20.3 A New Holy Land

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Age of Cathedrals

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Yale University

Age of Cathedrals

125 classificações

An introduction to some of the most astonishing architectural monuments the world has ever known—Gothic cathedrals. We shall study the art, literature, intellectual life, economics, and new social arrangements that arose in the shadow of the cathedrals and that were such an important part of the revival of cities in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The goal of the course is a better appreciation of the High Middle Ages, a world that is still recognizably our own.

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Cathedrals and Crusades

In Module 7 we examine in some detail The Song of Roland, portions of which are depicted in the stained glass of Chartres, and we explore the relationship of relics from the Middle East to cathedral building.

20.1 Church and State9:28

20.2 Amassing of Relics11:37

20.3 A New Holy Land5:31

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Howard Bloch
Sterling Professor of French
French

The Sainte-Chapelle was built in imitation of the Bucoleon Palace in Constantinople,

where the relics were kept before their transfer to France.

Robert de Clari, a knight who was present at the sack of Constantinople

by the crusaders in 1204, wrote of the splendors of that place.

The one called the holy chapel, Sainte-Chapelle, which was so rich,

Robert writes, and so noble, that there was not a hinge nor a band nor

any other part such as is usually made of iron that was not all of silver.

And there was no column that was not of jasper or porphyry, or

some other rich precious stone.

And the pavement of this chapel, was of a white marble, so

smooth and clear, that it seemed to be of crystal.

And this chapel was so rich and

so noble, that no one could ever tell you its great beauty and nobility.

Within this chapel were found many rich relics.

One found there, the two pieces of the True Cross, as large as the leg of a man,

and one found there, the blessed crown with which he was crowned,

which was made of reeds and thorns as sharp as the points of daggers.

Nicholas Mesarites, sacristan of churches in the Bucoleon Palace

wrote that this church, this space is a second Sinai,

a new Bethlehem, a second Jordan, a new Jerusalem.

And this is exactly what Louis had hoped to create in Paris, a new Holy Land.

As the relics moved from the Holy Land to Constantinople, and from Constantinople

to Paris, they bestowed sacred power upon the growing capitol of France.

Through the relics assembled in the Saint-Chapelle,

Paris became a sacred landscape, a new Holy Land.

The reliquary which housed them, was a recreation of the Temple of Solomon,

the place of God's covenant with the Jews.

In 1239, seven years before the building of the Sainte-Chapelle,

Pope Gregory IX stated that the son of God has established different

kingdoms according to the divisions of languages and races.

In this, just as it was Judah among the patriarch's sons

whose tribe was taken up to receive special blessing.

So the kingdom of France is distinguished above all other peoples of the world,

by being singled out for honor and grace by the Lord.

The Sainte-Chapelle, a new temple on the mount,

played a role in the legitimizing of the Capetian monarchy.

Whose kings were anointed with oil from a holy vial

inscribed in the line of David and Saul.

The Chronicle of Saint Denis contains the following account of the descent of

the holy vial of oil to France.

When shortly afterward Clovis, in 496 set out for

the church for baptism, St. Remi prepared a great procession.

The streets of Rheims were hung with banners and tapestry, the church was

decorated, the baptistry was covered with balsams and all sorts of perfumes.

The people believed they were already breathing the delights of paradise.

The cortege set out from the palace, the clergy led the way bearing

the holy Gospels, the cross and banners chanting hymns and psalms.

Then came the bishop, leading the King by the hand,

next the Queen with the multitude.

Whilst on the way the King asked of the bishop,

if this was the Kingdom of Heaven which he had promised him?

Not so, replied the prelate, it is the road which leads to it.

When in the church in the act of bestowing baptism,

the holy pontiff lifted his eyes to Heaven in silent prayer and wept.

Straight away a dove white as snow,

descended bearing in his beak a vial of holy oil.

A delicious odor exhaled from it which intoxicated those nearby

with an inexpressible delight.

The holy bishop took the vial, and suddenly the dove vanished.

Transported with the joy at the sight of this notable miracle, the King renounced

Satan, his pomps and his works, and demanded with earnestness the baptism.

At the moment when he bent his head over the fountain of life, the eloquent pontiff

cried, bow down thine head, fierce Sicambrian.

Adore that which thou hast burned, burn which thou hast adored.

And just as the crown of thorns can be found today in Notre Dame in Paris,

the little vial of oil brought by a dove from Heaven at the end of the 5th

century can still be found in the museum next to the cathedral at Reims.

In our next time together, we shall explore the structure and

the functions of Saint Louis's private church, the Sainte-Chapelle.

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