The Influence of Charlemagne

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The Influence of Charlemagne
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• Carolingian c. 750 900AD
• Romanesque c. 900 early 12th century
• Gothic French Early, 1140 1180AD
• High, c. 1180 1350AD
• Late (Flamboyant), c. 1350 1500AD
• English Early (Lancet), 1175 1250 AD
• Decorated, 1225 1350AD
• Late (Perpendicular), 1350 1500 AD
• Italy Early, 1200 1250AD (also Spain, Germany)
• High, 1250 1350AD
• Late, 1350 1450AD

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Vocabulary Terms

• Gallery Pinnacle
• Ambulatory Lierne
• Chevet Tierceron
• Jamb Bar Tracery
• Tympanum Plate Tracery
• Vault Ridge Rib
• Rib Vault Sexpartite Vault
• Stained glass Pseudo Sexpartite Vault
• Fan Vault Quadripartite Vault
• Triforium Lancet Window
• Flying Buttress
• Chapter House
• Transept
• Boss
• Gargoyle

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Charlemagne

• Almost mythical in his reputation, Charlemagne
  (grandson of Charles Martel, or Charles the
  Hammer) was the savior of most of Western Europe
  he drove the Saracens out of Italy and fought
  against the Basques in Spain. In the Pyrenees at
  the Battle of Roncevalles, in 778AD, his rear
  guard was ambushed and nearly all were killed,
  but Charlemagne escaped with a few men. The
  story was recorded 300 years afterwards as Le
  Chanson de Roland. In the 34th year of his reign
  (he was 63) Charlemagne settled down to a
  peaceful rule in his native Aachen Charlemagne
  is considered the father of both France and
  Germany.
• Wished (like Constantine, whom he consciously
  imitated) to create a visibly unified Christian
  world, was crowned by Pope Leo III in Rome on
  Christmas Day 800 AD as head of the Holy Roman
  Empire. (HRE)
• The HRE continued until Napoleon abolished it in
  1806.
• Charlemagne had the Palatine Chapel built at
  Aachen in Germany.

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Baptistry de St. Jean, oldest extant Christian
building in France, a Merovingian church, begun
c. 360 atop Roman ruins. Contained baptismal tank
by 6th c. Poitiers, France c. 6th c. restored by
Clovis I
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http//maps.google.com/maps?qPoitiers,Francesa
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• Until 1857 Poitiers contained the ruins of a
  Roman amphitheatre more extensive than that of
  Nimes remains of Roman baths, constructed in the
  1st and demolished in the 3rd century, were laid
  bare in 1877 and in 1879 a burial-place and the
  tombs of a number of Christian martyrs were
  discovered on the heights to the south-east the
  names of some of the Christians being preserved
  in paintings and inscriptions. Not far from these
  tombs is a huge dolmen (the "Pierre Levée"), 22
  feet long, 16 feet broad and 6 or 7 feet high,
  around which used to be held the great fair of
  St. Luke.
• The first decisive Christian victory over Muslims
  Battle of Tours was fought by Charles
  Martel's men in the proximity of Poitiers on
  October 10, 732.

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• Construction d'Aix-la-Chapelle. Pépin le Bossu
  spent many times at the spas at Aquis Villa, the
  old Roman name for Aix-la-Chappelle
• L'empereur Charlemagne visite un chantier,
  vraisemblablement celui du palais
  d'Aix-la-Chapelle.
• Après avoir découvert le complot de son fils
  naturel Pépin le Bossu, Charlemagne assiste à son
  entrée dans les ordres.

• Paris, BnF, département des Manuscrits, Français
  6465, fol. 96 (Troisième Livre de Charlemagne)
• Grandes Chroniques de France, enluminées par Jean
  Fouquet, Tours, vers 1455-1460

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Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne at Aachen,
Germany796 805 AD(Note that Charlemagne
returned to the southern construction principles
of Ancient Rome and Ravenna.)
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Cathedral at Aachen, Germany

• For 600 years the coronation chapel of the kings
  of the HRE, the Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne is
  small in comparison to the many additions and
  enlargements made to the cathedral over the
  centuries, but at the time of its construction it
  was the largest dome north of the Alps.

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In order to bear the enormous flow of pilgrims in
the Gothic period a choir hall was built a
two-part Capella Vitrea (glass chapel) which was
consecrated on the 600th anniversary of
Charlemagne's death. In 1978 it was made a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.The 13 windows are
each 100 feet high and on the pillars between
them stand fourteen statues (the Mother of God,
the Twelve Apostles, and Charlemagne) that date
from the
15th century. Escaping the Bombing from Allied
Forces during WWI, the chapel remains, the only
structure left from Charlemagnes time.
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The 8th-century Torhalle (gatehouse), at Lorsch
Abbey, in Germany, is a unique survival of the
Carolingian era. It curiously combines some
elements of the Roman triumphal arch (arch-shaped
passageways, half-columns) with the vernacular
Teutonic heritage (baseless triangles of the
blind arcade, polychromatic masonry).
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Plan for the Monastery of St. Gall, c. 820, shows
an ideal monastic layout, arranged in a
rectilinear manner, with provisions for every
activity.
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San Miniato al Monte 1018 -1062 Florence,
Italy Length of church is divided by piers of
quatrefoil section and transverse diaphragm
arches into three compartments. Between the
compound piers the nave arcade is carried on
pairs of columns. The Italian builders have not
lost an awareness of the classical language of
architecture.
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• San Miniato al Monte
• Divided along its length into three aisles
  by piers of quatrefoil section and transverse
  diaphragm arches.
• Pairs of columns between quatrefoil piers
  are different colored marble (spolio)
• Eastern end raised above the burial vault
• Wooden truss open to roof, painted with
  religious symbols

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Romanesque Arches

• Desire for larger structures
• Greater proficiency in masonry construction and
  stone cutting techniques
• Need for acoustical effects (Gregorian chants)
• Elliptical arches cannot support much weight
  because they do not require that the blocks be
  trapezoidal in shape no way to lock them
  together with a keystone. The diagonal ribs must
  be higher than the laterals, resulting in an
  undulating ceiling height within the aisle
  length.
• Circular arches later developed in to sexpartite
  vaults

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Sant Ambrogio, Milan, Italy 1080
1128possibly first to use groin vault
(quadripartite rib)
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St. Philibert c. 960 1120 introduction of
ambulatory and chapels (chavet) to apse
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Chavet - A French term used to describe the
developed east end of a church, usually a French
Gothic Cathedral, with its apse, ambulatory (a
semicircular polygonal passageway around the apse
of a church) and radiating chapels.
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St. Sernin, 1080 1120, Toulouse, France
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Abbaye-Aux Dames La Trinite)
1032 18th c.
use of pseudo-sexpartite
vaulting
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Abbaye-Aux Hommes (St. Etienne) 1068 18th c.
Caen, Franceuse of true sexpartite
vaulting. Note the façade of this church will
become the standard organization for Gothic
facades. Founded by William the Conqueror
additions in the 18th c.
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Liernes and vaulting

• A Lierne (from the French lier - to bind) in
  Gothic rib vaulting is an architectural term for
  a tertiary rib spanning between two other ribs,
  instead of from a springer, or to the
  centralboss. The type of vault that utilizes
  liernes is called a lierne vault or stellar vault
  (named after the star shape generated by
  connecting liernes).
• In England, the lierne came into use during the
  14th c. Decorated period. A good example of
  lierne vaulting is at Gloucester Cathedral. In
  France, examples can be seen in Flamboyant
  architecture, such as at Saint-Pierre in Caen,
  France.

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Tiercerons

• The vault plan diagram of Ely Choir shows the
  ribs as a double line, where the main
  longitudinal ridge rib (green vertical lines) and
  transverse ridge ribs (green horizontal lines)
  intersect each other at the central bosses (large
  circles). The longitudinal ridge rib runs down
  the centre of the Choir, and the transverse ridge
  ribs span from the apex of each window at the
  sides of the Choir. Arched diagonal ribs span
  from piers between the windows, from springers to
  the central bosses, and arched transverse ribs
  (alternate horizontal lines) span from the
  springers to the main longitudinal ridge rib.
  Secondary arched diagonal ribs, called
  tiercerons, span from the springers to the
  transverse ridge ribs. Liernes (shaded black)
  span between the other ribs forming intricate
  patterning.
• Note In French terminology relating to
  architecture, a lierne is a ridge rib, and hence
  has a different meaning.

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St-Etienne was built by William the Conqueror
from local Caen stone (also used for Canterbury
Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of
London) in the 11th century. During the height of
the Allied invasion, residents of Caen flocked to
St-Etienne for protection.
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Bayeux Tapestry
1066 Battle of Hastings
William the Conqueror and his wife Matilda both
founded the Abbaye aux Dames and the Abbaye aux
Hommes. Both abbeys are located in Caen, in
Northwestern France. L'Abbaye aux Hommes was
dedicated to Saint Stephen and was an all male
abbey.
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Durham Cathedral, Durham, England 1093 possibly
the first use of groin vaulting (about the same
time as Sant Ambrogio)
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Durham Cathedral, romanesque apsidal end (east)
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St. Front Perigeux, France mid 12th century
based on the plan of St. Marks in Venice, it was
built by Byzantine traders, hence its unique
characteristics for a French church.