Chapter V: Part 5

Leland, the secretary of King Henry VIII, writing of his official visit to Gloucester after the suppression of the religious House, _circa_ A.D. 1540--sums up the immemorial tradition in the following words--“King Osric (the founder) first laye in S. Petronell’s Chapel of the Gloucester Abbey.”

Professor Freeman, the historian, comments on these various notes and entries as follows: “It is certain that there was a church of some kind, a predecessor, however humble, of the great Cathedral Church of Gloucester that now is, at least from the days of Osric (_circa_ A.D. 729). But more than that we cannot say, except that it contained an altar of S. Petronilla.”

Now who was this S. Petronilla who was thus intimately connected with our church in the earliest years of its existence?

We believe without any hesitation that she was the daughter of S. Peter, the Lord’s Apostle and follower. Modern scholarship, however, represented by Bishop Lightfoot of Durham, denies this, and asserts that the immemorial derivation of Petronilla from Petro (Petrus), is etymologically wrong, and that the name Petronilla is connected, not with Petro but with Petronius--the founder of the imperial Flavian family. Lightfoot then proceeds to suggest that Petronilla was a member of the Flavian House, and became an early convert to Christianity, and was subsequently buried with other members of the Flavian family in the Domitilla Cemetery, where her tomb was recently discovered by De Rossi, the Roman archæologist, to whose life-long labours we owe so much of the Catacomb lore which has excited so much interest in recent days.

Curiously enough, late Roman Catholic scholars and writers join hands here with Bishop Lightfoot in denying the paternity of the great Apostle, but on different grounds. Modern Roman Catholic theology shrinks from acknowledging that S. Peter had a daughter at all, preferring to believe that S. Peter was free from all family and home ties.

De Rossi, however, with other Italian scholars, sweeps away the etymological difficulty[30] pressed by Lightfoot, and while declining to give up the ancient “Petrine” tradition, maintains that Petronilla was a daughter, but simply a _spiritual_ daughter of the Apostle, in other words merely an ordinary convert of S. Peter. This curious explanation of what later theology felt was a difficulty seems to have been first suggested by Baronius.

The etymological difficulty pressed by Bishop Lightfoot and other scholars, and the more important doctrinal question which has perplexed the later Roman Catholic theologians, in no way seems to have weighed with scholars and divines in earlier times; this will be seen from a brief examination of the estimation in which S. Petronilla has been ever held.

As early as the closing years of the fourth century, Siricius, Bishop of Rome, A.D. 391-395, built the important Basilica lately discovered in the Domitilla cemetery or catacomb on the Via Ardeatina, but although the Basilica in question contained the historic tombs of the famous martyrs SS. Nereus and Achilles, as well as the remains of S. Petronilla, Siricius dedicated the Basilica in question to S. Petronilla. Surely the Bishop of Rome (Siricius) would never have dedicated this important and very early church to a comparatively unknown member of the Flavian House, still less would he have called it by the name of a simple convert of the great Apostle. Petronilla in his days must have possessed some very especial title to honour.

In Siricius’ eyes there was evidently no shadow of doubt that the Petronilla for whom he had so deep a veneration was the veritable daughter of S. Peter, and as time went on the devotion which for many centuries was paid to her remains, is a clear indication of the view which was universally taken of her illustrious lineage. We will give some striking examples of this.

THE WANDERINGS OF THE REMAINS OF S. PETRONILLA

The sarcophagus which contained the body of S. Petronilla rested in its original position in the Basilica of Siricius until A.D. 787, when it was removed to one of the little Rotunda Chapels which once stood adjacent to the south side of the great Church of S. Peter on the Vatican Hill. The reason for this first translation is singularly interesting, and shows in a remarkable way the deep veneration in which the remains of the daughter of S. Peter were held. S. Peter was specially honoured by the Frankish nation, and S. Petronilla his daughter, sharing in this special devotion, was styled by Pope Paul I, _circa_ A.D. 757, the “auxiliatrix” of Pepin, the king of the Franks, and when Pope Stephen II, _circa_ A.D. 752, was on a visit to Pepin’s court, he promised as a pledge of the alliance between the Papacy and the Franks against the Lombards, to remove the body of S. Petronilla, who was evidently specially venerated by the Frankish people, of course owing to her illustrious parentage, from the Basilica of Siricius on the Via Ardeatina, where it was exposed to the profanities of Barbarian raiders, to the more secure shelter of the walls which protected the Church of S. Peter.

This promise was carried out by Paul I, the brother and successor of Stephen II, _circa_ A.D. 757, and the sarcophagus of S. Petronilla was placed in the Rotunda Chapel above mentioned. This Rotunda Chapel contained the ashes of the wife of Honorius, Maria the daughter of Stilicho, and other Imperial remains, but after the translation of the remains of S. Peter’s daughter it was known as the Chapel of S. Petronilla, and it was especially placed under the care of the kings of France.

There the body of Petronilla rested until A.D. 1471, when in consequence of a restoration undertaken at the cost of Louis XI of France, the sacred sarcophagus was seen and the ancient simple inscription on it, “Aureliæ Petronillae fil dulcissimae” was copied. Early in the fourteenth century, when Old S. Peter’s was demolished, the Rotunda Chapel was pulled down, and the sarcophagus of S. Petronilla lay for many years neglected in the Sacristy of New S. Peter’s. It was subsequently ruthlessly broken up when so many ancient monuments perished in the building work of the New S. Peter’s, and the pieces of the sarcophagus were used as a pavement.

The remains, however, of the Saint were transferred to a new coffin and were eventually, _circa_ A.D. 1606, placed under the altar where they now rest. The spot in question is known as the Chapel of S. Petronilla. It is in the extreme end of the right transept of S. Peter’s. Above the resting-place of the Saint is a large mosaic copied from Guercino’s picture of Petronilla raised from the tomb.

There is a curious custom belonging to this Chapel, bearing upon the ancient tradition connecting France and S. Petronilla. The French Ambassador, after presenting his credentials to the Pope, used at once to visit this Chapel of S. Petronilla in S. Peter’s.

* * * * *

Again reverting to the eighth century testimony above referred to in the case of the action of Popes Stephen II and Paul I, when the remains of S. Petronilla were translated from the Basilica of Siricius to the Rotunda Chapel by the great church--there was a striking witness to what was the general belief of that age in the parentage of the then famous Saint, in an inscription on an altar at Bourges dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and other saints, an inscription attributed to Alcuin, the Minister of Charlemagne, _circa_ A.D. 790. The inscription consists of eight hexameter lines. One line runs thus: “Et Petronilla patris praeclari filia Petri.”

* * * * *

In England, besides the famous reference to the Altar and Chapel of S. Petronilla in the ancient church of Osric at Gloucester, there is only one church known to be dedicated to S. Petronilla; it is at Whepstead, near Bury S. Edmunds, where her name is curiously abbreviated as S. Parnel.

The close connection between the Royal Mercian and Northumbrian family of Osric, the founder of the Abbey (Cathedral) of Gloucester, and S. Petronilla, the daughter of S. Peter, the Saint so strangely venerated by the Frankish peoples, is unknown.

INDEX

Aachen, Palace-chapel of, 22, 23, 53

“Abbeys of Expiation,” 39

Agatha, 73

Agilulf, King of the Lombards, 14, 18

Aix-la-Chapelle, 27

Aix-la-Chapelle, Palace-chapel of, 22, 23, 69

Alaric, 7

Albertus Magnus, 83

Albigensian Wars, 30

Alboin the Lombard, 6, 12, 14, 15, 53

Alcuin (the Minister of Charlemagne), 143

Alfred, King, 22

Amalasuntha, 10

Amiens, Cathedral of, 33, 53, 61

Anacletus, 97, 97 note 25, 98, 100, 105, 108, 109, 110, 111, 114, 118,
119, 120, 122

Angles, 26

Anglo-Saxons, 38, 39

Angoulême, 27

Anselm, S., 51

Antoniano, Cardinal, 117

Apollinaris, Sidonius, Bishop of Clermont, 25

Apostles, Church of the (Cologne), 24

Appian Way, 99, 122

Aquinas, 83

Aquitaine, 26, 29, 30, 33 note 11, 36, 69

Arcadius, 7

Arliano, Church of (near Lucca), 19

Armellini, 118

Ataulphus, 7

Athalaric, 10

Augustine, 21, 88, 133

Augustus, Emperor, 10 note 5, 68 note 20

Aungre (Chipping Ongar), Chapel near, 22

Autharis, King of the Lombards, 14, 16, 18

Auvergne, 25, 69

Auxerre, 27

Auxerre, Crypt of Cathedral of, 102

“Ave Maria,” the, 82

Bangor, 89

Barberini, Cardinal. _See_ Urban VIII

Barcelona, 7

Barnes, Mgr., 112 note 28, 113, 117

Baronius, 140

Basil, Emperor, 48

Bayeux, 44

Beauvais Cathedral, 61, 62

Bec-Herlouin, 44

Becket, S. Thomas à, 103

Bede, 21, 51

Belisarius, 6, 10

Bellarmine, Cardinal, 117

Benedict, S., 51

Benedictines, the, 19 note 7, 138

Benedictines of Cluny, 34, 103, 129

Bernay, Church at, 36

Bernini, 118, 119, 120

Besançon, Crypt of, 102

Beverley, 92

Big Ben (Houses of Parliament, London), 53

Biscop, Benedict, 21

Bonanni, 117

Bonaventura, 83

Bond, Mr., 56

Bonn, Minster Church of, 24

Bordeaux, 27, 102

Bourges, Cathedral of, 33, 61

Brescia, 19

Brixworth Church, 21

_Builder, The_, quoted, 60 note 19

Burgundy, 31, 32, 90

Byzantine Empire, Artists, etc., 12, 13, 20, 47

Caen, 37, 44

Caius, Presbyter, 98, 109

Cambridge, 21

Canterbury, Canterbury Cathedral, and Crypt, 21, 40, 91, 102, 103,
129, 137

Carlisle, 89

Carolingian princes, 23

Cassiodorus, 135

Catacombs, the, 84 note 23, 101

Catechumens, 127

Caumont, M. de, 3

Cecilia, 73

Cerisy le Fôret, Church at, 36

Charlemagne, 19, 22, 23, 26, 41, 53, 69, 115

Chartres, and Cathedral, and Crypt of, 27, 33, 61, 102, 136 note 29

Cherubim, 81

Chester, 89

Chichester, and Cloisters of, 89, 137

Chipping Ongar, 22

Christ Church, Oxford, 40, 89

Christianity in Britain, 86, 87, 88, 90

Chrysostom, S. John, 77

Cistercians, 31, 32, 83

Citeaux, 31, 32

Classis, 9, 10 note 5

Clement, 133

Clement VIII, 117

Clermont Ferrand, Church of, 25

Cluny, and Abbey and Monks of, 29, 31, 31 note 10, 32, 34, 34 note
12, 37, 42, 44, 91, 103, 129

Coblenz, 24

Cologne, 24, 27

Cologne Cathedral, 23, 53

Columba, 90

Comacine Builders and Guild, the, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 34, 41, 42, 45,
47, 50, 53, 54

Comacine Islands, 15

Como, 15, 16

Constantine, 100, 109, 110, 111, 117, 120, 127

Constantinople, 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 20, 20 note 8, 25, 50, 57, 68, 68
note 20, 70, 72, 78, 106, 123

Constantius (Augustus), 7, 8

Creighton, Bishop, 110 note 27

Crusades, 50, 56, 79, 80, 81, 84

Ctesiphon, Palace of, 56

Cyprian, 133

Dalmatia, 41

Danes, 26

De Lasterie, 56

De Rossi, 139, 140

Diaconus, Paulus, 18, 18 note 7, 19 note 7

Dijon, Abbey of S. Benignus at, 34, 36, 42, 102

Diocletian, 4, 5, 53

Dol, Church of, 89

Dominicans, 82

Domitilla Cemetery, 139, 140

Drei, Benedetto, 118

Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 22

Durandus, Bishop of Mende (Mimatensis), 50, 51, 135, 136, 136 note 29

Durham Cathedral, 40, 44, 70, 89, 137

Eadburg, Queen, 138

Edward the Confessor, 22, 88

Egypt, 56

Eleutherius, 122

Eleutherus, S., 102

Ely Cathedral, 40, 43, 70, 89

Emporium by the Tiber, 4

England, 20, 21, 22, 33 note 11, 38, 42, 54, 58, 61

Engles, 86, 92

Enlart, 56

Ethelred II (the Unready), 22

Ethelwolf, 116, 129

Eudes de Montreuil, 62

Eulalia, 73

Evarestus, 122

Evelyn, 5 note 3, 55

Exarchate, the, 12

Exeter, 89

Fécamp, 36, 44

Flavian family, 139, 141

France, 25, 26, 28, 32, 33 note 11, 59, 61, 62, 69, 90, 91, 131, 142,
143

Franciscans, 83

Franks, the, 141, 142, 143

Freeman, Professor, 4, 5, 5 note 4, 20, 139

Frisians, 26

Froucester, Abbot, 138

Fulda, 23

Garimbert, 135

Garonne, River, 27

Gascony, 29

Gaul, 20, 20 note 8, 24, 26, 27, 28, 33, 69, 72, 89, 91, 101, 102

Germany, 20, 22, 23, 24, 41

Gernrode, 23

Gerville, M. de, 3

Giacomo della Porta, 117

Glanber, Raoul, 29

Gloucester Abbey, 40, 43, 44, 71, 88, 138, 139

Gloucester Cathedral, 52, 60, 61, 62, 67, 70, 74, 81, 85, 86, 90, 91,
102 (Crypt), 104 (Crypt), 104, 127, 128, 131, 133, 134, 137, 143

Goths, 10, 55

“Great Peter” (Bell in Gloucester Cathedral), 52

Great Tom (Oxford), 53

Greece, 50, 84, 133

Greek architecture, 55

Greek or Eastern Church, 106

Gregory of Tours, 25

Gregory the Great, 79

Guéranger of Solesmes, Dom, 136 note 29

Guercino, 142

Guienne, 29

Guimond, Chaplain of Henry I, 40

Guizot, 26

Gundulph, 40

Hadrian I, Pope, 114, 115, 129

Hanley, Abbot, 90

Henry II of England, 38

Henry III of England, 88

Heraclius, Emperor, 78

Heralds’ College, the, 55

Herbert of Losinga, Prior of Fécamp, 40

Hereford Cathedral, 43, 89

Hexham, Basilica of S. Andrew, 21

Hexham, Crypt of, 102

Holy Apostles, Church of the (Constantinople), 68, 70

Holy Cross, Church of (Ravenna), 8

Honorius, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 25, 53, 142

Hood, Thomas, 55 note 17

Hook, Theodore, 55 note 17

Hutton, Edward, 73, 74

Hyginus, 122

Ile de France, 32, 59

Ireland, 86

Irenæus, 133

Italy, 6, 7, 9, 15, 17, 41, 48, 72, 86, 90

Jackson, Sir Thomas, 28, 29 note 9, 31, 33 note 11

Jarrow, 21

Jerome, 133

Jerusalem, and the Temple of, 45, 50, 79, 105, 106, 108

Jesus Christ, 108 note 26

John, Abbot of Séez, 40

John, King of England, 38

Jouarre, Crypt of, 102

Julia, Basilica (Roman Forum), 68 note 20

Julius II, Pope, 110 note 27

Jumiéges, Abbey of, 43

Jumiéges, Church at, 36

Justinian, 3, 6, 10, 13, 14, 16, 20, 25, 53, 57, 68, 68 note 20, 70,
72, 73, 78

Jutes, 26, 86, 92

Kaiser Bell in Cathedral of Cologne, 53

Kioto Monastery, Japan, 53

Kyneburg, 138

Lanciani, 101, 117

Lanfranc, 36, 37, 40, 54

Languedoc, 30

Laon, Cathedral of, 33, 89

Leland (Secretary to King Henry VIII), 138

Leo IV, Pope, 116

Lightfoot, Bishop of Durham, 139, 140, 140 note 30

Lincoln, 43, 89, 91

Lindisfarne, Priory Church of, 89

Linus, Bishop, 97, 108, 121, 122

“Lion of the tribe of Judah,” 47

Liutbrand, King, 14

Loire, River, 27

Lombard, Peter, 83

Lombards, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 141

Lombardy, 20, 53

London, 22, 106

Lorsch, Sepulchral Chapel at, 23

Louis of Wissobrun, 135

Louis II, Emperor, 115

Louis XI of France, 142

Lucca, 5 note 4, 19

Lyons, 25

Macedonia, 20 note 8

Macon, 31

Maderno, 117

Magi, or Wise Men, 84 note 23, 85

Mahommed, 79

Maieul, 34

Mainz, Cathedral of, 24

Malvern Abbey, 43

Maria (daughter of Stilicho), 142

Martel, Charles, 26

Martin, Abbot of Bec, 40

Marucchi, 117

Mary, the Virgin, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 123, 143

Matilda (queen of William I), 37

Meaux, Cathedral of, 33

Mediterranean Sea, 26

Metz, 27

Micklethwaite, J. T., 137, 138

Milan, 6, 41, 42, 48

Milman, Dean, 80 note 21

Moissac, Abbey of (Tarn-et-Garonne), 131

Monkwearmouth, 21

Monreale, Cloisters of (Sicily), 131

Mont S. Michel, 44

Mont S. Michel, Church at, 36

Montalembert, 134

Monte Cassino, 19, 115

Montmajeure, Abbey of, 131

Moscow, 52, 53, 106

Muratori, 18

Narses, 6, 10

Nero, 107, 121

_New Monthly Magazine_ (Colburn), quoted, 55 note 17

Newquay, 93

Nicodemus, 108 note 26

Nola, 51

Norman Conquest of England, 38, 39

Normandy, 28, 33 note 11, 36, 43, 50, 54

Normans, the, 88

Northmen, 27, 32, 87, 89, 94

Norwich Castle, 137

Norwich Cathedral, 40, 43, 70, 131, 137

Notre Dame of Paris, 61

Notre Dame, Paris, Bell in, 53

Noyon, Cathedral of, 33

Odin, 92

Odoaces, 9

Old Sarum, 89

Old S. Peter’s Church (Rome), 103, 110, 142

Origen, 133

Orleans, 27, 52, 102

Osric, King, 138, 139

Osric, Church of (Gloucester), 143

Ostian Way, 109

Otto the Great, 23

Oxford, Crypt of, 102

Palgrave, 26

Palmieri, 118

Pantheon, the, 119

Paris, 32, 128

Paris, Cathedral of, 33

Paris, Matthew, 39, 39 note 14

Parvis Notre Dame of Paris, 128

Paul I, Pope, 114, 141, 142, 143

Paul V, Pope, 117

Paul, Monk of S. Etienne, Caen, 40

Pavia, 18

Pelagia, 73

Pelagius II, 114

Pepin, King of France, 114, 141

Périgueux, 30

Perigord, 30

Perpetuus, Bishop, 45

Perranporth, 93

Perranzabuloe, Church of, 92, 93

Peterborough, Abbey of, 40

Peterborough Cathedral, 70

Petronius, 139

Philip Augustus, King, 32

Piedmont, 34 note 12

Pisa, 5 note 4

Pius I, 122

Pius IX, Pope, 83 note 22

Placidia, Galla, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 16, 25, 53

Pliny the Younger, 15

Poitiers, 27

Poitou Limousin, 29

Procopius, 9

Provence, 26, 30, 33 note 11, 69

Prudentius, 122

Puritans, the, 132

Pusey, Dr., 83 note 22

Quedlinburg, Church at, 23

Quicherat, 25, 26, 27, 28

Ravenna, 5, 5 note 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 10 note 5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18,
41, 48, 50, 53, 69, 70, 72, 74, 136 note 29

Repton, Crypt of, 102

Rhine, River, 101, 102

Rhone, River, 27

Richard I of England, 38

Richard II (le Bon), Duke of Normandy, 36, 42, 50, 54

Ripon, S. Peter’s, and Crypt of, 21, 102

Rivoira, 19, 20 note 8, 23, 28, 48, 68, 69 note 20

Robert, King of France, 52

Roberto, Lord of Volpiano, 34

Rochester Cathedral and Crypt of, 40, 90, 102

Rodelinda, Queen, 18

Roman Architecture, 55

Roman Architects and Builders, Guild of, 16

Romans, 50

Rome, 4, 6, 15, 18, 24, 47, 69 note 20, 86, 90, 97-101, 105-109, 115,
133

Romulus Augustulus, 9

“Rosary” (form of prayer), 82

Rotharis, King of the Lombards, 14, 15, 16, 53

Rouen, 27, 44

Rouen, Cathedral of, 33, 131

Rutebeuf, 132

Sabinianus, Pope, 51

S. Achilles, 140

S. Agata, Church of (Ravenna), 8

S. Agnan, Church of (Orleans), 52

S. Agnes, Church of (Rome), 47, 101

S. Agnese, Church of (Rome), 69 note 20

S. Albans, Abbey at, 40, 43

S. Ambrogio, Church of (Milan), 42

S. Andrew, Basilica of (Hexham), 21

S. Andrew’s Church, Cambridge, 21

S. Apollinare, 9

S. Apollinare in Classe, Church of (Ravenna), 10, 10 note 5, 48

S. Apollinare Nuovo, Church of (Ravenna), 9, 48, 73, 74

S. Avitus, Crypt of (Orleans), 102

S. Basil, 79

S. Benigno de Fruttuaria, Monastery of (Piedmont), 34 note 12

S. Benignus, Abbey of (Dijon), 34, 36, 42

S. Benignus, Crypt of Church of (Dijon), 102

S. Bernard of Clairvaux, 79, 84

S. Callistus, Cemetery of, 122

S. Castor, Church of (Coblenz), 24

S. Clement, 73

S. Clementi, Church of (Rome), 47

S. Cyprian, 73

S. Cyriacus, Church of (Gernrode), 23

S. Cyril, 78

S. Denys, Church of (near Paris), 102, 103

S. Dominic, 82

S. Edmund, 22

S. Etienne, Church at, 37

S. Eutropius, Crypt of (Saintes), 102

S. Francesco, Church of (Ravenna), 8

S. Francis, 82

S. Front, Church of (Périgueux), 30

S. Gereon, Church of (Cologne), 24

S. Giorgio, Church of (Valpolicella), 19

S. Giovanni Evangelista, Church of (Ravenna), 8, 48

S. Giulia, Island of, 34 note 12

S. Gregory I, Pope (the Great), 79

S. Gregory III, Pope, 114

S. Gregory of Tours, 112, 113

S. Gwithian, Church of, 91, 92, 93

S. John, 84, 85

S. John Lateran, Cloisters of, 131

S. Laurence, 73

S. Leo III, 114

S. Lorenzo, Church of (Rome), 69 note 20, 101

S. Louis, 62, 63, 132

S. Maria im Capitol, Church of (Cologne), 24

S. Mark’s, Church of (Venice), 30, 70

S. Martin, Church of (Cologne), 24

S. Martin (S. Apollinare Nuovo), Church of (Ravenna), 9

S. Martin, Church of (Tours), 25, 45

S. Mary Magdalene, 102

S. Medard of Soissons, Crypt of, 102

S. Michael, Church of (Fulda), 23

S. Michel, Mont, Abbey (Normandy), 131

S. Nazianzus, 78

S. Nereus, 140

S. Ouen (Rouen), Church at, 36

S. Parnel, Church of (Whepstead), 143

S. Paul, 73, 99, 107, 109, 121

S. Paul’s Church, Jarrow, 21

S. Paul, Church of (Rome), 101, 131

S. Peran in Sabulo, 92, 93

S. Peter, 99, 105-113, 115, 121, 122, 123, 139-141, 143

S. Peter’s Abbey (Gloucester), 91

S. Peter, Abbey Church of (Westminster Abbey), 22

S. Peter’s Church, Monkwearmouth, 21

S. Peter’s Church, Ripon, 21

S. Peter’s Church (Rome), 97, 97 note 25, 99, 109, 110, 110 note 27,
117, 118, 119, 141, 142, 143

S. Peter at Rome, Crypt of, 105-123

S. Peter’s tomb, 100

S. Petronilla, Church of (Rome), 101

S. Petronilla and S. Petronilla’s Altar, 138-143

S. Pietro, Church of (Toscanella), 19

S. Prassede, Church of (Rome), 47

S. Quatuor Coronati, Church of (Rome), 69 note 20

S. Rusticus, 102

S. Salvatore, Church of (Brescia), 19

S. Salvatore, Church of (Spoleto), 69 note 20

S. Satiro, Church of (Milan), 42, 48

S. Sebastian, Basilica (Rome), 99

S. Sebastian, Church of (Rome), 101

S. Sernin, Church of (Toulouse), 30

S. Seurin, Church of (Bordeaux), 102

S. Sixtus, 73

S. Sophia, Basilica of (Constantinople), 6

S. Sophia, Church of (Constantinople), 13, 20 note 8, 25, 50, 68,
70, 72

S. Sophia, Church of (Salonica), 20 note 8

S. Teuteria, Church of (Verona), 19

S. Theodore (Spirito Sancto), Church of, 10

S. Trophimus of Arles, Abbey of, 131

S. Vitale, Church of (Ravenna), 10, 23, 50, 69, 70

SS. Sergius and Bacchus, Church of (Constantinople), 70

Saintes, 102

Salisbury Cathedral, 89, 91, 137

Salonica, 20 note 8, 68 note 20, 72

Saracens, 26, 56, 78, 115, 116, 117

Saxons, 26, 86, 92

Scarborough Castle, 137

Scheldt, River, 27

Scott, Leader, 45, 47

Séez, 44

Seine, River, 27

Seraphim, 81

Sergius I, Pope, 114

Sergius II, Pope, 115

Serlo, Monk of Mont S. Michel, Normandy, 40

Serlo and Aldred, Abbey of, 90

Sfondriato, Cardinal, 117

Sicily, 115, 131

Silchester, 87

Simeon, Monk of S. Ouen, Rouen, 40

Siricius, Bishop of Rome, 140, 141, 142, 143

Sixtus I, 122

Soissons Cathedral, 131

Soissons, Cathedral of, 33

Solomon, King, 45

Solomon’s Knot, 47

Southwell Abbey, 40

Southwell Cathedral, 70

Spalatro, 4, 5, 53

Spires, Church of, 102

Spires, Cathedral of, 24

Spirito Sancto, Church of, 10

Spoleto, 69 note 20

Steinbach, Church at, 23

Stephen, King of England, 38

Stephen II, Pope, 141, 142, 143

Stephen, Sir James, 26

Strasburg, Crypt of, 102

Suger, Abbot of S. Denys near Paris, 102

Syria, 50, 56

Szyrma, Mr. Lach, 92

Telesphorus, 122

Tertullian, 98, 133

Teutons, 106

Tewkesbury Abbey, 40, 43, 44

Theodolinda, Queen, 13, 14, 18

Theodora, Empress, 72

Theodoric the Ostrogoth, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 53, 73

Theodosius I, the Great, 6, 7

Theodosius II, 7

Thessalonica, 68

Thor, 92

_Times, The_, quoted, 60 note 18

Titus, 105

Torrigio, 118

Toscanella, 19

Toul, 27

Toul Cathedral, 131

Toulouse, 27, 30

Tournai, 27

Tournai, Cathedral of, 69

Tours, 26, 27, 45

Treves, 27

Trinité, Church of the (Caen), 37

Troyes, 27

Tsar Kolokol of Moscow Bell, 52, 53

Tulun, Mosque of, 56

Turks, 4

Ubaldi, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123

Urban VIII (Cardinal Barberini), 118

Valentinian II, 7, 8, 9

Valpolicella, 19

Vandals, 55

Vatican Hill, the, 100, 107, 109, 113, 118, 121

Venice, 30, 70

Verdun, 27

Verona, 19

Vézelay, 32, 33 note 11

Vézelay, Crypt of, 102

Via Cæsarea, the, 10 note 5

Victor, Bishop of Rome, 122

Villemain, 26

Viollet le Duc, 26, 28, 50, 136 note 29

Vitruvius, 5 note 3

Volpiano, William of, 34, 34 note 12, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 50, 54

Wace, 39

Walkelin, Monk of S. Etienne, Caen, 40

West, Dr., 60 note 19

Westminster Abbey, 22, 61, 88, 141

Whepstead, 143

Wilfred, Bishop, 21, 102

William I of England, 22, 37, 39, 42, 43

William II of England, 38

William of S. Carileph, 40, 44

Winchester, 129

Winchester Cathedral, 40, 43, 70, 89

Winchester, Crypt of, 102

Wing, Crypt of, 102

Worcester (Church of), Crypt of, 90, 102

Worms, Cathedral of, 24

Wulphere, King of the Mercians, 138

Wyclif, 132

York, 129

York Cathedral, 61, 89, 91

York Minster, Crypt of, 102

_Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Notably Quicherat, Viollet le Duc, de Caumont, Corroyer, in France; in our England, Freeman, Jackson, and Bond; Rivoira in Italy, only to mention a few notable names.

[2] Signor Rivoira, _Le Origini dell Architectura Lombarda_, 2 vols. 4to: Roma. Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, R.A., _Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture_, 2 vols. 4to: Cambridge.

[3] A word or two explanatory of the term “entablature” will be useful for those who are not familiar with architectural terminology. The term belongs to the Renaissance period; it seems to have been first used by Evelyn (A.D. 1664). Vitruvius has no single term to express the group of members of which the “entablature” is composed. He writes of “Membra quae supra columnas imponuntur.” These include the _architrave_, _frieze_ and _cornice_.

[4] Freeman remarks here that in the buildings of Ravenna (fifth, sixth and seventh centuries) and in other Romanesque piles, a solid member is thrust in between the abacus and the capital, in order to guard the often delicate capital from the pressure of the arch it supports. The Italian name for this member is _pulvino_, which is sometimes translated now as _pulvin_. This _pulvino_, especially in Byzantine work, often grows into a double capital. The English scholar deems this an unsightly feature in Romanesque architecture, and suggests that the true remedy is found in the noble buildings of Lucca and Pisa, where the abaci are heavier--heavy enough to protect the capital from being crushed. The usual English equivalent for _Pulvino_ is Dosseret, or Impost.

[5] _Classis_--_Classe_--was the port, perhaps the chief harbour of the Roman fleet, and was built by the Emperor Augustus. It was in the great days of Ravenna a vast port and arsenal, and possessed various important churches, of which the magnificent Basilica of S. Apollinare in Classe alone remains. Classis was joined to Ravenna by a long suburb, the Via Cæsarea, nearly three miles long; but Classis and Cæsarea have all disappeared, and the lonely Basilica of S. Apollinare stands now by itself in the marshes.

The sea, which once bathed the walls of Classis, has retreated some two miles, leaving what was once Classis empty and desolate. In the days of Ravenna’s glory and prosperity the three towns, Ravenna, the long suburb of Cæsarea, and the vast port of Classis, must have appeared as one great city.

[6] Certain writers place the vanishing of the Comacine builders at a somewhat later date.

[7] Writing of the importance of certain of the works of this far-back age of Lombardic art, Paulus Diaconus dwells on the “Basilica of the Mother of God,” outside the walls of Pavia, erected by Queen Rodelinda, _circa_ A.D. 686, and describes it in the following words: “Opere mirabili condidit, ornamentisque miraficis decoravit” (_Hist. Langobardorum_). Paulus Diaconus was a monk, and most probably wrote his history in the great Monastery of the Benedictines at Monte Cassino. He was born _circa_ A.D. 723 and died about A.D. 800.

[8] We are not dealing here with Byzantine architecture. Constantinople and the Eastern empire, while maintaining generally the round-arch style, had her own great architectural invention, the Cupola, which under Justinian in the sixth century was brought to perfection in the great Church of S. Sophia; this was copied in many a famous church in the Eastern empire. It influenced later some of the architecture in the Southern Provinces of Gaul (France).

Freeman, however, is scarcely accurate in styling the Cupola as the great architectural invention of the Byzantine masters.

The Byzantine-domed Basilica, as it appeared in the time of Justinian, as Rivoira accurately tells us, was the result of a gradual but tolerably rapid evolution. It was really a creation of the Latin mind, and is based upon the old Roman-domed buildings. The Byzantine-domed church appears first in Macedonia, where we find it notably in Salonica in the Church of S. Sophia in that city; it received its present development at Constantinople, in the mighty Basilica of S. Sophia, and may justly be termed the principal characteristic feature of the round-arch style of Byzantine architecture.

The dome or Cupola was, however, by no means unknown or unused in the Lombardic School of the Comacine builders. But it never really took root in Italy and in the West, save, perhaps, later in certain districts in the south of France. It is in Constantinople and in the near East that it was developed and adopted as the main prominent feature of the Byzantine style.

[9] In this little summary of French Romanesque churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the careful classification of Sir Thomas Jackson, R.A., has been generally followed. A considerable portion of his work on Romanesque and Byzantine architecture is devoted to this Romanesque work in France.

[10] For the rise and development of Norman-Romanesque, its passing into England and its connection with the great Burgundian Monastery of Cluny, see below, p. 36.

[11] In these great Gothic cathedrals traces of the old Romanesque style remain, but the round-arch and other Romanesque features were evidently rapidly giving place to the new and generally favoured Gothic school. In other parts of France, Sir Thomas Jackson well summarises as follows; when this movement towards a new style in the “Royal Domain” took place in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, we find Romanesque art still running its course. In Vézelay (Burgundy), for instance, although the pointed arch had been admitted, the general design still clung to the ancient tradition, and the round-arch still ruled the design. In Auvergne it still reigned supreme.... In Aquitaine the domed style continued to prevail. In Normandy and England the round-arched style followed a line of its own. In Provence, too, Romanesque held its own for a longer period than in the “Royal Domain.”

[12] William of Volpiano was born _circa_ A.D. 961, on the Island of Santa Giulia in the Lago di Orta--part of the Lago Maggiore. He was the son of Roberto, Lord of Volpiano. He also founded the Monastery of S. Benigno de Fruttuaria in Piedmont. He became one of the brotherhood of Cluny towards the end of the tenth century.

[13] Of the capitals of the columns, the most usual were what is commonly termed cushion capitals; these were not invented by the Norman architects, but under their hands put on a character of their own.

[14] Orderic’s words which he puts into the mouth of the dying conqueror are remarkable--

“Sic multa millia pulcherrimæ gentis, proh dolor! funestus trucidavi.”

Matthew Paris repeats, in other words, the same statement.

[15] An account of this “Comacine” Guild will be found on p. 14-17.

[16] Leader Scott, _The Cathedral Builders_, the story of a great Masonic Guild, 1899.

[17] How hardly this popular misconception of “Gothic” died away amongst us, is curiously exemplified in a statement which appeared in the once widely-read _New Monthly Magazine_ (Colburn), 1841, edited by Theodore Hook and then by Thomas Hood. We read here, “The Heralds’ College knocked up a shield containing the armorial bearings of both the families.... The College tacked the tail of the sea woman to the head of a griffin--_as everything ugly and unnatural is valued in Heraldry and Gothic architecture_. This incongruous monster told well.”

[18] They will be found, with many like words, in a most interesting and suggestive series of papers on “French Cathedrals,” which appeared in the _Times_ of August and September 1912.

[19] Compare a remarkable lecture of Dr. West, before the “Architectural Association,” reported in the _Builder_ of Feb. 17, 1906.

[20] Rivoira will not allow that the women’s galleries of the Eastern Church, so notable a feature in the churches of Constantinople and Salonica of Justinian, and other great Byzantine church builders, was a pure invention of these architects. But he believes that these galleries, so universal in the planning of Eastern Basilicas, were in the first instance imitated from an older model, viz. from certain of the Pagan civil galleried Basilicas, such as the Basilica Julia in the Roman Forum, which even _before_ its rebuilding by Augustus in A.D. 12 possessed a gallery occupied on the occasion of important trials.

He also dates a _very few_ ancient examples of the existence of such a gallery in churches of the Latin type, notably in the Churches of S. Salvatore (Spoleto), fifth century; S. Lorenzo (Rome), sixth century; SS. Quatuor Coronati (Rome), seventh century; S. Agnese (Rome), seventh century.

Still, granting the strict accuracy of Rivoira’s interesting account of the genesis of the Byzantine introduction of the women’s galleries, the general deductions given above will not be affected.

The adoption of the women’s galleries in Byzantine churches was, without doubt, referable to the Eastern use of the separation of the sexes in divine worship; still, in spite of the existence of certain rare exceptions, it was never really a Latin practice.

The planning of great churches in the West, until the “coming” of the Anglo-Norman school of architects, was emphatically without this gallery. But the Byzantine great women’s galleries were indisputably the origin of the Triforium, which really only reappeared in parts of the West in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

[21] Dean Milman of S. Paul’s, _Latin Christianity_. Book VII, chap. vi; Book XIV, chap. ii.

[22] This startling doctrine, it will be remembered, was defined and clothed with authority by a Papal Bull in A.D. 1854 by Pope Pius IX. The words of Dr. Pusey (Liddon’s _Life of Pusey_, II, xxxiv), are very remarkable, and coming from such a source, specially interesting: “There are very serious things in the Roman Communion which ought to keep us where we are. I would instance chiefly the system as to the blessed Virgin as the Mediatrix and dispenser of all present blessings to mankind; I think nothing short of a fresh revelation would justify this.”

[23] The Virgin and Child are in the Catacombs delineated in a certain number of instances, but generally with the accompanying figures of the Magi or Wise Men with their offerings; but in these instances the Holy Child is the central figure of the group. But even these pictures are after all but few in number. The truth is that in the first three centuries the hearts and minds of the Christians were so aflame with love for the Lord Jesus, that there was little place for any delineation of the Apostles or even for the blessed Virgin.

[24] Two remarkable exceptions in Cornwall are quoted later, see pp. 92-95.

[25] A detailed description of the “Memoria” of Anacletus and the tomb or crypt of S. Peter, the “mother” of all the crypts since constructed, will be found in the following chapter, pp. 106-124.

[26] There was no difficulty raised in the early days of Christianity in getting possession of the bodies of martyrs. The custom of the Roman Government was in every case to give over the bodies of those who had been put to death, to those who had loved them in life. This we see in the case of our Lord when the sacred body was at once given to Nicodemus and the friends of Jesus.

It was only at a later date, when Christianity became a real terror to the Roman Government, that this favour was taken away, and when every effort was made by the authorities to prevent the Christians from obtaining possession of the relics of their martyrs.

[27] It was of this ancient church of Constantine that Bishop Creighton in his eloquent _History of the Papacy_, thus writes of its demolition under Pope Julius II, _circa_ A.D. 1506--

“The basilica of S. Peter’s had been for ages the object of pilgrimage from every land; outside it gleamed with mosaics; inside its pavement was a marvel of mosaic art; its monuments told the history of the Roman Church for centuries. Men may praise at the present day the magnificence of the (New) S. Peter’s; they forget what was destroyed to make room for it. No more wanton or barbarous act of destruction was ever deliberately committed.”

[28] These details have been worked out by Mgr. Barnes in his elaborate and exhaustive work on the _Tomb of S. Peter_, who gives in his scholarly and able book many more particulars of the sacred spot.

No words of praise are sufficient to express the thanks of the historian and archæologist, who is interested in this most famous of Christian sanctuaries, to Mgr. Barnes for his labours here.

[29] Durandus, Bishop of Mende (Mimatensis) in Languedoc--born A.D. 1230 and died A.D. 1296--was a most distinguished Canonist. He filled various ecclesiastical dignities, amongst them the Deanery of Chartres, and was largely consulted by the popes of his time. In later life he declined the archbishopric of Ravenna. He was the author of various works which had an enduring success. Amongst these the _Rationale_ above quoted, a vast and exhaustive compilation, is the best. During the early years of printing, this, the greatest of mediæval liturgical treatises, was printed and reprinted more often than any book (excepting, of course, the Holy Scriptures). It is computed that more than ninety printed editions in different languages of the _Rationale_ appeared between the second half of the fifteenth century and the close of the seventeenth.

Viollet le Duc, in his _Dict. de l’Architecture_ (“Architecture”), thus sums up his estimate of the _Rationale_: “Que l’on ne saurait trop lire et méditer, lorseque qu’on veut connaitre le moyen age catholique.”

Dom Guéranger of Solesmes calls it “le dernier mot du age sur le mystique du culte divin.”

[30] The etymological difficulty suggested by Lightfoot can hardly be pressed, considering the very free and rough way in which the Latin tongue was treated at a comparatively early date in the story of the Roman Empire, when grammar, spelling and prosody were frequently more or less disregarded, save in highly cultured circles. This striking disregard of all rules is very conspicuous in the numberless inscriptions and epitaphs found in the Roman Catacombs.

The early entries in the so-called _Liber Pontificalis_ show the same utter disregard of grammar and spelling.

Transcriber’s Notes.

Italic text is indicated with _underscores_, bold text with
=equals=. Small/mixed capitals have been replaced with ALL
CAPITALS.

Evident typographical and punctuation errors have been
corrected silently. Inconsistent spelling/hyphenation has
been normalised.

The usage of Jumiéges (Jumièges) and Sant (Sant’) is the
author’s.

A new sub-heading “Norman-Romanesque” has been introduced
at page 33 to reflect the table of contents.

Half-titles and reiterations of chapter titles have been
discarded.

End of page footnotes have been sequentially numbered and relocated
to the end of the book.

Index references to “note” have been modified to include the relevant
note number.

At the index entry for Diaconus, a duplicate footnote reference
(19 note) has been discarded.

Illustration captions have been relocated between paragraphs.