John James

Glory and Tragedy in Notre-Dame d'Etampes (eBook, PDF)

A forgotten mystic endeavour and its brutal suppression

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

The church of Notre-Dame is a forgotten masterpiece, its past glory ruthlessly suppressed. The crusaders had brought back eastern techniques to transform Notre-Dame into a beacon of mystical exploration. They longed to join the angels in passionate union with the divine and built this church to make that possible.
Notre-Dame was provided with vast sums of money to turn the promise of transcendence into a daily reality. Yet today we sense the contradiction between the magnificence of the architecture and its present role as the local parish church. We know it must have been more.
What it was has been taken.
After only 70 years, Notre-Dame's mission was brutally suppressed, its unique beauty silenced, the Glory window sealed, sightlines erased until it became a shell of its former self. Yet the secrets in the architecture whisper still. They describe the clash between a very personal search for mystical union and the hierarchic policies of the Church that insisted only the clergy knew how to guide the soul.
What one king had cherished his successor deemed heretical and ruthlessly suppressed. Why the brutal reversal? Why the violent resistance from the congregation? Why suppress its mystical ambitions and why hide the facts? Was it a heresy that was too dangerous to tolerate? The clash between faith and power remains etched in the silence of the masonry, so we may still unravel the distant echoes of their quest for spiritual union, a quest that still resonates in the shadows of this remarkable church.
"Glory and Tragedy in Notre-Dame d'Etampes" unravels the forgotten saga of a silenced masterpiece, where religious intrigue and architectural brilliance collided. It remains a poignant reminder of the persistent struggle between institutional power and individual enlightenment. It is a tale of breathtaking triumph with devastating consequences.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bonnier Books UK
• Seitenzahl: 320
• Erscheinungstermin: 17. September 2024
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781805435136
• Artikelnr.: 72330071

Autorenporträt

John James has studied medieval construction for the past 68 years. He practiced as an architect before following his true love of Gothic. Over the years he has published a dozen books and almost a hundred articles and studies, all on the architecture he loves. At the same time he founded and ran the Crucible Centre in the mountains west of Sydney to fulfil his personal longing for the sacred, and it is utterly appropriate that this last book should amalgamate these two strands of his life, hard as it was for him to complete the last chapter

Inhaltsangabe

Chapter 1 - From Glory to Suppression 1 Chapter 2 - Set and Setting 5 The
experience 6 In practice 9 Can words express this experience? 12
Pilgrimage13 Crusades 14 The Cistercians 16 Cistercian lords of war 18
Chapter 3 - A visionary theology 21 Consequences of meeting the east 22
Centralised spaces for group worship25 The Glory axis 28 The Glory axis
takes priority 29 The Way was not direct 30 To summarise 30 Chapter 4 -
Darkness and the worship of the dead 33 Darkness enhanced the light 34 The
sepulchre and the bones 36 Chapter 5- Architecture - the story in the
masonry 39 Architecture with purpose 40 The evidence for the story 41 The
mysterium on the cross axis 44 Notre-Dame and the First Gothic 48 Chapter 6
- Politics - the promise and the reality 61 Consequences of the second
crusade 64 All gone by 1200 65 Singular journey or spiral labyrinth? 66
What was their heresy? 67 Whitewashing heresy 68 The end of the commune 69
Chapter 7 - Sculpture and sculptors 67 Workshop methods 69 Organisation of
the data 71 Defining stylistic boundaries 71 The Transition of the 1170s 73
Chapter 8 - Construction 75 Concerning mortar and measure76 Concerning
campaigns 78 Concerning geometry 79 Crusades impact on construction 81
Chapter 9 - Dating and the model 83 Building campaigns in the model 84
Concerning precise dates 86 Chapter 10 - The First Church 89 Three small
remnants 91 Chancel in front of the apse 92 Entry into the south aisle 94
Cornices in the sky 96 Size of the east tower 100 How old is the ossuary?
101 The First Church 102 Two stories on the western tower 103 Chapter 11 -
Interlude 1 - Papillon a local carver 111 Chapter 12 - Second Church I -
the nave 113 Summary of the nave 115 Nave arcade, first phase 115 Nave
arcade, second phase to 1113 118 The "Cistercian" bases 1114 121 Concerning
stability of the nave 1115 122 South aisle 1113-1116 124 Misplaced south
doubleau 1113-1116 124 North aisle 1116-1118 126 Maintaining services while
building 128 South clerestory wall 1116-1118 128 North clerestory wall
1117-1119 130 The strut 1118 132 Transverse arches and groin vaults
1118-1121 132 Building the groin vaults 138 Junction between tower and nave
139 Chapter13 - Second Church II - the lesser chamber 141 Lower chamber and
the canon's door 143 Straighten the aisle entry 1114 144 Sepulchre window,
the "Glory" 147 The sepulchre 1115 149 North aisle: the other wide windows
1115 151 North clerestory window 1119 154 Chapter 14 - Second Church III -
pilasters-S and -N 159 Pilaster-S 164 Pilaster-N 167 West pilaster 171
Chapter 15 - Second Church IV - the choir 179 Priority to the chamber
1128-1135 180 Two bays in the choir 182 Pilaster-E 1126-1131 184 To
separate or to merge? 185 Choir paused at the clerestory 1129 187
Concerning stability in the choir 1128 190 Chapter 16 - Second Church V -
the greater chamber 193 Cornices under the roof <1090 and 1132 194 Vault
over the east crossing 1132-35 196 Demolish the eastern tower 197
Leadership and decision-making 198 The roofs 200 Master Plans 201 An
unlikely alternative 201 The church when Louis and Eleanor arrived 202
Chapter 17 - Interlude 2 - Palmier carver and master 203 Controlling
details as well as templates 205 Mature work 206 Look-alikes 207 Palmier as
master mason 209 Chapter 18 - Third Church I - portal and alignments 211
Two axes, not one 213 Erecting the south portal 1137-1140± 217
Discrepancies in the portal 219 The obstruction dates the portal 221 The
lost column figures 224 Chapter 19 - Third Church II - masonry 227 Site
conditions 1137-1144± 228 Rate of construction 229 Complexity in a season
230 Join the north to the south 1138-42± 230 Rubble walls covered 231 THE
BASES For groins in the east 1138± 232 For ribs in the transepts 1138± 233
Band of gold 1138-1141± 234 Decorated bases 236 Compound piers, drums and
canopy of paradise 237 North chamber buttresses 1135-1138± 238 THE CHAPELS
South boundary crossed 239 Eastern chapels 1138-44± 239 Changed plan for
southern chapels 1142-45± 241 Chapel walls and arcades 242 The Mysterium
1139± 242 The consoles in s3 246 South transept door 1143± 248 Chapter 20
-Third Church III- capitals and vaults 251 When were the choir capitals
carved? 252 Concerning the choir capitals 1124± or 1129± 254 North vaults
1143-46± 257 North vaults and adjacent choir ribs 258 Placiong the choir
capitals 258 Explanations 260 Chapter 21 - Third Church IV - after the
crusade 263 Rate of construction 264 Rib vaults everywhere 267 Two roses
270 Plated capitals, mid-1150s± 270 The roofs 1160s and later
272Decision-making and multiple contracting 272 Chapter 22 - Fourth Church
- the Restoration 275 Blocking the mysterium with two vaults 276 Blocking
the inner Camino 282 Consequences 288 The westworks 289 Opening the nave
clerestory 293 Symbols of triumph - the spire 295 Symbols of triumph - the
fortress 295 Later saints 296 A historical coda 296 A personal coda 297
Chapter 23 - Bibliography 299