Cathedral of Chartres
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Cathedral of Chartres |
The
Cathedral of Chartres ("Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres,"
French:
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), located in
Chartres, about 50 miles from
Paris, is considered one of the finest examples in all
France of the "
Gothic" style of
architecture.
Construction of a new building on the
Romanesque foundations was begun in
1145, but a fire in
1194 destroyed all but the west front of the cathedral (and much of the town), so that part is in the "early Gothic" style. The body of the cathedral was rebuilt between
1194 and
1220, a remarkably short span for medieval cathedrals. It has a ground area of 117058 square feet.
Chartres is a
cathedral that inspires superlatives, and there are few architectural historians who have not waxed lyrical about its soaring aisles and delicate carving. These tributes are richly deserved, for Chartres is truly one of the greatest of all French Gothic cathedrals. From a distance it seems to hover in mid-air above waving fields of wheat, and it is only when the visitor draws closer that the city comes into view, clustering around the hill on which the cathedral stands. Its two contrasting spires — one, a 105 metre (349 ft) plain pyramid dating from the 1140s, and the other a 113 metre (377 ft) tall early 16th century Flamboyant spire on top of an older tower — soar upwards over the pale green roof, while all around the outside are complex
flying buttresses.
According to legend, since
876 the Cathedral has housed a tunic that had belonged to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, the
Sancta Camisia. The
relic had supposedly been given to the Cathedral by
Charlemagne who received it as a gift during a
crusade in
Jerusalem. In fact, the relic was a gift from
Charles the Bald and it has been asserted that the fabric came from
Syria and that it had been woven during the first century AD. For hundreds of years, Chartres has been a very important Marian pilgrimage center and today the faithful still come from the world over to honour the relic.
The church was primarily a church for pilgrimage in the
12th century. The fairs that were held in the surrounding area of the cathedral were attended by many of the pilgrims, for they coincided with the feast days of the Virgin Mary. The fairs were attended by many of the pilgrims who came to see the cloak of the Virgin. The fairs at Chartres were held just outside the cathedral, the property made up of streets and squares which belonged to the church that was immediately adjacent to the cathedral. There were four great fairs which coincided with the main feast days of the Virgin; the
Purification; the
Annunciation; the
Assumption and the
Nativity. The main attraction at these fairs was the cloak of the Virgin, so the life of the town was dependent upon them.
The cathedral was the most important
building in the town of Chartres. It was the centre of the
economy, the most famous
landmark and the centre of almost every activity which is provided by
civic buildings in towns today. In the
Middle Ages, the cathedral functioned sometimes as a marketplace, with the different portals of the basilica selling different items; textiles at the northern end; fuel, vegetables and meat at the southern one. Sometimes the
clergy would try, in vain, to stop the life of the markets from entering into the cathedral.
Wine sellers were forbidden to sell wine in the crypt, but were allowed to do business in the nave of the church and avoid the taxes which they would have to pay if they sold it outside. Workers of various professions gathered in the cathedral seeking jobs, such as carpenters and masons. Food was even allowed to be sold in the cathedral. Once when
ergotism caused many victims in the town, the north side of the
crypt became a hospital to care for the sick .
The existing cathedral at Chartres is another of the French Gothic masterpieces built because fire had destroyed its predecessors. After the first cathedral of any great substance burnt down in
1020 (prior to this, other churches on the site had disappeared in smoke), a glorious new
Romanesque basilica, which included a massive crypt, was built under the direction of
Bishop Fulbert and later under the direction of Geoffroy de Lèves. However, having survived a fire in
1134 which destroyed much of the rest of the town, disaster struck yet again in the night from the 10th to the 11th of June
1194 when lightning created a blaze that left only the west towers, the façade between them and the crypt.
The people despaired when they believed that their sacred relic, the
Sancta Camisia, had perished too. But three days later it was found unharmed in the treasury along with the priests who had taken it there for safety when the fire broke out and locked themselves in behind the iron trapdoors. The visiting Cardinal Melior of Pisa, a papal legate, told the people that the survival of the relic was a sign from Mary herself and that another, even more magnificent, cathedral should be built in Chartres.
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Figures from the Cathedral of Chartres |
Rebuilding, with the help of donations from all over France, began almost immediately, using the plans laid out by the first architect, still anonymous, in order to preserve the harmonious aspect of the Cathedral. The enthusiasm for the project was such that the people of the city voluntarily gathered to haul the stone needed from local quarries 5 miles (8km) away.
Work began first on the nave and by 1220 the main structure was complete, with the old crypt, along with the mid-12th-century Royal Portal which had also escaped the fire, incorporated into the new building. The plan is cruciform, with a 427-foot (128m) long
nave, and short transepts to the south and north. The east end is rounded with an ambulatory which has five semi-circular
chapels radiating from it. The cathedral extensively used flying buttresses in its original plan, and these supported the weight of the extremely high
vaults, at the time of being built, the highest in France. The new high gothic cathedral at Chartres used 4 rib vaults in a rectangular space, instead of 6 in a square pattern, as in earlier gothic cathedrals such as at
Laon. The skeletal system of supports, from the compound piers all the way up to the springing and transverse and diagonal ribs, allowed large spaces of the cathedral to be free for stained glass work, as well as a towering height.
On
October 24,
1260 the cathedral was finally dedicated in the presence of
King Louis IX and his family .
Even the elegance of the exterior does not prepare the visitor for the wonders that lie within. The spacious nave stands 121 feet (36m) high, and there is an unbroken view from the western end right along to the magnificent dome of the
apse in the east. Clustered columns rise dramatically from plain bases to the high pointed arches of the ceiling, directing the eye to the massive clerestory windows in the apse.
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Walking the famous labyrinth within the Chartres Cathedral. |
Everywhere vivid colour splashes on to the floor from the superb
stained glass windows. Dating from the early 13th century, the glass largely escaped harm during the
religious wars of the 16th century; it is said to constitute one of the most complete collections of medieval stained glass in the world, despite "modernization" in 1753 when some of it was removed by the clearly well-intentioned but misguided clergy. From the original 186 stained-glass windows, 152 have survived. The stained glass windows are particularly renowned for their vivid blue colour, especially a representation of the Madonna and Child. They also present the first European
wheelbarrow [ "Engines of Our Ingenuity" n°377, by John H. Lienhard] ]. During the second World War, most of the stained glass was removed from the cathedral, and stored in the surrounding countryside, for protection from German bombers. At the close of the war, the windows were taken out of hiding and replaced.
Several of the windows were donated by royalty, such as the rose window at the north transept, which was donated by the French queen
Blanche of Castile. Windows were also donated from all types of people, from kings, lords to locals and tradespeople. The royal influence is shown in some of the long rectangular
lancet windows which display the royal symbols of the yellow
fleurs-de-lis on a blue background and also yellow castles on a red background.
On the doors and porches medieval carvings of statues holding swords, crosses, books and trade tools parade around the portals, their expressions as clear today as when first carved 700 years ago. The
sculptures on the west façade depict
Christ's ascension into heaven, episode from his life, saints, apostles, Christ in the lap of
Mary and other religious scenes. Below the religious figures are statues of kings and queens, which is the reason why this entrance is known as the 'royal' portal. While these figures are based on figures from the
Old Testament, they were also regarded as images of current kings and queens when they were constructed. The symbolism of showing royalty displayed slightly lower than the religious sculptures, but still very close, implies the relationship between the kings and God. It is a way of displaying the authority of royalty, showing them so close to figures of Christ, it gives the impression they have been ordained and put in place by God. Sculptures of the Seven Liberal Arts appeared in the
archivolt of the right bay of the Royal Portal, which represented the school at Chartres.
The Cathedral of Chartres was not destroyed nor looted during the
French Revolution and the numerous restorations have not altered its glorious beauty. It always stayed the same: the triumph of
Gothic art.
The cathedral was added to
UNESCO's list of
World Heritage Sites in 1979.
In the Middle Ages the cathedral also functioned as an important
cathedral school.
Charlemagne wanted a system of education for the French people in the ninth century, and since it was difficult and costly for new schools to be built, it was easier to use already existing infrastructure. So he ordered that both cathedrals and
monasteries maintain schools. Cathedral schools eventually took over from monastic schools as the main places of education. In the 11th century the education system was controlled by the clergy in cathedrals such as Chartres. The cathedral itself symbolised the school. Many French cathedral schools had specialties, and Chartres was most renowned for the study of logic. The new logic taught in Chartres was regarded by many as being even ahead of
Paris. One person who was educated at Chartres was
John of Salisbury, an English philosopher and writer, who had his classical training there.
* Adams, Henry.
Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913 and many later editions.
* Delaporte, Y.
Les vitraux de la cathédrale de Chartres: histoire et description par l'abbé Y. Delaporte ... reproductions par É. Houvet. Chartres : É. Houvet, 1926. 3 volumes (consists chiefly of photographs of the windows of the cathedral)
* Houvet, E.
Cathédrale de Chartres. Chelles (S.-et-M.) : Hélio. A. Faucheux, 1919. 5 volumes in 7. (consists entirely of photogravures of the architecture and sculpture, but not windows)
* Houvet, E.
An Illustrated Monograph of Chartres Cathedral: (Being an Extract of a Work Crowned by Académie des Beaux-Arts). s.l.: s.n., 1930.
* Klug, Sonja Ulrike.
Kathedrale des Kosmos. Die heilige Geometrie von Chartres. Munich 2001. ISBN 3720521338
* Mâle, Emile.
Notre-Dame de Chartres. New York: Harper & Row, 1983.
* Chartres was the primary basis for the fictional Cathedral in
David Macaulay's
Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction and the animated special based on this book.
*
France in the Middle Ages*
Web'Chartres - Le site interactif de la ville (An interactive website of Chartres)
*
Pitt photo collection*
Photos* http://www.diocesechartres.com/cathedrale/index.html
* http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Cathedrals/Chartres/Notre-Dame_Chartres.shtml
* http://www.johnjames.com.au/chartres-shorthistory.shtml
* http://www.chartres-csm.org/us_fixe
* http://www.chartres-heiligegeometrie.de
