas turres et ligneas tristegas concusserit. Ea tempestate,
quadam die anniversario gloriosi Dagoberti regis, cum venerabilis Carnotensis episcopus Gan-
fredus missas gratiarum pro anima ejusdem in conventu ad altare principale festive celebraret,
tantus oppositorum ventorum impetus praefatos arcus nullo sufi'ultos podio, nullis renitentes
suffragiis impingebat, ut miserabiliter tremuli, et quasi hinc et inde fluctuantes subito pestiferam

197

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

Denis or of Lendit ! and many others, the inadequacy of our church was very appar-
ent, for owing to the small size of the building the women in order to reach the altar
were forced to walk upon the heads of the men as upon a pavement, all of which caused
great inconvenience and a loud uproar. Therefore I undertook to enlarge the abbey,
not withstanding that it was a noble structure consecrated by the divine hand; but
before doing so I sought the advice of wise men and the prayers of many monks, being
fearful lest haply such an act might be displeasing to God and the holy martyrs. . . .
We commenced work at the entrance portals, tearing down a certain addition which
had been erected with funds donated by Charlemagne on an appropriate occasion,
and, as shall appear hereafter, we continued to labor incessantly at enlarging the
principal gable, the triple entrance portal, and the high stout towers. . . . And we
summoned skilled modelers and sculptors, who erected the central doors in which
were sculptured the passion, the resurrection, and the ascension: and these statues
we caused to be gilded at great expense, as was suitable for a monumental entrance.
And we hung new doors in the right hand portal, but in the left hand portal we re-
tained the old doors underneath the mosaic, which contrary to custom, we had made
anew and placed in the tympanum of the arch. Furthermore we caused the tower and
the upper part of the gable to be ornamented in many colors, partly for decoration,
and partly because this was useful and fitting; and that the year of the consecration
might not be forgotten, we inscribed the following legend over the portal in letters
gilded with copper: — 'For the adornment of the church which nourished and
educated him, Suger labored. One of thy monks, and a follower of thee, St. Denis,
he prays that thou ask for him a share in Paradise. It was the year of the word one
thousand, one hundred and forty, when this was consecrated.' In the same year,
encouraged by so holy and successful a labor, we began to enlarge the farther part
of the house of the Lord (i.e., the choir) in which it had often been necessary to cel-
ebrate in secret the sacraments of our Judge and Redeemer, that these might not be
profaned by the disturbance of the multitude. . . . How efficaciously the hand of
God rules in such matters, is certainly proved by the fact that such a glorious work
as this entire magnificent building was completed in three years and three months
from the crypt below to the topmost summit of the vault, together with its great vari-
ety of arches and columns. . . . ^Yhen it had been finished the inscription recording
the former consecration was changed in one word only, and the couplet was made
to conclude thus : — 'It was the year of the word one thousand one hundred and
forty-four, when this was consecrated.'" . . . After this, when, according to the per-

niinarentur ruinam. Quorum quidem operturarunique impulsionem cum espiscopus expaves-
ceret, saepe manum benedictionis in ea parte extendebat, et brachum sancti senis Simeonis
signando instanter opponebat, ut manifests nulla sui constantia, sed sola Dei pietate et Sanctorum
merito ruinam evadere appareret. Sicque cum multis in locis firmissimis, ut putabatur, aedi-
ficiis multa ruinarum incommoda intulisset, virtute repulsa divina, titubantibus in alto solis
et recentibus arcubus nihil proferre praevaluit incommodi. . . . Urgebat deinceps novae fieri
eonsecrationem ecclesiae tain operis laboriosa consummatio qnam nostra . . . et . . . diem
agendi secunda junii domimca, videlicet III idus . . . consulte assignavimus. — Sugerii, De
Consecrations II-VI, passim.

1 A fair held at St. Denis on the 11th of June.

198

ST. DENIS

suasion of some, we should have turned our energy to finishing the tower of the west
facade, whose lower portions had been already completed, the will of God (as we think)
induced us instead to begin to rebuild and make harmonious with the new work on
either side the middle part of the church, which is called the nave. Nevertheless,
we preserved a certain portion of the ancient walls, — those parts on which the high-
est priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, placed his hand, according to the witness of writers
of old; and thus, while reverencing the ancient construction, we made the old work
harmonious with the new. . . .* Of the church immortalized by the descriptions of

1 XXV. Verum, cum jam hoc ipsam irnilto sumptu complcretur, inspirante divino mutu,
propter earn quam saepe diebus festis, videlicet in festo beati Dionysii et in Indicto, et in aliis
quam plurimis, et videbamus et sentiebamus importunitatem (exigebat enim loci angustia ut
mulieres super capita virorum, tamquam super pavimentum, ad altare dolore multo et clamoso
tumultu currerent), ad augmentandum et amplificandum nobile manuque divina consecratum
monasterium, virorum sapientium consilio, religiosorum multorum precibus, ne Deo sanctisque
Martyribus displicerat, adjutus, hoc ipsum incipere aggrediebar. . . . Accessimus igitur ad
priorem val varum introitum et deponentes augmentum quoddam, quod a Karolo Magno factum
perhibebatur honesta satis occasione . . . ibidem manum apposuimus et quemadmodum ap-
paret, et in amplificatione corporis ecclesiae, et introitus et valvarum triplicatione, turrium al-
tarum et honestarum erectione instanter desudavimus. XXVII. Valvas siquidem principales,
accitis fusoribus et electis sculptoribus, in quibus passio Salvatoris et resurrectio vel ascensio
continetur, multis expensis, multo sumptu in earum deauratione, ut nobili porticui conveniebat,
ereximus. Necon et alias in dextera parte novas, in sinistra vero antiquas sub musivo, quod et
novum contra usum hie fieri et in arcu portae imprimi elaboravimus. Turrim etiam et supe-
riora frontis propugnacula, tam ad ecclesiae decorem quam et utilitatem si opportunitas exigeret,
variari condiximus; litteris etiam cupro deauratis consecrationis annum intitulari, ne oblivioni
traderetur praecepimus hoc modo:

Ad decus ecclesiae, quae fovit et extulit ilium,

Sugerius studuit ad decus ecclesiae.
Deque tuo tibi participans, martyr Dionysi,

Orat ut exores fore participem Paradisi.
Annus millenus et centenus quadragenus

Annus erat verbi, quando sacrata fuit.

XXVIII. Eodem vero anno, tam sancto et tam fausto opere exhilarati, ad inchoandam in supe-
riori parte divinae propitiation is cameram, in qua jugis et frequens redemptionis nostrae hostia
absque turbarum molestia secreto immolari debeat, acceleravimus. . . . Quod quidem glori-
osum opus quantum divina manus in talibus operosa protexerit, certum est etiam argumentum,
quod in tribus annis et tribus mensibus totum illud magnificum opus, et in inferiore cripta et
in superiore voltarum sublimitate, tot arcuum et columnarum distinctione variatum, etiam oper-
turae integrum supplementum admiserit. Unde etiam epitaphium • prioris consecrationis una
sola sublata dictione, hujus etiam annalem terminum concludit hoc modo:

Annus millenus et centenus quadragenus
Quartus erat Verbi quando sacrata fuit.

. . . Quo facto cum quorumdam persuasione ad turrim anterioris partis prosecutionem studium
nostrum contulissemus, jam in altera parte peracta, divina, sicut credimus, voluntas ad hoc
ipsum nos retraxit, ut mediam ecclesiae testitudinem, quam dicunt navim, innovare et utrique
innovato operi conformare et coaequare aggrederemur; reservata tamen quantacumque portione
de parietibus antiquis, quibis summus pontifex Dominus Jesus Christus testimonio antiquorum
scriptorum manum apposuerat, ut et antiquae consecrationis reverentia, et moderno operi juxta
tenorem coeptum congrua cohaerentia servaretur. . . . XXXIV. Chorum etiam fratrum,

199

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

Suger, there survive only the facade and the ambulatory, — the latter contains the
earliest known example of broken rib vaults, — the remainder of the edifice having
been destroyed when the upper portions of the choir and the nave were rebuilt c. 1231.
This reconstruction of the XIII century, if it is responsible for the loss of the price-
less work of Suger. has si ill left vis one of the sublime masterworks of Gothic art. The
glazed triforium is perhaps the earliest extant example of such a construction; the
beautiful window tracery is almost rayonnanl in style; all the details are of exqui-
site perfection. The ancient north tower was torn down in 1843. (Von Bezold.)

SENS, Yonne. tglise Metropolitaine St. fitienne. (111. 168, 179, 1!)2.) The
documentary evidence for the date of this cathedral is slight. It is known that in
1124 the archbishop Henri-le-Sanglier commenced a reconstruction of the edifice;1
that the nave must have been tenantable in 1140, since the council which condemned
Abelard here met; that in 1163 the pope Alexander III consecrated the altar;2 and
that in 11S4 the city was ravaged by a fire, which, however, there is no particular
reason to suppose damaged the cathedral. From this scanty information it would
be natural to conclude that the rebuilding begun in 1124 was far advanced by 1140,
and finished about 1163; but a passage in Gallia Christiana3 flatly contradicts this,
stating that works were begun in 1140. Internal evidence strongly supports the
latter authority, for the lower portions of the monument are clearly about contem-
porary with St. Denis, as has been recognized by Viollet-le-Duc, M. Lefevre-Pontalis,
Herr von Bezold, and many other archaeologists. The vaults, the clearstory, and the
western facade, however, seem to have been reconstructed later, about the middle of
the XIII century, doubtless in consequence of a fire, some traces of which are still
visible. The original edifice consisted of a nave, two side aisles, a choir, a chevet,
an ambulatory, and a single eastern lady chapel — the last a distinctly Burgundian
feature. Whether transepts existed in the XII century is doubtful. On the one
hand the existing transepts, flamboyant in style, are doubtless of the XV century,
furthermore, according to M. Vaudin-Bataille,4 excavations of 1SG6 brought to light
the foundations of an intermediate pier placed upon their axis — a fact which would
seem to prove that the present transepts replace a double bay of the original nave.
This evidence is supported by the design of the piers of the crossing, which is
identical with that of the regular alternate piers. On the other hand, if this view
is accepted, a difficulty arises in regard to the transeptal chapels, one of which (the
northern) dates from the XIII century, since it is not clear how these could have been
adjusted to a plan without transepts. The system of the nave is alternate throughout,
the heavy supports consisting of piers with five continuous shafts, the intermediate

quo valde gravabantur, qui assidue ecclesiae insistcbant servitib, frigiditate marmoris et cupri
aliquantis per infirmum, in hanc quae nunc apparel formam, laborihus eorum compatientes,
mutavimus, et propter conventus augmentationem, Deo auxiliante, augmentare elaboravimus.
— Sugerii, De Rebus in sua Administratione gestis XXV-XXXIY, passim.

1 Henrieus incipit renovare ecclesiam sancti Stcphani. — Chronique de Clarius, wrongly
entitled Chronvjuc d'Odoranne, MS. in the Bibliothcque Richelieu, eit. Vaudin-Bataille, Cath.
de Sens, p. 2.

2 Ibid., eit. Vaudin-Bataille, p. I.

3 XII, 47. * Cath. de Sens, p. 11.

200

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

supports, of columns coupled in the longitudinal sense, carrying a single shaft upon
their abaci. The vaults are sexpartite; the stilted wall rib is furnished with a double
set of capitals. In the chevet, where difficulties arose in raising the vault in the XIII
century, the wall rib has as many as three sets of capitals, and is strangely distorted.
Most interesting are the vaults of the ambulatory; the ribs are broken, as at St. Denis,
but the execution is far more crude; on the outside wall no provision is made to carry
the diagonal ribs, which rest on corbels placed just above the main capitals; the
wall ribs have a segmental form, their capitals being placed lower than those of the
transverse ribs. All the aisle vaults are highly domed. In the western portions of
the church, the details — capitals, etc., — added in the reconstruction of the XIII
century, are of remarkable delicacy and beauty, even for Gothic work. The flying
buttresses of this cathedral are somewhat puzzling: obviously, they cannot be as early
as 1140, nor do they seem sufficiently advanced in style to belong to the reconstruc-
tion of the XIII century. Since, however, they were copied at Canterbury in 1174,
it is reasonable to suppose they were erected shortly before that time, perhaps c. 1160.
(Vaudin-Bataille.)

NOYON, Oise. Eglise Cathedrale Notre Dame. (111. 176, 180, 204, 210, 211,
252.) The cathedral of Noyon was burned in 1131, as is known from two ancient
sources. The first, a passage in the "Chronicle of Sigebert" written by a monk of
Ourscamp in the second half of the XII century, records that "the episcopal church
of St. Mary was burned in 1131 with nearly all the city of Noyon; — a deserved mis-
fortune, it is said, because many of the inhabitants had derided Pope Innocent with
mocking words."1 The second source is two letters written by Innocent II on the
27th of June, 1131, one to Henri, archbishop of Sens, and the other to Hugh, arch-
bishop of Rouen, urging these prelates to come to the aid of Simon of Verman-
dois, bishop of Noyon, and send him funds to raise from its ruins his cathedral church.
I translate the most important passage of the first letter: "What recently occurred
at Noyon for the purging of sin, when the episcopal and mother church, together
with the episcopal palace was burned with fire, we believe is not unknown to you.
Since, therefore, in so great a calamity we ought to sympathize and to minister aid
with a brotherly sense of pity, in the name of God, we exhort you and your diocese,
and we enjoin upon you for the remission of your sins, that you send aid to the said
church from the resources granted you by God, that the same may be repaired for
the honor and the service of Christ." 2 Thus there can be no question that the church

1 An. dni. 1131. Ecclesia pene sancte Marie in epio totaq. pene ciuitas Novioniensis in-
cendio coflagrauit iusto (ut fert) infortunio; quia summu pontifice Innocentlu verbjs irrisorijs
multi illofu exhonorauerunt. — Sigeb., Chron., 116, cit. Inkersley.

2 Certerum quid apud Novionum peccatis exigentibus nuper contigerit quomodo episco-
palis et mater ecclesia cum domibus episcopalibus, incendio sunt crematae, delictionem vestram
credimus non latere. Quia igitur tante calamitati misericorditer compati et pietatis affectu fra-
tema suffragia ministrare debemus, universitatem vestram per presentia scripta exhortamur
in Domino atque in remissionem peccatorum injungimus, ut ad praefatam ecclesiam ad honorem
et servitium Domini reparandum de facultatibus vobis a Deo collatis solatia transmittatis. — ■
Arch, de l'Oise, G. 1984, fol. 54 vo. cit. Lefevre-Pontalis, Hist, de la Cath. de Noyon, p. 16. See
for the second letter Le Vasseur, Annates de V Eglise cathedrale de Noyon, p. 852.

201

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

was destroyed in 1131. It is, however, by no means so clear that the reconstruction
was immediately begun, for the choir does not seem to have been consecrated until
1157 — at least the relics were brought back into the church at this date1 — and, to
judge from the style, no considerable part of the existing edifice can be earlier than
c. 1150. Was the cathedral destroyed a second time in 1152 by the fire which rav-
aged the city in that year?2 M. St. Paul thinks that such an hypothesis is unneces-
sary: he believes that the choir was begun about 1135: that works were energetically
carried forward so that the eastern portions of the edifice were finished c. 1140; but
that meanwhile a more ambitious plan of rebuilding had been determined upon: and
that this necessitated the reconstruction of the entire chevet c. 1150. He finds "nota-
ble fragments" of the earlier choir still existing; — "fragments of a very advanced
Romanesque style which could not be earlier than the fire [of 1131]." At all events,
aside from this scanty debris of an earlier construction, whatever it may have been,
the existing chevet is unquestionably a work from c. 1150-57. To judge from in-
ternal evidence the southern and then the northern transept must have been next
attacked, the latter, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, being completed c. 1170. The
two eastern bays of the nave, which were doubltess constructed immediately after-
wards, M. Lefevre-Pontalis is doubtless correct in assigning to c. 1174. Since there
is a marked difference of style between the second bay and the western portions
of the nave, it is reasonable to believe that works were interrupted at this point until
about 1180. After this date, however, they must have been pushed with vigor, for
a charter of 1185 3 records that the bishop made an elaborate contract for having the
church cleaned from pavement to vault. Yet the westernmost bay of the nave, the
porch, and the great southern tower were completed only in 1221, although even in
these constructions of the XIII century, the round arch was retained in the galleries
and lower parts. In 1240 the chapter-house and cloister were begun. Towards
the end of the XIII century a great disaster befell the church: "In the year of the
incarnation of the Lord 1293 in the month of July and on Monday the 20th day of
the month at four o'clock in the morning there began a fire in the town of Noyon,
and from the said morning until the afternoon of the following Tuesday, the church
of Notre Dame of Noyon and the other churches and whatever was within the walls
of the city all were burnt and reduced almost to ashes, except the house of the Tem-
plars and the little church of the apostle St. Peter."4 William of Naugis gives a
slightly different account of this fire: "In the month of July [1293] Noyon, a city of
Gaul, was entirely burned with fire except the abbeys of St. Eloi and St. Barthol-

1 Le Vasseur, up. cit., p. 815; Gallia Christiana X, Instru. col. 383.

- Lefevre-Pontalis, Hist, de la Cath. de Noyon, p. 22.

* Arch, de l'Oise, G. 1984, fol. 195 vo.

4 Anno incarnationis Domini M° CC° XC° IIP mense Julio, XIII Calendas Augusti,
feria secunda, in aurore coepit ignis in civitate Noviomensi, et a dicta aurora usque in meridiem
feriae tertiae sequentis, ecclesia Beatae Mariae Noviomensis et aliae ecclesiae et quidquid infra
niuros civitatis continebatur omnia combusta sunt et quasi in pulverem reducta, exceptis domi-
bus templariorum et excepta parvula ecclesia Beati Petri apostoli. — Mss. now lost but copied
by Le Vasseur, Annates de VEglise Cath. de Noyon, p. 841, and cited by Lefevre-Pontalis, Hist,
de la Cath. de Noyon.

202

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

omew." * However, a letter of Bonifice VIII, written in 129-1, proves that only a part
of the cathedral was burned, together with the cloister, the chapter-house, and the
furniture.2 The works of reparation necessitated by this fire were not finished until
1320: the vaults of the nave and of the transepts were rebuilt on a quadripartite plan;
the three portals were reconstructed; and the northern tower completed. In 1460
the flying buttresses of the choir were rebuilt in the Renaissance style. About the
same time the westernmost piers of the choir were made over; the old sexpartite,
was replaced by the present quadripartite, vault; and the profiles of many of the aisle
responds were altered. Noyon, as originally constructed, was entirely covered with
sexpartite vaults resting on an alternate system. Three shafts are engaged on each
pier: in the intermediate supports these shafts are supported on the abaci of the
capitals; in the alternate, they rise from the ground. In the nave a lofty gallery is
surmounted by a triforium and a clearstory; but in the transepts (which have no
side aisles) these dispositions are reversed, a low passageway in the thickness of the
wall being surmounted by lofty windows. Most remarkable are the semicircular
apses in which the transepts terminate — a motive of great charm borrowed perhaps
from Germany. The ribs of the ambulatory vault are broken. Although the fly-
ing buttresses of the nave have unfortunately been rebuilt and those of the chevet
replaced by the present Renaissance constructions, the ancient struts reinforcing the
gallery vaults of the choir survive, and offer one of the earliest extant examples of
fully developed flying buttresses. Of great originality and beauty are the western
transepts and the bold exterior narthex so characteristic of this cathedral. Indeed,
were the sexpartite vaults still intact, and the windows glowing with stained glass
Noyon would be esthetically one of the most satisfactory achievements of transitional
architecture. If it misses the grandeur of Paris, and the soaring majesty of Amiens,
it still possesses a fairy-like delicacy of design, a daintiness that is unequaled. The
exquisite capitals crowning the slender monoliths in the intermediate piers; the per-
fect proportions; the logical adjustment of the system to the vault (as originally
planned) — all proclaim that at last the time of experiment is over, and the era of
triumph for Gothic architecture begun. A delightful refinement of design occurs
in the western bays of the nave, where the intermediate pier is raised on a base higher
than the alternate piers. Similarly the arches of the main arcade are given an
almost Saracenic grace and lightness by bending out their archivolts into a slightly
horseshoe form. It was a bold, but wholly successful, expedient to omit all
mouldings upon these archivolts. (Lefevre-Pontalis; Vitet.)

CHALONS-SUR-MARNE, Marne. Notre Dame. (111. 182, 242.) Our
documentary knowledge of this church is confined to two brief notices in Gallia Chris-
tiana: one states that a reconstruction was begun in 1157; 3 the other that the church

1 Mense Julio, Noviomum, Galliae civitas, tota igne conflagrata est, praeter sancti Eligii
et sancti Hartholomaei abbatias. — Edition Giraud, Soeiete de l'Histoire de France I, p. 283, cit.
Lefevre-Pontalis, Hist, de la Cath. de Noyon, p. 39.

2 Quod quadam pars Noviomensis ecclesiae cum claustro et capitulo ac ornamentis f uerat
casu miserabili coneremata. — cit. Lefevre-Pontalis, op. cit., p. 39.

3 Ecclesia Catalaumensis. Episcoporum series LVI. Boso. Anno vero 1167 reaedificata
est ecclesia beatae Mariae de Vallibus. — Gall. Chris. IX, col. 882.

203

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

was consecrated in 1183.1 However. Ilerr von Bezold holds thai Notre Dame is
not a homogeneous edifice, but that the choir originally ended in an apse which was
later replaced by the present ambulatory, — an hypothesis certainly justified by the
internal evidence. The vault of the ambulatory is most interesting: two columns
are placed before the radiating chapels in such a manner that the space between each
pair of main transverse ribs is divided into three parts by lesser transverse ribs run-
ning from the inner columns to these extra columns in the opening of the chapels.
The central space, which is square, is covered with a simple rib vault; the outer tri-
angular spaces are groin-vaulted. An analogous disposition occurs in the ambulatory
of St. Remi of Reims, the only difference being that the columns in the opening of
the chapels are placed at St. Remi on a line which is the continuation of the circle
of the outside wall of the ambulatory, while at Chalons they are placed on a straight
line drawn across the mouth of the chapel. That is, the plan of the ambulatory at
Chalons is conceived as being polygonal instead of circular, as at St. Remi. In con-
sequence the columns are necessarily placed further apart, the central rib-vaulted
compartment becomes more perfectly rectangular, the central arch opening into the
chapel becomes unmistakably wider than the two which flank it, and the double
curvature of the wall ribs is avoided. The nave of Notre Dame consists of two dis-
tinct strata of construction. To the oldest belong the transept ends, a window in
the south aisle, the towers, and the main arcades up to the triforium level except the
pointed arches and their archi volts, which have been rebuilt. This church dating
perhaps from c. 1145 was characterized by two side aisles covered with wood or pos-
sibly with groin vaults, a timber-roofed nave, piers alternately heavy and light, and
shafts, one engaged on every support. At present these shafts have puzzling capitals
which are placed just above the level of the triforium string, and which seem to
belong to the original construction. Above rises the building of 1157-83 — a high
gallery (retaining parts of the old construction), a triforium, a clearstory, and quadri-
partite vaults without wall ribs resting upon a system of three shafts. The clearstory,
consisting of coupled lancets, forms a single composition with the triforium as at
St. Remi; the triforium is lighted by groups of three lancets. Sexpartite vaults sur-
mount the transepts, the intermediate transverse arch resting on a corbel. Externally,
the apse is flanked by two towers which, like those of the west facade, belong to the
earlier building. The single flying buttresses are similar to those of St. Remi, but
perhaps a little less clumsy. Unlike St. Remi, however, the central lancet of the
triforium gallery does not break through the cornice. The northwestern spire is
modern. (Von Bezold.)

St. Alpine, constructed originally, it is said, in 1136, was rebuill in the last half
of the XII century, on a design which closely imitates that of Notre Dame. The
system is alternate, and only the heavier piers were originally supplied with vaulting
shafts.2 The clearstory with its small windows is very low, but the capitals of the

1 Ecclesia Catalaumensis. LVH. Guido III d<> Joinville. Anno lis:! benedixil eccle-
siam beatae Mariae in Vallibus. Ibid., cit. Inkersley.

2 At Notre Dame the capitals of the shafts engaged on the intermediate piers have been in
every ease made over, while the alternate ones are in every case original. This fact would seem

204

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

shafts are placed far below it. Moreover these shafts, being engaged only on the
alternate piers, are very far apart, and hence were probably intended to support only
transverse arches, although the present vault springs from the same level. Altogether
this church so little known throws most interesting light not only upon the neighbor-
ing church of Notre Dame, but upon the entire transitional movement.

St. Jean, with the exception of the Romanesque nave, the chapel of the XV cen-
tury and the tower of the XVI century, is said to date from the XII and XIV centuries.

Monuments of the Second Class

ST. LEU D'ESSERENT, Oise. Abbaye belonged to the monks of Cluny.
There is no documentary evidence for the date of the church, which, however, must
have been erected in the last half of the XII century. The oldest portion is un-
doubtedly the narthex between the two western towers, only one of which has ever
been finished. Since the transverse ribs of this porch are loaded to raise the surface
of the vaults, and give them a more acutely pointed form — a strange expedient,
which finds, I believe, analogy only at Bury — this part of the edifice must be
assigned to c. 1150. The choir comes next in point of age, and doubtless dates from
c. 1180; it is supplied with an ambulatory — apparently about contemporary — and
is flanked by two towers, both, unlike the western tower, without spire. The chevet
is vaulted with a radiating rib vault of the type used at Noyon. To the westward of
the chevet is a bay characterized by very heavy piers, which support two lateral towers.
This bay is covered with a quadripartite vault, but the following two bays are united
under a single sexpartite vault. Here ends the choir; as at Mantes, Sens, and
Senlis there are no transepts. The nave consists of six bays covered with quadripar-
tite rib vaults; it is evidently later (c. 1205) than the choir, for the clearstory windows
are filled with plate tracery, while those of the choir are lancets. The general design
of the interior is notable for the absence of a triforium — an omission the more
remarkable that there is a well-developed gallery. Externally the flying buttresses,
although placed too low to secure the greatest efficiency, are supplied with double
struts throughout. In the choir they have no gables, but in the nave this feature is
added. (Woillez; Von Bezold.)

SENLIS, Oise. Eglise Cathedrale (111. 181, 189) is said to have been erected
slowly between the years 1155 and 1191.1 Although the edifice was entirely recon-
structed above the triforium level and a bay of the nave was torn down to make room
for transepts — which did not exist in the original edifice — when the vaults were
raised in the flamboyant period, the primitive dispositions may still be made out.
Since the system was alternate, — the heavier supports were piers, the lighter columns
— the vaults must have been sexpartite. The intermediate system consisted of three
shafts carried on the abaci of the capitals ; the five shafts of the alternate system were
continuous. It is certain that there was a high gallery; but whether or not a tri-
forium existed above this is doubtful. Externally the southwestern spire is one of

significant, but after a careful examination on the spot I failed to detect any indication of a break
in the masonry such as to warrant the assertion that the intermediate piers had originally no shafts.
1 Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel., p. 88, citing Gallia Christiana X, Instrumenta, col. 224.

205

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

the supreme achievements of Gothic architecture, while the sculptures of the west
portal are of exquisite beauty. (Von He/old; Moore, \H.)

REIMS, Marne. St. Remi. (111. 1815.) Airard commenced to rebuild the
abbey church of St. Remi in 100.5. "Therefore he summoned men who were said
to be skilled in architecture and he commenced to lay in dressed blocks the founda-
tions of the future temple. This church was a more grandiose and ambitious con-
struction than any which is recorded as ever having been attempted in the kingdom
of Gaul, and consequently for Airard and the men of his time impossible of execu-
tion. Thus when, after he had administered for nearly twenty-eight years his pas-
toral oflice, he was overtaken by old age and died [1033], he left unfinished the work
which he had begun." : But his successor, Thierry, "who purposed to accomplish
as many projects as possible for the good of his monastery, took thought of the re-
construction of the church, which his predecessor [Airard] had begun, how he might
place upon it the hand of completion. But, since the work had been commenced
in too difficult and impracticable manner, and since in his own judgment (when he
debated whether he should finish what had been undertaken) it seemed better to
abandon what had already been constructed by Airard, therefore he followed the
advice of those who were accounted wiser among his own monks and of the elders
of the diocese of Reims, and reluctantly proceeded to destroy the work which had
been begun. This, accordingly, he tore down almost entirely, leaving only certain
foundations which it seemed to the architects could be advantageously used for the
new building; and he began to rebuild the house of God on a plan less pretentious
it is true, but not without dignity as the church itself bears witness to those who have
seen it. And this reconstruction was happily begun in the fifth year of his office [1038].
. . . Several of the kindly family of the Church promptly came to the aid of the
abbot, and furnished his carts and oxen with loads worthy for so great work as had
been begun; and thus the foundations were placed in those parts wdiere they did not
already exist, the columns taken from the construction of Airard were carefully set up,
above them the arches were diligently erected, and the building commenced to take
form beneath the hands of the workmen. Now when the [outside] walls of the side
aisle had been completed, and the clearstory of the inner temple [i.e., the nave] had
been raised above them, the old church, dedicated in ancient times (it is said) by the
archbishop Hincmar, was torn clown to the ground, and a mean temporary cover-
ing was erected over the choir of the brothers, that they might chant the praises of
God free from the disturbance of wind and rain. And over the tomb of St. Remi
was built a crypt, small indeed and all unworthy of the holy body, but still beautiful
and supported on columns and arches. . . . Subsequently [1041] Thierry died and
Ileritnar was elected by the almost unanimous voice of all the brothers to succeed
him: and Herimar was ordained by the worthy Wido, archbishop of Reims. The new

1 Quapropter viris qui architecturae periti ferebantur ascitis, futuri templi fahrieam ex
quadris lapidibus erigere coepit a fundamentis, multo quidem operosiorem illis, quas praeno-
tatuin est in Gallico rc<;ii() renovatas, et ambitiosiorem : ideoque sibi et illius aevi hominibus
ineonsummabilem. Nam ubi per viginti ei octo fere annos pastorale officium administravit,
senio confectus, co< ptoque cperi finein non imponens vita decessit. — Anselmi, Itin. /.coins IX.

206

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

abbot did not suffer the memorable work begun by his predecessor to remain long
interrupted, but he resumed the construction of the right transept, which had already
been considerably advanced, and then attacked the left transept, of which up to this
time only the foundations and a stairway leading to the upper stories had been erected.
Moreover he caused the crypt which (as has been told above) had been built over
the tomb of St. Remi and which by its small size seemed out of keeping with the lof-
tier work, to be torn down, and he caused another more worthy to be built. Finally
timber was brought from the wood near the monastery of Orbais, the roof of the temple
was erected, and thus the entire building appeared most seemly in all its parts." *
The consecration was celebrated with much pomp in 1049, as Anselm goes on to de-
scribe in detail. But a misfortune soon overtook the monastery: "In the year 1098
and in the time of Burchard, the monastery of St. Remi was injured by fire, and was
restored in the year 1100 by Duke Guy, as the following inscription proves: — 'Be-
cause our new church, which had been consecrated not long before by Pope Leo,
was saved from the fire which burned a great part of our monastery in the year 1098,
and because the monastery was restored at the expense of Duke Guy, our abbot has
placed this statue of the Blessed Virgin in the chapel of the novices, in the year 1100.' "3

1 Qui [Theodoricus] quam plurima ecclesiasticae utilitati profutura decerneret disponere,
deliberavit reparationi ecelesiae suae quam suus praedecessor inceperat, manum perfections
imponere. Verum, quia grave nimis et inexplebile sibi illud erat incoeptum, deliberatio quoque
sua, si id inteuderet implere, videbatur non habitura effeetum, quoeirca eorum qui inter sibi
commissos prudentiores habebantur et seniorum Remensis provinciae consilio usus, diffieulter
aggressus est inchoatum diruere opus; quo poene diruto et fundamentis quibusdam relictis,
quae arcbitectis visa sunt necessaria fore futuris aedificiis, divinam domun coepit faciliori qui-
dam structura, sed non indecentiore construere ut aspectum adhibentibus facile est cernere.
Qua incoepta feliciter anno quinto suae ordinationis accensi sunt plures catholici. . . . Non-
nulli etiam de ecclesiastica familia suiun auxilium prompter impenderunt benevolentia, suis-
que plaustris et bobus tantis incoeptis competentia advexerunt onera; sicque fundamentis, in
quibus locis non erant, locatis, et columnis ex destructo priori aedificio competenter dispositis,
arcus super eas diligenter voluti consurgere, et basilicae fabrica inter manus artificum coepit
clarescere. Tunc jam vestibuloruni parietis undique erectis, et interioris templi fastigiis altius
elevatis, vetusta ecclesia ab Hincmaro arcliiepiscopo, ut dictum est, antiquitus dedicata, est
eversa funditus, et vilis interim tecti coopertoriolum fabricatum super chorum fratrum, ubi abs-
que inquietudine ventorum et pluviarum divinis possent vocare laudibus. Supra vero sepul-
chram B. Remigii crypta constructa est, licet parva, ideoque tota sancto corpori incongrua,
pulchre tamen, columnis et arcubus fulta. . . . Hie ergo [Herimarus] loco defuncti patris sub-
rogatus, fratrum poene omnium unanimi sententia, ordinatu memorati Widonis Remorum arehi-
praesulis, non diu passus est interruptum pendere memorabila coeptum sui antecessoris ; sed
primo quidem dextram basilicae crucem, maxima ex parte jam inchoatam, et sinistram, nihil
adhuc praeter fundamenta habentem, cum cocleis, quibus ad superiora esset ascensus, fecit
aedificari. Cryptam autem, quae super B. Remigii sepulchram constructa fuerat, quia ut supe-
rius relatum est, quae parvitate sua alterius open's incongrua videbatur, dirui et aliam ementiorem
fecit restitui. Deinde trabibus de saltu juxta Orbacis monasterium sito advectis, fastigia ejus-
dem consequuntur templi, sicque decentissima domus tota apparuit in partibus suis. — Anselmi
[fl. c. 1060], Itinerarium Leonis. Published in Bollandes, vol. October 1st, and cited by Poussin,
p. 105. A summary of this account is given by Mabillon, Annates Ordinis S. Benedicti, lib. LIX,
tome IV, p. 503.

2 Anno Ch. 1098. Burchardi tempore, et quidem hoc ipso anno, incendio deformatum fuit
S. Remigii monasterium, quod Guido Trimoliensis anno M C suis impensis instauravit, ut se-

207

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

From this it seems clear that the church was not seriously damaged in 1098, nor did
the building of 1049 undergo serious modification before the last half of the XII cen-
turv. Pierre de Celles, abbot from 1162-81, writing c. 1170, has left us some account
of the reconstruction which then took place: — "Wishing to build anew the choir of
our monastery, with the help of God we put our hand courageously to the work, and
we undertook to make our church, which had lacked a fitting chevet, noble in its head
a^ well as in its belly." * His successor, Simon, ordained in 1182 by William I, arch-
bishop of Reims, did much building, and freed his monastery from various burdens.
He died July -24th, 1198, and was buried in the nave of the church. The last verses
of his enigmatical epitaph run as follows: "he built the church, he ruled the monks,
he distributed what was to be given, he baptized the chosen, he earned salvation."2
A passage in Dom Marlot,3 however, makes it probable that Simon had nothing to
do with the reconstruction of the choir, which was doubtless completed before he
came to office, so that his building activities must have been confined to the two west-
ernmost bays of the nave. There is only one text bearing upon the later history of
the structure, and that is of a much later time: — "Robert of Lenoncourt . . . fin-
ished the south facade of St. Remi in 1500, and gave to that church silver vessels and
sacred utensils." 4 From this selection of the unusually numerous texts bearing upon
the history of St. Remi, it is evident that the edifice begun in 1005 was never finished
but torn down and recommenced on a more modest scale in 1038; that this building
was completed and consecrated in 1049; that the choir was rebuilt in 1170-81; and
that the south transept was rebuilt in 1500. On the internal evidence of the monu-
ment itself, it is equally evident that most of the facade, the two western bays of the
nave, and the nave vaults (now replaced by a wooden imitation) are about contem-
porary with the choir, and may be considered the work of Simon (1182-98). Thus

quens inscriptio docet: — "Anno Domini millesimo nonagesimo octavo, cum incendio consump-
tuni fuisset magna ex parte rnonasterium nostrum, ob servatam ecclesiam nostram novam, quae
nun niulto ante dedicata fuerat a domino papa Leone, et restauraturn rnonasterium sumptihus
ducis Guidonis, dominus abbas noster hane Deiparae virginis efrigiem in oratorio novitiorum
posuit anno millesimo centesimo." — Mabillon, Annates Ordinis S. Benedicti, lib. LXIX, tome
V, p. 397; Gall. Chris. IX, col. 227-234, cit. Inkersley.

1 Caput monasterii renovare volentes, cum Dei adjutorio manum ad fortia mittimus, no-
bilern ecclesiam nostram tarn in fronte quam in ventre, qui caput secundum se deerat, fabri-
candam suscepimus. — Pierre de Celles IX, Epis. 4. It seems to be on the basis of this passage
that the authors of Gallia Christiana have founded the account which may l>e found in Vol. IX,
col. 23 of that work. One detail is however added : "he restored the exterior gables where are
the bells" — et jastigium exferius, ubi sunt campanilia, renovavit.

2 Syllabus Abbatum XXXIII. Simon, benedictus anno 1182 a Guillelmo I Archiepiscopo
et Cardinale, multa aedificavit, monasteriumque suum variis exeunt oneribus. Obiit IX Cal.
Aug. anno 1198 tumulatusque est in navi ecclesiae cum epitaphio cujus sunt ultimi versus:

Krcxit, rexit, dispersit, respersit, emit
Ecclesiam, monachos, danda, cavenda, Deum.

— Call. Chris., vol. IX, col. 236, cit. Inkersley.

3 II, 456, cit. Lefevre-Pontalis.

4 LXXX. Robertus III de Lenoncourt. . . . His adde quod frontem ecclesiae S. Remigii
ineridionalein complevit anno 1506, basilieamque illam tam vasis argenteis quam sacra supel-
lectile ditavit. — Gall. Chris. IX, col. 147, cit. Inkersley, 119.

508

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

St. Remi is a surely dated and important example of the style of three crucial periods
of architectural history: the Romanesque of the first half of the XI century, the tran-
sition, and the flamboyant style. Of the building begun in 1005 some traces remain;
notably the west side of the north transept is unquestionably part of this edifice, for
it is obviously more primitive in style than the east side of the same transept, which
must have formed part of the reconstruction of 1038. The basilica projected in
1005 was intended to have double side aisles, very deep transepts, and a nave of the
same length as the present one. The interior design consisted of a series of rather
narrow bays, separated by enormously heavy columns. The archivolts both of the
main arcade and of the triforium gallery were of a single unmoulded order. The
capitals (most of which were never carved) were of a Corinthianesque type with
acanthus-leaves and volutes scratched on the surface. The reconstruction of 1036
made many changes, of which the most noticeable were the suppression of the outer
side aisles, the doubling of the archivolts, the replacing of the old columns by com-
pound piers, and the widening of the bays. The present subdivision of the gallery
openings is an addition of 1170; in 1049 there was doubtless a single unmoulded arch
of one order in each bay. The clearstory of Thierry was small, and the galleries,
like the nave, were roofed in wood. When the nave was covered with quadripartite
rib vaults in 1182-98, the present system was grafted on to the ancient Romanesque
structure. The peculiar design that at present characterizes the two western bays
of the nave is probably due to the fact that the space left between the last bay of the
work of 1049 and the towers (whose lower parts perhaps date from 1005) was wider
than a single bay of the nave, but not as wide as two. In the reconstruction of 1170,
therefore, the system of these bays was made sexpartite. Except for the omission of
the wall rib, this is logically carried out. For the rest, the design is similar to
that of the choir except that the double clearstory which characterizes the rest
of the nave is retained. The choir is one of the loveliest examples of transitional
architecture. Of the double aisles of the ambulatory, only the inner one is carried
around the chevet. The ambulatory vaults are like those of Notre Dame of Chalons-
sur-Marne (p. 203), save that the plan of the chevet is circular instead of polygonal;
each bay is divided into three compartments, one rectangular, two triangular, by col-
umns placed in the openings of the radiating chapels. The design of the main choir
is in four stories, but the predominance of horizontal lines is avoided by combining
the lofty gallery and the triforium with the three lancets of the clearstory by means
of continuous mouldings. Five shafts rising from the abaci of the capitals support
the quadripartite vaults. The flying buttresses are primitive in style, but M. Lefevre-
Pontalis believes that they must be later than the original structure in as much as they
cut across certain string-courses. This proof seems conclusive; yet since the but-
tresses are obviously primitive in style, and since it is difficult to understand how the
vaults could have stood for even a few years without some such abutment, these fea-
tures must have been added soon after 1181. A peculiarity of the exterior decora-
tion of this church is the fluting of the columns. (Poussin; Bazin.)

St. Jacques is said to date from 1183, except the choir which is a construction
of 1548. (Guide Joanne.)

209

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

BELLEFONTAINE, Oise. Prieure is of great importance as the sole monu-
ment of the first half of the XII century in the diocese of Soissons, for which there is
documentary evidence of date. "For we grant permission to the same brothers to
build there [at Bellefontaine] a chapel. . . . Done in the year of the incarnation of
the Lord 1125, the third indiction, in the reign of Louis [VI], king of the Franks."1
M. Lefevre-Pontalis assumes that the building which this charter authorizes was com-
menced immediately and completed by 1130 — an hypothesis which has been warmly
attacked by M. Enlart who assigns the construction to 1145 or even later. On the
whole, however, I incline to accept the date maintained by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, for
the stvle of the building, while certainly advanced, does not appear to me to be later
than c. 1130. The church is desecrated and much ruined, but the plan and the orig-
inal dispositions can still be made out. There is a nave flanked by two side aisles,
which are continued along the sides of the square choir. The nave, two bays long,
is covered with a single rib vault erected on a square plan. The profile of the ribs
consists of three tori. Pointed arches are largely employed in the vaults, which have
no wall ribs, and in the easternmost bays of the side aisles no ribs at all. The arches
are all heavily stilted. The archivolts of the main arcade are pointed and fully
moulded; the intermediate piers of the nave are severely simple rectangles unrelieved
save for the moulded corners; the system is logical and continuous except that the
nave vault is carried on corbels. Rich mouldings ornament the round-headed win-
dows. The buttresses are very salient, and those of the choir have several ressauts.
The choir vault, which is similar to that of the nave, is still intact. (Lefevre-Pon-
talis II, 4.)

ST. GERMER, Oise. Abbaye. (111. 173, 177.) There is no documentary
evidence for the date of this church. The choir and the transepts which are evidently
the most ancient portions of the existing edifice have been assigned to 1132 by Ver-
neilh and Von Bezold, to "shortly after 1130" by Mr. Moore, to 1140 by M. Le-
fevre-Pontalis, and to 1160 by M. St. Paul. The building, begun at the east end,
was evidently erected very slowly, and the vaults of the westernmost bays of the nave
have never been finished, being at present replaced by an imitation vault of wood.
A triforium gallery runs completely around the interior; it is vaulted with groin vaults
resting on semicircular transverse ribs. These ribs are surmounted by concealed
flying buttresses. The logical and continuous system includes five shafts in the
rectangular portions of the edifice, three in the chevet. The ambulatory vaults, which
are slightly domed, are provided with a complete set of ribs; the diagonals are curved
in plan. The chevet vault is characterized by stilted wall ribs. The decoration con-
sists of double arched corbel-tables, chevrons (applied to ribs), dog-tooth mouldings,
etc. The "Sainte Chapelle" or lady chapel was rebuilt between 1259 and 1272,2
and is a veritable masterpiece of rayonnant architecture, comparable to the Ste. Chap-
elles of Paris, Valenciennes, or the destroyed chapel of Bourges. The capitals are

1 Concedimus ctiarn eisdeni fratribus ut ibidem oratorium liceat sibi construere [Hellefon-
tana] . . . Actum incarnationis dominici anno MCXXV indictione III regnante Francorum
rege Ludovico. — Archives de l'Oise, H. 459, printed by Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 4.

2 Louvet, p. 34; GaU. Chris., vol. IX, col. 794, cit. Inkersley, 90.

210

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

highly naturalistic; the wall spaces are eliminated; the entire design shows a wealth
and beauty of detail it would be difficult to equal. Fine glass of the XIII century
survives in certain of the windows.

BEAUVAIS, Oise. St. Etienne. (111. 162, 213.) "Of the primitive edifice
only portions of the nave remain, and, although this nave was several times remod-
eled in the XII century, the character of the original design is clearly traceable. The
system is uniform, and the vault compartments are oblong in both nave and aisles.
The easternmost bay of the nave is of the primitive construction up to the clearstory
level, while the piers throughout, together with the lower archivolts, also retain their
original form, though they must have been repaired in spots. The original vaulting
of the nave must have been destroyed in the XII century, while the existing vaults
were apparently constructed after a fire from which the building suffered in 1180.1
We are not, however, left in doubt concerning the character of the original vaulting;
for the composition of the piers and the existing vaulting of the aisles show plainly
what it must have been. Each pier has a pilaster with a central engaged shaft on
its face, and a smaller shaft on either side. These members rise from the pavement,
and that they belong to the original design is shown by the homogeneous character
of the bases on which they rest and to which they are perfectly adjusted and by their
correspondence with the unaltered work on the aisle side. It is further shown by
the high vaulting capitals still in place in the unaltered eastern bay. These capitals
are like those of the primitive aisle vaulting and are of a less advanced type than
those which belong to the remodeled parts of the edifice."2 The transverse arches
of the aisles are highly stilted. The present triforium seems to have been added
about the middle of the XII century; since the string-courses are awkwardly arched
over it,3 it could not have belonged to the original building. Externally, the decora-
tion of the north transept end with its wheel of fortune and reticulated work recalling
Carolingian tradition is peculiar; so also are the double arched corbel-tables and the
buttresses ending in shafts. The facade is characterized by a Renaissance tower, a
XII century portal, and a superbly sculptured Gothic doorway. The choir with
its double flying buttresses and high clearstory is a turgid example of the style of the
XVI century. Renaissance tracery fills the clearstory windows. The original con-
struction may be assigned to c. 1130. (Moore; Von Bezold; Johnson.)

St. Gilles. Some fragments of the richly carved portal of the XII century sur-
vive. (Barrand.)

La Madeleine, now part of the Ecole des Freres, is said to be of the XI and XII
centuries. (Guide Joanne.)

PONTOISE, Seine-et-Oise. St. Maclov. (111. 166.) The original edifice

1 Von Bezold gives a different account: "Ob die Gewolbe des Mittelschiffes schon ini XII
Jahrhundert ausgefiihrt war ist fraglich. Die bestehenden sind friihstens aus XV.

2 Moore, Gothic Arch., p. 52. This is the best description that has yet appeared of a mon-
ument full of archaeological difficulties. I made a trip to Beauvais in the summer of 1905 with
the especial purpose of making a careful study of St. Etienne only to find the nave completely
blocked up by scaffolding. By this time doubtless restoration has added to the other difficulties
which this monument presents.

3 Op. cit., p. 105.

211

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

must have been erected after 1140 — the earliest date allowable by the style of the
architecture — and before 1165, when a cure of this parish is mentioned in docu-
mentary sources. That this building, the nave included, was completely finished in
the XII century is proved by the debris of one of the original wall ribs still surviving
in the vaults of the present nave. In 1309, the tower, which formerly had stood over
the transept, was torn down, but the complete reconstruction of the monument was
not commenced until the middle of the XV century. The ancient facade was at this
time demolished and replaced by the present construction, which M. Lefevre-Pontalis
assigns to 1450-70. However, only the central part, together with the tower as far
as the base of its dome, date from this period; the small lateral portal can not be
earlier than the end of the XVI century. At the same time the reconstruction of the
Dave was undertaken, but lack of resources must have caused the work to be aban-
doned after only two bays had been completed. While operations were interrupted
in this direction, the attention of the builders was called to the vaults of the radiating
chapels of the chevet, which threatened ruin. It was found necessary to replace most
of the ancient ribs, ami advantage was taken of the presence of the workmen in this
part of the edifice to rebuild all the windows in the taste of the period. This restora-
tion was executed in 1477 as is recorded in an ancient contract still extant. In 1525
the reconstruction of the nave was resumed in the north side aisle; this reconstruc-
tion continued throughout the XVI century and ended only when the interesting
three-aisled nave of the XII century had disappeared entirely in the present five-
aisled structure — an exquisite example of the style of the early Renaissance. Con-
sequently the character of the original edifice may be best studied in the ambulatory.
This is semicircular (the choir is not prolonged) and supplied with five radiating
chapels, each of which, together with the corresponding bay of the ambulatory, is
covered with a single rib vault. The diagonals are not curved in plan nor broken;
but an extra rib, running from the keystone to the center of the outside wall of the
chapel, divides the vaulting surface into spaces approximately equal. The round
arch is retained in the wall ribs. The upper vault of the chevet and the clearstory
windows were rebuilt at the end of the XV century. (Lefevre-Pontalis; Von Bezold;
Moore.)

POISSV, Seine-et-( )ise. St. Louis consists of a nave, two side aisles, two orien-
tated absidioles opening on the false transepts and taking the place of radiating
chapels, a choir prolonged slightly beyond the semicircle, an ambulatory of five bays,
and a lady chapel of horse-shoe plan. There are no pointed arches; the three eastern
bays of the nave are covered with rib vaults,1 but the ambulatory (which suffered
severely in the restoration of Viollet-le-Duc) is groin-vaulted. The wall arches of the
ambulatory vault are sprung from a lower level than the transverse ribs, and are
much depressed, while the arches of the main arcade are stilted; in spite of this,
however, the vault surface rises sharply towards the outer edge. In the easternmost
two bays of the nave the ribs are carried on shafts rising from the pavement, but in
the third they rest on corbels at the impost level. The triforium, like other parts

1 These are the only original vaults of the nave that remain. Von Bezold questions whether
also these may not have been renewed.

212

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

of the church, was much altered about the end of the XII century. On the style of
the sculpture — which is advanced in character and skilfully executed, — the monu-
ment may be assigned to c. 1140. (St. Paul; Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel., 84; Von
Bezold; Moore, Goth. Arch., 85.)

AIRAINES, Somme. Notre Dame. The charter authorizing the construc-
tion of this church is still extant.1 This, unfortunately, is not dated, but, since it is
known that the prior Thibaut who signed it was in office from 1108 to 1119, the build-
ing may have been begun at any time after 1108. However, the style of those por-
tions of the original edifice which survive — the choir is modern, the transepts and
the vaults of the southern side aisle and of the western bay of the nave, flamboyant
— while undoubtedly that of the first third of the XII century, must be con-
siderably later than 1108. The northern side aisle is covered with groin vaults
erected on the Roman principle with level ridges; the nave, except the western bay
which is supplied with a flamboyant multiple rib vault, is covered with highly domed
pointed rib vaults without wall ribs. In the nave the bays are square in plan; in the
aisles they are oblong longitudinally. The system of the nave is logical and continu-
ous; the archivolts are unmoulded and of a single order; there is a clearstory but
no triforium. The exterior is characterized by the absence of buttresses, by round-
headed windows, and by a facade with a continuous gable. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 51.)

PARIS, Seine. St. Germain-des-Pres. (111. 185.) The documentary evidence
bearing upon the history of the construction of this abbey is confined to one text and
several others evidently derived from it: "In the year of the incarnation of the Lord
1163 Pope Alexander III came to the city of Paris and remained some time; and
while he was sojourning there, I, Hugh III, abbot of St. Germain of Paris, went to
him and humbly begged him, that, inasmuch as the church of St. Germain had been
repaired in a new fashion, but was not yet consecrated, that he should deign to honor
it with the dignity of a dedication. And that very reverend Pope, Alexander, gra-
ciously granted our prayers, and, on the twenty-first of April, he came to the said
church . . . and dedicated it with the greatest pomp, as was fitting. I, Hugh IJI,
abbot of St. Germain-des-Pres, testify that this consecration so took place on my
initiative; and therefore I have committed these things to writing to certify this to
men who live now and to those who shall come hereafter. And I have hereto set
my seal." The date of this single consecration is not, however, of as much help in

1 Published by Dom Martin Marrier in his Histoire de St. Martin-des-Champs.

2 Anno ab incarnation! Domini MCLXIII Alexander P. P. Ill Parisiensem civitatem in-
gressus per aliquot tenipus moras fecit; dumque in eadera urbe moraretur, ego, Hugo III abbas
Saneti Germani Parisiensis, aceedens ad ejus praesentiam humiliter exoravi eum, quatenus
ecclesiam Beati Germani novo sehemati reparatam, quia need urn eonsecrata erat, dignitate
consecrationis insignire dignaretur. At idem reverendissimus P. Alexander precibus nostris
gratenter anuens, XI Calendas Maii ad praedictam ecclesiam venit . . . et earn honorificentis-
sime, prout decebat, dedicavit. Ego, Hugo abbas Saneti Germani de pratis tertius, testificor
hanc consecrationem meo instinetu sic peractam fuisse, et ideo ad eertitudem praesentium et
futurorum eadem scripto commendavi et sigillo meo corroboravi. — Historia Ecclesiae Paris-
iensis, auctore Gerardo Dubois, lib XIII, cap. IV, p. 129, cit. Inkersley; Cf. also Disertation
of Dom Ruinart, in the Receuil des Historiens des Gaules II, p. 724; Gallia Christiana VII, col
439.

213

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

the study of the edifice as might be supposed, for the monument contains no less than
three strata of construction all evidently executed in the XI and XII centuries. To
the earliest of these belong the base of the western tower and its porch. The nave
and the transepts, together with an apse which has disappeared, appear somewhat
later, but still are clearly earlier than 11 G.'J. The nave is not exactly alligned with
the axis of the western tower; its arches have a toric profile; several of its capitals
show remarkable delicacy of execution; its square rudimentary piers are supplied
each with four engaged columns. The choir (somewhat greater than a semicircle
in plan) and the ambulatory form the third strata of construction, and are certainly
the parts which were finished in 1163. This choir contains one of the earliest ex-
amples of a triforium arcade, and it is remarkable that the latter is bound together
with the clearstory by continuous mouldings. Notwithstanding the deplorable res-
torations which have so gravely altered this part of the edifice, it is possible to recog-
nize that the uniform system of three shafts was originally supported on the abaci of
the columns, the wall rib being carried by a corbel. The exterior is notable for the
flying buttresses, one of the earliest examples of this feature. The towers which for-
merly flanked the apse exist no longer. (St. Paul; Von Bezold; Moore, Goth. Arch.,
98; Lenoir.)

St. Martin-des-Champs. (111. 172, 261, 262.) There is no documentary evi-
dence for the date of this important priory, but the lady chapel and the ambulatory
— the most interesting parts — are assigned to c. 1136 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis. The
chevet, whose plan is prolonged beyond the semicircle, is formed of seven arcades
opening upon the double ambulatory and its chapels. Unequal vaulting spaces in
this ambulatory are avoided by doubling the number of the outer supports, as at
Aachen, the resulting alternately triangular and rectangular spaces being covered
with groin vaults. The vault of the chevet, supported on eight radiating ribs, is per-
haps somewhat later, but the plan of the piers proves that it was foreseen from the
beginning. The domed apse of the lady chapel is divided into three gore-shaped cells
by ribs, and supplies a most important step in the evolution of the chevet vault. The
radiating chapels are divided each into two sections as at Pontoise. The nave of a
single aisle is covered with a timber roof; its windows are filled with rayonnant tra-
cery. (Von Bezold, 163; Moore, Goth. Arch., 70; Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel, 84;
St. Paul; Lenoir.)

St. Pierre de Montmartre. The monastery is said to have been founded in 1133,
but the church was consecrated only in 1147. The three aisles were originally roofed
in wood, and the three apses (there was no ambulatory) covered with half -domes.
At present the nave is supplied with vaults of the XV century; the side aisles are
still roofed in timber, but the central apse is crowned by a rib vault of the end of the
XII century. (St. Paul.)

St. Anbin. Debris belonging to this church may still be seen in the house bear-
ing the number 19, Rue des Lrsins. The monument is said to have been erected
about 1110 or 1120 by the arch-deacon, Etienne de Garlande; in 1123, at the time of
the death of bishop Gerbert, a priest was already in charge of the parish. The edi-
fice consisted of a nave three bays long and a half-domed apse. All the arches were

214

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

semicircular. One of the transverse arches which spans the single bay still intact
rests on capitals decorated with fine acanthus foliage. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch.
Rel., II, 84.)

LAON, Aisne, St. Martin. There is no documentary evidence for the date
of this church, which has been assigned to as early as 1140 by Vitet, though, as M.
Lefevre-Pontalis has clearly shown, it must belong to the second half of the XII cen-
tury, and, more precisely, may be assigned to c. 1165. The low choir and the facade
are of course additions of the XIV century. The edifice consists of a nave, two side
aisles, two towers flanking the nave to the westward of the transepts — an exceptional
disposition, — salient transepts with eastern absidioles, and a square choir. The
nave is very severe — the archivolts in two unmoulded orders rest upon simple im-
posts crowning the piers, for there are no capitals; the triforium is omitted; the clear-
story is pierced by a plain round-headed window in each bay, and is covered with
quadripartite rib vaults. There is no wall rib; the system is logical and continuous;
the capitals of the diagonal shafts are set square instead of being placed at an angle
— an awkward construction somewhat relieved, however, by the fact that the ribs are
stilted; the arches are all pointed. Externally, the nave is provided with flying but-
tresses, which I believe to belong to the original construction, although this has been
questioned. The facade, with its two turrets and deeply recessed rayonnant window,
is a fanciful and somewhat restless design of the later Gothic period.

St. Martin-au-Parvis. This little church, which consists of a nave of the XII
century, a choir and a triangular apse of the XIII century, still exists, though it
has been much modernized. (Marquiset.)

Chapelle des Templiers. Since it is known that the order of the Templars estab-
lished a commandery at Laon in 1134, we may follow M. Lefevre-Pontalis in assign-
ing this curious little structure to c. 1135. The chapel consists of an octagonal nave
covered with a cloistered vault, preceded by a rib-vaulted rectangular narthex and
followed by a groin-vaulted choir and a semicircular apse. The arches are round;
the buttresses end in shafts as at St. Etienne of Beauvais; and the cornice is formed
of a triangular shaped corbel-table.

ETAMPES, Seine-et-Oise. St. Martin consists of a nave four bays long, two
side aisles, non-projecting transepts, a semicircular chevet, an ambulatory, and three
radiating chapels. The upper portions of the chevet have been rebuilt, but the am-
bulatory, assigned to c. 1165 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is still intact. The rib vaults
of the nave have been replaced by modern wooden imitations, except in the two wes-
ternmost bays. These bays date from 1213, but the third and fourth bays and the
flying buttresses were erected in the third quarter of the XII century. The alternate
piers of the chevet carry single shafts supporting the vault whose wall ribs are not
stilted. In the ambulatory, on the other hand, there are no wall ribs at all. The
design of the nave is characterized by a gallery, the absence of a triforium, a clear-
story composed of lancet windows, and main arcades in two non-concentric orders.
(Lefevre-Pontalis; Johnson.)

Notre Dame. This church was covered with a wooden roof until Viollet-le-Duc
erected the existing vaults. M. Lefevre assigns the base of the tower to c. 1050,

215

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

the first story to about the same time, the second and third stories to c. 1075,
the fourth story to e. 1125, the fleche to c. 1130. The rectangular choir is as-
signed to c. 1170 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis.

St. Basile, an edifice rebuilt in 1497, it is said, retains a portal of the XII century.
The monument consists of a nave, two side aisles, a complete set of lateral chapels,
a central tower of the XIII century, and a rectangular choir. (Marquis.)

St. Gilles. The nave — except the modern vaults — and the central tower date
from the XII century: but the square choir, the side aisles, and the chapels, were
erected, it is said, in 1547. (Marquis, 245.)

Monuments of the Third Class

CAMBRONNE, Oise. Eglise. Among other benefits confirmed to the abbey
of St. Paul in a charter1 of Eudes III, bishop of Beauvais (1144-48), is specifically
mentioned the right of patronage over the church of Cambronne. This right,
Woillez conjectures, was probably given, as was then the custom, in return for new
constructions, financed by the monks, and this hypothesis is confirmed by the style
of certain portions of the existing church, which must date from about the middle
of the XII century. The only other documentary evidence bearing upon the his-
tory of the monument is a piece of parchment manuscript found in a corner of the
sacristy and published by Woillez: "In the year 1239 this temple was dedicated to St.
Stephen."2 This text must refer to the choir, which is Gothic in style. From
the internal evidence of the building itself it is evident that the outside wall
of the north aisle, the tower, and the transepts are the earliest portions of the
existing structure, and doubtless belong to the edifice of c. 1148. The upper
portions of the nave are even later than the choir, for the trace of the primitive
gable may till be seen on the wall of the tower. The existing structure consists
of a nave loftier than the choir, two side aisles, a central tower, non-projecting
transepts, and a choir four bays long ending in a square east end. Quadri-
partite rib vaults without wall ribs crown the nave, which is characterized by round
windows, elliptical arched corbel-tables, salient buttresses of several ressauts, a logi-
cal and continuous system, developed mouldings, and the absence of a triforium.
A fine spire crowns the octagonal tower, which is decorated with round and pointed
arches, shafted corners, rich mouldings, arched corbel-tables, etc. The system of
the choir is similar to that of Amiens except that there are two extra shafts to carry
the archivolt. The triforium and the clearstory (which is very low) are combined
into a single composition. (Woillez; Johnson; Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.
I, 22.)

AUVERS, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise (111. 174) was doubtless reconstructed soon
after it was presented by Louis VI to the abbey St. Vincent of Senlis (1131). Of

1 Printed by Louvet.

2 The text in full is as follows: Gregorio nono papa, metropolitano Henrico Rcmis,
Ludovico rege, Mathildis Alfonso sponso comitisse Boloniensis, presbiterio plebis Guerrico
Camberonensis, in festo saeri Bencdicti, mense decembri, anno milleno ducento quadrageno
uno subtracto fuit a pastore Roberto Belvaci hoc templum sancto Stephano didicatum.

216

MONUMENTS OF THE THIRD CLASS

this period there survive, however, only the little absidiole to the north of the choir
and the apse itself. The existing edifice consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts,
a Gothic central tower, a choir flanked by two absidioles, and a southern Lady Chapel
rebuilt in the early part of the XVI century. The nave, which is vaulted with quadri-
partite rib vaults, must date from the end of the XII century, for it is characterized
by a lancet clearstory, a continuous triforium, flying buttresses, and a system rising
from the abaci of the round piers. Auvers contains one of the earliest extant ex-
amples of a polygonal apse; this is vaulted with two ribs converging on the keystone
of the triumphal arch. The windows were enlarged and filled with tracery in the
rayonnant period. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rcl. I, 87; Arch, de la Com. des Mon.
Hist. I, 45.)

CREIL, Oise. St. Evremont. This desecrated and much ruined church, which
is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to a date "not earlier than 1140," is a homogeneous
edifice of the XII century that has suffered little from later alterations. A continu-
ous and logical system * supports the oblong quadripartite rib vaults, of which the
wall ribs are much stilted ; the abaci of the triforium capitals are continued as a string-
course to form the capitals of the vaulting shafts; the crowns of the vaulting arches
all rise to nearly the same level; under the aisle roofs are concealed flying buttresses.
To the eastward the church terminates in an apse of horseshoe form which opens
directly upon the nave, transepts being omitted. Externally the ponderous charac-
ter of Romanesque work survives, in strong contrast to the interior which possesses
all the essential members and dispositions of a Gothic design. The rich ornament
is remarkable for the absence of the chevron. (Moore, 101; Woillez, 37; Johnson.)

St. Medard, notable for the flamboyant tower of 1551, is a strangely unsymmet-
rical structure largely of the Gothic period. (Woillez, 37.)

BURY, Oise. Eglise. (111.170,209.) "There is systematic use of the pointed
arch, still the building is clearly one of the earliest steps in the transition. It is thought
by Lefevre-Pontalis to be certainly posterior to 1125. It can, however, hardly be
much later than this. The system is uniform with quadripartite vaulting, the com-
partments of the nave being square, or nearly so, while those of the aisles are neces-
sarily of oblong rectangular form. The aisle vaults are all pointed and all except the
wall arch are provided with ribs. A curious experiment is tried to make the ridges
of the vaults approximately level. Above the transverse arches is inserted a section
of wall, making thus, in effect, the transverse arches sufficiently thick to fill up the
embarrassing space." 2 M. Lefevre-Pontalis believes that the vaults were added to
the original construction subsequently to its completion c. 1125.3 The decoration
consists of double arched corbel-tables and heavy chevrons carved upon the archi-
volts. (Woillez.)

ST.-LOUP-DE-NAUD, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise. This cruciform edifice,
whose central lantern is supported on squ inches, is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis
to the middle of the XII century. The nave system is alternate: the first bay is cov-

1 Except in the easternmost (earliest) bay.

2 Moore, Gothic Architecture, p. 67.

3 Arch. Rel. II, 83.

217

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

ered with a groin vault, the second with a rib vault; the third and fourth bays with a
single quadripartite rib vault, evidently made over in the second half of the XII cen-
turv. The arches are all round, the archivolts are in two orders. Externally the
edifice is notable for the portal, a very rich example of the sculpture of the late XII
century. (Aufavre et Fichot.)

PROYIXS. Seine-et-Marne. St. Quiriace. (111. 178.) Of the edifice said to
have been begun by Henri-le-Liberal, count of Provins about 1160,1 only the choir
survives. An historical notice recording that works were in progress in 1238 must
have reference to the nave, which is Gothic in style. Most peculiar is the extension
of the idea of the alternate system and sexpartite vault to the extent of including the
three bays of the choir in a single vaulting compartment that consequently becomes
octopartite. This choir terminates in a semicircular chevet, and is supplied with
round piers; it is surrounded by a rectangular ambulatory from which open three
eastern rectangular chapels. Round arches occur in triforium and clearstory. The
system is logical; the intermediate shafts rest on the abaci of the round piers, the
alternate supports have a continuous system with an extra shaft for the second order
of the transverse rib. This rib is ornamented with a chevron. There is no wall
rib. The eastern bay of the nave is now covered with a dome, the western with two
quadripartite vaults. (Von Bezold.)

St. Ai/onl. notwithstanding the round arches of the triforium, is a building of
the end of the XII century. The supports are very low cylindrical piers with engaged
colonnettes; from the abaci rise three vaulting shafts, although the vaults of the nave
seem to have been executed only in modern times. The lofty triforium is treated
with great charm, but the clearstory is reduced to a series of oculi. (Gurlitt; Von
Bezold.)

M ASSAY. Cher. Abbaye St. Martin consists of a single-aisled nave two bays
long, a choir vaulted with much domed rib vaults, and a semicircular apse covered
with a half -dome preceded by a barrel vault. The system is logical and continuous;
the windows are round-headed. The decoration in chevrons, etc., is very rich. M.
de Kersers assigns this important little monument to the middle of the XII century
and considers it the earliest example of Gothic art in the departement of Cher. It
must at least date from the third quarter of the XII century. (De Kersers VII, 303.)

Eglise. Certain fragments of XII century architecture that still survive prove
the original construction must have been contemporary with that of the abbey, but
the edifice was entirely reconstructed at the end of the XV century. It consists of a
single-aisled nave and a five-sided apse, and is entirely roofed in timber. A stone
built into the fine tower which flanks the west facade bears this inscription: "The
reverend father in God, Brother Bertrand de Chamborand, venerable abbot of the
abbey of Massay, caused this tower to be erected in the year 1493.2" (De Kersers
VII, 305.)

ARCY-STE.-RESTITUTE, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave four bays long,

1 Felix Hourquelot, Hist, de Provins I, pp. 129-338, cit. Von Bezold.
- " Reverend Pere en Dieu, Frcre Bertrand de Chamborant, venerable abbe de l'abbaye de
JVIassay a fait fain- ceste presents tour l'an mil CCCCLXXX et treize."

218

OTHER MONUMENTS

two side aisles, and a polygonal choir. The nave erected c. 1180 was much altered
in the XVI century. In the XII century it was covered with quadripartite rib vaults
each of which was square in plan and embraced two bays, as is indicated by the alter-
nation of coupled columns ! and piers, the disposition of the windows, and the spacing
of the flying buttresses. The system was logical and continuous, with the exception
of the wall shaft which rose from the triforium string. The main arcade was pointed
and in two unmoulded orders; the large triforium was characterized by round open-
ings and rich projecting mouldings. Above was a small clearstory reinforced by
flying buttresses simple and massive in design, but scientifically adjusted. These dis-
positions were all altered in the XVI century, though ample indications for a restora-
tion survive, the north aisle still retaining a vault and three arches of the edifice of
c. 1180. The choir, however, is wholly of the XVI century. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. II, 117.)

ANGICOURT, Oise. Eglise. The most ancient portions are the rectangular
choir, the crossing, and the south transept; the nave and the side aisles, which are
somewhat later, may be assigned to the first years of the XIII century, while the upper
portion of the tower and the north transept belong to the late rayonnant period. The
plan is unusually broad in proportion to its length, and this effect of width is increased
by the square transeptal absidioles which are almost like eastern transeptal side aisles.
Sexpartite vaults supported on an alternate system cover the nave; these vaults are
at present abutted by flying buttresses well developed, but all uniformly heavy, but
the original flying buttresses were concealed. The system of three shafts rises from
the capitals of the alternate piers to support the five ribs; in the intermediate piers the
wall shafts rising from the capitals of the main arcade receive capitals only at the
top of the stilting. Externally the edifice is characterized by a western porch, a cen-
tral tower, pointed arches, and Gothic details. (Baudot; Arch, de la Com. des Mon.
Hist. I, 37.)

Other Monuments

AIZY, Aisne. St. Medard, which, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, was erected
in the last third of the XII century, and rebuilt c. 1200, consists of a nave, two side
aisles, transepts, and a rectangular choir. The wooden-roofed nave, four bays long,
dates entirely from the early XIII century, and is characterized by pointed arcades,
piers on which four columns and four colonnettes are engaged, crocketed capitals,
and shafts that were evidently intended to carry vaulting ribs. The side aisles, con-
temporary with the nave, are supplied with isolated transverse arches and round-
headed windows. A rib vault of c. 1175 surmounts the crossing. The transepts
are evidently constructions added to the original edifice in the XIII century. The
choir, which may be assigned to c. 1180, is covered with rib vaults without wall ribs.
Externally this choir is characterized by buttresses in three ressauts and by round and
pointed windows; one of the latter is surmounted by a sort of gable sustained by a
pier whose angles are shafted. The central tower, commenced soon after the com-

1 These columns are coupled in the longitudinal sense as at Sens.
219

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

pletion of the choir, has never been finished. The facade is of the XIII century.
(Lefevre-Pontalis. Arch. Rel. II. 111.)

JUZIERS, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts,
a choir, and a semicircular apse. A double row of arcades are carried completely
around the apse so as to produce the effect of an ambulatory — a disposition analo-
gous to the choir of Ste. Trinite of Caen and other Norman buildings. This portion
of the edifice — which must date from the last quarter of the XII century — is cov-
ered with a radiating rib vault. The wall ribs and the windows are semicircular,
but the arcades are pointed. The wooden-roofed nave is characterized by round
arches, rectangular piers, and severely simple square profiles; it may be assigned
to the first years of the XII, or even the end of the XI century. (Arch, de la Com.
des Mon. Hist. I, 12.)

GENOUILLY, Cher. Eglisc, one of the most interesting rural churches in
the departement of Cher, is a fine example of the transition in Berry. The original
edifice consisted of a semicircular apse, a choir almost square, a wooden-roofed nave
of a single aisle, a western narthex tower, and two chapels added in the XVI century.
The apse vault is supported by three radiating ribs, but the crowns of the vault com-
partments fall towards the outer edge. The choir is covered with a highly domed
rib vault. (De Kersers IV, 159.)

CAUFFRY, Oise. Eglise. The nave may be assigned to the XI century,
the tower and the choir to c. 1145; the single side aisle is a comparatively modern
addition. The XII century edifice consisted of a single-aisled nave, a central tower,
and a rectangular choir two bays long. The nave is roofed in wood; the choir is
covered with pointed rib vaulting. Externally, the choir and tower are ornamented
with arched corbel-tables; the tower windows are in several orders, shafted and
richly moulded; the buttresses are broken by ressauts. (Woillez; Johnson.)

LAFFAUX, Aisne. Notre Dame. The original edifice consisted of a nave,
two side aisles, a central tower, and a semicircular apse. The northern transept
was added in the XIII century, the southern, in the XVI century. The wooden-roofed
nave of c. 1140 is four bays long, and is characterized by pointed arcades whose extra
orders are supported on columns engaged on the piers. Also of c. 1140 is the highly
domed rib vault that rises over the crossing; this vault is supplied with wall ribs and
pointed arches. The transepts are both vaulted. A ribbed half -dome, dating from
c. 1150, surmounts the apse, and is buttressed externally by groups of shafts with
capitals. The central tower of about the same time has no buttresses, but its angles
are shafted, and its windows adorned with elaborate projecting mouldings. This
church is one of the best examples of the rural architecture of the XII century in the
Soissonnais. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 50.)

CERNY-EN-LAONNAIS, Aisne. Eglise, has been assigned to the VI century
by Fleury and to the first years of the XII century by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, though
it may well be doubted if the oldest portions be not as old as the XI century. The
edifice consisted of a nave, two side aisles, and three apses one of which has been
destroyed. The apses are covered with half-domes, the choir with a barrel vault;
but the interest of this church centers chiefly in the transverse arches which span the

220

OTHER MONUMENTS

nave and side aisles and support the timber roof. Externally the structure is charac-
terized by a central western tower, a curious western narthex occupying the first bay
of the nave, and very rough masonry. (Fleury II, 29.)

CATENOY, Oise. Abbaye. The central tower which is probably the oldest
part of the existing edifice may be assigned to c. 1100. About 1160 the remainder
of the church was entirely rebuilt. This structure of the second half of the XII cen-
tury consisted of a single-aisled nave, transepts, and a rectangular choir; the piers
of the central tower were placed inside of the nave walls, leaving a passage from the
have directly to the transepts. This disposition, unique in the He de France, may
be paralleled in Normandy and Berry. In the XIII century a single side aisle was
added. The church to-day is of interest chiefly for the barrel and rib vaults which
surmount the crossing and choir respectively — the transepts and nave are roofed in
timber — and for the main portal richly decorated in six orders. (Woillez.)

AZY-BONNEIL, Aisne. Eglise, which originally consisted of a nave, two side
aisles, and a rectangular choir surmounted by a tower, was twice rebuilt — once at
the end of the XII century and again in the Gothic period. The existing nave, which
dates entirely from the first years of the XIII century, is roofed in wood; the archi-
volts of the four great pointed arches of each side are received on crocketed capitals;
each pier is surrounded by six engaged colonnettes ; round-headed windows are pierced
in the clearstory on the axis of each pier. The aisles and their plaster vaults have
been remade in modern times. Beneath the tower is a rib vault, probably built c.
1170 to replace the original barrel vault. About 1175 the old square east end was
replaced by a polygonal apse. The vault of this apse is Gothic in character, but has
no wall ribs; the windows are round-headed. In 1250 the second bay of the choir
was made the center of a new transept. The facade contains some debris — notably
the portals — of an earlier building of the first quarter of the XII century, to which
the tower (c. 1115) also belonged. (Lefevre-Pontalis II, 119.)

JUVIGNY, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, a broad transept
later than the rest of the construction, and a semicircular apse. The nave, assigned
to c. 1110 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is four bays long and covered with a wooden ceil-
ing; the rectangular piers support round arches; the clearstory windows have been
walled up. The side aisles which are not vaulted have been reconstructed in mod-
ern times. A semicircular arch of triumph in two orders separates the groin-vaulted
crossing — which is part of the primitive construction — from the nave. This cross-
ing was merely a bay of the choir until about 1210, when the existing rib-vaulted
transepts were added. The apse covered with a half -dome and the octagonal central
tower are contemporary with the rest of the church. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel.
II, 52.)

CHAVIGNY, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, very salient transepts, a central
tower, and a semicircular apse. The nave, with wooden ceiling, has been almost
entirely rebuilt in modern times; the side aisles which were built to flank it in the XIII
century have been suppressed. The half -domed apse which is assigned to c. 1110
by M. Lefevre-Pontalis is reinforced externally by four buttresses surmounted by an
engaged half-column without capital. Probably the well-preserved facade and the

221

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

tower are contemporary, but the vault of the crossing was remade in the XIII century.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 84.)

COULOGNES, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave four bays long, two side aisles,
transepts, a large choir, and a polygonal apse rebuilt in the XVI century. The nave,
erected in the second quarter of the XII century, was originally supplied with a wooden
ceiling, but this was replaced c. 1170 by the existing rib vaults, which are supported
on a logical and continuous system of five shafts. The ancient piers consisted of a
central core flanked by three shallow pilasters. Towards the nave the pier was flat:
the pilaster facing the aisle supported an isolated transverse arch. The aisle vaults
were erected at the same time as those of the nave, but the vaults of the transepts are
modern. As for the transepts themselves, they are the oldest part of the church and
may be assigned to c. 1130. A pointed barrel vault covers the crossing. The ex-
terior is notable for the facade of c. 1135, and for the absence of flying buttresses —
an absence the more remarkable that the clearstory is rather high. (Lefevre-Pon-
talis, Arch. Rel. II, 137.)

BUSSAIRES, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, a choir, and a
semicircular apse. The nave, three bays long, is covered with a wooden ceiling, and
is characterized by shafts added to the piers in the XVI century with the idea of
constructing vaults, which, however, have never been erected; by archivolts in two
orders; and by cruciform piers. This nave, as well as its choir, is assigned to c. 1160
by M. Lefevre-Pontalis. The pilasters engaged on the side of the piers facing the
side aisles fulfil the function of true buttresses and end in a splayed surface. The
walls of the aisles have been rebuilt in modern times. A rib vault with a complete
set of ribs surmounts the choir; the apse is supplied with a true Gothic radiating
vault. Externally, the great round-arched portal must date from the earliest years
of the XII century; the tower is modern. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 131.)

BEAUFORT-EN-SANTERRE. Somme. Eglise, erected in the XII, was
largely reconstructed at the end of the XVI century. It consisted originally of a
square choir of a single bay, transepts, and a nave four bays long, but two side aisles
and a southwestern tower were added in the flamboyant period. The crossing and
choir were the only portions of the edifice supplied with vaults; they are ornamented
externally with arched corbel-tables and rich mouldings of advanced character. The
nave has no system; the archivolts are in two orders; the clearstory windows are
round-headed. This part of the edifice is assigned by M. Enlart to the second half
of the XII century, and the western portal to 1170-90. (Enlart, L'Arch. Rom., 60.)

VILLERS-ST.-PAUL, Oise. Abbaye. The most interesting portion of this
church, the nave, dates from the XII century. It was originally spanned by three
transverse arches, buttressed externally, and one of these still survives. This nave
is further characterized by a wooden roof, pointed archivolts in two unmoulded orders
of which the lower is supported on colonnettes engaged on the piers, and round-
headed clearstory windows. The exterior is ornamented with arched corbel-tables,
frets, and chevrons; the west portal is very rich, the facade is pierced by pointed
lancets. The transepts and tower date from the XIII century, and the transept win-
dows are filled with fine plate tracery. (Woillez V, 1 ; Johnson.)

222

OTHER MONUMENTS

FONTENOY, Aisne. St. Remi consists of a nave, two side aisles which are
continued to flank the choir, a lateral tower erected subsequently to the original con-
struction, a choir, and a semicircular apse. The nave covered with a wooden
ceiling is four bays long, and is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1110; the great
arches of the main arcade are semicircular and rest on rectangular piers. The east-
ern bay of the side aisle, reconstructed about 1140 when the lower portions of the tower x
were built, is covered with a rib vault. A barrel vault terminating in the half-dome
of the apse surmounts the choir. The western portal is contemporary with the nave.
The ornament of this church is peculiar, especially the double chevrons of the tri-
umphal arch and the exterior string-courses. (Lefevre-Pontalis II, 49.)

BETHISY-ST.-MARTIN, Oise. Eglise. (111. 187.) This edifice of the XII
century, altered in the XIII, XIV, and XV centuries, consists of a nave, two side aisles,
which are prolonged to flank the choir, a lateral tower, and a rectangular choir. In
the XII century the side aisles did not extend farther than the first bay of the choir,
which was barrel-vaulted — the existing rib vaults were erected c. 1150 — and fol-
lowed by a semicircular apse. The timber-roofed nave, four bays long, dates from
the first third of the XIII century, and is characterized by massive piers on each of
which is engaged a single pilaster facing the side aisle, by clearstory windows placed
on the axis of the piers, and by arcades some of whose arches are pointed, some
round-headed. The north side aisle was reconstructed in the XIV century; its vaults
were added in the flamboyant period. From the pilasters engaged on the walls and
on the piers it is evident that it was the intention of the builders to erect isolated trans-
verse arches spanning the side aisles. The east end of the southern side aisle has
preserved a barrel vault. The charming tower with its stone spire and angle turrets
dates from the second quarter of the XII century. (Lefevre-Pontalis II, 15.)

BEAUVAL, Somme. Eglise consisted originally of a timber-roofed nave, two
side aisles also roofed in wood, and a rectangular rib-vaulted choir without side aisles;
but a sort of transept was added in the XVII century. It is possible to distinguish
two different eras of construction in the nave: the one, of the commencement of the
XIII century, is contemporary with the choir, the other is older, but not earlier than
the last quarter of the XII century. The archivolts in two orders are supported on
colonnettes engaged in the great rectangular piers; the clearstory windows, now walled
up, were round-headed. The southwest tower is of the XVII century. (Durand.)

MOGNEVILLE, Oise. Eglise. Of this ancient edifice there survive two
bays of the nave, the transepts altered in the XIII century, the choir, and the tower.
The buttresses of the latter were added at the end of the XII century, doubtless to
counteract some movement which had appeared in the masonry. This tower with
its spire, dormers, and angle turrets is a masterpiece of design, and may be assigned
to c. 1175; it is decorated with shafted angles, double arched -corbel tables, and pointed
arches enclosing horseshoe windows. (Woillez; Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.
I. 30.)

GLENNES, Aisne. St. Georges consists of a narthex, a timber-roofed nave, two
side aisles, transepts, a rib-vaulted choir, and a semicircular apse. The narthex which

1 The upper portions of the tower were finished only in the XIII century.

223

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

forms a separate edifice higher than the nave is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to
c. WOO, with the exception of the central vault which was rebuilt in the XVI century.
The nave which is assigned to c. 1100 is five bays long: it is characterized by archi-
volts in two orders, rectangular piers with engaged shafts, pointed arcades, and round-
headed windows. Little interest attaches to the side aisles which have been almost
entirely rebuilt in the XVI century and in modern times. The crossing is contempo-
rary with the nave, but the transepts, covered with rib vaults furnished with semi-
circular wall ribs, were added c. 1170. The choir, however, is part of the original
construction, as is the apse with its radiating rib vault of the Noyon type with-
out wall ribs. Externally, the church is notable for the central tower of c.
1170 characterized by pointed arches in the upper story, fine mouldings, and
shafted buttresses. Altogether this interesting monument is one of the most im-
portant rural edifices of the departement of Aisne. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel.
II, 155.)

ANGY, Oise. Egllie of the second half of the XII century, consisted originally
of a single-aisled nave roofed in wood, rib-vaulted transepts, and a five-sided apse
covered with a radiating rib vault. To this was added, but still in the XII century,
a northern side aisle. The transepts are not symmetrical in plan, and the southern
is also somewhat higher than the northern. Externally the buttresses of the apse
are very salient and in many ressauts; the windows are round -arched ; the central
tower is ornamented with arched corbel-tables; and the belfry windows are filled
with plate tracery. (Woillez; Johnson.)

CERSEUIL, Aisne. St. Pierre consists of a single-aisled nave (the side aisles
which formerly existed have been torn down), transepts, a central tower, and a square
choir. With the exception of the nave the entire edifice was rebuilt in the XIII cen-
tury, and it is probable that the church of the XII century had no transept. The
nave, three bays long and covered with a wooden ceiling, is characterized by rectan-
gular piers, unmoulded archivolts of a single order, and small unornamented clearstory
windows. Its most interesting feature, however, is the pointed arch which occurs
in the west portal — an unusually early example of such a construction, for this part
of the edifice must date, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, from c. 1125. The
remainder of the edifice is of little interest, except for the tower assigned to c. 1210.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. Ill, 33.)

CIRY, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, a choir, a three-sided
apse, and a large square chapel recently erected. The nave, assigned to c. 1110 by
M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is covered with a modern plaster vault, replacing the ancient
timber roof; the semicircular arches of the main arcade are supported by rectangular
piers. The side aisles, reconstructed in modern times, were covered with a wooden
roof in the XII century. A round triumphal arch separates the nave from the choir.
This choir is assigned to c. 1130, and is covered with a groin vault furnished with two
wall ribs. The three-sided apse, the oldest example of a polygonal east end in the
Soissonnais, is surmounted by a half-dome divided by two groins, a construction which
forms, in fact, a segmental cloistered vault. Although the portal has clearly been
rebuilt, the facade, on the whole, seems contemporary with the nave. The tower

224

OTHER MONUMENTS

which rises over the choir cannot be later than c. 1140. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch.
Rel. II, 40.)

GALLARDON, Eure-et-Loire. Eglise consists of a narthex, a single-aisled
nave five bays long, two northern chapels of the XVI century, transepts, a choir of
two bays flanked by side aisles, a chevet, an ambulatory, and three radiating
chapels. A tower rises over the north side aisle, and a second formerly rose over
the choir. The narthex is said to be of the XI century, but the three rib vaults which
cover it were evidently added in the early Gothic period. This narthex, the nave,
and the facade are all parts of a primitive church whose eastern portions were de-
stroyed in the late XII century to make way for the existing Gothic choir; the nave,
however, was repaired in the XV century when the present timber roof and south
lateral portal were added. The ambulatory has groin vaults with pointed transverse
arches of simple profile; the upper portions of the choir are clearly later and may be
assigned to c. 1230, for in the lower parts no provision was made for the shafts which
rest on corbels placed at the level of the triforium string, and the chevet vault is of
the fully developed Gothic type. Although the flying buttresses are very high, the
lower strut abuts the clearstory piers at a point too low to secure the greatest efficiency.
(Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. II, 34.)

BAILLEVAL, Oise. Eglise consists of a rectangular choir and a single-aisled
nave. The northern wall in Mo, and the choir vaults in part, belong to the original
construction which may be assigned to c. 1130. These choir vaults are character-
ized by unusually heavy transverse ribs; the easternmost, excessively domed, is sup-
plied with a semicircular wall rib, but in the western bay the builders seem to have
gained skill by experience, and the wall rib is pointed. The windows are small, and
the whole construction very crude. (Woillez.)

BONNES, Aisne. St. Martin consists of a nave, two side aisles rebuilt in mod-
ern times, transepts whose absidioles have disappeared, and a semicircular apse.
A tower formerly rose over the southern transept. The nave, like the facade, is
assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1150, and is covered with a wooden ceiling;
the piers are formed each of a square core surrounded by four engaged colonnettes;
the continuous system was probably not intended to carry a vault; the great arches
of the main arcade are pointed; the bases are supplied with griffes. The crossing
contemporary with the nave is covered with a highly domed rib vault without wall
ribs. A ribbed half -dome surmounts the apse. The tower of c. 1165 is supplied
with pointed windows. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 127.)

LARGNY, Aisne. St. Denis consists of a nave, two side aisles, a lateral tower,
transepts added in the XIII century, and a semicircular apse. The nave, assigned to
c. 1140 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is four bays long, and is characterized by a wooden
ceiling of the XVI century, pointed arches in the main arcade, cruciform piers, and
shafts rising to the level of the clearstory windows where they support blind arches
engaged in the walls — an exceptional disposition. The side aisles, covered with
simple timbered roofs, have been rebuilt in modern times; the pilasters engaged on
the aisle side of the piers support buttresses which reinforce the clearstory walls
externally. A highly domed rib vault with wall ribs surmounts the crossing, and

225

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

may be referred to the same epoch (1140). The choir, also of about the same date, is
covered with a vault whose two radiating ribs are supported on long colonnettes. It
is probable that a clocher rose over the transept in the XII century, but in the Gothic
period the existing lateral tower was erected. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 59.)

BETHISY-ST-PIERRE, Oise. Eglise (111. 161) in the XII century consisted
of a nave roofed in wood, two rib-vaulted side aisles, a choir of which the first bay
was rib-vaulted the other two barrel-vaulted, and an apse covered with a half -dome.
In the XIII century two chapels, one of which ended in a polygonal apse, were built
flanking the nave, and the facade was reconstructed: in the XVI century a southwest-
ern tower was erected, and part of the southern side aisle rebuilt; recently the outside
walls have been restored. Apparently the barrel vault of the choir has transverse
ribs carried on columns in a manner that recalls the school of Berry, but a disastrous
restoration carried out in 1895 has made this part of the church difficult to study.
The choir is contemparary with the nave, and may be assigned to c. 1125, according to
M. Lefevre-Pontalis. Most peculiar are the vaults of the side aisles, highly domed
by the use of segmental transverse arches. The tower was built in 1520 as is known
from an inscription. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. Ill, 19.)

BAZOCHES, Aisne. St. Pierre consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts,
and a square choir. The nave is three bays long; its original wooden ceiling has been
replaced by a modern rib vault. On the north side the pointed arches in two orders
resting on rectangular piers seem to be a clever modern imitation of XII century work;
the arcades of the south side, however, are of the XIII century, and the system indi-
cates an unfulfilled intention on the part of the builders to erect a vault. The aisles
have been much modernized. According to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, the transepts,
which are rib-vaulted throughout, date from the third quarter of the XII century.
These vaults are not excessively domed, and are supplied with a full set of ribs
supported by a logical system. Pointed arches are used throughout except in the
windows. The square choir, also rib-vaulted, appears to be contemporary.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 123.)

BRUYERES, Aisne. St. Martin contains two early rib vaults, one surmount-
ing the choir, the other placed underneath the tower. Both are without wall ribs.
The main apse and the two absidioles which flank it are covered with ribbed half-
domes. The style of the buttresses and of the capitals of the choir and the richness
of the apse cornice are considered by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to prove that this part of
the church cannot be earlier than c. 1130. A single side aisle is separated from the
nave (which is three bays long and roofed in timber) by pointed arcades resting on
rectangular supports. This side aisle was probably added about the middle of the
XII century. The exterior is notable for a fine western portal elaborately moulded,
and a central tower of the first third of the XII century. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch.
Rel I, 82; and II, 31.)

DHUIZEL, Aisne. St. Remi consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts of
the XIII century, and a semicircular apse. The nave, which is assigned to C. 1125
by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is covered with modern vaults replacing the original roof
in wood, and is characterized by round, unmoulded arcades resting upon heavy piers.

226

OTHER MONUMENTS

The crossing is contemporary with the nave, and is covered with rib vaults supplied
with highly stilted wall ribs and pointed arches. A half-dome reinforced by very
broad, flat, external buttresses surmounts the apse, which together with the central
tower is assigned to the first quarter of the XII century. The middle portion of the
facade is contemporary with the nave. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. Ill, -17.)

COUDUN, Oise. St. Hilaire, assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the second
quarter of the XII century, consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, and three
apses. The nave is roofed in wood, and its piers are rectangular; the main arcades
in two unmoulded orders are pointed. The apse, which is polygonal internally, and
the transepts are rib-vaulted.1 A portal in three orders richly ornamented with chev-
rons characterizes the facade of c. 1150. (Woillez; Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.)

BRASLE, Aisne. St. Quentin. Originally this church consisted of a single-
aisled nave and a square choir surmounted by a tower, but the side aisles added
c. 1160 and the large chapel of the end of the XIII century give the present plan
an irregular form. In the XVI century the old ceiling was replaced by a rib vault.
The choir, covered by a pointed barrel vault, is assigned to the first third of the XII
century by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, and the facade rebuilt in modern times still pre-
serves a portal of the same time. The central tower is assigned to c. 1125. (Lefevre-
Pontalis, Arch. Rel. Ill, 28.)

BONNEUIL-EN-VALOIS, Oise. Eglise. According to M. Lefevre-Pontalis
this edifice of c. 1110 was altered about the middle of the XII century, and again in
the XIII and XVI centuries. It consists of a nave, two side aisles, a lateral tower,
transepts, and a square choir which originally was in all probability supplied with
a semicircular apse. The nave roofed in wood is five bays long. On the north side
three bays of the structure of the first quarter of the XII century still survive; they
are characterized by semicircular arcades in two orders and rectangular piers with
two colonnettes, one engaged at either end. The rest of the nave was reconstructed
in the XVI century, when vaults were projected, but never carried out. There were
probably no transepts in the original edifice; the existing north chapel and its apse
may be assigned to c. 1150, the south transept is of the XIII century. The central
part of the facade is of the first quarter of the XII century. The tower which rises
at the end of the north aisle is assigned to c. 1125, and is ornamented with grouped
windows, flat corbel-tables, and chevrons. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. Ill, 25.)

BRECY, Aisne. St. Michel consisted originally of a single-aisled nave and a
rectangular choir, but the addition of a side aisle and a lateral chapel have disfigured
the primitive plan. The nave is assigned to c. 1160; the choir, of which the first bay
is surmounted by a rib vault, the second by a pointed barrel vault, dates from c. 1150.
The entire edifice was made over in the XIII century. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch.
Rel. II, 130.)

DAMERY, Marne. St. Medard consists of a nave, two side aisles, transept?,
and a polygonal apse erected in the XIII century in place of the original square east
end. The nave, assigned to c. 1160 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is six bays long and

1 The drawings of the Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist, show the apse surmounted by a
half -dome instead of by a rib vault.

227

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

covered with a wooden ceiling; the main arcades in two orders are pointed and rest
upon cruciform piers. The side aisles have been rebuilt in modern times. A rib
vault square in plan surmounts the crossing which must date from the middle of the
XII century, but the transepts are covered with pointed barrel vaults. The facade
was rebuilt at the same time as the nave. Pointed windows grouped under a round
arch, angle shafts, and a double arched corbel-table characterize the central tower
of c. 1160. The figured capitals and the details of the carving throughout are of
exceptional interest. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 152.)

BKRZY-LE-SEC, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, a square
choir surmounted by a tower, and a semicircular apse. The nave, covered by a
wooden ceiling, is divided into three bays: the archivolts are in two unmoulded orders,
of which the inner rest on colonnettes engaged in the rectangular piers. The outer
walls of the side aisles are modern. A highly domed rib vault nearly square in plan
covers the choir: it is supplied with a full set of ribs of which the transverse and lon-
gitudinal ones are pointed. The apse is vaulted with a ribbed half -dome. Externally
the edifice is remarkable for the salient buttresses broken by numerous ressauts. As
for the ornament, the abaci are continued as string-courses, many of the capitals are
adorned with figure sculptures, the doorways are shafted, the windows finely moulded,
and the facade is supplied with a well-developed drip-stone string-course. Pointed
arches occur in the vaults, but the arches of the main arcade are nearly round. This
church is a homogeneous structure of c. 1140, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis.

CHACRISE, Aisne. Notre Dame consisted originally of a nave, two side aisles,
and a rectangular choir, but transepts have been added. The nave, with wooden
ceiling, is four bays long; its round arcades rest on heavy piers, unfortunately modern-
ized. This nave, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is not earlier than c. 1150; the
transepts are assigned to c. 1200; but the crossing has preserved a rib vault of the
XII century, and the choir covered by a single square rib vault is ascribed to c. 1160.
Little interest attaches to the facade. The central tower, contemporary with the
nave, is characterized by shafted angles, and twin windows ornamented with dog-tooths,
chevrons, etc. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 133.)

BRAY, Somme. St. Nicolas consists of a nave, two side aisles, three apses,
and a central western tower. The apses, the oldest portion of the edifice, date from
the XII century, though the existing vaults were erected in XVI century. Externally
this portion of the edifice is characterized by shafted windows. The flamboyant
choir may well have been erected after the sack of the city by Charles the Bold in 1472;
it is adorned with disappearing mouldings, and capitals are omitted. The wooden-
roofed nave must date from the reign of Francis I, as it is decorated with sculptured
salamanders. The present tower is of the XVIII century. (Josse.)

AI'VILLER, Oise. Egli.sc, which may be assigned to the first quarter of the
XII century, is a single-aisled country church with a square east end and a central
tower. The choir of the XIII century is rib-vaulted, as is the bay beneath the tower.
The ribs of the vault of the latter rest on corbels. Externally the edifice is character-
ized by the tower, whose grouped windows have square profiles, and by the ornamenta-
tion in dog-tooth mouldings. (Woillez.)

228

OTHER MONUMENTS

CHARS (near Pontoise), Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. The vaults of the transept
and choir have been remade in the XVI century, but the rib vaults of the ambulatory
dating from the middle of the XII century are still intact. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch.
Rel. I, 92.)

COURMELLES, Aisne. St. Georges consists of a nave, two side aisles, tran-
septs, a central tower, a choir, and a semicircular apse. The nave, three bays long,
is roofed in wood, and is assigned to the third quarter of the XII century by M. Le-
fevre-Pontalis. In the northern arcade arches in two orders rest upon cruciform
piers; but in the southern the arches are of only a single order. The rib vault over
the crossing is assigned to c. 1160, but was altered in the XIII century. The tran-
septs were revaulted in the XVI century. Rib vaults surmount the choir which seems
to be contemporary with the nave. The apse is covered with a ribbed half-dome,
which is buttressed externally by groups of engaged columns. Throughout the edi-
fice the windows are round-headed, but those of the apse are surmounted by blind
pointed arches. The facade was rebuilt in the XIII century; the central tower
however, is contemporary with the choir. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 143.)

CHELLES, Oise. Eglise (111. 206) which is thought by M. Lefevre-Pontalis
to be not earlier than c. 1140, consists of a wooden-roofed nave, two side aisles, tran-
septs formerly supplied with absidioles of which only the southern survives, a cen-
tral tower, a choir, and a semicircular apse. Of the nave erected c. 1140, the five
northern arcades survive; they are characterized by pointed archivolts resting upon
rectangular piers with colonnettes engaged at either end. The side aisles were much
altered in the XVI century, but the south aisle still preserves its ancient pointed
barrel vaults. The choir may be assigned to the second quarter of the XII century.
A ribbed half-dome surmounts the apse. This apse is externally very richly orna-
mented: the shafts of the windows are zig-zagged so as to form chevrons, and columns
with capitals supporting gables are engaged upon the buttresses. The tower has
pointed windows — probably the earliest known example of this feature. (Lefevre-
Pontalis, Arch. Rel. Ill, 37.)

LATILLY, Aisne. St. Laurent consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, a
central tower, and a square choir. There was originally a semicircular apse, but
this has disappeared. The nave, which is four bays long and covered with a wooden
ceiling, is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1135. The pointed arches of the main
arcade are in two orders and supported by rectangular piers with colonnettes engaged
at either end. Over the crossing is a rib vault, whose ribs rest on four engaged col-
onnettes. This part of the church was erected in the second quarter of the XII cen-
tury; the existing rib-vaulted transepts and the choir are of the XIII century. The
angles of the tower (which is contemporary with the nave) are shafted, but there are
no buttresses. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 61.)

BERTEAUCOURT-LES-DAMES, Somme. Eglise, consisted originally of a
nave seven bays long, two side aisles, transepts with absidioles, a choir two bays long,
and an apse; but the north aisle has been torn down and rebuilt, the transepts and
choir have disappeared, and a modern apse now replaces the ancient choir. The
nave, which dates from the first half of the XII century, like the side aisles had orig-

229

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

inally no vaults nor even any system, although the piers are alternately round and
clustered. The archivolts are unnioulded and in three orders: the arches of the main
arcade are pointed, but all the other arches are round-headed. Externally the church
is very richly ornamented — especially the facade, assigned to c. 1150, is notable
for its sculpture, its ornate portal, its southern tower, and its pointed arched corbel-
tables. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 72.)

ACY-EN-MULTIEN, Oise. Eglise. Beneath the lateral tower there survives
a rib vault, which is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1110. The nave, assigned
by the same authority to c. 1130, was originally roofed in wood, and the side aisles
were spanned by isolated transverse arches intended to support the roof. System
and vaults were added c. 1140. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 80.)

PERXANT, Aisne. St. Leger consisted of a nave, two side aisles, transepts
which evidently are not part of the original construction, a central tower, and an
apse. The nave is assigned to c. 1170 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, the rest of the church
to c. 1130. The great arches of the nave (which is five bays long and roofed in tim-
ber) are pointed and in two orders; they rest on rectangular piers each of which is
supplied with two colonnettes, one engaged at either end. A highly domed rib vault
without wall ribs surmounts the crossing; the transepts of the XIII century are also
rib-vaulted, and a ribbed half-dome crowns the apse. The facade, which was recon-
structed c. 1170, is well preserved, and notable for the pointed portal. The central
tower dates from c. 1130. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 78.)

RESSOXS-LE-LOXG, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles,
transepts, and a square choir. The nave, which may be assigned to c. 1100, is roofed
in timber, and is four bays long; the main arcades are round and in two orders. Each
pier consists of a rectangular core on which are engaged three colonnettes — one at
either end, and one on the side of the pier facing the nave. The latter is continued
along the clearstory to form a system. In the billet string-courses and buttresses
of the facade may be seen traces of a western narthex and a tower which no longer
exist. In the XII century the present rib vault was erected over the crossing. The
transepts are not vaulted. The barrel-vaulted choir is, perhaps, the oldest example
of a square east end extant in the He de France. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I,
216.)

VAILLY, Aisne. Notre Dame (111. 193), which was rebuilt, according to M.
Lefevre-Pontalis, between 1 170 and 1180, consisted originally of a nave, two side aisles,
transepts, and a rectangular choir ending in a semicircular niche; but c. 1230 two
chapels flanking the choir were added, and in the XIV century other chapels were
erected opposite the last bays of the side aisles. The nave, five bays long, has always
had a timber roof; the great arches of the main arcade are pointed, and rest upon
slender piers with four engaged columns. In the XII century the aisles had trans-
verse arches, but these were replaced in the Renaissance period by the existing vaults.
A slightly domed rib vault covers the crossing, and the eastern niche is vaulted with
a ribbed half-dome. Hie facade, whose rich decoration is very pleasing, is one of
I lie most remarkable architectural productions of the diocese; the tympanum of the
portal contains sculptures, for the most part, unfortunately, modern. The tower

230

OTHER MONUMENTS

was commenced c. 1175 and finished c. 1200. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II,
207.)

LHUYS, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, and a
rectangular choir, but was rebuilt no less than three times during the XII and XIII
centuries. The nave is covered with a wooden ceiling; in the northern arcade, the
pointed arch of the first bay is modern, but the three following bays are assigned by
M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the early years of the XII century, and are characterized by
semicircular unmoulded archivolts in two orders resting upon heavy piers. In the
southern arcade, entirely rebuilt c. 1140, the round arches of the first three bays are
supported by piers surrounded by ten engaged colonnettes, and the fourth bay is sim-
ilar, except that the arch is pointed. The north side aisle is modern, but the eastern
bay of the south aisle retains its rib vault — it was this rib vault which necessitated
the introduction of the pointed arch in the corresponding bay of the main arcade.
The transepts, which are assigned to c. 1180, are vaulted, as is the crossing. It is
probable that the wall ribs of the choir vaults were added when this portion of the
edifice was reconstructed in the XIII century, for they do not seem to form part of
the original work of c. 1170. The tower dates from c. 1130. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. II, 165.)

NOUVRON-VINGRE, Aisne. Notre Dame consists of a nave, two side aisles,
a lateral tower, transepts, and a semicircular apse. In the northern arcade of the
wooden-roofed nave are preserved three round arches assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis
to the first years of the XII century. Colonnettes are engaged at either end of the
piers. As for the southern arcade, the arches are all pointed, and must date from
the end of the XII century. The side aisles have been rebuilt in modern times. A
rib vault, whose ribs are supported on colonnettes, crowns the crossing; this part of
the edifice together with the apse and the tower which rises over the north tran-
sept dates from c. 1140. The facade is modern. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel.
II, 73.)

SOISSONS, Aisne. St. Pierre. The reconstruction of this monument was
commenced c. 1170 and finished c. 1180, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis. In 1180
the apse, the transepts, and the last bays of the nave were destroyed, but the facade
and the first two bays of the nave still survive, transformed into a gymnasium. The
nave, flanked by two side aisles, was roofed in wood; the pointed arches of the main
arcade were unmoulded, and rested on monolithic columns; the windows were all
round-headed. The facade is characterized by a pointed portal. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. II, 201.)

ORGEVAL, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. The choir may be assigned to the late
XI century, the tower to the middle of the XII century, the nave and transepts, though
much rebuilt in the flamboyant era, to the XIII century, the side aisle to the last half
of the XVI century. The nave is flanked by a single side aisle, the gables of whose
roof are at right angles to the main axis. The church is vaulted throughout; the
vault of the choir is a highly domed groin vault with transverse arches in two orders;
the semicircular apse is surmounted by a half -dome. Externally the edifice is char-
acterized by large but absolutely plain windows and by an octagonal tower adorned

231

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

with finely moulded windows in several orders, shafted angles, and small dormers
placed near the top of the spire. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.; Baudot.)

(KOI V. Aisne. St. Maurice consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, and
a square choir. The nave, built c. 1170, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is four
bays long, and not vaulted: its arcades, pointed and in two orders, rest upon cruci-
form piers. The vaults of the side aisles and the eastern portions of the church are
modern. Most interesting is the facade of c. 1170, fortified by a high gallery supported
on a round arch. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rcl. II, 147.)

BEUGNEUX, Aisne. Eglise consisted originally of a single-aisled nave, a choir
surmounted by a tower, and a semicircular apse, but c. 1160 the northern side aisle
was erected. The nave, with a wooden ceiling and round windows, must date from
the second quarter of the XII century. When the choir vault was rebuilt in the XIII
century, the ancient apse was replaced by the present rectangular choir. The central
tower dates from c. 1135. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rcl. Ill, 22.)

MAREUIL-EX-DOLE, Aisne. St. Germain consists of a nave, two side aisles,
transepts, and a square choir. The nave, three bays long and with wooden ceiling,
is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1125. Its rectangular piers, made octagonal
in modern times, support round arcades; the ancient round-headed windows were
replaced by pointed ones in the XIII century. The walls of the side aisles are mod-
ern. About 1220 it was determined to reconstruct the choir, and the rib vaults which
at present surmount the crossing and south transept were then executed. The north
transept, on the other hand, is a work of the XVI century. The facade is notable
for the round-arched portal of the first third of the XII century, and for the great
timber-roofed porch of c. 1150. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rcl. II, 168.)

MAREUIL-LE-PORT, Marne. Eglise. Of the ancient edifice assigned to
c. 1110 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, only the central tower survives, the remainder of the
building having been entirely rebuilt in the XIII and in the first third of the XVI
centuries. The timber-roofed nave is a simple structure of the XIII century; its
pointed arcades rest on heavy piers. The transepts divided into two lateral aisles
are covered by six rib vaults of the XVI century. Renaissance details, and fine glass
presented by Nicolas Prudhomme, Abbot of St. Jean-des-Vignes from 1516 to 1541,
characterize the vaulted polygonal apse. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rcl. II, 63.)

ANSACQ, Oise. St. Lncien, a country church of a single aisle roofed in timber,
i-, .if interest chiefly for the portal which may be assigned to c. 1140. This portal
is characterized by a pointed archivolt, voussoirs finely moulded and ornamented
with chevrons, zig-zag shafts, and capitals of a pronounced Romanesque type.
The facade is preceded by a narthex of the XII century. The side walls are orna-
mented externally with pilaster strips, and are pierced by round-headed windows.
(Woillez.)

MAROLLES, Oise. Ste. Genevibve consists of a nave, two side aisles, a lateral
lower, transepts, and a polygonal apse, but before the XVI century there were no tran-
septs, and the apse was semicircular. The nave, surmounted by a wooden ceiling, is
assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1125; it is characterized by pointed arcades,
heavv piers, and round-headed windows now walled up. Beneath the tower, which

232

OTHER MONUMENTS

rises over the eastern bay of the northern side aisle, survives a pointed barrel vault.
This portion of the edifice may be assigned to c. 1130. The highly domed rib vault
of the crossing is of the same epoch, but the vaulted transepts and choir are of the XVI
century. The tower of c. 1135 is characterized by angle columns, grouped round-
arched windows in several richly moulded orders, a spire whose broken outline is
doubtless due to a change in the original plans, and four angle pyramids. (Lefevre-
Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 67.)

CUISE, Oise. St. Martin consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, and a
square choir. The choir and transepts are of the XII century, but the nave and
facade were finished only in the Gothic period. In the nave plaster vaults of
modern construction replace the original wooden ceiling, and cruciform piers support
the double orders of the archivolts of the main arcade. The rib vault of the cross-
ing, which is assigned to c. 1160 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, rests on colonnettes. The
northern transept was revaulted in the XIII century, but the southern still retains
its original vault. Externally the choir is characterized by round-arched windows
placed in pointed niches. The uninteresting tower is of the end of the XII century.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 149.)

JOUY-LE-MOUSTIER, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave of the end
of the XII century, two side aisles of the XV century, transepts of the XIII century,
a rectangular choir of the same epoch, and a north lateral porch with vaulted narthex
of the XVI century. The nave is characterized by a continuous triforium, a clear-
story composed of oculi, round piers whose capitals have octagonal abaci, a system
of three shafts, and quadripartite rib vaults whose wall ribs are not stilted. The
central tower with its rather flat spire and four conical turrets dates from the second
quarter of the XII century. (Baudot.)

NAMPS-AU-VAL, Somme. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave two bays
long, a rectangular rib-vaulted choir also of two bays, and a lateral tower rising at
the junction of the choir and the nave. The wooden-roofed nave is decorated in-
ternally with a continuous arcade of round arches, and is supplied with round-headed
windows and a pointed portal. The choir is characterized by a system of five shafts,
whose abaci are normal to the wall, and by diagonal ribs decorated with chevrons.
A voluted moulding strangely analogous to the well-known Syrian motive occurs in
the southern portal. The tower is assigned by M. Enlart to the XIII century, the
nave to 1160-80, and the choir to c. 1150. (Enlart, Arch. Ram., 146.)

SAPONAY, Aisne. Notre Dame consists of a nave three bays long, two side
aisles, a rectangular choir, and a polygonal apse. The nave, assigned by M. Lefevre-
Pontalis to c. 1150, was rib-vaulted in the XVII century; the pointed arches of the
main arcade are in two orders, and rest on rectangular piers. The choir, which is
assigned to the last quarter of the XII century, is surmounted by a rib vault with
pointed wall ribs. Most peculiar is the plan of the apse; the first two of the seven
sides, instead of following the direction of the choir walls, spread out, thus giving the
apse the form of a polygonal horseshoe. The vault, which is supplied with a complete
set of wall arches, is supported on eight radiating ribs. Strangely enough the windows
of this apse are round-headed, although the details, especially the figured capitals,

233

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

are advanced in character. The western portal is of the XIII century, and the tower
which rises over the choir is of the same epoch. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II,
1ST.)

AYRECIIY. Oise. St. Lucien. The rectangular choir, which is the only por-
tion of this church earlier than the XIII century, is surmounted by a rib vault
excessively domed, although the arches are pointed. Externally the east end is
pierced by three round-arched windows surmounted by an oculus over which a
string-course is arched. (Woillez.)

YAl'XREZIS, Aisne. St. Maurice (111. 171) consists at present of a nave four
bays long, two side aisles, transepts, and a semicircular apse, but the original edifice
probably possessed no transepts. The timber-roofed nave, which is assigned by M.
Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1180, is characterized by the main arcades of round arches in
two unmoulded orders and by the rectangular piers, on each of which are engaged
two colonnettes. The side aisles were rebuilt in the XVI century. A rib vault sur-
mounts the crossing. The choir is contemporary with the nave; the half -dome of
the apse is reinforced by two ribs. The facade is also of c. 1130. Over the crossing
rises the central tower, one of the most beautiful of the period in the He de France.
This tower must date from c. 1135, for the angles are shafted and the openings finely
moulded. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 97.)

POXT-ST.-MARD, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts,
a central tower, and an apse. The timber-roofed nave, which is assigned to the first
quarter of the XII century by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, is supplied with arcades of round
arches and with piers which have been cut down to the shape of columns in modern
times. Entirely modern are the side aisles, and a modern vault replaces the ancient
barrel vault of the crossing. The transepts are of the XVI century, but the apse with
its half -dome dates from c. 1115. The facade of about the same epoch is finely orna-
mented with arched string-courses, billets, double triangles, and ribbon mouldings.
A gable surmounts the principal portal. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 80.)

EPAUX, Aisne. St. Medard consists at present of a single-aisled nave with a
wooden ceiling and a polygonal choir also roofed in timber, but the latter is a work
of the XVI century, and the church originally terminated in a square east end. A
modern tower flanks the edifice to the north, but the rib vault of its lower story dates
from c. 1150, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis. The western portal of c. 1150 is
in four shafted orders adorned with double chevrons and tetes plates — decorations
unmistakably Norman in character. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 154.)

CREZANCY, Aisne. Eglise consisted orignally of a nave, two side aisles, and
a rectangular choir. The southern arcade of the wooden-roofed nave and both side
aisles are modern, but the northern arcade dates from the second quarter of the XII
century, although the cylindrical piers which support the round arches are an excep-
tional construction for that epoch. M. Lefevre-Pontalis assigns the rib vault of the
crossing to c. 1130, the western portal to c. 1135, and the two lower stories of the cen-
tral tower to about the same time. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. Ill, 44.)

GASSICOURT, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, tran-
septs, a central tower, and a square choir. The nave and tower are of the XII cen-

234

OTHER MONUMENTS

tury, but the choir and transepts are rayonnant. The tower is characterized by
unmoulded windows in two orders — three in each face — and by elliptical arched
corbel-tables. (Johnson.)

CONDE-SUR-AISNE, Aisne. St Pierre et St. Paul consists at present of a
single-aisled nave, transepts, and a rectangular choir, but originally there were no
transepts. The nave is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1125; the choir, cov-
ered with a pointed barrel vault, is about contemporary. The walls are ornamented
with pointed arcades. About the end of the XIII century the uninteresting tower
was built over the choir. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. ReJ. Ill, 41.)

Chapelle. This desecrated edifice, which is assigned to c. 1160 by M. Lefevre-
Pontalis, is a single-aisled building two bays long terminating in a square east end.
It was formerly supplied with rib vaults, but these have been destroyed. (Lefevre-
Pontalis, Arch. Rel. Ill, 41.)

MARIGNY-EN-ORXOIS, Aisne. Eglise consists at present of a nave of five
bays, two side aisles, transepts, and a polygonal apse. The pointed arches of the
main arcades of the wooden-roofed XIII century nave are in a single unmoulded
order, and are supported on piers with chamfered corners. The walls of the side
aisles are modern. It is certain that there were no transepts in the original edifice;
the existing ones date, the northern from c. 1240, the southern from perhaps slightly
later. Both are vaulted. The seven-sided apse is assigned to c. 1160 by M. Lefevre-
Pontalis; it is covered with a finely developed radiating vault with wall ribs. The
facade is without interest, and the tower modern. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel.
II, 169.)

MONTIGNY-LEUGRAIN, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave of three bays,
two side aisles, transepts, a central tower, and a rectangular choir. The nave, roofed
in wood and without clearstory, dates from the XYI century; the side aisles have
been rebuilt in modern times. A highly domed rib vault without wall ribs, assigned
to c. 1160 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, surmounts the crossing, and a rib vault with stilted
wall ribs, apparently of the same epoch, covers the choir. The facade is of the XVI
century, the tower of c. 1160. (Lefevre-Pontalis, .4rc/*. Rel. II, 176.)

CROUTTES, Aisne. St. Quiriace consists of a wooden-roofed nave, two side
aisles, transepts, a central tower of c. 1160, a choir, and a semicircular apse. On
the north side of the nave are preserved three pointed arcades in two orders, assigned
by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1160. On the south side the pilasters formerly engaged
on the piers were replaced in the XIII century by great engaged columns. The aisles
were rebuilt in the XVIII century, but the rib-vaulted crossing dates from c. 1160.
The existing transepts were added in the XIII century, and the portal of the facade
was altered at the same epoch. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 145.)

OULCHY-LA-VILLE, Aisne. St. Pierre consists of a nave of three bays,
two modern side aisles ending in absidioles, a lateral tower, a choir, and a semicir-
cular apse. The nave, roofed in wood, is characterized by arcades of round arches
and by square piers. This portion of the church is assigned to c. 1125 by M.
Lefevre-Pontalis. A square bay with pointed barrel vault of the same period pre-
cedes the absidiole of each side aisle. The choir also is surmounted by a polygonal

235

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

barrel vault which ends in a pointed half-dome over the apse. This apse is adorned
externally with plain buttresses and flat corbel-tables. The facade is modern. The
tower of c. 1125 is notable for its shafted angles, its coupled windows in two orders,
and its arched string-courses. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 77.)

MARISY-ST.-MARD, Aisne. Eglise begun, according to M. Lefevre-Pon-
talis. c. 1180, was finished only in the XIII century. It consists of a single-aisled
nave, a choir, and a nine-sided apse, the rib-vaulted side aisles having been destroyed
in modern times. The three rib vaults of the nave are assigned to c. 1120, and the
facade is contemporary. The choir of c. 1180 is rib-vaulted, and the apse of about
the same epoch is furnished with a fully developed radiating vault with wall ribs,
although the windows are round-headed. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 171.)

ALLONNE, Oise. Kgli.se, of unusual plan, consists of two parallel naves and
two choirs with square east end. The southern edifice is of the transitional epoch,
and of the original construction there remain a portion of the groin-vaulted choir,
some substructions of the nave, the tower, and the facade. These fragments, to judge
from Woillez's drawings, must date from the first quarter of the XII century.
(Woillez.)

CORBIE, Somme. Xotre Dame consisted originally, as is known from an
engraving of 1677, of a three-sided apse, transepts with eastern aisles and square
eastern apses, a nave three double bays long, side aisles, a western narthex, and a
tribune. Of this edifice only fragments of the nave — which is now desecrated and
difficult to study — and the portal with its superbly sculptured lintel survive. It
seems evident, however, that the nave was vaulted, and that each compartment of
this vault corresponded to two bays of the side aisles. It is known that the city of
Corbie was entirely destroyed by fire in 1137; but M. Enlart assigns the surviving
fragments of the edifice to 1100-80. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 91.)

St. Etienne. A sculptured portal of the XII century survives. (Guide Joanne.)

St. Pierre is an edifice principally of the XVI and later centuries. (Guide Joanne.)

AUTHEUIL-EN-VALOIS, Oise. Prieure. This desecrated edifice, assigned
to c. 1130 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, consists of a nave of five bays, a southern side aisle
(the northern has been destroyed), and a rectangular choir. The nave, covered by
a timber roof, is characterized by rectangular piers, arcades of pointed and unmoulded
arches, the absence of a system, round-headed windows, and a finely moulded portal
in three orders. The arched corbel-tables of the exterior are peculiarly Italian in
character. (Lefevre-Pontalis.)

St. Martin. The oldest portions of this church — the rib vaults of the tribune
and north transept — are assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1150, but the main
body of the edifice dates from the XV and XVI centuries. The polygonal apse is
lighted by six round-headed windows, but its vaults are of the XV century. (Lefevre-
Pontalis.)

ST.-ETIENNE-LEZ-PIERREFONDS, Oise. Eglise consisted originally of
a single-aisled nave and a semicircular apse, but in the XVI century the building
was entirely altered, two side aisles and transepts being added. The existing nave,
roofed in wood, dates from the time of Francois I: its pointed arcades rest upon slen-

236

OTHER MONUMENTS

der columns. The vaults of the crossing and transepts are modern. A half-dome,
assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the first quarter of the XII century (1115), covers
the apse, and is buttressed externally by two shafts which rise from the ground to the
cornice but are not supplied with capitals. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 85.)

NANTEUIL-NOTRE-DAME, Aisne. Eglise consisted originally of a single-
aisled nave and a rectangular choir, but about 1225 an oblong chapel was added south
of the choir. The existing nave is modern. The choir, assigned to c. 1175 by M.
Lefevre-Pontalis, is covered with rib vaults of which the pointed wall ribs rise to the
same height as the transverse arches. Most singular are the ribs of the second bay
decorated with spiral fluting. The facade seems to date from the first half of the XII
century, but the tower, which rises over the choir, is modern. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. II, 179.)

COURTHIEZY, Marne. Eglise consisted originally of a single-aisled nave
roofed in timber and a rectangular choir, but in the XIII century a side aisle was
added. The barrel vault which covers the first bay of the choir is of the first quarter
of the XII century, but has been restored ; the rib vault of the second bay is of the XIII
century. Above the choir rises a tower of c. 1130. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel.
Ill, 43.)

NOUVRON-LE-VINEUX, Somme. Eglise consists of an apse covered with
pointed rib vaults, transepts with absidioles, a central lantern with octopartite vault,
a nave two bays long, and a lateral tower. The apse and transepts are assigned to
c. 1160 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis. Except in the tower the pointed arch is used con-
sistently throughout the edifice. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 91.)

BEAUQUESNE, Somme. Eglise. With the exception of the nave of the XII
century, this edifice dates from the XIII century. The tower is square and crowned
by a wooden spire; its four stories are ornamented with twin lancets.

TAILLEFONTAINE, Aisne. Ste. Vierge. The pendant-vaulted nave five
bays long, the vaulted side aisles of the same height as the nave, and the polygonal
apse with its radiating rib vault are all of the XVI century. The round-arched por-
tal, however, is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the first quarter of the XII cen-
tury. It is shafted, in three orders, and ornamented with simple mouldings and
chipped chevrons. About 1160 a porch with pointed barrel vault was built before
it. The fine tower, which rises at the angle of the porch and the southern side aisle,
was built c. 1530; its stone spire rests on a platform surrounded by a balustrade and
flanked by pinnacles. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 92.)

VIEL-ACY, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave of four bays, two side aisles, tran-
septs, and a semicircular apse. The nave, assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to 1135,
has a wooden ceiling; its pointed arcades are in two orders, and rest upon rectangu-
lar piers. The side aisles have been modernized. In the XIII century transepts
were added to the original edifice, but one of these was rebuilt in the XVI century.
A pointed barrel vault surmounts the crossing. The choir is assigned to c. 1130;
the apse is covered with a simple half-dome. The facade, contemporary with the
nave, is pierced by a portal in two orders, shafted and ornamented with a double
chevron. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 103.)

237

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

CAUVIGNY, Oise. St. Martin. Of the primitive edifice there remain only a
portion of the exterior wall of the south transept and the tower, which is octagonal
and crowned by a spire. To judge from these fragments the monument must have
been erected c. 1150, for it was characterized by shafted windows in two orders,
moulded archivolts, and double arched corbel-tables. (Woillez.)

CROISSY, Oise. Eglisr has been entirely rebuilt in recent years with the ex-
ception of the narthex-tower. This stood at the west end of the church which was
lately demolished; probably, however, it was not built for this position, but was
originally placed between the choir and the nave of a still earlier edifice. On the
character of its sculpture the lower part of the tower is assigned by M. Enlart to 111.5
or 1120; the technique is uncertain, the stone joints wide, the vaults simply groined.
The upper story with its two groups of two shafted windows placed on each face is
obviously later, and is assigned to the second quarter of the XII century. (Enlart,
Arch. Ro?n., 100.)

FOULANGUES, Oise. St. Denis. The plan, which has become irregular
in consequence of the alterations and additions to which the edifice has been subjected
since its original construction, consists at present of three unsymmetrical aisles and
an irregular square east end. The church is rib-vaulted throughout. These vaults,
which may be assigned to c. 1140, are much domed and without wall ribs; many are
strangely distorted. The system is logical and continuous. (Woillez.)

YIC-SUR-AISNE, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, broad tran-
septs, and a polygonal choir. The nave, covered with a wooden ceiling, is divided
into five bays, and is assigned to c. 1110 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis; the round arches
of its main arcades are in two orders, and the light piers are supplied each with two
engaged colonnettes. The side aisles have been rebuilt in modern times; the tran-
septs date from the XIII and XVI centuries; the choir is modern. A gabled portal
in three orders characterizes the facade, which is well preserved and contemporary
with the nave. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rcl. II, 101.)

VEUILLY-LA-POTERIE, Aisne. Eglise consists at present of a nave of
three bays, two side aisles, transepts, and an apse five-sided internally, semicircular
externally, but in the XII century there were no transepts. The nave, which is
assigned to c. 1170 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, was originally covered with a wooden
ceiling, but the existing vaults — among the earliest to be erected over a nave in the
Soissonnais — were added c. 1200, although the capitals are strangely Romanesque in
character. The side aisles were vaulted in the XVI and XVII centuries. A rib vault
of c. 116.5 with two pointed wall ribs surmounts the crossing. The transepts were
added c. 1230, but the southern one was rebuilt in the XVI century. A radiating rib
vault with wall ribs covers the apse, which is characterized by banded shafts and
round-headcil windows. The facade is a work of the XIII century, but the central
tower was built c. 1175. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 217.)

SER(iY, Aisne. Notre I hi me consists of a nave of five bays, two side aisles,
transepts, and a square choir of the XIII century. The nave, which is roofed in
wood, must date from the second quarter of the XII century; the pointed arches of
the main arcade are in two orders, and rest upon cruciform piers. A pointed barrel

238

OTHER MONUMENTS

vault surmounts the crossing, which is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1130.
The facade has been largely rebuilt in modern times. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel.
II, 91.)

CINQUEUX, Oise. Eglise. Of the original edifice, which may be assigned to
the first quarter of the XII century, the nave and two side aisles survive. These are
characterized by timber roofs, rectangular piers, unmoulded archivolts of a single
order, and the use of round arches throughout except in the relieving arch over the
lintel of the main portal.

COUCY-LE-CHATEAU, Aisne. St. Sauveur is remarkable for the facade,
consisting of three nearly equal gables. Beneath the central one is a fine sculptured
portal in three orders and other debris which may be attributed to c. 1185; the lat-
eral gables are said to date from 1543. The nave contains piers and capitals of the
XII century.

VAUMOISE, Oise. St. Pierre consists of a modern nave, board transepts over
the northern of which rises a tower, absidioles, and a semicircular apse. The cross-
ing is surmounted by a rib vault of the XVI century, but still retains its original piers
surrounded with colonnettes. The transepts are groin-vaulted, but the absidioles
have pointed half-domes. M. Lefevre-Pontalis assigns the walls of the transepts to
c. 1140, and the choir to the same epoch. The apse is covered with a radiating rib
vault. The facade is modern. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 95.)

FROUVILLE, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a
semicircular apse. The nave, roofed in wood, is four bays long; it is characterized
by piers alternately square and round in section, pointed arches, the absence of a
system and of a triforium, and a clearstory reduced to a series of oculi. A rib vault
surmounts the choir, a half -dome the apse; both are reinforced by external buttresses
of slight projection. The south lateral tower of transitional character has intersect-
ing arcades, grouped shafted windows, and drip mouldings; it is crowned by a spire
and rudimentary angle turrets. An oculus placed in the gable of the facade is almost
sufficiently developed to be called a rose window. (Baudot.)

COULOISY, Oise. Eglise in the XII century consisted of a single-aisled nave
and a rectangular choir, but transepts and two side aisles have been added. The
nave, covered with a wooden ceiling, was reconstructed in the XVI century; the
piers with undulating mouldings support moulded pointed arches. A rib vault of
c. 1170 surmounts the first bay of the choir. The transepts of the XVI century have
been rebuilt in modern times. The facade retains a portal of the third quarter of
the XII century, and the central tower is of the same epoch. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. II, 34.)

VILLETERTRE, Oise. Eglise, assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to c. 1130, is
notable in that all the arches of the vaults are pointed. In the north side aisle the
vaults have been made over, but in the south aisle and in the five bays of the nave
the original rib vaults of the XII century are still preserved intact. (Lefevre-Pon-
talis, Arch. Rel. II, 183.)

TORCY, Aisne. Eglise in the XII century consisted of a single-aisled nave, a
choir, and an apse semicircular internally, polygonal without, but a chapel was added

239

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

in the XIII century and a side aisle in the XVI. The nave was not vaulted before
the XVI century. The choir, assigned to c. 1150, preserves a rib vault of the epoch:
the ribs are all supported on engaged colonnettes. A ribbed half-dome covers the
apse. The facade has been modernized, but contains debris of the late XI and XII
centuries. The lower which rises over the choir was built c. 1160; it is character-
ized by pointed windows and shafted angles. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II,
-20.5.)

1 AY-ST.-QUENTIN, Oise. St. Laurent, which conists of a nave, a southern
side aisle, and a rectangular choir, is of two distinct epochs; to the first (c. 1 140)
belong the choir (except its principal window and three of its buttresses), the vaulted
portions of the nave, and part of the south aisle; to the second, which is somewhat
later, the arcades of the nave and the vaults of the aisle. The nave is covered
with groin vaults, except the eastern bay, which is rib-vaulted like the choir.
(Woillez.)

TRELOUP, Aisne. St. Medard consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts,
and a square choir. The four bays of the nave were built in the last quarter of the
XII century, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, but the original ceiling was replaced
by a vault in the XVI century. The pointed arches of the main arcades are simply
moulded, and rest on high cruciform piers. A rib vault of c. 1170, notwithstanding
the pointed wall arches highly domed, surmounts the crossing. The remainder of
the transepts, including even the colonnettes which support the vault of the crossing,
and the choir are of the XIII century. These portions of the edifice are vaulted.
The portal is a remarkable production of the Renaissance, but the central tower was
built c. 1170. (Lefevre-Pontalis. Arch. Rel. II, 205.)

VERXEUIL-SUR-MARXE, Marne. St. Martin consists of a nave of four
bays, two side aisles, transepts, and a rectangular choir. The wooden-roofed nave,
which may be assigned to c. 1130, was originally supplied with rectangular piers on
each of which were engaged two colonnettes, as may be seen in the third bay of the
north arcade, where this disposition is still preserved intact. A rib vault replaces
the pointed barrel vault which formerly surmounted the crossing. The transepts
and the choir are of the XIII century. The western portal, in two orders ornamented
with chevrons and zig-zagged shafts, may be assigned to c. 1130; the central tower
is perhaps slightly earlier. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 99.)

IIARDRICOI'RT. Seine-et-Oise, Egli.se. Over the crossing is a rib vault
assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the middle of the XII century. (Lefevre-Pon-
talis, Arch. Rel. II, 87.)

MORIGNY (near Etampes), Seine-et-Oise. Eglise Abbatiale is said by M.
St. Paul to have been consecrated in 1119.

LUCHEUX, Somme. Prieure. The ancient edifice erected between 1130 and
1150, according to M. Enlart, was probably damaged in the course of the wars of
the XV century; at least it was restored in the XVI century. Originally the monu-
ment consisted of a nave of five bays, two side aisles, transepts, a rib-vaulted choir
two bays long, a five-sided apse, and a central tower which no longer exists. The
wooden-roofed nave is characterized by arcades of round arches, cylindrical piers,

240

OTHER MONUMENTS

archivolts in two unmoulded orders, and round-headed windows. The choir vaults
have lierne, but no wall, ribs; only the transverse ribs are provided with shafts. (En-
lart, Arch. Rom., 132.)

VIFFORT, Aisne. Notre Dame (111. 159) consists of a single-aisled nave and
a rectangular choir. The nave of the first quarter of the XII century is covered
with a timbered roof of the XV century. The first bay of the choir is surmounted
by a tower of c. 1120, and is furnished with a rib vault assigned to c. 1115 by M.
Lefevre-Pontalis. Since the arches of this vault are all semicircular, the surface is
necessarily highly domed; it is noteworthy, however, that wall ribs are employed.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 106.)

VREGNY, Aisne. Eglise consisted originally of a single-aisled nave with a
wooden ceiling, a choir, and a semicircular apse, but at the end of the XII century
a northern side aisle was added. The choir, which is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pon-
talis to the first quarter of the XII century, is surmounted by a slightly pointed groin
vault; the apse is covered with a half -dome. A tower, assigned to c. 1120, rises over
the choir. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 107.)

AUTHEUIL, Seine. Eglise. The tower of the transitional epoch is character-
ized by an upper story consisting of windows decorated with shafts without capitals
or base, by billet mouldings, by arched corbel-tables, and by a spire with elementary
angle turrets. (Baudot.)

ST.-VAAST-DE-LONGMONT, Oise. Eglise consists at present of a nave,
a side aisle ending in an absidiole, a choir of two bays, and an apse, but the original
plan comprised only a single-aisled nave, a central tower, and an apse. The wooden-
roofed nave, built according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis during the first quarter of the
XII century, has been modernized. Restorations have also destroyed the character
of the side aisle erected c. 1130, but the absidiole, covered with a half -dome and pre-
ceded by a barrel-vaulted bay, is still preserved intact. The choir is evidently the
work of two different epochs: the first bay is the more ancient, and the rib vault of
the XVI century which now surmounts it evidently replaces a groin vault of first quar-
ter of the XII century; the second bay and the apse — both rib-vaulted — are
assigned to c. 1140. Externally the church is characterized by a tower with spire
and angle pyramids and by a facade of c. 1130 notable for its extraordinarily rich
portal adorned with four orders of chevrons and surmounted by a gable. (Lefevre-
Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 86.)

ST. LAZARE, Oise. Eglise consists of a nave of three bays, deeply projecting
transepts, a choir flanked by two rectangular chapels, and a square apse. The choir
(with the exception of certain portions of its western bay), the nave, and the transepts
are part of the original edifice of c. 1140; the chapels and the central tower are addi-
tions of the XIII century. The crossing and chapels are rib-vaulted, the choir barrel-
vaulted, and the apse groin-vaulted. In general the ornament is analogous to that
of St. Etienne of Beauvais; the western portal is finely moulded, and its tympanum
is adorned with curious diapering. (Woillez, S, 20.)

FIEFFES, Somme. Eglise consists of a nave of c. 1170 restored in the rayon-
nant and flamboyant periods, two side aisles of the XVI century, a northern transept

241

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

of the XII century .surmounted by a tower whose upper portions are of the XIV cen-
tury, a chapel substituted in 1575 for the southern transept, and a rectangular choir.
The wooden-roofed nave is characterized by pointed arcades, round-headed windows,
and a round-arched portal. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 124.)

HAUTEVESNE, Aisne. St. Remi consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts,
and a polygonal apse. The three bays of the nave and the side aisles have been
rebuilt in modern times, but the rib vault over the crossing is assigned to c. 1175 by
M. Lefevre-Pontalis. This vault has no wall ribs; the diagonals are furnished with
separate shafts. The transepts were rebuilt in the XVI century. A radiating rib
vault of c. 11 70, also without wall ribs, surmounts the choir, and is supported on ringed
shafts. The facade is modern, but the central tower dates from c. 1180. (Lefevre-
Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 162.)

MARIZY-STE.-GENEVIEVE, Aisne. Eglise consists at present of a single-
aisled nave, a rectangular choir flanked to the north by an aisle of the XIII century,
and a central tower, but the nave was probably originally supplied with two side aisles.
The existing nave is modern; the choir, surmounted by three rib vaults with pointed
wall ribs, is assigned to c. 1140 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis. The central tower, which
dates from the same epoch, is characterized by shafted corners, pointed arches, con-
tinuous abaci, rich ornament, and the absence of buttresses. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. II, 65.)

BENY, Aisne. Eglise erected, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, c. 1125 con-
sisted originally of a single-aisled nave, a central tower, and a semicircular apse, but
c. 1150 a northern side aisle was added. The timber-roofed nave is lighted by two
windows of the XVI century; the choir is surmounted by a rib vault, some of whose
arches are round, some pointed. A ribbed half-dome covers the apse. Externally
the facade is modern, but the ancient central tower survives. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. Ill, 30.)

IIANGEST-EN-SANTERRE, Somme. Eglise consists of a polygonal apse
much modernized, a choir of the XIII century, a nave of the XV century, and a late
flamboyant tower. Of the edifice of the XII century only the portal survives. This
is round-arched, in three orders, and adorned with developed mouldings; it is assigned
to 1160-70 by M. Enlart. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 129.)

VIEILS-MAISONS, Aisne. Ste. Croix consists of a nave, two side aisles, tran-
septs, and a rectangular choir. The wooden-roofed nave, four bays long, is a work of
the XVI century; its pointed arcades are supported on cylindrical piers. The aisles
were rib-vaulted in 1856; the crossing of c. 1115 was revaulted in 1809; the transepts
are entirely modern. A pointed barrel vault, assigned to c. 1110 by M. Lefevre-
Pontalis, surmounts the choir. The central tower is contemporary. (Lefevre-Pon-
talis, Arch. Rel. II, 105.)

DOMONT, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. (111. 184). The groin-vaulted ambulatory
of this church is surmounted by perhaps the earliest flying buttresses that have come
down to us. These buttresses are assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis 1 to c. 1160, but
it may well be doubted if they be not somewhat earlier. The vault of the semicircu-

> Arch. Rel. I, 93.
242

OTHER MONUMENTS

lar chevet is of the early XIII century, and is supplied with much stilted wall ribs,
which, like the other ribs, are supported on a logical system rising from the abaci
of the cylindrical piers. For the rest, the chevet is characterized by main arcades
whose square profile is softened only by chamfered edges, by a high triforium, by
clearstory windows occupying nearly the whole of the wall space, and by pointed arches.
The nave and side aisles, reconstructed in 1868, retain their primitive dispositions,
but the facade has been rebuilt on an entirely new design. (Arch, de la Com. des
Mon. Hist. I, 43.)

ST.-VAAST-LES-MELLO, Oise. Eglise. The nave vaults, dating from
c. 1125 according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, are without wall ribs; the transverse and
diagonal ribs rest upon shafts and corbels. The rib vaults of the side aisles were
rebuilt in the XV century. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. I, 84; Woillez, ap.)

ST. TAURIN, Somme. Prieure. The single-aisled nave which still survives
is a simple but fine example of the architecture of the third quarter of the XII century.
It was formerly covered with two rib vaults, square in plan, but these have now fallen.
(Enlart, Arch. Rom., 164.)

FOLLAINVILLE, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise The rustic tower, which stands to
the north of the choir, is the most interesting part of this monument. The belfry
is characterized by pointed arches. (Johnson.)

FOREST-L'ABBAYE, Somme. Chapelle which is assigned by M. Enlart to
c. 1165 consists of a nave without interest, a choir, and a semicircular apse. The
rib vaults of the choir and apse are reinforced by well-developed external buttresses.
(Enlart, Arch. Rom., 125.)

CONFLANS-STE.-HONORINE, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise, with the exception
of the fine tower of the XII century, dates from the early Gothic period, and consists
of a nave, two side aisles, a choir three bays long flanked by side aisles, and a polyg-
onal apse. The nave and its aisles are roofed in timber, but the choir is entirely
vaulted. The tower, which may be assigned to c. 1160, is characterized by arched
corbel-tables, round arches, and fine mouldings; it is surmounted by a spire with
four angle turrets. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 8.)

VERDILLY, Aisne. Eglise, assigned to c. 1130 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, con-
sists of a nave, a side aisle added apres coup c. 1150, and a rectangular choir. The
nave, roofed in wood, is separated from the side aisle by an arcade of three pointed
arches resting upon heavy piers. The choir is covered with a pointed barrel vault.
Externally the edifice is remarkable for its rich western portal, whose double orders
are ornamented with shafts and quadruple chevrons. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel.
II, 98.)

CONTEVILLE, Somme. St. Nicolas. This timber-roofed edifice consists
of a rectangular choir which may be assigned to the first quarter of the XII century,
and a nave of 1742. Externally the choir is ornamented with double-arched corbel-
tables and pilaster strips. (Woillez.)

FRANCASTEL, Oise. Eglise. The rectangular rib-vaulted choir of two bays,
which is the only portion of this monument earlier than the XIII century, may be
assigned to c. 1130. The capitals are crude, but the abaci have developed mouldings.

243

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

Externally the walls are ornamented with double arched corbel-tables and shallow-
buttresses. (Woillez, F, 8.)

BOUVINCOURT, Somrae. St. Ililaire is said to contain some fragments of
transitional architecture, although the edifice was almost entirely rebuilt in the XV
century. The design is characterized by a western tower, three aisles, transepts,
and cylindrical piers. (Darsy.)

SACONIN, Aisne. Eglise, which was originally constructed, M. Lefevre-Pon-
talis believes, between 1 1 -5.5 and 1140, consists of a nave, two side aisles completely
modernized, and a choir. The nave has a wooden ceiling; the pointed arches of
the main arcade rest upon piers on each of which are engaged two colonnettes sup-
porting the inner order of the archivolts and a third shaft opposite the side aisle.
The choir consists of two bays of which the eastern has a pointed barrel vault, the
western a rib vault. This rib vault lacks wall ribs, and is highly domed. The
facade and the central towrer are both of the XII century. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch.
Rel. II, 83.)

BLANGY— SUR— POIX, Somme. Eglise, whose original dispositions can still
be traced notwithstanding several modern restorations, consists of a nave of a single
aisle and a rectangular choir, both un vaulted. The tower whose upper story is
octagonal rises to the north at the junction of the choir and nave; its openings are
all round-arched, except that certain windows have a flat lintel supported by a column
and surmounted by a blind arch. The tower is assigned to the first quarter, the rest
of the church to the second quarter, of the XII century, by M. Enlart. (Enlart, Arch.
Rom., 89.)

ORROUY, Oise. St. Remi consists of a narthex surmounted by a tower of c.
1 130, a nave of four bays, two side aisles, and a rectangular choir of the XVI century.
The narthex is covered by a pointed barrel vault. The unvaulted nave, which is
assigned to c. 1125 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, was originally supplied with two arcades
of pointed arcades resting on rectangular piers, but on the north side these piers were
cut down to the form of columns in the XVI century. Fine glass of the XVI century
characterizes the vaulted choir. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 75.)

ROZET-ST.-ALBIN, Aisne. Eglise has been completely modernized with the
exception of the tower which rises over the eastern bay of the southern side aisle.
The first story of this tower is assigned to c. 1150 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, and is
characterized by round-arched coupled windows in two shafted orders; the upper por-
tions are later, and are characterized by shafted angles, arched corbel-tables, bases
with griffes, and grouped pointed windows. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II,
180.)

CHAMANT, (near Senlis), Oise. Eglise (111. 188) of the early XII century
possesses a most remarkable spire supplied with acutely gabled dormers with pierced
tympana. (Moore, 183.)

VAUDIERKS, Marne. Eglise consisted originally of a nave and a rectangular
choir, but a side aisle and transepts have been added. The timber-roofed nave is
assigned to c. 1125 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis; the side aisle was added c. 1150; the
crossing was rib-vaulted about the same epoch. Externally the edifice is character-

244

OTHER MONUMENTS

ized by the porch of c. 1130 which precedes the facade and by the modern tower.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 94.)

CHAMBLY, Oise. Eglise. This rural edifice is characterized by the tower
which rises at the west end. The ornament includes arched corbel-tables and a sculp-
tured bird placed in the apex of the gable. (Woillez, ap; Moore.)

TRIE-LA- VILLE, Oise. Eglise, assigned to c. 1140 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis,
is notable for the ribs adorned with double chevrons sculptured on the voussoirs.

DOMFRONT, Oise. Eglise dates from the XVI century with the exception
of the tower, which M. Enlart assigns to the early XII century. The coupled win-
dow openings of this tower are shafted, and in the belfry grouped. (Enlart, Arch.
Rom., 104.)

MERLEMONT, Oise. Chapelle St. Arnoult consists of a single-aisled nave, a
barrel-vaulted choir, and an apse. The crude capitals are ornamented with sculp-
tured animals. (Woillez.)

OISEMONT, Somme. Doyenne was burnt in the time of the Revolution, and
is consequently much ruined. The choir, like the nave and the side aisles, seems to
date from the end of the XIII century. In the bell tower of 1687, however, is pre-
served a portal of elegant simplicity which may be assigned to the third quarter of
the XII century. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 153.)

HERMES, Oise. Eglise. The facade, with the exception of the portal of the
XII century, and the north wall of the nave are constructed of small masonry, and
are probably the oldest portions of the edifice; the central tower with very charm-
ing twin windows dates from the end of the XII century; the choir is flamboyant.
(Woillez, ap.)

LINAY, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. The tower, which is the most interesting part
of this church, is characterized by angle shafts, arched corbel-tables, a belfry com-
posed of coupled round-arched windows richly moulded, and a spire with dormers
and angle turrets. (Johnson.)

HANGEST-SUR-SOMME, Somme. Eglise is an edifice of the XVI and XVII
centuries with the exception of the tower, which is assigned to c. 1170 by M. Enlart,
although it, too, was altered in the XVI century. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 130.)

CORMEILLES-EN-PARISIS, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise is of interest for the
crypt which, according to M. Lefevre-Pontalis, contains the most ancient rib vaults
of the diocese of Paris. The church itself dates from XIII and XV centuries.

MONTIERS, Aisne. Notre Dame consists of a rectangular choir of the XIII
century, transepts assigned to c. 1125 by M. Lefevre-Pontalis, a central tower which
dates from the same epoch although the crossing is covered by a rib vault of the XIII
century, and a nave rebuilt in 1870. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 68.)

VACQUERIE, Oise. Eglise, which is an excellent, if plain, example of the archi-
tecture of the third quarter of the XII century, consists of a western tower, a single-
aisled nave four bays long, and a five-sided apse. The windows are all round-headed;
the edifice is roofed in wood throughout. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 157.)

MAISNIERES, Somme. Eglise consists of a modern choir and a single-aisled
nave roofed in timber. The windows of this nave were made over in the XVII cen-

245

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

tury; the walls are assigned to c. 1100 by M. Enlart; the portal is Gothic. (Enlart,
Arch. Rom,, 141.)

MAR1SSEL, Oise. Eglise. The rectangular choir and the tower are of the
XII century, the fine portal and the nave of the XVI century.

FRANSART, So name. Eglise. The side aisles and the choir are modern.
The great pointed arches of the nave arcades are simple in profile, and are assigned
to the last half of the XII century by M. Enlart. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 127.)

JGTY-LE-COMTE, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. According to M. St. Paul this
church dates from 1145-50, and is characterized by an ambulatory with a pier on axis.

GAILLON, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. Of the edifice of 1120-50 the rib-vaulted
nave, the crossing, and the central tower still survive, but the existing rectangular
choir and its side aisles are of the XIII century. (Coquelle.)

SAIXTIXES, Oise. St. Denis consists at present of a nave, a single side aisle,
and a rectangular choir, but in the XII century there was no side aisle, and the edi-
fice terminated in a semicircular apse. The nave, almost entirely reconstructed in
the XVI century, is covered with a wooden ceiling, but the side aisle of the XIII and
XVI centuries is in part vaulted. The rib-vaulted choir belongs to two distinct
epochs: the first bay, which is surmounted by the tower, was built c. 1125; the sec-
ond is of the XIII century. A low spire with angle pyramids crowns the tower,
which is assigned to c. 1130 and is characterized by pointed windows and angle shafts.
(Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rcl. II, 89.)

FITZ- JAMES, Oise. Eglise consists of a wooden-roofed nave, a southern side
aisle added apres coup, a central tower, and a choir. The facade, the nave, and a
portion of the choir belong to the original construction which may be assigned to c.
1145. Beneath the central tower is a rib vault of the same epoch; this vault has no
wall ribs. The western portal is pointed and finely moulded. Externally the edi-
fice is ornamented with arched corbel-tables and shallow buttresses. (Woillez, F,

5.)

VILLERS-LES-ROYE, Somme. Eglise reconstructed in the XVII century,
contains several piers and the lintel and jambs of a portal belonging to an edifice of
the XII century. The piers are of rectangular section; the main archivolts are pointed
and in two orders. This debris is assigned to c. 1160 by M. Enlart. (Enlart, Arch.
Rom., 169.)

CLERMONT, Oise. St. A moult is said to have been dedicated in 1114 by
Peter, bishop of Beauvais, but the earliest fragments which remain — certain debris
excavated in 1828 — can hardly be earlier than the middle of the XII century. The
existing edifice was erected in 1359 but was much altered in the XV century, when
an extra southern side aisle and transepts were added. (Woillez; Guide Joanne.)

St. Samson.

CANLY,1 Oise. St. Martin. The rectangular choir, the northern half of the
single-aisled nave and the corresponding portion of the facade of this country church
may be assigned to c. 1150. There are no vaults. The windows are shafted and
in two orders, the portal has fine mouldings. A tower rises over the choir. (Woillez.)

1 Or Canly-Grandfresnoy.
246

OTHER MONUMENTS

BLESMES, Aisne. Eglise consisted originally of a nave of a single aisle and
a rectangular choir, but, when the nave was rebuilt about the end of the XV century,
a southern side aisle was added. The nave is now supplied with modern vaults;
the choir, with barrel vaults of c. 1130 which have recently been coated with plaster.
The portal is of the XII century, but the tower is modern.

ROYE, Somme. Eglise. The facade, the only remains of the transitional
church, is said by M. Enlart to be not later than 1184, and is characterized by an
early rose window. The pointed portal, which is somewhat earlier than the rest
of the facade, is assigned to 1130-60 by M. Enlart; it is ornamented with a sculptured
tympanum, chevrons, and other less familiar motives. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 157.)

PICQUIGNY, Somme. Eglise du Chateau, which is a melange of architectural
fragments of the XIII, XIV, XV, and XVI centuries, possesses an unvaulted southern
transept of the end of the XII century. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 154.)

BULEUX, Somme. Eglise is of interest for the facade, which is assigned to
the XI century, and for the nave of the end of the XII century. The nave is charac-
terized by cylindrical piers, archivolts in two orders, and the absence of a system.
(Enlart, Arch. Rom., 91.)

BULLES, Oise. Abbaye. The portal, which is the only portion of the ancient
edifice which survives, must date from the middle of the XII century, for it is in three
round-arched orders richly ornamented with hood mouldings, double chevrons, rin-
ceaux, rosettes, etc. (Woillez.)

DOURDAN, Seine-et-Oise. St. Germain is said to contain fragments of the
architecture of all epochs from the XII to the XVII century: the facade, flanked by
two unequal towers ending in steep roofs, is of the XIV and XV centuries; the ar-
cades of the side aisles ornamented with chevrons are of the XII century. The edi-
fice is supplied with lateral chapels. (Guide Joanne.)

BOUTENCOURT, Somme. St. Etienne. The two side aisles are separated
from the nave by cylindrical columns with Gothic capitals. It is said, however, that
the very small windows of the nave are of the XII century. (Darsy.)

MONCHY-ST.-ELOI, Oise. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave, a rect-
angular choir, and a central tower. The crossing is surmounted by a rib vault, whose
ribs are ornamented with chevrons. The exterior is ornamented with an arched
corbel-table. (Woillez, ap.)

TRUCY, Aisne. Eglise, assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to the first quarter
of the XII century, contains remarkable sculptures but no vaults.

OUDEUIL, Oise. Eglise. The square choir, whose eastern wall is pierced
by two windows rebuilt in modern times, is surmounted by a rib vault constructed
like a chevet vault, an extra rib running from the keystone to the middle of the east-
ern wall. The diagonals are semicircular, the other ribs pointed. (Woillez, ap.)

LA BRUYERE, Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, a
rectangular choir, and a central tower ornamented with arched corbel-tables. (Woil-
lez, ap.)

BONNEVAL, Eure-et-Loire. Notre Dame is said to date mainly from the XII
century.

247

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

BRETEUIL, Oise. Abbaye. Of the edifice which, according to Woillez, was
consecrated in 1165, there remains only the southern wall of the nave, the rest of
the church having been rebuilt in the Gothic period. This wall is ornamented
with double arched corbel-tables, arched string-courses, and pronounced buttresses.
(Woillez.)

St. Cyr consists of a single-aisled wooden-roofed nave, a rectangular choir of
two bays covered with round-arched groin vaults, and a flamboyant tower. The
buttresses are shallow but very broad. (Woillez, ap; Johnson.)

POUZEL,1 Somme. Notre Dame, which consists of a single-aisled nave and a
three-sided apse, contains a portal of the XII century. The edifice was recon-
structed in the rayonnant period and vaulted in the XVI century. (Breard.)

ABBECOURT, Oise. Eglise. The nave and facade of this single-aisled,
wooden-roofed, country church are earlier than the XIII century. (Woillez.)

RIEUX, Oise. Eglise, whose side aisles have been destroyed, is of interest for
the octagonal tower which, notwithstanding alterations, still retains on its northern
face an arcade with billet mouldings; for its crude capitals; and for the western facade
characterized by a pointed portal, a lancet window, and a false rose window placed
in the gable. (Woillez; Johnson.)

HERCHIES, Oise. Eglise is "small, not vaulted, curious for its very simplicity,
the rectangular nave being separated from a smaller choir of the same form by a
round arch." (Woillez.)

URCEL, Aisne. Eglise, without vaults, is assigned by M. Lefevre-Pontalis to
the first quarter of the XII century.

NOGENT-LES-VIERGES, Oise. Eglise. This simple edifice possesses an
interesting tower in four stories, characterized by arched corbel-tables and angle but-
tresses of several ressauts. (Woillez, ap; Johnson.)

MfiRU, Oise. Eglise. Beneath the existing wooden tower is hidden a tower
of the XII century whose second story was rebuilt in the XIII century. (Woillez,
ap.)

MERVAL, Aisne. Eglise consists of a modern nave without side aisles and a
square choir assigned to c. 1160. This choir is surmounted by a highly domed rib
vault with a full set of ribs. The capitals are finely sculptured. (Lefevre-Pontalis,
Arch. Rel. II, 173.)

NESLES, Marne. Abbaye of the XII century had transepts, a central tower,
and a semicircular apse. The edifice is completely ruined, and the vaults have all
fallen. (Arnaud, 75.)

ST. MARTIN, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. The central tower, which may be as-
signed to c. 1120, possesses an octagonal upper story, round-arched windows in two
orders with drip mouldings, and arcading supported on double shafts. (Johnson.)
COQUEREL, Somme. Eglise. Beneath the western porch of this flamboy-
ant edifice, remarkable for its open work spire, is a portal of the end of the XII cen-
tury. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 97.)

YAL-CHR£TIE\, Aisne. Abbaye. This ruined church consisted of a nave

i Or Pousel.
248

OTHER MONUMENTS

of seven bays, two side aisles, and a rectangular choir. The timber-roofed nave,
whose last bay was wider than the others, was characterized by arcades of pointed
arches in two orders and by piers, on either end of each of which was engaged a colon-
nette and opposite the side aisles a shaft. The facade of c. 1250, one bay of the nave,
and fragments of the choir still survive. (Lefevre-Pontalis, Arch. Rel. II, 215.)

ATHIS, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. The tower in two stories is characterized by
round arches, well-developed buttresses, chevrons, flat corbel-tables, and shafted
windows in two orders; it is surmounted by a beautiful spire with turrets and dor-
mers. The choir of two bays dates from the XIII century. (Baudot; Arch, de la
Com. de Mon. Hist.)

MESGE, Somme. Eglise was reconstructed in the XVII century, but contains
two interesting portals assigned to the third quarter of the XII century by M. Enlart.
(Enlart, Arch. Rom., 144.)

AIGNEVILLE, Somme. St. Martin. Notwithstanding the flamboyant tra-
cery of the windows, the narrow nave is more ancient than the choir, as is proved by
the round-arched lateral portal. (Darsy.)

MENEVILLERS, Oise. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave, a rectangu-
lar vaulted choir of two bays, and a central tower supplied with shallow buttresses.
(Woillez.)

ELINCOURT-STE.-MARGUERITE, Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two
side aisles, transepts, a choir, and an apse. The southern side aisle has been
rebuilt and enlarged. In Woillez' drawings the edifice appears to be barrel-
vaulted throughout; it is adorned externally with arched string-courses. (Woil-
lez, ap.)

VILLERS-ST.-SEPULCRE, Oise. Eglise contains a window whose arcuated
lintel is scratched to resemble voussoirs, a transitional portal, a choir of the XIII
century, and modern transepts. (Woillez, ap.)

PONT-REMY, Somme. Eglise. This ruined edifice is of the flamboyant period
with the exception of the wall forming the gable of the transept, which is assigned
to the end of the XII century by M. Enlart. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 154.)

SACY-LE-GRAND, Oise. Eglise of three aisles contains walls of herring-
bone masonry dating from the XII century and pendant vaults of the XVI century.
(Woillez, ap.)

CROUY-EN-THELLE, Aisne. Eglise. The southern wall of the rectangular
choir of two bays has been somewhat modernized. It is reinforced by flat buttresses.
(Woillez, ap.)

MONTRELET, Somme. Eglise terminates in a rectangular choir assigned to
the last years of the XII century. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 145.)

ST. PAUL, Oise. Abbayc. A transitional portal and a few capitals are all
that remains of this edifice.

Eglise is said to be in part of the XII century.

BECQUIGNY, Somme. Eglise. Only the lower part of the western facade
and a portal assigned to 1140-65 by M. Enlart survive, but this debris is sufficient to
prove that the church had a single-aisled nave. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 71.)

249

TRANSITIONAL MONUMENTS

FROCOURT, Oise. Eglise is of interest for its tower and its remarkable cap-
itals. (Woillez, ap.)

BREUIL-LE-SEC, Oise. Eglise was destroyed by fire in 1798. The substruc-
tions of the facade ami of the lateral walls — the southern one of which has been
many times rebuilt — survive. (Woillez.)

ST.-GERVAIS-DE-PONTPOINT, Oise. Eglise is of interest for its portal
and tower. The former is ornamented with a quadruple chevron and an arched string-
course: the latter is in three stories and crowned by a pyramidal stone roof. (Woil-
lez, ap.)

FONTENAY— TORCY, Oise. Eglise is ornamented externally with a double
blind arcade, enriched by chevrons and billet mouldings. (Woillez, ap.)

COMPIEGNE, Oise. Eglise des Minimes. This desecrated edifice, now
used as a gymnasium, is said to contain some remains of XII century archi-
tecture.

LEGLANTIERS, Oise. Chapelle elite du St.-Sauveur-dans-le-Cimetiere is a
rectangular wooden-roofed chapel adorned with arched string-courses.

QUESMY, (near Noyon), Oise. Eglise is said to date from the middle of the
X 1 1 century.

NOIXTEL, Oise. Eglise of a single aisle is ornamented with arcuated string-
courses, and contains a very rich western portal. (Woillez, ap.)

ROCQUENCOURT, Oise. Eglise possesses a very simple portal, attributed
to c. 1160 by M. Enlart. (Enlart, Arch. Rom., 156.)

SACY-LE-PETIT, Oise. Eglise. The interior is of interest for the capitals,
which are continued as string-courses and sculptured with figures in profile, — an
exceptional arrangement. (Woillez.)

ESCIIES, Oise. Eglise. The only remains of the rectangular choir are two
engaged columns, which doubtless once divided it into two bays. (Woillez.)

ST. ARXOULT, Oise. Chapelle. This much modernized and abandoned edi-
fice consists of a single-aisled nave and a polygonal apse, ornamented externally with
an arched string-course. (Woillez, ap.)

ROSOY. Oise. Eglise. The interesting tower is ornamented with arched string-
courses. (Woillez.)

RICQUEBOURG, Oise. Eglise. The existing edifice with its polygonal apse
is almost entirely of the XVI century, but certain fragments of transitional architec-
ture that survive in the nave show that this portion of the monument was barrel-vaulted
in the XII century. (Woillez, ap.)

PROULEROY, Oise. Eglise. The ancient tower, which now stands isolated
before the modern church, is decorated with arched corbel-tables. (W'oillez, ap.)

TIYERXY, Oise. Eglise possesses a portal in three orders ornamented with
chevrons, etc. (Woillez, ap.)

BRENOTJILLE, Oise. Eglise. The choir is of the XIV century, the nave
of the XII century. (Woillez.)

FALVY, Somme. Eglise, said to be in part of the transitional epoch, possesses
a fine chapel of the XVI century.

250

OTHER MONUMENTS

BONNIERES, Oise. Eglise is characterized by a very crude nave and a much
modernized facade. (Woillez.)

HOMBLEUX, Somme. Eglise, said to date from the transitional period, was
much altered in 1661.

ROUSSELOY, Oise. Eglise. The capitals are ornamented with sculptures
of birds. (Woillez, ap.)

ROZOY-EN-BRIE, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise is mentioned by M. St. Paul as
contemporary with St. Denis.

ST.-AUBIN-SOUS-ERQUERY, Oise. Eglise. The portal of the facade and
the north wall of the nave are of the XII century. (Woillez, ap.)

CERISY-BULUX, Somme. Eglise is said to be in large part of the tran-
sitional epoch.

ROYE-SUR-MATZ, Oise. Eglise is said to be largely of the XII century.

ST. FELIX, Oise. Eglise is said to be of the XII, XIY, and XVI centuries.

MEZY-MOULIN, Aisne. Eglise is said to be of the XII century. (Guide
Joanne.)

ERQUINVILLERS, Oise. Eglise. The facade is surmounted by a slate
belfry. (Woillez, ap.)

MEULAN, Seine-et-Oise. St. Nicolas. The ruins of this church are said to
date from c. 1150.

ST.-JUST-EN-CHAUSSEE, Oise. Eglise is almost entirely modern.

Other transitional monuments may be found in the departement of Oise, at
BAZANCOURT, CRILLON, ESPAUBOURG, ESSUILES, ETOUY, FRESNOY-
EN-THELLE, GUIGNECOURT, JAUX, LE MEUX, MONCEAUX, MON-
TIERS, MOYENNEVILLE, NEUFVY-SUR-ARONDE, REMERANGLES,
ST.-MARTIN-LE-NOEUD, ST.-PIERRE-ES-CHAMPS, ST.-QUENTIN-
DES-PRES, ST. RIMAULT, THURY, TROISSEREUX, VELENNES, WAC-
QUEMOULIN, and WARLUIS.

251

CHAPTER IX

THE CULMINATION. GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE OF THE NORTH OF
FRANCE, C. 1180-C. 1375

"When the house of God, many-colored as the radiance
of precious stones called me from the cares of this world, then
holy meditation led my mind to thoughts of piety, exalting my
soul from the material to the immaterial, and I seemed to find
myself, as it were, in some strange part of the universe, which
was neither wholly of the baseness of the earth, nor wholly of
the serenity of Heaven, but by the Grace of God I seemed
lifted in a mystic manner from this lower, toward that upper,
sphere. And I was accustomed to ask travelers returning from
Jerusalem, those who had seen the riches of Constantinople
and the splendors of Hagia Sophia, whether these marvels sur-
passed St. Denis." i

These words of Suger, written in the middle of the XII cen-
tury, when Gothic architecture had not yet emerged from the
mists of the early morning twilight, express more happily the
peculiar qualities of this art, than any modern criticism that
has ever been spoken. Videor videre me quasi sub aliqua extranea
orbis terrarum plaga, quae nee iota sit in terrarum faece. In all
the long centuries that have rolled by since the days of Suger,
who has ever stood beneath the soaring vaults of a Gothic
cathedral, without, however unconsciously, repeating to him-
self this time-worn but ever new thought of the abbot of St.

1 I nde, cum ex dilectione decerns domus Dei aliquando multi-color gemmarum specio-
sitas ab exintrinsecis me curis devocaret, sanctarum etiam diversitatem virtutum, de materialibus
ad immaterialia transferendo, honesta tneditatio insistere persuaderet, videor videre me quasi
sub aliqua extranea orbis terrarum plaga, quae nee tota sit in terrarum faece, nee tota in coeli
puritate demorari, ab hac etiam inferior! ad ilium superiorem anagogico more Deo donante posse
transferri. Conferre consuevi cum Hierosolymitanis el gratantissime addiscere, quibus Con-
stantinopolitanae patuerant gazae et Sanctae Sophiae ornamenta, utrum ad comparationem
illorum haec ah'quid valere deberent. (Sugeri, De Re. in Sua Adm. (Jest. XXXIII.)

252

III. l217. — Chapel of the Baptismal Founts at Laon

i •;■ - > ¥ L i

ESTHETIC QUALITIES

Denis ? It is this peculiar quality which for lack of a better
term we may call emotional power, that separates Gothic from
all other architectures and raises it to the supreme height. The
Parthenon is more faultless in taste, more harmonious in en-
semble, more perfect in technique; Hagia Sophia is as vast in
dimension and as warm in color. But the Gothic cathedral alone
possesses the power to lift the mind entirely from the cares
and thoughts of the world, de materialibus ad immaterialia
trans f ere ndo, the power to call forth within the soul a more than
mortal joy, until for the moment the material world is forgotten,
and the mind is carried captive to that strange shore of the uni-
verse which is more of the mould of Heaven than of Earth.

This esthetic emotion, so intangible, yet so compelling, has
often been confused with religious impulse, and no doubt the
two moods are closely associated, since the former often calls
into being the latter. It is for this reason that Gothic archi-
tecture has always been recognized as preeminently suitable
for ecclesiastical buildings. No art could better express the
emotions, the aspirations of the Christian religion. But it is
a mistake to think of Gothic architecture as an exclusively Chris-
tian art; for it rises above the narrow limits of the Christian
cult into that universal supreme religion to which attain only
the greatest revelations of human genius; a religion made famil-
iar to us by the Iliad of Homer, by the Madonnas of Raphael,
by the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven — most of all by Nature,
the supreme artist. The same work of art naturally exercises
this emotional quality in different degrees for different persons,
according to their culture and natural susceptibilities. Gothic
architecture, however, to judge from the numerous writers
who have recorded their impressions, more than music or sculp-
ture or painting, seems to possess the happy faculty not only of
overwhelming at the first impression even the most indifferent,
but of offering the connoisseur a delight which increasing famil-
iarity serves only to deepen. Age cannot wither nor custom
stale the infinite variety of this exquisite art, so eternally fresh.

Yet for all its perfections, Gothic architecture is one of the
most imperfect of all arts. It never achieved the possibilities
which seemed to lie so near at hand. There is no Gothic Par-

253

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

thenon which combines all the beauties of the style. The old
proverb which sighs for the combination of the nave of Amiens,
the choir of Beauvais, the facade of Reims, and the spires of
Chartres is a popular recognition of the failure of Gothic art.
If it be true that none of the great Gothic cathedrals is without
its own particular perfections and its own individual charm, it
is none the less certain that there is none which might not easily,
obviously, have been improved by the adoption of some feature
of another. Thus Gothic architecture seems always to stop
just short of the ideal.

Similarly no important Gothic church has ever been fin-
ished exactly as designed. The sublime aspiration of the XIII
century, ignoring the limitations of time and space, began edi-
fices too ambitious for one generation to carry to completion;
succeeding centuries pursued the work in a half-hearted manner,
changing the original design, and always ended by leaving the
building unfinished. Almost every French cathedral was in-
tended to have seven towers all crowned with spires ; the cathe-
dral of Laon which comes nearest to realizing this conception
has to-day five towers, but only one spire was ever executed, and
that was destroyed in the Revolution. Of the other cathedrals
hardly a single one has ever completed more than the two west-
ern towers, while spires are a veritable rarity in the He de France.
Even the naves, in a majority of cases, have been finished only
at a late date and in a debased style. Not content with leaving
unaccomplished the grand designs of the XIII century, later
ages have not hesitated actually to mutilate the Gothic master-
pieces: chapels have often been built between the buttresses of
the nave, as at Paris, giving the outside walls an unsightly flat-
ness; the "superior" taste of the Renaissance has disfigured
the walls and piers of Chartres, Chalons-sur-Marne, and many
another Gothic church with plaster coatings of the worst imag-
inable style; the vandalism of the Wars of Religion and of the
Revolution has destroyed the priceless sculptures, and — most
irreparable loss of all — the stained glass of the windows; and
finally it was reserved for the restorers of the XIX century
under the valiant leadership of Viollet-le-Duc to destroy much
that time and iconoclast had spared. So the Gothic cathedral

254

GOTHIC DESIGN

remains to us, incomplete, fragmentary, ruined; a broken torso
of a statue unfinished by the master, and only half completed
by weaker hands. And yet, far as it falls short of its possibil-
ities, its mutilated fragments, like the shattered marbles of
ancient Greece, still remain supreme, unapproachable.

The Gothic builders of the best period seem to have been
physically unable to do anything in bad taste. It is little short
of miraculous that in so short a time such a number of build-
ings could have been erected, every one of which, in greater or
less degree, was a work of originality and genius, a work whose
equal has scarcely since been created. That the master builders
of the great cathedrals should all have been men of the highest
ability is, indeed, surprising enough; but the wonder does not
stop here, for the designs of even the smallest parish churches
display an originality, a feeling for beauty that places their
builders at once in the front rank of creative artists. Good
taste rules everywhere; never is anything done to offend; and
better still, even the humblest monuments show something posi-
tive, a creative genius. Such fertility and high average qual-
ity marked, though to a much less extent, the sculpture of the
V century in Greece, the painting of the Renaissance in Italy,
the drama of the Elizabethan era in England, and, in fact, have
characterized the culmination of most of the great art periods
in the world's history; but hardly any other art has ever been
at once so prolific and so excellent as Gothic architecture.

The generally high standard of even the less pretentious
Gothic buildings is probably due largely to the strongly rooted
tradition of the style. The Gothic alphabet was infinitely rich
and varied — much more so than, for example, that of Roman
or Renaissance architecture; moreover it was constantly grow-
ing and developing. But, for all that, it was a rigid alphabet,
to whose laws the builders unflinchingly conformed. If its
multiple letters could be combined in countless permutations
and offered endless opportunity for invention and originality,
new letters of doubtful propriety were not admitted until their
value had been thoroughly demonstrated. Capricious designs
were not tolerated. The builders, especially the minor builders,
tended rather to cling to the established forms of self-evident

255

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

beauty and propriety, while being ever ready to discard them
for new, as soon as the superiority of the latter should be proved.
The Gothic artist was thus conservative without being slavish
or unprogressive.

The culmination of Gothic architecture may fairly be said
to have been reached in the year 1220, when the nave of Amiens
was begun. It is true that each line of progress had its own
separate history and attained its highest development at a differ-
ent time. Stained glass, for example, reached its acme long
before 1220, while the design of the Gothic facade was perfected
only long afterwards. Moreover, what it is convenient to call
the culminating point is a matter of taste and arbitrary judgment,
for Gothic art never stood still or went backwards; it merely
advanced too far. It is, therefore, necessary to speak only in
very general terms. But it is convenient as well as conventional
to take the years 1220-50 as representing the high-water mark
of Gothic architecture.

Now it was at precisely this moment that the power of the
papacy reached its point of greatest expansion; that Rome most
completely dominated the Church and the Church most com-
pletely dominated the French nation. In 1220, the phrase
"liberties of the Gallican Church," later destined to swell into
so powerful a chorus, was still unwhispered. If Philippe-
Auguste (1180-1223) with cynical diplomacy made the Church
an instrument to serve his own political ends, he none the less
found in her the chief support of his throne, and sustained the
Sec of St. Peter against even his own bourgeois. St. Louis
(1226-70), while by no means the passive tool of the Church
which he has been pictured, was none the less the most pious
of monarchs. In short the power of the clergy, founded on the
universal piety of perhaps the most devout age the world has
ever seen, seemed without bounds; there appeared to be no
lengths to which the religious conscience of the time was not
prepared to go.

But in the very moment of the triumph of the Church its
fall was being prepared. Signs of decadence which had faintly

250

III. 220. — St. I'rbain of Troves, from the Southeast

SPREAD OF HERESY

appeared even as early as the reign of Philippe-Auguste multi-
plied in the age of Louis IX. If the XIII century preserved
outwardly the religious character of the XII century, deep
down below this serene surface was an ever-strengthening
undercurrent of XIV century skepticism. Although the age of
Philippe-Auguste was still preeminently an age of faith, the
spirit of opposition to the Church had been born ; it was waxing
strong in the cradles of heresy and free thought; it was being
nourished by the hatred which the bourgeois and the noble
cherished against the clergy; and it was even becoming power-
ful enough to inspire, to a certain extent, the policy of an abso-
lute king.

The most tangible sign of the altered spirit of the times was
the constant spread of heresy. While the great Albigensian
schism was being suppressed, more covert, but none the less
dangerous sects were germinating at Arras (1183), Troyes
(1200), Charite-sur-Loire (1202), and Braine (1204); the " spir-
ituels " — mystics who believed in the coming of the reign of the
Holy Spirit and denounced the Church — increased in num-
bers throughout the Midi. This sect, which originated in Spain
in the first half of the XIII century, flourished in the face of
persecutions, and it was largely to fight this heresy that, in the
reign of St. Louis, the Inquisition was established in France.
Under the leadership of Amauri de Chartres the University of
Paris, one of the very strongholds of papal power, became
tainted with heretical doctrines (1210). Only a small minor-
ity of bold spirits, however, dared attack religion to its face;
the vast majority of unbelievers struck indirectly through blows
aimed at the clergy. Thus war against the Church, her priv-
ileges, and her power, was begun as early as the first half of the
XIII century, and continued to be waged, now openly, now
secretly, but with ever-increasing bitterness and violence as time
went on.

Of all the causes undermining the power of the Church
none was more powerful than the revived study of Aristotle.
Certain works of this master, which had been discovered in
Spain in 1200, were translated into Latin, and studied by the
XIII century with a passion recalling that of the humanists

257

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

of the Renaissance. In vain the papacy put these dangerous
works on the interdict in 1210 and again in 1215; the tide was
too strong to be stemmed; men had already learned from the
Greek philosopher to assume a skeptical attitude, to resort to
reason rather than to faith. It is necessary only to compare
Roarer Bacon with Abclard, Pierre de Maricourt with St. Ber-
nard, to perceive how completely the experimental, inductive
spirit of the XIII century had triumphed over the dogmatic
scholasticism of the preceding age. Thorough Aristotleans
were the great minds of the XIII century, especially of its last
half -- witness Alexandre de Hale, Albert le Grand, Thomas
Aquinas. The idealism, the artificial literature, the mysticism
of the XII century passed away before the rise of the new scien-
tific spirit.

"In the schools of the XII century there was a renaissance
of letters not without analogy to the more celebrated movement,
the Renaissance properly so-called. The majority of men who
wrote in Latin were litterateurs, humanists, rhetoricians, laden
with the spoils of antiquity; even those who, like Abelard and
Gilbert de la Poiree, treated abstruse questions, prided them-
selves upon writing in good style. In the vernacular, on the
other hand, flourished the chanson, and the roman courtois -
all the literature of chivalry, worldly, agreeable, polished, with-
out depth or sincerity.

"A hundred years after St. Bernard and Chretien de Troyes,
is the time of St. Thomas and Jean de Menu; all is changed.
And it is difficult to imagine a more complete contrast. Hence-
forward among the clergy there are no more polished orators
or poets, no more makers of Latin verses, such as had been
Gautier de Chatillon or Hildebert de Lavardin whose works
are such literal imitations of the classics that they have been
mistaken for ancient fragments. Seek a poet, you will find
him not; the hexameter and pentameter are forgotten; short
lyrics, now pious, now obscene, are the only metrical composi-
tions that this age produced. Theologians and philosophers
discuss new problems and speak a new technical jargon that
their predecessors of a century before would hardly have under-
stood. Finally in the secular world chivalry has played its

258

DECLINE OF THE CHURCH

time; the idealistic conceptions of the preceding century are no
longer taken seriously, or are even ridiculed.

"The XII century had seemed to despair of reason; never
had mystics, scorners of science and scientific inquiry, been more
numerous than when the theological school of the monastery
of St. Victor of Paris was in its glory. The XIII century, on
the other hand, was the most passionately intellectual epoch of
the Middle Ages; it trusted above all to reason; it tried to know;
it wished to prove everything." !

While thus the power of the church was being undermined
from within, its enemies did not cease to attack it from with-
out. In 1246-47 there was formed throughout France a great
anti-clerical league of the nobles, which was in many places
joined by the bourgeois and peasants. In 1248 when St. Louis
was in danger in the crusade in Egypt a great wave of anger
against the Church swept over France. In those days, says
Salimbene, the French uttered blasphemy; when the Domin-
icans or Franciscans asked alms the people laughed in their
faces and gave to other poor in their presence. A great army
of 60,000 enemies of the church banded themselves together
under the leadership of the "Master of Hungry," and pushed
on to Paris, where they were well received by the populace.
When this army arrived, so great was the popular fury against
the clergy that a great number of priests were killed, wounded,
or thrown into the river. One prelate who was celebrating
mass was stripped of his vestments and derisively crowned with
roses.2

The bitter quarrel of the papacy with the University of Paris
in the second half of the XIII century was very influential in
discrediting Rome with the national French Church. From
1250 to 1290 the University "learned to distinguish the dictates
of Italy from those of religion." Thus the great majority of
the members of the University embraced the cause of Philippe-
le-Bel against Boniface in the great crisis of 1303.3

The crusades of St. Louis (1248 and 1266) were sorry affairs
foredoomed to failure and pushed through by the king against

1 Lavisse, Hist, de France III2, 387. - Lavisse, op. cit. Ill,2 80.

3 Ibid., 385.

259

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

the will of his people and even against the will of the pope. No
more complete contrast can be imagined than that presented
by these forced expeditions with the spontaneous enthusiasm
of 1099. The X11I century saw the last traces of Christian
domination in the Holy Land fade away.

But the most crushing blow of all inflicted upon the French
Church was the levying of taxes. Philippe-Auguste as early as
1189 had tried to tax the Church to ten per cent of its revenues;
the attempt did not succeed immediately, but in 1215 and 1218
the tax was established. The era of ecclesiastical "decimes "
had opened, and the way had been prepared for the crushing
burden destined to be imposed upon the clergy by the successors
of Louis IX. A little later the popes also began to demand
the right to tax the clergy and even to call on the bishops for
soldiers. Between these two mill-stones the French Church
knew not which way to turn. It appealed to the pope against
the king, and to the king against the pope. These two powers
met the situation by entering into an agreement each to aid the
other in levying the taxes claimed. With its two persecutors
thus in accord the Church could do little but meet as best it
could the enormous drain imposed upon its resources. By the
end of the reign of Louis IX (1270), the great majority of cathe-
drals and abbeys were heavily in debt; for since the normal
resources were insufficient to pay the taxes, loans had to be
contracted from the Lombard bankers at exorbitant rates of
interest; and these loans could be liquidated only by fresh bor-
rowing. Thus the finances of the French Church rapidly went
from bad to worse — a fact which largely explains the great
relaxation of building activity that occurred at precisely this
moment.

Meanwhile corruption was progressing apace within the
Church. By the opening of the XIV century all the effects of
the XII century reform had disappeared, and the regular and
secular clergy had alike fallen into decadence. The accumula-
tion of benefices, immorality, and simony reigned unchecked.
In certain places the clerks were even considered as baser than
Jews. The many ignorant and immoral persons who had been
allowed to become priests, inspired the people with scorn for

260

III. 222. — Facade of Laon

ANAGNI

the sacraments. Excommunications were so much abused
that the power of the keys was openly ridiculed. Scandalous
and blasphemous charges were constantly brought against
the Church and its ministers. Throughout the length and
breadth of France Sunday was no longer observed; instead of
going to church, the people attended fairs, held law courts,
bought, sold, and transacted business. The churches were empty,
while the places of business and the taverns were crowded.1 In
the fabliaux of the period, the priest is always pictured as a
glutton who passes his time pleasantly in the handsomest house
of the village, in company with the "priestess," his mistress.

All the fat benefices were filled by the pope with foreigners,
often of the loosest morals. Guillaume le Maire states that of
thirty-five prebends which had become vacant in a certain
cathedral in the course of twenty years, the bishop had filled
only two, all the others being disposed of by the pope and the
cardinals. The bishop was hence unable to reward the deserv-
ing clerks of his diocese on their return from the universities;
these rejected clerks, poor and discouraged at the uselessness
of the sacrifices they had undertaken for love of knowledge,
married or entered the service of princes, and often became the
enemies who attacked most bitterly ecclesiastical liberties.
Instead of these deserving native clerks were appointed Italians
who for the most part did not reside and who received the
revenues of churches whose crucifix they had never even seen.2

Thus before Anagni, the power of the French Church had
been broken largely by the papacy itself, and when, under
Philippe-le-Bel, the pope had occasion to call upon the French
clergy to assert their independence, there was no response.
The Gallic Church dared not raise her voice to blame the sac-
rilege of Guillaume de Nogaret; she abandoned Boniface who
had tried to defend her against royal rapaciousness ; she deliv-
ered up the Templars (1307), and even made herself the instru-
ment of their punishment. In a word the Gallic Church had
become the docile servant of the French king.

The final and most crushing blow to the Church was deliv-
ered at Anagni in 1303 — a blow which broke forever the power

1 Lavisse, op. eit., 359. 2 Lavisse, op. cit., IIP, 361.

261

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

of Rome. The long Babylonian Captivity of the popes at
Avignon (1308-141?) severely injured the prestige, not only
of the papacy, but of Christianity. Simultaneously the last
trace of that peculiar religious mysticism so characteristic of
the XII century passed away from the soul of the French people.

To its place succeeded superstition. The chronicles of the
first half of the XIV century throw in the strongest light the
brutality and the hypocrisy of the religious beliefs of the period.
Whoever stood in the way of the king or of Guillaume de No-
garet was accused of some monstrous crime, — of making a
wax image in the likeness of the king to cause his death, or of
some equally preposterous act of magic. Hundreds were sent
to death on such charges. It suffices to look into the records
of the prosecution of the Templars or of any of the many
celebrated lawsuits of the time to find hosts of the most absurd
accusations of witchcraft and magic. Never in the history of
France were seen so many executions for supposed crimes, as
under the last Capetians. No more do we read of miracles,
of gentle interpositions of the Virgin, of miraculous cures; the
popular mind runs to the black arts, it delights in tales of
sorcery and incantations. In a word, belief in the basest and
most repulsive demonology has supplanted the faith of the
XII century, — a faith that was blind and unthinking, it is
true, but none the less touching and poetic.

As time went on, the same decadence attacked learning and
intellectual activity.1 Theology almost passed away. The Latin
of the ecclesiastical authors became worse and worse; gram-
matical errors abound even in the documents of the University
of Paris. At the end of the century, in the midst of the dis-
asters of the Hundred Years' War, Nicolas de Clamanges, a
humanist of much zeal, tried to bring about a reform, but he
belonged to a small group of purists, whose efforts were of no
avail.

It is above all to the decline of the Church that must be
attributed the peculiar qualities of Gothic architecture of the so-
called rayonnant period — a period that began about 12.50 and
entirely passed away only in the last quarter of the XIV cen-

1 See, however, Lavisse, op. (it., IV1, 393.
2(52

III. ■i'iS. — Facade of Paris

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

tiny. To the lack of enthusiasm of the age, and to the over-
burdening of the clerical resources by taxes, was due that almost
total cessation of building activity that followed the tremendous
energy of the last half of the XII, and the first half of the XIII,
century. To the new scientific spirit, to the lack of idealism,
was due the naturalistic tendencies of this art, its somewhat
cold correctness; to the destruction of the power of the Church,
was due its death.

It is usually believed that the small architectural production
of the XIV century is to be explained by the great building
activity of the preceding period — an activity which, it is claimed,
left the churches of France in such excellent condition that there
was no reason for a later age to rebuild them. But although
it is true that new cathedrals, abbeys, and parish churches had
been begun in the early Gothic period everywhere throughout
France, the vast majority of these had been left unfinished
— indeed, notwithstanding that the construction has been ad-
vanced in the flamboyant period, they stand to this day incom-
plete. Therefore there was a vast quantity of building which
it was not only possible but needful that the XIV century should
carry out. Nevertheless this was left undone. In fact, so
absolutely was building abandoned, that genuine examples of
XIV century architecture are extremely rare — a few isolated
fragments here and there in the great cathedrals are all that
we have from which to form an idea of the style of the period.

It has also been many times repeated that the Hundred
Years' War destroyed Gothic architecture. While such a cata-
clysm would doubtless have been sufficient to stop architec-
tural activity, as a matter of fact the energy of Gothic seems to
have been quite thoroughly exhausted before the war began.
Production and progress had greatly fallen off by the opening
years of the XIV century; while at the time of the commence-
ment of the war in 1338, and long before the great disasters of
Crecy (1346) and Poitiers (1356) had brought economic ruin
on the country, architectural art had passed under a shadow
as deep as that which was to overtake it in the darkest days of
Charles VI.

This is the more remarkable in that the general conditions

263

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

in France during the first half of the XIV century were distinctly
such as would naturally be assumed to make for progress in
the arts. In the long peace of the XIII century — a peace ex-
tending, except for unimportant interruptions for a period of a
century and a half, from the beginning of the reign of Philippe-
Auguste, to the end of that of Philippe-le-Bel -- France had
enjoyed a golden era of prosperity and economic progress. The
age of St. Louis continued to be sighed for, as the acme of hap-
piness, by future generations for centuries to come. Nor was
this prosperity essentially marred by the slight wars which oc-
curred at the end of the XIII, and in the early XIV, centuries:
-those of Philippe-le-Bel and Edward I (1294-97), of Charles
IV and Edward II (1324-27). Of more importance was the
war with Flanders which was begun in 1297 and which termi-
nated in the disaster of Courtrai (1302), ominous prelude of
the great reverses of the Hundred Years' War; yet even this
was not enough to disturb the tranquil prosperity of the country.

Doubtless more exhausting, economically, was the ruinous
financial policy of Philippe-le-Bel. Forever in monetary diffi-
culties this monarch drained the clergy, the nobility, and the
tiers Hat by his continual taxation, squeezing the resources of
France to the last drop. But not content with this crushing
taxation, the insatiable avidity of the king resorted to more harm-
ful means of raising funds. The debasement of the royal money
begun in 1295 reached its height in 1306, and the evil example
was followed by the succeeding kings. Such a financial policy
could not fail to disturb commerce and overturn business
relations.

Equally disastrous were the persecutions of the Jews. In
1306 the goods of these valuable citizens were confiscated, and
the entire people exiled. Later certain individuals were allowed
to come back, but they were again persecuted, together with
the lepers, in 1321. Thus was destroyed the most industrious
and prosperous portion of the community. The loss was keenly
felt in the decline of general prosperity which followed. A sim-
ilar economic error was the persecution of the Lombards, which
among other grave results caused the decline of the great fairs
of Champagne, still so flourishing in the time of St. Louis.

264

Ju ^H — Facade of Reims

STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES

Although from such causes there was undoubtedly a slight
decrease in the general prosperity of the country, there is still
no question that at the opening of the Hundred Years' War,
France was in an extraordinarily flourishing condition. The
population seems to have been more dense than it ever subse-
quently became until the XIX century. Commerce and agri-
culture stood at the high-water mark. That architecture should
have declined so precipitately at such a time must, therefore,
have been due not to the general conditions of the country, but
to the special conditions within the Church.

If, however, the Hundred Years' War was not the primary
cause of the death of Gothic art, there can be no question it at
least gave the final coup de grace. As early as Poitiers (1356)
the resources of the kingdom were nearly exhausted; and dur-
ing the breathing space afforded by the tenure of the Treaty of
Calais (1360-68) the utmost efforts of the monarchy to recoup
resources and regulate the finances were unavailing. These
were dark days for France. The entire Southwest in the hands
of the English; the nation divided against itself; Paris in the
hands of Etienne Marcel (1355) ; the Etats-Generaux tending
more and more to open revolt; the Jacquerie of 1358; the Black
Death of 1348 which carried off probably a half of the total
population; the country overrun by "les compagnies" — bands
of free-booters and robbers, stronger than the royal armies,
who pillaged at will and absolutely destroyed intercommunica-
tion ; — all these conditions reduced the land to the extreme of
economic exhaustion. Matters brightened somewhat during the
reign of Charles V (1364-80), although continual warfare left
no respite for gathering material resources. But soon after
the accession of Charles VI began that series of disasters des-
tined to bring France to the lowest point of her fortunes. In
the darkness and misery of this unhappy time flickered and
went out the last glowing ember of Gothic architecture.

Although the Gothic builders, for the most part, merely
carried to their logical conclusion those structural principles
which had already been clearly enunciated in the transitional

265

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

era, yet after the year 1180 a certain number of new construc-
tions came into use, and many old ideas were given a new sig-
nificance. Most important was the suppression of the wall
surface. Entranced by the ravishing effect of the stained glass
windows, the builders of the transition had already begun to
enlarge to the utmost the size and number of the lights. At
St. Remi (111. 183) three lancets had been grouped together
in each bay of the clearstory. Ordinarily, however, the space
beneath the vault was not broad enough in proportion to its
height to allow so many windows to be happily disposed. On
the other hand it was impossible to occupy the entire space by
one window, since the resulting surface of glass was larger
than could safely be trusted to resist the force of winds and
storms. Consequently two lancets were usually grouped to-
gether, and above them, to complete the composition, was in-
serted a circular window or an oculus. A good example of a
window of this type may be seen in the Chapel of the Baptismal
Founts at Laon (extreme right of 111. 217).

That window tracery was evolved in this manner, the numer-
ous intermediate examples leave no doubt, although the builders
of the transitional era seem several times to have nearly invented
it without such a process of development. Thus the tympanum
of the grouped arches of the triforium of St. Germer is pierced
(111. 173); the "wheel" of the rose window of St. Etienne of
Beauvais closely resembles true tracery (111. 213) ; and the oculi
of the original triforium at Paris had richly cusped bars of
open work.

It was an easy step to combine the three separate openings
of a window like that of Laon into a single composition, and
to replace the original simple cusping of the oculus by a more
elaborate pattern. Excellent examples of windows of this
type -- known as windows with plate tracery — may be seen
in the clearstory of Chartres (111. 218). Plate tracery, which
first came into use c. 1200, always consists of openings cut in
a solid wall, the pattern thus being formed of voids, not of solids;
the window is always a group of openings of various decorative
shapes, rather than a single opening divided by mullions.

However, the fragments of wall separating the lights came

266

III. X'-lo. — Rouen. Portail des Libraires

WINDOW TRACERY

to be more and more reduced until before the end of the first
quarter of the XIII century they had become true mullions
— i.e., slender reed-like interstices of stone, profiled and sup-
plied with capitals. Tracery formed of mullions is known as
bar tracery, and no more beautiful examples can be found than
in the clearstory of Amiens (111. 219).

Tracery as thus developed made it possible to construct
windows as large as desired, since the mullions, by breaking
up the large fields of glass, removed all danger that these should
be blown in by the force of the wind. Hence the Gothic builders
conceived the inspired idea of omitting altogether the walls,
and converting the entire cathedral into a structure of glass,
merely supported and held together by a stone frame. This
conception, in addition to being very beautiful esthetically, was
extremely practical from a structural point of view, for it light-
ened enormously the dead weight of the entire building, and
thus made possible the use of far more slender supports. The
great principle of the suppression of the wall was carried to its
logical conclusion in the nave of Amiens (111. 219).

Bar tracery, however, was more than a mere support for
the glass; it was a beautiful thing in itself. Many of the most
exquisite decorative forms in all Gothic art are to be found in
the infinitely varied, but always beautiful, designs of the tracery.
In the earlier examples the pattern is invariably restrained
and simple ; in the apex of the window is placed a rosette, —
a reminiscence of the primitive oculus — and beneath this are
grouped two, or sometimes three, lancets.1 Even in later times
this same general scheme was usually preserved, but it was
enriched and varied by subdivisions and embellishments intro-
duced within the great divisions.

Thus by the middle of the XIII century the tracery had come
to assume very rich and complicated patterns. The mullions
had become so light and graceful, as to resemble willow rods
rather than stone. Particularly gracious examples of tracery
of this type, known as rayonnant from the 'radiating' patterns
it assumed in the rose windows, may be seen at St. Urbain
of Troyes (111. 220). In the XIV century the development of

1 A lancet is a pointed light without subdivisions by mullions.
267

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

tracery consisted merely in extending and intensifying the
tendencies already manifest. The patterns became extremely
complex, at times almost over-elaborate, although it would be
hypercriticism to find fault with such wealth of imagination
as is shown, for example, in the design of the windows of the
transept of Le Mans (111. 221).

The tracery of rose windows developed in a precisely anal-
ogous manner. The great rose of the west facade of Chartres
(111. 190) consists of a central wheel — quite similar to that
which had been built nearly a century before at St. Etienne
of Beauvais (111. 213) — surrounded by a circle of rosettes in
plate tracery. The western rose of Laon (111. 222) stands half
way between plate and bar tracery, and the western rose of
Paris (111. 223) shows true bar tracery disposed in a pattern
which already tends to become radiating. From such a design
it was an easy step to the fully developed rayonnant rose win-
dows, such as those of the west facade of Reims (111. 224), or
of the north transept of Rouen (111. 225). Such compositions,
whether judged from the exterior as pure design, or seen from
within with all the added luster of the colored glass, must rank
among the most lovely and poetical architectural designs con-
ceived by the Middle Ages; the patterns, infinitely varied, seem
each to surpass the others in delicacy and beauty of composi-
tion. In no other feature were the Gothic builders more uni-
versally successful, and hardly a rose window was executed in
the rayonnant period that is not a veritable masterpiece. The
chef d'oeuvre, the masterpiece of masterpieces, however, is
assuredly the southern rose of Paris.

Next to the development of tracery and the consequent sup-
pression of the wall surface, the most important advance of the
early Gothic period was the return to the quadripartite vault.
The advantages of this system would seem to be obvious, but
it was at first adopted only with hesitation. Thus although
a quadripartite vault was built at Meaux in the late XII cen-
tury, a sexpartite vault was planned for Auxerre c. 1215; and
at the same time that quadripartite vaults were being built
over the naves of St. Remi of Reims (1182-98) and of Lisieux
(about contemporary), the builders of Paris were abandoning

268

III. £"26. — Paris. Interior

QUADRIPARTITE SYSTEM

the quadripartite form planned since 1163 in favor of the sex-
partite system. However, notwithstanding this vacillation and
uncertainty, the quadripartite form was steadily gaining ground,
and by c. 1200 the use of sexpartite vaults had become really
exceptional. Thus at St.-Loup-de-Naud and at Voulton, alter-
nate systems planned for sexpartite vaults were finally crowned
by quadripartite vaults, — a curious reversal of the dispositions
of Paris. In the end the sexpartite form fell completely into
disuse, and so ended this strange excursion of the French builders
into the architectural forms of Normandy.

Even before the quadripartite vault had come into exclu-
sive use, the builders had ventured to lighten the construction
sufficiently to make it possible to replace all the compound
piers — - in the alternate as well as in the intermediate supports
— by monocylindrical piers or columns. This was done, in the
first years of the Gothic period, at Lisieux, in the western bays
of the nave of Laon (111. 248), and in all except the two western-
most bays of the nave of Paris (111. 226). When the quadri-
partite vault was adopted, the piers were logically made all of
the same size, and the excessive weight which had formerly
been concentrated on the alternate piers, making it difficult to
place columns in this position, was relieved.

While the quadripartite system thus in one way facilitated
the construction of monocylindrical piers, in another way it
complicated that problem, for it was difficult to gather five
shafts on a single abacus, as must be done when monocylindrical
piers were used with a quadripartite system (or in the alternate
supports of a sexpartite system). In the transitional period, as
at Noyon (111. 180), or Senlis (111. 181), cylindrical piers had been
used only in the intermediate supports of a sexpartite system,
where there were only three shafts — two wall shafts and an
intermediate transverse shaft — to be provided for. But when
all the supports of a sexpartite system were made monocylin-
drical, the alternate abaci must support five shafts, — two wall,
two diagonal, and one transverse — and there were similarly
five shafts in every support of a quadripartite system. To
gather all these five shafts on a single abacus was extremely
difficult. Nevertheless this was done in the western bays of

269

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

the nave of Laon,1 not, however, without producing grave dis-
tortions. At Chapelle-sur-Crecy and elsewhere the expedient
was adopted of resting the shafts on corbels placed just above
the abaci — an expedient which was soon found to be neither
logical structurally nor satisfactory to the eve. A more hopeful
scheme was tried in the eastern portions of the nave of Laon
(111. 227, Fig. 1). The alternate piers were surrounded by five
free-standing colonnettes, four of which supported the corners
of the abacus, while the fifth, standing in front of the column,

O^Q

III. 227. — Diagram. Piers of Laon, Paris (Oth and 7th hays,
Peauvais)

supported a bulge in the center of the abacus which by this
means was sufficiently enlarged to afford footing for the shafts.
In the sixth pier of the nave of Paris, counting from the east,
a further improvement was introduced. The four colonnettes
which had supported the angles of the abacus at Laon were
omitted; the fifth --the one opposite the middle of the pier —
instead of standing free, was engaged (111. 227, Fig. 2). Thus
was produced a pier at once more compact and more pleasing
esthetically, since the vertical lines of the system were continued
to the ground. The adjustment of system and shaft, however,

1 Although those hays are later than the eastern portions described helow.

270

III. 229. — Chartres. Interior

III. 230. — Reims. Interior

SHAFTS

still remained awkward, for since these two sets of vertical lines
were not in precisely the same plane, there resulted an unpleas-
ant set-back at the capital (111. 226). At Soissons (111. 228)
this defect was largely remedied.1

An even more satisfactory type of pier was invented c. 1192 ( ?)
in the seventh bay of Paris (111. 228, Fig. 3). The colonnette
engaged on the center of the principal face was retained, but
three other colonnettes were added symmetrically, one on the
middle of each of the other faces. These additional colonnettes
supported the archivolts of the main arcade and the ribs of the
aisle vaulting. Thus was evolved the form of support used in
the great Gothic cathedrals, Chartres, Reims, Amiens.

It remained for the builders of Beauvais, however, to per-
fect the design of piers. Since the principal thrust exerted
against the supports was at right angles to the axis of the church,
it was logical to make the pier thicker in this direction. Ac-
cordingly the core was given an elliptical instead of a circular
shape, the greater diameter being thus opposed to the direction
of the greatest strain (111. 227, Fig. 4).

While by these gradual stages the design of piers was being
perfected, certain improvements were being made in the arrange-
ment of the shafts. To diminish the bulk of the load imposed
upon the abaci, the wall shafts were often not carried down to
the level of the main arcade, but were made to rest on the clear-
story or triforium string-course. Thus at Chartres (111. 229),
Reims (111. 230), and Beauvais (111. 231), only three shafts rest
on the abaci. At Amiens (111. 219), the same idea was carried
even farther; since the colonnette engaged on the face of the pier
had no capital, the transverse shaft was practically carried to
the ground and only two shafts rested on the abacus. This
system at Amiens is the most beautiful of all that the medieval
builders invented; there is no distortion, no cramping, no strain-
ing of adjustment. With the structural advantages of slender
supports were combined the continuous vertical lines, so essen-
tial to the esthetic effect of the Gothic church. The eye is led
smoothly and irresistibly from the ground to the summit of the
soaring vaults.

1 Moore, p. 129.
271

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

Many other systems — all different and all beautiful in their
way — were designed in the course of the XIII century. Thor-
oughly typical of Normandy is the system of Seez (111. 232)
where there is only a single shaft; almost as radically different
from the typical French design is the system at Bourges (111.
233) — a system in which the contour of the circular pier is
carried along the clearstory wall in a sort of bulging core, on
which are engaged the slender vaulting shafts. Three of these
shafts are continuous in all the supports; but since the vault
is sexpartite, on the alternate piers two additional shafts are
engaged above the great capitals. Thus the Gothic builders
introduced a well-nigh infinite variety into the designs of their
systems, and if they seldom departed from the normal type as
widely as at Seez or Bourges, they none the less, among all the
buildings of the XIII century, hardly repeated twice exactly
the same arrangement of shafts and colonnettes.

The type of pier developed in the seventh bay of Paris (111.
227, Fig. 2) presented certain difficulties in the design of the
capital. Gothic capitals were proportioned not to the height,
but to the diameter of the shaft. Since, therefore, the main
core of the pier had a greater diameter than the engaged colon-
nettes, it required a deeper capital. At Reims (111. 230) the
colonnettes and piers were given capitals of the same depth,
proportioned to the diameter of the pier, but a string-course
marked the normal depth of a capital for the colonnettes. More
satisfactory are the capitals of Chartres (111. 229). The colon-
nettes of the alternate piers of this cathedral are octagonal, but
the capitals of all the piers are similar. Piers and colonnettes are
given separate capitals of the depth normal to each, the capitals
of the piers being thus much deeper than those of the colonnettes.
This type of capital was repeated in the cathedral of Beauvais
(111. 231) practically unchanged, but at Amiens (111. 234) it
was improved by omitting altogether the foliage from the cen-
tral colonnette, which thus became merely a continuation of the
transverse shaft.

In the rayonnant period entirely new tendencies appeared in
the design of the systems. The shafts were made more and more
slender; at length they became so extenuated that they could

272

III. 231. — Beauvais. Interior

III. 232. — System of Seez

III. 233. — Bourges. Interior

FLYING BUTTRESSES

be continued to the ground in the old Romanesque manner
without giving undue bulk to the pier. They were next given
profiles similar to those of the ribs they supported; and as shaft
and rib had now the same size and shape, there was no need
for capitals at the springing of the vault to adjust these members.
The capitals were accordingly greatly reduced in size and im-
portance, and at last omitted altogether, so that the ribs rose
from the pavement to the summit of the vault without interrup-
tion. The capitals of the main piers also tended to disappear.
The idea of carrying the shafts of the system through these
capitals became increasingly popular after c. 1225, and by the
end of the XIII century was almost universally adopted. Fur-
thermore, the core of the pier came to be surrounded by many
little colonnettes,each supporting some member of the archivolt of
the main arcades or one of the ribs of the aisle vaulting. Since
each one of these little shafts was given a capital, the great cap-
ital of the main pier became superfluous. Finally in the spaces
between the shafts the mouldings of the archivolts were con-
tinued to the ground. It was an easy step to omit the capitals
of the shafts also, but this step was taken only in the flamboyant
period.

The character which Gothic systems had thus come to
assume in the last half of the XIV century is admirably shown
by the choir of St. Satur (111. 235) — a monument full of inter-
est as the only important example extant of the last phase of
Gothic architecture. A glance at the photograph will make
it evident how radically the design of this church departs from
the ideals of the XIII century.

Like the system, the flying buttress, though established in
the transitional period, reached its perfection only in the XIII
century. Its development was based upon two new principles
only dimly understood before the year 1200. The first of these
was the fact that the thrust of a rib vault is spread over a con-
siderable distance and cannot be concentrated on one point.
Therefore the flying buttresses were constructed with two half
arches or struts, one abutting the clearstory wall below the
other. The strip of wall surface between the two struts was
then stiffened — ordinarily by means of an engaged column —

273

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

and a perfect counter-thrust had been obtained. Early ex-
amples of double flying buttresses occur at St. Leu d'Esserent
and Senlis. At Chartres (111. 218) the idea was carried almost
to an extreme, — not only were the struts of the flying buttresses
doubled, but the lower strut was made immensely heavy and
divided by an open-work arcade, thus forming practically a
triple flying buttress. After repeated experiment it was found
that perfect stability could be most economically assured by
double buttresses, such as those of the nave of Amiens (111. 236).
Occasionally, as in the choir of that cathedral, the two struts
were united by an open-work arcade, but the principle at bottom
was the same. In smaller buildings, and even in a few great
churches, such as the chevet of the cathedral of Coutances, a
single flying buttress was found sufficient to support the vault;
the double type, however, continued to be the truly character-
istic form.

The second great principle governing the development of
the flying buttress was the obvious fact that its stability could
be increased by piling up weight over the upright portion of
the buttress. Thus as early as c. 1212 the Gothic master
builders of Soissons had begun to load their buttresses with
pinnacles, but they made the mistake of applying these pinnacles
to the inside edges of the upright portion of the buttresses, in-
stead of to the outside edges, where the weight would be most
effectively exerted. This defect, however, was promptly rem-
edied in subsequent buildings. Like many another structural
necessity of Gothic, the pinnacle rapidly became a decorative
feature of striking beauty — a feature, indeed, to which the
Gothic exterior owes half its character and beauty. Small at
first, these pinnacles were quickly developed into the noble
features which crown the buttresses of Amiens (111. 236) and
Reims (111. 237). Indeed, the flying buttress reached its most
perfect development at Reims. Anything more lovely than
the soaring upward lines of the pinnacles of this cathedral with
their great niches sheltering statues, their countless wealth of
detail, the hand of man has not produced. The flying buttress
had expressed its utmost.

Less successful was the treatment of the flying buttress in

274

III. 234. — Amiens, Interi

III. 235. — St. Satur. Choir

III. 230. — Flying buttresses of nave, Amiei

FLYING BUTTRESSES

the clievet of Reims (111. 237), where double aisles, both of the
same height, had to be spanned. The double struts were built
in two flights, separated by a buttress rising from between the
outer aisles and crowned by a superb pinnacle. The defect
of these buttresses lay in the fact that the outer flight of struts
did not continue the lines of the first, and thus did not transmit
the thrusts of the great vault directly to the outermost abut-
ments, as would have been at once more logical structurally
and more satisfactory to the eye.1 Since, however, continuous
flights tended to lower the elevation of the outer struts above
the aisle roof, and thus diminish the architectural effect of these
striking features, the Gothic builders long hesitated to make
the flights continuous. The perfect adjustment was found
only in the rayonnant period, as at St. Ouen of Rouen (111.
238).

The problem of carrying flying buttresses across double
aisles was complicated, when, as frequently happened, the
inner aisle was higher than the outer, or surmounted by a gal-
lery. In this case flying buttresses must be provided not only
for the great vaults of the nave, but for the vaults of the aisle
or its gallery. In the original design of the cathedral of Paris
there were two flights of double struts, but the lower strut of
the inner flight was concealed beneath the gallery roof. This
hardly happy arrangement was later transformed in the clievet
into the present system, where both aisles are boldly cleared by
a single strut in one flight, while a second single strut abuts the
gallery vaults. The chevet of Coutances is analogous. At
Bourges there are two double flights, but the lower strut of the
outer flight abuts the vaults of the inner aisle, so that the two
struts abutting the nave vaults are continued by only a single

1 It is to be noticed that the buttresses rising from between the aisles were probably stiffer
than the outer buttresses, since the latter must withstand the thrusts of the aisle vaulting in ad-
dition to the thrusts transmitted by the struts, while the former carried no thrusts from the aisle
vaulting, for the vaults of the inner and outer aisles exactly counterbalanced each other. Thus
the builders of Reims may have wished to concentrate the thrust of the great vaults on the inner
buttresses. As a matter of fact, however, the strain on the outer buttresses would not have been
increased by making the flights continuous, since if the inner buttresses were stiff enough to
carry the thrusts, they would absorb these thrusts in any event. The inertia of these inner
buttresses would have to be overcome before strain could be brought to bear upon the outer
buttresses.

275

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

strut in the outer flight (111. 239). At Le Mans (111. 221), a
most original adjustment was devised. Since the outer sup-
ports were twice as many as the inner supports, the flying but-
tresses were split in two over the outer aisle, converging at an
angle on the buttress rising from between the aisles. Thus each
flight of flying buttresses over the inner aisle was abutted by
two flights over the outer aisles. The struts were similar in
each. These buttresses rank with the sadly mutilated examples
of Beauvais (111. 240), as among the noblest and most powerful
designed in the Gothic period.

Although the problem of the ambulatory had been prac-
tically solved in the transitional period, and although the Gothic
builders in the main continued loyal to the principle of the broken
rib, they none the less tried certain new devices for erecting
vaults on a curved plan. Of these the most ingenious was
that introduced in the double ambulatory of Paris, where the
vault surface was cleverly divided into a series of nearly equal
triangles (111. 241). Here two points of support in the choir
corresponded to three between the aisles and four in the outer
wall. At St. Remi of Reims, at Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-
Marne (111. 242), and in fact generally in Champagne, two col-
umns were placed in the mouth of the radiating chapels. By
this means the awkward trapezoidal space of the outer aisle
was divided into a rectangle and two triangles, both easily
vaulted. At bottom this was only a new variation of the old
device the Carolingian builders had adopted four hundred years
before at Aachen (111. 85, Vol. I). At Bourges (111. 243) the
same principle (except that there were no chapels) was applied,
not altogether successfully, to ribs curved in plan, like those of
Moricnval. In another group of monuments of which the am-
bulatory of Soissons (111. 244) is a capital example, the motive
invented by the transitional builders at Poissy was developed.
The vaults of the radiating chapel and of the ambulatory were
combined into one, the keystone being placed about on a level
with the outer edge of the aisle. This same principle was still
further developed in the cathedral of Coutances (111. 245) and
at Vitry (Seine). At St. Quentin where there were no radiating
chapels, the vaults, on analogy with this construction, were

27G

GLAZED TRIFORIUMS

made to assume a form similar to those of a square east end
vaulted on the chevet principle.

While the Gothic builders were thus experimenting with
the ambulatory vault, a most important innovation was intro-
duced into the design of the chevet. A polygonal was substi-
tuted for a curved plan. Polygonal choirs had frequently
been erected on a small scale in the XII century, but the chevet
of Soissons (1199-1212) was perhaps the first building of large
dimensions to which this principle was applied (111. 244). After
Amiens (1220) Gothic chevets were always polygonal.

The most important change the Gothic builders wrought
in the design of the nave was the omission of triforium galleries.
Paris (111. 226), Laon, St. Remi of Reims (111. 183), retained the
old division into four stories; but in the XIII century the gal-
lery passed out of use at about the same time that sexpartite
vaults ceased to be employed. Soissons (111. 228) and Chartres
(111. 229) established the type of interior design destined to pre-
vail throughout the Gothic period — a type characterized by a
nave of three stories with triforium arcade but no gallery. At
Amiens (111. 219) the triforium and clearstory were bound
together in a single composition by continuous shafts. This
motive had already been tried in the XII century, as, for example,
at St. Remi of Reims (111. 183), but always in naves with four
horizontal divisions. When applied to a three-storied nave
like Amiens, the effect was to reduce still further the importance
of the horizontal lines, by substituting two great horizontal
divisions for three. With the vast dimensions, especially of
height, that Gothic buildings had now come to assume, this
accentuation of the vertical, at the expense of the horizontal,
was of great significance. The effect of the colossal dimensions
was vastly increased, and the interior was given that soaring,
aspiring character, so typical of Gothic architecture.

The motive was carried still further when the triforium
came to be glazed, and thus made to form actually part of the
clearstory. Such a construction was in a way the logical con-
clusion of the tendencies of Gothic art, since the wall surface
was thereby still further suppressed and the third horizontal
story of the nave absolutely eliminated. Furthermore, the

277

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

esthetic effect was one of entrancing loveliness (111. 246, 231).
Nevertheless the introduction of the glazed triforium marked
the first falling-off of Gothic architecture from strictly struc-
tural principles; the first sacrifice of logic to purely esthetic
considerations. For the triforium arcade had been a struc-
tural feature, and could be omitted only by so far depressing
the slope of the aisle roofs as to interfere seriously with the
effective discharge of rain-water, or else by covering the aisles
with conical roofs, a construction which caused interior valleys
always difficult to drain.

Conical aisle roofs were first constructed over the outer
ambulatory of Reims (111. 237), where the builders seem to
have felt that a continuous lean-to roof over both aisles could
not be given a sufficiently steep slope without unduly elevating
the triforium. The first glazed triforium to be actually con-
structed was probably that of St. Denis (111. 246), erected
c. 1231, although this example was soon followed by the choir
of Beauvais (111. 231), built in 1225-72, and by the chevet of
Amiens (111. 234), dating from 1257-79.

Apart from the broad course of development in the design
of Gothic naves, stand several monuments whose dispositions
are thoroughly exceptional. The most conspicuous of these
is the cathedral of Rouen, of which the nave is so extraordinary
in design, that it seems as if remnants of an earlier construction
must have influenced the dispositions. The side aisles are
separated from the nave by two rows of superposed arcades, the
lower forming a sort of false triforium gallery below the true
triforium. A design entirely analogous — and I believe the
only one in. France — occurs in the church of Eu.1

Other striking variations from the usual Gothic type are
found in those churches of five aisles, in which the inner side
aisles were made higher than the outer. Of this type Bourges
(111. 233) is the earliest and probably the best known example,
as well as the only one in which the pyramidal section is
applied throughout the entire edifice. Since nave and inner
side aisles of this cathedral are both supplied with triforium
and clearstory, it results that the effect of the vertical lines is

1 Cf. the nave of the cathedral of Oxford, England.
278

III. 241 — Paris. Plan. (From Dehio)

III. 242. — Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne, Ambulatory

PLANS

much marred by these five strongly marked horizontal divisions.
To compensate for this defect, however, great depth and
variety of perspective is obtained. In the choirs of Le Mans
(111. 247) and Coutances, where the height of the five aisles was
similarly proportioned, the design was greatly improved ; but the
pyramidal section was given its most perfect development in
the cathedral of Beauvais (111. 231) — a monument which,
notwithstanding its present unhappy condition, remains one of
the most beautiful and impressive of all medieval cathedrals.

Throughout the Gothic period country churches continued
to be roofed in timber, when the resources of the parish were
insufficient to meet the expense of erecting a vault. Unfortu-
nately, owing to the perishable nature of the material, hardly
a single example of a timber roof of the XIII century has come
down to us ; and the one or two that have survived — e.g., in the
churches of Marigny (Calvados) and of Vannes (Aube) — have
been so damaged that it is difficult to judge of their original
character. There is no doubt, however, that they were richly
decorated with painted ornament. Several fine examples of
such roofs dating from the flamboyant period are extant, and
it is probable that the wooden ceilings of the XIII century were
similar in design.

The ground plan of the Christian church was not essentially
changed by the Gothic builders. The most important innova-
tion was the addition of side aisles to the transepts. The south
transept of Soissons (111. 244) is one of the earliest monuments
where this feature was introduced,1 but it was adopted soon
after at Paris (111. 241) and subsequently in all the great cathe-
drals. Another innovation was the custom of flanking the nave
on either side by a row of chapels. Such chapels were erected
at St. Spire of Corbeil as early as c. 1200; the nave chapels of
Paris were begun about 1240; those of Evreux about 1246; and
those of Amiens about 1292. In the XIV century chapels —
constructed always to the detriment of the original edifice and
not infrequently with funds badly needed for the construction
of more essential parts of the building — were added to the great
majority of cathedrals.

1 The XI century church of St. Remi, Reims, seems to have had transepts with side aisles.

279

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

The Gothic plan, in which practically the only solids are
the piers and buttresses, clearly expresses the skeleton character
of the architecture. Even in paper drawings the story of bal-

III. 244. — Soissons. Plan. (From Dehio)

anced thrusts is told as distinctly and logically as in the super-
structure of the building itself (111. 241, 243, 244, 245, 248, 249,
250, 251). Although the plan of each cathedral shows much

280

III. 243. — Bourges. Plan. (From Dehio)

FACADES

individuality and many peculiar and original features due to
the esthetic preferences of the master builders who designed it,
a certain general progress and development may still be traced.
Laon (111. 248) is to-day remarkable for its square east end, —
a disposition common enough in parish churches, but unique
among the great French cathedrals, — although this monument
originally terminated in a chevet. Five aisles and a chevet
without radiating chapels characterize the plan of Paris (111.
241). The plan of Bourges (111. 243) is similar to that of Paris,
but the transepts are omitted. At Chartres (111. 249) the typical
plan of the Gothic cathedral was first evolved, the plan that was
destined to be still further developed at Reims (111. 251), and
carried to perfection at Amiens (111. 250), where the proportion
of solids to voids was reduced to its minimum. The many
further variations subsequently wrought are of minor impor-
tance; the Gothic plan had been perfected.

A remarkable characteristic of Gothic planning is the free-
dom with which the builders placed a column or a corner on
axis when convenience or necessity required. Modern taste,
educated on works of the Renaissance, is apt to be shocked at
this violation of the laws of the Medes, Persians, and Vignola.
It must be admitted, however, that the Gothic architects vio-
lated convention with such restraint and delicacy that criticism
is disarmed. Even the most confirmed classicist can hardly
pretend to be offended by such designs as the piers on axis at
Deuil (Seine-et-Oise) or at Jouy-le-Comte, or with the corners
on axis in the triangular transept of St.-Jean-du-Corail or in
the apses of Chennevieres and St.-Eloi-de-Gy (Cher). In fact,
probably not one person in a hundred, unless their attention
were specially called to it, would even ever suspect that estab-
lished usage had been violated in these cases.

In nothing did the Gothic builders achieve greater success
than in the composition of the facade, and this success is so
much the more noteworthy because the problem which here
confronted them, as has been remarked, was one of extreme
difficulty. The first of the great Gothic facades in point of
dignity is undoubtedly that of Paris (111. 223), — a design of
which no words can express the exalted beauty. Grandeur

281

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

of composition, nobility of silhouette, perfection of proportion,
wealth of detail, infinitely varied play of light and shade com-
bine to raise this composition, so majestic, so serene, to the place
it has ever occupied in the heart of every one endowed with the
slightest feeling for the beautiful.

III. 245. — Coutances. Plan. (From Dehio)

Although lacking the exuberant richness of Amiens or Reims,
the west front of Paris still unites all the elements that character-
ize the facades of the XIII century. The division into three
parts by buttresses rising clear, sharp, incisive from the ground to
the topmost summit of the towers, gives strongly marked verti-
cal lines which add infinite strength and vigor to the composition;

282

III. 216. — St. Denis. Inter

nwffii

III. 247. — Section of Le Minis. (From Dehio)

FACADES

and in a three-aisled church (which Paris, however, is not) such
a division expresses externally the three aisles of the interior.
Twin towers flank the gable; below the nave vaults opens
the great rose window. The horizontal divisions are formed
by two galleries, — in reality nothing more than magnified

III. 248. — Plan of Laon. (From Dehio)

string-courses — one marking the height of the nave, the other
the height of the side aisles. The lower gallery, known as the
gallery of the kings, from the royal statues which adorn the niches,
projects outward considerably from the upper part of the facade ;
in fact, the whole structure is given a pyramidal or sloping
form, partly to gain greater stability, partly to thicken the lower
part of the wall in which the great portals are pierced.

283

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

These mighty western portals are the glory of the French
cathedral. Peopled with a countless host of statues, enriched
with an infinite wealth of detail, they mark the utmost achieve-
ment of Gothic decorative art. The central portal of Paris
is in six orders; the two side portals are only less sumptuous.
No photograph can give an idea of the splendor and variety
of this detail which is, nevertheless, always so strictly subordi-
nated to architectural requirements.

The facade of Noyon (111. 252), while in no way possessing
the majesty and beauty of the west front of Paris, is still not
without a grandeur and an austere charm of its own. The
design is peculiar in that the rose window is omitted and there
is only a single gallery. The great interest and charm of this
facade lies in the narthex porch which precedes it. This fea-
ture was developed into a series of projecting gables of match-
less charm in the noble facade of Laon (111. 222), — a facade
whose design, while lacking the repose and majesty of Paris, is
still notable for its subtly moulded planes and varied surfaces,
with their charming play of light and shade.

The superb facade of Amiens (111. 253), of which, unfortu-
nately, only the three lower stories are of the XIII century, would
doubtless have been the noblest of all Gothic frontispieces, had
it been finished according to the original design. The portals
in nine orders of extraordinary richness are among the most
astounding compositions ever produced by Gothic art (111.
254). These splendid entrance-ways are filled from top to
bottom with the finest productions of medieval sculpture; yet
all this detail is strictly architectural in character, and never
distracts the eye from the main lines of the edifice. The
general design of this facade is peculiar in that both galleries
are placed below the great rose window. The outer edges of
the great buttresses are flush with the portals, but not obscured
by them; and the retreats of the buttresses are crowned by
splendid pinnacles. The detail of the entire composition is of
unequaled excellence.

Full of poetry and imagination is the facade of Reims (111.
224). If the firmness and virility of Paris are felt to be lacking
in this design, it is still impossible to quarrel with such a lovely

284

III. 249. — Plan of Chartres. (From Dehio)

FACADE OF REIMS

phantasy. Notwithstanding the exuberant wealth of detail
with which this front is adorned, the main divisions are as

III. 250. — Plan of Amiens. (From Durand)

strongly marked, and even more simple than those of the facade
of Paris, since there are only four, instead of five, horizontal

285

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

divisions. It is to be noticed that the gables of the portals of
Reims, unlike those of Amiens, project beyond the buttresses,
and are, as it were, wrapped around them. The lower parts
of the buttresses thus seem to fade away. This disposition is
unfortunate, since it destroys the all-important vertical lines of
the facade and hides from sight an important structural member.

III. 251. — Plan of Reims. (From Dohio)

Transept ends were usually designed on principles quite
similar to those which governed the composition of the west
facade. Since, however, they were less important than the
main front of the church, the design was ordinarily less elaborate,
and the towers which were almost invariably intended to flank
the central gable have seldom been carried above the roof.

286

III. 254. — Facade of Noyon

GARGOYLES

The most beautiful of all transept facades are those of Chartres
(111. 256) with their exquisite porches, — the glorification of
the narthexes of Laon and Noyon, — and their wealth of statu-
ary eclipsing the west portals of almost any other cathedral. The
Portail des Libraires of the cathedral of Rouen (111. 225), though
unfortunately obscured by other buildings, is one of the finest
transept-ends of the rayonnant period, and, while perhaps
somewhat over-ornate, is none the less a design of great charm.

Of all the endless detail that adorns the exterior of the Gothic
cathedral, whether in France or Normandy, no feature has
won for itself a more universal or enduring place in the hearts
of men, than the gargoyle. These fascinating grotesques,
these lovable monsters, are not merely the chance imaginings
of some disordered fancy. Beneath the outward humor, the
queer assemblage of disordered members, there lurks a satiric
quality — at times, strange as it may seem, even a grandeur, a
tragic power — with which the Gothic sculptor seldom was
able — or rather seldom cared — to imbue his more serious
compositions. Moreover these myriads of strange beasts that
grin and leer from every flying buttress, that climb everywhere
among the eaves, that peek around the most unexpected cor-
ners, are not, as might be supposed, purely decorative carvings,
but they perform the humble structural function of throwing
far off from the walls the rain water gathered in the gutters.
This water is ordinarily conducted along a groove cut in their
back and discharged through the open mouth. Here again
the genius of the Gothic artists happily united structure and
decoration.

From a similar structural need developed the parapets
which crown the cornices of the Gothic cathedral, and form so
striking a feature of the exterior design. The passageways
giving access to all the upper parts of the building required bal-
ustrades to protect any one using them from falling off. At
Paris, Soissons, Chartres, such simple balustrades occur. At
Amiens (111. 236) and Beauvais (111. 240) the balustrade was
developed into a prominent external feature. At Reims the
balustrade had become a mighty parapet, one of the loveliest
features of the entire external design (111. 237).

287

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

A similar logic would have required the use of balustrades
in the interior passageways, along the galleries of the clearstory
and triforium; and, in fact, such balustrades were freely em-
ployed in Normandy, where they became one of the most strongly
marked peculiarities of the local Gothic school, although they
were always avoided by the builders of the He de France, ever
reluctant to accentuate the horizontal lines of their interiors.
Normandy, situated midway between France and England,
was always strongly influenced by the English style. Thus
the Norman builders tended to renounce the extreme height
and soaring vertical lines so characteristic of French Gothic,
and seek instead greater richness of internal decoration. The
elaborately ornamented balustrades of clearstory and triforium
found in almost all Norman churches were the result of these
tendencies. The cathedral of Seez (111. 232) gives an excellent
idea of the effect of such strongly marked horizontal lines. Soon
the balustrade came to entirely supplant the triforium, the
latter being reduced to a concealed passageway. An early step
in this direction was taken in the nave of the cathedral of
Bayeux. How far the tendency had progressed by the XIV
century is shown by the nave of St. Pierre of Caen (111. 259).

Another characteristic of the Gothic school of Normandy
is the love of double walls, a feature directly derived from the
interior passageways of the old Norman Romanesque. So
fond were the Gothic builders of Normandy of the double tra-
cery obtained by piercing openings of different design in the two
surfaces of a double wall, that they never quite resigned them-
selves to adopt, even in the clearstory, the French idea of sup-
pressing the wall surface. Thus the Norman structure always
remained somewhat ponderous, and the supports were never
made so light, nor the vault so lofty, as in the He de France.

Also characteristic of Norman Gothic is a peculiar type of
facade differing widely from that current in the He de France.
The cathedral of Coutances (111. 255) furnishes a noble
example. As is usual in the Norman school there is no rose
window in this facade; but in revenge, the sturdy towers have
received and still retain their spires, and form one of the most
picturesque architectural compositions of all Christendom.

288

*' 'V

j «#r

<tc

III. 253. — Fa<?ade of Amiens

III. 254. — Central Portal of Amiens

NORMAN SPIRES

The portals, without gables, are singularly poor compared with
those of the He de France. The great weakness of this in
common with all Norman facades, however, lies in the awk-
ward manner in which the towers are disengaged. For the rest,
the design differs from the French type in that the galleries
are omitted, the facade below the gable being divided into two
stories, of which the lower consists of the portals, the upper
of great pointed windows. Singularly uncompromising and
austere is the front of Coutances compared with the gracious
charm of Reims (111. 224) ; yet the Norman composition, for
all its restraint, is not devoid of poetry, and is full of vigor and
originality.

The local school of Normandy excelled above all in the de-
sign of spires, in which it far outstripped even the He de France,
where the towers but seldom received their crowning members.
The XIII and XIV centuries have left in Normandy — espe-
cially in the departement of Calvados l -- a series of spires,
which, although often attached to the meanest and most insig-
nificant country churches, yet for inspiration of design and for
perfection of proportion must rank among the greatest master-
works of architectural art. These Norman clochers are differ-
ent from those of the He de France in that no octagonal drum
is inserted between the square tower and the spire. The tran-
sition is effected by the familiar, but none the less satisfactory
expedients of angle turrets and dormer windows. Perhaps
the finest spire of all Normandy is that of St. Pierre of Caen
(111. 257), a spire which is, indeed, perfection in its way. Other
beautiful types may be found at Coutances (111. 255) and in
the Abbaye-aux-Hommes (111. 133).

In the departement of Manche another type of spire was
developed, doubtless under English influence. The tower was
cut off squarely and abruptly, and crowned by a balustrade,
on which were set four corner turrets utterly inadequate to
relieve the transition to the spire. The strong lines of these

'At Maizieres, Rouvres, Norrey; at St. Pierre, St. fitienne and St. Sauveur of Caen; at
St. Michel of Vaueelles; at St. Loup of Beauvais; at Bernieres-sur-Mer, Secqueville-en-
Bessin. Montivilliers, Ifs, Louvieres, Asnieres, Colombier-sur-Seulles, Basly, Tour, St. Pair,
Huppain, Villiers-sur-Pont and in the cathedrals of Seez, Coutances, and Bayeux.

289

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

balustrades are extremely unpleasant, since they accentuate
the transition from tower to spire, instead of softening it. Ex-
amples of such designs exist, e.g., at Picauville and Colomby.

Other characteristics of the Norman school are the central
lanterns almost invariably present, the sparing use of tracery
and flying buttresses. There is also noticeable a constant
tendency towards over-elaborate decoration, especially of the
interior — an ear-mark of English influence. The wall spaces
are often nearly covered with purely gratuitous carved orna-
ment as at Seez (111. 232) : the mouldings of the archivolts are
indefinitely multiplied and often project; the abaci of the cap-
itals are round; the profiles weak. In a word Norman Gothic
architecture lacks the purity and virility of the school of the
He de France. It presents, however, compensating features
especially in its spires, and all in all must be considered as dis-
tinctly the most successful of the secondary Gothic schools.

The misfortunes of the XIV century, if they hastened the
death of Gothic, were at least responsible for the evolution of
a new type of architecture. "In this year [1358]," says Jean
de Yinette, "many villages which possessed no fortifications,
made veritable strongholds of their churches. Moats were
dug to surround the sacred edifices, and the towers and spires
were supplied with stones and engines of war, with a view to
defending the town in case it should be attacked by brigands,
as often happened." ' Of the fortified churches that have come
down to our day, the most beautiful, as well as the most
famous, is the cathedral of Albi (111. 260), a monument which, of
course, is situated in the Midi and is thoroughly Southern in
style. In northern France, however, are extant several examples
of small fortified churches, of which perhaps the best preserved
is that of Chitry (Yonne).

The accessory ecclesiastical buildings have been so pitilessly
destroyed in France that only a few broken fragments here
and there have come down to us. Traces of the ancient clois-
ters survive at Laon, Noyon, St. Jean-des-Vignes de Soissons,

' Cit. Lavisse, op. cit., IV1, 132.
290

III. >255. — Fayade of Coutances

ORNAMENT

and elsewhere; chapter houses at Noyon, Plessis-Grimoult, etc.,
but there is hardly a single well-preserved example of the ec-
clesiastical establishments of an abbey or cathedral in the He
de France or Normandy. Mt.- St. -Michel is, indeed, an ex-
ception; but notwithstanding the unique interest and beauty
of this abbey it is in no way typical of the average French mon-
astery. The architecture is of the most pronounced Norman
type and much more English than French in style. Further-
more, the strange and picturesque situation of this monastery,
placed on the summit of a precipitous rock, necessitated modi-
fications in the planning and disposition of the buildings. Ex-
traordinary as is the interest of Mt. -St. -Michel, it would be a
mistake to consider this abbey as in any way a typical French
monastery.

French chapter houses seem to have been ordinarily square
or rectangular in plan, like that of Noyon. In the circular
plan of the chapter house of Plessis-Grimoult it is not unreason-
able to suspect another instance of that English influence so
noticeable everywhere in the Gothic architecture of Normandy.

In the domain of carved ornament, the arrival of the Gothic
period was announced by the appearance of the crocket (111.
258, 261), a motive which originated in the turned-over edges
of the leaves supporting the abaci of capitals. The Gothic
sculptors immediately seized upon the crocket as par excellence
the most fitting motive for the ornamentation of capitals, and,
in fact, no supporting members more exquisite, more architec-
turally appropriate than these early crocketed capitals (111.
212) have ever been designed. It should be noticed that in
the early capitals the crockets are not without structural sig-
nificance. The four upper ones perform a distinctly utilitarian
service in supporting the corners of the abacus, while those of
the lower row are necessary to smooth the transition from the
upper to the lower portions of the bell. Later, when the abaci
were made octagonal, the crockets lost their structural signifi-
cance, and became merely ornaments.

The crocket was used not only in the decoration of capitals,

201

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

but it was applied with the greatest freedom to the exterior of
the edifice. Rows of crockets marked the lines of gables, the
ridges of pinnacles, the jambs of doorways. The finials, which
crowned all the pinnacles, were merely a variation of the crocket
motive. On the towers of Paris (111. 223, 258), literally thou-
sands of crockets mark the lines of windows and buttresses.
Interior and exterior string-courses and archivolts, cusps and
niches, were in the early Gothic period almost invariably deco-
rated with the same motive. Indeed, the early Gothic archi-
tects employed the crocket lavishly whenever there was a strong
line to be emphasized, since the conspicuous spots of light and
shade so characteristic of this ornament at once caught and held
the eye. The strong lines produced by the liberal use of the
crocket contributed not a little to that unity and subordination
of parts which is the crowning glory of Gothic architecture.

At the end of the first quarter of the XIII century the popu-
larity of the crocket somewhat declined. In string-courses it
was replaced by more naturalistic foliage; in capitals it still
survived, but tended to lose its distinctive character and be
transformed into floral ornament. The early round bulbous
form came to be supplanted by groups of naturalistic leaves, at
first of the most exquisite delicacy (111. 212), but tending to
become more and more florid. At length the crocket lost its
own individuality, and merged into the naturalistic capital
(111. 262). On gables, on the angles of spires and pinnacles,
the crocket enjoyed a somewhat longer existence, but here, too,
it at last lost its original character, and often assumed highly
naturalistic forms.

The flora which succeeded the crocket and the early con-
ventionalized leaf-forms in the capitals, string-courses, and
bands was infinitely varied; its tendency, however, was always
in the direction of more and more direct imitation of nature.1
At first these naturalistic forms were admirably restrained and

1 Archaeologists who arc also botanists have identified with much exactness the various
species of Gothic flora, which are invariably taken from plants common in the neighborhood.
According to M. Lambin the following are the more usually imitated plants. In the XII cen-
tury, arum, nenuphar, iris, plaintain, fougere, vigne eehaueree. In the XIII century, trefle,
renoncule, chelidoine, aucolie, hepathique, figurier, chene, rosier. To these were added in the
XV century houx, houblon, chardon, chou frise, chicoree, algues marines.

292

III. -2 Mi. - South Transept-end of Chartres

III. 2;57. — Spire of St. Pierre of Caen

FLORAL ORNAMENT

conventionalized as in the well-known string-course of Amiens
(111. 219), but by the middle of the XIII century Gothic flora
had broken from control, and had commenced to run riot in
purely naturalistic forms, which, however lovely in themselves,
were yet lacking in architectural propriety. How disquieting
to the effect of the ensemble and how distracting to the eye is
such naturalistic foliage may be judged from the nave of Reims
(111. 230) — a monument which is nevertheless a comparatively
early work, and one of the most tasteful examples of naturalistic
decoration. .

In the capitals of the last half of the XIII century, the struc-
tural function of the foliage was entirely forgotten. It is as if
some one had twined about the column a wreath of flowers and
leaves forming no part of the organic structure. The flora
was designed with the purpose, not of forming an appropriate
architectural member, but of reproducing natural forms ex-
actly, in the most minute detail. As time went on the bulge of
the bell was altogether eliminated, support and load became
of the same size, the same shape. The abacus instead of pro-
jecting became merely a moulding applied to this continuous
member. The capital thus lost its structural purpose, which
had been to adjust the load to a support of different size and
shape, and degenerated into a mere string-course destined solely
to mark the springing of the arches. Since there was no reason
for proportioning a string-course to the diameter of the column,
the depth of the capital was gradually decreased until it became
merely a little strip decorated with a few stray leaves or grotesque
carvings (111. 235). In the flamboyant period was taken the
logical step of omitting the capital altogether.

Side by side with the flora flourished the fauna of the Gothic
cathedral. We have already said a word about the most im-
portant group of Gothic animals, the gargoyles, but the cathe-
dral was also inhabited by many other monsters hardly less
fascinating. The corbel-table, where Romanesque and transi-
tional artists had found the freest field for grotesque carvings,
passed out of use, c. 1200, being supplanted by the crocheted
cornice; but corbels still continued to be carved into strange
animals, or queer hunchbacked men; dwarfs supported on

293

GOTHIC , ARCHITECTURE

their shoulders the pedestals of the great statues; queer beings,
half man, half monster, held up the cornices; while over the
balustrades leaned devil and griffin, pelican and elephant, look-
ing out over the city now with a look of malignant hatred, now
with an expression of infinite sadness and longing. In such
figures (111. 258) the Gothic sculptor was at his best; he seems
for once to have escaped from the tutelage of the theologian
and with sublime freedom and joy in his work to have given
unbridled rein to his imagination. These carvings, monstrous
though they be, rise to a high plane of art. Under the strange
conglomeration of eagle's head, man's arms and animal's body
there is hidden a sentiment, a power of expression that is worthy
of the most serious sculpture. Like everything else in Gothic
art, these figures are infinitely varied in design; no two are
alike in composition or expression.

The restraint so characteristic of all Gothic ornament was
shown in the use of grotesque carvings. Notwithstanding the
marvelous success of these decorations they are never used to
excess, nor obtruded into undue prominence. From the middle
of the XII until the XIV century they were wisely banished
from capitals,1 for the birds and even the animals which were
occasionally introduced among the leaves, fruits, and flowers
of the capitals and string-courses of the 4ast half of the XIII
century, are naturalistic representations rather than grotesques.
When the grotesques did reappear in the capitals, they were
no longer employed, as in the Romanesque and transitional
periods, in a structural manner, the heads being made to form
volutes or fleurons, and the whole figure being conformed to
the shape of the bell. The growing taste for naturalism had
long since eliminated the structural significance of the decora-
tion of the capital, and the grotesques were applied as a narrow
band of sculpture.

While the carved ornament of the capital was undergoing
such modifications, the mouldings of the abaci were also being
transformed. At the end of the XII century the abacus was
square in plan; its mouldings while much varied were vigorous,
and the upper member had always a rectangular profile. The

1 Save in exceptional instances.
294

III. 259. — St. Pierre of Caen. Interior

PROFILES

first modifications were introduced in order to adapt the abacus
more closely to the form of its superimposed load. The angles,
which ordinarily projected a little, were cut off, at first very
slightly, but more and more until by c. 1200 the abacus had
become a regular octagon in plan. The next step resulted from
the necessity of building out the center of the principal face of
the abacus to project beyond the shafts of the system and the
colonnette engaged on the pier. Soon all attempt was abandoned
to preserve a regular or symmetrical form for the abacus, which
adapted itself freely to the shape of its load, following closely
the general form1 of the latter but regularizing it. In arcades,
where a cylindrical shaft supported a load of rectangular shape
the abacus throughout the Gothic period was usually octag-
onal. The depraved and weak round abacus is exceptional in
the He de France, though it is common in Normandy and Eng-
land. The abaci of the capitals of the vaulting shafts were
usually of rectangular form, but were regularly set diagonally,
so as to follow more closely the profile of the ribs which they must
carry (111. 219).

After the first quarter of the XIII century it came to be usual
to still further soften the abacus by rounding or sloping the upper
member, as in the capitals of the triforium of Amiens (111.
219). The moulding became highly complicated and generally
less vigorous, the whole member declined in strength and im-
portance. In Normandy, here as ever under English influence,
the foliage of the capital was often omitted entirely, the bell,
necking, and abacus becoming merely a series of mouldings
turned as it were in a lathe. In the He de France, however,
this strangely unpleasant form was common only in the last
half of the XIV century (111. 235).

The profiles of bases followed a similar course of develop-
ment during the XIII century. The great square plinths,
which had added so much to the appearance of solidity and
strength of the bases of the early Gothic period, were found to
occupy overmuch floor space with their projecting angles. The
corners were accordingly cut off, the plinth was given an octag-
onal plan, the griffes in consequence were much reduced, and

1 For an excellent study of this point see Moore, Gothic Architecture, p. 124.

295

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

finally were omitted altogether. Later the diameter of the octag-
onal plinth was diminished so that only the corners were tan-
gent to the superposed torus, whose curve widely overhung the
sides of the plinth. Towards the end of the XIII century the
height of the plinth was much increased. To avoid the appear-
ance of too great slenderness it was consequently necessary to
introduce spreading set backs, which were always finished with
a sloping upper surface. The mouldings above the plinth con-
tinued to preserve roughly the characteristics of the Attic base.
The lower torus was made, perhaps, somewhat flatter; the scotia
came to be more and more deeply undercut; different variable
lesser members enriched the profile (111. 263).

The mouldings of the ribs, string-courses, archivolts, and
cornices merely followed to their logical conclusion the tendencies
already manifest in the XII century. Everywhere greater
refinement of profile, deeper and more skilful undercutting was
introduced, but no radically new principles. The plate (111.
263) will give a sufficient idea of the general character of these
profiles. Nothing is more exquisite, more full of delicacy and
refinement, than Gothic profiles at their best. Yet these richly
varied mouldings are all of comparatively simple design, for all
are produced by various combinations of circles, though these
be of many different diameters, and combined with intersec-
tions, straight lines, and even flattened curves. Only at the
very end of the Gothic period, as at St. Satur (111. 235), was
the essential character of the profiles radically transformed by
the introduction of the prismatic moulding with its sharp
points, its subtle double curves.

In the XIII century, the Gothic builders of the He de France
refrained from employing extravagantly complex mouldings,
and their profiles were always simple and dignified. As much
cannot be said, however, for the Gothic of Normandy, which
adopted the over-ornate mouldings of the English school. Drip
mouldings were introduced into the interior, and the archivolts
supplied with a fairly bewildering array of multiple members.
In the decadent period such over-ornate profiles appeared also
in France, as, for example, at St. Satur (111. 235).

One of the most striking features of rayonnant decoration

296

III. 260. — Albi. Exterior

GABLES

was the use of open-work gables. The gables of the porches,
which had from an early date been placed before the portals
to protect the statuary, were first decorated with pierced ro-
settes — as at Amiens (111. 254) — then filled with open-work
tracery, analogous to that of the windows. Of course such a
construction was no protection against the weather; what had
been originally a structural feature became a purely fanciful
decoration. Yet some of these open-work designs must un-
questionably be ranked among the loveliest conceptions of Gothic
art. With such a wholly fantastic composition, for example,
as the north transept facade of Rouen (111. 225), it is impossible
to find fault, although it must be recognized that such a viola-
tion of structural logic bore within itself the germs of decadence.

A similar perversion of structural logic was the use of gables
to surmount internal arches, as in the choir of Amiens; and
hardly more defensible is the rayonnant custom of applying
tracery to a blank wall surface as pure decoration. Such orna-
ments, however full of grace and beauty in themselves, proclaim
the fact that Gothic architecture even as early as the second
half of the XIII century had begun little by little to forsake those
principles of strict logic and unswerving allegiance to structural
needs, that had been the cause of its rise and greatness.

Although the XIII century has left some not inconsiderable
fragments of colored mural decoration,1 it is well-nigh impos-
sible to know to what extent polychromy originally figured in
the decoration of the Gothic church. The XIII century loved
color above all else — not faint delicate hues, but the deep rich
reds, purples, and blues that still glow in the stained glass win-
dows. Gold, silver, and gems were extensively used in the
manufacture of Gothic crucifixes, candelabra, and church
furniture; the color of rubies and sapphires was intensely
admired. Suger seems to have taken an even deeper inter-
est in the gems of St. Denis,3 than in the architecture of the
abbey church. This delight in rich colors led the Gothic artists
not only to adorn their churches with mural paintings, but also
to paint the capitals, the details of the ornament, and even the
statues. Of this color decoration — which must have been used

1 At Ignol, Prely-le-Chetif, and Vezot. 2 De Re. in sua Admin, gcsf. XXXIII f.

297

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

very lavishly — there are extant many indubitable traces. The
range of tones was large, but gold was the color most prized
of all. There is record of a large sum of money given to
Chartres cathedral for the purpose of gilding a certain statue;
and hardly one of the great cathedrals is without its statue of
the Virgin retaining even to-day the appellation of the "Vierge
doree."

Several attempts have been made to reconstruct the orig-
inal polychromy of Gothic architecture. Of these the most
lamentable was that made by Viollet-le-Duc, in the Ste. Chapelle
of Paris — a wholly unsuccessful undertaking which completely
ruined one of the masterpieces of Gothic art. Other archaeol-
ogists have tried to restore on paper Gothic colored ornament
from the illuminations of manuscripts or from stained glass
windows. These theoretical restorations, as long as they are
confined to books, are harmless enough exercises, but hardly
of serious value. The Gothic colors have forever faded, and
all attempts to imagine what they were like are vain. Of one
thing only may we be certain. The artists who were able to
conceive and execute the Gothic cathedral would never have
marred it by the use of such colors as the modern restorers credit
to their invention.

The stained glass of the XIII century is hardly distinguish-
able from that of the transitional era, being characterized by
the same admirable principles of design, and by the same juxta-
position of small pieces of glass and color. In the ornamental
patterns the same motives were perpetuated without alteration,
and, strangely enough, the architectural features reproduced
in the designs of the XIII century show the forms of tran-
sitional, rather than of Gothic architecture. On the whole,
these windows of the XIII century are perhaps slightly less
admirable in color than their predecessors of the XII century;
the falling-off, however, is so slight as to be barely perceptible
upon the closest study, and such glorious designs as are found
in the clearstory windows of Reims, or in the rose windows of
Paris, are unsurpassed by the noblest productions of the preced-
ing age. Medallion windows continued in favor, except in
the clearstories where the great height of the edifice necessitated

298

III. 261. — Capital from Refectory, St. Martin des Champs, Paris.
(From Lenoir)

III. 263. — Capital from Refectory, St. Martin ties Champs, Paris
(From Lenoir.)

STAINED GLASS

that the figures should be made larger, in order that they might
be seen from below. The most appreciable change from XII
century work, however, lay rather in the sentiment and ico-
nography of the composition. At times, as in that window of
Bourges, in which the Virgin is represented as fainting at the
foot of the cross, the more sentimental art of the XIV century
is distinctly foreshadowed. Ordinarily, however, the artists
continued to avoid the expression of emotion; they continued
to be absorbed in didactic dogma and to neglect the human or
dramatic interpretation.

At the end of the XIII century the art of stained glass
began to decline. The beautiful simplicity of the early works
disappeared, the figures became over-detailed, the ornaments
more complex and elaborate. The leading was less studied;
the abundant use of gray tones introduced out of motives of
economy spoiled the rich coloring. Large figures came to
supplant medallions not only in the clearstories, but in all the
windows throughout the edifice.

In the XIV century the art of stained glass underwent a
veritable transformation. The same naturalistic tendencies,
which had altered so radically the character of sculpture and
ornament, became prominent also in the design of the windows.
The ancient transparent mosaics were supplanted by a sort of
painting on glass which assumed ever more and more the character
of a picture. While medallion windows did not entirely pass
out of use during the XIV century, they were employed in ever
decreasing numbers; the artists preferred designs with large
figures, as allowing a more direct and naturalistic representa-
tion of the human form. The use of shades and shadows, un-
known in the XIII century, was introduced, — timidly at first,
but ever more boldly. The drawing on the glass became much
more detailed, much more elaborate; relief and expression were
obtained by various tricks and mannerisms of technique. To
the simple primary colors which had formed the repertoire of
the XIII century were added a whole range of delicate half
tones, unusual tints; the deep blues, the simple greens and
yellows, the blazing reds of the earlier age were replaced by
magentas, faint tones of old rose and saffron that would ravish

299

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

the eye of a modern glass-maker. The major mode of color
was replaced by the minor mode. In the design itself the back-
grounds, consisting of architectural niches or realistic landscapes,
came to occupy more and more prominent positions and to be
treated in an ever increasingly naturalistic manner.

This evolution, which was in progress during the entire
XIV century, reached its culmination by the year 1400. The
windows of the Ste. Chapelle of Bourges,1 dating from the first
years of the XV century, show that by this time the transforma-
tion had been completed (111. 264) and that the Gothic blue
and red color scheme had been entirely abandoned. The fig-
ures of these windows of Bourges are large, realistic, well-drawn.
The pieces of glass are of large size; no attempt is made to blend
the colors into a mosaic of small pieces. Architectural acces-
sories are very prominent in the composition: vaults, traceried
windows, gables, balustrades, adorn the canopies in which
stand the carefully detailed figures. The leading is concealed
as much as possible. In fact, this glass of the end of the Gothic
period is distinguishable from that of the flamboyant era only
by the disposition of the figures, which are placed in niches,
instead of being arranged in dramatic groups, and by the colors,
which are richer, less brilliant, less hard than those of the half-
Renaissance glass of the XVI century.

If stained glass reached its zenith in the XII century, sculp-
ture matured only in the Gothic period. However much we
may admire the sentiment and architectural character of the
figures of the west portal of Chartres, the XII century idea of
treating the human form as an ornamental motive whose pro-
portions, like those of the acanthus-leaf or rinceau, might be
varied or distorted at will to suit architectural conditions, is
so far removed from present-day standards, that the average
spectator will turn with relief to the more naturalistic represen-
tations of the XIII century. The realistic tendencies of this
period, carried to excess in the XIV century, were destined in
the end to be the undoing of Gothic sculpture, as they had been
the undoing of Gothic ornament and stained glass, but in the
early Gothic period they had not yet acquired undue prominence.

1 Now preserved in the crypt of the cathedral.
800

III. 264. — Stained Glass Windows of the Ste. Chapelle of Bourges, now in the Crypt of the
Cathedral. (From Meloizes)

SCULPTURE

The perfect adjustment between the rival forces of convention
and nature was perhaps found in the sculptures of the facade of
Amiens. These figures, although executed with a freedom
sufficient to allow the sculptor to achieve the utmost possibil-
ities of his art, are still strictly architectural in character (111.
265, 266).

The technique of the statues of the XIII century is usually
excellent. The best of the figures of Amiens show correct pro-
portions and an anatomy which, if never impeccable, is at least
only rarely disquieting (111. 266). The deeply undercut dra-
pery no longer falls in purely conventional lines, but is evidently
studied from nature, although it is not precisely realistic in char-
acter, a certain amount of conventionalization being retained.
Thus the drapery of the figures of Amiens still accentuates
strongly the vertical lines. The figures themselves also stand
in symmetrical attitudes. The personages represented on the
jambs always hold themselves rigidly upright; there is never
any leaning to one side, any lateral motion of the hips; the weight
is always evenly distributed on both feet. The arms, however,
move freely and gracefully. In such details as the treatment
of the hair, the sculptors show perfect mastery of the technique
of undercutting, and not seldom careful study of antique models.

In the expression of the faces, it was perhaps impossible
for the Gothic sculptors to do more than the XII century had
already done. The same celestial gentleness, the same Chris-
tian joy, the same happy serenity, characterizes the sculptures
of the two epochs. The figures grouped on the main portal of
Amiens all partake of the dignity, of the kindliness of the cen-
tral figure of the Beau Dieu (111. 266). Yet the statues of
Amiens are more sharply individualized than those of Chartres.
For example, the remarkable figure of St. Dominic (the second
from the left, 111. 265) was certainly studied from nature and
is full of character. Elsewhere on this same facade the warrior
courage of St. George, who faces death to conquer it, is con-
trasted with the meek resignation of St. Stephen, who awaits
his end without flinching; the scholar and erudite St. Jerome,
lost in mystic contemplation, is distinguished from the benig-
nant and practical St. Martin, the good shepherd to his flock.

301

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

Nevertheless no distinct attempt at portraiture was made be-
fore the end of the XIII century; the expression characterizes
rather the types of mind that the various saints symbolize, than
their individual personalities. The sculptors aim, not to rep-
resent the saints as they actually appeared, but to suggest the
various types of character which might attain salvation.

While the Gothic sculptors were capable of producing works of
the highest merit, they occasionally fell far below this standard.
Many of their figures, whether judged from the standpoint of
technique or of sentiment, are decidedly inferior. Compare, for
example, the statue of St. Warlus (fifth from the left-hand edge,
111. 265) with that of St. Dominic. It should in justice be said,
however, that the Gothic artists seldom perpetrated anything so
bad as this figure of St. Warlus, and the general average of
Gothic sculpture is remarkably high.

The sculptures in relief of the best period show tendencies
similar to those which characterized compositions in the round.
The individual figure the Gothic sculptors in relief emanci-
pated from the architectural trammels that had governed the
proportions and anatomy of the reliefs in the tympanums of
Chartres, for they seem to have felt that by making the figures
sufficiently small they could be given easy and varied postures
without disturbing the architectural character of the composi-
tion. Action was, accordingly, constantly represented, although
violent motion was avoided. The Gothic sculptors were suc-
cessful above all in the filling of the enormously difficult fields
allotted to them. Nothing could be more awkward or embar-
rassing from a plastic point of view than to design a composi-
tion to fill the quatrefoils of which the Gothic builders were so
fond; yet this task the sculptors accomplished, often with entire
success, filling these difficult spaces with charming genre scenes,
veritable little masterpieces in their way (111. %65). However,
the lofty and narrow pointed tympanums of the portals it was
found necessary to divide into horizontal zones. Since the
resultin£ horizontal lines did not harmonize well with the sur-
rounding architecture, in the best period the artists seldom
allowed themselves more than three divisions; later, however,
when sculpture came to free itself from architectural trammels,

302

III. '265. — Sculptures. Porte St. Firmin, Anu'ci

III. 26(i. — Le Ueau Dieu of Amiens

~*; t^

&?&

*0*

,| % V tf «^

111. 268. — Reims. Statues of South Jamb of Central Portal

RAYONNANT SCULPTURE

this number was increased to five or even seven. The skilful
manner in which the early artists composed so difficult a field
with so few subdivisions, is worthy of all admiration (111. 267).

In the second half of the XIII century, Gothic sculpture
became more realistic in character. The figures of the facade
of Reims are as nearly perfect technically as any which the
Middle Ages produced, but they are distinctly less architectural
than those of the facade of Amiens. The great figures of the
jambs are no longer arranged in rigid rows strictly subordinated
to the vertical lines of the edifice, but are broken up into groups
of two or three statues portraying persons engaged in conversa-
tion with each other, or even in action. Thus the visitation
is represented by two perfectly delightful figures, Mary and
Elizabeth, who stand talking together in the most easy and
natural manner. Except for the sublimely beautiful face of
Mary, this group is hardly idealized at all. The draperies,
which are far richer than in the early Gothic period, fall in such
soft clinging folds as to recall the Greek draperies of the V cen-
tury. The folds of the garments are elaborate and minute;
all attempt to accentuate their vertical lines has been aban-
doned. Similarly the posture of the figures has become freer;
the weight is no longer distributed evenly on both feet, but one
knee is usually bent, and the body, instead of holding itself
rigidly upright, leans or bends to one side or the other. The
faces, like the entire figure, have lost their heroic cast, and
have become soft and tender. The growing love of realism
had led the artists to abandon all effort to represent their saints
as superior to human beings (111. 268).

Thus even in such exquisite compositions as the sculptures
of the facade of Reims or of the south transept portal of Amiens,
we feel that we are face to face with the first signs of decadence.
The idealism and the architectural character which had given
early Gothic sculpture its inimitable character have begun to
yield to realism. It was only a question of time before the
sublime Beau Dieu of Amiens should be transformed into a
commonplace French bourgeois. Yet the first step in this
descent to Avernus was full of seductive charm.

In the XIV century the decline was in full progress. Al-

303

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

though but few examples of sculpture dating from this unhappy
period have come down to us, it is evident that the art was
rapidly losing its architectural character and becoming ever
more realistic, ever less ideal, ever softer. The sculptors came
to be interested above all in the dramatic presentation of their
subjects, and sacrificed the architectural lines to obtain suit-
able spaces for the display of sculptured narrative. At length
sculpture rebelled absolutely against the restrictions of archi-
tectural art, and at the end of the Gothic period it was evident
that the day when the two must forever part company was not
far distant.

LIST OF GOTHIC MONUMENTS

Monuments of the First Class

AMIENS, Somme. Eglise CathSdrale Notre Dame. (111. 219, 234, 236, 250,
253, 254, 265, 266, 289.) The most important documentary evidence for the date
of Amiens is the inscription that was formerly placed in the labyrinth of the pave-
ment. This inscription, preserved in several ancient documents, may be translated
as follows: "In the year of grace 1220 this work was first begun. Evrard of blessed
memory was then bishop of this diocese and Louis, son of Philippe the Wise [i.e.,
Philippe-Auguste] was king of France. (Sic.) He who was master builder was
called Master Robert and surnamed de Lusarches. Master Thomas de Cormont
succeeded him, and afterwards his son Master Regnault, who caused this inscrip-
tion to be here placed in the year 1288." 1 The only other evidence for the date of
the commencement of the cathedral is another inscription placed over the Portail
de la Yierge Doree, but this, unfortunately, seems never to have been copied until

1 Memore quant leuvre de l'eglise de cheens fu commcnchie et si comme il est escript el
inoilon de le maison Dedalus:

En Ian de grace mil IIC

Et xx fu leuvre de cheens

Premiere) n< nt encommenchie.

Adonc yert de eheste evesquie

Evrart evesques benis

Et roy de France Ixiys

Qui fu filz Phelippe le sage.

Chil qui maistre yert de l'oeuvre

Maistre Robert estoit nommes

Et de Lusarches sumommes

Maistre Thomas fu apres luy

De Cormont et apres

Ses filz maistre Regnault qui mettre

Fist a chest point eliy eeste lettre

Que [incarnation valoit

XI IF ans XII en faloit.
Arch, de la Somme, Chapit. d?Am., Reg. aux Distrib. IF, fol. 247, tit. Durand I, 23.

304

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

it had become too effaced to be legible, and it has now been restored in such a fashion
that it is impossible to trace the original characters. It seems, however, to confirm
the first in that the words Robert and the date 1220 have been made out. From the
style of the architecture it is clear that the construction began with the nave. Work
must have progressed rapidly, for in 1228 this portion of the building had been com-
pleted as far as the clearstory level, and in 1236 the vault had been finished and the
facade constructed up to the height of the string-course just above the rose window.
The choir was commenced without delay; in 1240 the ambulatory chapels were
finished; in 1247 the chevet had been completed as far as the triforium string-course.
From 1247-57, however, ensued a period of inactivity during which little progress
seems to have been made. In 12.58 the cathedral suffered from a fire, traces of which
could until recently be seen in the chapels of the chevet. It was only after this fire
that the upper part of the choir was erected; however, these portions seem to have
been begun immediately after 1258, and in all probability the chevet was practically
finished by 1279, for it is known that at this date the relics were translated into the
new sanctuary with much pomp. The first nave chapel — that of Ste. Marguerite,
the easternmost on the south side — -was added as early as 1292; the corresponding
chapel on the north side is but little later. The remaining chapels were added sub-
sequently at various times during the XIV century, until the row was completed by
the erection of the two western ones in 1375. There is no documentary evidence
for the dates of the construction of the upper portions of the two transept facades,
but the southern, with the exception of its rose window, may be assigned to the
very end of the XIII, or first years of the XIV, century; the northern must be
somewhat later. In 1366 work on the southwestern tower was resumed at the
cornice which crowns the rose window, and the structure was soon carried to com-
pletion; the northwestern tower was not finished until 1401 or 1402. The upper
gallery connecting the two towers was originally constructed about this same time
(1402), but it was completely transformed in the XIX century by Viollet-le-Duc.
The nave of Amiens, as it stands to-day, is the most beautiful, as it is certainly
the most typical example of French Gothic architecture, and it is hardly too much
to say that for inspiration of conception, for perfection of proportion, and for purity
of detail it is equaled by no other edifice ever erected by the hand of man. In
actual dimensions the height of this nave is surpassed, among all the medieval
churches, by Beauvais alone. (Durand; Von Bezold.)

PARIS, Seine. Eglise Cathedrule Notre Dame. (111. 223, 226, 227, 241, 258.)
The first stone of the existing edifice was laid in 1163 by Pope Alexander III, during
the episcopacy of Maurice of Sully (1160-96). "In the year of our Lord 1177. Mau-
rice has already long been bishop of Paris, and has much labored and persevered
in the construction of the church of the said city, the choir of which is now finished,
with the exception of the great vault. If this be completed, there will be this side of
the mountains no other work which can be compared with it."1 — "In 1182 the

' An. dni. 1177. Mauricius eps Parisian iam diu est q multu laborat et pfecit in aedifica-
tioiie ecclesie pdicte ciuitatis: cuius caput iam pfectii est, excepto maiori tectorio qd opus si
pfectii fuerit, no erit opus citra montes cui apte debeat copari. — Sigeberti, Cronicon, p. 147,
cit. Inkersley.

305

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

legate Henry, aided by the bishop Maurice, consecrated the altar of Notre Dame." *
Three years later (118.5) the legate officiated in the choir which consequently must
have been finished. At the death of Maurice in 1196 it is probable that the nave
was also nearly completed. In 1210 the facade was commenced with the north por-
tal (the Portail de la Yierge); part of the sculpture of an older edifice was incorporated
in the Porte Ste. Anne. By 1223 the facade had been built up to the height of the open-
work gallery uniting the two towers; it was entirely finished in 1285. Between 1235
and 1240 the cathedral suffered from a severe fire which necessitated very extensive
restorations. Advantage was taken of this opportunity to increase the size of the
clearstory windows by suppressing the second triforium of oculi and to alter the fly-
ing buttresses. The original flying buttresses had consisted of two flights of double
struts; — that is, the piers which divide the double aisles had been carried up through
the roof so as to form buttresses to the vaulted triforium gallery, and, rising above
the roof of this gallery, they had been reinforced by the double flying buttresses span-
ning the outer aisle and in turn had reinforced another pair of struts spanning the
triforium gallery, and abutting the clearstory walls. The lower strut of the outer
flight appeared above the aisle roof, but the lower strut of the inner flight was con-
cealed beneath the roof of the triforium. The reconstructed flying buttresses, which
still exist, clear both aisles in a single flight. The original design of the interior of
the nave with its triforium of cusped oculi may still be seen in the bay adjoining the
transepts, where owing to the powerful thrusts exerted by the vaults of the crossing,
it was deemed unsafe to remodel the clearstory. Between 1245 and 1250 the con-
struction of the lateral chapels of the nave was begun, chapels which seriously mar
the external effect of the church by concealing the salient buttresses. When the
chapels adjoining the transepts had been erected it was found that the facades of
the latter, which up to this time had projected very slightly from the wall line, were
outreached by the chapel. To remedy the resulting incongruity the old facades were
demolished and the transepts prolonged; at the same time the Porte Rouge and the
chapels of the choir nearest the transepts were added. In 1296 the chapels of the am-
bulatory were begun. — Paris is the earliest of the great Gothic cathedrals — a fact
reflected in several imperfections of adjustment which show that architecture had
not yet entirely emerged from the era of inexperience and experiment. But while
lacking the polish of Amiens or Reims, this cathedral is unsurpassed for purity of
detail, for vigor and virility of conception. In plan the edifice is remarkable for its
five aisles — a disposition found in few other French Gothic churches. The ambu-
latory was originally without radiating chapels, and since those which have been
added are shallow, merely filling in the space between the buttresses, this portion of
the plan differs as radically from Amiens or Chartres as it does from Noyon or Sens.
The church was originally planned for a quadripartite, not a sexpartite vault: hence
the system is ill adjusted to the existing vault ribs. Curiously enough, however,
the piers between the side aisles are alternately heavy and light, the heavier ones
being surrounded by colonnettes. The piers of the main arcade are cylindrical ex-

1 1182. Henricus legatus altare sanctae Mariae Parisiensis consecrat una cum Mauritio
praesule — Gall. Chris., Vol. VII, col. ?s.

306

PARIS

cept in the two westernmost bays : on the easternmost of these piers a single colonnette
is engaged; on the westernmost, four. The facade, as a whole, is perhaps the most
impressive produced by Gothic art, though unfortunately much of the statuary, de-
stroyed in the Revolution, has had to be replaced by modern imitations. (Viollet-le-
Duc; Bauchal.)

Ste. Chapelle. "On April 25, 1248, this church was dedicated by the venerable
Odo, bishop of Tours, in honor of the holy crown of thorns of our Lord and the life-
giving cross."1 This lost inscription preserved in "Gallia Christiana"' establishes
the date of the consecration of the edifice which was probably begun in 1245.2 Two
chapels were placed one directly above the other : the lower, designed for the retainers
of the king, had a nave and two very narrow side aisles; the upper consisted of a
single aisle with a polygonal apse. The walls were formed of a blazing mass of glass,
— in fact the whole construction, which has not inaptly been described as a vast jewel
case to hold the relics acquired by St. Louis, was undoubtedly one of the chefs-d'oeuvre
of Gothic art. The Ste. Chapelle, however, underwent the heavy fate of falling into
the hands of Viollet-le-Duc for restoration, with the result that it retains to-day
neither its original beauty nor its archaeological interest. Whatever may be thought
of the artistic value of the existing edifice as a modern experiment in polychromy, it
must be admitted that it has been somewhat too dearly bought by the destruction of
one of the finest achievements of medieval design.

St. Germain-V Auxerrois . This monument, although it has suffered severely
from restorations, which affected especially its statuary, still remains a fine example
of several of the medieval styles: the fine tower is of the XII century; the main
portal, the choir, and the apse are of the XIII century; the western porch is said
to date from 1435; the transepts with their remarkable portals are of about the
same time; and the greater part of the facade, the nave, the side aisles, and the
chapels of the chevet are flamboyant. The dimensions are large. There is a com-
plete set of lateral chapels and a single side aisle. (Beale.)

St. Severin consists of a nave, double side aisles, a complete set of chapels, a chevet,
and a double ambulatory. Like St. Germain-1' Auxerrois, the church is a patchwork
of many different constructions. The portal of the west facade formerly belonged
to the church of St. Pierre-aux-Boeufs, but was set up in its present position in 1837.
The three western bays of the nave, an exquisite design of the first quarter of the XIII
century, are supplied with round piers, simply moulded archivolts of a single order,
quadripartite vaults whose ribs rest on three shafts springing from the abaci of the
piers, a triforium, and a clearstory with simple tracery. With the exception of the
chevet rebuilt in 1684 the remainder of the edifice is of the flamboyant period, and
is characterized by disappearing mouldings, pendants, and bizarre tracery. (Hess-
ling, 31.)

St. Julien-le-Pain-re. This interesting little church, erected at the end of the XII

1 Anno Domini 1248, VII Cal. Mai. dedicata est eeclesia ista a venerabili patre Odone Tus-
eulanensi episeopo in honore sacro sanctae coronae epineae Domini et vivificae crucis. — Gall.
Chris. VII, col. 239.

2 1241 according to Dubois, Hist. Eccl. Parisis, Lib. XV, Cap. IV, p. 356.

307

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

century, was unfortunately disfigured in 1(53.5. Originally, the edifice consisted of
a nave eight bays long, two side aisles, and three apses. The vault was probably
quadripartite, except in the two eastern bays, where the alternate system which sur-
vives indicates a sexpartite vault; the western bays, however, have been so much
altered that it is impossible to determine with certainty the ancient dispositions. The
system seems to have been logical. Triforium and flying buttresses were omitted,
but a clearstory existed. The details, especially the capitals, are of surpassing beaut v.
(Hessling; Lenoir: Gonse.)

St. Leu et St. Gilles was erected in the XIV century, but the choir and the apse
were reconstructed in 1011-20 and again in 1805. The facade was entirely disfig-
ured in the XVI 1 century.

Abbaye Ste. Genevieve. The tower, which formerly stood to the south of the
church, survives, and may be assigned to c. 1200. (Lenoir.)

REIMS, Marne. Eglise Metropolitaine Notre Dame. (111. 224, 230, 237, 251,
208.) The oldest part of the existing edifice is the arch to the right of the central
portal of the north transept facade, evidently part of an earlier edifice, and doubtless
erected c. 1180 when the ancient cathedral was made over. This ancient cathedral
was burned in 1210.1 "In 1211, on the same day of the year (that the fire had taken
place) they commenced to build for the archbishop new walls upon foundations of
great width and depth."2 It should be noticed that there is no authority for the
tradition that a consecration took place in 1215, a tradition which, though evidently
erroneous, has found its way into many of the handbooks. According to M. Demaison
the choir was not finished until 1241. Work on the nave must have been begun at
once, for the sketches of Yillard de Honnecourt prove that this was well advanced
by the middle of the century. The age of the facade has been much discussed. It
wras formerly unquestioningly believed that the dates 1381 engraved on the lower
string-course and 1391 cut upon the face of the tower at the height of the gallery of
the kings were authentic records. To reconcile these with the evidently earlier style
of the architecture, M. Gonse and other archaeologists advanced the theory that the
facade had been moved forward several bays and reconstructed stone for stone in the
late XIV century. These descriptions have recently, however, been shown by M.
Demaison to be totally without authenticity, and in fact to be no more ancient than
the XVIII century. This archaeologist, therefore, assigns the lower half of the facade
on its style to the last half of the XII century (1255-90), and believes that the mon-
ument was entirely finished in the course of the XIII century with the exception of
the western gable and the towers. The latter were in construction in 1400, but were
still unfinished twenty years later. A fire which occurred in 1481 necessitated

1 Chronicle of Elnon (Mon. Germ. Hist., Scriptores V, p. 10); Chronicle of St. Nieaise of
Reims (Ibid., Ill, p. 85); Renier, a monk of St. Jacques of Lieges (Ibid., XVI, p. CG3); Anony-
mous Chronicler of Lion ( Recur i I des Historiens de la France XVIII, p. 714). Asin^le author-
ity— Aubri de Trois Fontaines (Mon. Germ. Hist., Scriptores XXIII, p. 892) — gives the date
1211.

M< ( XI. Eodero die, anno revoluto, parietas de novo super fundamenta magne profun-
ditatis et latetudinis ceperunt institui ex parte domini arehiepiscopi. — Chronicle of St. Nieaise
•.Mini, (,'iri". Hist., Scriptores XIII, p. 85.)

308

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

repairs that absorbed all the resources of the chapter, and thus prevented the erection
of spires. The gables of the transepts were finished only after this fire. The ground
plan of Reims is extremely massive as compared with that of Amiens, but the upper
portions, on the contrary, are extraordinarily light — ■ a fact which seems to show
that the original design was changed perhaps for esthetic reasons, or possibly because
the improved technique of the second quarter of the XIII century made it possible
to secure the requisite stability with lighter masonry than had been deemed neces-
sary in 1211. Externally, this cathedral has always been recognized as one of the
supreme achievements of Gothic art; the facade is rivaled only by that of Paris;
the flying buttresses are unequaled. If the interior yields slightly to Amiens in the
purity and perfection of its detail, compensation is to be found in the clearstory
windows which retain the ancient class in all its splendor. In statuary Reims is
the richest of all the cathedrals, and is said to contain over two thousand separate
figures. (Demaison; Le Cerf.)

CHARTRES, Eure-et-Loire. Eglise Cathedrale Notre Dame. (111. 190, 215,
218, 229, 249, 256.) The date of the construction of the west facade of Chartres is
one of the most discussed and most puzzling of the problems of medieval archaeology.
It is known that the old basilica of Fulbert, finished in 1028 and restored by Thierri
after the fire of 1031, was burnt in 1134. Works of reconstruction were in progress
seven years later (1141), or before, for the canon Salomon, who died in September of
that year, is mentioned as having contributed towards the expenses of this,1 but in
1144 the reconstruction had not yet been completed since it is well established that
the cart cult originated at Chartres, "while the towers were being built."2 By 1150,
however, at least the portals must have been finished, for on January 12th of that
year Richer, archdeacon of Chateaudun, who "adorned the entrance of this church
with a statue of the Virgin Mary beautifully painted with gold," 3 died. Such is
the slender documentary evidence bearing upon the question. The internal evidence
of the monument itself shows that the towers originally must have stood in front of
the facade, for the lateral faces, now inside the church, were evidently designed as
exterior walls, and show unmistakable signs of having stood exposed to the weather.
It is therefore necessary to conclude that the facade has been moved forward from
behind the two towers to a position flush with their western edge. On the basis of
these facts, and on the style of the various parts of the western end the history of this
portion of the building may be reconstructed as follows. The north tower, begun
about 1134, or immediately after the fire, was built isolated before the facade. In
1144-45 a new facade was undertaken to the westward of the ancient one, the nave
being prolonged one or more bays. This second facade, which is the one we still
have, was placed tangent to the eastern edge of the northern tower: the southern tower
was then begun, symmetrically with the northern one, and consequently also project-
ing beyond the facade. By 1150 the two towers had arrived at the second story.

i Gall. Chris. VIII, col. 1199.
- See text cited above, p. 159.

3 . . . decoravit etian introitum hujus ecelesie imagine Beate Marie auro decenter ornata.
— Cartul. Ill, p. 19.

309

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

About 1180, for some unknown reason, it seems to have been resolved to move the
facade forward to its present position. After this had been done work was resumed
on the southern tower which was finished and crowned by its spire. This had hardly
been completed, however, when a fire entirely destroyed the ancient cathedral with
the exception of the west end, portions of which were preserved in the new edifice
immediately begun: " In the year 1104, on the 11th day of June, the church at
Chartres was devastated by a wonderful and miserable fire, so that the walls were
ruined and destroyed and overthrown upon the ground, and it was necessary to
repair the church from its foundations and build a new structure." * The construction
progressed rapidly during the first half of the XIII century, and the consecration was
celebrated in 1260,2 though the transepts and the chapel of St. Piat were not finished
before the XIV century and the northern spire was erected in 1506-P2, as is known
from an inscription. Beneath each of the western towers is preserved a rib vault
of great interest; the northern, we have seen, may be dated 113-1, the southern, 1145.
The statues of the west portal are the most precious monuments we possess of the
sculpture of the XII century: they must date certainly from earlier than 1150 and
probably from about 1145. The transeptal portals are exquisite compositions with
an unrivaled wealth of sculpture and detail. In fact the statuary and stained glass
of this cathedral are its greatest claim to fame, for internally the proportions are less
happy than those of Amiens or Reims, and the choir was much damaged in the Ren-
aissance. At Chartres was established for the first time the fully developed Gothic
plan — a plan which was radically different from any which had been produced
before. (Bulteau; Lefevre-Pontalis; Lenore.)

St. Pierre. "In the first week of September, 1134, the Lord our God punished
many sins by fire. For the ancient and wealthy cities Le Mans and Chartres were
burned. ... At Chartres the abbey of St. Peter was destroyed, and the venerable
monastery of the monks was wiped out, the cloister and the other buildings being
completely ruined." 3 It is safe to conjecture that the reconstruction of the abbey
began with the conventual buildings, as was almost the invariable rule in the Middle
Ages. At all events a passage in Gallia Christiana states: "the abbot Fulchery
(1150-71) built the choir of the church as it is seen to-day. Before this Hilduard
had undertaken the construction of the nave. Stephen I who became abbot in 1172
adorned the church with stained glass windows, and placed the hand of completion
upon it." 4 But only six years afterwards, in 1178, "the City of Chartres was burned

1 Anno igitur ah incarnatione domini MC nonagesimo quarto, cum ecelesia Carnotensis
III idus junii mirabilj el miserable fuisset incendio devastata, ita ut conquassatis et dissolutis
postmodum parietibuset in terrarn prostratis aecessarium foret a fundamentis reparare et novam
denuo aedificare eccelesiam. Mss. in Vatican, published by Bulteau I, 97.

2 Gall. Chris. VIII, col. 11 GO.

3 1134. In prima septembris septimana Dominus Deus noster multa per ignem peccata
puniit. Cenomannis enim et Carnotum antiquae et opulentae urbes eunsumptae sunt. . . .
Carnoti monasterium S. Petri apostoli combustu est et venerahilis monachorum conuentus,
claustro cum reliquiis officiniis destructo, dispersus est. — Order. Vital., Lib. XIII, p. 899.

4 Fuleherius 11.50-71. Is basilicam chorum, qualis hodieque eernitur, extruxit. Interea
vero basilieae navim promovehat Hilduardus. Stephanus I sedabat anno 1172. Ecelesiam
vitreis fenestris ornavit, eique sepremam inanuin irnposuit. — Gall. Chris. VIII, col. 1226.

310

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

together with the monastery of St. Pierre." l The reconstruction which followed
this new disaster seems to have progressed very slowly. The existing edifice is of
three distinct epochs. The choir aisles, which must date from 1150 or earlier, show
that the ancient chevet was furnished with a system precisely similar to that of Noyon,
with sexpartite vaults, and with supports consisting of piers alternating with columns.
One bay of the southern ambulatory has a clumsy rib vault: the arches are
pointed, the ribs straight in plan with square unmoulded profile relieved only by
chamfering on the edges. The remaining bays are covered with groin vaults,
supplied with transverse arches springing from capitals placed lower than those of
the main arcade. All the arches are thus brought approximately to the same
level, without stilting. The second period of construction comprises the nave, a
curious design which exhibits a strange lack of uniformity even in apparently
contemporaneous parts. Below the triforium the two sides are entirely unsymmet-
rical. The lower portions doubtless date from the end of the XII century, but the
clearstory and the fine double flying buttresses seem to be later than those of the
cathedral. The choir, also supplied with flying buttresses, forms the third and last
strata of the construction. It is said to have been finished about 1310.

St. Andre. In 1108 this parish church became the seat of a monastery,2 but the
present edifice was probably not erected before the second quarter of the XII
century. Apparently it never contained any vaults, for there are no buttresses,
aisle responds, or vaulting shafts. The three pointed windows of the facade are
probably an addition of c. 1175. The church is now desecrated and difficult to
study.

BEAUVAIS, Oise. Eglise Cathedrale St. Pierre. (111. 227, 231, 240.) The
history of this monument presents no difficulties. Begun in 1225, the choir was fin-
ished only in 1272. Twelve years later, in 1284, the vaults fell, and the ruin of the
edifice was so complete that for forty years the canons were obliged to celebrate
their offices in the Basse Oeuvre while the necessary restorations which involved an
almost complete rebuilding of the structure were being executed. Not until 1500
was work begun on the transepts; these were finished in 1548. Instead of proceed-
ing to erect the nave, the canons now undertook to build a tower 153 meters high over
the crossing; but the piers of the crossing, lacking the abutment that the nave would
have furnished had it existed, yielded, and in 1573 the whole tower came crashing
down. This unfortunate history has given the text for much moralizing and much
sentimentality on the part of modern writers. There can, however, be no doubt
that, if the cathedral of Beauvais as designed in 1225 could have been made to stand,
it would have been unequaled among Gothic monuments. Broken and mutilated
torso as it now remains, it still retains a compelling beauty, a power to excite the
emotions unsurpassed by its happier rivals. As originally planned the rectangular
part of the choir consisted of three bays of great breadth, with quadripartite vaults.
In 1284 it was found necessary to divide each of these bays into two by adding an

1 An. diiii 1178. Ciuitas Carnotu cobusta est et monasteriu beati Petri de Valle. — Sige-
berti, Chronicon, p. 149.

2 Gall. Chris. VIII, Col. 1212.

311

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

extra pier in the center and making the vault sexpartite. Of the two aisles of the
ambulatory, the inner is loftier than the outer and supplied with a clearstory and
triforium; the outer is supplanted in the chevet by a series of chapels, placed, like
those of Paris, between the buttresses. The triforium is glazed and united by con-
tinuous mullions into a single composition with the soaring clearstory. Externally
the superb flying buttresses are double in a twofold sense. The facades of the tran-
septs are perhaps the masterpiece par cxccllancc of flamboyant architecture, but,
strangely enough, the interior design of this part of the edifice, with its wavy mould-
ings and debased detail, is exceptionally poor. (Von Bezold.)

St. liarthelemy contains some debris of architecture of the XIV century.

BOURGES, Cher. Eglise Cathedrale. (111. 214, 233, 239, 243, 264, 267, 288.)
There appears to be no precise evidence for the date at which this cathedral was
commenced, but the construction was undoubtedly begun not far from c. 1195. The
crypt was first attacked and then the ambulatory and choir. The style of the floral
ornament leaves no doubt that the construction was interrupted after the aisles of
the chevet and the east bay of the choir had been finished; moreover, the passage
in the aisle triforium is blocked off at this point. However, works were soon resumed

— probably c. 1215, — and the ancient choir — one double bay longer than the pres-
ent — was completed. Here occurred a much longer and more serious delay, which
M. de Kersers believes lasted for forty or fifty years. When works were recom-
menced, perhaps c. 1275, the character of the design was radically altered in detail,
though for the sake of harmony the general scheme of the first plan was preserved.
For the four pointed lancets of the aisle triforium in the choir, there were substituted
in the western bays two groups of two trefoiled arches placed under a single relieving
arch whose tympanums are all pierced with trefoil or quatrefoil openings. Further-
more the aisle clearstory in the western bays was given simple, but real, tracery; the
triforium of the nave, more acutely pointed arches and its tympanums, quatrefoils;
and the lancets of the nave clearstory were almost turned into tracery, the central one
being made smaller than its mates (instead of larger as in the choir) and being sur-
mounted by larger circular windows. This nave could hardly have been finished
before the XIV century, but as early as 1313 it was found necessary to reconstruct
the vaults. The facade was completed by Duke John about 1390. In the existing
edifice certain fragments of an earlier construction of about the middle of the XII
century survive — notably the north and south lateral portals and certain capitals
of the choir. As Bourges stands to-day it is in many ways unique among French
cathedrals. There are five aisles, the outer pair of different heights; there is no
transept; the double ambulatory has radiating chapels of little depth. The inner
aisles have clearstory and triforium, so that the composition is divided into five stories

— an arrangement not altogether happy. Unpleasant too are the curved ribs of the
ambulatory vault. The nave vault is sexpartite; the piers all of similar section are
alternately heavy and light. Three light shafts widely separated arc carried to the
ground in all the piers; from the main capitals rise alternately three and five shafts.
The flying buttresses are double. While Bourges in certain of its details perhaps
falls below its sister cathedrals, it possesses a charm of perspective, a poetry, that at

312

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

once place it in the front rank of Gothic designs. And with the single exception of
Chartres, no Gothic church contains so rich a treasure of stained glass. (De Ker-
ses II, 125.)

St. Pierre-le-Guillard. This edifice of the first quarter of the XIII century con-
sists of a nave, two side aisles, a chevet, an ambulatory, and five radiating chapels.
The vaults have been remade in the XV century, but it is evident that the original
ones were sexpartite, and that the intermediate shafts were supported on corbels
placed exactly over the summits of the arches of the main arcade. The alternate
systems are formed each of a single shaft rising from the ground to the springing of
the vault, where the ribs are gathered on the capital. There are no capitals at the
impost level. The chevet is supplied with a fine set of flying buttresses with slight
pinnacles. (De Kersers II, 194.)

St. Fulgent. The choir of this church has been destroyed, but the wood en -roofed
nave still survives. (De Kersers II, 209.)

Notre Dame-de-Sales. This church of the XIV century, pillaged and burnt by
the Protestants in 1562, was repaired a century later. Some parts of the building
of the XIV century still survive. (De Kersers II, 218.)

Chapelle St. George. A gable of this chapel of the XIII century survives in the
building, No. 10, Rue Trompette. (De Kersers II, 258.)

LE MANS, Sarthe. Eglise Cathedrale St. Julien. (111. 221, 247). "The most
holy body of St. Julien and the relics of the other saints were translated into the
church on the 17th day of September, 1093, in the eighth year of the ordination of
that bishop [Hoel] on the very day that he himself had planned, had God granted
him life, to consecrate the church."1 The reconstruction, whose completion is re-
corded in these words, affected only the choir, the transepts, and the two easternmost
bays of the nave. The arcades of the latter as rebuilt in 1093 are still extant. In
1110 the reconstruction of the remainder of the nave was begun, but the aisle walls
of the XI century were preserved; on the 25th of April, 1120, the consecration of this
part of the edifice was celebrated.2 However, "Hildebert, because the works on the
church had been unduly protracted, was anxious to see it consecrated in his own
time, and accordingly hastened the dedication beyond what was justified by the ac-
tual condition of the church, much of which was necessarily still unfinished." 3 This
church was ruined by fire not long after, for in Orderic Vitalis we read : " In the first
week of September, 1134, the Lord our God punished many sins by fire. Le Mans

1 Translatum est autem corpus sanctissimum beati Juliani et aliorum sanctorum reliquiae
in eaniden basilicam XVI Kalendas Novembris anno ab incarnatione Domini millesimo XCIII;
ordinationis autem ejus episcopi VIII, in qua videlicet die, si Deus sibi vitam concederet, ipsam
basilicam statuerat dedicare. — Gesta Ho'elli (Mabillon, Vetera Analecta, p. 314).

2 Anno plane Domini millesimo CXX in octobis Paschae, die scilicet majoris litaniae, con-
secravit earn in honore et nomine sanctae et gloriosae semperque virginis Mariae et beatorum
martyrum Gervasii et Protasii et piissimi confessoris Juliani. — Gesta Hildeberti (Mabillon,
Vetera Analecta, p. 317).

3 Hildebertus autem opus ecclesiae quod per longa tempora protractum fuerat, suo tempore
insistens consummare, dedicationem ultra quam res exposcebat accelerans, multa inibi necessaria
inexpleta praeteriit. — Ibid., p. 317.

313

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

and Chartres, ancient and wealthy cities, were burned. Also the cathedral church of
Le Mans, which was very beautiful, was destroyed, but the casket containing the body
of St. Julien. priest and confessor, though with much difficulty was safely carried to
the monastery of St. Vincent the Martyr." 1 The restoration necessitated by this
fire commenced with the reconstruction of the nave and transept. Since the date
114j is inscribed upon one of the stones of the upper part of the crossing, it is probable
that this rebuilding was begun at least as early as 11:57. Thanks to a skilful altera-
tion of the lower parts of the structure, the entire character of the design was changed.
The nave walls, blackened by fire, disappeared beneath a new coating of stone; a
vault was thrown across the nave; and the transepts were entirely remodeled. Only
the ancient side aisles were retained unaltered. The consecration took place in 1158;
from that time to this the nave has undergone no appreciable alteration, though the
choir was entirely reconstructed in the Gothic style between 1218 and 1254, the south-
ern transept was rebuilt in 1 :!!)."), and the northern between that time and 1430. As
the nave now stands the system of three shafts carrying five ribs is alternate and
continuous. The pointed quadripartite vaults of the nave are of the Lombard
type, each bay of the nave corresponding to two bays of the side aisles. The tri-
forium is formed of a continuous arcade. Above the pointed archivolts of the main
arches may be seen the old archivolts of 1120, which were evidently in two orders,
and rested on columns without system. The two easternmost bays (of 1093), on the
other hand, were characterized by piers on each of which were engaged two colon-
nettes to carry the extra order of the archivolts and a shaft continued to form a system.
The side aisles have groin vaults with transverse ribs; their windows (of the XI cen-
tury) are plain in contrast to those of the nave (of the XII century) which are shafted
and moulded. Some ruins of the north tower of the XI century still stand. The
seven-sided chevct, one of the masterpieces of Gothic architecture, is supplied with
a double ambulatory and a complete set of deep radiating chapels. The supports
are of the same number on both sides of the inner ambulatory, but in the outer wall
the number is doubled, the vaulting compartments thus being made alternately rect-
angular and triangular as at Aachen. Like Bourges the inner aisles are higher
than the outer, but the design is improved by omitting the triforium in the nave.
Externally the noble flying buttresses are unique in being divided into two conver-
ging flights over the outer ambulatory. (Ledru; Lefevre-Pontalis.)

LAON, Aisne. tglise ( 'athedrale Notre Dame. (111. 217, 222, 227, 248.) Two
consecrations of the cathedral of Lion look place during the XII century, one in lilt,
the other in L157. No portion of the existing edifice, however, can be earlier than
c. 1165, and strange as it seems that a new construction should have had to be begun
so soon after the dedication of 1 157, we are forced to conclude that such a rebuilding
must have been necessitated by some fire or other disaster of which no record has
come down to us. In the martyrology of the cathedral it is stated that Bishop Gaul-

1 1134. In prima septembris septimana Dominus Dens noster multa per i^ncm peceata
puniit. Cenomannis enim et Carnotum, antiquae et opulentae urbes comsumptae sunt. Tunc
Cenomannis episcopalis basilica, quae pulcherrima erat, concremata est, et feretrum sancti cum
corpore Pontificis et Confessoris Juliani difficulter in monasterium Sancti Martyris Vincentii
translatum est. — Orderie Vitalis, Lib. XIII, p. S!)!>.

314

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

tier (1155-74) "gave to the church of Laon two dorsal tapestries on which the twelve
months and the twelve signs (of the zodiac) were beautifully embroidered. And he
also gave to the work at Laon a hundred pounds besides twenty pounds of good
money that he had given every year since the commencement of that work." 1 This
is the only text which refers to the construction of the cathedral in the XII century,
but a notice of 1205 shows that in the early XIII century the edifice had not yet been
entirely finished: "In 1205 Jean de Chermizy, a noble, with the consent of his mother
Gertrude, gave in perpetuity to the church Notre Dame of Laon, land for quarrying
and extracting stones for the construction and chapels of the said church. . . ."2
Moreover, in 1221, relics were still being carried through the country to raise funds
for the building,3 and in 1225 the side portal opposite the old Hotel-Dieu was referred
to as the "new portal" —novo ostio.4 It is therefore safe to conclude that the con-
struction begun as early as 1165 lasted until near the end of the first quarter of the
XIII century. The oldest portions of the actual building are the transepts and the
first three bays of the choir. The first five bays of the nave seem to have been next
attacked, and then the remainder of the nave and the facade, of which, as is evident
from the sculptures, the southern portal is earlier than either the central or the north-
ern. The cathedral terminated originally in a semicircular chevet with ambulatory-
excavations executed in 1857,- the fact that the bases of the columns of the fourth
bay in the choir are slightly out of line, and several capitals now in the eastern bays
of the sanctuary evidently having come from the original chevet, leave no doubt on
this subject. Now, since the stone of the eastern bays of the choir is from the quar-
ries of Chermizy, which were given to the church, as has been seen, in 1205, it must
have been in the XIII century that the primitive chevet was destroyed, the choir pro-
longed, and the present square east end erected. It is conjectured that this change
was made for the purpose of increasing the length of the choir, which had doubtless
been found too small to accommodate the canons. The Chapelle des Fonts on the
south of the nave dates from the beginning of the XIII century; the two transeptal
absidioles, in several stories, which must have been erected about the same epoch,
probably replaced the apsidal chapels destroyed when the choir was prolonged. All
the other existing chapels are inserted between the buttresses, and were added in the
late XIII, or the XIV, century. Those of the nave seem to be somewhat earlier than
those of the choir. The transepts were altered in the XIV century, but from the
beginning Mere supplied with side-aisles — the earliest example of this feature in the
He de France — and these aisles are carried across the ends so as to form tribunes
in quite the Norman manner. Norman, too, is the central lantern surmounted by a

1 Dedit ecclesie Laudunensi duo tapeta dorsalia in quibus xii menses et xii signa pulcher-
rime sunt intexta. Dedit novissime operi Laudunensi centum libras preter vigenti libras bone
monete quas eidem operi ab initio contulerat annuatim. — Matyr. et Necrol., fo. 168, II Id.
Julii, cit. Bouxin, 25.

2 Johannes nobilis vir de Chermisi, dedit in eleemosynam in perpetuum ecclesie Beate
Marie Laudunensis, assensi Gertrudis matris sue, terrain ad fodiendum et extrahendum lapides
ad opus et officinas ecclesie supradicti. . . . anno Dni 1205. — Archiv. Nat., Cart. L. 731, cit.
Bouxin, 32.

3 Cart, du Chap., fo. 233, 2d column, and fo. 234, 1st column, cit. Bouxin, 33.

4 Ibid., fo. 137, cit. Bouxin, 33.

315

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

tower. The great glory of La on is its superb group of five towers — an ensemble
still without rival among Gothic monuments, although the superb southwestern spire
was unfortunately destroyed in the Revolution. Notwithstanding the fact that the
vaults are sexpartite throughout except in the two western bays of the nave where
the tower piers necessitated two quadripartite vaults, there is no alternation of supports,
the piers being all cylindrical, save that in the five eastern bays of the nave the alter-
nate columns are surrounded each by five colonnettes, one supporting the system,
and the other four, each one corner of the abacus. The Hying buttresses are of a
single strut and gabled; they also fail to express the alternately heavier and lighter
thrusts of the vaults. The system of alternately three and five shafts rises from the
abaci, which in the intermediate piers are octagonal. The gallery is surmounted by
a triforium, the nave being thus divided into four stories. The details of the carving,
the capitals, etc., are among the most exquisite that have come down to us. Alto-
gether Laon resembles Paris more closely than any of the other of the French cathe-
drals, but is of unique interest for its towers, its square east end, and its unrivaled
detail. (Bouxin.)

ROUEN, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise ( 'cdMdrale Notre Dame. (111. 225, 269, 274.)
Of the church which it is known was consecrated in 10(53 nothing remains, although
many portions of the present edifice — the northwestern tower (tour St. Romain),
the two chapels of the chevet, those of the transepts, portions of the nave, and the two
doors of the west facade opening upon the side aisles — must be earlier than the fire
of 1200, which is the next recorded event in the history of the cathedral. Since a
letter of Bishop Hugh1 implies that in 1145 works were in progress upon the cathe-
dral, we may assign to approximately this date the lower story of the Tour St. Ro-
main and its octopartite rib vault, which is without wall ribs. Somewhat later (c.
1175) is the upper story of the tower, whose rib vault is not domed, and is supplied
with wall ribs. The portals seem to be of about the same time (c. 1175). As for
the structure of the XIII century, the history is much less obscure. "In this year
[1200] on April 10th, Easter Monday, the church of Rouen was entirely burned to-
gether with all its bells, its books, and its ornaments; and a great part of the city and
many other churches perished at the same time."2 Works of restoration seem to
have been begun immediately, for it is certain that they were in progress in 1204,3
though it is by no means clear when the building was completed. Since, however,
important ceremonies were held in the cathedral in 1223, and in 1235 Bishop Mauri-
tius was buried in the choir, it is probable that the edifice was practically finished
before the second third of the XIII century. The two transept facades date from
about 1278; in 1302 the foundations for the present lady chapel was laid; the
entrance-way to the "Portail des Libraires" was erected c. ItSt; and the Tour-de-
Beurre was constructed in 1487. The central tower was rebuilt in 1514 in con-

1 Cited above, p. 156.

2 Hoc anno quarto bins Aprilis in nocta Paschae comhusta est tota ecclesia Rothomagen-
sis cum omnibus campanis, libris, et ornamentis ecclesiae et maxima pars civitalis et inultae
ecclesiae. — Labbe, Novae Bibliotfiecae I, p. 370, cit. Allinne-Poisel, 66.

3 See Deville, 81.

316

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

sequence of a fire, but the iron spire with which it is now crowned is a monument
to the bad taste of the XIX century. According to Dom Pommeraye the existing
facade was erected in 1509-30. The nave of Rouen is an archaeological puzzle.
The irregularities of the design, the introduction of a false triforium — a feature
paralleled only in the church of Eu, — the curious dispositions of the true (upper)
triforium, and certain round arches in the clearstory (especially noticeable exter-
nally) can be explained only on the theory that certain portions of an older edifice
were retained in the rebuilding of the XIII century, notwithstanding the fact that
the details of capitals and mouldings are strikingly homogeneous. A full system
of five shafts rises from the ground. The choir, which seems to have retained
little or nothing of XII century architecture, is of simpler design; it is characterized
by columnar supports and by a system resting on corbels placed just above the
abaci; the false triforium of the nave is omitted. The vaults throughout the church
are quadripartite. From an esthetic standpoint the interior of Rouen is less satis-
factory than that of any of the other great Gothic churches. The division into
four stories is not happy, nor are the proportions harmonious. The details,
although not as extravagant as in many examples of the Norman school, still
lack the purity of the He de France; the mouldings of the archivolts, while they
do not project, are over-elaborate; five colonnettes are engaged upon the main
piers. Yet the cathedral is not without its points of great interest: the transept
facades are perhaps the finest examples of rayonnant tracery that have come down
to us; the Tour-de-Beurre and the western facade are masterpieces of the flam-
boyant style; and the chapel St. Jean-Baptiste furnishes one of the earliest extant
examples of flamboyant architecture. (De la Balle; Allinne-Loisel.)

Abbaye St. Ouen. (111. 2.38.) Jean Marcdargent, abbot of St. Ouen, commenced
the present edifice in 1318. His epitaph furnishes precise information on this sub-
ject: "Here lies brother Jean Marcdargent or Roussel, formerly abbot of this mon-
astery, who commenced to build anew this church and constructed the choir, the
chapel, the piers of the [central] tower, and a great part of the transept of the said
church." ! Since Jean Marcdargent died in 1339, the construction must have ad-
vanced rapidly. After the first bay of the nave had been erected, however, works were
brusquely interrupted. Two more bays of the nave were built in 139G, but then
ensued another long delay. The construction was again resumed in 1439, when the
rose windows of the transepts were completed. The nave was finished by the abbot
Bohier 2 (1491-1515), and the lower parts of the western facade with its rose window
by the legate Cibo before 1545. As originally planned this facade would have been
flanked by twin western towers set at an angle. These towers, however, remained
unfinished until the XIX century, when Viollet-le-Duc erected the present towers
and gable in direct contradiction, not only to all good taste, but to the known inten-
tions of the medieval builders. The choir of St. Ouen is one of the finest examples

1 Hie jacet frater Johannes Marcdargent alias Roussel quondam abbas istius monasterii
qui incepit istam ecclesiam aedificare de novo et fecit chorum et capellas et pillaria turn's et mag-
nam partem crucis monasterii antedicti. — Dom Pommeraye, cit. Inkersley, 107.

2 Gall. Chris. XI, col. 153, la4, cit. Inkersley, 117.

317

(JOTHIC MONUMENTS

of pure rayonnant design that has come down to us. The tracery is exquisite; the

flying buttresses are double in a twofold sense with finely developed pinnacles: cap-
itals are not altogether omitted, but have become much reduced; the system is car-
ried through from vault to pavement without interruption; the triforium is glazed and
united in a single composition with the clearstory. With the exception of the window
tracery, the nave, although over a century later, is practically identical in design with
the choir and possesses the same refinement and delicate beauty. The central tower
is one of the most exquisite achievements of flamboyant art. (De la Balle; Von
Bezold.)

COUTANCES, Manche. Eglise Catkedraie. (111. 245, 255.) Of the church
of Geoffry, built 1030-56, the towers, which like those of Jumieges had a square base
■diu\ octagonal upper stories, still survive, though hidden from sight, and the entire
length of the clearstory gallery still exists almost intact in the walls of the existing nave.
Although texts establishing the date of the present structure are wanting, the style
of the edifice makes it seem probable that the nave was begun in 1208 by Bivien of
Champagne, and completed with its side aisles by the same bishop. Hugh of Mor-
ville who succeeded (1238-48) and his two successors doubtless built the transepts,
the lantern, the choir, and the double ambulatory. Subsequently the three portals
and the lower parts of the facade were erected, and Silvestre de la Serville (1371-86)
is believed to have completed the edifice by constructing the open-work gallery con-
necting the two towers and the six lateral chapels of the nave. The piers of the chevet
consist of coupled columns, as at Sens. The side aisles of the nave are single, but the
ambulatory is double, the inner aisle, more lofty than the outer, being supplied with
triforium and clearstory. Except in the chevet the system of three shafts rises from
the ground, the wall rib, without capital, springing from the clearstory string. The
clearstory wall is far from being eliminated. The mouldings of the archivolts of
the main arches are slightly more complicated than those of contemporary edifices
in the He de France, but do not project; they are carried on three shafts engaged on
the piers. Vaults with ridge ribs, thoroughly English in character, surmount the choir.
In the choir the central aisle has no triforium, a simple balustrade being carried around
below the clearstory; but in the nave a triforium exists, and this, as well as the clear-
story, is supplied with a balustrade. The lady chapel dates only from the XIV cen-
tury. The facade, which must rank as one of the grandest compositions of the Middle
Ages, betrays the influence of the local school in its shafts, its lack of a rose window,
and its octagonal towers. As the central porch projects a considerable distance,
it reaches beyond the buttresses whose lower portions are consequently lost from
sight. The western towers with their superb spires and turrets are among the mosl
strongly individualized conceptions of Gothic art; unfortunately the octagonal cen-
tral lantern with its four angle turrets has never received its spire. The flying but-
tresses of the chevet. like those of Paris, consist of a single strut clearing both aisles
in a single flight. (De la Balle.)

LISIEUX, Calvados. Eglise Caihedrale SI. Pierre. Of the church, whose re-
construction was begun in 1050, but which was destroyed in 1136 by a fire that con-
sumed the entire city, some debris is preserved in the present edifice, commenced

318

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

by Bishop Arnoult on his return from the Holy Land (1143). When that bishop died
in 1181, the nave, the two arms of the transept, the lantern, and a large part of the
main facade had been constructed, and the church was entirely finished when his
successor, Jourdain de Homraet, died in 1218. Only eight years after, however, the
edifice was damaged by fire. The necessary restorations were carried out by W illiam
of Pont-de-FArche, who at the same time undertook other works of embellishment,
notably the construction of the two lateral chapels of the chevet. It was perhaps
this same bishop who erected the western towers, of which, however, only the north-
ern survives, the southern, as is known from an inscription, having been rebuilt in
1579. The lateral chapels of the nave and the lady chapel are of the XV century.
In style the present building departs so widely from the Norman type that it might
almost have been built upon the soil of the He de France. The vault is quadripartite;
the supports are all columns; the system of three shafts rises from the octagonal abaci;
the flying buttresses are simple, with finials, but no pinnacles; the transepts have
eastern aisles; the supports of the chevet consist of coupled columns engaged together;
and the windows are without tracery. (De la Balle; Von Bezold.)

EVREUX, Eure. Eglise Cathedrale Notre Dame. Of the cathedral built by
Geselbert and consecrated in 1077,1 nothing survives, this edifice having been
destroyed in 1119 as is known from a passage in Orderic Vitalis: "In 1119 King
Henry came to the diocese of Evreux, and commenced to storm the city. The
King said to Bishop Audin, 'Don't you see, my Lord Bishop, that we are repulsed
by the enemy and can overcome them only with fire? True, if the city is burned,
the churches will be destroyed and great loss will fall upon the innocent. There-
fore, my Lord Bishop, consider carefully and then tell us whether it seems better
to you to burn or not to burn the town. But remember that if by means of the
fire the victory shall fall to us, the injury to the church of God shall be lavishly
repaired, and the houses of God, I think, shall be rebuilt better than before.' The
bishop hesitated anxiously before such a decision. But at length, on the advice of
prudent men, he decided that fire should be kindled and the city burned. There-
fore, Radulph de Guader first set fire on the northern side, and the flames spread
at once throughout the city and destroyed everything (for it was in the dry season
of the autumn). Then the church of St. Sauveur was burned and the famous hall
of the glorious virgin mother Mary, whom the bishop and chapter served. But the
king and all his peers gave in humility an indemnity for the burning of the church
to the bishop, and promised openly other gifts from their own possessions for its
restoration."2 With these resources the reconstruction must have progressed

1 Orderic Vitalis, Lib. V, p. 548.

2 Henricus rex pagum Ebroicensem adiit et Ebroas cum valida manu impugnare coepit.
Rex dixit ad Audinum Episcopum — "Vides ne, domine praesul, quod repellimur ab hostibus
nee eos nisi per ignem subjugere poterimus ? Verum, si ignis immittitur, ecclesiae comburen-
tur et insontibus ingens damnum inferetur. Nunc ergo, Pastor ecclesiae, diligenter considera
et quod utilius pospexeris, provinde nobis insinua. Si victoria nobis per ineendium devinitus
conceditur, opitulante Deo ecclesiae detrimenta restaurabuntur. Unde, domus Dei, ut reor,
in melius reaedificabuntur." — Haesitat in tanto discrimine Praesul anxius. Tandem pruden-
tum consultu praecepit ignem immitti, et civitatem concremari. Radulphus igitur de Guader

319

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

rapidly, for in 1139 we read that "Audin, bishop of Evreux, held office for
twenty-four years, and rebuilt from the foundations the church of Notre Dame,
which had been burnt in his time." ' Of this edifice, the main arcades of the
two western bays of the existing nave are a remnant. The remaining arcades,
which consist of sixteen round arches each supported on a pier surrounded by
twelve colonnettes. are evidently later than L139, being apparently about con-
temporary with the lower portions of the cathedral of Bayeux, and must have
belonged to a restoration of which we have no documentary knowledge. At all
events the church was again burned at the end of the Xll century — probably
in the disorders of 1194 — and new works of restoration were begun at the tri-
forinm level of the nave in 1202. Progress, however, must have been slow, for the
triforium on the south side, as is evident from its style, must date from c. 1225,
while the clearstory can hardly be earlier than c. 1240. Four nave chapels were
added in 1246-47, but these were afterwards rebuilt in the XV century. From
1298 to 1310 the new choir was in construction; it was completely finished before
1327, for one of the donors of the stained glass died at that date. A fire which
occurred in 1355 seems to have done little damage to the cathedral. The build-
ing was finally completed by the construction of the transept and central tower in
1446-75. The choir of four bays, which terminates in a seven-sided chevet sur-
rounded by a single ambulatory with a complete set of radiating chapels, is
characterized by a glazed triforium, rayonnant tracery, and superb flying but-
tresses. Doubtless because the old Norman plan was preserved, the transepts
are without side aisles. The transept facade, finished in 1510, is a superb com-
position comparable only to that of Beauvais. The fine flying buttresses of the
nave were destroyed by Viollet-le-Duc, who substituted the present sorry construc-
tions. (Fossey; De la Balle; St. Paul.)

TROYES, Aube. Ecjlisc Cathedrale St. Pierre et St. Paul. (111. 277.) In 1188
the city of Troves was devastated by a terrible fire which injured also the cathedral.
It seems, however, to have been only in 1208 that the bishop Hervee undertook to
erect the edifice which still survives. The choir was finished by 1223, but the con-
struction must have been faulty, for only four years later (1227) the building was very
seriously injured by a wind storm. A bull of Gregory IX which mentions this
disaster implies that the ruin was very serious. In 1233 the work of repairing the
cathedral was undertaken by Nicolas de Brie, but progressed so slowly that it was
completed only by Jean d'Auxois II in 1314. At about the same time the crossing
and transepts were erected. In 1342 Jean d'Auxois V presented a sum of money

a parte aquilonali primus ignem iniecit, et effrenis flamma per urbem statini volavit, et omnia
(tempus em'm autumni riccum erat) corrupuit. Tunc combusta est basilica sancti salvatoris,
et Celebris aula gloriosae virginis et matris Mariae cui praesul et clems serviebant. Rex et
cunrti optimates sui episcopo pro ecclesiarum combustione vadimonium suppliciter dederunt
et uberes impensas de opibus suis ad restaurationem earum palam spoponderunt. — Ibid., Lit).
XII, p. 852.

1 1139. Audinus Ebroicensis Episcopus XXIV annis Ebroicensem diocesim tenuit et basil-
icam beatae Dei genetricis Mariae, quae tempore illo combusta fuerat a fundamentis reparavit.
Ibid., Lab. XIII, p. 919.

320

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

for the "completion of the church"; in 1364 the chapter made a bargain with
Thomas, master builder, "to superintend the works on the church." The dedica-
tion solemnized in 1429 probably celebrated the completion of the great central
fleche, which unfortunately no longer exists, having been destroyed in the XVIII
century. At the end of the first quarter of the XV century, the nave was in con-
struction; in 1450 it had been finished as far as the third chapel. Considerable
difficulty, however, must have been experienced in raising funds, for in 1452 Nicolas
V granted indulgences in favor of the church, and in 1457 relics were carried
through the diocese. In 1496 the vaults were finished. In 1506 the foundations
of the west facade were laid; in 1511 work on the tower St. Paul was begun; and
in 1526 the Gothic portions of the west end were completed as they exist to-day.
Troves is a cathedral much neglected by travelers, but of exceptional interest.
The ambulatory, a superb example of the purest Gothic style, possesses details of
exquisite perfection, and still retains almost undamaged its original glass. Beauti-
ful too are the upper portions of the chevet, of which the glazed triforium and
clearstory also contain ancient glass. The nave has five aisles and a complete set of
lateral chapels. Although flamboyant in style, the design is simple and restrained,
and harmonizes well with the Gothic choir. The system consisting of round shafts
is carried to the ground; and capitals are not omitted. It is only when the prismatic
profiles of the archivolts or ribs are considered, or the flamboyant tracery of the
clearstory and triforium, that the visitor becomes conscious of the late style of this
portion of the edifice. The west end, one of the finest of flamboyant facades, is,
notwithstanding its unfinished state and the unfortunate mutilations to which it has
been subjected, a composition of remarkable interest. (Patenotre.)

St. Urbain. (111. 220.) The documentary evidence for the building dates of
this church is unusually full. Urbain IV founded it in 1262 in honor of his patron
saint, "in the desire," he quaintly says, "that the memory of this name might remain
forever in the city of Troyes, even after the dissolution of our body." Works must
have proceeded rapidly, for a series of texts of from 1265 to 1270 imply that at least
a substantial part of the edifice was completed. Thus in 1265 a bull of Clement IV
granted indulgences to all those who should visit the church on the day of St. Urbain,
or on the day of the consecration of the main altar. Another bull of Clement issued
in 1266 threatened with excommunication the abbess and nuns of the Notre Dame
who had burst open the doors of St. Urbain and smashed the altar, for it seems the
canons of St. Urbain and the nuns of Notre Dame lived at perpetual warfare with
each other, and not infrequently descended to physical violence. In 1267 indulgences
were granted to those who should contribute money for the completion of the church.
Of the same year there is extant a bull of Clement requiring the abbot of Montieramy
to force a certain Jean Langlois, formerly master builder of St. Urbain, to give an
accounting of the funds entrusted to him for the expenses of the construction. In
1268 there was more difficulty with the nuns of the Notre Dame, who appeared with
several armed men "to break up the ceremony of the consecration of the new ceme-
tery." The evidence supplied by these scattered notices is confirmed by a bull of
1276 issued by Innocent V, granting indulgences to those who should visit the church

321

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

of Si. Urbain on the day of its approaching consecration. It is therefore impossible
to doubt that at this date the monument was finished substantially as it still exists,
though the style of the edifice is so remarkably advanced that it has much puzzled
archaeologists. For St. Urbain, perhaps the lightest and most fragile of all Gothic
constructions, represents the acme of rayonnant architecture, and were not its dates
firmly established might well be assigned to an epoch at least fifty years later. The
building consists of a polygonal apse, a choir with side aisles, transepts with side aisles,
and an unfinished nave of three bays also with side aisles. In the western portions
capitals are omitted, and in the vestibule ogee arches occur: — both features so charac-
teristically flamboyant that it is strange indeed to find them in a XIII century church.
(Von Bezold.)

Ste. Madeleine. The choir was consecrated in 1519; the rest of the church,
which consists of a nave and transepts, both supplied with side aisles and covered
with sexpartite vaults, may be assigned to c. 1175, and is of extraordinary interest
for certain remarkable analogies with the Gothic style of England. Thus the dog-
tooth moulding is lavishly employed; the abaci of the capitals of the vaulting shafts
and of the triforium are round: and the archivolts in three orders are of complicated
profile. The system consists of a single shaft much narrowed above the triforium.
The aisle vault is highly domed, but its ribs, though heavy, have advanced profiles;
the wall ribs are in many cases omitted, and always fade away before reaching the
capitals. Three colonnettes carrying the orders of the archivolts are engaged on the
piers. The capitals of the latter are analogous to St. Remi of Reims or Notre Dame
of Chalons-sur-Marne. Pointed arches are used throughout in the ground story.
Above the triforium string the design of the nave differs from that of the transepts.
In the nave the triforium consists of an arcade of four arches in two orders; the archi-
volts of the outside order are pointed, those of the inside order, round. The croch-
eted capitals, which may be assigned to c. 1200, are supplied with round abaci of
which the top member instead of being a plinth is a torus. The bases overhang the
octagonal plinths even at the corners. Above the triforium and at the level of the
capitals of the vaulting shafts is placed a heavy corbel-table. This extraordinary
feature probably indicates that there was originally a flat wooden roof erected at this
point, although the capitals of the vaulting shafts, which are finely crocheted and have
round abaci, seem entirely analogous to those of the triforium. The original vault
has been replaced by a modern imitation, which, however, presumably reproduces
the original dispositions. The wall ribs are round-arched, and spring from the clear-
story corbel-table. In each bay the clearstory is pierced by two round-arched shafted
lancets. The west end is supplied with five lancets of different heights fitted under
a round arch in a manner peculiarly English.

St. Jean, which is classed as a "monument historique," is of several different
epochs. The tower is said to date from the XII century, part of the nave and the
fine portal from the XrV century, the remainder of the edifice including the fine glass
from the XVI century.

SOISSONS, Aisne. figlise Cathedrale. (111. 207, 212, 228, 244.) For the date
of construction of the southern transept, the oldest part of the existing edifice, the only

322

MONUMENTS OF THE FIRST CLASS

documentary evidence is a deed of gift in which it is recorded the bishop Nivelon
(1176-1207) ceded the chapter part of his garden.1 Presumably this bishop, finding
that the choir of his cathedral, which had been built about the middle of the XII
century, was still in good condition resolved to accomplish the necessary enlargement
of his church by rebuilding the south transept. Since the style of this transept is
obviously earlier than that of the existing choir, which, it is known, was terminated
in 1212, M. Lefevre-Pontalis is certainly correct in assigning the former to the years
1180-90. This date is further confirmed by the fact that the chapel St. Jacques,
which forms the upper story of the chapel of St. Martin, was founded in 1190.2 At
all events, soon after the completion of the transept it was determined to rebuild the
entire edifice, and the foundations of a new choir were laid before the end of the XII
century. Roul d'Oulchy, prevot of the chapter from 1193 to 1208, donated the chapels
of St. Andre, St. Corneille, and St. Cyprien. The canons celebrated mass for the
first time in the new choir on Sunday, the 13th of May, 1212, as is known from a dog-
gerel inscribed upon the ancient screen.3 After this the construction of the nave
was attacked, and finally the north transept was rebuilt, the latter being completed
probably about the middle of the XIII century. As the church exists to-day, the
southern transept, supplied with a semicircular end and a side aisle carried completely
around, differs radically in design from the remainder of the edifice. A large chapel
in two stories opens off to the eastward. The vaulting of the central aisle, the division
into four stories, the high vaulted gallery, and the triforium recall Noyon. The shafts
are banded; except a few round-headed windows, the pointed arch is consistently
used. Wall ribs are used in all the vaults; in the curved bays of the side aisles the
diagonals are curved in plan. The existing flying buttresses were added after the
completion of the transept. This portion of Soissons, one of the most ethereal of all
XII century designs, is the highest expression of that fairy-like, Saracenic phase of
Gothic art that had first come into being at Noyon. Like Noyon, however, this tran-
sept lacks the elements of grandeur which are found in so striking a degree in the nave
and choir of this same church of Soissons. For when the reconstruction of the choir
was taken up, only a very few years later, no attempt was made to retain in the
new work the dispositions of the old. Quadripartite vaults were employed instead
of sexpartite; the triforium gallery was omitted; the height of the vault increased;
for grace and daintiness was substituted power and grandeur. A peculiarity of the
choir is the arrangement of the vaults of the ambulatory: each of the shallow radi-
ating chapels is united with the corresponding compartments of the ambulatory in a
single octopartite vault, whose center is placed nearly in line with the outside edge
of the ambulatory. In the central aisle the system of five shafts rests upon the
polygonal abaci of the columns, which are supplied with a single shaft engaged on
the side of the nave. (Lefevre-Pontalis.)

1 Quamdam partem curiae suae in qua sita est dextra crux ecclesiae nostrae cum capella
saneti Martini. — Bibl. Nat. Collection Baluze XLVI, p. 467, cit. I/efevre-Pontalis.

2 Arch. Nat. L. 742, No. IS, cit. Lefevre-Pontalis.

323

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

SEEZ. Orne. Eglise Cat hid rale. (111. 232.) A cathedral at Seez was dedi-
cated March It), 1126, but of this nothing survives. The sole documentary evidence
for the date of the present structure is the following epitaph: "Here lies Jean of Ber-
nieres, formerly bishop of See/., prudent, modest, and gracious; the builder of the
church of Seez and defender of its rights, who died on Holy Thursday, April 14,
1292."1 To judge from the style of the architecture, the nave was probably begun
about the middle of the XIII century; by 1292 it must have been entirely finished,
and the construction of the choir already begun. The church as it stands to-day, if
it falls short of the greatest achievements of Gothic art, is still full of grace and
beauty. Internally the design is characterized by the absence of a lantern, by a system
of a single shaft engaged on the cylindrical piers and carried to the level of the spring-
ing, by the main arcade proportionately very high, by a low clearstory, and by a tri-
forium consisting of three sets of coupled arches in each bay. The facade shows
the influence of the local school in its lack of a rose window and in the shafting on the
towers, which are crowned by charming spires. Although the central porch has great
projection, it does not overlap the heavy western buttresses. The flying buttresses
are double, without, however, highly developed pinnacles. While the clearstory
wall is omitted, arcading of open-work tracery thoroughly Norman in character is
retained inside the glass. The design of the choir is distinguished from that of the
nave by the gables which surmount the arcades and by the glazed triforium. (I)u-
maine; De la Balle; Cotman.)

AUXERRE, Yonne. Eglise Cathedrale St. Eticnnc. William of Seignelay
(1207-20), seeing that cathedrals were being rebuilt on all sides, saved up a sum of
money for the reconstruction of his which menaced ruin. In 1215 he demolished
the old choir and began a new, of which the construction had progressed consider-
ably2 at the time of his death in 1220. Although the biographer of Henri de Ville-
neuve (1220-34), who succeeded William, does not mention that this bishop continued
the cathedral, the stained glass of the choir makes it almost certain that such was the
case, for in the great windows at the end of the chevet may still be seen the figure of
an Agnus Dei bearing a standard which is nothing else than the reversed seal of the
bishop. Henri was buried (1234) in the choir of the cathedral, which must conse-
quently have been finished at this time. From this moment the construction must
have been pursued slowly, for although the style of the first bay of the nave is clearly
that of the XIII century, the following five bays could hardly have been erected
before the XIV century. During the early part of the Hundred Years' War building
was entirely abandoned, being resumed only in 1413, when the southern portal of
the transept was begun. In 1470 the western bays of the nave were attacked, but
the facade was finished only in 1550. — Of the church as it stands to-day, the most
interesting part is the choir — a noble example of the pure Gothic style, so much the

1 Hie jacet Johannes dictus <!<• Bemeria quondam episeopus Sagiensis, prudens, modestus,
gratiosus, aedificator ecclesiae Sagiensis, et ejus jurium defensor, qui obiit die Jovis in coena
Domini videlicet IS Kal Maii 1292. — Epitaph originally in cathedral preserved by Marigiiy
and cited by Dumaine, p. 26.

'-' Lebeuf, Vol. 1, pp. 339-360, cit. [nkersley.

324

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

more delightful that it still retains its ancient glass. The ambulatory, with only a
single apsidal chapel, is covered with vaults analogous to those of St. Remi of Reims
and Notre Dame of Chalons-sur-Marne; the polygonal chevet, however, is supplied
with vaults of the Noyon type. Although the high vaults are quadripartite at present,
the church was evidently originally planned for a sexpartite vault. The transepts,
and those bays of the nave which date from the XIV century, are characterized by a
system of shafts rising from the ground and receiving the ribs on small capitals. The
portals are of the XIV century; the remainder of the facade, including the single
tower, is flamboyant. (Poree; Nodier et Taylor; Inkersley.)

Abbaye St. Germain. Since his church had been severely damaged by two fires,
Jean de Joceval, abbot of St. Germain (f 1277), resolved to rebuild the monument.
It is probable that works progressed rapidly at first, for Hugh of Guilly, dean of the
chapter, was buried in 1289 at the end of the nave before the choir door. The con-
struction was soon interrupted, however, — probably after the choir had been com-
pleted— but was resumed by Gaucher Dignon in 1309. In 1362 the Pope Urbain
V gave to complete the building the sum of 4,541 gold florins from the papal treasury.
This would seem to have been sufficient to finish an edifice already nearly constructed ;
yet it is recorded that in 1398 Hugh of Barlore gave 900 pounds for the vaults. The
abbey is thus largely a monument of the XIV century, but unfortunately it has been
much mutilated. The tower St. Jean is a fine Romanesque structure, surmounted
by a fleche of the XII century. The church itself is notable for its high clearstory
with flying buttresses and rayonnant tracery. (Nodier et Taylor.)

St. Eusebe. The nave is said to have been rebuilt c. 1280; the octagonal tower,
which rises directly over the altar and which forms a lantern internally, is of the XII
century; the ambulatory is of the XIII century. The great flying buttresses support-
ing the tower were added in the flamboyant period. (Nodier et Taylor.)

BRAISNE, Aisne. St. Yved. This abbey of the order of Premont, built by
Agnes, wife of Robert of Dreux, is said to have been consecrated in 1216. * The
transepts project the distance of one bay beyond the side aisles, which, however,
terminate in semicircular apses two bays to the westward of the crossing. The
seven-sided choir is without side aisles, but is supplied with nine radiating chapels.
Both these dispositions are unparalleled. Except in the lantern which rises over
the crossing, the vaults are quadripartite throughout; some of the shafts rise from
the pavement, others rest upon the capitals of the monocylindrical columns. The
eastern part of the choir is designed in the first manner, while the piers of the two
western bays of the nave and of the transept are of the latter form. The nave has
fine flying buttresses. (Von Bezold; Moore, 121.)

Monuments of the Second Class

MEAUX, Seine-et-Marne. Eglisc Cathedrale. It is known that the princess
Marie de France, who was buried in the cathedral in 1198, was a large benefactress
of the church, and doubtless most of the work of the XII century in the existing edi-
fice formed part of the building to which she contributed. At all events, a very thor-

1 Gall. Chris. IX, 489
325

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

ough-going reconstruction was undertaken in 1268. Work seems to have progressed
slowly, however, until the XIV century, when Jeanne of Navarre bequeathed a large
sum to continue the works. In 1321 and 1331 chapels were founded. Jean du Drac,
who occupied the episcopal throne from 1458 to 1473, commenced the northern tower,
but this was not completed until c. 1530. The same bishop also continued the nave,
and his arms may still be recognized in the dragons rampant on the third pier. Jean
Shuillier, bishop from 1483-1500, whose arms may be seen on the fourth pier, must
have carried forward the work of his predecessor. The canon Jean de Marcilly,
who died in 1.306, constructed at his own expense the portal beneath the northern
tower, and founded the chapel of the Annunciation. Another canon founded in 1512
the chapel of the Visitation and built the northern side aisle. — The cathedral of
Meaux, as it exists to-day, consists of a nave shorter than the choir (being only five
bays long), double side aisles, non-projecting transepts, a chevet, and an ambula-
tory whose outer aisle is replaced, to the eastward, by five radiating chapels — the
only chapels in the cathedral. Although the southern tower has never been erected,
the facade with its rich sculpture is a masterpiece of flamboyant design. The gables,
of which only the northern is ogeed, have flamboyant tracery, but no open-work.
The northern tower, surmounted by a flat balustrade with four angle turrets, seems
reminiscent of English perpendicular work. Although the main body of the edifice
was almost entirely reconstructed in 1230 et seq., the original system of the XII cen-
tury may still be made out in the choir, while the eastern bay of the nave on the south
side and the easternmost two on the north side, together with the two bays on the west
side of the north transept, largely retain their original forms. From these fragments,
it is evident that the primitive church was supplied with quadripartite vaults resting
upon a complete set of ribs and reinforced by flying buttresses. (Taylor; Moore,
120.)

ST. SATUR, Cher. Abbaye. (111. 235.) The construction of this abbey was
begun in 1361, but in 1405 works were interrupted and never resumed.1 The existing
edifice, which consists of a five-sided chevet, a choir four bays long, an ambulatory
and radiating chapels, ends abruptly at the crossing; all except the westernmost bay
was undoubtedly completed by 1367. The diagonals of the ambulatory vault are
curved in plan. There is no triforium, but the lower part of the clearstory windows
are walled up to afford space for a lean-to roof over the aisles. The piers consist
of a number of very small engaged colonnettes, each with its separate uncarved cap-
ital, though in some of the less important shafts the capital is omitted altogether.
The spaces between the shafts, which tend to assume the forms of prismatic mould-
ings, are continued from pier to archivolt. Almost equally prophetic of flamboy-
ant design are the bases with high and slender plinths which spread out over one
another and tend to intersect. The vaults of the choir never seem to have been rein-
forced by Hying buttresses. This monument is without question the best example
that has come down to us of the style of the middle of the XIV century, and is of
great value in showing to just what point Gothic had advanced at the time of the
introduction of flamboyant art. (De Kersers VII, 50.)

1 Arch, du Cher, Funds de St. Satur. Inv. de I(J.;(i, f° 1.3, cit. Dc> Kersers VII, 50.

326

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

GOURNAY, Seine-Inferieure. St. Hildevert, though half remodeled in the
early Gothic period, still retains considerable portions of its original Norman archi-
tecture. It consists of a nave six bays long, two side aisles, transepts, and a rect-
angular choir of four bays. The nave, the northern absidiole, the east end of the
choir, and the two half piers of the latter are the most ancient parts of the existing
edifice, and are assigned to c. 1100 by Ruprich-Robert. From them it is evident
that the Norman church was characterized by groin-vaulted side aisles, unmoulded
archivolts in two orders, and square piers with engaged shafts. There was no gal-
lery. The transepts and choir, reconstructed in the style of the He de France, are
supplied with a continuous system of three shafts, the wall shaft being stopped at
the triforium string. The two eastern bays of the nave at present have sexpartite
vaults; the other vaults are quadripartite. These vaults all rest on corbels, and
no attempt is made to adjust them to the original uniform system. Externally, the
Gothic facade is flanked by two towers and supplied with a projecting central porch.
(Ruprich-Robert; Moore, 103; Cotman; Benoist, 84.)

EU, Seine-Inferieure. Abbaye St. Laurent. While traveling in France in 1181,
Lawrence, archbishop of Dublin, was taken mortally ill as he happened to be pass-
ing Eu; being told that the abbey belonged to the congregation of St. Victor, he went
thither, and was presently overtaken by death. The people rushed to his tomb to
offer prayers; he was at once popularly hailed as a saint; and when his body was
found in 1186 uncorrupted he was duly canonized (1226). 1 "Meanwhile the church
in which the holy body was lying seemed all unworthy of the Queen of Heaven and
her so honored guest, and threatened ruin because of its age. Therefore it was torn
down to the ground, and the tomb of the saint remained in the open air, trampled
under foot by bird and beast. But soon, under the inspiration of heaven, that that
holy body might not remain without honor, it was taken up and reburied in the crypt
before the altar of St. Leger, and it was here placed on Thursday, April 17th, 1186." 2
It was doubtless immediately after this event that the construction of the existing
edifice was begun. Since the relics were translated into the church in 1227, it is fair
to assume that the new building was substantially finished by this time. In 1426
the building was so severely damaged by lightning that repairs were still incomplete
in 1451. As the monument stands it is of great interest as one of the earliest Gothic
monuments of Normandy. The simple exterior (except the flamboyant additions
to the chevet and portals) is severely simple; the interior is an exceptionally pure
example of the early Gothic style. The nave is eleven bays long; the transepts do
not project. (De la Balle; Inkersley; Benoist.)

MANTES, Seine-et-Oise. Notre Dame, for the date of whose construction we
have no documentary evidence, consists of a western transept across which the main

i Gall. Chris. XI, col. 293, cit. Inkersley, 76.

2 Ecclesia siquidem in qua sanctum corpus jacebat quae nimirum coeli regina tantoque
ejus hospiti minus sufficiens videbatur et sua vetustate miniabatur ruinam. Unde factum est
ut diruta solo tenus tumulus beati viri remaneret sub divo bestiis et avibus conculcandus. Mox-
que cousilio coelitus inspirato, ne minus honorifice remaneret, assumptum est sanctum ejus
corpus et ante altare sancti Leodegarii, in cripta reconditum est et locatum quinto decimo calendas
maii, leria quinta, anno Domini millesimo centesimo octogesimo sexto. . . . cit. De la Balle.

327

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

arcades of the nave are carried, a nave of three double bays, two side aisles, a ehevet,
and an ambulatory originally without radiating chapels. The most extraordinary
feature of the edifice is the triforium gallery, of which the eastern bays are covered by
a series of barrel vaults with axes at right angles to that of the nave, and which was
originally lighted by a series of oculi, though many of these have now been altered
into rayonnant windows. In the western (later) bays of the nave the gallery is sup-
plied with a groin, and not a barrel, vault. This gallery also has a balustrade — an
unusual feature in this region — but there is no upper triforium. The high vaults
are sexpartite, the supports being alternately piers and columns; they are reinforced
by uniform flying buttresses with gables but without pinnacles. The lancet windows
have no tracery. Externally, the facade is remarkable for the fine twin towers which
flank the western gable. This church may be assigned to the end of the XII and to
the beginning of the XIII centuries. (Von Bezold; Johnson.)

CHALOXS-SUR-MARXE, Marne. figlise Cathhlrale St. Etienne. There
seems to be no documentary evidence for the building' dates of this monument.
The east end is clearly the earliest part of the existing structure, and may be assigned
to the fourth decade of the XIII century. Xotwithstanding the fact that the choir,
which is only one bay long, has been sadly mutilated in the times of the Renaissance,
when the original supports were replaced by the existing Doric columns and the vault
most lamentably decorated, many Gothic details of great purity and beauty survive.
At the fifth bay of the nave (counting from the east), there is noticeable a sudden
change of style; west of this point the capitals become naturalistic and disappearing
mouldings are introduced, although the window tracery still remains the same. The
system of the nave consists of three shafts rising from the octagonal abaci of the mono-
cylindrical piers and of two wall shafts rising from the triforium string. Altogether,
this nave with its double flying buttresses and its perfect rayonnant tracery must be
considered as among the most important examples we possess of the architecture of
the XIV century. Two towers, both now deprived of spires, flank the choir; the
northern, in part Romanesque, seems the only surviving fragment of the cathedral
said to have been erected in 1147. The existing facade is a work of the Renaissance;
the portal of the southern transept is modern.

ST. LOUP consists of a nave, two side aisles, a choir and a three-sided apse.
This monument is a superb example of rayonnant art

FECAMP, Seine-Inferfeure. Abbaye. The abbey of Fecamp was burned on
June 28, 1170; 1 the reconstruction, however, seems to have been immediately begun,
for a new church was dedicated only eleven years later.2 However, this consecration
must have taken place long before the edifice was completed, for works were still in
progress as late as 121 9. 3 Interrupted at this date, the construction was carried to
completion only the better part of a century later (1297). Fecamp, one of the purest
examples of the Gothic style in Normandy, is a monument of great interest. The

1 An dfii 1170 eombusta est Fiseanensis ecclesia quarto kalendas Julii quarta feria post
octavos pentecostes. — Sigebert, Chron., p. 138, cit. Inkersley.

2 Ibid., p. 155.

3 Gall. Chris. XI, col. 209.

328

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

vaults are quadripartite; in each bay three shafts rise from the pavement, but the
wall shafts are not carried below the triforium string, and receive capitals at the top
of the stilt. The main portal of the XVII century is characterized by desperate pov-
erty of invention; the lady chapel dates from the XIV and XV centuries. (De la
Balle; Benoist.)

ST. QUENTIN, Aisne. Eglise. This collegiate church, whose dimensions
are almost large enough for a cathedral, was perhaps designed by Villard de Honne-
court. The western tower, at least in its lower parts, is earlier than the main body
of the church, and originally stood isolated as a campanile. It is known that in 1113
a reconstruction of the church of St. Quentin was projected, and that the choir was
even begun, but it is not clear whether this building was ever completed. At all
events the choir of the present structure was erected in the early XIII century.
Hardly had it been finished, however, when the upper parts showed signs of yield-
ing, and the vaults began to crack. It was found necessary to strengthen the
buttresses and flying buttresses and insert longitudinal tie-rods. In 1257 these
alterations were concluded and the choir dedicated. In 1316 new cracks appeared
in the masonry; the ruin of the choir was averted only by reinforcing all the piers
and columns. The construction of the northern transept was begun in 1334. In
1394 the high vaults of the choir had to be renewed. The southern transept was
commenced in 1400; the nave was erected between 1400 and 1470. From 1468 to
1474 new works of restoration became necessary in the choir, and iron tie-rods across
the central aisle had to be introduced. However, not even this entirely secured the
stability of this part of the structure, though the building still stands. The choir of
St. Quentin, in addition to its unfortunate history, is of interest for its remarkable
plan, which includes double transepts (the eastern pair no higher than the side
aisles), a polygonal chevet, double side aisles, and a complete set of radiating
chapels. In the mouth of each of these chapels are placed two columns, so that
each compartment of the ambulatory vault is divided into six parts. (Von Bezold;
Gomart.)

ST. LO, Manche. Notre Dame, said to have been built between 1297 and 1497,
is a most impressive monument. The interesting facade is flanked by two towers,
of which the northern is of the early XIV century, the southern, with its portal, of the
XV century. These towers are both octagonal and supplied with angle turrets and
spires of the XVII century. The porches are recessed, not built out; the buttresses
of the facade, being of slight projection, do not reach below the first story. The por-
tals are remarkably unsymmetrical : the northern one, which is round-arched, is the
widest; the central one is pointed and somewhat narrower: the southern is acutely
pointed and very narrow. As usual in Normandy there is no rose window; the sec-
ond story of the facade is formed of three great pointed windows, all equally large.
The choir, which has an ambulatory, is characterized by monocylindrical supports
with disappearing mouldings. The design of the interior, in general, is very irreg-
ular. There is no triforium: the clearstory windows are small. The edifice con-
tains, it is said, fine glass. (De la Balle; Benoist V, 26.)

CAEN, Calvados. St. Pierre. (111. 257.) The spire of this church, con-

329

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

structed in 1308, is perhaps the finest Gothic spire ever designed. It is without
internal supports from base to summit, being, in fact, nothing but a hollow pyramid.
The tower stands to the south of the facade, which is remarkable for its great portal
built, it is said, shortly before 1384. This portal is characterized by rayonnant tra-
cery and open-work gables. The nave also dates in part from the XIV century, but
the vault was constructed at a later epoch when other alterations as well were executed
in a decadent style. The system of five shafts rising from the ground to the level of
the springing of the vaults is crowned by small capitals with round abaci. Mono-
cylindrical piers, on which are engaged the shafts of the system and a single colon-
nette beneath each of the archivolts, support the main arcade. The capitals carved
with naturalistic foliage, genre scenes, etc., are very small; the archivolts are moulded
with extreme richness in the Norman manner. A heavy balustrade runs the entire
length of the triforium. The vault, which has multiple ribs and pendants, seems
approximately contemporary with the choir. The latter is surrounded by an ambula-
tory and radiating chapels, all in the most florid and decadent style. Renaissance
and flamboyant motives mingle freely, and no excess of unmeaning ornament is
spared. (De la Balle.)

St. Sauveur (formerly Notre Dame-de-Froide-Rue) consists of two parallel naves
each ending in its own apse. It is probable that only the northern of these naves
existed in the XIV century. The spire, which imitates rather than rivals that of
St. Pierre, dates from the XIV century, and the exterior gallery on the south wall is
a masterpiece of flamboyant lace-work. (De la Balle.)

St. Sauveur-du-MarchS. The tower of this desecrated edifice dates from the
XIII century, and is ornamented with zig-zags, guilloches, and billets, — all extraor-
dinary decorations for this epoch. The nave which seems to have been constructed
in the XV century, has cylindrical columns, vanishing mouldings, and a triforium
consisting of a heavy balustrade. The choir, begun in 1530, was finished, it is said,
in 1546. (De la Balle.)

St. Jean. Neither the western tower of the XIV and XV centuries, nor the cen-
tral tower of the XVI century, has ever been finished. The plan of the church is
cruciform, but the choir of the XV century is longer than the nave of the XIV century.
The edifice has been restored several times since 1842. (De la Balle.)

ORBAIS, Marne. Abbaye. The nave of this Benedictine abbey has been
entirely destroyed, but the choir, the transepts, the ambulatory, and five radiating
chapels survive. A barrel vault covers the rectangular portion of the lady chapel —
a most remarkable disposition. The ambulatory vaults have broken diagonals;
the chevet — notwithstanding the quadripartite vault — is vaulted in the same man-
ner as that of Novon. The system rises from the abaci of the circular piers. The
clearstory, which is pierced by grouped lancets surmounted by an oculus, is com-
bined into one composition with the triforium, and is reinforced by well-developed
flying buttresses. With the exception of the one remaining mutilated bay of the nave
the monument may be assigned to c. 1200. (Arch, de la Corn, des Mon. Hist. II,
27.)

LONGPONT, Aisne. Abbaye. This abbey, now in a picturesque state of

330

MONUMENTS OF THE THIRD CLASS

ruin, belonged to the Cistercian order, but aside from the towerless facade shows none
of the distinctive peculiarities of Cistercian churches. It is said to have been con-
secrated in 1237. The nave was nine bays long, the transepts had three aisles, the
seven-sided chevet was supplied with an ambulatory and radiating chapels. The
design is similar to that of Soissons except that there are no colonnettes engaged
on the round piers, and the triforium is blind. (Von Bezold.)

Monuments of the Third Class

SENLIS, Oise. St. Pierre. The rich flamboyant facade of this desecrated edi-
fice is characterized by a central gable flanked by turrets, and dates from the end of
the XV century. Near the northern transept rises a tower whose lower parts are
Romanesque, but which is crowned by a crocketed spire of the middle of the XV cen-
tury. The choir dates from the XIII century; the nave, of which the projected vaults
have never been executed, was constructed between 1400 and 1430. (Dupins, 13.)

St. Vincent consists of a single-aisled nave, transepts, a fine lateral tower, and
a rectangular choir. The style of the edifice seems to be that of the early XIII cen-
tury. The pointed arch is consistently used, and the church is vaulted throughout,
though many of the vaults are without ribs. There is no tracery; the buttresses,
however, are well developed. A Renaissance portal has been added to the west facade,
but it is said that the old Gothic entrance still exists underneath. (Magne; John-
son.)

St. Frambourg. This desecrated church, which is said to have been begun in
1177, consists of a single-aisled nave and a semicircular apse. The vaulting is sex-
partite, the chevet vault being disposed as at Noyon. With the exception of the wall
shaft, which stops at the impost level in the alternate piers, the system is continuous.
The windows are without tracery. The facade is furnished with an enormous rose
window which has been walled up. (Johnson.)

ST. RIQUIER, Somme. Abbaije. "The abbot Peter III [1457-60] at once
devoted himself heart and soul to the restoration of his church and monastery. He
paved the church with stones brought from Holland, and he attended to repairing and
leading the roof. He built the tomb in the lady chapel in 1460 and many other
things. The buildings were destroyed [i.e. damaged ?] by storms and especially by
the Burgundian War, but owing to the incredible zeal of the new abbot [Peter IV]
they were completely restored and in a better fashion by 1479. Peter IV died and
lies in the lady chapel; over his tomb is this epitaph: 'This Peter founded the rock
of the church on many foundations and decorated it with many ornaments and
restored the old arches.' . . . Eustache IT repaired the building that had shortly
before [1487] been destroyed by the devouring flames. He built the lady chapel
and adorned the church with vaults. He died in 1517." * It is usually said that

1 Petrus III le Pretre, 1457. Statim Petrus ecclesiae et monasterii reparationibus se totum
contulit, ecclesiam pavinientis ex Hollandia delatis stravit, ejusque tigna plumbo et tegulis tegi
curavit. Sepulcrum in sacello beatae Mariae 1460, multaque alia construxit. Tempestatum
ac praecipue belli Burgundici sorte destructa aedificia, meliorem ia modum incredibile abbatis
zelo renovata absoluta fuissent 1479. Obiit et in sacello beatae Mariae sepultus jacet, cum

331

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

the edifice was entirely rebuilt after the fire of L487. Such, however, does not seem
to have been the ease, for in the choir survive many fragments (the lower part of
the piers of the crossing, the eastern side of the transept, etc.) which from their
style must evidently date from the end of the XIII or beginning of the XIV cen-
tury. The remainder of the church is a typical example of flamboyant architec-
ture. To judge from the style, by the death of Eustache (1517) the choir, the
transepts, and the lower part of the nave must have been finished. The nave
clearstory was erected soon afterwards but on an altered plan. (Von Bezold.)

BREUIL-BENOrr, Eure. Abbayc consists of a nave six bays long, two side
aisles, transepts, a polygonal chevet, an ambulatory, and radiating chapels. The
construction was probably commenced as early as the end of the XII century, for
the dedication, it is said, was celebrated by Richard, bishop of Evreux, in 1224. The
extremely oblong vaulting compartments are covered with quadripartite vaults, which
are reinforced by flying buttresses well-developed but deprived of all ornament. A
simple balustrade replaces the triforium. The cylindrical piers are each surrounded
by four engaged octagonal colonnettes. The central one of these colonnettes receives
no capital, but ends in a corbel supporting the three shafts of the system. Crockets
and square abaci characterize the capital. The nave of this interesting monument
is in excellent preservation, and the ruins of the choir are very picturesque. (I)e la
Balle; Benoist.)

SENS, Yonne. St. Jean. While there is no documentary evidence for the
building dates of this abbey church, whose nave has been destroyed but whose
choir is still intact, the style is evidently that of the first years of the XIII century.
The polygonal chevet is supplied with an ambulatory and a single apsidal chapel.
Although the windows are grouped, there is no tracery. Since there are no flying
buttresses and the present vaults date only from the XV century, it is probable that
in the Gothic period the church was roofed in timber.

GONESSE, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a
choir with ambulatory but without radiating chapels. The choir, which is covered
with sexpartite vaults and supplied with flying buttresses, seems to be the oldest part
of the existing structure, and may be assigned to the end of the XII century. In
the easternmost bay the piers are of square section with a shaft let into the angles,
a plain pilaster supporting the main transverse rib, and round shafts on either side
carrying the diagonals; the intermediate supports consist of coupled columns like
those of Sens. The cinquepartite ambulatory vault is supplied with broken ribs and
the chevet vault is of the same type as that employed at Noyon. The nave is evi-
dently somewhat later than the choir, for its triforium can hardly be earlier than the
second half of the XIII century. It is at present roofed in wood, but since the system is
alternate, vaults were doubtless projected. A tower, contemporary with the choir, rises
over the southern side aisle. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. II, 10; Moore, 119.)

hoc epitaphio: "Hie lMrus petram ecclesiae multis fundamentis solidavit, plurimis ornamentis
decora vit, veteranas arces restauravit. . . . Eustachius II. Reparat aedificia voracibus flammis
recens destructa I fK~. Sacellum beatae Mariae aedificari, ecclesiam fornicibus ornari fecit
Interiit anno 1517. — Gall. Cliri.s. X, col. 1259, 12G0, cit. Inkersley, 118.

332

MONUMENTS OF THE THIRD CLASS

VINCENNES, Seine. Sainte Chapelle du Chateau. This monument begun
by Charles V (1364-80) and Charles VI (1380-1422) remained nearly a century
uncompleted, being at last finished by Francois I (1515-47) and Henri II (1547-59).
The architects of the Renaissance, however, scrupulously preserved the Gothic de-
sign in ensemble and in detail, so that it is now impossible even to perceive at what
point the works were interrupted. The edifice consists of a single-aisled nave and a
polygonal apse. Design and details are alike exquisite. The tracery is rayonnant
in the apse, flamboyant elsewhere. The capitals are of very diminutive size. (Arch,
de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 81.)

AUBIGNY, Cher. St. Martin. This monument, which is assigned by M. de
Kersers to the early years of the XIII century, consists of a nave, two side aisles, and
a three-sided apse. The monocylindrical piers are surrounded by four colonnettes
which almost stand free: The system is uniform, but the vault in the nave is sex-
partite, even though the spacing of the piers would have given a quadripartite vault
nearly a square plan. This system is further peculiar in that the diagonal and wall
ribs spring from capitals placed lower than those of the transverse ribs. In the alter-
nate piers both wall and diagonal ribs are gathered on a single shaft, which is carried
only as far as the main capitals, although the transverse shaft is continuous. The
present triforium consists of a series of doors; since the thresholds of these are much
worn it is probable that a wooden gallery formerly existed. One of the southern
portals, although the detail is fully Gothic, is round-arched. The chevet vault is of
the Noyon type; the extreme eastern and western bays of the choir are covered with
quadripartite rib vaults. The unfinished western tower is of the XV or XVI century;
the principal portal is of the XV century; and the various chapels were subsequently
added at different times. Externally the flying buttresses are placed at different levels
corresponding to the alternately high and lower springing of the ribs. (De Kersers.)

PACY, Eure. Eglise. This beautiful monument under a plain and unadorned
exterior conceals an interior that is a veritable gem of early Gothic art. The con-
struction was doubtless begun in the last decade of the XII century, and it is prob-
able that the monument, with the exception of the transept vaults which were not
erected before the XIV and XV centuries, was entirely finished by c. 1210. The
entire church is only six bays long, and the length of these bays diminishes as the
west end is approached. The simple plan comprises a nave, two side aisles, non-
projecting transepts, and a choir. Pointed arches are used throughout. The system
consists of a single shaft resting on a corbel above the abaci of the cylindrical piers.
The diagonals usually rest on corbels at the clearstory level, though in certain piers
the three shafts are carried to the ground. Though the quadripartite rib vaults are
of the fully developed Gothic type with wall ribs, there are no flying buttresses. The
triforium in the nave is much developed, but the clearstory is low, each bay being
pierced by two small windows. The details throughout, and especially the capitals,
are exquisite. (De la Balle; Benoist.)

GISORS, Eure. St. Gervais et St. Protais is one of the most interesting relig-
ious edifices of Normandy. A church dedicated in 1119 was destroyed by a fire
kindled by Robert de Candos in 1224. Thanks, however, to the liberalities of the

333

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

queen, Blanche of Castille, the church was soon raised from its ruins, and on May
12, 1249, Eudes Rigaud, archbishop of Rouen, celebrated the dedication of the new
edifice. It is probable that only the choir and the tower were finished at this time,
for the nave, the side aisles, the chapels, and the facade evidently date from the XV
and XVI centuries. The dimensions of the church are almost those of a cathedral;
there are five aisles, three towers, and an ambulatory. In the choir the supports
are columns, and the system is logical. The nave and especially the facade are char-
acterized by a mixture of Renaissance and flamboyant motives. On the southern
side of the nave the flying buttresses of ogee form are treated with open work. The
southern aisle internally is characterized by lierne vaults, disappearing ribs, and col-
umns ornamented with strange spiral paneling. (De la Balle; Moore, 122; Benoist
II, 81.)

CHAMPAGNE, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise, which may be assigned to the last years
of the XII century, consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts (which retain their
Romanesque absidioles), and a square east end. The central tower, with its groups
of angle shafts and slender colonnettes, is a masterpiece of early Gothic design. The
facade without towers is simple and effective; the rose windows are filled with early
tracery, and the flying buttresses are supplied with gables. Internally, on the abaci
of the monocylindrical piers rest three shafts which carry the five ribs of the quadri-
partite vault. The clearstory and triforium are combined in a traceried composition,
of which the oculi of the clearstory form the upper part. (Baudot; Johnson; Moore,
173.)

DIVES, Calvados. Notre Dame. With the exception of certain fragments of
the XI century, this monument belongs entirely to the XIV and XV centuries. The
exterior, without flying buttresses and with great unbroken wall surfaces, shows
unmistakable English influence. For the rest, the edifice is remarkable for its square
east end, its transepts without side aisles, its square donjon-like tower. Some of
the carving in the flamboyant portals is of exquisite delicacy. (De la Balle.)

CHAMPEAUX, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise. The transepts, the oldest portion of
this monument, are assigned to the end of the XII century; the nave and the tower
to the first half of the XIII century; and the choir to the second half of the same
century. The plan of the church forms a Greek cross, and comprises a nave, two
side aisles, transepts, a square chevet, an ambulatory, and eastern chapels. A single
tower stands to the westward. The vault is sexparlite; the alternate supports are
monocylindrical; the intermediate consists of two very slender columns coupled in
the transverse sense. The wall shaft receives a capital at the top of the stilting. In
the intermediate piers, two shafts resting on the abaci of the capitals of the main
arcade carry three ribs; in the alternate piers, three shafts carry five ribs. The alter-
nate piers are reinforced by flying buttresses. The triforium consists of a series of
great traceried oculi similar to those of Paris; the clearstory is pierced with lancet
windows. The archivolts of the main arcade are unmoulded, and the bases abnor-
mally high. Groin vaults cover the side aisles. (Baudot; Moore; Arch, de la Com.
des Mon. Hist. I, 39.)

NORREY, Calvados. Eglise. This beautiful little monument, which, unfor-

334

MONUMENTS OF THE THIRD CLASS

tunately, has never been finished, consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts with
chapels, a fine central tower whose spire has never been completed, a chevet, an am-
bulatory, and two apsidal chapels, crowned externally with curious spires recalling
those of St. Nicolas of Caen. The well-developed flying buttresses are thoroughly
French in style, but the capitals with round and polygonal abaci, the naturalistic
foliage, and the excess of unrestrained ornament, which characterize the interior,
seem English. The ambulatory vault has broken diagonals. This monument may
be assigned to the third quarter of the XIII century. (De la Balle; Benoist III, 39.)

CHAPELLE-SUR-CRECY, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise, which consists of a nave,
two side aisles, and three apses, was erected c. 1210, but altered in the flamboyant
period. Of the latter epoch are the first three bays of the gallery on each side of the
nave. The vaults, reinforced by well-developed flying buttresses, are quadripartite;
the five ribs are carried on a system of three shafts rising from corbels placed just
above the capitals of the monocylindrical piers. The arches of triforium and clear-
story are trilobed; the latter are filled with simple plate tracery. (Baudot; Arch,
de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 46.)

GRAND-ANDELY, Eure. Notre Dame. The greater portion of this monu-
ment — the west facade, the nave, the choir, and the side aisles — may be assigned
to the middle of the XIII century. In the XV century the low central tower was
added, and about the end of the same century the southern transept was constructed.
The line of lateral chapels on the south side of the nave seems to have been added
in the XVI century — at the same time the triforium, clearstory, and flying buttresses
were rebuilt, — while the northern transept up to the clearstory level, its facade, and
the two chapels which flank it were built between 1550 and 1575. Internally, the
nave is characterized by a continuous system of three shafts, capitals with square
abaci, and fine glass of the XVI century. The facade, flanked by two towers, is sup-
plied with three recesses (two of which are blind), but has no buttresses. Fine
details and jambs consisting of shafts standing in front of an arcade — an English
motive — are the distinguishing features of the central portal. The east end is square.
(De la Balle; Benoist.)

THIERVAL, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise, which may be assigned to c. 1210, is en-
tirely covered with quadripartite vaults, whose transverse and diagonal ribs — the
wall ribs are omitted — are carried on corbels. The lofty clearstory is pierced in
each bay by three lancets, but the triforium has plate tracery. A single colonnette
is engaged on the aisle side of the square piers. The buttresses are heavy; the fly-
ing buttresses, well developed. The octagonal tower, which is only one story high,
is characterized by shafted angles and pointed windows. (Baudot.)

LOUVIERS, Eure. Notre Dame. The existing nave and choir doubtless
belonged to the church consecrated in 1226,1 but the tower, which has almost the
appearance of a donjon, was added in 1336 during the English occupation. Accord-
ing to notes in the parish register, the outside walls (including presumably both the
present double side aisles) were reconstructed in 1493-96. The existing edifice

1 Gall. Chris. XI, col. 584, cit. Inkersley, 81. — De la Balle states (without citing his author-
ity) that a text of 1341 gives the dates of construction as 1218 or 1220.

335

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

consists of a nave, double side-aisles, transepts, and a rectangular choir. The
system rises from the octagonal abaci of the monocylindrical piers. Remarkable
features of the interior design are the triforium with flat lintels ami trilobed arches,
and the clearstory with trilobed arches and plate tracery. The vaulting is
quadripartite. The southern portal is a gorgeous piece of flamboyant lace-work
in which the hanging arch and flattened ogee curve occur. (De la Balle; Benoist;
Cotman.)

( IIIRY-OURSCAMP, Oise. Abbaye d'Ourscamp. The vaults of this ruined
abbey have all fallen, but the choir with its ambulatory — which is double up to the
point where the radiating chapels begin — are still in fair preservation. Cylindrical
piers and a continuous system of three shafts characterize the chevet. The monu-
ment may be assigned to the end of the XIII century. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon.
Hist.)

FF.RRIERES, Seine-et-Marne. Kglise, which may be assigned to c. 1200,
consists of a nave, two side aisles, and three polygonal apses whose vaults are of the
same type as that of the chevet of Amiens. From the octagonal abaci of the mono-
cylindrical piers rise three shafts carrying the five ribs of the quadripartite vaults.
The wall rib has a capital at the top of the stilting. Flying buttresses are concealed
beneath the aisle roofs. The triforium consists of a continuous arcade, the clearstory
of a series of oculi. There is simple tracery in the western rose window; elsewhere
there is none. (Baudot; Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 44.)

MOXT-XOTRE-DAME, Aisne. Kglise Collegiate is in a poor state of preser-
vation. The choir, which was supplied with an ambulatory, and the transepts disap-
peared in a fire of 1568, but their foundations together with the ancient crypt, which,
although it has been called Carolingian, can hardly be earlier than the second quarter
of the XII century, survive. Also three bays of the nave still stand, without, however,
their vaults which fell in 1642. From these ruins it is evident that the ancient edi-
fice, which may be assigned to c. 1230, contained a western narthex flanked by two
towers, a fine clearstory with simple tracery, and cylindrical piers on each of which
was engaged a single colonnette. (Lefevre-Pontalis; Arch, de la Com. des Mon.
Hist. I, 54.)

CHITRY, Yonne. Kglise is of especial interest for its fortifications, which
consist of four flanking towers and a trench surrounding the edifice. The church
properly so-called consists of a long narrow unadorned nave said to date from the
XIII century and a single side aisle added at the beginning of the XIV century.
(Quantin.)

BOUGIVAL, Seine-et-Oise. Notre Dame consists of a nave three bays long,
two side aisles which end in chapels flanking the choir, a choir of a single bay
surmounted by a tower, and a five-aisled apse. The tower, which is the most
interesting part of the monument, is surmounted by a spire with four angle turrets.
A developed chevet vault covers the apse. In the nave the system of three shafts
rises from the abaci of the cylindrical piers; there are no flying buttresses; the
clearstorv windows are oculi. The portal has lost all artistic and archaeological
value through restoration. The apse, the choir, and the tower may be assigned

336

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

to the closing years of the XII century; the nave is of the XIII century. (Lambin,
83; Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.)

Monuments of the Fourth Class

AMBLENY, Aisne. Eglise consists of a nave of four bays, two side aisles,
transepts, and a polygonal apse. The nave, which is assigned to c. 1220 by M. Le-
fevre-Pontalis, is characterized by pointed arches in the main arcade, monocylindrical
piers with crocheted capitals, and slender shafts rising from the abaci to support the
ribs of the vaults. The side aisles, also vaulted, are of the same period. Over the
crossing is a well-preserved rib vault, which is assigned to the last third of the XII
century. With the exception of the vault of the southern transept rebuilt in the
XIII century the transepts and their vaults are contemporary with the crossing.
The choir, erected in the XVI century, is a monument of the Renaissance. The
facade with its fine gabled portal and the central tower are of the XIII century.
(Lefevre-Pontalis II, 114.)

ARDENNES, Calvados. Abbaijc. It is known that c. 1213 the vaults of this
abbey fell, killing the abbot and twenty-five canons.1 A complete rebuilding must
have been begun, to judge from the style of the existing edifice, about 1250. Jean
de Blond (1297-1324) advanced the construction energetically, but the edifice can-
not have been finished until long after his death, for the present facade must date
from the middle of the XIV century, while its rose window is evidently even later.
This facade has octagonal turrets. Otherwise the exterior is remarkable for the
absence of flying buttresses. (De la Balle; Benoist III, 31.)

ST. BAGNEUX, Seine. St. Herbeland consists of a nave, two side aisles, a
lateral tower, and a rectangular choir whose easternmost bay is surmounted by a
sexpartite vault. In the nave three shafts rise from the abaci of the monocylindrical
piers to carry the five ribs of the vaults; in the choir there are grouped columns of
various designs. The triforium has round arches, the clearstory consists of a series
of oculi. The flying buttresses are an addition of 1847; the tower is also modern;
the portal and the choir may be assigned to c. 1200; the nave is somewhat later.
(Lambin, 13.)

NANGIS, Seine-et-Marne. St. Martin. This church of the early XIII century
is supplied with an ambulatory, quadripartite vaults, a system of five shafts resting
on the abaci of the piers, cylindrical supports on each of which are engaged four
colonnettes, a continuous triforium, and a clearstory of lancet windows. (Aufauvre
et Fichot, 157.)

NEUILLY-SUR-MARNE, Seine-et-Oise. St. Baudile consists of a nave, two
side aisles, a lateral tower, and a rectangular choir. The ribs of the quadripartite
vaults are supported on shafts rising from the abaci of the monocylindrical piers.
The clearstory windows are surmounted by lintels slightly triangular in form. Ex-
ternally the edifice is remarkable for its portal whose pointed arches are ornamented
with chevrons and for the absence of flying buttresses. The church seems to be a

1 Gall. Chris. XI, col. 559, cit. Inkersley, 88.
337

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

homogeneous structure of the last quarter of the XII century. According to tradi-
tion it was constructed by Foulque, the cure of Neuilly who preached the Fourth
Crusade. (Lambin.)

CHAMPIGNY, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. The nave is covered with square quadri-
partite vaults surmounting an alternate system, but the side-aisles are groin-vaulted.
The semicircular apse, which seems slightly earlier than the nave, doubtless dates
from the first years of the XIII century. (Lambin, 32.)

MAREIL MARLY, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave of three bays, two
side aisles, and three apses of which the central one is polygonal. Although much
modernized, the tower, together with its spire and four angle turrets, seems to be the
most ancient part of the edifice. The nave is characterized by quadripartite vaults,
monocylindrical piers, a well-developed triforium, a clearstory, consisting of a series
of oculi, and a system of three shafts rising from the abaci. There are no flying but-
tresses. The arches are all pointed, but the windows are without tracery. (Arch,
de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 52.)

YOULTOX, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise. This edifice, constructed at the end of
the XII or beginning of the XIII century, was burned in 1567 and, even worse, was
"restored" in 1839. It consists of a nave, two side aisles, and three semicircular
apses. The system is alternate, but the nave vaults arc quadripartite and embrace
double bays, except in the easternmost bay where there is an octopartite vault, em-
bracing three bays. All the vaults are without wall ribs, but are reinforced by well-
developed flying buttresses placed only where needed. The side aisles are covered
with groin vaults supplied with transverse ribs. The windows are round-headed,
but most of the other arches are pointed. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 63;
Aufauvre et Fichot.)

TILLARD, Oise. Eglise, constructed (it is said) in 1310, consists of a single-
aisled nave covered with a wooden roof, and a polygonal apse. This little monu-
ment is in excellent preservation, and is remarkable for the simplicity and
refinement of its detail. The tracery of the windows is rayonnant, though tending
to become flamboyant; angle buttresses occur in the apse. (Arch, de la Com. des
Mon. Hist. I, 77.)

VERXOUILLET, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, a
central tower, transepts, and a rectangular choir. The tower, a fine Romanesque
structure, is surmounted by a noble Gothic spire with dormers and angle turrets.
The nave, of which only two bays survive, is characterized by quadripartite rib vaults
without wall ribs, developed buttresses, monocylindrical piers, and a system rising
from the abaci. Groin vaults surmount the side aisles and the transepts. The north-
ern transept with its chapel dates from about the middle of the XIII century. (Arch.
de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 29; Baudot.)

BOULOGXE-SUR-SEINE, Seine. Eglise of the XIV century consists of a
single-aisled nave, transepts, and an apse. The two western bays of the nave and
the facade are modern. (Lambin, 87.)

LOUVECIENXES, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consisted originally of a nave, two
side aisles, and a rectangular choir, but in the XIX century the tower, two bays of

338

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

the nave, and the northern side aisle were torn down. The crossing and the remain-
ing side aisle are vaulted; the nave is roofed in wood. The clearstory is formed of a
series of oculi. A remarkable feature is the rose window of the east end. (Arch, de
la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 51; Baudot.)

NESLES, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a
polygonal apse flanked by two chapels. The vaults are sexpartite with stilted wall
ribs; the system is peculiar in that the intermediate shafts rise from the triforium
string directly over the crowns of the arches of the main arcade. The alternate
system of three shafts rests directly on the abaci. There is a continuous triforium
and a high clearstory. Externally, the main body of the edifice is characterized by
well-developed buttresses in several ressauts and by the absence of flying but-
tresses. The interesting central tower of c. 1100 is ornamented with two stories
of round-arched openings richly moulded in several orders, a very Lombardesque
arched corbel-table, and angle buttresses composed of grouped shafts. The spire
has turrets but no dormers. The facade is notable for its rose window filled with
beautiful early tracery — or rather cusping, — and for its single turret. To judge
from the style the nave and choir must date from c. 1200. (Arch, de la Com.
des Mon. Hist. I, 25; Baudot.)

AIRES-LES-MELLO, Orne. Eglise seems originally to have consisted of a
nave, two side aisles, transepts, and a rectangular choir, but outer side aisles and
chapels have been added. The vault is quadripartite; the system was probably
originally continuous with the exception of the wall shaft which rose from the
triforium level. Although some of the arches are round, the windows are filled
with plate tracery. (Johnson.)

ARCUEIL, Seine. St. Denis. The two first bays of the nave are of the XV
century; the two which follow are of the middle of the XIII century; and the rect-
angular choir, two bays long, is of the end of the XII century. A triforium occurs
in the nave, but not in the choir; the clearstory consists of a series of oculi; the
portal is modern. (Lambin, 27.)

PUISEAUX, Loiret. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, and
a square chevet surrounded, nevertheless, by an ambulatory. Over the crossing
rises an octagonal tower. The choir, which seems to date from the last years of the
XII century, is characterized by simple flying buttresses. The nave built originally
a little later has been altered in the XIV and XV centuries, but the clearstory
retains its ancient lancet windows. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. II, 28;
Dumesnil.)

FEUCHEROLLES, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise, with square east end, was erected
at the end of the XII century, but was altered in the XIII and XIV centuries. The
quadripartite vaults of the nave are oblong in the latitudinal sense; the vaults of the
side aisles (which are very narrow) are oblong in the longitudinal sense. Owing to
their excessive width the nave vaults are highly domed. There is a complete set
of ribs, all of simple profile, springing from the system of three shafts at a level above
the main pier capitals but below the true springing of the vault. There is no clear-
story. Externally, the edifice is characterized by well-developed buttresses and a

339

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

central octagonal tower of the XII century with a spire. (Arch, de la Com. des
Mon. Hist. I, 23: Baudot.)

BLANGY, Seine-Inferieure. Notre Dome. The facade of the XIII or XIV
centurv is supplied with a rose window and is flanked by two stub towers. The tran-
septs, the choir, and the central tower are also of the Gothic period. In 1524 Robert
Robitaille, master builder of Eu, was charged with the reconstruction of the entire
south side of the nave, said works to be completed within three years. (De la Balle;
Benoist.)

BRIE-COMTE-ROBERT, Seine-et-Marne. Eglisc is an important monu-
ment which has unfortunately never been adequately published. It seems to date
mainly from the XIII century, but has suffered from Renaissance alterations. The
tower is of especial interest. (Aufauvre et Fichot.)

BOIS-COMMUX. Loiret. Eglisc. The quadripartite vaults are remarkable
in that the wall rib is not stilted. The system is logical and continuous, and the
thrust of the vaults is met by salient buttresses, there being no flying buttresses. Al-
though in general the profiles are advanced in style, in the portal the round arch and
the griffe still survive. The triforium consists of two groups of two arches; the clear-
story has lancet windows. (Baudot.)

BEAUMOXT-LE-ROGER, Eure. St Nicholas. Of the church of the XIII
century, only the piers on the south side of the nave survive, the remainder of the edi-
fice having been rebuilt in the second half of the XV century. An inscription above
the windows of the tower bears the legend Hfenri] II, 1554; the choir is said to have
been completed a year before this, or in 1553. The tower remains unfinished to this
day. The choir has a clearstory, but the slope of the nave roof is continuous. (De
la Balle; Benoist II, 48.)

Prieure. This ruined edifice of the XIII century has neither transepts nor side
aisles. (Benoist II, 48.)

AZY, Cher. Eglise of the XIII century consists of a single-aisled plaster-vaulted
nave and a rectangular choir of two bays. The choir is covered with rib vaults; the
diagonal shafts rest on corbels flanking the capitals. (De Kersers VI, 265.)

ALLOGNY, Cher. Eglise. A text of 1212 which speaks of "the new chapel
of Allogny," must refer to the present edifice. The church is a simple rectangular
structure with square east end and a wooden roof. The western portal is round-arched,
but the windows are pointed. (De Kersers VI, 194.)

ST.-PERE-SOUS-VEZELAY, Yonne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side
aisles, transepts, and three polygonal apses, the whole preceded by a deep narthex
with three portals. This narthex was rebuilt in the XIV and XV centuries; the choir
is of the end of the XIV centurv; the remainder of the church may be assigned to
c. 1230. Although the vaults are quadripartite, the system of the nave is alternate; the
shafts rest on corbels in the intermediate supports, elsewhere they are continuous.
The flying buttresses are very clumsy. The facade and the northwest tower seem
reminiscenl <>}' Vezelay. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist II, 40; Gonse.)

AINAY-LE-VIEIL, Cher. Eglise of the XIII century, terminates to the west-
ward in a massive tower. The choir and the nave have low rib vaults. In the west-

340

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

ern bay the ribs rest on colonnettes, but in the others they fall on clumsy corbels.
The vault of the five-sided apse seems to have been added at the end of the XV cen-
tury. The chapel dates from the same epoch. (De Kersers VII, 174.)

LAGNY, Seine-et-Marne. Abbaye St. Pierre. This church, which is supplied
with an ambulatory, was erected in the early XIII century, but the triforium was in
part rebuilt in the XIV century, and the existing groin vaults of the nave are prob-
ably modern, since the five shafts of the system rising from the abaci of the piers seem
to have been designed to support rib vaults. For the rest the nave is characterized
by piers on each of which are engaged four colonnettes and by a glazed triforium.
(Aufauvre et Fichot, 179.)

LA-FERTE-ALEPS, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave,
transepts with absidioles, and a semicircular apse. Quadripartite vaults surmount
the logical and continuous system, except in the apse which is vaulted with a chevet-
vault. The external buttresses are well -developed, the windows all pointed. The
north lateral tower is characterized by arched corbel-tables, pointed arches, and a
spire with plain dormers and angle turrets. (Baudot.)

DONNEMARIE, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise, remarkable for the sculpture of the
portals, consists of a rectangular choir of the XIII century, a lateral tower of the
same epoch, a nave (perhaps slightly later) characterized by a high clearstory and
clumsy flying buttresses, and two side aisles. (Aufauvre et Fichot.)

VIRE, Calvados. Notre Davie. Of the church built by Henry I (1100-35)
only the lower part of the portal together with a few capitals survive. The style of
the nave and the two side aisles — the latter were altered in the XV century — seems
to be that of the early XIII century, although these portions are said to have been
consecrated in 1272. The beautiful south transept is of the early XIV century, and
the tower is about contemporary. Two distinct strata of construction — one of the
XV century, the other of the XVI — may be distinguished in the choir. Externally
the edifice is characterized by large areas of flat wall surface and small pointed win-
dows which are without tracery even in the flamboyant choir. The western rose
window likewise has no tracery. The flying buttresses are unornamented, except
for their insignificant pinnacles. In the interior, a single shaft rises from the abaci
of the uncarved capitals of the main arcade; the diagonal ribs of the great vaults
are in several orders, unmoulded. The choir is characterized by an ambulatory,
disappearing mouldings, and the absence of a triforium. (De la Balle; Benoist III,
85.)

VAUX-DE-CERNAY, Seine-et-Oise. Abbaye. This ruined Cistercian abbey
is said to have been commenced at the end of the XII century, and to have been fin-
ished a hundred years later. It consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts with four
eastern absidioles, and a rectangular choir. Pointed arches are used throughout,
but the edifice is groin-, not rib-vaulted. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 60.)

AGNETZ, Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, and a
polygonal choir. The nave may be assigned to c. 1245; the system of three shafts
is continuous, the clearstory is filled with bar tracery, the flying buttresses have gables.
The west window, however, has rayonnant tracery, and is evidently later. A single

341

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

turret relieves the somewhat uninteresting facade. The choir dates from the XVI
century: one of its stained glass windows bears the date lo40. (Arch, de la Com.
des Mon. Hist. I, 66; Johnson.)

LOROY. Cher. Abbaye. Of this edifice of the XIII century only the four
great arches which opened into the choir and adjacent chapels survive. From these
it is evident that the choir walls were bare and unornamented; that four square ap-
sidaJ chapels opened off the transepts, and that the arches were pointed throughout.
(De Kersers III, 33.)

ST.-JEAN-AUX-BOIS, Oise. Abbaye. Although assigned by M. Sauvageot
to the reign of Louis VII (1137-90), this edifice more probably dates from e. 1200.
It consists of a single-aisled nave, transepts, and a rectangular choir. Sexpartite
vaults cover the choir and even the crossing, a pier to carry the intermediate rib
being placed in the axis of the transept. The nave vault, however, is quadripar-
tite; the ribs rest on corbels. Externally the monument is characterized by the well-
developed buttresses of several ressauts, and by the lancet windows of the clearstory.
(Baudot: Sauvageot.)

TRIEL, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise was constructed at the end of the XII century,
or perhaps in the early years of the XIII; in the XV century the buttresses of the north
and western facades were repaired, and chapels erected along the southern side aisle;
in the XVI century the choir was demolished and rebuilt in the Renaissance style at
a higher level, so as to allow a roadway to pass beneath it: in modern times the tower
has been completely made over. The edifice as it stands is extremely irregular. It
is vaulted throughout; in the nave, the system of five shafts springs from the abaci
of the cylindrical piers. The vaults are abutted by flying buttresses scientifically
adjusted, but unornamented save for their plain gables. The triforium is high;
the windows of the low clearstory appear to have been changed from lancets into
traceried triangles late in the XIII century. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.
I, 27.)

QUETTELIOC Manche. St. Vigor. This parish was given to the abbey of
Fecamp in 1214, and it is probable that the present church was constructed in the years
immediately following. Originally the edifice consisted of a single-aisled nave and
a rectangular choir, but in the XV century a northern side aisle and a lateral tower
were added. The east end, although square, is covered with a radiating rib vault.
The church is vaulted throughout, and supplied with a logical system. (De la Balle.)

TRACY-LE— VAL, Oise. St. Eloi consists of a nave, two side aisles, a choir,
a semicircular apse, and a lateral tower. The sanctuary is vaulted in the Lombard
stvle, but there is no system. The wooden-roofed nave has rectangular piers in two
orders. A few slightly pointed arches occur in the facade, although the greater
number are round-headed. The gabled porch projects; its several orders are
decorated with chevrons and dentil mouldings. The octagonal tower rests upon a
square base, and is surmounted by a low pyramidal roof; its arches are pointed,
but the decoration in chevrons, arched corbel-tables, etc., is evidently of the XII
century. (Baudot.)

MONCEL Oise. Abbaye was founded in 1309, and the church was conse-

342

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

crated in 1337. All the buildings were, therefore, presumably erected between
these dates. There is still extant the treasury — a square vaulted structure in
which capitals are omitted, — the chapter-house, the kitchen, the dormitory with
its original timber roof, fragments of the cloisters, etc. These are among the
best preserved monastic ruins in France.

NOGENT-SUR-MARNE, Seine. St. Satiirnin. This monument of the
early XIII century, much rebuilt in the flamboyant period, possesses a fine transi-
tional tower with spire. The edifice itself consists of an interior narthex, a nave of
three bays — the first two of which are of the XV century — two side aisles, and a
rectangular choir two bays long. There is no clearstory. (Lambin, 79.)

LAIGLE, Orne. St. Martin. At the southwest angle rises a small tower of
the XI century crowned by a well-developed spire. The nave, of which only the two
ends are ancient, was erected somewhat later; the existing choir is of the XIII century.
In 1494 the northern side aisle and the fine northern tower were constructed, and
in 1546-57 the southern side aisle was added. (De la Balle.)

St. Jean. This single-aisled chapel became a parish church c. 1350. Later
a northern side aisle was constructed. In the choir survives a fragment of a wall
of the XII century. (De la Balle.)

GROSLAY, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a
polygonal apse. The southern side of the first four bays of the nave together with
the vaults of this part of the edifice are of the XIII century, the remainder of the
building is in the style of the first half of the XVI century, — in fact the date 1542
is engraved on one of the buttresses of the southern wall. The abaci of the capitals
of the XIII century portions are octagonal. There is a central tower. (Lambin,
113.)

MELUN, Seine-et-Marne. Notre Davie. The church of the XI century was
not vaulted, but at the end of the XII century it was resolved to erect vaults. Con-
sequently, the ancient supports of the nave were made over, and the choir was entirely
reconstructed. In the times of the Renaissance the existing facade was built. At
present, the system of the nave consists of a single shaft bearing three ribs, but the
Romanesque system seems to have been alternate — there was no shaft engaged on
the nave side of the piers, but transverse arches were probably thrown across the
aisles from the alternate piers. The archivolts were of a single order, unornamented.
(Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist.)

BOURAY, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave two bays long and a rect-
angular choir of the same length, both flanked by side aisles. There is no clearstory.
The choir and its southern aisle, which are evidently the oldest portions of the church,
are assigned to the first years of the XIII century; the remainder of the edifice is
flamboyant in style. (Lambin, 100.)

IDS-ST.-ROCH, Cher. Eglise assigned to c. 1200 by M. de Kersers is charac-
terized by a cruciform plan and a square east end. Choir and transepts are rib-
vaulted, the ribs being supported by a complete set of shafts; the crossing has a
plaster vault. The western portal is round-arched. The church is supplied with a
species of lateral piazza not uncommon in this region. (De Kersers IV, 19.)

343

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

CHEXXEVIERES, Seine-et-Oise. St. Pierre. The nave, in which the pointed
arch is consistently used, is three bays long: the choir consists of one bay, similar
to those of the nave but smaller, a second bay much higher, and a two-sided apse
with a corner on axis. The vault and triforium of the nave have disappeared, but
the vault of the choir, originally lower, still remains. Undoubtedly the monument
is of the XIII century. (Lambin, 57.)

LA CELLE, Seine-et-Marne. Prieure. Although the vaults have fallen, the
square east end and other portions of this edifice of the late XIII century survive.
There were originally three aisles. The archivolts are remarkable for their elaborate
mouldings. (Aufauvre et Fichot.)

ST.-SAUVEUR -LE-VICOMTE, Manehe. Eglise consists of a broad nave,
two side aisles, short transepts over the southern of which rises the lateral tower, and
a choir as long as the nave. The existing choir vault is lower than that originally
planned, being placed below the clearstory windows which it shuts from view, and
this part of the edifice has suffered from modernization in other ways as well. There
are no flying buttresses. The great arches of the crossing are of the XIII century.
The nave and side aisles of the XV century are characterized by the omission of cap-
itals, cylindrical piers, prismatic and disappearing mouldings. (De la Balle.)

MONTEREAU-FAUT-YONNE, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise supplied with an
ambulatory and a very high clearstory, seems to date from the XIII century, but the
chapels are of the XV century. This monument has never been adequately described.
(Aufauvre et Fichot.)

LANGRUNE, Calvados. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, two tran-
sept-like chapels, a central lantern, a choir, a polygonal chevet, and an ambulatory
— the whole lighted by absolutely plain lancet windows even without shafts. An
inscription in the choir refers to the year 1298; 1 the style of the architecture, how-
ever, indicates that the building itself was erected somewhat earlier, probably from
c. 1220 to c. 1250. The tower and spire, although sadly mutilated, are still superb
designs; indeed the entire edifice is remarkable no less for the perfection of its
details than for its large dimensions. There are rudimentary flying buttresses in
the nave, so spaced as to suggest a sexpartite vault. (De la Balle; Benoist.)

BIVILLE, Manehe. Eglise. The present choir, which orginally formed a
separate chapel, was built, it is said, in 1260. In the XVI century it was connected
with the ancient church by the construction of an intermediate bay and a tower.
The ancient choir then became the present nave, the ancient nave being destroyed.
The existing monument consists of a single-aisled nave and a rectangular choir. The
choir shows English influence in its lancets and round abaci; the vault, however,
is simple. (De la Balle.)

SENS-BEAUJEU, Cher. Eglise, a fine example of a rural church of c. 1200,
consists of a single rectangle divided into four bays, of which, however, only the two
easternmost are ancient. The western tower was revaulted in the XVI century, and
at the same time several chapels were added. (De Kersers VII, 77.)

1 L'an de grace 1298 se monta l'orge du commun a 4 muids et 2 setiers que donna Mahant
femme d'Adam Flamenc ecuyer. — Cit. De la Balle.

344

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

CHABLIS, Yonne. Eglise which is said to date from the end of the XII cen-
tury, consists of a nave, two side aisles, a choir, and an ambulatory. The vault is
sexpartite; its ogee arches are doubtless the result of alterations executed in the XVI
century. The logical system is alternate and continuous; the high clearstory is rein-
forced by massive flying buttresses. (Quantin.)

COUVAINS, Manche. Eglise of the early Gothic period consists of a single-
aisled nave, a central tower of the XVIII century, a choir, and an apse. This apse
is peculiar in being polygonal internally, square externally. Two piers are so placed
as to transform the internal polygon into a square; these are joined to the walls
by open arches, the interior plan being thus perfectly evident externally. (De la
Balle.)

FONTAINE-GUERARD, (near Radepont), Eure. Abbaye. The ruins of
this abbey are a fine example of XIII century architecture. English influence is
evident in the details; the archivolts are much moulded and rest on piers surrounded
by eight colonnettes; there is no system. (De la Balle; Benoist II, 76.)

ST. SEVER, Calvados. Abbaye, with the exception of certain flamboyant addi-
tions of little importance, is an homogeneous edifice of the XIII century. The edi-
fice is characterized by the narrow lancet windows of the choir (these still contain
their original glass), by the absence of an ambulatory, by the unfinished octagonal
central lantern on squinches, by the monocylindrical piers with round abaci, and
by the system of a single shaft resting upon corbels placed just above the main
impost level. (De la Balle; Benoist III, 90.)

EPAU, Sarthe. Abbaye consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, six apsidal
chapels, and a rectangular choir. The nave is assigned to the end of the XIV century;
the transepts, which are as long as the choir and nave put together, retain some frag-
ments of the XIII century architecture. There are no towers nor flying buttresses,
although the church is vaulted throughout. The ribs are gathered on a single con-
tinuous shaft. The east window of the choir is filled with fine rayonnant tracery.
(Ricordeau: Wismes.)

MORET, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise. Although there is a tradition that a dedi-
cation of this church took place in 1166, the earliest parts of the present edifice doubt-
less date from the early XIII century. The existing structure consists of a nave,
two side aisles, transepts, a southern lateral tower, a choir, and an apse. An ogee
arch occurs in the western bay of the main arcade, and the portal is also flamboyant.
The clearstory is pierced in each bay by coupled windows surmounted by an oculus.
(Pougeois; Aufauvre et Fichot.)

ROUVRES, Calvados. Eglise. The spire of the XIV century is one of the mas-
terworks of Gothic design, although the transition from square to octagon is not man-
aged very skilfully. The main body of the church consists of a choir and a nave
whose axes far from coinciding form so sharp an angle that from the nave only a part
of the choir can be seen. Obviously these two portions of the church are not con-
temporary: the choir and the north transept probably date from the XIII century;
the nave and the south transept from the XIV. The colonnettes of the jambs of the
western portal stand free, and are crowned by capitals with round abaci. (De la Balle.)

345

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

MORTAEN, Manche. Eglise, which, with the exception of a portal of the XII
century and the ambulatory and lady chapel apparently later than the main body
of the edifice, dates from the first half of the XIII century, consists of a nave of five
bays, two side aisles, a choir of three bays, and an ambulatory. The style of the
building, singularly severe and bare, is very unlike that of the He de France: there
are no flying buttresses; the vaults are without wall ribs; the system is carried on
the octagonal abaci of the monocylindrical piers; the lancet windows are unorna-
mented save for shafts in the jambs; the tower, which stands detached to the south,
contains a single story of lancet windows of enormous height; the facade is entirely
unornanicnted. (De la Balle.)

MAREILLES, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a nave of three bays, two side
aisles, a choir, a polygonal apse, and a northern lateral tower which is contemporary
with the church, although its arches are round while those of the main body of the
edifice are pointed. Quadripartite vaults cover the nave; their full set of ribs is car-
ried on a system of three shafts rising from the square abaci of the monocylindrical
piers. Except in the apse the walls ribs are not stilted. There are no flying buttresses;
the exterior buttresses, however, are well developed, those of the choir being in three
ressauts. The triforium is very high, but the clearstory consists of a series of oculi.
The ribs and archivolts have developed Gothic mouldings, and a cusped rose win-
dow is pierced in the facade. Chevrons and crude capitals characterize the
Romanesque portal. (Baudot.)

Y1LLKXEUYE-LE-COMTE, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise, of the middle of the
XIII century, consists of a nave, two side aisles, three apses, and a tower rising over
the third bay of the northern side aisle. Before the main portal there was formerly
a porch, some debris of whose arches is still in place. Except for the main apse,
which, though polygonal, is supplied with a chevet vault of the Noyon type, the edi-
fice is entirely covered with quadripartite vaults with stilted wall ribs. These vaults,
however, are not reinforced by flying buttresses. While the triforium is well-
developed, the clearstory is nothing more than a series of oculi. Four colonnettes
are engaged upon the monocylindrical piers; from the abaci rises a system of three
shafts. The profiles of the main archivolts are unusually complicated. (Arch, de
la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 61; Aufauvre et Fichot.)

BAYEUX, Calvados. Chapcllc du Seminaire. This singular monument of
the XIII century consists of a single-aisled nave and two nearly equal absidioles.
The vaults are almost square in plan; the three ribs are carried on a single
shaft.

Abbaye St. Vigor. Some ruins of the conventual buildings are said to remain.
(De la Balle.)

CRENEY, Aube. St. Aventin consists of a nave of five bays, two side aisles,
a three-sided apse, and a tower rising over the third bay of the nave. The wrestern
bay of the nave is modern, although the old portal of the XIII century is preserved;
the four eastern bays are of the first years of the XVI century; the Renaissance side
portal dates from 15.57: the tower is of the XIII century, its fine stained glass of the
XVI century. The piers of the nave are monocylindrical; the vaults are simple.

346

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

The three aisles are of about equal height, the gables of the side aisles being at right
angles to the axis of the nave. (Fichot I, 1.)

ROZOY, Seine-et-Marne. Notre Dame. This edifice of the early XIII cen-
tury consists of a nave, two side aisles, and three apses. The vault is sexpartite, with
wall ribs. The system is alternate: in the intermediate piers the transverse shafts
rise from corbels placed just above the capitals of the main arcade, the wall shafts
rest on corbels at the level of the capital of the transverse shaft; in the alternate piers
the system is logical and continuous. Lancet windows constitute the clearstory. The
details of the capitals and profiles are fine. (Aufauvre et Fichot, 201.)

ECOIJIS, Eure. Eglise Collegiale was founded, it is said, by Enguerrand le
Poitier de Marigny in 1307, and dedicated in 1310. The interior was unfortunately
made over in 1730; the present brick vault makes one regret the primitive wooden
roof. Originally the edifice consisted of a single-aisled nave, transepts, and a polyg-
onal apse, but in the XVI century a sort of side aisle or chapel was added to the
south of the nave. The church contains fine rayonnant tracery, although, except in
the west facade, the windows are small. The facade is flanked by two towers. (De
la Balle.)

SARCELLES, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise, one of the most interesting medieval edi-
fices of the immediate environs of Paris, contains a western portal of the Renaissance,
a nave four bays long of the XIII century, two Gothic side aisles and a rectangular
choir of the end of the XII century surmounted by a tower of the same epoch. (Lam-
bin, 111.)

MONTEBOURG, Manche. St. Jacques. This monument of the early XIV
century consists of a nave five bays long, two side aisles, transepts, and a rectangular
choir of four bays. Four colonnettes are engaged on each of the piers. There is
no clearstory, but the church is vaulted throughout. (De la Balle.)

MICHERY, Yonne. Eglise, a fine example of a rural parish church of the
end of the XII century, consists of a rectangular choir, a nave, two side aisles, and
a western narthex surmounted by a tower. The sexpartite vaults are not reinforced
by flying buttresses. The intermediate piers are monocylindrical, the alternate
supplied with engaged colonnettes. There is no clearstory, although the side aisles
are decidedly lower than the nave. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. II, 20.)

ST.-SAUVEUR-LANDELIN, Manche. Eglise, which dates from the end of
the XIII or early XIV century and is one of the largest of the district of Coutances,
consists of a rectangular choir, transepts, a nave, two side aisles, and a central west-
ern tower preceded by a porch of the XV century. The tower and the vaults of the
nave were added in the flamboyant period. There are no flying buttresses. (De la
Balle.)

COUCY-LA-VILLE, Aisne. Eglise. The choir and the tower which sur-
mount it are of the end of the XII century; the remainder of the church is a patch-
work of different epochs, interesting only for the fragments of mural paintings which
it contains. (Vernier, 186.)

USSY, Calvados. Eglise. This remarkable monument of the XIII or early
XIV century, although without side aisles, is one of the largest ecclesiastical edifices

347

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

of the neighborhood. Beneath the central tower is a vault, the only one in the build-
ing. The fine western portal shows English influence in its free-standing shafts,
round abaci, and continuous archivolts. (De la Balle; Benoist III, 83.)

MONTREUIL,1 Seine. St. Pierre. The rectangular choir, which is said to
be of the end of the XII century, is four bays long, and has monocylindrical piers.
Its triforium consists of three arches pierced in each bay. The existing nave is flam-
boyant. (Lainbin, G6.)

SERMAISES, Loiret. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a
rectangular choir, all covered with quadripartite rib vaults. There is no clear-
story, and the facade gable is continuous. The buttresses are well developed.
A >vstem of three shafts rests upon the abaci of the capitals of the main arcades.
(Baudot.)

BEAUMONTEL, Eure. Eglise. The square east end is pierced by three lan-
cets of the XIV century, but the nave windows are modern. The towTer with its spire
is a fine piece of flamboyant design. (De la Balle.)

MAREIL-SUR-MAULDRE, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise consists of a single-
aisled nave, transepts, a central tower, a choir and a polygonal apse. The ribs of
the apse vault are arranged like those of the chevet of Amiens, but the wall arches
are so low that the whole construction still retains something of the appearance of a
dome. Although the buttresses, which are well developed and of several ressauts,
seem to form part of the original construction — which may be assigned to c. 1180 —
the existing system appears to be a later addition. Round -arched windows occur in
the apse and transepts, but all the structural arches are pointed. (Baudot.)

ITTEVILLE, Seine-et-Oise. St. Germain. This church, seven bays long,
consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a rectangular choir. The monument dates
from the XIII century, but the vaults were remade in the XVI century, and the edi-
fice has otherwise been much modernized. The monocylindrical piers have square
abaci. (Lambin, 96.)

RAMPILLON, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise. The facade, remarkable for the
sculptures of its magnificent portal of the XIII century, is without towers. For the
rest the church possesses a considerable clearstory and fine flying buttresses. (Au-
fauvre et Fichot, 151.)

COMPIEGNE, Oise. St. Jacques. This church, commenced, it is said, c.
1200, was finished only when the cupola was completed in the XVI century. The
fine tower (which adjoins the facade) is flamboyant, but in the main body of the edi-
fice fragments of XIII century architecture survive in certain windows, in the trifo-
rium, and in the sexpartite vaults. (Ballyhier.)

St. Nicolas. The modern edifice of this name situated in the Rue du Vieux-
Pont contains an ancient facade of the XIII century. (Ballyhier.)

DOULLENS, Somme. St. Pierre. The nave, a charming construction of
the early years of the XIII century, still exists, though desecrated, and traces of the
projecting transepts and of the ambulatory may still be made out. The piers con-
sisted of coupled columns. There seem to have been no buttresses, though the nave

1 Or Montreuil-sous-Bois.
.'548

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

and side aisles were both vaulted. The system of three shafts carried five ribs. The
surviving details are of great purity and beauty. (Durand.)

BRIENNE, Aube. St Pierre et St. Paul in the main dates from the end of the
XIII century, but the lower part of the tower and the nave were reconstructed at
the end of the XIV or beginnning of the XV century, the choir with its seven radia-
ting chapels were altered in the XVI century, the whole monument was much muti-
lated in the Renaissance period, and the upper parts of the tower are modern. The
choir has never been completed; its walls have been erected only as far as the
base of the clearstory windows. The flying buttresses of the nave are of simple
type. (Arnaud, 56.)

ECOUCHE, Orne. Eglise. The nave of this church dates from the XIII
century, but the apse and the transepts (which are polygonal in plan) were rebuilt
after 1416. The monocylindrical piers of the nave support unmoulded pointed arches.
Much of the tracery of the choir is Renaissance in character, but the flying buttresses
are simple. (De la Balle; Benoist IV, 19.)

CLEMONT, Cher. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, a choir, and a
polygonal apse. The eastern portions seem to be of the XIV century; the aisles
and the western bays of the nave were added to the original edifice probably in the
XV century. In general the edifice is characterized by angle buttresses and a fine
flamboyant west portal. (De Kersers I, 109.)

MAIZIERES, Calvados. Eglise. The nave is of the XIII century, but the
interest of the edifice centers in its tower and spire which together form a superb
group. This docker must date from the end of the XIII century. (De la Balle.)

PETIT-ANDELY, Eure. St. Sauveur. The first stone of this edifice is
said to have been laid in 1215 — a date which is confirmed by the style of the archi-
tecture. The choir with its ambulatory, the crossing, and the lower story of the
transepts must have been finished soon after. Works then seem to have been inter-
rupted for a brief period, but the transepts and nave were finished by 1245. The
church as it stands is a splendid example of a small country church of the XIII cen-
tury, and doubly interesting in that it contains some fine glass of the XIII century
and a bell of 1462. The choir has a logical system of three shafts rising from corbels
placed just over the square abaci of the monocylindrical piers. There is a fine
triforium and a lofty clearstory filled with plate tracery. In the chevet the caps of
the wall ribs are placed at the summit of the stilt. The clearstory wall is entirely
eliminated. The flying buttresses have pinnacles, but are otherwise unornamented.
In the nave (which is only two bays long) the triforium is omitted, and clustered
piers are substituted for columns. In the triforium of the choir are distinct traces of
ancient frescoes; over the western portal is some ornate sculpture. (De la Balle.)

ECAQUELON, Eure. St. Jacques. There is documentary evidence that a
dedication of this church took place in 1248,1 but the edifice was so thoroughly re-
stored at the commencement of the XVI century, that there remain of the Gothic

1 VIII non. Septembris apud Esquaquelon cum expensis parrochie. Ipsa die, dedicavi-
mus ecclesiam Beatae Mariae ejus loci. — • Regest. Visit. Archie p. Rothomag., p. 8, Edition
Bounin. The title of the church was changed later to St. Jacques.

349

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

period only the walls. An inscription placed on one of the beams of the nave roof
reads as follows : "In the year 1510 this nave was repaired. Th. Lalement and Sem-
elaigne worked upon it." 1 The square tower is evidently of this same epoch. (De
la Balle.)

COLOMBY, Manehe. Eglise which consists of a single-aisled nave, a central
tower surmounted by a spire, and a rectangular choir may well date from the early
XTII century, for it is characterized by shafting, lancet windows, and a logical system.
The vault is supplied with a ridge rib, and the wall ribs are not stilted — both peculiar-
ities which show the influence of English models. (De la Balle.)

VESLY. Manehe. St. Pierre consists of a nave of the beginning of the XIY
century, two side aisles, a choir of the middle of the XV century, a central tower, and
a polygonal apse. The choir has no triforium, but a clearstory consisting of a row
of blind arches. There are no flying buttresses. (De la Balle.)

PONTAUBERT, Yonne. Egli.se. This "monument historique" seems to
date from the early XIII century, and is said to have been erected by the Templars.
It is characterized by a simple porch of the XYI century, a charming Romanesque
portal, and a lofty tower.

BALLEROY, Calvados. Eglise is said to be of the XIII century and "full of
grace and harmony." (Benoist III, 115.)

STE. SOLANGE, Cher. Eglise of which the most ancient parts date from
the end of the XII century, consists of a rectangular choir, a nave, and a western
narthex surmounted by a tower and spire. The nave and choir alike are roofed in
wood. The date 1600, inscribed on one of the buttresses on the south side, indicates
that considerable alterations were carried out at that epoch. Decidedly the most
interesting part of the edifice is the transitional tower. (De Kersers.)

COUYILLE, Manehe. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave, a rectangular
choir, and a north lateral tower. In the triumphal arch are embedded some frag-
ments of architecture in the style of the XII century, but the nave and choir are of
the XIII century. (De la Balle.)

CHARTENTONAY, Cher. Eglise. The nave seems to be of the XIII cen-
tury, but the eastern portions of the edifice were reconstructed in the late flamboy-
ant period. The apse is three-sided; the vaults of the choir have been replaced by
a wooden ceiling. (De Kersers YI, 272.)

BELLOY, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. The north transept is of the end of the XII,
the choir and the southern transept of the beginning of the XIV, the nave and the
facade of the XVI, century. (Arch, dc la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 86.)

OMONVILLE-LA-ROGUE, Manehe. Eglise, of the beginning of the XIII
century, consists of a nave of three bays, a rectangular choir covered by an octopar-
tite vault, a central tower, and a lateral chapel. Two porches open off the choir.
The arches are consistently pointed throughout the edifice. (De la Balle.)

MOROGXES, Cher. Eglise consists of a western tower, a single-aisled nave, a
three-sided apse, and two chapel-like transepts added in the XV century. No part
of the construction seems earlier than the end of the XIII century. The choir and

1 L'an mil cinq cents dix fust reparee cette nef. Th. Lalement ct Semelaigne tr.

350

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

apse are vaulted with a single radiating rib vault, the ribs all emanating from a com-
mon center much to the east of the true center of the vaulting surface; the nave is
roofed in wood. The octagonal tower is severe in style, but is reinforced by angle
buttresses. (De Kersers.)

SEGRIE, Sarthe. Notre Dame consists of a rectangle divided into five bays:
over the third of these rises the tower; the fourth has been transformed into a sort of
crossing by the addition of two transept-like chapels; the fifth forms the choir. The
church is rib-vaulted throughout. In the west facade opens the great pointed por-
tal, of which the decoration is in the style of the XII, rather than in that of the XIII,
century. According to Le Paige this church was consecrated in 1242. (Guicheux.)

PROVINS, Seine-et-Marne. Ste. Croix. This "monument historique" is said
to date mainly from the XIII century, although the date 1538 engraved on one of the
buttresses of the south side proves that a reconstruction took place in the XVI cen-
tury. This is said to have lasted from 1519 to 1581. The church is roofed in wood.
The lateral portal is a fine example of the late flamboyant style. (Du Sommerard.)

Notre Dame-du-Val. Of this church, destroyed before the Revolution, only the
tower remains. This at present serves as a belfry for the church of St. Ayoul.

ENNORDRE, Cher. Eglise of the XII and XIII centuries, is characterized
by a wooden-roofed nave and a polygonal chevet deviating to the north (the latter
has recently been modernized). The most interesting portion of the edifice is the
vaulted chapel with an apse, placed beneath the tower. This seems to date from
the end of the XIII century, and is a late instance of such a feature. (De Kersers
III, 15.)

Chapelle St. Georges, an edifice of the end of the XIII century, is a plain rect-
angular structure roofed in wood. Nevertheless the walls are reinforced by buttresses.
(De Kersers III, 16.)

STE. THORETTE, Cher. Eglise consists of a semicircular apse, a choir, a
nave four bays long, and a southern lateral tower. The apse is vaulted with a half-
dome, the choir with a pointed barrel vault, the nave, which may be assigned to late
in the XIII century, with rib vaults. (De Kersers V, 312.)

Prieure is much ruined. The narrow choir opened upon a rectangular wooden-
roofed nave. (De Kersers V, 312.)

LIEUSAINT, Manche. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave with thatched
roof, a choir with a square east end, and a tower en bdtiere rising between the nave
and choir. The construction may be assigned to the last quarter of the XIII cen-
tury. Internally the two bays of the choir are rib-vaulted. On the keystone of one
of these vaults may be read the following inscription: — "In the year 1312 this altar
was erected anew." 1 (De la Balle.)

ARGENT, Cher. Eglise. Of the original single-aisled edifice of the XIII cen-
tury, only the lower part of the walls survives, the church having been rebuilt in
the XV century, when the apse was reconstructed on a polygonal plan, two chapels
each of two bays added on either side of the nave, the nave itself given a clearstory
and a vault, and the western tower begun.

1 Le an MCCCXII fut cest austel faict tout neuf.
351

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

SOULANGY, Calvados. Eglise, of which only the choir is vaulted, contains
finely carved capitals. The construction seems to date from the middle of the XIII
century. (Benoisl 111. 23.)

VAUDES, Aube. Eglise. The Romanesque nave has neither side aisles nor
vaults. The choir, however, is large and elegant: it consists of a rib-vaulted bay
and a five-sided apse, and is flanked by two square chapels. The church contains
glass of the XVI century. (Arnaud, 81.)

PREUILLY, Seine-et-Marne. Abbaye. Ruins of the rectangular choir of the
XII 1 century survive. (Aufauvre et Fichot, 140.)

HUMBLIGNY, Cher. Eglise of the XIII century, consists of a single-aisled
nave roofed in wood and much modernized, a rib-vaulted choir of two bays, and an
apse. The windows of the choir are round -arched; the ribs are carried on corbels.
(De Kersers IV, 307.)

ST. LUMIER, Marne. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, a
central tower, and three polygonal apses covered with radiating rib vaults of the
Amiens type. The buttresses are in several ressauts. (Baudot.)

CRETEIL, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise, which is said to date from the XII to the XIV
centuries, comprises a nave of four bays and a choir of two. In the nave there is a
triforium, consisting of three arches to each bay, but this is not continued in the choir.
(Lambin, 02.)

PONT-DE-L'ARCIIE, Eure. Abbaye Bon-Port. The dedication of this abbey
is said to have taken place in 1224. Some traces of the church and extensive remains
of the conventual buildings still survive. (De la Balle; Benoist II, 38.)

NORMANVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. The choir is said to be an
admirable example of the architecture of the XIV century.

YILLEXEUVE-LARCIIEYEQUE, Yonne. Eglise contains a superbly sculp-
tured portal of the XIII century.

ST.-MAUR-DES-FOSSES, Seine. St. Nicolas, an edifice of the early XIII
century, consists of a nave with two large round-arched arcades on the south side, a
single side aisle, a rectangular choir three bays long apparently somewhat earlier
than the nave, and a Romanesque tower flanking the choir on the south side.
Before the western portal is a porch of the XIV century. (Lambin, 75.)

HARCOURT, Eure. >S7. Ouen. The semicircular apse consisting of a series
of lancets separated by buttresses is of the XIII century; the nave is about contem-
porary: the facade is of the XVI century; the tower probably dates from the XIII
century, and originally stood detached from the building. (De la Balle.)

PERSEIGNE, Sarthe. Abbaye assigned to the XII century is much ruined,
the two transept-ends and the foundations only remaining in situ. The edifice,
which was a typical example of Cistercian architecture, comprised a square east end
and transeptal chapels. (Fleury.)

ASNIERES, (her. Eglise. The walls of this ancient edifice survive, and are
embedded in the masonry of a modern store. The rectangular choir is rib-vaulted,
and must have been erected in the XIII century. (De Kersers VII, 15.)

LARCHANT, Seine-et-Marne. Eglise. This partly ruined edifice of the XIII

352

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

century is characterized by transepts, a polygonal apse, and a remarkably fine flam-
boyant tower. (Aufauvre et Fichot.)

FAVERDINES, Cher. Eglise, with the exception of the western portal of the
XII century, is an edifice of the XIV or XV century. The choir and nave form two
rectangles, each divided into two rib-vaulted bays. The prismatic ribs are supported
by shafts. On the walls may yet be seen fragments of the ancient frescoes.

ST. PALAIS, Cher. Eglise consists of a timber-roofed nave of the XII century, a
choir reconstructed early in the XIII century under the inspiration of the cathedral
of Bourges, a polygonal apse with lancet windows, and two chapels added in the XV
century. In the choir the system is continuous. The details throughout are fine.
(De Kersers VI, 239.)

MUSSY, Aube. Eglise of the XIII century consists of a western narthex tower,
a nave four bays long furnished with clearstory and flying buttresses, two side aisles,
salient transepts, and a choir of two bays. The edifice is vaulted with rib vaults
throughout. (Arnaud, 223.)

POILLEY, Manche. Eglise. The portal and one buttress of the choir are of
the XIII century; the western facade is dated by an inscription of 1537; the remainder
of the church is of the XVIII century. (De la Balle.)

LIESSE, Aisne. Eglise dates from the XIII, XIV, and XVI centuries. The
facade is preceded by a porch; the flying buttresses are well developed.

VITRY, Seine. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, a northern transept,
a southern tower, a five-aisled chevet with a radiating rib vault of the Amiens type,
an ambulatory, and radiating chapels whose vaults are consolidated in sexpartite
compartments with those of the ambulatory. The nave is covered with a modern
wooden vault; it is characterized by the absence of a triforium and by a clearstory
consisting of a series of oculi. (Lambin, 20.)

VER, Somme. St. Remi. The oldest portion of the existing edifice is the por-
tal of 1238, the remainder of the monument having been rebuilt in later (flamboyant)
times. The monocylindrical piers of the nave are without capitals. (Josse.)

ST.-LOUP-DES-CHAUMES, Cher. Eglise, said to be of the XIII century,
consists of a three-sided apse, a choir of two bays covered with a rib vault, a wooden-
roofed nave, and a western bell tower recently reconstructed. (De Kersers III,
303.)

CHATEAU-DU -LOIRE, Sarthe. St. Guingalois. The crypt is of the XI
century, but the upper church is an elegant chapel of the end of the XIII century
with fine rayonnant tracery. The projected vaults have never been constructed.
Originally the edifice consisted of a single-aisled nave with a polygonal apse; side
aisles, however, were added in the XVI century. (Charles.)

LA PERCHE, Cher. Eglise of the XIII century consists of a polygonal apse,
a nave, and an interior narthex surmounted by a tower. The whole is covered with
rib vaults without wall ribs. The system is continuous. (De Kersers VII, 205.)

ST.-JULIEN-DU-SAULT, Yonne. Eglise. This structure of the XIII cen-
tury and of the Renaissance, classed as a "monument historique," is characterized
by a wooden roof and two early Gothic lateral porches.

353

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

ILLEVILLE, Eure. Eglise is said to be a fine example of the style of the early
XIII century.

MAREUIL, Cher. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave, a rectangular choir,
and two chapels of the XV century, all roofed in wood. Both round and pointed
arches occur in the windows, but the main portal is thoroughly Gothic in style. To
the south of the nave stands a heavy tower: the base of the XII century is sur-
mounted by a Gothic upper story, a heavy belfry, and a low pyramid. (De
Kersers.)

SAUSSAYE, Eure. Eglise Collegiale St. Louis. This church was commenced
in 1307, dedicated in 1310, burnt in 1553, pillaged by the Huguenots in 1562, and
burnt again in 1K75. Nevertheless it still contains some fragments of medieval archi-
tecture. The edifice consists of a northwestern tower, a nave of a single aisle, low
transeptal chapels, and a rectangular choir. Some of the windows have fine flam-
boyant tracery. (De la Balle.)

YILLY-LE-MARECHAL, Aube. Eglise. The wooden-roofed nave is lighted
by five lancets. Of these the first two on the north side are of the XIII century, as
well as certain portions of the walls; the others were rebuilt when the rest of the
church was reconstructed c. 1500. The choir has a multiple rib vault, and is flanked
by two chapels. The apse is five-sided. (Fichot I, 471.)

JUSSY-LE-CIIAUDRIER, Cher. Eglise. The rectangular choir of the XIII
century comprises two rib-vaulted bays, is lighted by lancet windows, and supplied
with a continuous system. The walls of the nave are ancient and contain some tra-
ceried windows; the present plaster vaults, however, and the western tower are mod-
ern. (De Kersers VI, 2!)9.)

BIXON, Cher. Eglise, which appears to date from the XII and XIII centuries,
consists of a single-aisled, plaster-vaulted nave, and a polygonal apse rebuilt in the
flamboyant period. The latter is vaulted, as is the bay of the choir which precedes
it. (De Kersers I, 105.)

CREPY-EN-VALOIS, Oise. St. Thomas. There remains of this collegiate
church of the XIII century only the facade. This is flanked by two towers, the north-
ern one of which bears a hexagonal open-work spire of the XV century, while the
southern dates from the second half of the XIII century. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon.
Hist. I, 05.)

VALIQUERVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise, consecrated, it is said, in 1267,
has been much rebuilt. The beautiful spire, however, is well preserved. (Benoist.)

NEUVY-SUR-BAREXJOX, Cher. Eglise of the early XIII century served
both as a priory and a parish church, and doubtless for this reason was divided into
two parallel naves, both roofed in wood. The east end is square. To the westward
is a square narthex. (De Kersers VII, 321.)

VAILLY. Aube. St. Nicolas consists of a single-aisled nave, more lofty than
the choir, but roofed in wood, a rib-vaulted choir of a single bay, and two chapels.
There are angle buttresses.

VILLENEUVE-ST.-GEORGES, Seine-et-Oise. St. Georges. The choir is of
the XIII, the nave and the portal (Renaissance in style) of the XVI, the apse of the

354

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

XV, century. The whole was restored 1860-70. A series of oculi constitutes the
clearstory. (Lambin, 52.)

BRIONNE, Eure. St. Martin consists of a nave, two side aisles, a central tower,
and a choir. There is no system. (De la Balle.)

Notre Dame. The windows of this desecrated edifice are in the style of the XIV
century. (Benoist.)

St. Denis.

CLEREY, Aube. Eglise, which is said to date from the end of the XII century,
consists of a rib-vaulted rectangular choir of a single bay, a central tower, and a single-
aisled nave roofed in wood. Some of the arches are round. (Arnaud, 92.)

MEILLANT, Cher. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave and a polygonal
apse. The eastern portions are rib-vaulted. The facade and the lower part of the
tower date from 1537; the upper portions of the tower are modern. (De Kersers
VI, 148.)

PAYNS, Aube. Eglise consists of a five-sided apse, transepts, and a nave orig-
inally erected in the early years of the XIII century, but since materially altered. If
there ever were vaults they have been destroyed; the entire church is now roofed in
wood. (Fichot I, 149.)

COUTRES, Cher. Eglise. Of this desecrated edifice, now used as a store, the
XIII century choir and the apse are well preserved. The latter is covered with a
radiating rib vault, whose ribs rest on corbels. (De Kersers IV, 79.)

BAZENVILLE, Calvados. Eglise. The gracious tower of the XIII century
is surmounted by a four-sided pyramid. The porch is of the XV century. (Benoist.)

GORGES, Manche. Eglise. The original edifice of the early XIV century
(which consisted of a single-aisled nave, transepts, and a central tower) was burnt in
1613, and the stone vault of the nave has never been rebuilt. (De la Balle.)

DOMMAIRE, Seine-et-Marne. Abbaye du Lys. Important ruins of this
edifice of the XIII century are said to survive. (Aufauvre et Fichot.)

COURGERENNES, Aube. Eglise consists of a nave and a three-sided apse.
Certain portions of the nave seem as early as the XII century, but the edifice has been
often rebuilt, and the choir was entirely reconstructed in the XVI century- The church
is roofed in wood throughout. (Fichot I, 378.)

GEFOSSE, Calvados. Eglise of the XIII century is vaulted throughout. The
tower terminates en batiere. There was originally a transept whose foundations may
still be traced. (Benoist III, 108.)

LONGUES, Calvados. Abbaye Notre Dame. Only the rectangular choir sur-
vives, but this is in the style of the very best period of the XIII century. (De la Balle.)

PREVERANGES, Cher. Eglise of the XIII century consists of a nave of a
single aisle and a slightly narrower rectangular choir. This choir was originally
vaulted, but the vaults have now disappeared. (De Kersers III, 228.)

CORBON, Orne. St. Martin, an edifice of the XII and XIII centuries, is re-
markable for its Gothic portal flanked by two round-arched arcades, its semicircular
apse adorned with chevrons, and its bell said to date from the year 1265. (De la
Balle.)

355

GOTHIC .MONUMENTS

Chapelle du Chateau is a Gothic structure made over in the flamboyant period.
The tower is said to be of the XII century. (Benoist.)

AVALLEURS, Aube. Commanderie du Temple. This rectangular chapel is
divided into three bays and covered with rib vaults. The house of the Templars at
Avalleurs was established in 11?!), and the chapel was in all probability erected soon
after. (Arnaud, 226. )

LIGY, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise of the XIII century was restored in 1892. The
apse is polygonal; the lancet windows are without tracery; the details are said to be
exceptionally fine. (L)e la Balle.)

COUDRAY, Calvados. Eglise said to be of the XIII century, preserves intact
its tower with wooden spire.

BAILLEUL, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise contains a fine series of lancet windows.
(Benoist.)

BARC. Eure. Eglise. The vaulted choir is of the first half of the XIII century,
the tower is of the XVI century. (De la Balle.)

CREPY, Aisne. St. Pierre is of the XIII century.

Notre Dame is of the XIV and XV centuries.

LOrVIGW. Calvados. Eglise of the Gothic and flamboyant eras consists
of a nave, a choir and a western tower.

MORLAC, Cher. Eglise. Severely damaged in the Wars of Religion, and
ruined by restorations, this monument preserves nothing of interest save a few cor-
bel-tables of the XII century. (De Kersers IV, 30.)

Chapelle de Souages. This dese'erated edifice was erected at the commencement
of the XIII century. The entire structure (whose plan forms a vast rectangle) is
now roofed in wood, but the eastern portions were formerly vaulted. (De Kersers
IV, 33.)

MOSLES, Calvados. St. Eustache. The nave, the single side aisle, and the
tower seem to be of the XIV century, but the sexpartite vault which covers the rect-
angular choir clearly belongs to the early years of the XIII century. The facade is
pierced by a great rose window with plate tracery. (De la Balle; de Caumont.)

GRAND— SELVE, Somme. Chapelle des Templicrs is a small and much ruined
structure dating from about the middle of the XIII century. Instead of being cir-
cular, this chapel is rectangular with a polygonal apse. (Des Orme.)

MERY-SUR-CHER, ( her. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave, a rectangular
choir — both lighted by little round-headed windows, — and a large vaulted chapel.
The walls may be assigned to the end of the XIII century, the vaults of the choir to
the XIV or XV century. (De Kersers VII, 311.)

MEZIERES, Calvados. Eglise of the XIII century possesses a remarkable
stone spire. (Benoist.)

VXJLAINES, Aube. Eglise of the end of the XIII century is characterized by
a square east end and a timber roof. (Fichot I, 354.)

ST. WANDRILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Abbayc. Of this famous abbey church
only one transept and fragments of the radiating chapels of the ambulatory survive,
and these in a most deplorable state of ruin. The edifice seems to have been erected

356

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

in the last half of the XIII century, but the details are of a purity altogether excep-
tional in Normandy. Thus the abaci are square; the system of three shafts is log-
ical and continuous; the archivolts in three orders are of rather simple profile. The
ruined cloisters are flamboyant in style.

MARMAGNE, Cher. Abbaye du Beauvoir. Only the nave survives, and the
vaults of even this have fallen. The windows on the north side are simple lancets
slightly pointed. (De Kersers V, 282.)

ESTREPAGNY, Eure. Eglise, adorned, it is said, with "several"" towers,
possesses a large nave, transepts, but no side aisles.

AMAYE, Calvados. Notre Dame. This edifice of the XIII and XV centuries
has been much modernized. (De Caumont.)

VILLENAUX, Aube. Eglise de Dival consists of a single-aisled nave, two
square apses, and a northern tower dated by an inscription of 1520. The edifice is
rib-vaulted throughout. Certain round arches in the choir are evidently fragments
of an earlier Romanesque church. (Arnaud, 212.)

VILLIERS-LE-SEC, Calvados. St. Laurent. The tower and the rectangular
choir of a single bay are of the XIII century; the nave is of the XVIII century. The
tower en batiere is of a pleasing design.

ARGENVIERES, Cher. Eglise which had been much mutilated (probably in
1569), consists of a single-aisled nave, a rectangular choir, and two chapels added
in the XVI and XIX centuries. A tower formerly surmounted the choir. (De
Kersers VI, 260.)

ETRECHY, Cher. Eglise, which appears to date from the commencement of
the XIII century, consists of a rectangular choir, of which the axis deviates to the
south, a nave of a single aisle, and a western tower. The edifice has been many times
restored, and is now vaulted in plaster. (De Kersers VI, 283.)

PICAUVILLE, Manche. Eglise, of the XIII and XIV centuries, consists
of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, a central tower, and a rectangular choir.
The nave has flying buttresses, and is preceded by a charming porch. (De la
Balle.)

THIEVILLE, Calvados. Eglise, erected, it is said, at the end of the XIII cen-
tury, is remarkable for the carving of its capitals. (Benoist.)

ST.-PIERRE-CANIVET, Calvados. Eglise is said to be a charming struc-
ture of the XIII century. (Benoist.)

AVRANCHES, Manche. Notre Dame-des-Champs. In the modern church of
this name there are preserved some fragments of the ancient edifice.

St.. Saturnin contains a bas-relief of the XIV century and a portal of the XIII
century. (Benoist.)

NORON, Calvados. Prieure. Some portions of the nave survive. (Benoist.)

Ste. Catherine is a single-aisled edifice. (Benoist.)

Eglise for the most part of the XIII century possesses a western tower. (Be-
noist.)

HEBECOURT, Somme. St. Come et St. Damien, In 1128 Arnould, son of
Hebe, erected on this site a chapel which was later replaced by a church. The edi-

357

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

fice was enlarged in 1203, burnt in 1257, repaired in 1258, 1332, 1497, and 1605.
(Josse.)

IYOY-LE-PRE, Cher. Eglise of the XIII century originally consisted of a
single-aisled nave and a five-sided apse, but two large chapels were subsequently
added. The ancient vaults have been replaced by a wooden roof. (De Kersers
III, 23.)

ST.-BENOIT-SUR-VANNES, Aube. Eglise consists of a three-sided apse,
a single-aisled nave, and a tower projecting beyond the facade. The edifice is roofed
in wood throughout. The church was altered in the XVI century and again in 1728.
(Fichot I, 332.)

AUXOX-SUR-ORXE, Orne. Ste. Eulalie is a church of a single aisle, with-
out transepts or tower. The original Xorman edifice was made over in the XIII
century. (De la Balle.)

BRAY. Eure. Eglise. The tower and the choir are of the XIII century. (De
la Balle.)

BOSC-BORDEL, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. The tower is of the XIII century.
(De la Balle.)

BOURG, Cher. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave, a choir of the XVI cen-
tury, transepts, a polygonal apse, and a western tower. This tower is the most an-
cient part of the edifice and dates mainly from the XIII century, although upon its
summit is inscribed the date 1621. (De Kersers VII, 29.)

EVRECY. Calvados. Eglise, which is of large dimensions and which has evi-
dently been many times made over, is of interest chiefly for the tower of the XIV cen-
tury. (Benoist III, 35.)

HERRY, Cher. Eglise has been several times entirely rebuilt, but contains a
square rib-vaulted choir of the XIII century. (De Kersers VI, 293.)

VILLEGEXOX, Cher. Eglise of the XIII century has been very much
restored. The existing edifice consists of a single-aisled nave and a square east end,
the whole roofed in timber. In the XV century a side aisle w7as begun, but never
completed. (De Kersers VII, 287.)

AILLY-SUR-XOYE, Soinme. Eglise is in great part of the XIII century.
The three arcades of the nave rest on monocvlindrical piers with sculptured
capitals.

ENYERMEX, Seine-Inferieure. Chapelle St. GuiUain. This edifice of the XIII
century is peculiar in that the east end is pierced by two pointed windows surmounted
by a rose. (Benoist.)

ST. VALERY, Somme. Eglise dates from the XIII and XVI centuries. The
vaults with their thin sculptured keystones are of the last epoch.

DEMOUVTLLE, Calvados. Eglise. The nave is of the XIII and XIV cen-
turies; the fine lateral porch is of the latter epoch. (Benoist III, 47.)

MONTIGNY, Calvados. St. Jacques et St. Girbold. The nave seems to date
from the XIII century, the choir from the XVII or XVIII century. (De Caumont.)

ISIGNY, Calvados. Eglise dates in part from the XIII century, but in the
northern transepl i- an ogee arcade. (Benoist.)

358

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

MOULINEAUX, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise This single-aisled edifice dates
from the XIII century. (Benoist I, 32.)

SURY-EN-VAUX, Cher. St. Etienne. Notwithstanding recent restorations,
the ancient single-aisled nave, probably of the XV century, and the southern
lateral tower of the XIII century are still recognizable. (De Kersers VII, 83.)

NEUVILLE-FERRIERES, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. The choir and a por-
tion of the nave are of the XIII century. (De la Balle.)

CLERISTOT, Calvados. Eglise. The vaulted choir is said to be of the first
half of the XIII century. (Benoist III, 39.)

CLEVILLE, Calvados. Eglise. Certain portions date from the XIII and
XIV centuries, it is said.

FLEURY, Manche. Eglise is said to be "large and elegant." (Benoist V, 38.)

LURY, Cher. Eglise. The only surviving portions are the rectangular rib-
vaulted choir and the tower, which are to-day desecrated. The choir is assigned to
the XIV century. (De Kersers V, 232.)

CHALIS, Seine-et-Oise. Abbaye. Of the Cistercian church there remain only
a few fragments of the choir and north transept. The latter was polygonal in plan.
(Gonse.)

MAILLY-CHATEAU, Yonne. Eglise. Above the portal on the facade is an
open gallery of the XIII century. The columns rest on pedestals, in front of which
stand statues. (Petit.)

MAISY, Calvados. Eglise. The vault is modern, but the edifice contains some
interesting fragments of XIV century architecture. (Benoist.)

ST. GILLES, Manche. Eglise of the early Gothic period, is said to have been
rebuilt in the XV century.

VIEUX-PONT, Orne. St. Hilaire. The choir, which dates mainly from the
XIV century, was repaired in 1525. (De la Balle.)

ST.-PIERRE-DU-LOROUER. Sarthe. Eglise contains mural paintings of
the XIII century.

VORGES, Aisne. Eglise is a fortified edifice dating, it is said, from the XII to
the XIV centuries.

AGNEAUX, Manche. Chapelle is of the XIII century.

CAGNY, Calvados. St. Germain contains some fine details of the XIV cen-
tury. (Benoist.)

ST. EVROULT, Orne. Prieure. Fragments of this famous edifice, which
originally consisted of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, a central tower, and a rect-
angular choir, still survive, and show the style of the best period of the XIII cen-
tury. In 1791 the central tower collapsed, ruining the transepts, which were replaced
by the present flat wall. There were formerly lancet windows in the clearstory, but
there never were any flying buttresses. (De la Balle; Benoist IV, 20.)

SEVRY, Cher. Eglise. There remain only the walls of the choir. This had
a square east end, was rib-vaulted, and dated from the XIII century. (De Ker-
sers VI, 336.)

CERLANGUES, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise is remarkable for its spire. (Benoist.)

359

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

CLAIRETS, Orne. Abbayc. This edifice, now in ruins, was erected at the
commencement of the XIII century by the counts of Perche, according to Benoist.

LAVERDINES, Cher. Eglise. Some of the piers of this ruined edifice of the
XIII century still stand.

MOTTEYILLE-LES-DEUX-CLOCHERS, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. The
choir is the only portion of the edifice that still retains something of its character
of the XIII centurv.

NEUVRE-LYRE, Eure. Eglise. The tower is of the XIII century. (Benoist.)

PREAUX, Calvados. St. Sever. This church of the XIII and XW centuries
contains some good details. (De Caumont.)

BOURGUEBUS, Calvados. Eglise is said to be early Gothic in style.

BRAXVILLE, Calvados. Eglise is of the XIII century.

BREUIL, Calvados. Eglise. The main body of the church is of the XIII
centurv, but the porch before the main portal is flamboyant. (Benoist III, 70.)

BROURAY, Calvados. Eglise is of the XIII and XIV centuries. (Benoist.)

CROULTES, Orne. Prieure. The conventual buildings of the XIV century
are still intact, but are of small importance. (De la Balle.)

ECARDEXYILLE-LA-CAMPAGNE, Eure. Eglise. The rectangular nave
of the XIII centurv was much altered in the XVI century and in modern times. The
tower has been destroyed. (De la Balle.)

MARTIGXY, Calvados. Eglise seems to date from the second half of the XII
century.

LE-PLESSIS-STE.-OPPORTUXE, Eure. Eglise. The square tower is of
the first half of the XIII century. (De la Balle.)

ROCQUES, Calvados. Eglise. The most ancient portions are of the XIII
centurv, the porch is of the XVI centurv.

ST.-LAUREXT-SUR-MER, Calvados. Eglise of the XIII century is a very
simple structure. (Benoist.)

ST.-VICTOR-ABBAY'E, Seine-Inferieure. Abbaye. Some fragments of the
important church of the XIII century have been embedded in the present edifice, and
the ancient chapter-house of the XII century is also extant. The latter is square
in plan. (Benoist.)

AUBRI, Orne. Eglise is in ruins.

BRETTEVTLLE, Calvados. Notre Dame seems to date from the XIII and
XV centuries. (Benoist II, 31.)

BELLEME, Orne. Prieure St. Martin. The slate spire and a few other frag-
ments of XIII centurv architecture survive. (Benoist.)

IIAUTE-CIIAPELLE, Orne. Eglise contains fragments of XIII century archi-
tecture embedded in the modern edifice. (Benoist.)

MORTAGNE, Orne. Eglise de VHdpital contains fine Gothic windows filled
with the original glass. (Benoist.)

MMILLY-LE-MALHERBE, Calvados. Eglise of little interest, dates per-
haps from the XIII century. (De Caumont.)

NOIRLAC, Cher. Abbaye. The church is said to be well preserved.

360

MONUMENTS OF THE FOURTH CLASS

ST.-REMY-DU-PLAIN, Sarthe. Eglise is of the XIV and XVI centuries.

SORENG, Somme. Eglise dates from several different epochs. (Darsy.)

VERRON, Sarthe. Eglise is a much ruined and very forlorn edifice. The
nave is supplied with three chapels. (De la Bouillerie.)

VIELLES, Eure. Eglise. Of this desecrated edifice the three aisles and a
ruined tower survive.

BARLIEU, Cher. Eglise has been almost entirely modernized. (De Kersers
VII, 244.)

LA POUPELIERE, Orne. Chapelle du Chateau dates perhaps from the early
years of the XIV century. (De la Balle.)

SEPT-VENTS, Calvados. Prieure contains interesting details. (Benoist.)

VALMERAY, Calvados. Eglise. Only the tower survives. (Benoist III, 33.)

AUDRIEU, Calvados. Chapelle is of the XIII or XIV century. (Benoist.)

CREVECOEUR, Orne. Chapelle.

LITGNY- CHAMPAGNE, Cher. Eglise. The polygonal apse and the single-
aisle nave have been recently vaulted and otherwise much modernized. (De Ker-
sers VI, 307.)

QUESNAY, Calvados. Eglise is an example of the style of the early Gothic
period. (Benoist.)

TOURY, Eure-et -Loire. Eglise is of the XIII century.

LA CHALLERIE, Orne. Chapelle. The two windows are pointed. (Be-
noist.)

COUDRES, Eure. Prieure. This chapel is still in tolerable preservation.

COULOMBS, Calvados. Eglise contains some fragments of XIII century
architecture. (Benoist.)

IVRY-LA-BATAILLE, Eure. Abbaye. Of the ancient church there sur-
vives only a single portal whose jambs and voussoirs are adorned with statues of
saints and of angels. (De la Balle.)

LAUNAY, Calvados. Eglise is of the XIII century. (Benoist.)

PERRIERES, Calvados. Eglise is in part of the XIII century. (Benoist.)

PIERREFITTE, Calvados. Eglise is of the XIII century.

LES PONTS, Manche. Eglise is of various different epochs.

STE.-HONORINE-DU-FAY, Calvados. Eglise. The nave is of the XIII
century, the choir is modern. (De Caumont.)

TORTEVAL, Calvados. Prieure. Picturesque ruins of the chapel still sur-
vive. (Benoist.)

VARAVILLE, Calvados. Eglise. Some portions are of the XIII century.

BAGNOLLES-LES-BAINS, Orne. Chapelle de Lignoux is of unknown date.

COUTERNE, Orne. Eglise is of no interest. (De la Balle.)

ETERVILLE, Calvados. Eglise is for the most part modern, but contains some
fragments of XIII century architecture. (De Caumont.)

FRENOUVILLE, Calvados. Eglise is early Gothic in style, it is said.

GUERBIGNY, Somme. Eglise is of the XIII century.

MONTS, Calvados. Eglise is of the XIII century.

361

GOTHIC MONUMENTS

MOUTIERS-EN-AUGE, Calvados. Two Churches.

RAYMOND, Cher. Eglise. Portions of the walls are of the XIII century.
(De Kersers IV, 134.)

ROUN ILLE, Calvados. Abbaye is completely ruined.

ST.-JEAN-DU-CORAIL, Manche. Eglise has triangular transepts. (Be-
noist.)

VACOGNES, Calvados. Eglise is perhaps of the XIII century. (De Cau-
mont.)

MAIZET, Calvados. Eglise. A portion of the nave and the choir are of the
XIII century. (De Caumont.)

MONDRAINVILLE, Calvados. Eglise is said to be of the XIII century.

MT.-ARGIS, Calvados. Chapelle. Some ruins of the XIII century survive.
(Benoist.)

Other monuments in whole or in part of the Gothic period exist at, AU-
MATRE, Somme; BLOUTIERE, Manche; BREUVILLE, Manche; CHALIS,
Oise; CHICHEBOYILLE, Calvados; COMMEAUX, Orne; CONDE-SUR-ITON,
Eure; DEMOUVILLE, Calvados; DRAGEY, Manche; FOURNEAUX, Cal-
vados; FRANCHEVILLE, Eure; FRETTEMEULE, Somme; HARCELAINE,
Somm. : JUVIGNI-SOUS-ANDAINE, Orne; MARTINVILLE, Calvados; MES-
NIL-GLAISE, Orne; MOIDREZ, Manche; MONTAUEL, Manche; MON-
THIERES, Somme; MORTEAUX, Calvados; OUILLY-LE-BASSET, Calvados;
REMALARD, Orne; ST.-ANTOINE-DE-ROCHEFORT, Sarthe; ST. CLAIR,
Seine-Inferieure; ST.-JEAN-DE-LA-HAISE, Manche; STE.-MARGUERITE-
DE-L'AUTEL, Euro; ST.-OUEN-D'ATHEZ, Eure; TEURTEVILLE-BOCAGE,
Manche; TILLY, Eure: TRANSLAY, Somme; TREPEREL, Calvados; VER-
GIES, Somme; VILLEDIEU-LES-BAILLEUL, Orne; WITAIN-EGLISE,
Son ime.

362

CHAPTER X

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

THE origins of the flamboyant style are lost in obscurity.
Born in the darkest hour of the Hundred Years' War —
a period so absorbed in its own material miseries that it has
but seldom recorded such fitful architectural activity as existed
- and singularly neglected by archaeologists always preoccu-
pied with the problems of an earlier age, the last phase of medi-
eval art has left but few traces of its beginnings. Furthermore,
paradoxical as it may seem, flamboyant architecture came into
being at a moment when building activity in France — espe-
cially in those northern and western portions exposed to con-
stant desolation in the course of the wars — was almost totally
suspended. We know that architecture entered upon the last
half of the XIV century Gothic, that it emerged flamboyant;
but of the process of transformation it is possible to gather but
singularly few details.

Such facts as are known, are furnished chiefly by the abbey
church of St. Satur, an authentically dated monument of 1361-67
and practically the only important extant example of the style
of the last half of the XIV century. St. Satur (111. 235) is Gothic,
not flamboyant; but it is Gothic of the last phase, already well
started on the primrose path which the new style was destined
to follow. The window tracery is still geometrical, but is evi-
dently on the verge of assuming flowing forms. In the system
the engaged colonnettes so characteristic of the style of the XIII
century remain, but so increased in number and diminished in
size, that they seem to possess a new character, while the pier
spaces between, formerly smooth and cylindrical, are now cov-
ered with mouldings which show unmistakable tendencies to
become prismatic and continuous. The capitals, instead of

363

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

belonging to the whole pier, are bestowed separately on the
colonnettes alone. Since each colonnette was similarly sup-
plied with its own separate base, and since these bases were of
considerable projection, the builders of St. Satur conceived these
separate bases as interpenetrating, portions of two bases occupy-
ing the same place at the same time. The principle of the
flamboyant interpenetrating moulding had come into being,
and it was obviously only a short step to supply also the mould-
ings of the pier with separate bases, or otherwise to complicate
the motive by a hundred possible variations. As the vault
ribs of St. Satur are of the same size and section as the shafts
on which they are carried, the vaulting capitals have conse-
quently no structural function, and those later designs in which
capitals are omitted altogether seem clearly foreshadowed.
But with all these tendencies pointing in one direction, St. Satur
still lacks the distinctive features of the flamboyant style. The
ogee arch does not appear; the tracery is not flowing; the
mouldings are not completely prismatic.

How, where, and when, these features so distinctive of the
flamboyant style were introduced into French architecture, it
is difficult to say. Prismatic mouldings, which seem to be in
the process of evolution at St. Satur, may well have been devel-
oped independently in France, but the recent researches of M.
Enlart have established the probability that the ogee arch *
and flowing - tracery were imported from England.3 The
case, however, is not altogether clear, for examples of the ogee
arch occur in the porch of St. Urbain of Troyes — a monument
that, notwithstanding its advanced style, was begun in 1260,
so that these arches, if they indeed belong to the original con-
struction, must have been executed before the year 1300. But
while the ogee arches of St. Urbain remained solitary and iso-
lated examples, this feature became a common and distinctive

1 An ogee arch is one whose archivolt is a line of double curvature.

3 Flowing tracery is formed of mullions which assume "flame-like" lines of double curva-
ture, instead of the geometric forms of earlier times.

3 The above passage was written at the time of the very commencement of the controversy
that has since raged on this subject. After having read the rebuttal of M. St. Paul, the reply of
M. Enlart and the surrebuttal of M. St. Paul I find, however, nothing in the above account
which I wish to change.

364

III. 269. — Rouen. Facade

ENGLISH INFLUENCE

characteristic of the architecture of England from the first
quarter of the XIV century. Similarly non-geometrical tracery,
unknown in France before c. 1375, was so frequent in England
that it has given the name "Flowing" to one of the phases of
the decorated style of that country. In view of the fact that
French and English were constantly thrown together in the
course of the Hundred Years' War, and that the greater part
of France had even fallen into English possession, it is hence
altogether probable that flowing tracery and ogee arches were
derived from English sources.

The flamboyant style, therefore, was only in part indige-
nous, though on the other hand it was not an exotic architecture,
transplanted bodily, like the Gothic of England, or the Renais-
sance of France; it was rather the logical development of the
tendencies of the Gothic period, influenced and advanced by
foreign models. The strength of this English influence is wit-
nessed by the absence of transitional monuments. St. Satur
stands alone. In 1375, only seven years after the completion
of this abbey, the fully developed flamboyant style appears in
the chapel St. Jean Baptiste of the cathedral of Amiens, and in
a side chapel of the cathedral of Rouen. Although monuments
of the last quarter of the XIV century are as scarce as those of
the preceding twenty-five years, the few that we have — notably
Ste. Croix of Bernay (1358-1450) and the church of St.
Calais, (Sarthe), a structure commenced in 1394, — seem
to show that the flamboyant style immediately supplanted the
Gothic.

When, in the early years of the XV century, building activ-
ity revived, the new style was everywhere firmly established.
La Trinite of Cherbourg was commenced in 1412; Notre Dame-
de-1'Epine, near Chalons-sur-Marne in 1419; Notre Dame of
Caudebec-en-Caux in 1426; St. Maclou of Rouen in 1432; the
porch and facade of St. Germain-l'Auxerrois in 1435; the church
of Carenton in 1445, St. Laurent of Rouen in 1446, etc. The
list of monuments of this period is doubtless small enough if
compared with the stupendous production of the XII and XIII
centuries; moreover, although all of these churches were of
modest dimensions, the construction dragged along with such

365

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

extreme slowness, that in the majority of eases it was still
unfinished a century later. Yet compared with the last half of
the XIV century, the revival of interest in architecture is none
the less striking.

There is little in the material conditions of the country to
explain such an architectural renaissance, for all the causes
which had led to the decline of art in the XIV century, far from
being removed, were intensified at this period. Politically
the fortunes of the kingdom were at their lowest ebb: the battle
of Agincourt was fought in 1415, the degrading Treaty of Troyes
signed in 1420. It was only in the second quarter of the XV
century that Jeanne d'Arc raised the siege of Orleans (1429),
and that that national reaction, which was at last to end in the
expulsion of the English (1456), began to make itself felt. Nor
did the economic condition of the realm in the early XV century
show any improvement. The resources of the country had
been exhausted by ruinous taxation; agriculture had been
destroyed by the constant passage back and forth of the royal
armies, which pillaged and burnt the fields of friend and enemy
alike wherever they passed ; bands of robbers and "ecorcheurs"
ravaged the land from one end to the other unhindered by the
powerless government; the population had been decimated,
commerce had been almost totally ruined; — in short France
lay in a state of anarchy and misery such as had hardly fallen
to her lot in the VI or X century. It is difficult to say which was
most completely wretched, the half of the kingdom that lay
crushed and bleeding in the English grasp, or the half that still
struggled feebly for the King of Bourges.

In the Church matters were going rapidly from bad to worse.
Never had the clergy been more corrupt, more ignorant; never
had the Christian religion been so openly the object of scorn and
derision. The papacy had lost its moral force as well as its
temporal power in the disorders of the Schism; the clergy
obeyed no discipline, canonical or moral; monk and priest
vied with each other in corruption, and not seldom became
the open allies of the brigands. Benefices were everywhere
obtained by simony, and were almost always occupied by some
noble from whom was demanded no other merit than a well-

366

III. 270. — Eglise de la Couture, Bernay. Portal

DECAY OF THE CHURCH

lined pocket-book; once invested, abbot and bishop neglected
their spiritual duties, and thought only of plunder.

Simultaneously with the wealth of the nation, the wealth
of the Church had been singularly diminished, so that the lesser
clergy were reduced to the last extremes of poverty. The eccle-
siastical lands and buildings, rarely fortified, had everywhere
been burned, sacked, and pillaged. The rents and revenues
so enormous in the XII century dwindled to almost nothing;
in many parishes and abbeys there was no longer left the where-
withal to buy even the barest necessities of life.

Moreover the enemies of the Church were gathering force.
The monarchy, which under Philippe-le-Bel had first broken
the ecclesiastical power, did not fail to follow up its advantage.
Charles VII by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438)
struck a mortal blow at the authority of Rome, while pretend-
ing to protect the Gallic Church against the pope; Louis XI
(1461-83) treated the clergy with a Machiavellian nonchalance
such as no king of the XIII century would have dared to
assume. The days when the Church from pope to village cure
presented a solid front in the face of its enemies were long
past; each member now sought his own personal and selfish
profit at no matter what sacrifice of the interests of the body
ecclesiastic.

To the Church thus rotting within, and attacked from with-
out by its old enemy, the king, there came a new enemy more
formidable still, — the spirit that was to lead to the Reforma-
tion. Although the Renaissance, which was already gather-
ing headway in Italy, had as yet hardly at all penetrated into
France, in the strife of the French Church with the papacy at
the Council of Bale (1434) was clearly heard the rumble of the
approaching cataclysm. Men who had learned to think for
themselves were about to discard the weapons of satire and
derision which had sufficed the malcontents of the XIV century,
and instead to take in hand with a terrible earnestness arms of
steel and lead.

In fact, the entire XV century is a-quiver with that dread-
ful religious sincerity, that fanaticism, that found its open ex-
pression in the religious wars of the following century. The

367

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

force was suppressed, concealed; but by that very suppression
it was all the time gathering force for the inevitable explosion.
The XV century was the era of bigotry and dogma, even above
all the other periods of the Middle Ages; a time when even the
broadest intellects were of an essentially narrow type. This
bigotry, moreover, often assumed the basest forms: the super-
stition of the XIV century still lived on; the gentler traditions
of the age of faith continued to be forgotten; relics were wor-
shiped even more passionately than before; the cult of the
saints was carried to incredible lengths. Religion was even
perverted to such grotesque conceptions as the danses macabres,
the fetes des foils, the prevailing beliefs in sorcery and magic.

Thus in the hour of political and economic misfortune, in
the midst of the financial ruin and degradation of the Church,
was born flamboyant architecture — the last frail blossom of
the medieval artistic genius. Did this art come into being as
a prophetic manifestation of the great national awakening that
was to produce Jeanne d'Arc and shake off the English yoke ?
I should hardly dare affirm it, for the history of architecture
ever reflects, rather than presages, economic developments.
The explanation must be sought rather in necessity. For nearly
a hundred years ecclesiastical building had been at a standstill
in France, at a time when war, fire, neglect must have destroyed
countless edifices of the preceding ages. Hence in many cases,
if religious worship were to be continued at all, a new church
must be erected. The long time taken to complete even the
comparatively modest churches of the early XV century bears
witness to the difficulty of raising building funds.

flamboyant architecture is essentially a part of the epoch
which produced it — as essentially as Gothic architecture is
a part of the XII and XIII centuries. It is necessary to take
this into consideration in comparing the two. Doubtless the
force, the purity, the sublimity of the earlier age is gone. Flam-
boyant architecture no longer leads us to that strange strand
which seems not wholly to belong to this world; its vaults no
longer pierce the heavens. Gone is the celestial radiance of
the colored glass, gone the structural significance of each part;
gone, too, is the simplicity, the unfailing good taste in design.

3G8

Its

THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Flamboyant architecture is rather of this world, earthly; it
delights in technique for its own sake; it studies detail rather
than the whole; it aims to astonish by its minute carvings, by
its bold tours de force of construction, rather than to appeal to
the sober sense of beauty. On occasion it even does not hesi-
tate to lie and cheat, though it is far less addicted to this vice
than many of its modern successors.

The flamboyant style has been not unjustly reproached
with all this, and much more. Yet I am no more sure that
flamboyant architecture is inferior to Gothic than I am sure
that it is superior to anything that has since been produced.
Nothing is more inexact than to speak of this art as "decadent,"
"moribund"; it was only in the XVI century, when taste had
been corrupted by the bastard forms of Italy and the Renais-
sance, that the style assumed that florid character which is
popularly connected with the final phase of medieval art. In
the XV century, on the contrary, flamboyant art was excep-
tionally pure in taste, and was always full of life, of promise,
of vigor. If strength and robustness were lacking, this defi-
ciency was largely atoned for by the daintiness and delicacy of
the design, the fairy-like lightness of the fragile lace-work.
Pendants, multiple rib vaults, wavy mouldings, florid orna-
ment, all the other grotesque creations of the XVI century are
happily lacking in these early buildings. If not great, flam-
boyant art of the best period is at least free from offence, and
not seldom — as witness the choir of Mt.-St.-Michel — pos-
sessed of a charm and purity which almost rivals the happiest
conceptions of the XIII century.

The close of the Hundred Years' War (1456) was not at-
tended by any extraordinary outburst of building activity.
The resources of France had been too thoroughly exhausted
to be quickly recouped; the degradation of the Church inspired
little enthusiasm for erecting costly religious structures. Fur-
thermore peace was soon broken by the outbreak of the Bur-
gundian Wars (1474-82) — wars of no mean importance either
for the extent of the interests involved or for the number of
belligerents engaged.

By this time, it was evident in every direction that the end

369

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

of the Middle Ages was at hand. Printing had been invented
c. 1430; Gutenberg published his famous printed bible between
1450 and 1455, and the art soon spread over all Europe. "Ceci
tuera eela; le livre tuera reglise." The "inspired bombast" of
Victor Hugo has expressed an eternal truth.

The position of the Church was not improved. There was
no hope of internal reform at the hands of an Alexander VI, a
Julius II, or a Leo X — popes who were occupied solely in
protecting their Italian possessions by means of shifting diplo-
macy, and who cared not at all for the spiritual, and but little
for the temporal, welfare of the Church at large. The famous
Concordat of Bologna, concluded between Leo X and Francois
I in 1516, was in effect nothing but a conspiracy between these
two powers to oppress and extort taxes from the Gallic Church.
The attempts to reform the body ecclesiastic pacifically from
within all failed signally; it was only in 1528, in the full tide
of the Lutheran revolt, that the pope too late perceived the
necessity of putting his house in order. The various projects to
remedy abuses by overriding the pope, by carrying out a reform
against his will, had likewise been without success. The doc-
trine of superiority of council to pope, loudly proclaimed at
the Councils of Constance (1417) and Bale (1434) and in the
Pragmatic Sanction (1439) had miserably foundered in the
Councils of Pisa and of the Lateran. It was largely this un-
willingness of the Church to reform itself that led to the Protest-
ant revolt.

Notwithstanding the diseased condition of the Church,
the opening years of the XVI century witnessed great building
activity, brought about by the material prosperity of the coun-
try, which had at last recovered from the economic exhaustion
of the Hundred Yrears' War. Many great cathedrals whose
construction had been interrupted since the XIII century were
now carried towards completion: the transept facades of Beau-
vais, the western facades of Rouen, Meaux, Troyes date from
this, the heroic age of flamboyant architecture, the age in which
were erected, if not its most beautiful, at least its most grand-
iose conceptions.

Thus the culmination of flamboyant art was not anterior

370

III. 273. — Caudebec-en-Caux. Interior

THE RENAISSANCE

to, but contemporary with, the Renaissance. From the last
decade of the XV century the influence of Italian design is trace-
able in certain monuments of architecture and sculpture, and,
although progressing by sporadic and somewhat erratic stages,
the influence of the exotic art came to be ever more and more
conspicuous throughout France. The French genius, how-
ever, in architecture, as in literature, painting, and sculpture,
did not yield to the new fashion without a struggle; much that
was purely French and medieval mingled with the new elements
in the most classical monuments. The so-called Renaissance
chateaux, which were erected along the banks of the Loire from
the first years of the XVI century, continued until the time of
Henri II (1547-59) to be far more flamboyant, than Italian or
classic, in design.

This art of the XVI century, half flamboyant, half Renais-
sance, differs from that of the Middle Ages most strikingly in
its eclecticism and lack of uniformity. The three currents —
medieval tradition, Italian influence, classicism, — exist side
by side, combining in different proportions to produce strik-
ingly divergent results. Any one who did not know, would
hardly suspect that the Francois I wing at Blois, portions of the
palace of Fontainebleau, and St. Eustache of Paris are con-
temporary structures. The proportion of exotic elements intro-
duced into architectural designs seems to have depended on
the predilections of the client, the taste of the architect, and
the distance of the monument from the centers of culture. The
court was above all the starting-point for the new fashions; at
the court they first gained permanent favor, and from the
court they spread. But even the court until c. 1530 hesitated
to pronounce definitely the condemnation of medieval art.

From the time of the breaking out of the doctrines of Luther
in France (c. 1520), Renaissance and Reformation were con-
nected by many conservative and pious souls, and those who
were suspicious of the new religion clung to the traditional type
of church architecture. The same preference was shared by
such of the bourgeois as disliked the new court fashions and
by the lower orders of the clergy — the monks, the cures, the
vicars. The Concordat of Bologna, by awarding the investi-

371

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

ture of benefices to the king, had created two classes in the clergy.
The higher dignitaries were ordinarily nobles who had been
given benefices by the king in reward for services. Such prel-
ates did not reside, and merely received the revenues of the
office without attending to its duties. Little troubled by re-
ligious scruples, narrowly connected with the court, this class
favored the Renaissance. The second class, recruited chiefly
from the ranks of University graduates, felt that their rightful
offices were withheld from them by royal favoritism, and were
deeply jealous of the royal appointees. This class, therefore,
tended to oppose the Renaissance.

Owing to these conservative forces, the Renaissance style
found its way into ecclesiastical edifices but slowly. A tower
of Bourges cathedral commenced in 1508 shows much Renais-
sance detail; at St. Ouen of Audemer, finished in 15*24, the
Renaissance elements predominate over the flamboyant; at
Greez-sur-Roc (Sarthe) the choir, erected in 1527, is of the pure
Renaissance style. But although these and doubtless many
other ecclesiastical edifices were erected in the new fashion, the
majority of churches continued to be built in a more or less
debased flamboyant style. Little by little, however, the Renais-
sance gained ground, especially in the more important edifices,
but it was only in the second half of the XVI century that the
triumph of the classical forms in ecclesiastical architecture
was assured, while country churches continued up to the very
end of the century to be built in the old manner.1

The power of medieval architecture was thus broken grad-
ually; but it was none the less in the end completely broken, and
that at the same time and by the same forces that destroyed
the medieval Church, of whose glory it was the symbol. As
Gothic culminated under Innocent III, the flamboyant style,
as a vital and progressive art, came to an end amid the Wars
of Religion. The book had killed the Church; and outside
of the Church medieval architecture found no nourishment.

Flamboyant art of the XVI century shows many signs of
decadence. The architects have lost that happy faculty of the

1 The construction of the Cathedral of Orleans was steadily continued up to the XIX cen-
tury in a more or less bastard Gothic style.

372

III. 27-4. — Roiu-n. Tonr-de-Beurre

A DECORATIVE ART

earlier ages, never to err in propriety, and their bad taste shows
that they have been to school with the Renaissance. They
seem at times even to delight in trying to make their designs as
atrocious as possible (111. 259). The florid ornament runs riot
in vulgar and over-ornate forms, unrestrained by any sense of
propriety or decorum, while such aberrations as pendants,
multiple ribs, wavy mouldings, and Renaissance tracery dis-
figure even the structural portions of the building.

However, among many weeds, the last phase of flamboyant
architecture has left us a few flowers of the rarest beauty. The
transept ends of Beauvais (111. 240) — designs of superb com-
position, combining the most lavish detail with a rugged, an
almost austere grandeur of ensemble — must always be ac-
counted among the masterpieces of medieval art. The facade
of Rouen (111. 269) is a phantasy full of imagination and poetry.
And between these very good designs and the very bad ones
stand many compositions of varying shades of merit. Thus
even in its death agony, flamboyant architecture is not alto-
gether deserving of the obloquy and scorn which it has usually
received at the hands of art critics.

Flamboyant architecture is primarily a decorative art.
Since the Gothic builders had perfected the structure to such a
point that no futher advance was possible, their successors of
the flamboyant period merely accepted the Gothic stone skele-
ton as they found it, retaining all the distinctive features of the
XIII century church — the glass walls, the vaults, the isolated
supports, the flying buttresses; they contrived, however, by
means of a new system of ornament to give the old struc-
tural forms a totally different appearance. This result was
accomplished at the expense of strict artistic and architectural
propriety, by making ornaments of structural forms and by
fashioning decorations from features intended to be strictly
structural.

In this the flamboyant architects showed themselves the true
successors of the master builders of the XIV and even of the
last half of the XIII century. Ever since the problems of
Gothic construction had been fully solved there had been an
increasing tendency to lay stress upon questions of design and

373

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

decoration to the neglect of the study of the construction, which,
since it was now perfectly solved and understood, offered little
opportunity for inventive originality. Gradually, therefore,
the structure came to be subordinated to decoration, and the
great principle of the early Gothic masters was thus reversed.

The ogre arch, which may be taken as one of the distinct-
ive peculiarities of the new style, is essentially a non-structural
feature. In fact, the arches themselves were seldom ogee at
all, but were ordinarily merely surmounted by a heavy mould-
ing or gable twisted into a form of double curvature (111.
270). The point of the ogee was commonly prolonged and
crowned with a finial; in the XVI century this idea came to
be developed and carried to absurd lengths (111. 189). Yet,
notwithstanding such aberrations, the ogee arch, whose lines are
usually full of grace and charm, served excellently to harmonize
the severe form of a pointed arch with the graceful suave char-
acter of flamboyant design. To adjust more smoothly the lines
of the arch with its ogee gable, the flattened or three-centered
arch (111. 270) was often substituted for the pointed form. This
motive was at times carried so far that the arch became merely
a flat lintel with rounded corners (111. 270), though the Tudor,
or four-centered arch, which lends so much charm to the per-
pendicular edifices of England, was seldom or never employed
in France.

In one or another of these forms the flamboyant builders
employed the ogee arch over doorways, windows, in engaged
arcades, --in every portion of the edifice where there was a
space to be spanned, or a wall surface to be decorated. But
especially did they delight in this motive in designing the open-
work carving that came to surmount not only the great portals
and the facades of the nave and transepts but the entire exte-
rior of the building. Adorned with a mass of the most intricate
carvings and ornament, the ogee arches wandered across a
background equally intricate and also constructed of open
work, interpenetrating, intersecting the other mouldings, form-
ing a veritable lace-work in stone, a marvel of the last perfec-
tion of technique in stone cutting (111. 271).

Until the XVI century these lace-work designs continued

374

III. 275. — Spire of Caudebec-en-Caux

THE OGEE ARCH

to become ever more intricate and more complicated. At last,
however, the influence of Renaissance taste led to a greater
simplicity of design, but at the same time to a fondness for bold
florid curves. The delicate lines of the XV century, which,
however unarchitectural, had always been graceful and refined,
yielded to vulgar convoluted forms where the future aberrations
of the baroque style were only too clearly foreshadowed. Even
in such a characteristically flamboyant design as the portal of
the south transept of Senlis (111. 189) the Renaissance feeling
in the curve of the central ogee is unmistakable.

The ogee arch flourished also in the canopies placed over
the niches that played so large a part in flamboyant decoration.
These canopies were employed, especially on the facades, with
incredible profusion, and were lavishly decorated with the most
elaborate open-work carvings. In this jewel-like decoration,
since the whole canopy was carved out of one block of stone,
it was possible to leave the arches without visible supports,
hung as it were in the air — a freak of design which so entranced
the flamboyant builders that they soon invented means of exe-
cuting hanging arches on a large scale, as in the south porch of
Louviers (111. 271). The trick of construction by which this
tour de force was accomplished is immensely clever, and gives
much the same sort of pleasure as seeing a trained dog prome-
nade on his hind legs; it is, however, impossible not to feel
that in such constructions as this the great art conceptions of
the XIII century have been strangely perverted.

The same decorative principle — the line of double curva-
ture — that led to the popularity of the ogee arch, governed the
design of flamboyant tracery. Very fittingly, the entire style
takes its name from the flame-like (flamboyant) movement of
the lines assumed by the mullions. In the rayonnant period
the tracery had always retained forms nearly geometrical in
character, and could almost always be reduced to curves form-
ing portions of circles of different diameters; but the curves of
flamboyant tracery are no longer geometrical — they are, on
the contrary, undulating lines of varying curvature as free and
graceful as those of the modern art nouveau. In the Gothic
style the curve had always been continuous in the same sense,

375

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

- always concave, or always convex. In flamboyant tracery
the same lines curve now to one side, now to the other.

This new tracery (111. 269, 271, etc.) often assumed forms
full of grace and charm, which must be ranked among the
loveliest conceptions of pure design ever executed. Moreover
the new principle placed an infinite variety of possible com-
binations at the disposition of the artist. Yet, after all, such
soft and lithe curves, making the mullions appear like twisted
willow rods, were hardly suitable for the character of the stone
material, which lost its natural massiveness and dignity under
such treatment.

It has been suggested that the pointed forms of flamboyant
tracery may have been invented in order to obviate the great
circles of rayonnant design, which offered more or less lodging
place for rain water. But it is very doubtful whether the large
rounded loops of rayonnant tracery were much more liable to
disintegration from moisture than the pointed pockets of the
flamboyant style, which were well calculated to collect and hold
the rain water; and at all events sufficient protection from the
weather seems to have been furnished by the sloping profiles of
the rayonnant mouldings. It is, therefore, probable that the de-
sign of the tracery, like all the other innovations of the flamboyant
period, was influenced solely by decorative considerations.

Flamboyant tracery is by no means of even merit, for if
it includes occasionally veritable little masterpieces of design,
much of it is commonplace and uninteresting, while some is
the product of florid and depraved taste. In the XVI century
especially, much of the tracery is over-elaborate and often
assumes bizarre and contorted forms. A reaction sprang up,
fostered by the influence of Renaissance taste. The designs
were simplified to bareness; the mullions were made far more
heavy; round or elliptical curves of a decidedly baroque char-
acter were substituted for the flame movements. The use of
this, which, notwithstanding the apparent contradiction of
terms, we may call Renaissance tracery, marked the last phase
of the flamboyant style. The designs, always of the most des-
perate poverty of invention, are characterized by neither beauty
nor originality (111. 272).

376

sCP^vi

III. 276. — Notre Dame-de-1 'Epine. Facade

TOWERS AND SPIRES

Flamboyant tracery, far from being confined to the win-
dows, was a favorite decoration for well-nigh every part of the
church building. It adorned the interstices of the portals, the
open work of the gables, the balustrades in which the flam-
boyant builders took such delight; it was used as an applique
decoration for blank wall surfaces; even the spires were con-
structed of it. Everywhere the tracery preserved the same
character, the same lines of double curvature, the design being
merely adapted to the shape of the field. And, as in the win-
dow tracery, the patterns, although often of the greatest deli-
cacy, are apt to lack architectural dignity.

In all parts of the edifice, the details were so designed as
to harmonize with the ogee and flaming lines, which struck
the key-note of flamboyant design. Even the flying buttresses
came to assume a sort of ogee form, and curve downwards
instead of upwards. Since the lines of double curvature in
ogee arch and flowing tracery characteristically met in sharp
angles, this same feeling was applied to the design of the entire
edifice, so that a fondness for points and sharp corners became
one of the distinctive peculiarities of the style. The profiles
all were made sharply prismatic; at Conches the piers are
diamond shaped in plan; at Caudebec-en-Caux and in many
other churches the chevet is made to end in an angle, even at
the expense of placing a column on axis (111. 273).

The one important structural innovation introduced by the
flamboyant builders — and that an innovation of design rather
than of structure — was a new device to adjust the octagonal
spire to the square tower. As in the XIII century, between
the tower and spire was inserted a vertical octagonal drum.
The summit of the square tower was marked by a balustrade,
whose strong horizontal lines, however, were broken in the best
designs by buttresses carried through, or by intersecting open-
work gables (111. 238, 190, 274, 275). Above this balustrade
rose strongly marked angle turrets, similar to those which had
characterized the spires of the XIII century; occasionally, as
at Caudebec-en-Caux (111. 275) or in the Tour-de-Beurre of
Rouen (111. 274), four extra turrets were added, crowning but-
tresses in the middle of each face. The distinctive features

377

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

of these flamboyant towers, however, are the flying buttresses
which are sprung from the angle or face turrets to the main
tower — buttresses which may add slightly to the strength of
the tower, but whose chief purpose is to unify the design and
lead the eye smoothly from square to octagon. Similarly fly-
ing buttresses connect the turrets, which crown the octagonal
tower, with the spire, if this exist. The spires themselves are
sometimes comparatively simple as at Chartres (111. 190), more
often constructed of elaborate open-work tracery, as at Caude-
bec-en-Caux (111. 275), or Notre Dame-de-1'Epine (111. 276).

Without question certain of these spires are among the
finest achievements of the flamboyant style, and we are fortu-
nate in possessing a comparatively large number of excellent
examples. The design often lacks, it is true, the simplicity
and dignity of the early Gothic spires of the He de France, the
sense of proportion of the XIII and XIV century productions
of Normandy. The excess of detail often gives a feeling of
restlessness, and obscures the main lines of the composition.
Notwithstanding this weakness, however, the flamboyant spire,
at its best, still remains a masterwork of design; the northern
spire of Chartres, for example, is not unworthy to take its place
beside one of the noblest creations of the preceding centuries
(111. 190). On the other hand, to what depths these designs
could descend at their worst is sufficiently witnessed by the
spires of Notre Dame-de-1'Epine (111. 276).

In the treatment of the facade, flamboyant architecture in
the main simply applied its own characteristic ornament to a
design essentially the same, in its larger features, as that which
had been established by the Gothic builders. Thus the facade
of Notre Dame-de-1'Epine (111. 276) follows completely the Gothic
type in its main divisions; the facade of Troyes (111. 277) re-
peats the mistake of Paris (111. 223), suggesting a three-aisled
church, rather than the five-aisled edifice which it actually pre-
cedes. In the facade of Rouen (111. 269) all attempt to express
externally the interior dispositions was abandoned. As a piece
of pure design this west front is singularly light and fanciful, and
sham though it be, must be ranked among the most graceful
and original of flamboyant constructions. Nothing could be

378

III. '279. — Notre Dame of Alencon. Facade

FACADES

more picturesque than the buttresses which mark the vertical
bays; nothing more charming than the dainty arcade which
forms the upper story. Notwithstanding the profusion of detail
the composition as a whole is well ordered; the large divisions
are never obscured by the ornament. But of all flamboyant
facades at once the most ambitious and most successful is the
south transept end of Beauvais (111. 240), a stirring and rhyth-
mical composition of colossal dimensions, in which, for once,
flamboyant art attained the dignity of an earlier age.

During the XV century, especially in Normandy, porches
of considerable depth were built before the portals of country
churches, possibly to serve as a secular meeting-place for the
people of the parish. It was probably from this germ that
developed the great porches that became one of the glories of
the flamboyant style of Normandy. These porches, which
occupied the entire breadth of the facade, were usually erected
on a plan including three or five sides of a polygon. Of imposing
dimensions, ornamented with all the splendors of flamboyant
decoration, such a porch formed a frontispiece of the greatest
beauty and originality. Excellent examples of this remarkable
feature exist at St. Maclou of Rouen (111. 278), Notre Dame
of Caudebec-en-Caux, and Notre Dame of Alencon (111. 279).

Another remarkable peculiarity of flamboyant design is the
angle buttress. In the Gothic period it had been customary
to place two buttresses on every corner, one continuing the
direction of each wall; but in a polygonal apse or chevet, where
this construction became awkward, a single buttress had been
placed square against the angle. The flamboyant builders,
attracted partly by motives of economy, partly by their innate
love of intersections and penetrations, used such angle but-
tresses even on square corners.

In the departement of Aube rural churches were ordinarily
constructed with three aisles, all of equal height. To avoid
an unduly elevated gable roof the side aisles were roofed with
a series of parallel gables set at right angles to the main axis.
This peculiar disposition will be clear from the diagram (111.
280).

The alterations which the flamboyant builders introduced

379

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

into the interior of the church were more vital than those which
they wrought in the exterior design, though here, too, the changes
were preeminently of a decorative character. At St. Satur we
have seen capitals reduced to a purely decorative role, their
structural significance having been completely destroyed ; it was
only natural and logical that the flamboyant artists should omit
capitals altogether. Rarely, these members were retained, but if
so, they were treated as ornaments. The round or polygonal
abacus projected but very slightly ; in fact the entire composition

III. 280. — Roof Scheme of Churches of Aube

became merely a series of mouldings, the largest hollow of which
was filled with a garland of foliage. The builders who seem to
have realized the shortcomings of such insignificant excrescences,
studied to omit the crowning member wherever possible. When
load and support were of the same shape and size, this could
be done easily; but even when these conditions did not exist
the architects managed to obviate the capital by means of
interpenetrating and disappearing mouldings.

Mouldings, which simply merged into each other or faded
away in the wall, were not an entirely new idea, since a few
exceptional examples may be found in buildings of the XIV

380

III. 281. — Abbeville. Interior

III. 282. — St. Germain of Amiens. Interior

INTERPENETRATIONS

century — in the porch of St. Urbain of Troyes, at the cathedrals
of Carcassonne and Chalons-sur-Marne, in the nave of Albi,
and at Ste. Croix of Bernay. It is also interesting to remark,
in view of the fact that the flamboyant style is suspected of
having been strongly influenced by English models, that pene-
trations occur in England from as early as the end of the XIII
century, — e.g., at Christchurch (Hampshire). At all events,
from whatever the flamboyant builders derived this idea, they
adopted it with enthusiasm. Not only was one rib made to fuse
with another, and both fade into the wall or system, not only
did open-work gable intersect horizontal moulding and base
overlap base, but the architects seem to have fairly exhausted
themselves in conceiving the most puzzling arrangements of
superimposed plan. A buttress square at its base as it ascends
becomes diamond-shaped, then octagonal, the successive por-
tions all mutually interpenetrating. Ribs disappearing in a
columnar support reappear at the bottom in precisely the same
profile, and receive separate bases'. The execution of these
subtle and complex designs demanded the highest skill in stone
cutting, and it is impossible to withhold that astonishment which
the builders doubtless aimed to excite. Yet, after all, these
lines that melt into each other, or fade away in the wall, give an
impression of uncertainty, of weakness, that painfully mars the
effect of even the best flamboyant interiors, such as that of
Caudebec-en-Caux (111. 273).

In the early XV century, the golden age of the flamboyant
style, the disappearing moulding was but little used, the mould-
ings generally being continuous from floor to archivolt or rib,
as at Abbeville (111. 281), or St. Germain of Amiens (111. 282).
Such systems do not lack elegance, for the strongly accentuated
and multiplied vertical lines lend the composition a character
of loftiness, almost of strength. When, however, in the last
half of the XV century cylindrical supports came to be generally
substituted for compound piers, the ribs and archi volts were
almost invariably made to melt into these pillars. Notwith-
standing the elegance of the technique, such designs leave an
unpleasant impression of indecision (111. 283). The most
degraded of all forms of moulding, however, is found in certain

381

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

monuments — happily but few — of the XVI century, and
generally of the last half of that century. The piers are cut
into a series of large undulating half-rounds without any sharp
corners. In these bulges — they cannot be called mouldings
— the system disappears. The northeast pier of the crossing
of Beauvais (111. c231) is constructed in this unfortunate manner,
and the same system is found at Nonancourt (Eure) and in
the unfinished choir of Abbeville (111. 281).

In the treatment of vaults, the flamboyant style was at times
quite as unfortunate as in the design of profiles. From the XIII
century the idea of multiplying the ribs so as to form a decora-
tive pattern must have been present in the minds of certain
master builders, for Yillard de Honnecourt sketched one in
his album, and such a vault was actually executed over the cross-
ing of Amiens. It was, however, in England, that the idea took
firm root, and from the first quarter of the XIII century multiple
rib vaults became one of the most strongly distinctive features
of the local style, being developed in a most extraordinary vari-
ety of forms, which at last culminated in the evolution of the fan
vault. The flamboyant builders doubtless imported this fea-
ture from England at the same time that they appropriated so
many other peculiarities of the Anglican style, but their treat-
ment of the multiple rib vault was always strangely unsuccess-
ful. Even aside from the question of the artistic propriety of
perverting a feature essentially structural to the whims of deco-
rative caprice, the multiple rib vaults of the flamboyant period
are merely bad copies of English designs, falling far below their
originals when judged from whatever point of view. The vault
of the crossing of St. Germain of Amiens (111. 282) is little better
than a travesty of English lierne vaults of a well-known type,
while the distorted vaults of Notre Dame of Alencon (111. 284)
are a strange perversion of the noble roof of Exeter. In the XV
century multiple rib vaults, though employed, as for example at
Notre Dame-de-1'Epine (1419), were rather an unusual con-
struction; but in the XVI century they came to be more and
more used. Even more objectionable than the ribs themselves
was the inappropriate and florid ornament that was frequently
lavished upon them (111. 284).

382

III. 283. — St. Etienne-du-Mont, Paris. Interior

III. 284. — Notre Dame, Alencon. Interior

PENDANTS

The flamboyant builders, however, carried the ornamenta-
tion of their vaults to even greater lengths, adorning the key-
stones with great hanging pendants. These pendants were
also doubtless imported from England, where the feature had
been developed to meet the exigencies of design in fan vaulting,
although here, too, the Gothic builders had taken a few steps
in the same direction. From the earliest times of the transi-
tion it had been the custom to carve with especial elaboration
the keystone of the diagonal ribs, a member whose highly
important structural function in joining and supporting the
two arches was thus appropriately called to the attention of
the eye. In the XIV century this ornament was often developed
into an elaborate excrescence, often projecting some inches
below the stone itself; and in the early flamboyant period the
keystone was regularly decorated with the escutcheon of the
donors of the edifice, carved with great elaboration and often
unduly large.

Such keystones probably suggested the use of the English
pendant in a position that feature was never meant to occupy,
and one which deprived it of the little justification for existence
that it had ever possessed. These great carved stones, hang-
ing down a foot or so from the surface of the vault and supported
by a trick of construction, are not only absolutely unstructural,
but are without any compensating beauty of design. The best
of the English pendants, in the Henry VII chapel of West-
minster, or at Christ Church, Oxford, although much over-
praised by the unthinking tourist, are entirely reprehensible
from an architectural and even from an esthetic standpoint;
they yet possess a certain fineness of detail, and a sense of
composition that raises them far above the debased French
imitations.

The coarseness and vulgarity of these French pendants
may be judged from the vaults of St. Pierre of Caen (111. 259)
or of the crossing of St. Etienne-du-Mont (111. 283). Not
content with one of these monstrosities to each vault, the flam-
boyant builders proceeded to increase the number, placing a
pendant at each intersection of the multiple ribs.

Happily such aberrations are a symptom of the last deca-

383

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

dence of the stylo, and mar comparatively few monuments.
Pendants are extremely rare before the XVI century; the church
of Villenaux, dedicated in 1449, contains, I believe, the earliest
example of their use. The aisle vaults of Pont-1'Eveque (Cal-
vados) are furnished with pendants which must date from c.
1490, and from this moment the feature is of not infrequent
occurrence.

In other directions the flamboyant style preserved essen-
tially unchanged the main features of Gothic design. The
triforium was sometimes glazed; sometimes was retained in
essentially its old form — as at Notre Dame of Alencon (Til.
284) or Caudebec-en-Caux (111. 273) ; sometimes was reduced
to a balustrade — as at St. Pierre of Coutances (111. 285) ; or
sometimes was altogether omitted — as at St. Germain of Amiens
(111. 282) or St. Etienne-du-Mont (111. 283). Of all these forms
the glazed triforium is the least frequent, being rarely used
except in constructions built in continuation of an unfinished
rayonnant building.

Such varied triforium designs are merely a manifestation
of a new spirit of eclecticism which is conspicuous in flamboy-
ant art. The individual architect is everywhere coming into
prominence; his tastes, his preferences, his caprices, rather than
the contemporary style, govern the design. Progress in the old
collective sense is being gradually abandoned; a given feature
is used now here, now there in a purely arbitrary manner, and
it is no longer possible to tell the approximate date of a building
from a glance at the style. In the archaistic designs of the
tower of Lisieux, — a monument built in the XVI century in
conscious imitation of the style of the transition — or of the
choir of Notre Dame-de-1'Epine, we arc face to face with the
Individual -- the Individual in the Renaissance and modern
sense of the word -- thoroughly out of sympathy with the spirit
of his times and trying in vain to struggle for higher and better
things. Such a state of affairs in the XIII century would be
unthinkable. Similarly in the naves of St. Ouen of Rouen,
Troyes, Chalons-sur-Marne, and Meaux there are present fea-
tures absolutely at variance with the prevailing tendencies of
flamboyant design, features which it is impossible to explain

384

III. 285. — St. Pierre, Coutances. Interior

PROFILES

altogether as having been introduced to harmonize with the
earlier portions of these buildings. In Normandy, in the full
flamboyant period, country churches like Villedieu-les-Poeles
— doubtless from reasons of economy — continued to be sup-
plied with lancet windows without tracery. In such eclectic
tendencies apparent everywhere in flamboyant design as in so
much else, this final phase of medieval art was the prophet of
the Renaissance and modern styles. The growing independ-
ence of the master builders was the last step in the evolution
of the modern architect.

Into the domain of ornament, flamboyant art introduced
much that was new and original. The profiles are character-
ized by the use of prismatic forms and sharp edges; the Gothic
three-quarter rounds are omitted altogether (111. 281) or are
given an angular character by the addition of a fillet on the
outer edge. The projecting portions of the archi volts — as at
Abbeville (111. 281) — consist of sharp edges formed by the
intersection of two receding members, whose profiles are often
of double curvature, analogous to the lines of the ogee arch or
flowing tracery. The mouldings have been made much smaller
and much more numerous; for a few strong lines have been
substituted many lighter ones.

The vertical profile of the bases remains essentially unchanged
from the XIV century; two tori divided by a scotia are still
placed on a very much elongated plinth. Yet the profiles of
scotia and tori are no longer simple, but have become subtle
lines often of surpassing beauty, and occasionally even of double
curvature. The distinguishing feature of the flamboyant base,
however, is the interpenetration of its members, for the bases
of the projecting mouldings placed at a higher level penetrate
the main bases of the pier. Notwithstanding the somewhat
over-complex character of this motive, it is often executed with
such technical skill as to produce results of rare grace and
charm (111. 281).

In the treatment of the ornamental flora and fauna, flam-
boyant architecture simply pursued the way pointed out by
the XIV century. Since capitals were largely eliminated, the
opportunities for decoration in leaf -forms were much reduced,

385

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

although crockets, string-courses, the all-over patterns of tym-
pana, etc., still offered much chance for vegetable ornament.
The plant forms — except in the XVI century, where under
the influence of the Renaissance the acanthus-leaf reappeared
— were extremely naturalistic and detailed, thus acquiring a
somewhat restless character. They at times also tended to
become rather coarse and florid; the leaves were often given
crispy, wavy edges, as in the doorway at Rue (111. 286).

Flamboyant animals are also thoroughly unconventional.
In the birds and the deer that are carved among the vines of
the string-courses, in the gargoyles that climb down from the
eaves, and in the grotesques that eat the foliage of the crockets,
conventionalization and idealism have no place. These ani-
mals, too, are coming to assume a somewhat florid character;
their hair executed with great detail tends to kink into curves
savoring of the Renaissance; the wing of one of the gargoyles
on the porch of Bernay (111. 270) forms a classic scroll.

Also prophetic of the Renaissance is the flamboyant love
of spiral paneling on columns and doorways. One of the col-
umns of Ste. Croix of Provins (111. 287) calls to mind the spiral
flutings and twisted columns of Early Christian times, so fre-
quently copied by the Renaissance artists. Since wall paint-
ings of the XV century are extant in tolerable preservation at
Auvers-le-Hamon (Sarthe), Cre-sur-Loire (Sarthe), Brinay
(Cher), and in several other country churches, it is altogether
probable that colored ornament was freely employed in the
decoration of all flamboyant edifices, being applied to statues,
ornamental carvings, and blank wall spaces. This system of
decoration doubtless continued in vogue until the "superior"
taste of the Renaissance changed all the medieval traditions,
although the fact that the fragments of mural decoration that
have come down to us from this comparatively recent epoch
are so few, gives reason to believe that the flamboyant artists
employed color decoration much less than their Gothic
predecessors.

Fortunately some idea of flamboyant coloring may be ob-
tained from the timber roofs, a certain number of which — at
Bazouges-sur-Loire, Gallardon, Largny, Viffort, Feings, Trou-

386

.?> ^*

tOS^7^

III. 286. — Eglise du St. Esprit, Rue. Door of the Stairway

STAINED GLASS

quoy, Lavare, etc. — preserving traces of their original color
decoration, have come down to us. Like the Gothic builders,
the flamboyant designers always preferred a vault; a timber
roof was resorted to only in country churches, where it was
impossible to raise sufficient funds for a vaulted edifice. Con-
sequently timber roofs were never used in work of the highest
class. Nevertheless these designs are so satisfactory as to give
a high idea of what must have been the results of color decora-
tion in the great monuments.

Of the stained glass of the late XV and XVI centuries there
is no lack of examples. This art is thoroughly pictorial in char-
acter, and genre scenes — genre none the less although purport-
ing to represent biblical or legendary scenes — are portrayed
with a realism which in the fat figures of the women, the coarse
features of the men, at once betrays the influence of Flemish
models. Nevertheless these windows are not without redeem-
ing features; if many are bad, and most indifferent, at least a
few may be thoroughly enjoyed — not as architectural acces-
sories, they are never that — but as translucent pictures. The
broad fields of red and blue employed are at times of luscious
beauty, while even the strange yellows and greens and grays, which
tend to give so sickly a tone to the ensemble, are not without
their peculiar charm when the composition is considered solely
in itself. The photograph (111. 288) while, of course, lacking
the all-essential qualification of color, will give some idea of
the general character of the design of stained glass in the very
last years of the flamboyant period. It is evident that we have
here left the era of the Middle Ages, and entered upon that of
the Renaissance.

In sculpture the same realistic tendencies and the same
Flemish influence are conspicuous. In fact, it is probable
that many of the flamboyant sculptors were Flemings, so com-
pletely did this French art follow the lead of the Low Coun-
tries. The minute and realistic detail cultivated by this school
left no place for idealism, nor was the least attempt made to
adapt these self-sufficient sculptures to their architectural en-
vironment. The figures of the choir screen of Amiens (111.
289), for example, while full of life and action, and while grouped

387

THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE

with a sense of composition worthy of the best traditions of
the Renaissance, are thoroughly unarchitectural in character.
Although sculpture was thus declaring its independence and
pursuing its own way without regard of the requirements of its
sister art, architecture was placing greater reliance than ever
before on sculpture. The niche, destined to shelter a statue,
was one of the fundamental motives of flamboyant decoration

— a motive the builders never wearied of repeating over and
over again in all portions of their buildings. The greater num-
ber of these myriad niches were probably never filled with sculp-
tures, though of course the images of many that now stand
empty have been destroyed by time or iconoclasts. Notwith-
standing, however, the great number of flamboyant sculptures
that have thus been lost, an enormous number, good, bad, and
indifferent, have come down to us.

In the XVI century, sculpture, like architecture, was affected
by the Italian and classical influences of the Renaissance. At
first appearing sporadically in a few works here and there

- the sculptures at Solesmes are as early as the last decade of
the XV century — by the middle of the XVI century the new
influence had profoundly modified the entire art. French sculp-
ture of the Renaissance, a combination of antique, Flemish,
and Italian elements, was in no way great or truly national.
The few works of high merit which it produced, moreover,
were always separate compositions, tombs, or portraits, or com-
memorative groups, executed in marble instead of in stone and
aever intended to serve as architectural accessories.

It is unnecessary to study here those mongrel ecclesias-
tical edifices which combine the Renaissance and flamboyant
styles -monuments which, as a rule, combine all that is florid,
bizarre, and of bad taste in either style. In secular architec-
ture, indeed, in the chateaux and hotels of the first half of the
\\ I century, the Renaissance united with dying flamboyant
to form creations of surpassing charm; but in religious build-
ings the combination was rarely successful. The photograph
of the nave of St. Etienne-du-Mont (111. 283) — one of the most

388

III. 288. — Stained Glass of the late XVI century, Bourges Cathedral
(From Meloizes)

ST. MACLOU

refined of these "transitional" churches, — or of the choir of
St. Pierre of Caen (111. 259), will give a sufficient idea of the death
agony of flamboyant architecture.

The task of recording these final convulsions belongs rather
to the historian of the architecture of the Renaissance, of that
new epoch which was dawning upon the artistic world with a
sky so full of doubt and ill-omen. The course of tlie art of the
Middle Ages had been run. Born in obscurity and baseness,
this wonderful architecture had by its own virtue raised itself
to the loftiest heights which it is perhaps granted for human
art to attain; it had long maintained its supremacy; at last it
had declined and lay vanquished before the revivified skeleton
of Antiquity. Medieval art was dead, dead with the age, with
the faith that produced it — utterly, irretrievably, forever dead.
Reguiescat in pace.

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

Monuments of the Second Class

ROUEN, Seine-Inferieure. St. Maclou. (111. 278.) This church must have
been begun during the English occupation, for in 1432, Hugh, Archbishop of Rouen,
granted forty days of indulgence to those of the faithful who should contribute
towards the expenses of the new edifice. An appeal was made in 1445 ,* to "the
very high and powerful prince, the Lord Duke of York, Lieutenant-General and
Governor of France and Normandy" to give twenty pounds sterling to complete
the works already begun. In 1453 Guillaume d'Etouteville granted further
indulgences in favor of those who should aid in the construction of the church.
In 1471 Pierre du Four, bourgeois of Rouen, made an important gift that the
building might be finished. However, the edifice must still have been far from
completion since on the second of April, 1500, twenty cardinals granted a hun-
dred days of indulgence to those who should visit the church and give money for
its construction, while it was only in 1511 that Martin Deperrois commenced to
build a platform over the lantern to carry the spire.2 Thus St. Maclou was in
construction for nearly a century. Since, however, the original plans were for the
most part executed without material change, the edifice may fairly be considered
as an homogeneous example of the architecture of the second quarter of the XV
century. The monument, which forms approximately a Greek cross in plan, con-
sists of a nave, two side aisles, a complete set of lateral chapels, transepts, a central

1 This letter was published in Archives de la Normandie II, 333.

2 The history of St. Maclou has been worked up from the original sources by Du Val. (Vol.
II, pp. 154-156.) The most important texts are cited in the original by Inkersley, 115.

389

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

lantern covered with an open-work spire, a choir, an ambulatory, and radiating
chapels. Before the portals is a five-sided narthex of considerable projection —
an unusual feature which forms a most imposing entrance. Internally the vaults
of the nave are singularly lofty; though the mouldings are prismatic, the system
continuous, and capitals omitted, there are no disappearing mouldings nor multiple
rib vaults. The tracery is fully developed flamboyant, but a certain restraint and
awkwardness is noticeable in the use of the ogee arch. The flying buttresses are
arcaded and of great lightness. Originally a spire in wood and lead, gilded, sur-
mounted the lantern, but this is known only from the model in the Archaeological
Museum, for it was destroyed in the XVIII century. The existing stone fleche
was erected in the XIX century. (De Baurepaire; Frothingham.)

St. Vincent. The nave, the chapel formerly known as of St. Nicholas, now as of
the Sacre Coeur, and the northern portal are said to have been built between 1458
and 1471. The transepts were in construction from 1470 to 1480, the southern por-
tal having been finished about 147.5. In 1480 the first stone of the main portal was
laid. The choir wras begun in 1515 on designs entirely different from, and much
more ambitious than, those of the rest of the edifice; it was terminated probably by
about 1526, notwithstanding the fact that the dedication did not take place before
1531. Though flamboyant in style, the central tower dates from 1669. The exist-
ing edifice consists of a nave shorter than the choir, two side aisles, a complete set of
lateral chapels, transepts, a polygonal chevet, and an ambulatory. The flying but-
tresses of the choir are singularly light and fantastic. Before the western facade is a
fine narthex porch. The great glory of the St. Vincent, however, is its glass of the
XVI century. (Renaud; De la Balle.)

St. Laurent. In 1248 a fire which started at the Portc-Beauvoisine destroyed the
churches of St. Ouen, St. Goddard, and St. Laurent. The reconstruction of St.
Laurent was probably begun immediately afterwards. In the XV century, how-
ever, another rebuilding seems to have been undertaken, for works upon this church
are mentioned as being in progress in documents of 1444, 1445, and 1446. This
"new work," however, was in all probability merely the reconstruction of the side
aisles and clearstory. Certain windows were placed in 1464, but the alterations seem
to have been completed only in 1482. From 1490 to 1501 1 the tower — a gem of
flamboyant art — was in construction. The existing edifice consists of a nave, two
side aisles, a polygonal chevet, and an ambulatory. (De la Balle.)

St. Andre-de-la-Porte-aux-Febvres. Only the beautiful tower, said to have been
built in 1541-45, survives. It was originally crowned by a spire, now destroyed. (De
la Ball.-.)

PARIS. Seine. St. Etienne-dn-Mont. (111. 283.) The choir was commenced
in 1517 and entirely finished in 1535; the nave and the side aisles were completed
in the last years of the XVI century; the date 1600 is inscribed upon the jube; the
facade, entirely Renaissance in style, was built between 1610 and 1624. An unusual
disposition is the narrow gallery running around the nave and passing from column
to column. Otherwise the monument is a typical three-aisled church with a com-

1 Du Val II, 124, eit. Inkersley, 115.
390

MONUMENTS OF THE SECOND CLASS

plete set of chapels and an ambulatory. Except for the pendant vault of the crossing,
the vaults are simple; the piers, however, are cylindrical, the mouldings disappear,
there are no capitals. Much classic feeling is evident in the nave, but in the choir
there are but few Renaissance details. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 88.)

St. Eustaciie is said to have been in construction from 1532 to 1642. The de-
tails of this large and important monument are thoroughly Renaissance in character,
but the structure is Gothic. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. I, 86.)

St. N icolas-des-Champs . This monument originally erected in the XIV century
was reconstructed in 1420 and again in 1576. At the latter epoch the choir and part
of the nave were rebuilt in the Renaissance style. With the exception of the portal,
restored in 1843, the facade is flamboyant. The present side aisles originally were
chapels, but in the XV century they were altered into their present form, and new
chapels constructed beyond. (Beale.)

St. Medard, one of the most picturesque churches of Paris, with the exception
of the choir erected between 1586 and 1655, dates from the end of the XV, or from
the early XVI, century, but the interior was rebuilt in the classical style in 1784. There
is an ambulatory, but there are no transepts. The piers are without capitals, and
the keystones and bosses are elaborately carved. The radiating chapels have Doric
columns. (Beale.)

St. Mery, a vast edifice with transepts and ambulatory, was commenced in 1520
or a few years later, but was not finished before the XVII century. The beautiful
west facade is a mass of rich flamboyant decoration, unfortunately much restored.
Intersecting mouldings, open-work gables, and ogee arches characterize the portal.
The upper part of the tower, on the other hand, is of the XVII century. With the
exception of the rich pendant vaults of the nave, the entire interior was made over in
the time of Louis XIV. Perhaps the most interesting parts of the edifice are the fine
arcaded flying buttresses of the chevet. (Beale.)

St. Gervais et St. Protais. This church was erected at the beginning of the XVI
century, but is largely Renaissance in style. It consists of a nave, two side aisles, a
complete set of chapels, a chevet, and an ambulatory. The facade is an over-praised
work of the XVII century.

St. Jacques-la-Bouchcrie. Of this church only the gracious tower survives.
This was begun in 1508. In 1510 the first story had been constructed, and the
entire tower was finished in 1521 or 1522. (Troche.)

St. Laurent, reconstructed, it is said, in 1429, was enlarged in 1548, in 1595, and
finally in 1865-67. The portal and spire are modern. The facade, however, is of
interest.

CHALONS-SUR-MARNE, Marne. Notre Dame-de-VEpine (111. 276) seems
to be an archaistic building built in conscious imitation of Reims. Work was begun
in 1419 and continued with several interruptions until 1459. Then ensued a long
interruption, the building being completed only in the first part of the XVI century.
These two eras of construction may be readily distinguished in the existing edifice:
to the first belong the choir, the transepts, the greater part of the four eastern bays of
the nave; to the second, the facade, the two western bays of the nave, and portions

391

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

of the eastern bays. Notwithstanding the comparatively small dimensions, this
edifice (which consists of a nave six bays long, two side aisles, transepts, a choir of
three bays, a polygonal chevet, and a double ambulatory) contains all the essential
parts of a Gothic cathedral. Most noteworthy is the purity of the details of the in-
terior. The picturesque exterior seems to have been influenced by military architec-
ture. (Von Bezold.)

COUTANCES, Manche. St. Pierre. (111. 285.) The unpublished records of
the reconstruct ion of this church are said to be preserved in the presbytery, among
the "Archives de la Fabrique." The main body of the building was finished in 1494
as is known from an inscription placed behind the choir, on one of the columns of
the chapel of St. Louis; the date 1550 inscribed on one of the towers seems to indi-
cate the epoch at which the edifice was entirely completed. The monument consists
of a single western tower, a nave, two side aisles, a lofty central lantern crowned by
a cupola, transepts, a choir, a polygonal chevet, and an ambulatory. Disappearing
mouldings and a triforium reduced to a balustrade characterize the interior. (De
la Balle; Benoist.)

St. Nicola*. This church, founded in the XIII century, was in ruins at the end
of the XIV century. The rebuilding was begun in 1409, and continued until
about 1430, but the edifice has obviously been many times since altered, for the
existing structure is a puzzling mixture of the styles of the XIII, XIV, XV, and
XVII centuries. At present the monument consists of a central western tower, a
nave, two side aisles, two chapels forming a sort of transept, a lantern, a choir, a
chevet, and an ambulatory. The piers of the chevet are monolithic. (De la Balle;
Benoist.)

Kglise de VHosjnce. The fine flamboyant docker of the XV century still survives.
It seems to show English influence in some of its tracery and in the ill adjustment of
the spire to the tower. (De la Balle.)

CAUDEBEC-EX-CAUX, Seine-Inferieure. Notre Dame. (111. 273, 275.)
"This nave was commenced in 1420. The blessing of God, and good life, and Par-
adise to its benefactors."1 This inscription, still existing in the church, fixes the date
at which the present structure was begun; it is not known when it was finished, but
the facade and spire can hardly be earlier than the XVI century. The church as it
stands is one of the purest and most beautiful of all flamboyant edifices; it consists
of a nave, two side aisles, a choir, a two-sided chevet with pier on axis, and an am-
bulatory. The mouldings of the archivolts and of the vault ribs disappear; slight
capitals, however, crown the cylindrical piers. Corbels placed just above these
capitals support the system of a single shaft. The high triforium is not glazed, but
like the clearstory it is supplied with a balustrade. Escutcheons are carved upon
the keystones of the simple vaults. Fine flamboyant tracery fills the windows. The
flying buttresses have a single strut, but are finely developed. The florid west facade

1KL' an Mil CCCCXXVI

fu eette nef cy co'mencie.
Sante Dieu bienz et bo'ne vie
As b'nfaicteurs et paradis."

392

MONUMENTS OF THE THIRD CLASS

is supplied with a Renaissance balustrade with caryatids. To the south rises a tower
with a fine open-work spire.

Ste. Gertrude. This church of the XVI century is characterized by a polygonal
apse, transepts of small extent, and a central tower surmounted by a slate spire. The
vaults of the choir have pendants. (Benoist.)

DIEPPE, Seine-Inferieure. St. Jacques. The main body of this edifice, usu-
ally considered the finest parish church of Normandy, belongs to the XIV century,
and consequently to the Gothic rather than to the flamboyant period, and the extrem-
ities of the two transepts are even believed to be fragments of a church dedicated to
Ste. Catherine and destroyed in 1195, for they bear the marks of long exposure to
the weather. There is some doubt as to the date of the tower, whose lower parts
some archaeologists assign to the XV century, while others assign the entire struc-
ture to the XVI century. The choir vaults were rebuilt in the XVI century with pen-
dants, and the triforium and clearstory were altered at the same time. This choir,
which is supplied with a polygonal chevet and an ambulatory, comprises three bays,
being thus just half as long as the nave. With the exception of the southwestern
tower which projects somewhat beyond the line of chapels that border the nave, the
facade and the two turrets that flank its gable date from the XIV century. The piers
of the choir are surrounded by a number of colonnettes one of which bears the three
shafts of the system. The triforium is supplied with balustrades in the Norman
manner. (De la Balle; Benoist I, 60.)

St. Remi. The nave is of the XVI century.

Ancienne Eglise St. Remi. The foundations of this edifice of the XIII and XIV
centuries have lately been excavated. The tower still stands.

Monuments of the Third Class

ABBEVILLE, Somme. St. Vulfran. (111. 281.) The construction of this
edifice was begun in 1480, but was interrupted in 1539, the building being completed
only in the XVII century. The facade, flanked by two fine towers, is the most re-
markable portion of the existing structure, and is extremely rich and picturesque,
although a slight tendency towards florid ornament is apparent. The walls of the
nave, sustained by ogee flying buttresses, are supplied with two exterior galleries
both with open-work balustrades. One of these galleries is placed over the vaults
of the chapels, the other just below the cornice which is crowned by an open-work
parapet. Open-work gables surmount the windows of the chapels. The interior
consists of a narrow nave of five bays, two side aisles, six lateral chapels, and an
unfinished choir of decadent style. All the keystones of the multiple rib vaults of
the nave are adorned with sculptures and escutcheons; capitals are omitted; the
ribs disappear. Beneath the clearstory is a triforium with open-work balustrade.
(Nodier et Taylor, Picardie I.)

CARENTON, Manche. Eglise. Of the building of the XI century there re-
main only the four great piers of the crossing and the arches which support the tower.
In the second half of the XII century the existing western portal was constructed.
The date 1443, inscribed upon one of the piers of the nave, doubtless indicates that a

393

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

reconstruction of the church was begun at this time. To this reconstruction may
be attributed all the existing southern side aisle and a part of the nave. Some years
later (1466) the rebuilding of the choir was commenced, as is known from an inscrip-
tion on the keystone of the vault.1 ("arenton is a monument of great beauty and
originality; the exterior with its fine flying buttresses and its rich and elegant tower
is an exceptionally interesting composition. The plan includes five aisles, and a
chevet with ambulatory. (De la Balle; Benoist V, .'50.)

DREUX, Eure-et-Loire. St. Pierre is remarkable principally for its flamboy-
ant portal, richly adorned with sculptured detail. The remainder of the facade is
for the most part Renaissance in style. An inscription surrounded by a gilded ara-
besque gives the precise date: "To decorate this temple of God and supply it with
a magnificent entrance, in the year 1524 was constructed this beautiful portal, and
these two towers where the bells are rung to warn every good Catholic to serve God
and fight the enemy." 2 The lateral porch with its pointed arches and arcades dates
from the XII century; the nave seems to be of the first half of the XV century,
with the exception of its two westernmost bays, which are of the XVI century; the
southern transept is also of the XVI century; in the choir and the northern transept
are preserved fragments of the architecture of the XII century; the nave chapels
and the ambulatory are of the XV century. The edifice, which is vaulted through-
out, consists of a nave six bays long, two side aisles, a choir, a double ambulatory,
and six radiating chapels. There are fine flying buttresses, and much superb
glass. (Paty.)

CONCHES, Eure. Ste. Foi. No portion of the present edifice is earlier than
the end of the XV century. Nicolas Sevavasseur (1509-25) probably constructed
the choir — at least, it is certain that he was the donor of the magnificent windows
of this part of the church, for his portrait is to be seen in the lower part of the central
light, and the date, 1520, discovered with the name of the artist on the fringe of a
figure of St. Louis would seem to confirm this supposition. In 1842 the spire of wood
and lead, one of the most charming of flamboyant open-work designs, collapsed; it
has been rebuilt, however, on the old lines. The edifice consists of a nave, two side
aisles, and a seven-sided apse. The nave, which has never been finished, is covered
with a wooden roof; the choir has multiple rib vaults reinforced by ogee flying but-
tresses. Flamboyant tracery, like all the details of exquisite delicacy, fills the
windows. Many of the piers of the nave are diamond-shaped in plan. It was the
original plan to flank the facade by two towers; but of these the northern, Renais-

' Mil CCCC

I A et six

Ces fondemes

Furent assis.
2 Pour decorer ce temple dcifique

luy fu costruict pour entree magnificq

ce l>eau portail mil cinq ces vingt et quatre

et ces deux tour on sooner on scapticq

pour innocquer chacun bon catholicq

a dieu servir et lennemy combatre.

394

MONUMENTS OF THE THIRD CLASS

sance in style, has never been finished. The chief glory of this church is its
twenty-three superb stained glass windows of the XVI century. (Bouillet.)

APPEVILLE-ANNEBAUT, Eure. Eglise. An inscription that may still be
read on the wall of the south side aisle states that "In the year of Grace 1518 on the
5th of July, this church was commenced anew." 1 The choir is roofed in wood, but
its side aisles — there is no ambulatory — have pendant vaults; externally this choir
is decorated with gargoyles, one of which is obscene. The northern wall of the nave
is said to be of the XIII century. All the rest of the nave and the tower are flamboy-
ant, although containing Renaissance details; the principal portal with its flattened
and ogee arches is a marvelous piece of lace-work. Internally the edifice, which is
without clearstory, is coated with plaster. (De la Balle; Benoist.)

ARQUES, Seine-Inferieure. Notre Dame. The existing edifice replaces an
earlier church burned in 1472, though there seems to be some doubt as to whether
the construction was begun immediately or in 1515.2 The present structure consists
of a nave, double side aisles, transepts, and a polygonal apse without ambulatory.
There is a single northwestern tower. The nave has a wooden roof; the choir vaults
are adorned with pendants. The date 1610 is inscribed on a cartouche of the tri-
umphal arch. (De la Balle.)

BAR-SUR-SEINE, Aube. Eglise, one of the most important flamboyant edi-
fices of the departement, contains Ionic capitals and other Renaissance features,
which, however, seem to be the result of a later restoration. The choir, which is
only two bays long, is supplied with an ambulatory, radiating chapels, flying but-
tresses, and Renaissance tracery. These eastern portions are evidently earlier than
the nave, for one of the choir windows bears the date 1512, while the nave windows
bear the dates 1528, 1539. (Arnaud, 100.)

ARGENTAN, Orne. St. Germain. A naive inscription upon one of the piers
states that "this pier was constructed in 1488 by Jean Lemoine, good mason."3
The building, however, seems to have been commenced long before (1410) by Jean
IV, duke of Alencon, but the English wars doubtless interrupted the work. After
the expulsion of the English the construction was resumed at the order of Duke
Rene, and the choir and side aisles were erected. Soon after the pier with the in-
scription was finished, another delay in the construction ensued. In 1540 the tower
was commenced, but the governor opposed its construction for fear it should domi-
nate the donjon, and it was finished only in 1641. The choir meanwhile had been

1 Fust ceste eglise comencee neufve l'an
de Grace mil Vcc dix huit Ve de Juillet.

2 On this question see Cochet, col. 57, Vitet II, 366, and Adolphe Lance I, 55.

3 The inscription in toto, is as follows:

Mil quatre cent quatre vingt huit Auxquels sa femme avait part.

Par Jean Lemoine bon macon Du Paradis benoist guerdonnez

Ce pilier icy construit. Par Jean Pitard a fondez

Dieu pardonne la mal facon! Grandes messes de la Passion

Et le fist faire a Guy Pitard Qui de cinq playes a ete fondez.

Des biens que Dieu luy a donnez Dieu luy fasse remission.

395

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

rebuilt in the Renaissance style, having been completed in 1609. The existing edi-
fice is characterized by a southwestern tower, a central lantern, polygonal transepts,
multiple rib vaults, the absence of capitals, disappearing ribs, and a balustrade tri-
forium. (De la Balle: Benoisl IV, 17.)

St. Martin. The glass windows were executed between 1540 and 1530, so that
in the main the edifice must have been completed by the middle of the XVI century,
though the choir vaults date only from 1G03. Externally, the structure is character-
ized by flying buttresses of ogee form and tracery tending to become Renaissance;
internally by a slightly developed pendant vault, a system of a single shaft, the ab-
sence of capitals (except at the summits of the shafts), and disappearing mouldings.
(De la Balle; Benoist IV, 18.)

ALEXTOX. Orne. Xotrr Dame. (111.279,284.) This church seems to date
from the late XV century, with the exception of the transept and choir of the XVIII
century. The portal, of which the plan comprises three sides of a polygon, is supplied
with open-work gables and intersecting mouldings of very beautiful design. In-
ternally there are a few capitals, although the mouldings disappear and the system
is continuous. The vault is thoroughly English in character; the continuous trifo-
rium has a graceful balustrade. (De la Balle; Benoist IV, 8.)

VERNON, Kure. Notre Dame was founded by William II of Vernon (f 1160)
according to his epitaph still preserved in the church. The existing choir was prob-
ably erected soon after this, but in 1380, Antabour, master builder, reconstructed
the vaults. The present central tower dates from the XIII century, the nave for the
most part from the XV century. Flamboyant tracery with intersecting mouldings
fills the triforium, which, however, is not glazed. The Porche St. Sauveur as well as
the principal portal of the west facade are fine examples of flamboyant design, and are
supplied with flattened and ogee arches. (De la Balle; Benoist.)

LA-FERTE-BERXARD, Sarthe. Notre Dame. The nave of this impor-
tant monument is an example of the pure flamboyant style, but the choir contains
many Renaissance details. According to inscriptions the building was in construc-
tion from 1450 to 1596. The edifice consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts,
a choir, an ambulatory, and a north lateral tower. The choir is more lofty than
the nave, and its vaults are sustained by arcaded buttresses. (Wismes.)

OREKAXS, Eoiret. Eglise Cathedrale Ste. Croix. The foundations for a new
edifice had probably already been built when the bishop celebrated the laying of the
first stone in 1287. The choir and chevet were the first portions erected. By 1297
the choir and parts of the transepts and nave had been finished. At this point, how-
ever, the construction was interrupted until 1479, when several windows of the outer
wall were erected: then the work was dropped again. In 1562 the church was pil-
laged by the Protestants, the piers of the crossing were sapped, and the edifice set on
fire. The building was completely destroyed with the exception of the old Ronian-
esque tower-,, the chapels of the ambulatory, the northern portal, and six piers of
tlir choir. A reconstruction was begun at once and the choir was finished before
1583. However, these repairs seem to have been only partially successful, for the
whole structure was essentially modified in the time of Henry IV. From then on

396

OTHER MONUMENTS

until 1826 the building progressed slowly, but always in a pseudo-Gothic style.
(Buzonnieres.)

Notre Damc-du-Chemin. Founded, it is said, by Aigus in 854, this church was
torn down in 1428 when it was found necessary to clear space for the fortifications,
but was rebuilt between 1438 and 1511. In 1562 the church was pillaged by the
Protestants, and so severely damaged that the necessary repairs were finished only
in 1617. As the building stands the apse is polygonal. The nave supplied with
octagonal piers is flanked on the south side by a side aisle, on the north by a series
of low chapels. (Molandon.)

SOISSONS, Aisne. St. Jean-des-Vignes. This abbey church, of which the
facade and the cloisters still survive, was commenced in the XIII century. In the
XIV and XV centuries the nave was constructed, and the western spires were com-
pleted in the early years of the XVI century, the cross being planted on the northern
in 1520. Ruined as it is, the existing facade is a composition of the greatest interest.
(Lambin, 90.)

FALAISE, Calvados. Ste. Trinite consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts,
a choir, an ambulatory, and radiating chapels. The nave was commenced in 1438;
the choir, as is known from an inscription placed at the entrance of the north ambu-
latory, was begun in 1510; the transepts seem to be fragments of an earlier church
of the XIII century; the date 1539 is inscribed on one of the graceful Renaissance
flying buttresses. The monocylindrical piers have been modernized, but they still
retain their foliated capitals. A wooden vault covers the edifice. The windows
have no tracery; the triforium is not glazed. The system reaches only to the tri-
forium string. (De la Balle; Benoist III, 78.)

CLERY, Loiret. Notre Dame. With the exception of the tower of the XIV
century, this collegiate church was completely destroyed by the English in 1428, and
was rebuilt by Louis XI in the last half of the XV century. It consists of a nave seven
bays long, two side aisles, non-projecting transepts, a choir, an ambulatory, and a
modern lady chapel. The tower rises over the northern side aisle. Internally, the
great arcades fall upon richly moulded cylindrical piers whose members are con-
tinued to form the system and the ribs. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. II,
60.)

Other Monuments

BERNAY, Eure. Ste. Croix. When this church was burned in 1358, the
monks refused to rebuild it at their own expense. In 1372, however, they made an
agreement with the townspeople to erect a new edifice on the present site. The choir,
with the exception of its side aisles which were not completed before 1880, was fin-
ished in the last years of the XIV century; during the last quarter of the XIV century,
or at latest in the opening years of the XV century, the lower part of the northern
transept and the wall of the northern side aisle were in construction. The nave was
built during the first half of the XV century. After 1497 the western tower, the south-
ern side aisle, and the south arch of the transept were erected. In 16S7 the tower
fell, destroying part of the nave. The interior of the existing edifice is characterized

397

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

bv monocylindrical piers with capitals and bases, disappearing mouldings, and natural-
istic foliage. (De la Balle.)

Notre Dame-de-la-C oritur e. (111. 270.) A mural inscription states that the win-
dows and the interior ornamentations of the lady chapel were finished in the year
1000. Oae of the windows of the aisles, however, bears the date 1480. The
construction must therefore have been begun about the middle of the XV century,
and the edifice was probably essentially finished when the ambulatory (which may
be assigned to about a century later) was completed. The existing building con-
sists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, and a chevet. Since the vault is in
wood, there are of course no flying buttresses. The main portal with its flattened
and ogee arches and its fine flamboyant tracery is of great interest. Internal! v
the church is characterized bv small windows, by the absence of a system, by
monocylindrical piers, by unfoliated capitals with horizontal mouldings, and by fine
glass. (De la Balle. i

NONANCOURT, Eure. St. Martin, which was almost entirely reconstructed
in the flamboyant style in 1511, consists of a nave, two side aisles, a great chapel
forming a sort of southern transept, a polygonal choir, and an ambulatory. The
multiple rib vault is of the English lierne type; the keystones are decorated with
escutcheons, but except in the triumphal arch the pendants are slightly developed.
The triforium is omitted. Capitals occur in the main arcade only; — they are un-
carved and intersect part of the system. Certain of the disappearing mouldings
tend to become undulating. The church contains good glass. A lady chapel, added
south of the choir about the middle of the XVI century, contains round-headed win-
dows and a wooden vault. The tower is of the XIII century, but the spire dates
from the time of Henry IV. (De la Balle.)

HARFLEUR, Seine-Inferieure. <S/. Martin. Excavations executed in 1801
disclosed beneath the present building substructions of the XI century. Some frag-
ments of the existing edifice are of the XIII century, the fine window of the west
facade is of the XIV century. The remainder of the building dates from the end of
the XV century, though not altogether in its original form, two of the former five
aisles having been suppressed. The tower and spire are usually considered among
the most elegant and majestic of Normandy. Certain details of the lateral portal
and its elegant porch show the influence of English Perpendicular work. (De la
Balle.)

AMIENS, Somme. St. Remi. This Franciscan abbey has been much dam-
aged, the polygonal choir of the XV century having recently been torn down. There
remain a nave and a single side aisle, both said to date principally from the XIV cen-
tury. (Guycncourt.)

St. Germain. (111. 282.) This church, constructed about the middle of the XV
century, is vaulted throughout; it is remarkable for its singularly pure details and
for its fine stained glass. There is a single northwestern tower.

St. Leu contains architectural fragments of several different epochs. The build-
ing was enlarged in 14S1 ; a century later the western tower was rebuilt in the Gothic
style.

308

OTHER MONUMENTS

PONT-DE-L'ARCHE, Eure. St. Vigor. The southern side of this church
is a rich example of the lace-work architecture of the XV century. Unfortunately
the construction was interrupted in the XVI century, and the ambulatory has never
been finished. The principal portal is exquisite; it is ornamented with open-work,
intersecting mouldings, ogee and flattened arches. The church contains famous glass.
(De la Balle.)

BOURGES, Cher. Notre Dame. This edifice, built in 1157, burnt in 1487,
and reconstructed about 1520, still contains fragments of XII century architecture.
Three aisles are covered with a roof of continuous slope — there is no clearstory —
and are divided into five bays. To the eastward the building terminates in a three-
sided apse without ambulatory. The nave vaults seem to have been raised shortly
after 1487. The northern side aisle contains some early glass. (De Kersers II, 200.)

St. Bonnet. Of the primitive church of the XV century there survive only two
chapels, the remainder of the present edifice having been rebuilt in 1509. Neither
the vaults nor the flying buttresses have ever been executed. The existing struc-
ture, irregular in plan, consists of a nave, two side aisles, and an ambulatory; it is
characterized by disappearing mouldings and cylindrical piers. (De Kersers II,
187.)

Convent des Augustins. The only remains of this desecrated edifice are the
lower portions of the nave walls and the three-sided apse. The building was
doubtless erected after the fire of 1487. (De Kersers II, 236.)

Convent des Carmes. This edifice, destroyed by the fire of 1487, was recon-
structed by Louis de Put and his wife. It is a simple rectangular structure, roofed
in wood. (De Kersers II, 238.)

Convent de Ste. Jeanne was founded about 1500. The existing chapel, which
appears to be of about this time, is a wooden-roofed structure ending in a three-sided
apse. (De Kersers II, 247.)

Chapelle St. Jean-Baptiste. This flamboyant chapel, which is to-day used as a
dwelling, is roofed in wood and terminates in a semicircular apse. (De Kersers II,
260.)

St. Aoustrillet. Jacques Coeur reconstructed the choir of this edifice in the first
half of the XV century. The existing remains were doubtless erected in the course
of this reconstruction. The nave has been destroyed. (De Kersers II, 208.)

St. Medard. The southern wall of the nave and the northern arm of the tran-
sept are the only surviving portions of this edifice; neither seems earlier than the
XV century- (De Kersers II, 215.)

St. Aoustrille-du-Chdteau. The walls of the southern transept and a little sac-
risty of the end of the XV century survive. (De Kersers II, 206.)

Prieure St. Michel. Of this structure, rebuilt in 1490, the wall and the wooden
vault still exist. (De Kersers II, 263.)

Ste. Croix. The church rebuilt after the fire of 1487 still survives, but is of
slight interest. (De Kersers II, 209.)

CHERBOURG, Manche. La Trinite. The choir of this church was com-
menced in 1412, but the construction was interrupted from 1418-23 by the disorders

399

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

which accompanied the siege of the city. The central tower and the transepts were
erected between 1450 and 1466; the nave about 1500. A consecration took place
in 1504. but the principal portal and tower were executed only in 1825. The edifice
consists of a nave, two side aisles, transepts, a choir, an ambulatory, and twelve radi-
ating chapels. The side portal, which contains flattened and ogee arches, is more
remarkable for the detail than for the general composition. The interior is character-
ized by cylindrical piers with a moulding or so doing service for capitals, by disap-
pearing ribs, and by a triforium balustrade, and by slightly developed pendants. (De
la Halle: Benoist Y. (i(i.)

FONTAINE SUR-SOMME, Somme. Eglise. Above the fine lateral portal
in a sort of tympanum are sculptured two medallions in which are carved a sala-
mander and a porcupine, emblems of Francis I (1515-4?) and Louis XII (1498-1515)
respectively. This portion of the church must therefore date from the first half of
the XVI century. Furthermore the date 15(il is inscribed on one of the pendants of
the Lady Chapel — evidently the latest part of the edifice. The round arch is con-
spicuous in the window tracery, otherwise the detail is entirely flamboyant. Only
half of the nave vaults have been executed in stone; the remainder in plaster date
from 1T70. The rectangular choir was not connected with the Lady Chapel before
1770; it is covered with pendant vaults, and contains fine glass of the XVI century.
There is no clearstory. The western tower is balustraded and surmounted by an
open-work spire in the English manner. (Le Sueur.)

BERLLLES, Aube. Eglise. The choir and its chapels, said to have been built
between 1510 and 1515, are the most ancient parts of the existing edifice, but the
tower and the portal were erected soon after. The triumphal arch was built in 1545
and the nave in 1550. This cruciform church, whose style borders on the Renais-
sance, is vaulted throughout. (Fichot I, 284.)

LISIEUX, Calvados. St. Jacques is a charming and homogeneous example
of the architectural art of the early XVI century. The first stone was laid in 1496;
five years later the nave was completed. With the exception of the central western
tower which stands to this day unfinished, the entire edifice was completed at the time
of the dedication in 1510. The monument consists of a noble nave, two side aisles,
a complete set of lateral chapels, a choir, and a polygonal apse with two stories of
windows. The triforium is not glazed; capitals are omitted; disappearing mould-
ings occur. The windows are filled with fine flamboyant tracery and XVI century
<dass. (De la Balle.)

ST.-AXDRKVLEZ-TROYES, Aube. Eglise consists of a nave of six bays,
two side ai^li^, and a three-sided apse. The nave was reconstructed in the early years
of tin- XVI. century; the choir was dedicated in 1547. There is no clearstory; the
side aisles are covered with a series of gable roofs at right angles to the main axis.
Tin' church is vaulted throughout; the windows are large and filled with tracery.
The principal portal is of the Renaissance, but the lateral portal is an exquisite bit
of flamboyant lace-work. Cylindrical piers and disappearing mouldings character-
ize the interior. (Fichot I, 221.)

ALMALE, Seine-Inferieure. St. Pierre. This edifice, begun in 1508, but fin-

400

OTHER MONUMENTS

ished only in the XVII century, consists of a western narthex tower, a nave, two side
aisles, transepts, a choir, and a three-sided apse. The vaults have pendants. This
church is a fine example of the late flamboyant style. (De la Balle.)

PONT-AUDEMER, Eure. St. Ouen. The choir and portions of the arcades
and central tower of the old Norman chapel of the XI century still survive. This
Norman church possessed a semicircular apse and two absidioles, but the east end was
made over into its present form in the XVI century. The reconstruction of the nave
was in progress in 1488,1 but seems to have been abandoned about 1524, and never
resumed. The portions erected at this epoch show a remarkable amount of Renais-
sance feeling. Capitals are omitted, but there are no undulating or disappearing
mouldings; the triforium is provided with a balustrade; the spandrels are decorated
with diaperings; the clearstory has never been erected; and the nave is covered with
a temporary wooden roof. The side aisles have pendant vaults with multiple ribs,
and the windows contain some of the finest XVI century glass in Normandy. The
facade and its flanking towers are unfinished. (De la Balle; Benoist II, 56.)

Cha'pelle de VHotel-Dieu.

RUMILLY-LES-VAUDES, Aube. Eglise, consisting of a nave three bays
long, two side aisles, a complete set of lateral chapels, transepts, and a choir of two
bays, is characterized by low pendant vaults, fine flamboyant tracery, monocylin-
drical piers, and the absence of capitals. It is a homogeneous edifice of the flamboy-
ant period. (Arnaud, 88.)

STE. SAVINNE, Aube. Eglise. This edifice, which was erected at the begin-
ning of the XVI century, with the exception of the portal of 1611, consists of a nave,
two side aisles, a complete set of lateral chapels, and a polygonal apse. It is vaulted
throughout with simple rib vaults, whose ribs disappear in the cylindrical piers. There
is no clearstory, and the gables of the aisle roofs are at right angles to the main axis.
The church contains some fine glass of the epoch. (Fichot I, 173.)

RICEY-HAUT, Aube. Eglise consists of two distinct churches, the nave of
the second being merely a prolongation of the north transept of the first. The nave
of the first, only two bays long, is covered with a wooden roof replacing the original
vaults, but the transepts are vaulted in stone. The choir, which is only a single bay
long, ends in a five-sided apse, and is surmounted by a central tower. This church
is obviously older than the second, which was constructed in 1549 according to an
inscription engraved on one of the piers. The second church comprised three aisles,
lighted by five round-arched windows, and covered with pendant vaults. (Arnaud,
215.)

BELLEVILLE, Cher. Eglise, of the end of the XV century, consists of a single-
aisled nave four bays long and a polygonal apse. It is rib-vaulted throughout, and
supplied with a continuous system. (De Kersers V, 3.)

MORTAGNE, Orne. Eglise is one of the most beautiful flamboyant edifices
of the departement and is especially noteworthy for the rare delicacy of its ruined
lateral portal. The tower begun in 1542 was finished only a century later, but the
remainder of the church is said to have been erected between 1494 and 1535. The

1 Inventaire manuscrit des Archives de l'Hotel-de-Ville, Annee 1488.

401

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

piers are without capitals, the vaults have multiple ribs, disappearing mouldings
occur. Although there are three aisles, the nave contains no clearstory. (De la
Balle: Benoist IV, 40.)

ALMEXECHES, Orne. Eglise. Thanks to the liberalities of Marguerite of
Navarre, the reconstruction of the nave was begun in 15.'54, as is indicated by an
inscription over the doorway: E hoc templum a ruina ex vetustate subsecuta 1584.
Another inscription indicates that this portion of the edifice was finished in 1550.
This nave is a single-aisled construction of interest chiefly for its pendant vaults.
The choir, even later in date, is of no interest. (De la Balle; Benoist IV, 21.)

VILLENAUX, Aube. Eglise. An inscription1 on the wall of the interior,
just to the right of the main entrance, records that a dedication of the parish
church of Villenaux took place in 1449. No part of the existing edifice (which
consists of a nave, two side aisles, a choir, and an ambulatory) seems earlier than
the beginning of the XV century. The vaults of the choir have never been exe-
cuted, but the nave is covered with multiple rib vaults with double pendants.
Some of the capitals, which seem to be in the style of the late XIII century,
doubtless belonged to an earlier structure. (Arnaud, 210.)

TRfiPORT, Seine-Inferieure. St. Jacques. This abbey church of the XVI
century consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a choir. It is vaulted throughout
with pendant vaults. The great tower, although unfinished, is extremely beautiful
with its great buttresses, its stair turrets, and its fine flamboyant detail. (Cotrnan.)

Eglise. The edifice of the XI century was rebuilt in the XIV century. Al-
though there is no documentary evidence of a more recent reconstruction, the present
building, with its pendant vaults, is obviously a structure of the XVI century.

VALOGXES, Manche. St. Malo. Portions of the choir and transepts date
from the XIII and XIV centuries, and the chapel of St. Jean is said to have been
erected in 13G2, but the edifice was almost entirely rebuilt in 1412, and has since
suffered from various Renaissance additions. A curious disposition is the placing
of the two towers — one of which surmounts the crossing, the other the northern
side aisle — so close that they almost seem to touch one another. The portal of the
XV century, with its queer central support, turned, as it were, in a lathe, is more
strange than beautiful. The flying buttresses are at present hidden by a continuous
gable roof. Capitals are omitted in the nave. (De la Balle; Benoist V, 56.)

BOI'ILLV, Aube. St. Laurent consists of a narthex porch three bays in length,
a nave, two side aisles, two chapels forming a sort of transept, two other chapels
at the extremities of the side aisles, a choir, and a five-sided apse. The church orig-
inally was only five bays long, but it was enlarged by the addition of an extra bay

1 Anno Dni 1449 Die vero dnica 30 post
Pascha 21 mensis Aprilis dedicatus est
Presens eeclesiae Parocliialis de Villanoxa
Magna in honorem beatorum Petri et Pauli
Apostolorum per reverendum in clero
Patrem et Dueem Jacobum Raguier
Dei et sanctae sedis Apostolicae
Graeia trecem Episeopum.

402

OTHER MONUMENTS

about 1540. The principal portal is of the early years of the XVI century. With
the exception of the narthex, the edifice is vaulted throughout. The three aisles are
all of the same height; the side aisles are roofed with a series of gables set at right
angles to the main axis. This monument is a fine example of the flamboyant style.
(Fichot I, 359.)

RICEY-HAUTE-RIVE, Aube. Eglise contains the inscription "finis coronat
opus" with the date 1563. This agrees perfectly with the style of the architecture.
The edifice consists of a nave, two side aisles, a central tower, transepts, a choir, and
three polygonal apses. There are flying buttresses; the side aisles have simple rib
vaults; the tower is Renaissance in style. (Arnaud, 217.)

CLAMART, Seine. Eglise is said to have been erected at the end of the XV
century, but the style shows much Renaissance feeling. The existing edifice con-
sists of a nave five bays long, two side aisles, and a modern five-sided apse, but origi-
nally there was a square east end. (Lambin, 71.)

LAINES-AUX-BOIS, Aube. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles almost
as high, roofed with a series of gables set at right angles to the main axis, and a three-
sided apse. The construction seems to date from the early XVI century, although
slight variations of style in different parts of the edifice seem to indicate that the
church is not entirely homogeneous. Many of the details — especially of the win-
dow tracery — are of exquisite loveliness. The building is vaulted throughout.
(Fichot, I, 215.)

TONNERE, Yonne. St. Pierre. The dates 1590, 1603, 1606, inscribed on
the exterior walls, are confirmed by the style of the edifice, for in the interior it is evi-
dent that a building of the XV century was made over in the Renaissance style, cap-
itals and entablatures being added. There is a fine Romanesque portal in the west
facade, very Burgundian in style; the shafts are fluted and adorned with rinceaux
and the abaci are sculptured. (De Caumont.)

VANVES, Seine. St. Remy must have been erected in the second quarter of
the XV century, for an inscription records that the dedication took place in 1449.
The edifice consists of a nave three bays long, two side aisles with square east ends,
a choir two bays long loftier than the nave, and a five-sided apse. There is no clear-
story. Capitals are omitted. (Lambin, 103.)

TILLIERES, Eure. Eglise. The dates 1543 inscribed on one of the trans-
verse arches and 1546 on one of the escutcheons of the apse are confirmed by the
style of the edifice which betrays the influence of the Renaissance especially in the
window tracery. The vaults with multiple ribs and quadruple pendants are master-
pieces of their kind; the spaces between the ribs are covered each by a single stone.
The apse is polygonal. (De la Balle.)

ENVERMEN, Seine-Inferieure. Notre Dame. Although the ambitious re-
construction commenced in the XVI century has never been finished, the tower, which
rises at the north angle of the facade, is an interesting and picturesque composition.
The church has three aisles and transepts, and is supplied with pendant vaults.

ST. CALAIS, Sarthe. Notre Dame. The present structure consists of a rect-
angular tower, a nave, and two side aisles at the extremity of one of which rises the

403

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

tower. This tower, which is undoubtedly the oldest portion of the existing edifice,
is anterior to the XV century, but the alterations to which it was subjected in the
XVII century have completely changed its character. The first four bays of the nave
were built and vaulted between 1394 and 1425. The choir window was rebuilt in
1518, and the north side aisle added in 1520. Probably the southern side aisle and
the western bays of the nave were constructed immediately afterwards, for according
to an inscription on the portal works on this portion of the edifice were terminated
in 1540. The facade seems to be a remarkably early example of the Renaissance
style. The interior is of little interest; there is no clearstory, and in only one bay
is there any system. (Froger; Wismes.)

Abbaye is desecrated.

HOIBERCGTRT, Somme. Eglise is remarkable for its tower and stone spire.
The coats of arms in the niche over the main portal and the initials "G" and "A"
are believed to indicate that this tower was built in the time of Guy de Brimeux and
of Antoinette de Rambures, his wife. Since it is known that Guy was made chev-
alier de la Toison d'Or in 1473 the tower was doubtless erected in the last half of
the XV century. (Lefevre.)

TROYES, Aube. St. Nizier. This "monument historique" is an edifice of
the XVI century remarkable for its two fine portals, of which the southern is flam-
boyant in style, the western a work of the Renaissance. The church contains fine
glass.

St. Nicolas. It is known that in 1523 Clement VII granted indulgences to all
those who should contribute towards the expenses of reconstructing the church of
St. Nicolas destroyed by fire. The existing edifice with its wavy system, disappear-
ing mouldings, elliptical arches, omitted capitals, and Renaissance tracery is highly
florid in style, and yet for all its decadence the interior is singularly beautiful.

St. Remi dates mainly from the flamboyant period. The tower is almost Roman-
esque in style, although it is said to date from the XIV century; the nave is adorned
with a fine corbel-table.

St. Gilles. classed as a "monument historique," is a wooden edifice of the end
of the XV century.

St. Pantaleon is an edifice of the XVI and XVII centuries.

ERVY, Aube. Eglise half flamboyant, half Renaissance in style consists of a
nave, two side aisles, and a choir with ambulatory, and contains some remarkable
glass. The choir is vaulted in stone, but the nave is covered with wooden imitations
of vaults. The tower is of the XVII century. (Arnaud, 227.)

PONT-STE-MARIE, Aube. Eglise de V Assorrvption consists of a nave, two
side aisles with square east ends, a choir, and an octagonal apse — the whole seven
bays long. The three aisles are all of the same height, the side aisles being roofed
with a series of gables set at right angles to the main axis. Low vaults surmount all
three aisles; the piers are cylindrical; the west portal is a fine piece of flamboyant
lace-work. The construction seems to be of the XVI century, and, indeed, the tower
is dated 1550 by an inscription. (Fichot I, 31.)

MONTGUEUX, Aube. Ste. Croix, which may be assigned to c. 1550, is an

404

OTHER MONUMENTS

edifice vaulted throughout. The nave and side aisles are covered by a single gable
roof, loftier than that of the choir. This choir is earlier than the nave, for its vaults
are simple, while those of the nave have multiple ribs. The piers are mon ©cylin-
drical. (Fichot I, 123.)

MAMERS, Sarthe. Notre Dame. This church was finished in 1579, but was
doubtless begun long before — probably c. 1500 — for the upper portions are of
inferior execution and evidently much later than the lower parts. The interior is
characterized by columns without capitals, disappearing and prismatic mouldings,
a high clearstory, and plaster vaults in the nave. Flying buttresses were projected
but never carried out. There are angle buttresses. The edifice consists of a nave,
two side aisles, a choir, and an ambulatory — the latter modern. (Fleury; Wismes.)

St. Nicolas. The nave is a work of the Renaissance, but the tower and the single
southern side aisle are flamboyant in style. The portal, also Renaissance in style,
dates, it is said, from 1556. Otherwise the edifice is remarkable only for its modern
vaults and square east end. (Fleury; Wismes.)

BEC, Eure. Abbaye. Of this monastery, in the XII century one of the most
famous in Europe, only the tower remains. This tower stood isolated at some dis-
tance from the church; it was commenced in 1467, and finished in 1480. (De la
Balle; Benoist II, 54.)

CARVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. In the XVIII century this church was
burnt, and in the consequent restoration the nave was so shortened that it no longer
adjoins the tower. The latter, one of the gems of flamboyant art is truly "the giant
of the valley." In a drawing of 1525 it is shown in construction. (De la Balle;
Benoist.)

LA CELLE, Cher. Ckapelle St. Sylvain. This edifice, which is assigned to
the XV century, consists of a single-aisled nave with prismatic rib vaults, transepts,
and by a narrow choir of two bays. The roof and the vault of the latter have been
destroyed. (De Kersers VI, 115.)

CAEN, Calvados. Ancienne Eglise St. Etienne-le-Vieux was originally erected
in the XI century some time before the abbey church of St. Etienne, but was enlarged
several times before 1426, when the edifice with the exception of two windows of
the XIII century was entirely rebuilt, thanks to the liberalities of Henry VI. As the
building stands the exterior is of interest chiefly because of its octagonal central tower
— a graceful composition. Internally the well-designed nave consists of five bays
separated by piers which retain their capitals. A rich balustrade replaces the tri-
forium. The system does not extend below this. (De la Balle.)

Eglise des Benedictines (Ancienne Eglise des Cordeliers) was destroyed in 1562.
The rebuilding was commenced only in 1578. Pointed windows of slight interest
still survive. (De Caumont.)

St. Ouen is of little interest. The most ancient portions may be assigned to the
end of the XV century. (De Caumont.)

BIENCOURT, Somme. St. Martin contains a flamboyant portal and fine tra-
ceried windows, two of which retain their colored glass. The choir is older than the
nave. (Darsy.)

405

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

HONFLEUR, Calvados. St. F.iicnne appears to have been constructed at two
different epochs, for the easternmost bay and the apse have large round-headed win-
dows, richly moulded, while the nave has segmental windows filled with flamboyant
tracery. (De la Balle.)

St. Leonard. The fine flamboyant portal is of the last years of the XV century;
the remainder of the church is of the Renaissance. (Benoist.)

FOLLEVILLE, Somme. Eglise, a XVI century structure of exceptional
beauty, consists of a single-aisled wooden-roofed nave, a choir with multiple rib
vaults and much florid detail, and a three-sided apse. (Bazin.)

CHAPELLE-ST.-LUC, Aube. Eglise, a typical flamboyant edifice, consists
of a single-aisled nave two bays long, transepts, a choir flanked by lateral chapels,
and a three-sided apse. The date 1579 is inscribed on the exterior wall of the first
bay of the nave. (Fichot I, 105.)

CHATILLON, Seine. Eglise consists of a nave five bays long, two side aisles,
a choir of one bay, and a miniature apse with five windows. The vault, portal, and
tower are modern: the choir is the oldest part of the church and is assigned to c. 1400.
The piers are square. (Lambin, 41.)

BOURGUIGXONS, Aube. St. Plet. The reconstruction of this edifice under-
taken early in the XVI century has never been finished. The present structure con-
sists of a nave of four bays, a southern side aisle, and a three-sided apse. The apse
has pendant vaults, but the vaults of the nave have been only partially executed.
(Arnaud, 9.5.)

ELBEUF, Seine-Inferieure. St. Etienne, said to have been constructed in 1510,
consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a choir with a pendant vault. The edifice is
famous for its glass. (De la Balle; Benoist.)

St. Jean. The small edifice of the XIII century was rebuilt, it is said, in 14(>(>
and consecrated on September 21st of that year. In 1507 the side aisle was added.
The existing tower, although flamboyant in style, is said to date from the XVII
century. The edifice contains fine glass and much Renaissance detail. (De la
Balle.)

AIMALE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. This monument consists of a polygonal
apse, a choir and transepts reconstructed in the XV century, and a nave without
character. (Benoist.)

TORVILLIERS, Aube. St. Denis. In the XVI century this edifice seems
to have consisted of a groin-vaulted nave, two very narrow side aisles covered with
half-barrel vaults buttressing the nave vaults, and a three-sided apse, but subsequently
several chapels were added. The design is characterized by disappearing ribs, cylin-
drical piers, angle buttresses, and the absence of a clearstory. The windows contain
glass of the XVI century. (Fichot I, 196.)

TOUCHAY, Cher. St. Martin. The square choir, very low, is pierced by
three windows, and covered with a prismatic rib vault. To the north is a square
chapel, also vaulted, that must date from late in the XV century. Its ogee portal is
surmounted by a lintel with an escutcheon which no visitor will omit to study. The
nave is vaulted in plaster. (De Kersers V, 183.)

406

OTHER MONUMENTS

LES NOES, Aube. Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, and a five-sided
apse. With the exception of the portal of the XVII century, the edifice is a homo-
geneous edifice of the early years of the XVI century. The aisles are all of the same
height, the side aisles being roofed with a series of gables set at right angles to the
main axis. Internally the church is characterized by simple rib vaults, prismatic
mouldings, and much ancient glass.

PONT-L'EVEQIJE, Calvados. St. Michel has suffered in two disastrous res-
torations executed in 1867 and in 1888. In the first the northern and southern facades
were rebuilt on an entirely new design ; in the second the stone vaults of the nave and
choir, which, though projected, had never been carried out, were erected. Ancient
records preserved in the treasury record that in 1483 works were executed for the
"construction and maintenance" (l'oeuvre et reparation) of the building. This
work was still unfinished in 1530, although the windows, which still exist, had been
placed in 1498 and 1499. The existing monument — with the exception of the
pendant vaults in the side aisles — is very restrained in style. Though the dimen-
sions are large there is neither transept nor ambulatory, and a single western tower
relieves the facade. (De la Balle; Benoist III, 50.)

TRESSON, Sarthe. Eglise. One of the ancient windows bears an inscrip-
tion with the date 1638, but the main body of the edifice seems to be about a century
earlier. The building consists of a single-aisled nave, transepts, and a polygonal
apse. With the exception of the nave the monument is vaulted throughout, and
the vaults of the transepts have multiple ribs and pendants. (Froger.)

ST.-LEGER-LEZ-TROYES, Aube. Eglise. This unfinished edifice, which
is assigned to c. 1510, consists of a nave four bays long, two side aisles, and a five-
sided apse. The facade is a work of the Renaissance. A simple rib vault covers
the nave: the wooden roof surmounting the nave is continued to the unfinished walls
of the side aisles. The church contains some wonderful glass of the XVI century.
(Fichot I, 439.)

JAVERNANT, Aube. Eglise assigned to the early XVI century, consists of a
single-aisled vaulted nave four bays long, transepts, and a five-sided apse. The
western portal with its Renaissance detail is of interest. (Fichot I, 402.)

COMPIEGNE, Oise. St. Antoine was founded, it is said, in 1199. The cross-
ing of the existing structure contains some fragments of XIII century architecture,
but the remainder of the edifice is of the XVI century. The building consists of a
nave, two side aisles, and a choir with ambulatory. The facade is adorned with two tur-
rets, a rose window, and a fine flamboyant portal, very broad in its effect. (Ballyhier.)

St. Germain was destroyed in 1430 and subsequently reconstructed. (Bally-
hier.)

ST.-GERMAIN-LINCON, Aube. Eglise, of the early years of the XVI cen-
tury, consists of a nave, two side aisles almost as high as the rest of the edifice and
roofed with a series of gables set at right angles to the main axis, and a five-sided
apse. The monument is vaulted throughout, and the large windows are filled with
tracery. The western bays of the nave have never been finished — a fact concealed
by the modern tower. (Fichot I, 246.)

407

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

M KY-EX-I.ERE, Cher. Eglise, of the end of the XV or early XVI century,
consists of a large nave covered with a rib vault whose members include a ridge rib,
of a large chapel adjoining to the south, and of a polygonal apse with angle buttresses.
The piers of the nave have prismatic and interpenetrating mouldings. (De Kersers
V. 41.)

ST.-PARRE-LES-TERTRF.S. Aube. St. Patrocle. This edifice, erected in
the early years of the XVI century, consists of a nave of five bays, twTo side aisles, and
a polygonal apse, but the western bay of the nave has been destroyed. The north-
western tower is dated 1537 by an inscription. The vaults have multiple ribs and
pendants. Much of the glass is ancient. (Fiehot I, 76.)

FECAMP, Seine-Inferieure. St. Etienne was designed, it is said, by Antoine
Bolder. The edifice has never been completed. (Benoist.)

CHATEAU-THIERRY, Aisne. St. Crepin is a fine flamboyant church with a
lateral tower.

SOMMERVAL, Aube. St. Martin consists of a single-aisled nave, transepts,
and a semicircular apse. The entire edifice is roofed in wood, with the exception
of the choir, which still preserves its Romanesque barrel vault. The main body of
the edifice was reconstructed in the XVI century, the western tower in the XVIII.
(Fiehot I, 466.)

SOUVIGNY-SUR-MEME, Sarthe. St. Martin is of interest as showing the
development of the Renaissance style in the XVI century, for the building dates are
unusually well established. The nave of a single aisle commenced in 1522 is flam-
boyant, but Renaissance feeling is evident in the round-arched portal of 1542. The
triumphal arch bears the date 1584.

PARXAY, (her. Eglise is desecrated, and at present converted into a shop.
The ribs of the choir vault penetrate the monocylindrical piers. The nave contains
a round-arched portal. (De Kersers IV, 130.)

GREEZ-SUR-ROC, Sarthe. St. Pierre. The existing single-aisled nave dates
from the XI or XII century, but the ancient facade was destroyed in 1858. The tower
is somewhat later than the nave. An inscription on one of the corbels records that
the choir was erected in 1527; it is vaulted and has a fine chevet; its style is that of
the Renaissance. The nave was remodeled about the same time that the choir was
built. (Vavasseur.)

RICEY-BAS, Aube. Eglise was reconstructed in the XV century, although
the west portal is of the Renaissance style. The edifice consists of a nave, two side
aisles, transepts, a central tower, chapels, and a three-sided apse. The nave has a
pendant vault, but the vaults of the choir and transepts are simple. (Arnaud, 221.)

LILLEBOXXE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise possesses a cloehcr which must be
considered as one of the finest products of flamboyant design. This was begun in
1496, but was not completed before 1542. The design is restrained, and the spire
is not in open work; the transition from square to octagon is managed not by means
of flying buttresses, but by dormers and pinnacles. An effect of peculiar charm is
produced by making one of these pinnacles larger than the others. (De la Balle.)

JARS, Cher. Eglise. Of the building erected by Archemhaud de Seuly c.

408

OTHER MONUMENTS

1200 there survives only the core of the western tower, the remainder of the edifice
having been remodeled in the XVI century. The present structure consists of a
single-aisled nave, transepts, and a seven-sided apse, the whole vaulted with very
complex multiple rib vaults. The capitals show Renaissance feeling. (De Kersers
VII, 259.)

NEUBOURG, Eure. Chupelle du Chateau. The facade with its two unfin-
ished towers is very decadent in style, but was probably erected during the first half
of the XVI century. Capitals are omitted, but strangely enough griffes appear.
The remainder of the edifice is a typical three-aisled country edifice, remarkable only
for the column placed on the axis of the chevet. (De la Balle.)

STE. MAURE, Aube. Eglise. The nave and the two side aisles are of the
end of the XV century, the transepts and the choir were constructed in 1546. The
clearstory is omitted. There is a southwest tower. (Fichot I, 56.)

BANNAY, Cher. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave, very low and cov-
ered with plaster, a choir of one bay, and a polygonal apse. The eastern portions
were reconstructed in the XV century. The vault of the apse is formed by six ribs
converging towards a central keystone. (De Kersers VII, 1.)

SACQUENVILLE, Eure. Eglise, of the XV century, contains two parallel
naves. On one of the keystones of the vault is an inscription which reveals the name
of the master builder: — "Andre Conry Macon pries Dicu por li!"

AUBERVILLIERS, Seine. Eglise. The facade and tower are said to date
from 1541. The nave, also of the XVI century, has an elaborate vault with mul-
tiple ribs and pendants. The side aisles are also vaulted. The east end is square.
(In. Gen. I, 69.)

ST. AMBROIX, Cher. Eglise consists of a rectangular vaulted choir of which
the prismatic ribs are carried on corbel-tables, a semicircular arch of triumph, tran-
septs, a chapel, a single-aisled wooden-roofed nave, and a narthex-tower. The
building is said to have been erected in the XV century. (De Kersers III. 169.)

IRVY-LA-BATAILLE. Eure. St. Martin. The nave of this monument is
said to have been reconstructed by Philibert de l'Orme at the command of Diane de
Poitiers. The building was probably finished in 1537, since this date may be read
on the exterior of the north wall of the chevet. The bell bears the date 1538.

LEPINE, Aube. St. Baiihelemy possesses a richly painted wooden ceiling.
The three-sided apse, the choir, and the transepts are flamboyant in style, and are
characterized by angle buttresses and large traceried windows filled with XVI cen-
tury glass. The nave is smaller, and appears somewhat earlier. (Fichot I, 256.)

BIENFAITE, Calvados. Eglise of the XV century possesses a graceful slate
spire. (Benoist III, 66.)

MARCHEZIEUX, Manche. Eglise consists of a nave of the XIII century,
two side aisles, transepts, and a rectangular choir of the XIV century. The nave
vaults, carried on a system in which the capitals are omitted and the vaults disappear,
were doubtless added in the XV century. There is no clearstory. The piers are
cylindrical and the capitals have round abaci. (De la Balle.)

ST.-AUBIN-D'ECROSVILLE, Eure. Eglise, a building half flamboyant,

409

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

half Renaissance in style, is characterized by a northwestern tower, by side aisles
without vaults, by a square east end, and by the absence of a clearstory. (De la
Balle.)

COIJRS-LES-BARRES, (her. St. Pantaleon has been so many times rebuilt
that the nave at present is entirely without character. The choir of the XV century
is two bays long and vaulted. The ribs penetrate the quarter columns engaged in
the angles. (De Kersers IV, 232.)

BELLEME, Orne. Eglise, of the XVI century, possesses a broad nave flanked
by three chapels on the north, and four on the south, side. (De la Balle.)

VENDEUVRE, Aube. Eglise was entirely reconstructed in the flamboyant
period. The nave of three bays has no windows, and its vaults with double pendants
are very low. There are side aisles, but no lateral chapels. The church contains
some ancient glass. (Arnaud, 213.)

STE. -SUZANNE-SUR-VIRE, Manche. Kgli.se, constructed about the middle
of the XV century, consists of a single-aisled nave and a polygonal apse. There is
a deep stone porch. The edifice is rib-vaulted throughout. (De la Balle.)

AIGLE. Orne. St. Martin possesses a very beautiful flamboyant spire.
(Benoist.)

POXTS SOl'S AVRAXC IIKS, Manche. Eglise. The transepts and the
choir are of the XV century, the portal of the end of the XVI century, but the entire
edifice was much altered in the XVII century. The monument, which consists of
a single-aisled nave, transepts, and a rectangular choir, is uninteresting. (De la
Balle.)

ST. VALERY, Seine-Inferieure. Abbaye. The ruined nave of the XV century
is half Renaissance, half flamboyant in style, but the lady chapel is frankly Renais-
sance. (Benoist.)

LA CHAPELLE-D'ANGILLON, Cher. Eglise, erected at the end of the XV
century, consists of a single-aisled nave, a polygonal apse, and a northern lateral
tower. The whole has been much modernized. (De Kersers III, 7.)

HATTEXVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise is remarkable for its fine tower of
the XVI century.

A I XON, Aube. Eglise of the XVI century, is Renaissance rather than flam-
boyant in style.

ST. FROMOND, Manche. Prieure. The existing chapel, which is not older
than the XV century, consists of an apse, a choir, a central tower, and transepts. The
absence of a nave is explained by the fact that a parish church formerly existed in
the neighborhood.

LONGNV . Orne. Eglise of the XV and XVI centuries, is characterized by a
picturesque tower, a square e;ist end, and a gable roof.

PLAINVILLE, Mure. Eglise. The single-aisled wooden-roofed nave is of
the beginning of the XV century, but the choir and the sacristy were erected in the
XVI century. (De la Balle.)

M EN1 LLES, Kiin . Eglise. The portal, a gem of flamboyant design, is charac-
terized by flattened, round, and ogee arches. (De la Balle.)

410

OTHER MONUMENTS

BOULLERET, Cher. Eglise consists of a nave of the XV century at present
covered with a plaster barrel vault, a vaulted choir two bays long reconstructed in
the second half of the XV century, and a three-sided apse. The prismatic ribs
penetrate the engaged cylindrical piers. The entire edifice has been much modern-
ized. (De Kersers V, 8.)

BRIQUEVILLE, Calvados. Eglise has been recently reconstructed in large
part. The tower, with its elegant if somewhat heavy spire, is a structure of the late
XII century, made over in the XV century. (De la Balle.)

VILLEMAUR, Aube. Eglise was burned in 1446, reconstructed in 1512, and
dedicated in 1519. It consists of a nave of a single aisle, transepts, and a rectangular
choir. The windows are without tracery. The vaults have been replaced by a
wooden roof. (Arnaud, 207.)

VEAUGUES, Cher. Eglise consists of a rectangular nave roofed in wood, and
a choir whose square east end is pierced by a lancet. The ribs of the choir vaults
penetrate the supports. (De Kersers VII, 88.)

NEUVY-SAIJTOUR, Yonne. Eglise. The nave, dating from the early years
of the XVI century, is of slight interest; the remainder of the edifice is a fine example
of the Renaissance style. (Arch, de la Com. des Mon. Hist. II, 83.)

ALENCON, Orne. St. Leonard dates mainly from the late XVI century,
although the edifice was begun as early as 1489. Only the walls survive. The
vault which fell in 1645 was rebuilt in 1840. (De la Balle.)

ST. POUANGE, Aube. St. Marc consists of a single-aisled wooden-roofed
nave and a five-sided apse. The church, which is of very slight importance, was
built in the XVI century. (Fichot I, 455.)

PIPARDIERE, Calvados. Chapelle of charming simplicity, is said to date
from the end of the XV century.

CLAIRFEUILLE, Orne. St. Germain. It is known that this church was
burned in 1438, and the existing edifice was doubtless constructed immediately after
this fire. The single-aisled nave is covered with a modern wooden roof; a massive
Norman tower adjoins to the north. (De la Balle.)

THORIGNE, (near Livarot), Sarthe. Eglise. In the course of recent res-
torations an inscription recording that the building was constructed in 1512, —
"P. Dumans ma eontretillee Ian quon dit mil cinqc doze," — was found upon the fine
carved timber roof.

NOGENT-EN-OTHE, Aube. Noire Dame. This single-aisled chapel of
three bays contains some XVI century glass. (Fichot I, 303.)

LA BONNEVILLE, Eure. Eglise of the XV century contains some glass of
the epoch. (Benoist.)

AIX-EN-OTIIE, Aube. St. Avit is said to have been dedicated in 1537. The
choir was demolished in 1836. What remains consists of a single-aisled nave lighted
by six windows (only one of which has tracery) and covered with a plaster vault.
(Fichot I, 282.)

Eglise de la Nativite dates from the very late XVI century. (Fichot I,
271.)

411

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

NOTRE-DAME-DU-TOUCHET, Manche. Eglise consists of a single-
aisle nave, a central western tower, and a square choir, probably of the XV century.
The eastern window contains some ancient glass. (De la Balle.)

OFFRANVTLLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. The construction is said to have
been begun in 1.517 and to have been interrupted by the Wars of Religion. (Benoist
I, 61.)

BIARI), Manche. Eglise was erected in 1530, but the nave and transepts were
rebuilt in the XVIII century. The tower, almost entirely Renaissance in style, does
not lack a certain charm. (De la Balle.)

DOULLENS, Somme. Notre Dame, formerly known as St. Martin, was
erected in the XVI century. The ancient sacristy of the XV century has been
turned into a chapel.

BAR-SUR-AUBE, Aube. ChapeUe St. Jean is a plain rectangular structure,
two bays long and vaulted. It is assigned to the XV century. (Arnaud,
263.)

VILLEDIEU-LES-POELES, Manche. Eglise. The transepts and choir
were finished before 149.5, the side aisles were added in lb\'54, and the nave vaults
are modern. At present the edifice consists of a nave, two side aisles transepts, a
central tower, a choir, and a polygonal apse. The nave is shorter than the choir.
There are no flying buttresses, although there is a considerable clearstory. (De la
Balle.)

DAMVILLE, Eure. St. Evrouli is a flamboyant edifice whose plan is cruciform
owing to the north lateral chapel and a south lateral tower. The wooden vaults are
modern. The tower is the most remarkable part of the building. (Lestrambes)

BOTQUEMAISON, Somme. Eglise. The choir vaulted with multiple rib
vaults is of the XVI century, but the nave is of the XVII century. (Lefevre.)

YIXON, Cher. Eglise, of the flamboyant period, possesses a modern apse, and
a central western tower. (De Kersers VII, 91.)

DOUDEVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise, reconstructed in the XVI century
in imitation of St.-Valery-en-Caux, is of no interest.

TOUQUES, Calvados. St. Thomas. The choir and tower are said to be of
the XV century. (Benoist.)

GRANVILLE, Manche. Eglise is mainly of the XV century, though the nave
is of the X\ II century. (De la Balle; Benoist.)

BOT7ILLANCOURT, Somme. St. Jdcques-le-Majeur was erected at the end
of the XV century. The choir is narrower than the nave. The building contains
ancient glass. (Darsy.)

ST. TIIIBAUT, Aube. Eglise. This monument restored in 1877 consists of
a single-aisled wooden-roofed nave and a semicircular apse built on substructions
of the XII century. The facade retains in part its XVI century decoration. The
choir has a barrel vault, but its windows are pointed. (Fichot I, 4(>0.)

SURY-ES- BOIS, (her. Eglise. The single-aisled nave is covered by a modern
vault, but the polygonal chevel is of the XV or XVI century. There is a large and
entirely uninteresting northern chapel. (De Kersers VII, 273.)

412

OTHER MONUMENTS

ST. THIBAUD, Cher. Chapelle of the XV century is a plain rectangular struc-
ture with oblique angle buttresses. (De Kersers VII, 54.)

VIMOUTIEHS, Orne. Vieille Eglise consists of a nave, two side aisles, tran-
septs, and a square choir. (De la Balle.)

BOURG-ACHARD, Eure. Eglise. Of the ancient edifice there remain only
the choir and transepts built In the XVI century and interesting for their stained glass
windows. (De la Balle; Benoist II, 04.)

IMBLEVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise destroyed during the English occupa-
tion, was reconstructed at the end of the XV century, the dedication being celebrated
in 1522. Alterations were carried out in 1748-51, when the pointed arch of triumph
separating choir and nave was erected, and in 1853-63 the choir was entirely demol-
ished and rebuilt in its present form. (De la Balle.)

STE.-HONORINE-LA-CHARDONNE, Orne. Eglise. The choir and the
two baron's chapels of the end of the XV century are characterized by angle but-
tresses and traceried windows. (De la Balle.)

MARTIGNY, Manche. Eglise. The date of the choir (1549-50) is known
from two inscriptions. The edifice contains some ancient glass. (De la Balle;
Benoist V, 47.)

LONGPAON, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise of the XV and XVI centuries, is chiefly
remarkable for its windows. (Benoist.)

VISINE, Somme. Eglise of three aisles dates from the XV century. (Darsy.)

VIGNOUX-SOUS-LES-AIX, Cher. Eglise. The three-sided apse was re-
constructed in the XVI century, but retains a corbel-table with grotesque carvings of
the XII century. The entire edifice was restored in 1091, and the tower and nave are
modern. (De Kersers VI, 248.)

SUBLIGNY, Cher. Eglise consists of a plaster-covered nave, a somewhat
narrower choir, a polygonal apse, two rib-vaulted chapels of the XV century, and a
north lateral tower. (De Kersers VII, 209.)

ECHAUFFOUR, Orne. St. Andre is for the most part a flamboyant structure.
The tower is not without interest. (De la Balle.)

INFREVILLE, Eure. Eglise. The choir and the apse are of the end of the
XV century, the insignificant tower is probably of the XIII century, and the vaulted
nave is for the most part a work of the Renaissance. (De la Balle.)

LE VEUILLIN, Cher. Eglise is desecrated and at present converted into a
grange. The choir of the XV century was two bays long and vaulted. (De
Kersers IV, 220.)

HEURTEVENT, Calvados. Eglise is said to be of the XV century. (Benoist
III, 70.)

ARDEVON, Manche. Chapelle de St. Gilles is said to be of the XV century.

BEAUVAIS, Oise. Ste. Marguerite is an unimportant monument of the flam-
boyant period.

VILLELOUP, Aube. Eglise. With the exception of the modern nave, this is
an edifice of the XVI century. It consists of a nave, transepts, and a five-sided apse.
The choir is vaulted and retains some fragments of its ancient glass. (Fichot I, 209.)

413

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

MONTSORT, Ome. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave without character,
flamboyant transepts, a central tower of 1707, and a choir. The nave may be as early
as the XII century, but the facade is of the XV century. (Antoine.)

PECHESEUL, Sarthe. Chapcllc St. Michel-d'Avoise is said to have been con-
structed in 1539. (Wismes. I

FOHMIGXY, Calvados. Chapelle St. Louis-du-Val-de-Formignij is an edifice
of the XV century. (I)e la Balle.)

ATI IIS, Orne. Eglise is said to be of the XV century. (Benoist.)

CHKRY. (her. Eglise. The single-aisled nave (which seems to be an older
edifice made over in the XV century) and the western narthex tower bearing the date
1578 are the only surviving portions. The nave has angle buttresses. (De
Kcr>rr- V. -,'()9.)

MARTAIXEV1LLE, Somme. St. Pierre consists of a five-sided apse, a flam-
boyant choir, and an earlier nave, (Darsv.)

TOURNY, Eure. Eglise. This flamboyant edifice is a typical three-aisled
country church.

LIYAROT, Calvados. Eglise seems to be mainly of the XV century, although
the two dates 1625 and 1654 may be read on the facade. (Benoist III, (59.)

CORBIE, Somme. Eglise de la Neurille-sous-Corbie. The portal of the XV
century is adorned with remarkable sculptures.

COURBOYER, Orne. Chapelle du Chateau is a flamboyant edifice. (Benoist.)

JUCOVILLE, Calvados. Chapelle is a charming construction of the XV cen-
tury. (Benoist.)

CLAYILLE, Eure. Eglise of the XV century contains some fine windows.
(Benoist II. 9.)

AXCOURT, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise is remarkable for its seven windows filled
with glass of the XVI century. (Benoist.)

TRUN, Orne. Eglise. This unimportant edifice is largely of the XVI century,
but the bell tower, which stands detached to the north, is somewhat earlier. (De la
Balle.)

ESSAY, Orne. Chapelle du Chateau. This desecrated edifice was erected in
tin XV century on more ancient foundations. (De la Balle.)

ROMAGNY, Manehe. Eglise dates from the commencement of the XV cen-
tury. (De la Balle.)

MAI'EEYRIER, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise was constructed in the XVI century.
(De la Balle.)

SAGXY. Scine-et-Marne. Eglise. This ruined and desecrated edifice is said
to be of the XV century. (Aufauvre et Fichot, 181.)

MEMOIRS, Seine-et-Marne. St. Jean-Baptiste. This monument of the XVI
century is supplied with an ambulatory.

NORMAN \ I ELK, Eure. Eglise, of the XV century, contains fine glass.

HACQUEVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise is of the XVI century. (Benoist.)

RAMBIRKEITS-LE-BOSQUET, Somme. Eglise. The low nave seems
wrv ancient, but the loftier choir is of the XVI century. (Darsy.)

414

OTHER MONUMENTS

PASSAIS-LA-CONCEPTION, Orne. Eglise of the XV century is of little
interest. It contains a single-aisled nave, transepts, and a western tower. (De la
Balle.)

SANCEY,1 Aube. Eglise. This vaulted cruciform edifice is a flamboyant
structure entirely remodeled in the XIX century. (Fichot I, 258.)

GRON, Cher. Eglise consists of a single-aisled nave and a polygonal apse. It
is of interest only for its glass of the XVI century. (De Kersers I, 228.)

LA SUZE, Sarthe. Eglise. The timber roof was remade in 14.73. (Froger.)

GODERVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise is in part of the XVI century, but
has been much modernized. (Benoist I, 50.)

IIAMBYE, Manche. St. Pierre is almost entirely modern with the exception
of the fine porch of the XV century. (De la Balle.)

ST. AM AND,2 Cher. Chapelle des Carmes is a late Gothic structure with a
Renaissance facade. (De Kersers VI, 177.)

PARASSY, Cher. Prieure de Michavant. Some fragments of XV century
architecture which formerly belonged to the apse of this chapel still survive. (De
Kersers.)

PREY, Eure. Eglise. The southern portal of the XVI century is finely sculp-
tured. (Benoist.)

LANDE D'AIRON, Manche. Eglise is of decadent style. (De la Balle.)

VTLLEMOIRON, Aube. Eglise is almost entirely of the Renaissance. (Fichot
I, 346.)

MONTFORT, Eure. Eglise. This almost entirely modern edifice is interest-
ing only for its tower. (Benoist II, 60.)

VIEUX-BELLEME, Orne. St. Martin. The XV century vaults and the
tower fell in 1846. (De la Balle.)

SOLIERS, Calvados. Chapelle Notre Dame-de-Fours is a small monument of
the XV century. (Benoist III, 33.)

BELLEUF, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. The nave is said to be of the XVI cen-
tury. (De la Balle.)

BOSC-GUERARD-ST.-ADRIEN, Seine-Inferieure, Eglise is of the XVI cen-
tury. (De la Balle.)

ST. EUGIENNE, Manche. Eglise is of the XV and XVII centuries.

Chapelle de Prieure.

ORBEC, Calvados. Eglise is of the XV or XVI century. (Benoist III, 68.)

Chapelle de I'Hotel-Dieu is of the commencement of the XVI century. (Benoist
III, 68.)

SANCERRE, Cher. St. Denis contains a sacristy of the XVI century. (De
Kersers VII, 70.)

NORVILLE, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise is adorned with a tower of the XV cen-
tury. (Benoist I, 52.)

SERVON, Manche. Eglise was rebuilt in the XVIII century, and decorated
with a strange tower. The ancient gable of the chevet is, however, preserved, and

1 Or St. Julien. °- Or St.-Amand-Mont-Rond.

415

FLAMBOYANT MONUMENTS

a fine flamboyant window. The latter, as is known from an inscription, dates from
15-26. (De la Balle.)

MONTIGNY, Seine-Inferieure. Eglise. The choir is of the XVI and XVII
centuries, the nave of the XVI. (De la Balle.)

ST. EEGER, Orne. Eglise is in part of the XV century. (Benoist.)

GREEZ-Sl R-ROC, Sarthe. Notre Dame. Of the ancient edifice only the
XV century door survives. (Vavaseur.)

MONTFEY, Aube. Eglise is of the XVI century.

ROUEZ, Sarthe. figlise. The vaults are of the XVI century.

TILLOY, Somme. Eglise of the XVI century, contains some ancient glass.

TOUROUVRE, Orne. St. Gilles contains some XVI century glass.

VETHEUIL. Seine-et-Oise. Eglise is entirely flamboyant in style.

VILLERS-CANIVET, Calvados. Eglise is of the XV century.

MEULAN, Seine-et-Oise. Eglise. The chapel of St. Michel is of the XV cen-
tury, but poorly preserved.

LE GRIPPON, Manche. Chapelle is of the XV century.

MESNIL-GUILLAUME, Calvados. Eglise is of interest for one stained glass
window. (Benoist III, 66.)

FRAMICOURT, Somme. Eglise is of the XV century.

416

GENERAL INDEX

References to definitions and explanations are folloived by a cross (t) those to the lists of
monuments by an asterisk (*).

Aachen, Dom, 70, 276.

Abacus, continued as a string-course, 98; pro-
file in Gothic period, 294; profile in tran-
sitional period, 98; proportioned to size of
load in transitional period, 98; round, 295;
transitional, 111. 194.

Abbeville, commune, 164.

Abbeville, St. Vulfran, 393,* 111. 281; mould-
ings, 381.

Abbecourt, Eglise, 248.*

Abelard, 146.

Abraham, symbol of God, 129.

Acanthus, development of in the transitional
period, 104; in cornices in the transitional
period, 100; in flamboyant period, 386.

Acheres, Eglise, 43.*

Achy, Eglise, 21.*

Acy-en-Multien, Eglise, 230,* 59; rib vault,
56.

Adam, symbol of Christ, 127.

Agincourt, battle of, 366.

Agneaux, Chapelle, 359.*

Agnetz, Eglise, 341.*

Aigle, St. Martin, 410.*

Aigneville, St. Martin, 249.*

Ailly-sur-Noye, Eglise, 358.*

Ainay-le-Vieil, Eglise, 340.*

Airaines, Notre Dame, 213;* date, 53; nave
vaults, 76; rib vaults, 57; system, 59.

Aires-les-Mello, Eglise, 339.*

Aisne, transitional architecture of, 55.

Aix-d'Angillon, St. Ythier, 25.*

Aix-en-Othe, Eglise de la Nativite, 411;* St.
Avit, 411.*

Aizy, St. Medard, 219.*

Albi, Cathedrale, 111. 260, 290, 381.

Alencon, Notre Dame, 396,* 111. 279, 111.
284; porch, 379; vaults, 382; St. Leonard,
411.*

Alicamps, Eglise, 29.*

Allegorical significance of Gothic imagery, 121
seq.

Allogny, Eglise, 340.*

Allonne, Eglise, 236*

Allouis, Eglise, 42.*

Almeneches, Eglise, 402.*

Almenno, Baptistery, 70.

Alternate system in the He de France, 59
note 2.

Amaye, Notre Dame, 357.*

Ambleny, Eglise, 337.*

Ambulatory in Auvergne, 70; in use on the
borders of the He de France in the XI
century, 8.

Ambulatory Vaults at Morienval, 69 seq; at
Sens, 73; developed at Pontoise, 73; im-
proved at St. Denis, 73; in the Gothic era,
276 seq.; significance of, 75.

Amiens, Eglise Cathedrale Notre Dame, 304,*
111. 219, 111. 234, 111. 236, 111. 250, 111. 253,
111. 254, 111. 265, 111. 266, 111. 289; abaci of
triforium capitals, 295; Beau Dieu, 301;
capitals, 272; chapel of St. Jean-Baptiste,
365; fa fade, 284; flying buttresses, 274;
glazed triforium in chevet, 278; iconography
of sculptures, 134; interior design, 277;
nave chapels, 279 ; parapets, 287 ; pinnacles,
274; plan, 281; sculptures, 131, 301; sculp-
tures of choir screen, 387; sculptures of
south transept portal, 303; statue of St.
Dominic, 301; statue of St. George, 301;
statue of St. Jerome, 301; statue of St.
Martin, 301; statue of St. Stephen, 301;
statue of St. Warlus, 302; string-course of
nave, 293; system, 271; vault of crossing,
382; commune of, 163; diocese of, transi-
tional architecture, 55; St. Germain, 398,*
111. 282; mouldings, 381; vaults, 382; St.
Leu, 398; * St. Kemi, 398.*

Anagni, 261.

Ancourt, Eglise, 414.*

Angicourt, Eglise, 219.*

Angivillers, Eglise, 21.*

Angle turrets, applied to spires, 94.

419

GENERAL INDEX

Angy, Eglise, 224.*

Angy-sur-1'Aubois, Eglise, 30.*

Annoye, Eglise, 32.*

Ansacq, St. Lucien, 232.*

Appeville-Annebaut, Eglise, 395.*

Apse, polygonal, advantages of, S2: evolution
of, sn.

Apsidal chapels, number increased, 75.

Array, Eglise, 48.*

Arceuil, St. Denis, 339.*

Arch, flattened, 374; f four-centered, 373; f
hanging, 375; t ogee, sec ogee arch; three-
centered, 373: f Tudor, 373. t

Archivolts, flamboyant, 385; profiles of in
transitional period, 100; of windows and
doorways, 101; in two orders, 11; transi-
tional of arches. 111. 190; transitional of
doorways, 111. 201; transitional of windows,
111. ^200.

Arcomps, Eglise, 35.*

Arcv-Ste.-Restitute, Eglise, 218; * flying but-
tresses, 92.

Ardennais, Eglise, 35.*

Ardennes, Abbaye, 337.*

Ardevon, Chapelle de St. Gilles, 413.*

Argent, Eglise, 351.*

Argentan, St. Martin, 396;* St. Germain,
395.*

Aristotle, influence on the thought of the XIII
century, 257.

Arithmetic, 131.

Arl.s, St. Trephine, 11-2, 113.

Arques, Notre Dame, 395.*

Arsago, Baptistery, 70.

Arts, seven, 131.

Asnieres, Eglise, 37,* 3.V2.*

Aspic, symbolism of, 130.

Assigny, Eglise, 45.*

Astronomy, 131.

Athis, Eglise, 249.* U4.*

Attic base, used in the transitional period, 98.

Attributes in medieval iconography, 133.

Aube, roof scheme of flamboyant churches,
111. 280, 379.

Aubervilliers, Eglise, 409.*

Aubigny, St. Martin, 333.*

Aubri, Eglise, 300.*

Audemer, St. Ouen, 37-2.

Audrieu, ( !hapelle, 301.*

Aumale, Eglise, 106;* St. Pierre, 400.*

Aumatre, Eglise, 362.*

Aunon-sur-Orne, Ste. Eulahe, 388.*

Aureole, 133; t significance of, 133.

Autheuil, Eglise, '241.*

Autheuil-en-Valois, Prieure, 236; * St. Mar-
tin. 236.*

Auvergne, ambulatories of, 70.

Auvers, Eglise, 216,* III. 171; apse, 80.

Auvers-le-Hamon, Eglise, 37.*

Auviller, Eglise, 228.*

Auxerre, Abbaye St. Germain, 3'25;* Cathe-
dral, 324; * quadripartite vaults, "268; St.
Eusebe, 325.*

Auxon, Eglise, 410.*

Avalleurs, Commanderie du Temple, 3,50.*

Avallon, St. Ladre, ~2'A;* St. Martin, '24.*

Avor, Eglise, "29.*

Avranches, Xotre Dame-des-Champs, 357;*
St. Saturnin, 357.*

Avrechy, St. Lucien, •2:54.*

Axis, columns and angles placed on, 281.

Azy, Eglise, 340.*

Azy-Bonneil, Eglise, 221.*

Babylonian Captivity, 262.

Bacqueville, Eglise, 414.*

Bagnolles-les-Bains, Chapelle de Lignoux,
301.*

Bailleul, Eglise, 356.*

Bailleval, Eglise, 22:>*

Balagny-sur-Therain, Eglise, 21.*

Balleroy, Eglise, 350.*

Ballon, St. Mers-sous-Ballon, 47.*

Balustrades, triforium, 288.

Bangy, St. Martin. 30.*

Bannay, Eglise, 409.*

Bannegou, St. Martin, 48.*

Barbery-St.-Sulpice, St. Sulpice, 41.*

Bare, Eglise, 356.*

Bare feet, significance of, 133.

Barlieu, Eglise, 361.*

Barrel vault, in the He de France in the XI
century, 12; in the He de France in the
XII century, 62; pointed, in Berry in the
\1 and XII centuries, S: semicircular in
Berry in the XI century, 9.

Bar-sur-Aube, Chapelle Si. Jean, 412;* St.
Maclou, L2.~); * St. Pierre, 25.*

Bar-sur-Seine, Eglise, 395.*

Base, Gothic, 295 seq.; Gothic, evolution of,
99; interpenetrating at St. Satur, 364; of
the Romanesque of the He de France, 13;
profile in flamboyant period, 385; profile
in transitional period, 98; supplied with
griffes in the transitional period, 99: tran-
sitional, 111. 195.

420

GENERAL INDEX

Base stone, 99; f evolution of, 99.

Basilisk, symbolism of, 130.

Bayeux, Abbaye St. Vigor, 346 ; * Cathedral,
288; Chapelle du Seminaire, 346.*

Bazancourt, 251.*

Bazenville, Eglise, 355.*

Bazoches, St. Pierre, 226.*

Bazouges-sur-Loire, St. Aubin, 27.*

Beaufort-en-Santerre, Eglise, 222.*

Beaumont-le-Roger, Prieure, 340; * St. Nich-
olas, 340.*

Beaumontel, Eglise, 348.*

Beauquesne, Eglise, 237.*

Beauvais, Eglise Cathedrale St. Pierre, 311,*
111. 240, 111. 227, 111. 231; capitals, 272;
flying buttresses, 276; glazed triforium, 278;
parapets, 387; piers, 271; pyramidal sec-
tion, 279; transept ends, 373, 379: com-
mune, 161: La Madeleine, 211:* St. Bar-
thelemy, 312: * St. Etienne, 211,* 111. 162,
111. 213; nave vaults, 77; stilted transverse
ribs, 66; wheel of fortune, 105, 111. 266: St.
Gilles, 211:* Ste. Marguerite, 413.*

Beauval, Eglise, 223.*

Beauvoisis, transitional architecture of, 55.

Bee, Abbaye, 405.*

Becquigny, Eglise, 249.*

Belief ontaine, Prieure, 210; * date of, 53; nave
vaults, 76; profiles of archi volts, 100; system,
59.

Belleme, Eglise, 410; * Prieure St. Martin,
360.*

Belleuf, Eglise, 415.*

Belleville, Eglise, 401.*

Belloy, Eglise, 350.*

Bengy, Eglise, 28.*

Beny, Eglise, 242.*

Bernay, Notre Dame-de-la-Couture, 398,* 111.
270; Ste. Croix, 397,* 365, 386, 381.

Berneuil-sur-Aisne, Eglise, 17.*

Berny-Riviere, S. Martin, 15.*

Berry, Romanesque architecture of, 9; Ro-
manesque ornament of, 10.

Berteaucourt-les-Dames, Eglise, 229.*

Berulles, Eglise, 400.*

Berzy-le-Sez, Eglise, 228.*

Bestiaries, 129.

Bethisy-St.-Martin, Eglise, 223,* 111. 187.

Bethisy-St.-Pierre, Eglise, 226,* 111. 161, rib
vaults, 66.

Beugneux, Eglise, 232.*

Biard, Eglise, 412.*

"Bible of the Poor," 117.

Biencourt, St. Martin, 405.*

Bienfaite, Eglise, 409.*

Billet moulding in Berry, 10; in the transi-
tional period, 102.

Binon, Eglise, 354;* Prieure, 15.*

Bishops, strife with abbots in the XI century,
3.

Bitry, Eglise, 19.*

Biville, Eglise, 344.*

Blancafort, Eglise, 39.*

Blangy, Notre Dame, 340.*

Blangy-sur-Poix, Eglise, 244.*

Blesmes, Eglise, 247.*

Blet, Eglise, 28.*

Blois, Chateau, 371; St. Laumer, 180.

Bloutiere, Iilglise, 362.*

Bonnes, St. Martin, 225.*

Bonneuil-en-Valois, Eglise, 227.*

Bonneval, Notre Dame, 247.*

Bonnieres, Eglise, 251.*

Bois-Commun, Eglise, 340.*

Bosc-Bordel, Eglise, 358.*

Bosc-Guirard-St.-Adrien, Eglise, 415.*

Bouray, Eglise, 343.*

Bougival, Notre Dame, 336.*

Boulogne-sur-Seine, Eglise, 338.*

Bouy, Eglise, 48.*

Bourguebus, Eglise, 360.*

Bouquemaison, Eglise, 412.*

Bouillancourt, St. Jacques-le-Majeur, 412.*

Bourg-Achard, Eglise, 413.*

Boulleret, Eglise, 411.*

Bourguignons, St. Plet, 406.*

Bouilly, St. Laurent, 402.*

Bouzais, Eglise, 46.*

Bourg, Eglise, 358.*

Bourges, Eglise Cathedrale, 312,* 111. 214,
111. 233, 111. 239, 111. 243, 111. 264, 111. 267,
111. 288; ambulatory vaults, 75, 276; fly-
ing buttresses, 275: capitals, 272; Joseph
window, 126; plan, 281; pyramidal section,
278 seq.; stained glass, 131, 299; stained
glass windows of the Ste. Chapelle, 300;
system, 272; tower, 372: Chapelle St.
George, 313: * Chapelle de St. Jean-Bap-
tiste, 399 : * Couvent des Augustins, 399 : *
Couvent des Cannes, 399: * Couvent de Ste.
Jeanne, 39C: * Notre Dame, 399:* Notre
Dame-de-Sales, 313:* Prieure St. Paul,
26:* Prieure St. Michel, 399:* St. Aous-
trillet-du-Chateau, 399:* St. Aoustrillet,
399: * St. Bonnet, 399: * Ste. Croix, 399: *
St. Fulgent, 313: * St. Jean-le-Vieux, 26: *

421

GENERAL INDEX

St. Martin-des-Champs, 27:* St. Medard,

399:* St. Kerre-le-Guillard, 313:* St.

Prive, 27.*
Boulogne, St. Timer, 80.
Bouvincourt, St. Hilaire, 244.*
Boutencourt, St. Etdennes, -217.*
Braisne, St. Yved, 3-25.*
Branville, Eglise, 360.*
Brasle, St. Quentin, 227.*
Bray. Eglise, 358;* St. Nicholas, 228*
Brecy, St. Michel. 227.*
Breuil, Eglise, 360*
Breuil-le-Sec, Eglise, -250.*
Breuil-le-Vert, Eglise, 19.*
Brenouille, Eglise, -250.*
Breslcs, Eglise, 20.*
Breteuil, Abbaye, 248;* St. Cyr, 248.*
Breteville, Net re Dame, 360.*
Breuil-Benoit, Abbaye, 33-2.*
Brcuville, 362.*

Brie-Comte-Robert, Eglise, 310.*
Brienney, St. Pierre et St. Paul, 3-19.*
Brinay, Eglise, 45.*
Brionne, Notre Dame, 355; * St. Denis, 355; *

St. Martin, 355.*
Briqueville, Eglise, 411.*
Broken rib vaults, 73,f 111. 167, 74.
Brouray, Eglise, 360.*
Brueres, Abbaye <le Noirlac, 2,'r, * Chapelle St.

Pierre, 48;* St. Martin. 226.*
Building models, ancient and medieval, 187.
Buleux, Eglise, 247.*
Bulles. Abbaye, 247.*
Burgundian influence in the He de France,

10-2.
Burgundian Wars, 369.
Bury, Eglise, 217,* 111. 170, 111. 209; nave

vaults. 77; ribbed half-dome, 78; rib vaults

not domed, 57; transverse ribs loaded, 67.
Bussaires, Eglise, 222.*
Bussy, Eglise, .'55.*
Buttress, angle, I!7!): t concealed by portals,

386; flamboyant, 381; in the XII century,

95.
Buttressing of barrel vaults in Berry in the

XI and XII centuries, 10.

Caen, Ancienne Eglise des Cordeliers, see
Eglise des Benedictines: Ancienne Eglise
St. Etienne-le-Vieux, 405:* Eglise des
Benedictines, W5: * Notre Dame-de-Froide-
Rue, see St. Sauveur: St. Jean. 330:* St.
Ouen, 405:* St. Pierre, 3-29,* III. 257, III.

IV.). III. -27-2; choir, 389; spire. 289; tri-
forium balustrade, 288; vaults, 383: St.
Sauveur, 330:* St. Sauveur-du-Marche,
330.*

Cagny, St. Germain, 359.*

Calf, symbolism of, 130.

Cambrai, Cathedrale, 111. 216; commune,
161.

Cambronne, Eglise, -216.*

Canly, St. Martin, -246.*

Canons regular, popularity in the XII cen-
tury, 177.

Canopy, flamboyant, 375.

Canterbury, Cathedral, Gervase's account of
the building of, 189.

Capital, croeketed, 105; design in rayonnant
period, 293; design in transitional period,
104; foliage omitted, 295; Gothic, propor-
tioned to diameter of piers, 272; natural-
istic, 292; omitted, 293, 380; reduced in
size, 364; Romanesque in the He de France,
13; running, design of in Gothic period,
-27-2; set normal to diagonals, 295, 91;
structural function of, 97; thickness of
abacus proportioned to size of load, 98.

Carcassonne, Cathedrale, 381.

Carenton, Eglise, 393.*

Carthusian order, 175; architecture of, 175.

Catenoy, Abbaye, 221; * rib vaults, 57.

Caudebec-en-Caux, Notre Dame, 392,* 111.
273, 111. 275; chevet, 377; porch, 379: Ste.
Gertrude, 393.*

Cauffry, Eglise, 220.*

Cauvigny, St. Martin, 238.*

Centurion, symbol of Church, T29.

Cerisy-Buleux, Fglise, 251.*

( lerlangues, Eglise, 359.*

Cerny-en-Laonnais, Eglise, 220.*

Cerseuil, St. Pierre, 2-24;* portal, 68.

Chablis, Fglise, 345.*

Chacrise, Notre Dame, 228.*

Chalivoy-Milon, Fglise, 30.*

Chalis, Abbaye, 359;* Eglise, 362.*

Chalons-sur-Marne, Cathedral, 328,* mould-
ings, 381: Notre Dame, 203,* 111. 182, 111.
242; ambulatory vaults, 276; flying but-
tresses, 92; system, 90: Notre Dame-de-
I'Epine, 391,* 111. 276; archaistic style, 384;
facade, 378; towers, 37S; vaults, 382: St.
Alpine, 204;* system, 90; St. Jean, 205.*

Chamant, Fglise, 244,* 111. 188.

Chambly, Eglise, 245.*

Chambon, Eglise, 34.*

422

GENERAL INDEX

Champagne, Abbaye, 48; * Eglise, 334.*

Champagne, ambulatory vaults, 276.

Champaissant, St. Gilles, 47.*

Champeaux, Eglise, 334.*

Champigny, Eglise, 338.*

Chapelle-St.-Lue, Eglise, 40<i.*

Chapelle-sur-Crecy, Eglise, 335.*

Chapels, nave, 279.

Chappes, Eglise, 46.*

Chapter-house, French, 291.

Chapters, importance of in the XII century,
177.

Charenton, Abbaye, 31; * St. Martin, 31.*

Charles V, 265.

Charly, Eglise, 28.*

Charost, St. Michel, 30.*

Chartentonay, Eglise, 350.*

Chartres, Eglise Cathedrale Notre Dame,
309,* 111. 190, 111. 215, 111. 218, 111. 229,
111. 249, 111. 256; capitals, 272; cart cult,
155 seq.; date of western portions, 53; de-
sign of facade, 95; flying buttresses, 274;
interior design, 277; northern spire, 378;
plan, 281; sculptures, 113; stained glass
windows, 131; transept facades, 287; Vieux
Clocher, 94; window of south transept,
125: primitive cathedral, ambulatory of,
9: St. Andre, 311: * St. Pierre, 310.*

Chars, Eglise, 22Q.*

Chassy, Eglise, 34.*

Chateaudun, La Madeleine, 31 ; * St. Jean,
31;* St. Valerien, 31.*

Chateau-du-Loire, St. Guingalois, 353.*

Chateau-Landon, Notre Dame, 35;* St.
Andre, 35*; St. Severin, 36; * St. Ugalde,
35.*

Chateau-Mediant, Le Chapitre or Notre
Dame, 24; * St. Genes, 24.*

Chateau-Thierry, St. Crepin, 408.*

Chatillon, Eglise, 406.*

Chautay, Eglise, 36.*

Chavannes, Eglise, 48.*

Chavigny, Eglise, 221.*

Chelles, Eglise, 229,* 111. 206.

Chennevieres, St. Pierre, 344,* 281.

Cherbourg, La Trinite, 399.*

Chery, Eglise, 414.*

Chevron, in Berry, 10; not found in the He de
France in the XI century, 13; in the tran-
sitional period, 102.

Chevet, polygonal, in Gothic period, 277.

Chevet vault, 79; f applied to square east
ends, 84; converging ribs eliminated, 82;

evolved structurally not decoratively, 80;
perfected, 82; stilting of wall rib, 79; struc-
tural character, 83.

Chezal-Benoit, Abbaye, 26.*

Chicheboville, 362.*

Chiry-Ourscanip, Abbaye d'Ourscamp, 336.*

Chitry, Eglise, 336,* 290.

Chivry-les-Etouvelles, Eglise, 21.*

Choirs prolonged, 75.

Church, French and Norman churches in
the XI century compared, 5: French, in
the XI century, 2: French in the XII cen-
tury, 168; power of, 178; resources, 170;
reform of, 172; reform of chapters, 177: in
the XIII century, 256; taxation of, 260: in
the XIV century, 257; decline of, 260;
financial ruin of, 260; hated, 259: in the XV
century, 366; financial ruin, 367: in the
XVI century, 370, 372.

Cinqueux, Eglise, 239.*

Ciry, Eglise, 224; * apse, 81.

Cistercian order, 172; architecture of, 173;
decline of, 174.

Citeaux, 172.

Civray, Eglise, 30.*

Clairets, Abbaye, 360.*

Clairfeuille, St. Germain, 411.*

Clairvaux, 172.

Clamart, Eglise, 403.*

Claville, Eglise, 414.*

Clemont, Eglise, 349.*

Clerey, Eglise, 355.*

Cleristot, Eglise, 359.*

Clermont, St. Arnoult, 246;* St. Samson,
246.*

Clery, Notre Dame, 397.*

Cleville, Eglise, 359.*

Cloistered Vault in Berry, 10.

Cloisters in the He de France, 95.

Cluniac Reform in France, 3; only partially
successful, 172.

Collegiate churches in the XII century, 177.

Colomby, Eglise, 350,* 290.

Commeaux, 362.*

Communes, opposed by Clergy, 164; rise of,
160.

Compiegne, Eglise des Minimes, 250; * St.
Antoine, 407;* St. Germain, 407;* St.
Jacques, 348; * St. Nicholas, 348.*

Conches, Ste. Foi, 394;* piers, 377.

Concressault, Eglise, 34.*

Conde-sur-Aisne, Chapelle, 235; * St. Pierre
et St. Paul, 235.*

423

(i KXERAL INDEX

( 'onde-sur-Iton. 362.*

Conflans-Ste.-Honorine, Eglise, 243.*

Conge-sur-Orne, Eglise, 36.*

< onteville, St. Nicholas, -243.*

( onverging ribs,

( !oquerel, Eglise, i

Corbeil, St. Spire, nave chapels. 279.

Corbel-tal>k\ arched, in Berry, 10; in the He
dc France in the XI century, 13; in the He
de France in the XII century, ,59; in the
transitional period, 100: double arched in
the transitional period, Kid: flat, in Berry,
10; in the transitional period, 100: passes
out of use, '293.

Corbie, commune of, 163; Eglise de la Neu-
ville-sous-Corbie, H 1; * Noire Dame, '230; *
St. Etienne, 236; * St. Pierre, 236.*

Corbon, Chapelle du Chateau. 356;* St.
Martin. 355.*

Cormeilles-en-Parisis, Eglise, ,4.5.*

Cornice, crocheted in Gothic period, 293.

Cornice", profile in the transitional period, 100,
111. IDS.

Cornusse, Eglise, 38.*

Corporations, 7: t origin of, 7.

Corquoy, Abbaye de Grandmont, 31.*

Corquoy, Eglise, 31.*

Coucy-la-Ville, Eglise, 347.*

Coucy-le-Chateau, St.-Sauveur, 239.*

Coudray, Eglise, 356.*

Coudrecieux, Eglise des Loges, :52.*

Coudres, Prieure, 361.*

Coudun, St. llilaire, -2-27 : * deviated axis, 140;
rib vault-, 57.

Coulognes, Eglise, 222.*

Coulombs, Eglise, 361.*

Couloisy, Eglise, -2:39.*

Coulonges, Eglise, system, 90.

Courboyer, Chapelle du Chateau, 414.*

Courgerennes, Eglise, 355.*

Courmelles, St. Georges, 229.*

Courmononcle, Chapelle St. Gengoul, 48.*

Cours-les-Barres, St. Pantaleon, 410.*

Courtenot, Eglise, 37.*

Courthiezy, Eglise, -2:57.*

Coust, Eglise, 31*

Coutances, Eglise Cathedrale, "18,* 111. 245,
III. 255; ambulatory vault-, 276; facade,
2SS; flying buttresses, 274; flying but-
tresses of chevet, 27.3: pyramidal section
of chevet, 279; spires, 288, 289: Eglise de
l'Hospice, 39-2:* St. Nicholas, 392:* St.
Pierre. 392,* 111. 285.

Couterne, Eglise, 361.*

Coutres, Eglise, 355.*

Couvains, Eglise, 34.).*

Couville, Eglise, 3,50.*

Cramoisy, St. Martin, '21.*

Cre-sur-Loire, Eglise, 39.*

Crevecoeur, Chapelle, 361.*

(Veil, 64; St. Evremont, '217;* St. Medard,

-217.*
Creney, St. Aventin, 346.*
Crepy, Notre Dame, 356; * St. Pierre, 356.*
Crepy-en-Valois, St. Thomas, 354.*
Cresancy, Eglise, 49.*
( reteil, Eglise, 352.*
Crezancy, Eglise, 234.*
Crezancay, Eglise, 19.*
Crillon, Eglise, '251.*
Crocket, 291.
Croissy, Eglise, 238.*

Crosniieres, St. Hippolyte et St. Laurent, 40.*
( Yosses, Eglise, 38.*

Croultes, Prieure, 3G0; * St. Quiriace, 235.*
Crouy-en-Thelle, Eglise, 249.*
Crouy, St. Maurice, '232.*
Crouy-sur-Ourcq, Eglise, rib vaults, 56.
Crusades. 169, 2.59; First Crusade, 5.
Cliffy, Eglise, 27.*
Cuise, St. Martin, 233.*
Culant, Notre Dame, 49.*
Cult of Carts, 151 se<p
Cylindrical piers, earliest examples of, 88.

Damery, St. Medard, 227.*

Dampierre-en-Crot, Eglise, 47.*

Damville, St. Evroult, 412.*

Demonville, Eglise, 3,58,* 362.*

Deuil, St. Eugene, is,* 281.

Deviated Axis, 139 seq.; explanation of, 140,
III. 216a; not symbolical, 139.

Dhuizel St. Renii, 226.*

Diagonals, curved, 72; f lowered, 66; transi-
tional profiles, 101, 111. '203.

Dialectics, 131.

Dieppe, St. Jacques, 393;* St. Remi, 393.*

Dies Irae, 136.

Diws, Notre Dame, 334.*

Dog-tooth, in the transitional period, 103;
not found in the He de France in the XI
century, 13.

Dome, in Berry, 10; symbolic interpretation
of, 138.

Domfront, Eglise, 245.*

I Dominicans, 170.

424

GENERAL INDEX

Dommaire, Abbaye du Lys, 355.*

Domont, Eglise, 242,* 111. 184; flying but-
tresses, 91.

Donnemarie, Eglise, 341.*

Dormers, applied to spires, 94.

Double walls, in Norman Gothic, 288.

Doudeville, Eglise, 412.*

Doullens, Notre Dame, 412; * St. Pierre, 348.*

Dourdan, St. Germain, 247.*

Dove, symbolism of, 122.

Dragey, 362.*

Dravegny, Eglise, 111. 205.

Drawings, medieval, 186.

Dreux, St. Pierre, 394.*

Drevant, Eglise, 48; * Prieure, 48.*

Drip-stone, 99; f evolution of, 99; not used on
the interior in the He de France, 100; struc-
tural function of, 99, 100.

Dun-le-Roi, St. Etienne, 24.*

Dun-sur-Auron, Eglise, 49.*

Eagle, symbolism of, 130.

East ends, square, in the He de France in the
XII century, 84; at Filaire, 11; unknown
in Berry before the XII century, 1 1 .

Ecaquelon, St. Jacques, 349.*

Ecardenville-la-Campagne, Eglise, 360.*

Echauffour, St. Andre, 413.*

Ecouche, Eglise, 349.*

Ecouis, Eglise Collegiale, 347.*

Elbeuf, St. Etienne, 406;* St. Jean, 406.*

Eleventh Century, historical conditions of in
the He de France, 1.

filineourt-Ste. -Marguerite, Eglise, 249.*

Ely, Cathedral, 95 note.

Engaged arcade, in Berry, 10; in the He de
France in the XI century, 13.

Engaged shafts in the He de France in the XII
century, 59. note 2.

Ennordre, Chapelle St. Georges, 351; * Eglise,
351.*

Envermen, Chapelle St. Guillain, 358; *
Notre Dame, 403.*

Kpau, Abbaye, 345.*

Epaux, St. Medard, 234.*

Kpineuil, Eglise, 43.*

Episcopacy, decadence of in the XI century,
2; reform of in the XII century, 178; tem-
poral power of in the XI century, 2.

Erquinvillers, Eglise, 251.*

Ervy, Eglise, 404.*

Esches, Eglise, 250.*

Espaubourg, 251.*

Essay, Chapelle du Chateau, 414.*

Essuiles, Eglise, 251.*

Estrees-St.-Denis, Eglise, 22.*

Estrepagny, Eglise, 357.*

Etampes, Notre Dame, 215; * St. Basile, 216;*

St. Gilles, 216;* St. Martin, 215.*
Eterville, Eglise, 361.*
Etival-en-Charnie, Abbaye, 47.*
Etouy, Eglise, 251.*
Etrechy, Eglise, 357.*
Eu, Abbaye St. Laurent, 327; * design of

nave, 278.
Eve, symbol of the church, 128.
Evrecy, Eglise, 358.*
Evreux, Eglise Cathedrale Notre Dame, 319; *

nave chapels, 279.

Facade, design of in Berry, 11; Gothic, 281
seq.; Norman Gothic, 288; treatment of in
the XII century, 95.

Falaise, Eglise de Guilray, deviated axis, 140;
Ste. Trinite, 397.*

Falvy, Eglise, 250.*

Farges, Eglise, 37.*

Fauna, flamboyant, 385 seq.; Gothic, 293.

Faverdines, Eglise, 353.*

Fay-St.-Quentin, St.-Laurent, 240.*

Fecamp, Abbaye, 328; * St. Etienne. 408 *

Ferrieres, Eglise, 336.*

Feucherolles, Eglise, 339.*

Fieffes, Eglise, 241.*

Fifteenth century, bigotry, 367; causes of
increased building activity, 368; economic
exhaustion, 366; political conditions, 366;
revival of building activity, 365.

Filain, Ste. Berthe, 20.*

Fitz-James, Eglise, 246.*

Flamboyant, 375.f

Flamboyant architecture, 375; f appreciation
of, 369; archaistic tendencies, 384; com-
pared with Gothic, 368; death of, 389;
decadence of, 372 seq.; a decorative art,
373; design in the XVI century, 373; not
indigenous in France, 365; origins of, 363;
spirit of eclecticism, 384; in the XV cen-
tury, 369; in the XVI century, 370.

Flavigny, Eglise, 34.*

Fleury, Eglise, 359.*

Flora, flamboyant, 385 seq.; naturalistic in
the Gothic period, 292.

Flowing architecture of England, 365.

Flying buttress, applied to spires, 378; con-
cealed in the second phase of the transition,

425

GENERAL INDEX

54; concealed, introduced into the De de
France from Normandy, 86; continuous
flights, 275; development of, 93; develop-
ment in the XIII century, 273 seq.; double
flights, 275; earliest examples of, 91; evo-
lution of, 91; gabled, !>.">; in the XII cen-
tury, 92; ogeed in flamboyant period, 377;
in Norman Gothic, 290; pinnacle-, added,
274; of two struts, 273.

Follainville, Eglise, 243.*

lolleville, Eglise, 106.*

Fontainebleau, Palais, 371.

Fontaine-Guerard, Abbaye, .'54.).*

Fontaine-sur-Somme, Eglise, 100.

Fontenay-Torcy, Eglise, 250.*

Fontenoy, St. Remi, 223.*

Fontevrault, order of, 17.).

Forest-l'Abbaye, Chapelle, 243

Formigny, Chapelle St. Louis-du-Yal-de-For-
migny, 414.*

Fortified churches, 290.

Foucheres, Eglise, 40.*

Foulangues, St. Denis, 238.*

Foumeaux, 362.*

Four-storied designs in the lie de France, !M».

Fourteenth century, decadence of learning,
262; economic decline, 264, 265; relaxa-
tion of building activity, 263; superstition,
£62.

Framicourt, Eglise, 41(5.*

Francastel, Eghse, 243.*

Francheville, Eglise, 302.*

Franciscan-, 176.

Fransart, Eglise, 246.*

Frenouville, Eglise, 361.*

Frescoes, history of, 105.

Fresnay-le-Vicomte, Notre Dame, 31.*

Fresnay-sur-Sarthe, Notre Dame, 27.*

Fresnoy-en-Thelle, 251.*

Frettemeule, Eglise, 302.*

Frocourt, Eglise, 250.*

Frouville, Eglise, 239*

Fussy, Eglise, I

Gables, engaged, 297; false, 297; open-work,
J97; in transitional period, 101.

Gabriel, 135.

Gaillon, Eglise, 246

Gallardon, Eglise, 225.*

Galleries of the kings, 132, t L34, 283; repre-
sent king-, of Judah, 132.

Gargoyle, 287; t flamboyant, 386; Gothic,
not symbolic, 124.

Garigny, EgUse, 35.*

Gassicourt, Eghse, 234.*

( refosse, Eghse, 355.*

Genouilly, Eghse, 220,* III. 154; Prieure dc
Gramont-Fort-Blanche, 42.*

Geometric ornament, in transitional period,
102.

Geometry, 131.

( rermigny, Eghse, IS

Gideon, symbohsm of, 126.

Girardon, Eghse, 46.*

Gisors, St. Gervais et St. Protais, 333.*

Glennes, St. Georges, 223.*

Goderville, Eghse, 415.*

Gonesse, Eghse, 332.*

Gorges, Eghse, 3,55.*

Gothic, 50.f

Gothic a reinfect i ire, alphabet, 255; beauty of
design, 255; culmination of, 256; esthetic
qualities of, 253; failure of, 254; geograph-
ical boundaries of, 179.

Gournay, St. Hildevert, 327.*

Gracay, St. Martin, 42.*

( rrammar, 131.

Grand Andely, Notre Dame, ■ '>'■>.').*

Grandmont, order of, 17.3.

Grand-Selve, Chapelle des Temphers, 356.*-

Granville, Eghse, U2.*

Greez-sur-Roc, Notre Dame, 416;* choir,
372; St. Pierre, 408.*

Gregorian Reform in France, 3.

Griffe, beauty of, 99; in the He de France in
the XI century, 13; in the He de France in
the XII century, 59; in the transitional
period, 99; in the Gothic period, 295;
structural function of, 99.

Groin vault, in the Qe de France in the XI
century, 12; in the He de France in the
XII century, 61.

( rroizes, Eglise, 47.*

Groslay, Eghse, 31-3.*

Grotesques, flamboyant, 386, Gothic, 293 seq.;
not symbolic, 124.

(iron, Eghse, 415.*

Guerbigny, Eglise, 361.*

Guignecourt, 251 .*

Guild, 7; t origin of in the XI century, 7.

Half-domes, ribbed, in the llede France, 7S.
Halo, 133; t significance of. 133; with Greek

cross, 133.
Hambye, St. Pierre, 415.*
Hangest-en-Santerre, Eghse, 242.*

426

GENERAL INDEX

Hangest-sur-Somme, Eglise, 245.*

Harcelaine, Eglise, 362.*

Harcourt, St. Ouen, 352.*

Hardricourt, Eglise, 240.*

Harfleur, St. Martin, 398.*

Hattenville, Eglise, 410.*

Haute-Chapelle, Eglise, 360.*

Hautevesne, St. Remi, 242.*

Hay mo, letter of, 151 seq.

Hebecourt, St. Come et St. Damien, 357.*

Heresy in the XII century, 146; in the XIII

century, 257.
Herchies, Eglise, 248.*
Hermes, Eglise, 245.*
Herry, Abbaye de Chalivoy, 48.*
Herry, Eglise, 358.*
Heurtevent, Eglise, 413.*
Hierarchal rank, rule of, 134.
Hombleux, Eglise, 251.*
Honfleur, St. Etienne, 406;* St. Leonard,

406.*
Hospitalers, 176.
Hugh, letter of, 156.
Humbercourt, Eglise, 404.*
Humbligny, Eglise, 352.*
Hundred Years' War, 263, 264; close of, 369;

relation to Gothic architecture, 265.
Hunters, symbolism of, 130.

Iconography, 115; f in the XII-XV centuries,
115 seq.; scholastic not didactic in char-
acter, 117 seq.

Ids-St.-Roch, Eglise, 343.*

Ignol, Eglise, 39.*

Ue-Aumont, St. Pierre et St. Paul, 39.*

Illeville, Eglise, 354*

Imbleville, figlise, 413.*

Inclinato capite, 139.|

Ineuil, Eglise, 29.*

Infreville, Eglise, 413.*

Intellectual revival of the XI century, 6.

Intercommunication in the XI century, 6.

Interpenetration, 364; f at St. Satur, 364.

Irregularities in medieval buildings, 142.

Isaac, symbolism of, 129.

Isigny, Eglise, 358.*

Itteville, St. Germain, 348*

Ivoy-le-Pre, Eglise, 358.*

Ivry-la-Bataille, Abbaye, 361 ; * St. Martin,
409.*

Jalognes, figlise, 49.*
Jars, figlise, 408.*

Janx, figlise, 251.*
Javernant, figlise, 407.*
Jeanne d'Arc, 366.
Jesse tree, 132. f
Jews, attributes, 133.
John, symbol of the Synagogue, 129.
Jonah, symbolism of, 129.
Joseph, symbol of Christ, 126.
Jouaignes, St. Pierre, 19.*
Jouy-le-Moustier, figlise, 233.*
Jouy-le-Comte, figlise, 246,* 281.
Jucoville, Chapelle, 414.*
Jumieges, Abbaye, 56.
Jussy, figlise, 36.*
Jussy-le-Chaudrier, figlise, 354.*
Juvigny, figlise, 221.*
Juvigny-sous-Andaine, 362.*
Juziers, figlise, 220.*

Keystone. Gothic, 383.

King, attitude towards reform in the XI cen-
tury, 3.

La Bonneville, figlise, 411.*

La Bruyere, figlise, 247.*

Lace-work, flamboyant, 374 seq.

La Celle, Chapelle St. Sylvain, 405; * figlise,
24;* Prieure, 344.*

La Celle-Conde, figlise de Conde, 33; * figlise
de la Celle, 33.*

La Challerie, Chapelle, 361.*

La Chapelle-d'Angillon, figlise, 410.*

La Chapelle-Hugon, figlise, 35.*

La Chapelle-St. Ursin, figlise, 46.*

La Croix, figlise, 19.*

Laffaux, Notre Dame, 220.*

La Ferte-Aleps, figlise, 341.*

La Ferte-Bernard, Notre Dame, 396.*

La Fleche, St. Thomas, 36.*

Lagny, Abbaye St. Pierre, 341.*

La Guerche, figlise du Gravier, 44.*

Laigle, St. Jean, 343;* St. Martin, 343.*

Laines-aux-Bois, figlise, 403.*

Lancet, 267.f

Lande d'Airon, figlise, 415.*

Langrune, figlise, 344.*

Lantan, figlise, 40.*

Lanterns, in the He de France, 86; in Nor-
man Gothic, 290.

Laon, figlise Cathedrale Notre Dame, 314; *
111. 217, 111. 222, 111. 227, 111. 24S; chapel of
the Baptismal Fonts, 266; cloisters, 290;
facade, 284; piers, 270; plan, 281; spires.

427

GENERAL INDEX

254; Chapelle des Templiers, 215,* 176:

commune, 162: confederation, Ki7: St.

.Martin. -21.5;* flying buttresses, 92: St.

Martin-au-Parvis, -21.5.*
Lapan, Eglise, 39.*
I~i Perche, Eglise, 353.*
La Poupehere, Chapelle du Chateau, 361.*
Larchant, Eglise, 352. '
Largny, St. Denis, 225;* chevet vault, 7!).
Last Judgment, Gothic sculptures of, 135.
La Luze, Eglise, 415.*
Latilly, St. Laurent, 229.*
Launay, Eglise, 301.*
Lavare, Eglise, .'56.*
Laverdines, Eglise, 360.*
Lazenay, Eglise, 38.*

Le Chatelet, Ancienne Eglise Abbatiale, 32.*
Le Chatelet, Chapelle St. Martial. 32.*
Leglantiers, Chapelle dite du St. Sauveur-

dans-le-< imetiere, "250.*
I/- Grippon, Chapelle, 1 16.
Le Mans, Ancienne abbaye St. Julien,see Notre

Dame-du-Pre: Cathedral, 313,* 111. 221, 111.

-2 17 : flying buttresses, 276; master builder

Jean, 1S3; pyramidal section of choir, "279:

commune, 161: Notre Dame-du-Pre, 29.*
Le Mciix. Eglise, 251.*
Le Pavilion. Eglise, 37.*
Lepine, St. Barthelemy, 409.*
Le-Plessis-Ste.-< )pportune, Eglise, 360.*

Notre Dame, 40; * St. Martin, 40.*
Les Noes, Eglise, 107.*
I ■ - Ponts, Eglise, 361.*
Lessay-Lochy, St. Hilaire, 34.*
Le \ '■ ■iiillin. Eglise, 413.*
Le Trouquoy, Eglise, 17.*
Lhuys, Eglise, 231.*
Liesse, Eglise, '353*
Lieusaint, Eglise, 351.*
Light, 267.1
Ligny, Eglise, 356. '
Lillebonne, Eglise, t08.*
Limeux, Eglise, ■■
Linay, Eglise, 2 15
Linieres, Eglise,
Lion, symbolism of, 129, 130.
Lisieux, Eglise Cathedrale St. Pierre, 318;*

piers, 269; quadripartite vault-, 268; tower,

384; St. Jacques, KM).*
Livarot, Eglise, 41 t.
Loaded ribs, 67.+
Lombard influence in the Qe de Prance in

the XII century, 59; in the XI century, 12.

Lombron, St. Martin, 47.*

Longitudinal rib, see wall ril>.

Longmont, St. Etienne, 111. 205.

Longny, Eglise, 410.*

Longpaon, Eglise, 413.*

Longpont, Abbaye, 330.*

Longues, Abbaye Notre Dame, 355.*

Loroy, Abbaye, 342.*

Louis VI, 165.

Louis VII, 165.

Louis IX, 256.

Louis XI. 367.

Louveciennes, Eglise, 338.*

Louviers, Notre Dame, 335,* 111. 271; south

porch, 375.
Louvigny, Eglise, 356.*
Love, Eglise, 40.*
Lucheux, Prieure, '•240.*
Luchy, Eglise, 22.*
Lugny-Champagne, Eghse, 361.*
Lunery, Eghse, 49.*
Lury, Eghse, 359.*

Macev. St. Martin, 38*

Maguelonne, Abbaye, 58.

Mailly-Chateau, Eghse, 35\).*

Maisnieres, Eglise, 245.*

Maisy, Eghse, 359.*

Maizet. Eghse, 362.*

Maizieres, Eghse, 349.*

Mamers, Notre Dame, 405;* St. Nicholas,

405.*
Man, symbolism of, 130.
Mantes, Notre Dame, .'527.*
Marchezieux, Eghse, 409.*
Marcil-Marly, Eglise, 338.*
Mareil-sur-Mauldre, Eghse, 348.*
MareUles, Eghse, 346.*
Mareuil, Eghse, 354,* 17.*
Mareuil-eii-l)ol<\ St. Germain, 232.*
Mareuil-le-Port, Eglise, 232.*
Marigny, Eglise, timber roof, '270.
Marigny-en-Orxois, Eghse, 235."
Marissel, Eglise, 246.*
Marisy -St.-Mard, Eglise, 236.*
Marizy-Ste.-Genevieve, Eghse, 242.*
Marmagne, Abbaye du Beauvoir, 357.*
Marolles, Ste. Genevieve, '232*
Marseilles, St. Victor, 58.
Martaineville. St. Pierre, 414.*
Martigny, Eglise, 360,* H3.*
Martinville, Eghse, 362.*
Masonic guild in the XII century, 191.

428

GENERAL INDEX

Masonry in the lie de France in the XII
century, 67.

Massay, Abbaye St. Martin, 218;* Eglise,
218.*

Master builder, 181; t designed the sculp-
tures?, 190; duties and education, 185 seq.;
in flamboyant period, 385; lay, 184; monks
in the XII century ?, 181.

Maulevrier, Eglise, 414.*

Meaux, Eglise Cathedrale, 325;* quadripar-
tite vaults, 268.

Mehun, Notre Dame, 26.*

Meillant, Eglise, 355.*

Melchisedek, symbol of Christ, 126.

Melun, Notre Dame, 343.*

Memours, St. Jean-Baptiste, 414.*

Menetou-Couture, Abbaye de Fontmorigny,
27; * Eglise, 27.*

Menetou-Ratel, Eglise, 48.*

Menetreol-sur-Sauldre, Eglise, 42.*

Menevillers, Eglise, 249.*

Menilles, Eglise, 410.*

Mereau, Eglise, 41.*

Mergey, St. Sulpice, 36.*

Merlemont, Chapelle St. Arnoult, 245.*

Meru, Eglise, 248.*

Merval, Eglise, 248.*

Mery-es-Bois, Eglise, 41.*

Mery-sur-Cher, Eglise, 356.*

Mesge, Eglise, 249*

Mesnil-Glaise, 362.*

Mesnil-Guillaume, Eglise, 416.*

Meulan, Eglise, 416; * St. Nicholas, 251.*

Meung, Eglise, 37.*

Mezieres, Eglise, 356.*

Mezy-Moulin, Eglise, 251*

Michery, Eglise, 347.*

Middle Ages, end of, 370.

Mirrors of Vincent of Beauvais, 119, 131.

Mogneville, Eglise, 223.*

Moidrez, Eglise, 362.*

Moissac, Abbaye, rib vault of narthex, 58.

Molesme, order of, 175.

Monceaux, 251.*

Moncel, Abbaye, 342.*

Monchy-St.-EIoi, Eglise, 247.*

Mondrainville, Eglise, 362.*

Mont-Argis, Chapelle, 362*

Montauel, Eglise, 362.*

Montceaux, St. Syre, 42.*

Montebourg, St. Jacques, 347.*

Montereau-Faut-Yonne, Eglise, 344.*

Montfey, Eglise, 416.*

Montfort, Eglise, 415.*

Montgueux, St. Croix, 404.*

Monthieres, Eglise, 362.*

Montieramey, Eglise, 30.*

Montiers, Eglise, 251;* Notre Dame, 245.*

Montigny, Eglise, 32,* 416;* St. Jacques et
St. Girbold, 358.*

Montigny-Lengrain, Eglise, 235.*

Montlevon, St. Martin, 18.*

Montlouis, Eglise, 42.*

Montmille, St. Maxien, 18.*

Mont-Notre-Dame, Eglise Collegiale, 336.*

Mont-Rond, see St. Amand.

Monts, Eglise, 361.*

Mt.-St.-Michel, Abbaye, Cloister, 96; mo-
nastic buildings, 291.

Montsort, Eglise, 414.*

Montreal, Eglise, 47.*

Montrelet, Eglise, 249.*

Montreuil, St. Pierre, 348.*

Moret, Eglise, 345.*

Morienval, Abbaye Notre Dame, 13,* 111.
155, 111. 156, 111. 164, 111. 186, III. 208;
ambulatory, 69; cylindrical piers, 88; date
of ambulatory, 53, 69; rib vaults not domed,
57; ribbed half-dome, 78; transverse ribs
of ambulatory, 66.

Morigny, Eglise Abbatiale, 240.*

Morlac, Eglise, 356 ; * Chapelle de Souages,
356.*

Mornay-Berry, Eglise, 44.*

Mornay-sur-Allier, Eglise, 46.*

Morognes, Eglise, 350.*

Mortagne, Eglise, 401;* Eglise de l'Hopital,
360.*

Mortain, Eglise, 346.*

Morteaux, Eglise, 362.*

Mosles, St. Eustache, 356.*

Motteville-les-deux-Clochers, Eglise, 360.*

Mouldings, continuous, 363, 381; disappear-
ing, 380,f 381; interpenetrating, 380, f 381;
prismatic, 363, 364; wavy, 382.f

Moulineaux, Eglise, 359.*

Moulins-sur-Yevres, Eglise, 33.*

Moussey, St. Martin, 30.*

Moutiers-en-Auge, Two Churches, 362.*

Moyenneville, 251.*

Mural painting, flamboyant, 386; Gothic,
297; transitional, 105; in the XII-XV cen-
turies, 106.

Music, 131.

Mussy, Eglise, 353.*

Mystic significance of Gothic imagery, 121.

429

GENERAL INDEX

Namps-au-Bal, Eglise,

Nangis, St. Martin, 337.*
Nanteuil-Notre-Dame, Eglise, 2:'.;.;
Naturalistic ornament, supplants the Lom-

bard-Byzantinesque style in the He de

France, 104; in the transitional period, 103.
Nerondes, Eglise, 41.*
Nesles, Abbaye, 248; * Eglise, 339*
Neubourg, Chapelle du Chateau, 409.*
Neufchatel, Eglise, semicircular transept-end,

95.
Neufvy-sur-Aronde, 251.*
N'fuilly, Eglise, 43.*
Neuilly-en-Dun, Eglise, 30.*
Neuilly-le-Malherbe, Eglise, 3G0.*
Nfeuilly-sur-Mame, St. Baudile, 337.*
Neury-Deux-Clochers, Eglise, 40.*
Neuville-Ferrieres, Eglise, 3.39. *
Neuvre-Lyre, Eglise, 300.*
Neuvy-le-Barrois, 41.*
Neuvy-Sautour, Eglise, 411.*
Neuvy-sur-Barenjon, Eglise, 3.">4.*
Niche, flamboyant. 37.5, 388.

-l. -Martin, Eglise, 16.
Nogent-en-Othe, Notre Dame, 411.*
Nogent-les-Vierges, Eglise, 248."
Nogent-sur-Marne, St. Saturnin, 343.*
Nohant-en-Gout, Eglise, 48.*
Nohant-en-Gracay, Eglise, 37.*
Nointel, Eglise, 250.*
Noirlac, Abbaye, 360.*
Nonancourt, St. Martin, 398.*
Normal, 91. f
Norman Gothic, characteristics of, 288 seq.;

foliage of capitals omitted, 295.
Norman influence in the He de France, 12,

Sli.

Normanville, Eglise, 352,* 414.*

Noron, Eglise, 357;* Prieure, 357;* Sic.
Catherine, 357.*

Norrey, Eglise, .".34.*

Norville. Eglise, 115.*

Nfotre-Dame-du-Touchet, Eglise, H2.*

Nouvron-le-Vineux, Eglise, 237.*

Nouvron-Vingre, Notre Dame, -231.*

Noyon, Eglise Cathedrale Notre Dame, 201,*
111. 176, 111. 180, 111. 204, III. 210, 111. 211,
III. 252; capital of nave, lot; chapter-
house, 291; cloisters, 290; facade, 284;
flying buttresses, 92; profiles of archivolts,
190; semicircular transept-ends, 95; sys-
tem, 89; western transept, 9.",: commune,
162: strife of canons and bourgeois, Kill.

Nozieres, Eghse, 44.*

Numbers, mystic significance of, 124.

Nut, symbolism of, 122.

( tetopartite vault, 88.f

( >ffranville, Eglise, 412.*

( >gee arch, 364 note; f development of in the

flamboyant period, 374; English origin of,

364.
Oise, transitional architecture of, 55.
Oisemont, Doyenne, 245.*
Oizon, Eglise, 45.*
Omonville-la-Rogne, Eglise, 350.*
Open-work, flamboyant, 374 seq.
Orbais, Abbaye, 330.*
Orl.ee, Chapelle de l'Hotel-Dieu, 415.*
Orbec, Eglise, 415.*
Orcenais, Eglise, 44.*
Orgeval, Eglise, 231.*
Orleans, Cathedral, 396;* commune, 165;

Notre Dame-du-Chemin, 397.*
Ornament, Gothic, 291 seq.; in Berry, 10;

transitional, 97.
Orrouy, St. Remi, 211.*
Orval, Eglise, 37.*
( (rville, Eglise, 21.*
Osmery, Eglise, 35.*
Oudeuil, Eghse, 247*
( >uilly-le-Basset, 362.*
< >ulchy-la-Ville, St. Pierre, 235.*
Oulchyde-Chateau, Notre Dame, 17.*
Ourouer, Eglise, 33.*
Oxford, Christ Church, 383.

Pacy, Eghse, 333.*

Paisy-Cosdon, Eglise, 46.*

Panon, Eglise, 49.*

Papacy, power of in the XI century, 4.

Paraclct, older of, 175.

Parapet, 287.f

Parassy, Eghse, 43;* Prieure de Michavant,
415.*

Paris, Abbaye Ste. Genevieve, 308: Eglise
Cathedrale Notre Dame, 305,* 111. 223, 111.
226, 111. 227, 111. 241, III. 258; ambulatory
vault, 276; designed with living buttresses,
92; facade, 2S I ; flying buttresses (original),
275; nave chapels, 279; piers, 270, 271;
plan, 2S1 ; sexpartitc vaults, 86; side aisles of
transepts, 279: St. Aubin, 214:* Ste. Cha-
pelle, 307;* restoration of Yiollet-le-Duc,
298: St. Etienne-du-Mont, 390,* III. 283;
nave. 388; vaults, 383: St. Eustache, 391,"

430

GENERAL INDEX

371: St. Germain-l'Auxerrois, 307:* St.
Germain-des-Pres, 213,* 111. 185; flying
buttresses, 92; system, 90: St. Gervais et
St. Protais, 391 : * St. Jacques-la-Boucherie,
391:* St. Julien-le-Pauvre, 307:* St.
Laurent, 391: * St. Leu et St. Gilles, 308: *
St. Martin-des-Champs, 214,* 111. 172, 111.
261, 111. 262; vaults of Lady Chapel, 78:
St. Medard, 391:* St. Mery, 391:* St.
Nicholas-des-Champs, 391 : * St. Pierre-de-
Montmartre, 214: * St. Severin, 307: * Uni-
versity of, 259.

Parnay, Eglise, 408.*

Passage-ways, interior, 86.

Passais-la-Conception, Eglise, 415.*

Payns, Eglise, 355.*

Peace of God, 6.

Peasants, condition of in the XI century, 7.

Pecheseul, Chapelle St. Michel-d'Avoise, 414.*

Pelican, symbolism of, 130.

Pendants, 383.

Pendentives in Berry, 10.

Penetrations, in England, 381.

People and Church in XII century, 160.

Pernant, St. Leger, 230.*

Perrieres, Eglise, 361.*

Perseigne, Abbaye, 352.*

Petit-Andely, St. Sauveur, 349.*

Philippe-Auguste, 165.

Philippe-le-Bel, financial policy, 264.

Philosophy, iconography of, 131.

Picardy, transitional architecture of, 55.

Picauville, Eglise, 357,* 290.

Picquigny, Eglise du Chateau, 247.*

Pierrefitte, Eglise, 361.*

Piers, compound of the lie de France, 1050-
1100, 11.

Piers, cylindrical in XV century, 381; in the
Gothic era, 269.

Pilaster strips in Berry, 10.

Pipardiere, Chapelle, 411.*

Pirmil, Eglise, 47.*

Pithiviers, St. Georges, 37;* St. Salomon,
37.*

Plainville, Eglise, 410.*

Plans of Gothic Churches, 279.

Pleinpied, Abbaye, 25; * Eglise des Givaudins,
25.*

Plessis-Grimoult, Abbaye, chapter-house, 291.

Plessis-le-Charmant, Eglise, 21.*

Plinths, Gothic, 295.

Poilley, Eglise, 353.*

Pointed arch, applied to main arcade, 68;

applied to rib vaults to level crowns, 65;
applied to windows and doorways, 67; his-
tory of, 63; in connection with barrel vaults,
63; in connection with rib vaults, 63; intro-
duction into the He de France, 63; struc-
tural advantages of, 63; used in Berry earlier
than in the He de France, 10.

Poissy, St. Louis, 212; * cylindrical piers, 88.

Poitiers, commune, 165.

Polychromy, Gothic, 297.

Ponce, Eglise, 34.*

Pontaubert, Eglise, 350.*

Pont-Audemer, Chapelle de l'Hotel-Dieu,
401;* St. Ouen, 401.*

Pont-de-rArche, Abbaye Bon-Port, 352;* St.
Vigor, 399.*

Pont-1'Eveque, Eglise, pendants, 384; St.
Michel, 407.*

Pontoise, St. Maclou, 211,* 111. 166; ambu-
latory vaults, 73; cylindrical piers, 88.

Pontoise, St. Martin, order of, 175.

Pont-Remy, Eglise, 249.*

Pont-St.-Mard, Eglise, 234.*

Pont-Ste.-Marie, Eglise de l'Assomption, 404.*

Ponts-sous-Avranches, Eglise, 409.*

Popular character of medieval cathedral ?,
150.

Porches, Norman flamboyant, 379.

Portal, Gothic, 284.

Pouzel, Notre Dame, 248.*

Preaux, St. Sever, 360.*

Prely-le-Chetif, Eglise, 44.*

Premontre, order of, 177.

Presles, Eglise, 18.*

Preuilly, Abbaye, 352; * Eglise, 41.*

Preveranges, Eglise, 355.*

Prey, Eglise, 415.*

Primelles, Eglise, 29.*

Profiles, flamboyant, 377, 385; Gothic, 294
seq., 111. 263; Norman Gothic, 290; transi-
tional, 97.

Prouleroy, Eglise, 250.*

Provins, Notre Dame-du-Val, 351;* St.
Ayoul, 218;* Ste. Croix, 351,* 111. 287;
spiral paneling, 386; St. Quiriace, 218,* 111.
178.

Puiseaux, Eglise, 339.*

Pyramidal section, 278 seq.f

Quadripartite vault, adopted in the Gothic

period, 268.
Quesmy, Eglise, 250.*
Quesnay, Eglise, 361.*

431

GENERAL INDEX

Quetteliou, St. Vigor, 342.*
Quimperle, Ste. Croix, 58.

Ramburelles-le-Bosquet, Eglise, 414.*

Rampillon, Eglise, 348.*

Raphael, 135.

Raymond, Eglise, 302.*

Rayonnant, 2674

Rayonnanl architecture, characteristics of,
262.

"Refinements" of Prof. Goodyear, 1 t2.

Reformation Foreshadowed in the XV cen-
tury. 307; influence on architecture, 371.

Reigny, Eglise, 44.*

Relics, peddled in the XII century, 171.

Reliefs, Gothic, 302.

Religious enthusiasm in the XI century. 5;
in the \11 century, 151; not a .stimulus to
architecture. 155 seq.

Remalard, Eglise, 302.*

Remerangles, Eglise, 251.*

Reims, Eglise Metropolitans Notre Dame,
308,* III. 224, 111. 230, 111, 237, 111. 251, 111.
268; capitals, 272; conical aisle root's, 278;
facade, 284; flying buttresses, 274; flying
buttresses of chevet, 275; naturalistic foli-
age, 293; parapets, 287; pinnacles, 274;
plan, 281; sculptures of facade. 303; statues
of the Visitation, 303: commune, 164: St.
Jacques. 20!):* St. Remi, 206,* III. 183;
ambulatory vaults, 276; clearstory and tri-
forium united, 9(i; flying buttresses, it-.';
quadripartite vaults, 268; side aisles of
transepts, 27!) note; system, 90.

Renaissance architecture, introduced into
France. 372.

Renaissance chateaux, 371, 388.

Renaissance, in France, 371; in Italy, 3G7.

Renaissance of the XII century, I4S.

Ressons-le-Long, Eglise, 230.*

Retheuil, St. Aubin, is.*

Rhetoric, 131.

Rhuis, Eglise, 1".,* III. 157, III. 158; rib
vaults, 56; rib vaults not domed, 57.

Rians, Eglise, 39.*

Ribbon moulding, 13. t

Rib, profiles of in Gothic period, 296.

Rib vault, always slightly domed in the Hi-
de France, 61; constructed in Lombard
manlier in the J I * - de France, 5!); crowns all
brought to the same level, 71; domed in
the earliest examples in the He de France,
57: earliest examples in the He de France,

56; efforts to avoid excessive doming, 64,
65, 66, 67; erected over nave, 76 seq.; first
appearance in the lie de France, 52, 55, 56
seq.; known throughout France in the first
quarter of the XII century, 58; introduced
into Berry in the XII century, IS; introduced
into the He de France from Lomhardy, 58;
object of doming, 61; on a curved oblong
plan, 64, 111. 160; significance of in history
of transitional architecture, 54; with and
without wall ribs in the He de France in
the XII century, 60.

Ricey-Bas, Eglise, 408.*

Ricey-Haut, Eglise, 401.*

Ricey-Haute-Rive, Eglise, 403.*

Ricquebourg, Eglise, *250.*

Rieux, Eglise, 248,* 64.

Rigny-le-Ferron, St. Martin, 42.*

Rinceau, in cornices in the transitional period,
100.

Robert I, 4.

Robert de Mont, account of (art cult, 159;
critical estimate of, 160.

Rochy-Conde, Chapelle St. Arnoult, 22.*

Rocquencourt, Eglise, 250.*

Rocques, Eglise, 3(i().*

Romagny, Eglise, 414.*

Roped moulding, 13.

R« uen, Abbaye de Si. Ouen, 317,* 111. 238:
Cathedral, 316,* 111. 225, 111. 269; design of
nave, '278; facade, 373, 378; Portail des
Libraires, L2S7; Letter of Hugh, 156; side
chapel, 305; transepts, facades, 297: com-
mune. Kid: St. Andre-de-la-Porte-aux-
Febvres, 390:* St. Laurent, 390:* St.
Maclou, 389,* 111. 278; porch, 379: St.
Vincent, 390.*

Rouez, Eglise, 410.*

Rousseloy, Eglise, 251.*

Rouville, Abbaye, 302.*

Rouvres, Eglise, 345.*

Rose window, 105; f rayonnant, 267; tracery,
268.

Roses, symbolism of, 121.

Rosnay, Eglise, 33.*

Rosoy, Eglise, 250; * Notre Dame, 347.*

Roye, Eglise, 247.*

Roye-sur-Matz, Eglise, 251.*

Rozet-St.-Albin, Eglise, 2 It.*

Rozoy-en-Brie, Eglise, 25.1.*

Rue, Eglise du St. Esprit, 111. 280, 386.

Rue -St. -1'ierrc, Eglise, l21.*

Runiilly-les-Vaudes, Eglise, 401.*

432

GENERAL INDEX

Sable, Notre Dame, 41.*

Saequenville, Eglise, 409.*

Saconin, Eglise, 244.*

Sacy-le-Grand, Eglise, 249.*

Sacy-le-Petit, Eglise, 250.*

Sagny, Eglise, 414.*

Sagonne, Eglise, 41.*

St.-Andre-Ies-Troyes, Eglise, 400.*

St. Aniand, Chapelle des Carmes, 415;*
Eglise, 33.*

St. Ambroix, Eglise, 409.*

St.-Antoine-de-Roehefort, Eglise, 3G2.*

St.-Aoustrille-les-Gra9ay, Eglise, 28.*

St. Arnoult, Chapelle, 250.*

St.-Aubin-d'Eerosville, 409.*

St.-Aubin-sous-Equerry, Eglise, 251.*

St. Augustine, rule of, 177.

St. Bagneux, St. Herbeland, 337.*

St. Baudry, Eglise, 18.*

St.-Benoit-sur-Loire, Abbaye, 22; * ambula-
tory, 9.

St.-Benoit-sur-Seine, Eglise, 47.*

St.-Benoit-sur-Vannes, Eglise, 358.*

St. Bernard, 146.

St. Bouize, Eglise, 42.*

St. Calais, Abbaye, 404,* 365; Notre Dame,
403.*

St. Caprais, Eglise, 41.*

St.-Christophe-le-Chaudry, Eglise, 41.*

St.-Christophe-du-Jambet, Notre Dame, 27.*

St. Clair, Eglise, 362.*

St. Denis, Abbaye, 193,* 111. 169, 111. 191,
111. 246; double ambulatory, 75; facade,
95; glazed triforium, 278; historical sig-
nificance of, 85; influence upon XII cen-
tury architecture, 85; marks the end of
monastic power over architecture, 174; the
turning-point in the history of transitional
architecture, 52.

St. Doulchard, Eglise, 43*

St.-Eloi-de-Gy, Eglise, 40,* 281.

St.-Etienne-lez-Pierrefonds, Eglise, 236.*

St.-Eugienne, Chapelle du Prieure, 415;*
Eglise, 415.*

St. Evroult, Prieure, 359.*

St. Felix, Eglise, 251.*

St. Fromond, Prieure, 410.*

Ste. Gemme, Eglise, 26.*

St.-Georges-de-Poysieux, Eglise, 33.*

St.-Georges-sur-la-Pre, Eglise, 47.*

St.-Germain-des-Bois, Chapelle dc Brou, 39; *
Eglise, 38*

St.-Germain-Lincon, Eglise, 407.*

St. Germer, Abbaye, 210,* 111. 173, 111. 177;
chevet vault, 79, 83; groin vaults, 62; tri-
forium, 266; western transept, 95 note.

St.-Gervais-de-Pontpoint, Eglise, 250.*

St.-Gervais-de-Vic, Eglise, 44.*

St. Gilles, Abbaye, 58; sculptures, 113;
Eglise, 359.*

St.-Guilhem-du-Desert, Abbaye, 58.

St. Hilaire, Eglise, 38.*

Ste.-Honorine-du-Fay, Eglise, 361.*

Ste.-Honorine-la-Chardonne, Eglise, 413.*

St.-Hylaire-de-Gondilly, Eglise, 46.*

St. Janvrin, Eglise, 38.*

St.-Jean-aux-Bois, Abbaye, 342.*

St.-Jean-de-la-IIaise, Eglise, 362.*

St.-Jean-du-Corail, Eglise, 362,* 281.

St.-Julien-du-Sault, Eglise, 353.*

St. Julien, see Sancey.

St.-Just-en-Chaussee, Eglise, 251.*

St. Just, Eglise, 47.*

St.-Laurent-sur-Mer, Eglise, 360.*

St. Lazare, Eglise, 241.*

St. Leger, Eglise, 416.*

St.-Leger-lez-Troyes, Eglise, 407.*

St.-Leger-aux-Bois, Prieure, 16.*

St. Leu d'Esserent, Abbaye, 205,* 111. 163;
flying buttresses, 274; transverse rib loaded,
67.

St. L6, Notre Dame, 329.*

St. Loup, Eglise, 328.*

St.-Loup-des-Chaumes, Eglise, 353.*

St.-Loup-de-Naud, Eglise, 217; * quadripar-
tite vaults, 269.

St. Lumier, Eglise, 352.*

Ste. Lunaise, Eglise, 41.*

St. Lye, Eglise, 39.*

Ste.-Marguerite-de-1'Autel, Eglise,
362.*

St. Martin, Eglise, 248.*

St.-Martin-le-Noeud, Eglise, 251.*

St.-Maur-des-Fosses, St. Nicholas, 352.*

Ste. Maure, Eglise, 409.*

St.-Michel-de-Volanges, Eglise, 49.*

Ste. Montaine, Eglise, 45.*

St.-Nicholas-du-Port, Eglise, 139.

St.-Ouen-d'Athez, Eglise, 362.*

St. Palais, Eglise, 353.*

St.-Parre-les-Tertres, St. Patrocle, 408.*

St.-Parres-les-Vaudes, Eglise, 48.*

St. Paul, attributes, 133.

St. Paul, Abbaye, 249; * Eglise, 249*

St.-Pere-sous-Vezelay, Eglise, 340.*

St. Peter, attributes, 133.

433

GENERAL INDEX

St.-Pierre-Canivet. Eglise, 357.*

St.-Pierre-des-Bois, Eglise, 15.*

St.-Pierre-des-Etieux, Eglise, 13.*

St.-Pierre-du-Lorouer, Eglise, 1559.*

St.-Pierre-es-Champs, Eglise, 251/'

St.-Pierre-sur-Dives. Notre Dame, 151.

St. Pouange, St. Marc, 411.*

St. Quentin, commune, 161; Eglise collegiale,
329; * ambulatory vaults, 276.

St.-Quentin-des-Pres, Eglise, 251.*

St.-Remi-FAbbaye, Abbaye, 20.*

St.-Remy-du-I'lain, Eglise, 361*

St. Rimault, Eglise, 251.*

St. Riquier, Abbaye, 331;* commune, 103.

St. Satur, Abbaye, 326,* 111. 235; capitals
omitted, :5SO; design of system, 273; pro-
files, 290; style. 363.

St.-Sauveur-Landelin, Eglise, 347.*

St.-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Eglise, 344.*

Ste. Savinne, Kj,rlise, 401.*

St. Sever, Abbaye, 345.*

Ste. Solange, Eglise, 350.*

Ste.-Suzanne-sur-Vire, Eglise, 410.*

St. Taurin, Prieure, 243.*

St. Thibaud, Chapelle, 413; * Eglise, 412.*

St.-Thibaud-de-Bazoches, Prieure, 20.*

Ste. Thorette, Eglise, 351; * Prieure, 351.*

St.-Vaast-de-Longmont, Eglise, 241.*

St.-Vaast-les-Mello, Eglise, 243.*

St. Valery, Abbaye, 410;* Eglise, 358.*

St.-Victor-Abbaye, Abbaye, 360.*

St. Victor, order of, 177.

St.-Vincent-des-Pres, Eglise, 4!).*

St.-Vitte-le-Fleiiriel, Eglise, 45.*

St. Wandrille, Abbaye, :550.*

Saintes, St. Eutrope, 58.

Saintines, St. Denis, 246.*

Saligny-le-Vif, Eglise, 45.*

Sancerinio, Eglise, 4:5.*

Sancerre, Si. Denis, 415:* St. Romble, 49*

Sancey, Eglise, H5.*

Santranges, Eglise, 44.*

Saponay, Notre Dame, 2:53.*

Sarcelles, Eglise, 347.*

Sarron, Eglise, 21.*

Saussaye, Eglise Collegiale St. Louis, :7,51.*

Savigny-en-Sancerre, Eglise, 43.*

Savigny-en-Septaine, Eglise, 34.*

Scholastic philosophy reflected in imagery of
cathedral, l is.

Sculpture, flamboyant, 387 seq.; Gothic, 301
seq.; rayonnant, 303 seq.; Renaissance,
388; school <,f Burgundy, 112; school of

Languedoc, 112; school of Provence, 112;
school of the XII century, 111 seq., 113;
school of the XIII century, 300.

Seez, Eglise Cathedrale, 324,* 111. 232; orna-
ment, -200; triforium balustrade, 288; sys-
tem, 272.

Segrie, Notre Dame, 351.*

Senlis, Eglise Cathedrale, 205,* 111. 181, 111.
189, 90; south transept end, ,'575; spire, 94:
SI. Frambourg, .'531:* St. Pierre, 331:* St.
Vincent, 331.*

Sens, Eglise Metropolitaine St. Etienne, 200,*
111. 168, 111. 17!), 111. 192; broken rib vaults,
73; design of facade, 95; system, 89: com-
mune, 104: St. Jean, :5.'52.i:

Sens-Beau jeu, Eglise, 344.*

Sept-Vents, Prieure, 361.*

Serfs, condition of in the XI century, 7.

Sergy, Notre Dame, 238.*

Sermaises, Eglise, :54S.:::

Servon, Eglise, 415.*

Sevry, Eglise, 359.*

SpKpartite vault, advantages and disadvan-

*^ tages of, 87; introduced into the He de

France, 71: in second phase of transition,

54; why borrowed by the royal school?, 86.

Shafts, adjustment of in the Gothic era, 209;
adjustment in the XII century, 88 seq.;
introduced into the He de France, c. 1075,
12; ornamented with rings, 102; rayonnant,
272, 273; wall shafts not continued to
ground, 271.

Shafting in transitional period, 102.

Sidiailles, Abbaye, 48.*

Sille, Eglise, 45.*

Sixteenth Century, building activity, 370.

Soissonnais, nave vaulted only at a late date,
76 note; transitional architecture of, 5').

Soissons, Eglise Cathedrale, 322,* 111. 207,
111. 212, 111. 228, 111. 244; ambulatory
vaults, 270; capitals in south transept, 104;
interior design, 277; piers, 271; polygonal
chevet, 277; semicircular transept-end, 95;
side aisles of south transept, 279: St. Jean-
des-Vignes, 397;* cloisters, 290: St. Leger,
21 : * St. Medard, 21 : * St. Pierre, 231.*

Solesmes, Abbaye, 31.*

Sobers, Chapelle Notre Dame-de-Fours, 415.*

Somine, traditional architecture of, 55.

Sommerval, St. Martin, 408.*

Soreng, Kidise, 361.*

Soulangy, Eglise, 46,* 352.*

Souterrain, Eglise, 45.*

434

GENERAL INDEX

Souvegny-sur-Meme, St. Martin, 408.*

Soye, Eglise, 47.*

Spiral paneling, 386. f

Spire, constructed of open work in the flam-
boyant period, 377; design of in flamboyant
era, 377 seq.; design of in the XII century,
94; evolution of in the He de France, 93;
flamboyant, 378; Norman Gothic, 289;
number of in Gothic churches, 254.

Squinches in Berry, 10.

Stained glass, flamboyant, 3S1 ; XIV century,
299; XV century, 300; influence upon de-
velopment of architecture, 108; in the XII
century, 107 seq.; methods of XII century
and modern times contrasted, 110; origins
of art, 100; small figures used in the XII
century, 109; technique in the XII cen-
tury, 109; thirteenth-century glass, 298.

Stereotomy, in the He de France in the XII
century, 67.

Stilting of transverse ribs, 66.

String-course, exterior, profile in transitional
period, 99; interior, profile in transitional
period, 99, 100; profile in Gothic period,
296; transitional, 111. 196, 111. 197.

Strut, 273 .f

Subdray, Eglise, 44.*

Subligny, Eglise, 413.*

Suger, 85; as abbot of St. Denis, 158; criti-
cism of St. Denis, 252; the last of the Bene-
dictine monks, 174.

Sury-en-Lere, Eglise, 408.*

Sury-en-Vaux, St. Etienne, 359.*

Sury-es-Bois, Eglise, 412.*

Symbolism, of Gothic imagery, 121 seq.;
structure not symbolical, 138.

Symbols, in medieval iconography, 133.

Symmetry, in medieval iconography, 125.

Synagogue, iconographical representation of,
129.

System, design of in the XII century, 89; in
the Gothic period, 269 seq.; in the XIV
century, 272, 273; transitional to flamboy-
ant, 273.

Taillefontaine, Ste. Vierge, 237,* barrel vault

of narthex, 62.
Templars, architecture of, 176; order of, 176.
Teurteville-Bocage, Eglise, 362.*
Thaumiers, Eglise, 36.*
Theniou, Eglise, 47.*
Thierval, Eglise, 335.*
Thieville, Eglise, 357. ;:

Thirteenth Century, literature of, 258; intel-
lectual character of, 259.

Thistles, symbolism of, 121.

Thorigne, Eglise, 411.*

Thury, Eglise, 251.*

Tillard, Eglise, 338.*

Tille, Eglise, 21.*

Tillieres, Eglise, 403.*

Tilloy, Eglise, 416.*

Tilly, Eglise, 362.*

Timber roofs, flamboyant, 386; in the XIII
century, 279.

Tiron, order of, 175.

Tiverny, Eglise, 250.*

Tonnere, St. Pierre, 403.*

Torce, Notre Dame, 32.*

Torcy, Eglise, 239.*

Torteval, Prieure, 361.*

Torvilliers, St. Denis, 406.*

Touchay, St. Martin, 406.*

Toulouse, St. Sernin, 10.

Touques, St. Thomas, 412.*

Tourny, Eglise, 414.*

Tourouvre, St. Gilles, 416.*

Tours, Cathedrale, 180.

Toury, Eglise, 361.*

Tracery, 266; f bar, 267; f plate, 266; f de-
sign in Gothic period, 267; evolution of,
266; flamboyant, 375,f 376, 377; flowing,
364 note; f flowing, English origin of, 364;
Norman Gothic, 290; rayonnant, 267; f
Renaissance, 376; f structural purpose of,
267.

Tracy-le-Val, St. Eloi, 342.

Transeptal absidioles in Berry, 10; in the
lie de France, 12.

Transept, in Berry, 10; design of facade in
Gothic period, 286; semicircular, 95; side
aisles added, 279; western, 95.

Transitional, 50. f

Transitional architecture, 52; f periods of,
52; phases of, 54; geographical boundaries
of, 179; second phase, 84; sub-schools of,
55.

Translay, Eglise, 362.*

Transverse arches in the He de France in the
XII century, 59.

Transverse rib, transitional. 111. 202, 101,
stilted, 66; with groin vaults in the XI
century, 12.

Treaty of Troves, 366.

Treloup, St. Medard, 240.*

Treperd, Eglise, 362,*

435

GENERAL INDEX

Treport, Eghse, 402;* St. Jacques. 402.*

TressoH, Eghse, 407.*

Trie-la-Ville, Eghse, 245.*

Triel, Eghse, 342.*

Triforium, design of in flamboyant period,
:;s.»; double, 96.

Triforium galleries, abandoned in the Gothic
period. 277: glazed, 277 seq.

Troissereux, Eglise, 251.*

Trouy, Eglise, 46.*

3, Cathedral, 320,* 111. -2:7: facade, :57S:
St. Gilles, 404; * St. Jean. 322: * Ste. Mad-
eleine. 322:* St. Nicholas, 404:* St.
Xi/ier, 404:* St. Pantaleon, 404:* St.
Remi, 404: * St. Urbain, 321, * III. 220; ogee
arch in porch, 301; porch, 381.

Truce of God, 0.

Trucy, Eglise, 2f7.*

Trim, Eglise, \ 1 L*

Twelfth century, economic conditions of,
1 47 ; historical conditions of, 145; literary
activity, 145; misery, ItS; political condi-
tions, 147; relations of people and clergy,
100 seep, renaissance, -J.">N.

Ully-St.-Georges, Eglise, 21.*
Unicorn, symbolism of, 1:50.
Unity of cathedral imagery, 1 lit.
Creel, Eglise, 248.*
I Issy, Eglise, .'547.*
Uzay-le-Venon, Eglise, 46.*

Vacognes, Eglise, 36 .'.

Vacquerie, Eglise, '24.").*

Vailly, Eglise, 48:* Notre Dame, 230,* III.

193; St. Nicholas, 351. *
Val-Chretien, Abbaye, 248.*
Valiquerville, Eglise, '■'>■'> t.
Vallenay, Eglise, 45.*
Valmeray, Eglise, .'501 .*
Valognes, St. Malo, 102.*
Vannes, Eglise ile FAssomption, to,'- '.'',:».
Vanves, St. Remy, 103.*
Varaville, Eglise, 361.*
Vaudes, Eglise, :;."> I.
Vaudieres, Eglise, 244.*
Vault, multiple rib, 382; pendant, 383.
Vaumoise, St. l'ierre, 239.*
Vaux-de-Cemay, Abbaye, -'if I.
Vauxrezis, St. Maurice, 234,* III. 171; ribbed

half-dome, 78.
Veaugues, Eglise, 111.*
Velennes, Eglise, 2.51.*

Vendeuvre, Eglise, HO.*

Venesme, Eglise, ,'52.*

Venice, S. Marco, 1 1:5.

Ver, St. Remi, :5.">:5.*

Veraux, Eglise, 157.*

Verdilly, Eglise, 243.*

\ ergies, Eglise, 362.*

Verneuil-sur-Marne, St. Martin, 240.*

Vernon, Notre Dame, 396.*

Vernouillet, Eglise, .'538.*

Verron, Eglise, 361.*

Vesdun, Eglise, 45.*

Vesly, St. Pierre, 350.*

Vctheuil, Eghse, 41(5.*

Veuilly-la-Poterie, Eglise, 238.*

Vezelay, Abbaye la Madeleine, 22;* ambula-
tory vaults, 74: commune, 164.

Vezot, Eghse, 48.*

Vic-sur-Aisne, Eglise, 238.*

Vices, iconography of, 132.

Viel-Acy, Eghse, 237.*

Vieils-Maisons, Ste. Croix, 242; * harrel vault,
03.

Vielles, Eglise, 301.*

Vierzon, Notre Dame, 37.*

Vieux-Belleme, St. Martin, 415.*

Vieux-Pont, St. Hilaire, 359.*

Viffort, Notre Dame, 241,* 111. 159; rib
vaults, 50, 64.

Vignoux-sous-les-Aix, Eglise, 413.*

Villaccrf, St. Jean-Baptiste, 39.*

Villard de Honnecourt, 185, 190; design for
the Cathedral of Cambrai, III. 216.

Villedieu-les-Bailleul, 302.*

Villedieu-les-Poeles, Eghse, 412.*

Villegenon, Eghse, 358.*

Villcloup, Eghse, 413.*

Villemaur, Eglise, 411.*

Villemoiron, Eglise, 415.*

Villemoye -, Eglise, 44.*

Villcnaux, Eghse, 402;* vaults, 384; Eghse
de Diva!, 357.*

Villencuve, Eghse, 47.*

Villcneu ve-F Archc vc(|ue, Eglise, 352.*

Villeneuve-le-Comte, Eglise, 340.*

Viheneuve-St.-Georges, St. Georges, 354.*

Yillcquiers, Eghse, 42.*

Villers-Canivet, Eglise, 410.*

Villers-les-Roye, Eglise, 240.*

Villers-St.-Faul, Abbaye, 222.*

Villers-St.-Sepulcre, Eglise, 249.*

Villetertre, Eglise, 239.*

Villiers-le-Sec, St. Laurent, .'557.*

43(i

GENERAL INDEX

Villy-le-Marechal, Eglise, 354.* Vouzeron, Eglise, 48.*

Vimoutiers, Vieille Eglise, 413.* Vregny, Eglise, 241.*

Vincennes, Ste. Chapelle du Chateau, 333.* Vulaines, Eglise, 356.*

Vinon, Eglise 412.*

Vire, Notre Dame, 341.* Wacquemoulin, Eglise, 251.*

Virez-sous-Bar, Eglise, 43.* Wall rib, 60; f in the He de France in the XII

Virgin, attributes, 133; symbol of the Church, century, 60; stilted, 66; stilted in chevet

128. vaults, 79; structural functions of, 60, 79.

Virtues, iconography of, 132. Wall surface suppressed, 266.

Visine, Eglise, 413.* Warluis, Eglise, 251.*

Vitry, Eglise, 353; * ambulatory vaults, 276. West, transitional school of, 55, 56.

Vorges, Eglise, 359.* Westminster Abbey, Henry VII chapel, 383.

Vorly, Eglise, 47.* William of Sens, 189.

Vornay, Eglise, 43.* Witaineglise, Eglise, 262.*
Voulton, Eglise, 338;* quadripartite vaults, 269.

437

Date Due

■»* 1 5 H

MAY 3 1 -62

WAY 1 0 '63

FEB H'ft

Library Bureau Cat. No. 1137

ELLS BINDERY INC.
ALTHAM, MASS.

MAV inci

Art NA 350 . P8 1909 2

Porter, Arthur Kingsley,
1883-1933.

Medieval architecture

123WJ-J,

»^02 00399

111

6985

9> >S

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