Christian Churches from Rome to the Gothic

Until the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, Christians were often persecuted by the Romans. Constantine, who reigned from AD 306 to AD 337, was the first Roman Emperor to declare himself to be a Christian. He was instrumental in crafting the Edict of Milan which called for tolerance for the Christians. He was also responsible for calling the Council of Nicea, which resulted in the Nicene Creed.

Prior to Constantine’s conversion meeting places for Christians were problematic at best. They would sometimes meet in Jewish synagogues or in private homes. Ephesus, located in what is now western Turkey, was a prominent city of the Roman Empire, with perhaps up to 300,000 inhabitants. The Apostle Paul spent at least two years there and also  wrote letters to the Christians in Ephesus. About 20% of the city has been excavated. While there we saw two signs of Christian peoples. The first shown in the two photos below is a room in which Christians met, marked by a cross on the lintel of the entrance. The second is the remains of a small chapel in a section called the Terrace Houses where the rich people lived. Ephesus was an important city from pre-Christian times until about 600 AD when the harbor silted up. I have been unable to determine the exact dates when these rooms were used.

The Edict of milan and the conversion of Constantine opened up a wealth of possibilities of places for Christians to meet. The Romans had a building that was apparently found throughout much of the Empire, called a basilica. This was a large rectangular building that was primarily used for courts or the Emperor to hold court, audiences etc in. One end of the basilica had a rounded out section called the apse. The Emperor or the magistrate would sit in this area usually on a dais. The plan for such a basilica is shown below.

Below are two photos of a Roman basilica still in use today. This basilica was built by the Emperor Constantine himself in Trier, Germany as a court/throne room. At some point it became a Christian church; I do not know if this was during his lifetime or not. The interior photo is looking to the apse. The apse was the obvious place for the Christian altar. This building is currently used by a Protestant sect who use little in the way of decor.

With the dissolution of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, Constantinople(Istanbul) became the head of the Eastern or Byzantine portion of the remains of the Roman empire. The Byzantine portion remained intact and in the early part of the 6th century was ruled by the Emperor Justinian. In 537 AD he ordered a massive church to be constructed in Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia. This church still stands and is very impressive. It is basically a large dome, so large that the Statue of Liberty and Notre Dame de Paris will fit inside it. It was Christian until the 15th century when the Ottoman Turks conquered the area and converted it into a mosque. It is now a museum and some of the mosaics that were covered up by the Muslims have been uncovered. Below are two views of Hagia Sophia, one external and one interior. The third photo is of a mosaic from the 10th century showing the Emperor prostrating himself before Christ. This mosaic is above the Emperor's entrance to the church.

The round or octagonal church architecture did not take hold in western Europe. There were some exceptions, such as a church in Ravenna, Italy, and Charlemagne’s church in Aachen, German, built in approximately 800 AD. It is said that this church was modeled after Hagia Sophia.. An interior of this church is shown below.

There is also a tower in Metlach, Germany from the 10th century, said to be modeled after Charlemagne’s church. This tower is the oldest religious structure in Saarland, Germany and is shown below.

Romanesque

The first pan European architectural style since imperial Rome is called Romanesque. This style began sometime between the 6th century and the 10th century, with most scholars opting for the 10th century. It is characterized by massive, thick walls, round Roman arches, sturdy pillars, massive towers, and decorative arcades. There are some 5000+ Romanesque churches extant in France, a large number in Spain, and a smaller number in Italy, England and Germany. The floor plan of a typical Romanesque church is shown below.

This plan has two side aisles and a well defined apse on one end. This plan shows an ambulatory around the altar in the apse which may or may not be present. The transepts are shown shaded; they also may or may not be present. It is easy to see how this church design evolved from the old Roman basilica. The transepts turned the original oblong building into a Roman cross.

The first photo below shows a side view of the Romanesque cathedral at Worms, Germany. This Church was consecrated in 1110 AD. As you can see the walls appear to be thick and the main structure is not very high. The next two photos show the exterior of the apse end of the building. It has a very solid feel to it, including the towers. Notice the fanciful arcade in the third photo.

The photo below is taken in the nave of Worms Cathedral. Note that the windows and arches are the rounded Roman aches. Also note the heavy piers that are used for support; there are no columns per se. The vaulted ceiling is relatively simple and the window lighting is relatively dark. The nave is 26 meters high.

The next example of Romanesque is the cathedral at Speyer, Germany. It is supposed to be the largest Romanesque cathedral in Europe. Made from red sandstone it was consecrated in 1061. The photo below shows a side view of the cathedral.

One of the striking things about Speyer is the use of alternating red and cream colored sandstone around the main portal and to a lesser extent in the nave. the two photos below show the entry in two views, interior and exteior.

Below is the floor plan of Speyer Cathedral.

The photo below shows the vaulting of the nave. Like Worms it is relatively simple.

Below is the nave of Speyer Cathedral. Like Worms there are rather massive piers for support, round arches and small upper windows.

Gothic

St. Denis is now a part of Paris, located on the north side of Paris. There was an abbey located there in the middle ages. Abbot Suger, in 1135, began remodeling the church. He was not the architect but his ideas were put into practice by two architects, whose names we do not have. In the first stages a new west front was put in place, including a rose window in a square frame. As other churches were constructed after this the rose window became a prominent feature. He next moved to the est end and rebuilt the choir. He used the pointed arch, ribbed vaults, an ambulatory with radiating chapels, clustered columns supporting ribs springing in different directions, large clerestory windows and flying buttresses to keep it all from crashing down. His church was dedicated in 1144. It produced an overall feeling of reaching upwards to heaven. The structure had a feeling of lightness and light was infused from large stained glass clerestory windows. This was the first Gothic church and the Gothic style became the next pan European architectural style.

The three photos below are from St. Denis. The first photo shows the nave looking towards the apse. The second is looking at the transept with the apse on the right. The third is of some of the flying buttresses.

The Term “Gothic” was a pejorative term applied to this style by Renaissance and Enlightment thinkers who viewed anything prior to their time as barbaric and not worthy of consideration. They applied Gothic to the style because the Goths, Visigoths and Ostrogoths were the “barbarians” that destroyed Rome. These are the same folks that followed Immanuel Kant and others in referring to the time period prior to their own as the Dark Ages.The people who built the Gothic churches thought of their style as "modern".

Some of the characteristics of Gothic church architecture include flying buttresses, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, gargoyles, a feeling of reaching upwards and the use of large amounts of glass windows, many if not all of them stained. The photos below show some of these characteristics from the Strasbourg and Metz Cathedrals.

Chartres

The Cathedral Notre Dame de Chartres is located in a town about 100 miles southwest of Paris. It is the apex of Gothic church architecture. Construction was begun in 1194 following a fire which basically destroyed the church that stood on the site. It was completed about 1220-1225, roughly 30 years from beginning to end. This is practically record time for medieval construction and this short time frame did not allow for many changes to take place; thus the church has a uniformity that many other Gothic churches do not. Below are two exterior photos of Chartres. Notice the large rose window on the west facade; this is one of three. Also notice how this cathedral seems to reach up to the heavens.

The floor plan of Chartres is shown below. The wide ambulatory allowed pilgrims to enter and walk to radiating chapels coming off the ambulatory without disturbing a service that might be going on in the main nave and altar.

The figure below is a cross section of a typical Gothic Cathedral.

The first photo below shows the chevet or apse end of Chartres. Notice how this has changed dramatically since Worms. The second photo is the choir and main altar in the apse. The bottom photo is the nave taken from the crossing looking west to the west entrance and west rose window. The height of the nave is 37meters.

Below is a photo of some of the flying buttresses at Chartres.

Stained glass was used in churches as early as the 7th century AD. It reached its zenith in the Middle Ages. The best of medieval stained glass is found at Chartres. Of 176 stained glass windows 152 of them are the original 12th or 13th century creations. They are brilliant; the blue, often referred to as "Chartres Blue" has rarely been duplicated.

Many of the stained glass windows also relate Biblical stories. The window below tells the story of the Good Samaritan.

The window below is the north rose window found in the north transept of Chartres. Mary with the infant Jesus is in the center of the rose. Blanche of Castille was married to the King of France and the two of them donated this window. The arms of Castille and the fleur de lis of France are shown in the small lancets immediately beneath the Rose.

For more information see the following posts from this blog:
Ephesus 10/13/09
Ephesus II 2/9/13
Istanbul, not Constantinople, Part 2, Hagia Sophia, 10/19/09
Hagia Sophia Redux, Part I, 11/15/12
Hagia Sophia Redux, Part II, 11/19/12
Chartres Cathedral, Part I,  5/13/13
Chartres Cathedral, Part II, 5/13/13
Chartres, Part III, 7/8/15
Aachen Cathedral-Charlemagne's Church, 10/31/15
St Stephen's Cathedral, Metz, France, 10/17/15

For Romanesque churches see:
https://vialucispress.wordpress.com/

Chartres Part III

We were at Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France on May 5. It was a beautiful day but unfortunately we were only able to spend about two hours there, late in the afternoon. I was able to get some photos of some of the stained glass and a few of the exterior.

The first two photos are of the exterior. The first one is the first real good look at the cathedral when you are walking from the train station. The second shows the west facade.

There is a window called the Good Samaritan Window, shown in the photo below. The bottom half of the window shows the Good Samaritan; the top half shows the creation and the fall of Adam. There are two other medieval Good Samaritan windows, one at Sens and one at Bourges. This window was interpreted in medieval times as showing the creation, the fall of Adam, and Adam(mankind) being saved by Jesus. Jesus takes Adam to the church and instructs the church to take care of him until he, Jesus, returns.

The next photo shows the north rose window with the lancets. This window was given to the church by Blanche of Castile and her husband the King of France.

The photo below shows just the rose above the lancet windows. In the center of this window is Mary with Jesus on her lap. The small vertical windows at the bottom of the rose are the fleur de lis of France and castles representing Castile.

Below is the south rose window with its lancets.

The next photo show only the rose. In this one Christ is in majesty.

This photo is taken from the east end of the cathedral and shows the St. Piat chapel on the left which was added to the cathedral in about 1320 and the outside of the apse. Notice the wisteria blooming on the wall in the lower right corner.

The last photo shows that same wisteria from as different angle plus the cathedral.

I have not included a lot of detail in this post because the first two posts about Chartres already have a lot of detail. Chartres remains one of my most favorite places in the world. I have a goal to visit it when the cleaning is all finished, perhaps in 2017.

Chartres Cathedral--Part II

It's time now to go inside Chartres Cathedral. A few facts first: The Cathedral is 430 feet long, and 105 feet wide. The nave is 54 feet wide-the widest in France. The nave ceiling height is 121 feet. It is built in three stories: the bottom is the arcade, the middle is the triforium, and the top the clerestory. Below is a photo showing this, from Wikimedia commons.The triforium is the smallest of the three; the addition of the clerestory adds light and beauty to the cathedral as well as creating a need for flying buttresses. Chartres is the first of the great churches to do the three stories.

Below is a floor plan of Chartes, from Wikimedia Commons. I have added the text to the plan.There is a single aisle on each side of the nave and a double ambulatory aisle around the choir and apse.

The aisle and ambulatory allow for someone to enter the church while the main church is being used and go unobtrusively to a chapel off the apse and worship without disturbing the main body.

Above is a labyrinth from the early 1200s. It occupies about the west 1/3 of the nave. The photo is taken looking east towards the apse. The chairs are removed on Fridays to allow people to see and walk the labyrinth. It is one of the few medieval labyrinths left, and supposedly the only in France. There is only one correct path, and it is over 900 feet long. In medieval times monks would walk along the path as if they were walking the path to God, contemplating as they went. There are some modern people who walk it; whether or not they have the same reason to do so I do not know. In medieval times there were no pews or chairs; one stood throughout the service as a mark of respect for God and Christ.

The two photos above are of the nave, taken at the crossing looking west. Napoleon is reported to have said that no man could stand in the nave of Chartres Cathedral and deny there is a God. He probably tried. I found the experience almost overwhelming.

Above is the west rose window and the three lancet windows. The stained glass in the rose window is from about 1215; the lancet windows were put in about 1140 and survived the great fire of 1194. The rose window portrays the last judgment with Christ in the center. The three 12 century lancets are show closeup below. The one on the left depicts the Passion, the center the infancy of Christ and the one on the right the tree of Jesse.

 

Above is a photo of the choir and apse from the crossing. The young man on the lower right gives
some perspective. There is a baroque altar piece visible, which apparently is quite common in these medieval churches. Below are the clerestory windows at the east end of the apse.

This lancet window is the only other window to survive the fire of 1194. It is the Blue Virgin or Belle Vemere found on the south side just to the choir side of the crossing. This window is actually a composite. The upper half depicting Christ on the Virgin's lap dates from 1180. The bottom part dates from about 1225 and shows scenes from Christ's infancy.

Above is the south rose window with its accompanying five lancet windows. This rose is dedicated to Christ who is shown in the center with his hand raised in benediction. These windows were made between 1225 and 1230. A closeup of the five lancet windows is shown below. The center lancet shows Mary carrying the infant Christ. The other four show the four Evangelists standing on four old testament prophets. Left to right--Luke on Jeremiah, Matthew on Isaiah, Mary and Christ, John on Ezekiel and Mark on Daniel.

Above is the end of the south aisle and the beginning of the ambulatory. Notice the striking difference in color. There is a big cleaning going on now; the lighter area has been cleaned. It is anticipated that the whole church will be cleaned by sometime in 2014.

This is the south ambulatory. I think you can see a little bit of one of the apsoidal chapels.

The photo above shows more of a south ambulatory side chapel.

The photo above is taken from the south ambulatory. The rood or choir screen is the massive dark structure on the lower left-center. It was begun in the early 1500s but not finished until the 18th century. You can also see the beautiful vaulting and some of the apse.

The photo above is in the south ambulatory with the rood screen on the left. As you can tell, this area has been cleaned. Below is a photo looking from the south ambulatory to the crossing and beyond to the west end. You can see where the cleaning stops.

Chartres has the greatest medieval stained glass in the world. It depends on who's counting, but there are about 172 stained glass windows in Chartres, 152 of which date from the 12th or 13th century. And you see them in situ, where they were made to be seen.

The blue in the Chartres stained glass is magnificent, and has come to be known as "Chartres Blue." Many people believe that the process by which they made the blue was lost. We know that the blue is primarily due to cobalt, but we don't really know the process to duplicate the 13th century manufacture. What "recipes" exist are difficult for 21st century men to interpret and follow. Whether it was lost or not is really moot: for whatever reason little if any stained glass of Chartres Blue color was made after the 13th century. Another interesting tidbit : The stained glass at Chartres is about an inch thick.

Through all the wars since the 13th century Chartres has suffered very little damage. At the start of WWII, in 1939 all the stained glass was removed and stored somewhere in the French countryside. During the war, after D-Day at Normandy the Americans were driving towards Paris. The brass got the idea that the Germans were using the cathedral as an observation post and therefore it should be bombed. An American colonel, Col Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr. challenged the order. He took one man and went behind the German lines and proved that the Germans were not using the Cathedral. The order to bomb it was rescinded. On August 14, 1944 at Leves, near Chartres, Col. Griffith was killed.

The relic associated with Chartres is a piece of cloth that is thought to be the tunic that Mary wore when she gave birth to Christ. The Cathedral has had it in their possession since about 900; it was given to them by Charles the Bald. When the 1194 fire hit, two  priests grabbed the tunic and went down into the crypt or treasury. When people were poking around in the rubble two or three days later, they found the priests and the tunic all safe and intact. The Blue Virgin window was also intact. This was clearly a miracle, so they rushed into the building of the new church, dedicated to Mary--Notre Dame de Chartres. Incidentally, in recent years the tunic has been tested and found to be from the first century, as is the weave.

A word on the photos. The day I was at Chartres it was cloudy with off and on light rain.  I used a Sony a900, full frame DSLR. I took a tripod but had trouble with it trying to go vertical inside the cathedral. Operator error, I'm sure. Because of the sensor in that camera I was able to shoot some photos hand held at high ISO 2500-3200, which turned out okay. At least I was able to turn a disaster into acceptable.

I have wanted to visit Chartres for more years than I care to remember. I was not disappointed in any way. The last photo I will share with you is the north rose window, probably the one most "oohed and ahhed" over. This window was donated about 1235 by Blanch of Castile, grand daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was queen of France by marriage and ruled France twice as Regent. The rose is dedicated to the Virgin. In the center Mary is holding the child Jesus. There are also the Fleur de Lis of France and the red and gold castles representing Castile. The Center lancet shows Mary's mother, St. Anne, holding Mary as an infant. The other four lancets show Old Testament figures triumphing over enemies. Enjoy!

 By the way, if you're looking for a good read, try Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings, by Amy ruth Kelly It's all about Eleanor of Aquitaine.