Chapter I: Part 1

This is companion to the preceding volume--“The Dean’s
Handbook to Gloucester Cathedral.”

Circa A.D. 440.]

THE SECRETS OF A GREAT CATHEDRAL

BY THE VERY REV.
H. D. M. SPENCE-JONES, M.A., D.D.

_Dean of Gloucester_
_Professor of Ancient History in the Royal Academy_

LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD.
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.
1914

_All rights reserved_

_This book, “The Secrets of a Great Cathedral,” is, after a fashion, the sequel to the Dean’s “Handbook to Gloucester Cathedral,” although it has no special reference to, no real connection with the former work._

_These “Secrets” belong to no one solitary pile, but are the heritage of the many Cathedrals, at once the glory and the riddle of Catholic Europe. Still, references to one pile--Gloucester, the loved home of the writer of the book--will be found constantly to crop up and appear unexpectedly in the following pages._

_Like King Charles the First in the “Memorial” of the immortal Mr. Dick in Dickens’ “David Copperfield,” so is Gloucester ever straying into the “Cathedrals” of the “Secrets.” Its haunting memory_ will _not be kept out_.

_The reader must forgive, and perhaps forget, the writer’s fancy, and--quietly read on._

INTRODUCTORY

The quaint name which the writer has given to his little book, “The Secrets of a Great Cathedral,” is based upon his desire to answer briefly some of the leading questions which have been put to him in the long course of his office as chief custodian of one of the most notable of Romanesque cathedrals.

For after viewing with more or less interest and care the grey, time-worn pile of Gloucester, the visitors often long to learn something of the genesis and meaning of the several principal parts of the mighty church.

They ask first, naturally enough, what is the meaning of the term “Romanesque,” which they have often heard now and again popularly described as “Norman.” Whence then came this massive round-arch architecture? Is it not perhaps much older than the Norman period, which only dates from the eleventh and twelfth centuries? If so, who were the inventors of this widely diffused style? when and where did they live and work?

The writer of this little book answers the question, and tells the inquirer that this so-called “Romanesque” style is of very ancient date, and he traces its wonderful story back for some seven or eight hundred years _before the coming_ of the Normans into England.

* * * * *

In late years not a few scholars[1] have dwelt with more or less detail on “the secret” of this wonderful and stately “Romanesque” round-arch architecture, of which so many splendid examples still remain in different lands. These scholars give us many important details, and they suggest various interesting theories on its origin and development.

But the most exhaustive histories that we possess of Romanesque architecture have quite lately appeared.[2] One of these belongs to Italy and is the work of Signor Rivoira; the other to England, and is from the pen of Sir Thomas Jackson, R.A. They both travel over much of the same ground, but with infinite varieties of detail and illustration--both, however, in their own way, telling the most interesting story that historical ecclesiastical architecture has ever had to tell. No one, after a careful study of these two great works, but will feel that the veil which has partly concealed “the secret” of Romanesque has at length been lifted.

But comparatively few, alas, find the leisure necessary to master the contents of these four massive quarto volumes.

One word on these great works, not of criticism but of legitimate comment, is called for.

Rivoira, the Italian scholar, throughout his great study of Romanesque, seeks and finds in Italy, the old home of Rome and the Empire, the inspiration and the cradle of all Romanesque. Sir T. Jackson, R.A., on the other hand, refers to Constantinople and the near East as the principal source of this the most famous and enduring of all architectural schools.

_The Triforium._--The great gallery which appears in so many of the more important Anglo-Norman churches, and which in Gloucester Cathedral surrounds the choir, perplexes the student of the architecture of these mighty churches. What, is often asked, was the purpose of this striking feature? When and where was it first designed?

The story of the origin of a Triforium is sketched out; the reason for its exclusive ancient use in the Eastern Church is given, while in the West (Latin Christianity) it rarely, if ever, for many centuries appears.

Then its strange reappearance as a conspicuous and characteristic feature especially in Anglo-Norman Romanesque is discussed.

_The Lady Chapel._--So well-known and frequent a feature in our more important mediæval cathedrals, abbeys and churches, notably in such English examples as Gloucester, Westminster Abbey, Salisbury, etc., often perplexes the inquirers. Whence, they ask, comes this striking “annexe” to the great religious piles of our forefathers? It seems to speak of a cult certainly unknown in the “inspired” writings--of a cult which is evidently a comparatively late development in Christian teaching.

The strange story of the “Lady Chapel” is traced in the pages of this little book.

_The Crypt_ is by no means a universal feature even in Western Christendom, while in the East it is absolutely unknown. In the West, however, we frequently find a Crypt in the planning of the more important churches. The question often is put--What was its use? When and where was it first introduced? Is it not possibly “the memory” of some sacred spot once deeply revered and often visited in far-back days by tens of thousands from many distant lands? Emphatically a strange mystery hangs over those dark and gloomy Crypts which sleep beneath such great churches as the cathedrals of Gloucester and Canterbury, the mighty church of Chartres, the storied abbey of S. Benignus of Dijon. The true secret of the Crypt is a thrilling story and one that goes back to the earliest days of Christianity.

Some account is given of the Crypt of S. Peter’s, Rome, the “mother of Crypts,” and of the strange modern discoveries in that hallowed spot.

_The Cloister_, once so general a feature in the planning of the abbey and the cathedral church, and which even now has left not a few examples still striking with their scarred and often ruined beauty--the Cloister is to many the subject of perhaps a mute inquiry as to its origin and primitive use.

It is clearly a special adjunct to important Christian buildings, and was evidently once of the highest importance to the community of the abbey or the cathedral to which it was annexed.

It has a curious history, and one that is quickly and easily told; but this history is after all but very little known. It ranks emphatically as one of the secrets of a cathedral.

_The Altar of S. Petronilla_ is a “memory” that belongs exclusively to Gloucester Cathedral, the home and the scene of work of the writer of this book. It is the earliest historical record in the many-coloured story of this great cathedral, and dates from the far-back early years of the eighth century. Its curious connection with the mighty church of the Severn Lands has suggested its inclusion in this work which deals with “the secrets” of a cathedral church.

The writer of these pages on “the secrets” of a cathedral has drawn much of his inspiration from the cathedral he loves so well. The story of S. Petronilla, so curiously and mysteriously linked with the fortunes of Gloucester Abbey some twelve centuries ago, possesses a deep and peculiar interest, as it tells of a sainted personage, now well-nigh forgotten, and round whom, for various reasons, modern criticism has been curiously busy.

The conclusions of modern critics, some of them of the first rank, _if accepted_, would destroy the supreme interest which in the early Christian centuries undoubtedly invested S. Petronilla with a halo of a rare and peculiar sanctity. The theories of modern critics have been refuted, mainly on historical grounds, in this study.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY (p. vii-xi)

The meaning of the title of this book, “The Secrets of a Great
Cathedral,” is briefly explained.

The “Secrets” include the leading questions which are often put
to the writer, who is the chief custodian of a great pile, partly
Romanesque, partly Gothic, as to the signification and origin of
certain prominent features of an important Mediæval Church.

These questions include the meaning and history of the term
_Romanesque_ architecture, sometimes mistakenly termed _Norman_.

_The Lady Chapel._--The circumstances are discussed at some length,
which gave rise to this comparatively late addition in the planning
of a great church or abbey.

_The Crypt._--A reply is given to the query--whence comes this
remarkable and little understood feature in many of the cathedrals,
abbeys and large churches--a feature only found in the churches of
Western Christendom.

_The Cloister._--The history of the “Cloister” is given with
some detail--a sketch of what it evidently replaced is briefly
written--some of the early criticisms on the elaborate ornamentation
of Cloisters are discussed.

_S. Petronilla._--This strange memory of a once famous, but now
forgotten Saint--a memory which belongs especially to Gloucester
Cathedral--is referred to. The true history of this Saint is sketched
out.

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

“Romanesque” a modern term--When first used--General
signification of the word 3

Romanesque--really a falling back on the ante-classical
style of Roman architecture--Freeman’s definition--Parts of
Diocletian’s palace of Spalatro, the earliest known example
of Romanesque, where the Greek feature of the entablature
is cast away, and the arches rest on capitals of columns 4

A brief review of the architectural story of Romanesque
between the fourth and eleventh centuries--How Ravenna,
from days of Honorius, became a great Art capital--The
splendid Romanesque churches of Ravenna in the days of
her glory--A list of Ravennese churches which have been
preserved 6

After the Lombard conquest, a period of darkness in the
Art world of Italy and the West set in--Renaissance of Art
under the Lombard Queen Theodolinda--Two hundred years of
Lombard rule--Who were the builders under the Lombards 13

History and appearance of the Comacine Guild of Architects 14

The remains of earlier Comacine work under the
Lombards--Lombard Comacine work under Charlemagne 19

Romanesque, or the round-arch style, develops and
penetrates into Gaul and even as far as England 20

The _Byzantine_-domed Basilica. (A Note.) 20

_England._ Lombardic work traced--its slow advance and
progress before the Norman Conquest 22

_Germany._ Little traces of early Romanesque save in the
Palace-chapel of Aix-la-Chapelle 22

The rare examples in Germany before the eleventh century--a
few examples quoted, however, in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries 24

_Gaul--France._ Tells us very little of Romanesque Art
for many centuries, although there were many important
buildings in the fourth and fifth centuries--We learn this
from Sidonius Apollinaris, Gregory of Tours, etc. Very few
Romanesque remains, however, exist dating from Merovingian
and Carlovingian times 24

_Something_ had happened in Gaul between the sixth and
eleventh centuries to account for the absence of remains
of early churches. In truth, the country was subjected,
in a special degree, to disastrous invasions--by sea and
land. (1) The Saracens. (2) The Northmen--Catalogue of
devastated cities at hands of Northmen--Special reason for
the complete destruction of churches in these raids--Rare
facilities for these raids in Gaul 25

At the end of the tenth century, comparative stillness
prevailed in France--Settlement of Northmen in Normandy
and Northern France--We have in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries many Romanesque buildings--not a few of an
elaborate type 28

Varieties of Romanesque in the different Gallic
provinces--Thus we find in _Aquitaine_ and in the
South-West the influence of Byzantine art very conspicuous,
especially in the _domed_ churches 29

In _Provence_ Romanesque was largely inspired by memories
of Imperial Rome--Here we find few examples of domed
churches 30

In _Toulouse_--and generally in _Languedoc_--exist fewer
remains of Romanesque churches, owing to the Albigensian
wars, so disastrous to the cities and their buildings 30

In _Auvergne_. A peculiar feature here in the Romanesque
remains is the polychrome masonry of the ornamentation--The
beautiful cloisters of Puy 31

_Burgundy._ The home “par excellence” of Monasticism so
important in the eleventh century--especially in Cluny and
Citeaux--The busy workshop of Cluny--The remarkable porches
of certain of the churches--Progress of the new feature
of vaulting--The vast Church of Cluny--Simplicity of
Citeaux--its example is followed by the countless daughter
Cistercian churches 31

_The Royal Domain_ (l’Ile de France). Its narrow limits
at first--Few Romanesque remains are found here owing to
special ravages of the North-folk--The “Royal Domain” is
greatly enlarged under Philip Augustus--It became the
“cradle” of French Gothic--List of mighty Gothic cathedrals
mostly completed in the thirteenth century 32

(In a Note.) Romanesque continued to hold its own in other
provinces longer than in the Royal Domain--In the Royal
Domain Gothic architecture superseded at an earlier date
the older Romanesque type 33

NORMAN-ROMANESQUE

_Norman-Romanesque_--Its origin and rise--William of
Volpiano the Lombard, a monk of Cluny--At the end of the
tenth century he became Abbot and re-builder of S. Benignus
of Dijon--His fame and story--Invited by Duke Richard II
of Normandy, who appointed him Abbot of Fécamp--William
of Volpiano and his pupils’ work in Normandy--Lombardic
style generally followed with certain differences--List
of some of the work of his school in Normandy. Lanfranc
further develops it--His Church of S. Etienne at Caen--Some
features of Norman work--It passed over into England with
the Conqueror--Great development of Norman-Romanesque work
in England--The enormous number and great size of churches
and abbeys built under the influence of the Norman kings
of England--Reasons for this building passion here--The
famous English abbeys of expiation--all built under Norman
inspiration 33

A brief recapitulation of the story of Romanesque from
the beginning of the fourth century--Ravenna--Coming
of the Lombards--Charlemagne, and the dark age which
followed--Cluny and William of Volpiano--His school of
architecture 40

Norman-Romanesque--A few words on the work of the
Comacine Guild is repeated--Norman-Romanesque passes into
England--Its glory--Variations in its style--One novel and
important feature alluded to 41

On the Comacine symbol of Solomon’s knot--The interlaced
line--Its meaning--Copied but not understood by Byzantine
artists 45

Comacine symbol of the Lion of Judah 47

ROMANESQUE--THE CAMPANILE OR BELL TOWER

The Lombardic Romanesque Campanile Towers--the ancestors
of the countless Bell Towers and Steeples of the Middle
Ages--The Tower of San Satiro Milan, ninth century,
probably the oldest example--The Campaniles of the ancient
Ravenna churches, all of later date than the churches to
which they are adjuncts 47

The Liturgical use of Bells--Goes back to the fifth
century--Their use became gradually more marked--Their use
at a later date in the East 48

Normandy especially famous for its Bells and
Towers--Durandus of Mende on the symbolism of Bells--his
fanciful derivations 50

After the eleventh century the Bell became of greater
importance--A short sketch of its history in the fifteenth
century--The Bell now attained its great dimensions 51

List of the more famous Bells in the present day 53

A few dates generally illustrative of Romanesque
architecture 53

THE PASSING OF ROMANESQUE

A few memoranda on the transition of Romanesque into
Gothic--The term “Gothic” a misnomer--Adopted in the
Renaissance period as a term of reproach--Curious fallacy
of Evelyn and others here--The term “Gothic” remained,
though the old opprobrium was gradually removed--Gothic is
really perfected Romanesque 54

Some of the new principles in Gothic architecture lightly
sketched--The walls are slighter--The buttress now
introduced--It does the work of the massive walls--The
pointed arch--a principal outward and visible sign--This,
however, really no new feature, for in the East it had been
long used. The yet greater outward and visible feature of
Gothic windows--More light needed for interiors--Glass,
too, became less costly in twelfth and thirteenth
centuries--Progress of art in stained glass demanded larger
windows--The walls might now, owing to the support of
buttresses, be safely pierced with large openings 56

Elaborate tracery in transoms and mullions of windows 58

On the deeper inner meaning of Gothic architecture--France,
as the original home of Gothic, selected as example here 59

The exterior of great French cathedrals somewhat sacrificed
to interior--where exceeding height was aimed at--Contrast
with English great churches--The French cathedrals
represent one continuous design, different to English
cathedrals--Gloucester a good example here--where no _one_
design exists, but original plan was constantly changed and
added to 60

The French builders of the great cathedrals believed
that in their wonderful height lay in part the secret of
inspiring the worshippers with awe and reverence 62

As they built, their cathedrals were made higher and
higher. The “splendid folly” of Beauvais was the climax of
their striving here 62

The Beauvais Cathedral work briefly described 62

THE TRIFORIUM

The question is often asked--What is the meaning and use of
the great Triforium gallery? 67

Suggested derivation of the word “Triforium”--Was a
Triforium ever found in the great ancient churches of the
West (in Latin Christianity)? 67

The real story of the reason of its appearance in the
planning of an important church 68

Note on Rivoira’s theory of a Pagan origin for this
Byzantine feature of a great church 68

The inquirer must go back to the age of Justinian, when the
Basilicas of Constantinople and Salonica, etc., were built.
In these great churches we ever find a gallery _exclusively
intended for women_ 68

In the Eastern Church the sexes were as a rule kept
separate at Divine worship--Not so in the West--This
separation was _never_ a “Latin use.” Thus we never find
a women’s gallery in the churches of Gaul and Italy,
except these buildings were erected under direct Byzantine
influences 69

But, strangely enough, the Triforium reappears in the West,
especially in Anglo-Norman Romanesque, where it is a marked
feature, although the original purpose for which it was
designed no longer existed 70

Suggestions as to its possible use in these great later
Romanesque piles: (1) Was it an ornamental architectural
device? (2) Was it connected with pilgrimage--as
affording a longer and more interesting procession for
pilgrims? Neither of these suggestions, however, is fully
satisfactory 71

General summary of the story of a Triforium 71

The reason for the Anglo-Norman reappearance of the
Triforium must remain a mystery 72

The strange but remarkable theory of Mr. Hutton in his
_Ravenna_ is quoted 73

THE LADY CHAPEL

Position of the Blessed Virgin Mary--In the New Testament,
and in the oldest Liturgies--Estimate in the Eastern Church
in the first half of sixth century 77

In the Western Church, in the days of Gregory the Great,
the honour paid to her became more accentuated 78

Men thought much on the state of the blessed dead--Gradual
multiplication of Saints, almost deified in prayer--These
were regarded as more accessible to prayer than the Persons
of the ever blessed Trinity--Among these Saints, the Virgin
Mary occupied naturally the chief position--Devotion to her
gradually became a special cult 78

This cult was introduced into the life of the people,
mainly through the Crusades--Chivalry in its religious
aspect, especially in its regard for women, was one result
of these strange wars, and the Virgin Mary became the
object of passionate devotion to the great Crusading hosts 79

Detailed explanation of this--To her every Crusader looked
for success in war--From the soldiers of the Crusading
armies this passionate devotion passed to the people 80

Soon every important church after the period of the
Crusades had its “Mary Chapel”--Hymns were written;
Liturgies in her name were introduced--Thus a new adoration
was added to Christian teaching--Ever higher and higher was
the estimate conceived of her--The Lady Chapel soon became
an important feature in a great church 81

The magnificent Gloucester Lady Chapel is a conspicuous and
late example of this development in church planning 81

A marked impulse was given to this novel cult in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries through the teaching
of the Mendicant Orders, Franciscans and Dominicans; the
Dominicans especially professed an intense devotion to the
Virgin Mary--The famous “Rosary” prayer, which still holds
its own, was “revealed” to S. Dominic--Yet some of the
greatest mediæval masters, notably S. Bernard of Clairvaux,
shrank from the extreme development of this strange novel
cult 82

Art--its powerful testimony to the growth of this teaching 83

The rare Catacomb pictures give it little or no support--In
the very ancient Christian sarcophagi no prominent place
is given to the Virgin Mary--Even in the ninth and tenth
centuries, when the Crucifixion was often depicted
in sculpture, the Virgin Mary and S. John are simply
represented on either side of the Redeemer’s Cross 84

But in the middle of the twelfth century a marked change is
noticeable--In sculpture or in painted glass, the Virgin
Mary appears enthroned and crowned, with the Infant Christ
in her arms 84

In the thirteenth century the Virgin Mary becomes a central
figure--sometimes, though not always, with the Divine Child
in her arms. But clearly it is to _her_ that adoration
was specially offered. And in the thirteenth, fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries, she appears in stained glass, in
sculpture, in hymns and liturgies, portrayed as Queen of
Heaven 85

_A Short Appendix on certain remarkable Features in the
Lady Chapel at Gloucester_

The east end of this great annexe to the cathedral,
different to the original east end, is square-ended, not
apsidal. It possesses also two little transepts. These are
peculiarly English features 85

The square-ended form for churches was the ancient British
“use,” and represents an independent tradition different
to the Italian Basilican tradition of an apsidal or
semi-circular end 86

The square end was general in the Irish oratories or little
churches of remote antiquity, a few of which still remain.
These were, of course, small and rough copies of the
British churches which were all destroyed by the North-folk
invaders in the fifth century. The only exception to this
plan of the square end seems to have been in churches
frequented by the Roman colonists and officials--Silchester
is an example of these 86

After the coming of Augustine, A.D. 597, naturally the
Italian apsidal end was introduced--But the old vogue of
the traditional square end was rooted in the hearts of the
dwellers in this Island, and largely reappeared in Saxon
times 88

After the coming of the Normans, again, the apsidal end
was adopted. But gradually the square end superseded the
Italian apsidal end re-introduced by the Normans--A list
is given of great English churches which now possess the
square end--The exceptions are, comparatively speaking,
rare 88

On the Continent of Europe the square end is hardly ever
found. The few generally unimportant exceptions are quoted,
and special causes are adduced for most of these exceptions
89

In England, the Abbey (Cathedral) of Gloucester is one of
the notable exceptions--It has ever possessed an apsidal
end 90

But in 1457 when the present vast Lady Chapel was built,
the architect determined to give it the _square end_--thus
giving to the ancient abbey the original British form,
which hitherto it had lacked 90

Another peculiar English use was the double transept.
This, too, was added in the Lady Chapel, in the two
little so-called Chantry Chapels of the Lady Chapel--Thus
Gloucester in its latest additions became possessed of
both the English special features--the square end, and the
double eastern transepts 91

The recent discovery of two little churches on the
north-west coast of Cornwall, hitherto buried in the sand,
both dating from about A.D. 450. These lost churches
are apparently the only survivors of the old British
churches which were destroyed in the invasions of the
North-folk--hence their importance. Some account of these
long-lost Cornish churches or oratories is given. Both of
these are built with the square end 91

THE CRYPT

Meaning of the principal terms used in this chapter, viz.
Crypt, Confessio, Memoria, Cubiculum, Catacomb--the last of
these terms a curious misnomer 97

All the early and mediæval crypts are a “_Memory_” of the
Crypt or Tomb of S. Peter 97

The “Memoria” of Anacletus built over the Tomb of S. Peter
97

Of the origin of the most celebrated of the Basilicas of
Rome--They were all built over some famous martyr’s or
confessor’s tomb 99

Of the “vogue” of the Crypt in the early Middle Ages--A few
examples are given--This popular “vogue” came to an end
about A.D. 1144--Reason for this giving up of the Crypt as
part of the plan of important churches 101

The Crypt was entirely an ancient Latin and Western
use--It never entered into the plan of the churches in the
East--Reasons for this--It belonged exclusively to the
Western School of Romanesque--In the later Middle Ages
there were no Gothic crypts--In the early Mediæval age,
a crypt was often planned in accordance with the vogue
or fashion, even if no saint’s or martyr’s remains were
interred in it--Gloucester Crypt is an example of this
practice 103

_The Crypt of S. Peter, Rome. The Story of the famous
“Mother” Crypt_

The Crypt or Tomb of S. Peter with the “Memoria” of
Anacletus above it, was the great object of all Western
pilgrimage--it set the vogue in the planning of crypts in
important churches in the West from the fourth century
onwards 105

Position of Rome after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as
the centre of Christendom, and chief object of pilgrimage
from all lands 105

Position held by S. Peter (1) at Rome, (2) in all foreign
Christian lands--The witness here of early Christian
writers--Traditional memories of the Apostle at Rome 106

The respective estimation of the two Roman Basilicas of SS.
Peter and Paul 107

Early pilgrimages to the Tomb of S. Peter--What was the
“Memoria” of Bishop Anacletus of Rome?--The sacred graves
prepared by Anacletus round the Tomb of S. Peter for the
dead who were laid there 108

How the little “Memoria” of Anacletus grew into the lordly
Basilica of S. Peter 108

The work of the Emperor Constantine in the Crypt of S.
Peter 109

Description of the Crypt _after_ the work of
Constantine--How access to the sarcophagus of the Apostle
was preserved for several centuries 111

S. Gregory of Tours’ account of a visit of a pilgrim to the
Tomb of S. Peter--Detailed examination of S. Gregory of
Tours’ account 113

Of the costly offerings to the Tomb from A.D. 579 and
onwards 114

Visits of Charlemagne and of the Emperor Louis II (A.D.
845) to the Tomb 115

How the sarcophagus was concealed before the expected
plundering raid of the Saracens 115

The magnificent sanctuary above the Tomb was partly
restored by S. Leo IV and his successors, but _never_
again was there any access to the Tomb itself--During the
works connected with the Basilica of the new S. Peter, the
sarcophagus was seen by Pope Clement VIII and three of his
Cardinals 116

The little cemetery or group of graves prepared by
Anacletus, discovered in the course of the works carried
on under Urban VIII in the seventeenth century when the
foundations of the great bronze Baldachino, or canopy over
the High Altar, of Bernini were being strengthened 118

Description of the Baldachino of S. Peter’s--The care
taken of the sacred graves after the discovery--A detailed
description of the little cemetery of Anacletus 119

Official memoranda of Ubaldi, Canon of S. Peter’s, made
during the excavation works 119

Of the present state of the cemetery of Anacletus round the
Tomb of S. Peter 120

What was found there is carefully detailed in Ubaldi’s
memoranda 121

THE CLOISTER

After the Peace of the Church, in the fourth and fifth
centuries, a court or open space, in the case of the
principal churches, was arranged in front of the chief
entrance--This was sometimes known as “Paradisus”--In time
this “outer court,” for various reasons, was removed to a
more secluded place at the side of the church or abbey,
and then the court in question reappeared as the Claustrun
(cloister, close)--Round this court were erected various
buildings--such as a school--and dwellings and offices for
the ministers of the church, etc., were erected 127

In the late years of the tenth century, after the great
revival of monastic life at Cluny, the cloister of the
Middle Ages attained its supreme importance--It was the
place where the dwellers in the religious House spent
much of their time in literary work, and in teaching--One
general plan seems to have been usually adopted in the
cloisters on the Continent as in England 129

A description of a cloister and its surroundings 130

The adornment of these cloisters was not unfrequently very
elaborate--Examples are cited of such ornamentation 131

Early criticism of such elaborate adornment 131

Apologia for this beautiful monastic work 132

The great debt that men owe to the monk-scribes and
scholars, who through a disturbed and war-harassed age
preserved and transcribed all that we possess now of
ancient classical and of early Christian literature 133

A sketch of the austere conditions under which these
monk-scribes worked in these cloisters 134

Cassiodorus’ comment on the importance of monastic
transcribing labours 135

Durandus, Bishop of Mende--On the symbolism of a cloister 136

Note, with sketch of the vast influence of this once
widely-read author 136

APPENDIX

On the curious traces of mediæval popular games played by
novices and pupils of the monastery, recently noticed in
certain cloisters--of which the Gloucester Cloister is a
notable example 137

Appendix on S. Petronilla’s Altar (the earliest historical
detail existing in connection with the Abbey of Gloucester) 138

How we first hear of S. Petronilla in the monastic records
of Gloucester of the year 710--and 735--Leland refers to
this curious “entry” in the story of the abbey 138

Who now was S. Petronilla?--Bishop Lightfoot’s
theory--Baronius and later De Rossi and other Italian
scholars differ here from Lightfoot, though they, too,
shrink from acknowledging her undoubted parentage 139

A probably true version of S. Petronilla’s story--Testimony
of Siricius, Bishop of Rome A.D. 391, to the lofty position
evidently held by this saint in the estimation of the early
Church 139

The wanderings of the remains of S. Petronilla--At first
they were laid in the Basilica of Siricius on the Via
Ardeatina--Then on the request of Pepin the Frankish king
they were removed for safety to the little Rotunda Chapel
close to the side of the Basilica of S. Peter--This little
chapel was an Imperial Mausoleum 141

The special veneration in which this saint was held by the
Frankish people, no doubt was owing to her being considered
the veritable daughter of S. Peter 142

The Rotunda Chapel, where her remains were deposited,
was pulled down when new S. Peter’s was being built, and
then for many years the sarcophagus of S. Petronilla lay
neglected in the sacristy of the new Church of S. Peter 142

The sarcophagus now rests in the great Basilica of S. Peter
at the end of the right transept--in a small chapel called
S. Petronilla’s 142

The only other English reference to this saint, once so
greatly honoured, is in the dedication of the Church
of Whepstead, near Bury S. Edmunds, where the name is
strangely abbreviated to S. Parnel 143

Index 144

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

COLOURED PLATES

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna _Frontispiece_

S. Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna 8

S. Vitale, Ravenna 50

S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna 74

BLACK AND WHITE

The Triforium of Gloucester Cathedral, looking into the
Choir 70

Annexe to Gloucester Cathedral--The Lady Chapel 86

Church of S. Gwithian, Cornwall, as it appeared in 1894 92

The Central Part of the Crypt of Gloucester Cathedral 104

The Cloister of Gloucester Cathedral 136

LINE DRAWINGS IN THE TEXT

Sarcophagus of the Emperor Honorius in the Mausoleum
of Galla Placidia 8

Interior of S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna 11

Capital from S. Vitale, Ravenna 12

_Chartres._--“Nôtre Dame de la belle verrière.” 35
(_See pages 84 and 85_)

Solomon’s Knot 46

S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna 49

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

The word “Romanesque” (_Architecture Romane_) is quite a modern term; it was first generally used by the French savant M. de Caumont about the year 1825. De Caumont learned it from a contemporary Norman antiquarian of distinction, M. de Gerville, who adopted it as a fitting appellation for the “Round-Arch” style which prevailed in the countries which made up the Roman Empire roughly from the fifth century to the latter end of the twelfth century.

This style had received various names, such as Lombardic, Saxon, Norman, Byzantine. The French archæologists were of opinion that one general term could fairly be given to the various schools of “round-arch” architecture, and considering the original Roman parentage of the style, fixed upon “Romanesque” (_Romane_) as a fairly accurate title for this widely disseminated architectural school of building, which, with its various differences in detail, held its own as _the_ architecture _par excellence_ of the West, and with certain important variations and additions, of the near East, for so many centuries.

The appellation “Romanesque” (_Architecture Romane_) has been generally if not universally adopted in the West for “round-arch” architecture during the last eighty years. In the near East the term “Byzantine” has been usually applied to the “round-arch” style of the vast majority of buildings erected from the age of Justinian and afterwards, until the period of the conquest and supremacy of the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century. Constantinople fell A.D. 1453.

* * * * *

Professor Freeman, with great truth, tells us that Romanesque architecture is not, as many affirm, a corruption of the architecture of classical Rome, but that it is a falling back on the earliest--the ante-classical form of Roman architecture, which was the true Roman form, before the original Roman architecture had given way to a foreign (a Greek) influence.

The great scholar and archæologist cites as an example of ante-classical Roman architecture the ruins of the Emporium by the Tiber, a magazine for merchandise which had been built before the days of the Emperors. There we see a simple round-arch construction on which no Greek element has intruded--a perfect foreshadowing of any later unadorned Romanesque building of the eleventh century. Of this earlier style, the so-called classical Roman, with its marked Greek features, is in fact a corruption.

A consistent round-arched style begins again when the Greek feature of the entablature is cast away, when the architect designed an arcade where the arches rest not on the entablature or cornice, but immediately on the capitals of the columns.

Such a beginning of consistent round-arched architecture is to be found in the famous palace of Diocletian at Spalatro at the beginning of the fourth century. There in the arcades of the great peristyle, the gorgeous capitals of the Corinthian order have found for themselves a new work; they bear up no longer the dead entablature or heavy cornices, but the living arch. When this great step had once been taken, the full development of Romanesque architecture was only a work of time. The splendid basilicas of Ravenna of the fifth and sixth centuries exhibit essentially the same type--Greek conceptions have disappeared. The elaborate Greek entablature[3] has vanished, and the arches now rest simply on the capitals of the columns.[4]

Freeman mentions the famous Palace of Diocletian at Spalatro, _circa_ A.D. 305, as the beginning of consistent round-arched architecture, a building which in various portions has gone back to the old pre-classical forms, suppressing the Greek entablature, and leaving to the delicate Corinthian capitals their new work of bearing up the arches and the weight above the arches.

* * * * *

The century which followed the abdication of Diocletian was the first Christian century; in it Rome gradually faded away from its old position of mistress of the world.

Honorius, the son and successor of the great Theodosius in the Western Empire, dismayed at the rapid advance of the barbarian hordes, finally transferred the imperial seat of government from Rome to Ravenna, _circa_ A.D. 404.

Almost at once in Ravenna flamed up a new architectural impulse, and Romanesque architecture in the famous Ravennese churches appears. Several of these great piles, with much of their beautiful ornamentation, are with us still.

* * * * *

For about 160 years Ravenna, under its different rulers, the Emperor Honorius and his sister Galla Placidia, Theodoric the Ostro-Goth and the Emperor Justinian, with his famous lieutenants Belisarius and Narses, remained a great Art capital, the virtual centre of the new school of consistent round-arched construction, the Greek feature of the entablature being laid aside. Ravennese art preceded the great development of art in Constantinople, for the splendid tomb of Galla Placidia, completed before A.D. 450, was already gleaming with the gold and colour of its beautiful mosaics long before the erection of the great basilica of S. Sophia at Constantinople by Justinian (A.D. 532-537). But the glory of Ravenna as an Art capital faded away after a duration of about 160 years, when Alboin the Lombard overran and conquered Northern and most of Central Italy.

In the early years of the fifth century the best craftsmen of Rome and Milan naturally flocked to Ravenna, whither the imperial court of Honorius had migrated; these skilled artisans being attracted to Ravenna by the numerous works of importance which Honorius and Galla Placidia had set on foot.

We will give a few details of the age which produced these wonderful works undertaken and completed in Ravenna during the 160 years, some few of which, although sadly shorn of their ancient splendour, are to this day the objects of our wonder and admiration.

We can fairly divide those 160 years roughly into three periods. The first, the age of Honorius and his sister Galla Placidia. The romantic story of this famous princess, the inspirer of the marvellous Ravennese art, is well known. She was the daughter of the great Emperor Theodosius, and was the sister of Honorius, and of Arcadius the Emperor of the East. In A.D. 414 she married Ataulphus, the brother and successor of Alaric, the Visigothic conqueror. After the assassination of Ataulphus at Barcelona and a short period of captivity among his murderers, she returned to Ravenna and her brother Honorius in A.D. 416, and married Constantius, a distinguished general of Honorius, who after his marriage was eventually associated with Honorius in the Empire of the West, and received the title of Augustus, but Constantius only survived his elevation a few months.

The influence of Placidia in Ravenna over her brother Honorius was very marked, but a deadly feud sprang up between the brother and sister soon after Constantius’s death in 421, and Galla Placidia fled to Constantinople to her nephew, the reigning Emperor of the East. Honorius died in A.D. 423. Then, aided by the armed legions of her nephew the Emperor Theodosius II, Placidia returned to Ravenna, and bearing the title of Augusta, became paramount in Ravenna and Italy for some twenty-five years, first as Regent and then as the all-powerful adviser of her son Valentinian II.

It was no doubt during this long period of Placidia’s reign that several of the great Ravennese churches, some of which are still among the glories of this strange city, were built--viz. S. Giovanni Evangelista, S. Francesco, S. Agata and the Church of the Holy Cross; the last-named has disappeared, but its beautiful annexe, known as the mausoleum of Placidia, where Placidia was buried, still remains, glittering with its splendid mosaics. In this magnificent royal tomb house are also the great sarcophagi which contain the ashes of Honorius her brother, and of Constantius her husband, and of her son Valentinian II.

Circa A.D. 425.]

The _second period_ of building belongs to the reign of Theodoric the Ostrogoth. After the death of Placidia and her son Valentinian II, who only survived his mother for a little while (he was murdered in A.D. 455), apparently the building of great churches in Ravenna ceased for a time. Ravenna and Italy in this interregnum were ruled over by a group of shadowy Emperors; the last who bore the great title in the West, Romulus Augustulus, who closed the group, was deposed in A.D. 476. Then followed the reign of Odoaces, the barbarian chief who, under the title of Patrician, ruled in Italy until A.D. 493, when Theodoric the Ostrogoth became the dominant power in Italy. Ravenna was his capital city.

The famous Arian king Theodoric, Procopius tells us, was “an extraordinary lover of justice, and adhered rigorously to the laws; he guarded the country from barbarian invasions, and displayed the greatest intelligence and prudence. He reigned for some thirty years or more, leaving a deep regret for his loss in the hearts of his subjects.” Among his good deeds was his care for the great monuments of the Empire. His zeal for the adornment of Ravenna was remarkable.

Theodoric was a great builder. We possess still his magnificent Arian Church of S. Apollinare Nuovo, which was originally called S. Martin; it was known as “de Coelo Aureo” because of its beautiful gilded roof. It is, after all these years, the noblest church in Ravenna. This church received its present name in the ninth century, when the remains of S. Apollinare were translated from the neighbouring suburb of Classis. The glorious mosaics which now adorn it probably replaced the original work of Theodoric; these mosaics we now admire were placed there as early as the sixth century, when the Arian basilica was transformed into a Christian church.

We have with us another great Arian church which he built, now called the Spirito Sancto. It was originally named S. Theodore. Very little of the original portion of this church remains.

Theodoric died in A.D. 536. Then followed a short time of confusion. Amalasuntha, Theodoric’s daughter, succeeded to her father’s power in Italy as guardian of her son Athalaric, but Athalaric died in his eighteenth year, and Amalasuntha was eventually murdered.

The great Justinian was now reigning in Constantinople, and resolved to reconquer Italy and to unite it with the Eastern Empire. This he accomplished through the instrumentality of his famous generals Belisarius, and later Narses. The Goths after two long wars were completely defeated, and Ravenna became a city of the Eastern Empire A.D. 540.

_Circa_ A.D. 533-549.]

Then may be said to have commenced the _third period_ of building and adorning Ravenna. In this period, under the inspiration of Justinian, the mighty churches, still standing, of _S. Vitale_ and _S. Apollinare_ in Classe,[5] were erected, and magnificently adorned with the mosaics which we now wonderingly admire in their scarred but unspoiled loveliness.

What we term the third period of the erection of Ravennese works of art roughly lasted from A.D. 540 to A.D. 568, when Alboin the Lombard with his strange and savage hordes descended upon Italy.

Although Ravenna and a certain territory more or less adjacent to it, known as the Exarchate, for a long time remained attached to the Eastern or Byzantine Empire, we have no record of any important building or art work in the Ravenna of the Exarchs of the Eastern Empire.

The stranger pilgrim visiting Ravenna, the city of so many memories and of world-famed churches, now, alas, will not see these marvellous Basilicas of Galla Placidia, of Theodoric and Justinian, in their ancient glory. Their great age, some fourteen to fifteen centuries, desolating wars and sieges, long periods of neglect, the unskilful hand of various restorers, have sadly changed them. For the most part they have been largely rebuilt. But the exquisite Romanesque plan, the long unbroken rows of pillars, mostly of precious marbles, with the Ravennese pulvins, the great invention of Romanesque architecture, supporting the overhanging arches, thus supplanting the Greek entablature, and the beautiful Romanesque capitals are still there. In several of the churches the wonderful mosaics of the great builders and artists to this day look down on us, gleaming well-nigh as fresh and lovely as they were some fourteen hundred years back.

One singular feature must be touched upon. The _outside_ of these noble Romanesque piles is ever unadorned and strangely unattractive. This is noticeable in all Byzantine as well as in Ravennese (and Italian) Romanesque churches. The outside of S. Sophia in Constantinople, for example, is singularly disappointing, but, on the other hand, alike in Ravenna and in Constantinople, a Romanesque Basilica emphatically is “all glorious within.”

* * * * *

After the Lombard conquest followed a short period of almost total darkness in the Art world of Italy and the West.

A slow renaissance of architectural art, however, soon showed itself under the influence of Queen Theodolinda, a Bavarian Christian princess who was married in succession to two Lombard kings, Autharis and Agilulf.

Then, all through the Lombard domination, a period lasting roughly 200 years, a gradual revival of church building went on. Not a few churches were built in these 200 years under the influence of the Lombard kings. We have only scanty remains of their work, but still enough to show us that the old spirit of the Ravenna school inspired the builders, and the round-arch style was generally adopted.

Of course these Lombard churches were sadly inferior to the glorious Ravennese piles of Galla Placidia, Theodoric and Justinian, but the spirit of the same school of thought evidently inspired the architects employed by the Lombard rulers, which had dwelt among the builders of the churches of Ravenna in the days of her glory.

Now who were the builders and architects of the Lombard churches which arose in these 200 years? The Lombard buildings were evidently _not_ the work of the Lombards themselves. They had no stone buildings before Alboin and his hordes crossed the Alps.

I think we can answer the question.

* * * * *

In the Code of the Lombard King Rotharis, A.D. 636-652, for the first time appears the expression “Magistri Comacini.” In this Code of Laws the Magistri Comacini appear as _Master-Masons_ with unlimited powers to make contracts for building, and to enrol members in their Guild, and these Comacini are mentioned again in an official document of King Liutbrand, A.D. 712-744, which treats of architecture and carving carried out by the Comacine Guild in question.

Now this Guild cannot have sprung into existence full-grown, and as it were by magic, in the days of King Rotharis, A.D. 636. It must have been already in existence, and have been too of some importance, before Alboin’s descent on Italy, A.D. 568, which was followed by the reign of the Lombard kings. _Who_ now were these Comacini? There is little doubt that they were the successors of the Master-Masons who in the days of the vanished Empire had directed the operations of the Roman Collegia, especially devoted to building, and who had survived the barbarian invasions which were so disastrous to Italy in the years which preceded the accession of Rotharis to the Lombard throne. When Honorius migrated from Rome to Ravenna, this Guild of Masons apparently had made its head-quarters at Ravenna; had designed and carried out the magnificent Ravenna buildings; then eventually, in the general upheaval which followed the invasion of Alboin, the Guild removed to the comparatively safe asylum of Como--a district singularly fitted for the home of a building fraternity, owing to the stone and marble quarries and yards for which it was celebrated.

* * * * *

Como had been long an important and a flourishing city when the Lombard hordes descended into Italy. In the days of the Empire it had held the rank of a colony, and was governed by a Prefect. Pliny the Younger had held this office, and for a time lived in the beautiful city in his Villa “Comoedia.” Catullus also made his home in Como. Indeed, Como and the Comacine islands might be considered a privileged territory.

After Alboin the Lombard--A.D. 568--had invaded and conquered Northern and much of Central Italy, the city of Como for a long time preserved its independence, and was resorted to by many of the fugitives from the Lombard raiders, as a haven of security; among these fugitives from Ravenna and other centres were included many members of the famous Guild of Roman Architects and Builders whose head-quarters had been Ravenna in the days of her prosperity and glory under the Emperor Honorius, his sister Placidia, Theodoric the Ostrogoth and the lieutenants of Justinian.

For many years Como held out against the barbarian invaders. In the end, however, it fell before the forces of the Lombard sovereign Autharis.

The Lombard conquerors, as we have seen, favoured the Guild or brotherhood of architects which they found in Como; they gave this building fraternity, the successors of the ancient Roman Guild of Architects, great privileges, as we see from the Edict of the Lombard King Rotharis, _circa_ A.D. 636, and employed them in their many and important building works.

Como continued to be the head-quarters of this trained architectural Guild, and from this city, their permanent traditional home, they derived their name, by which for long centuries they were known--the Comacine builders--_Magistri Comacini_. This expression appears first in the above quoted Edict of the Lombard King Rotharis, _circa_ A.D. 636.

It is clear that under the Lombard domination these Comacine builders possessed a legal monopoly in the Lombard sphere of influence, from the early years of the occupation of their conquerors.

This famous Comacine Guild or brotherhood continued to exist and to flourish for many centuries, indeed until the disappearance of the Lombard style of round-arch architecture, which style they had perfected, somewhere about the close of the twelfth century.[6]

* * * * *

Very soon after their settlement in conquered Italy, the victorious Lombards passed under the magic spell of Italy, and became themselves lovers of art, and under the influence of the Christianity which they adopted as their religion, proceeded to build churches and even cathedrals. They made use of this Comacine Guild, and by their patronage and favour revived the fading tradition of this most ancient building and architectural fraternity and Guild. This was the beginning of the famous _Lombardic_ style we usually term Romanesque.

At first, under the Lombard kings, the Comacine artists worked with, comparatively speaking, poor art, little skill and imagination; they retained, it is true, their old traditions, but they had fallen out of practice during the period of unrest and disorder which followed the Lombard invasion, but with the new impulse given by the Lombard rulers to Art, they progressed in architectural design and ornament, and gradually transformed the old Roman and later Romanesque development into a new style still possessing many of the old round-arch features, a new style generally termed Lombardic--which is now generally known as Romanesque.

Although time (some 1300 years back), the devastation of endless wars, many restorations, and even rebuilding, have obliterated so much of the very ancient Lombardic work, there is no doubt that as early as in the days of Queen Theodolinda, the wife of King Autharis, A.D. 571-91, and later of King Agilulf, a number of churches were erected in the Lombardic dominions. Theodolinda, as we have stated, was a Bavarian princess.

This queen may fairly be reckoned as the one who rekindled in Northern and Central Italy the dying embers of fine Arts, and especially of architecture.

After the time of this Lombard queen, who among other works built the first cathedral of Monza, no sovereign, during the 200 years of Lombard rule, can be quoted who did not help to keep alive the spirit of fine art, especially the art of architecture, which seems to have been especially cultivated among the Lombard peoples from an early date after their settlement in Italy.

The learned Muratori with great force bears his testimony here, when he tells us that if more of the ancient Lombard buildings had survived, they would have presented a striking, and by no means a rough and barbaric appearance. The great scholar supports his conclusions here by a striking reference to the contemporary Lombard writer, the well-known Paulus Diaconus, whose admiration for the churches of his country was evoked by a personal knowledge of them and their distinguishing features.

Paulus Diaconus was well able to form an accurate opinion of these buildings, for he must have been very familiar with the magnificent churches of Rome and Ravenna, which in his day and time still preserved much of their original magnificence.[7]

Rivoira cites and describes the present condition of a very few of the undoubted remains of these ancient Lombard churches. Other Italian scholars, however, instance more which they think belong to this first age of Lombardic art.

We possess few remains of the earlier Comacine work; they become, however, more numerous as time went on.

The following very early churches are now generally dated as erected in the eighth century and earlier, and still remain intact, in part at least, and they fairly represent the gradual development of the Lombardic style during the period of the rule of the Lombardic kings: San Salvatore, Brescia, _circa_ A.D. 753, is the best known instance; the parish church of Arliano, near Lucca, somewhat earlier; San Pietro, Toscanella; San Giorgio in Valpolicella; S. Teuteria, Verona, are also cited by Rivoira.

After the fall of the Lombard rule, in the time of Charlemagne, A.D. 774, the Comacine Guild had the opportunity of working in a wider field, and were no doubt employed in most of the few important buildings erected by that monarch; we can trace their handiwork and the peculiar signs of their craft all through the ninth and tenth centuries, and we notice the gradual advance they made in Art, even in that dark and troubled age.