Chartres Cathedral, Part 1

In 1204 some of the finest churches in Christendom were ransacked and the precious icons and relics were divided up among the plunderers. They snatched reliquaries from altars, forced open chests filled with holy treasures, stripped gold and silver metalwork from church fixtures. In their haste they spilled the sacramental wine over the marble floor, where it might mingle with the blood of any priest who stood in their way. 1

Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (Cathédral Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, ands is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. It is in the High Gothic and Romanesque styles. The cathedral is designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which calls it high point of French Gothic art and a ‘masterpiece’. 2

Chartres Cathedral, High Gothic - view from south-east SOURCE: Wikimedia commons

Like countless other churches in France, the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres is a temple to the Marian cult of the Middle Ages, dedicated to the mother of Christ. In 876 Charlemagne’s grandson Charles the Bald, king of the Carolingians, gave to the bishop of Chartres the cathedral’s mostly holy relic; the tunic or camisa said to have been worn by Mary at the time of the birth of Jesus (or some say the Annunciation). This Sancta Camisa had been given to Charlemagne himself by the Byzantine emperor Nicephoras and his wife Irene when the first Holy Roman Emperor passed though Constantinople on his way back from Jerusalem. 3

According to the seventeenth-century French historian Vincent Sablon, Nicephoras claimed that the Virgin, shortly before her death, asked the apostles to give her clothes to an honest widow who had always served from the time her Son had returned to His Father. 4

The crypt of Chartres also houses a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, not a precious ancient relic but a modern copy of a copy, for the ancient statue, probably dating from twelfth century but copied from one older still, the statue was burned by Revolutionaries in 1793. 5

History of Chartres Cathedral

The cathedral is well-preserved for its age; the majority of the original stained-glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. At least five cathedrals have stood on this site, each replacing an earlier building damaged by war or fire. The first church dated from no later than 4th century and was located at the base of a Gallo-Roman wall; this was put to the torch in 743 on the orders of the Duke of Aquitaine.

The second church on the site was set on fire by Danish pirates in 858. This was then reconstructed and enlarged by Bishop Gislebert but was itself destroyed by fire in 1020. A vestige of this church, now known as Saint Lubin Chapel, remains, underneath the apse of the present cathedral. 6 It took its name from Lubinus the mid- 6th-century Bishop of Chartres. It is lower than the rest of the crypt and may have been the shrine of a local saint, prior to the church’s rededication to the Virgin Mary. 7 On the night of 10 July 1194, another major fire devastated the cathedral. Only the crypt, the towers, and the new facade survived. The cathedral was already known throughout Europe as a pilgrimage destination, due to the reputed relics of the Virgin Mary that it contained. A legate of the Pope happened to be in Chartres at the time of the fire and spread the word. Funds were collected from royal and noble patrons across Europe, as well as small donations from ordinary people. Reconstruction began almost immediately. Some portions of the building had survived, including the two towers and the royal portal on the west end, and these were incorporated into the new cathedral. 8

The nave, aisles, and lower levels of the transepts of the new cathedral were probably completed first, then the choir and chapels of the apse; then the upper parts of the transept. By 1220 the roof was in place and the major portions of the new cathedral, with its stained glass and sculpture, were largely finished within just twenty-five years, extraordinarily rapid for the time. The cathedral was formally re-consecrated in October 1260, in the presence of King Louis IX of France, whose coat of arms was painted over the entrance to the apse. 9

On 27 February 1594, King Henry IV of France was crowned in Chartres Cathedral, rather than the traditional Reims Cathedral, since both Paris and Reims were occupied at the time by the Catholic League. The ceremony took place in the choir of the church, after which the King and the Bishop mounted the rood screen to be seen by the crowd in the nave. After the ceremony and a mass, they moved to the residence of the bishop next to the cathedral for a banquet.

Early in the French Revolution a mob attacked and began to destroy the sculpture on the north porch but was stopped by a larger crowd of townspeople. The local Revolutionary Committee decided to destroy the cathedral via explosives and asked a local architect to find the best place to set the explosions. He saved the building by pointing out that the vast amount of rubble from the demolished building would so clog the streets it would take years to clear away. The cathedral, like Notre Dame de Paris and other major cathedrals, became the property of the French State and worship was halted until the time of Napoleon, but it was not further damaged.

In 1836, due to the negligence of workmen, a fire began which destroyed the lead- covered wooden roof and the two belfries, but the building structure and the stained glass were untouched. The old roof was replaced by a copper-covered roof on an iron frame. At the time, the framework over the crossing had the largest span of any iron-framed construction in Europe. 10

The plan, like other Gothic cathedrals, is in the form of a cross and was determined by the shape and size of the 11th-century Romanesque cathedral, whose crypt and vestiges are underneath it. A two-bay narthex. At the western end opens into a seven bay nave leading to the crossing, from which wide transepts extend three bays each to north and south. East of the crossing are four rectangular bays terminating in a semi-circular apse. The nave and transepts are flanked by single aisles, broadening to a double-aisled ambulatory around the choir and apse. From the ambulatory three deep semi-circular chapels radiate (overlying the deep chapels of Flubert’s 11th century crypt). 11

While the floor plan was traditional, the elevation was bolder and more original, thanks to the use of the flying buttresses to support the upper walls. This was the first known use in a Gothic cathedral. 12 These heavy columns of stone were joined to the walls by double stone arches, and reinforced by columns, like the spokes of a wheel.

Each of these columns is made from a single piece of stone. The arches press against the walls, counterbalancing the outward thrust from the rib vaults over the cathedral interior. These vaults were also innovative, having just four compartments, unlike the six-part vaults of earlier Gothic churches. They were lighter and could cross a greater distance. Since the flying buttresses were experimental, the architect prudently added additional buttresses concealed under roofs of the aisles. 13

The two towers were built at different times, during the Gothic period, and have different heights and decoration. The north tower was begun in 1134, to replace a Romanesque tower that was damaged by fire. It was completed in 1150 and originally was just two stories high, with a lead-covered roof. The south tower was begun in about 1144 and was finished in 1150. It was more ambitious and has an octagonal masonry spire on a square tower and reaches a height of 105 meters. It was built without an interior wooden framework; the flat stone sides narrow progressively to the pinnacle, and heavy stone pyramids around the base give it additional support. 14

At the base of the North Tower is a small structure which contains a Renaissance-era twenty-four-hour clock with a polychrome face, constructed in 1520 by Jean Texier. The face of the clock is eighteen feet in diameter. 15

The cathedral has three great portals or entrances, opening into the nave from the west and into the transepts from north and south. The portals are richly decorated with sculptures, which rendered biblical stories and theological ideas visible for both the educated clergy and layfolk who may not have had access to textual learning. Each of the three portals on the west facade (made 1145-55) focuses on a different aspect of Christ’s role in the world; on the right, his earthly Incarnation, on the left, his Ascension or his existence before his Incarnation (the era ante legem), and, in the center, his Second Coming, initiating the End of Time. 16 The statuary of the Chartres portals is considered among the finest existing Gothic sculpture. 17

Ladies and gentlemen, I am Ecesu, your new History blogger who admires History, History of Art and Literature.

I am studying History of Art at university, and I am a junior student. I really admire Renaissance, Baroque, Modern and British Art. During my junior year, I became interested in Renaissance & Baroque Art. 

Follow me @lilyarthistoran

Thanks for reading

1 Philip Ball, Universe of Stone- A Biography of Chartres Cathedral, 2009, p.1

2 https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/81, UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

3 Philip Ball, Universe of Stone - A Biography of Chartres Cathedral (2009), p.8

4 Ibid, p.9

5 Ibid.

6 Houvet, Étienne. Chartres- Guide of the Cathedral (2019), p. 12

7 Jan van der Meulen, Notre-Dame de Chartres: Die vorromanische Ostanlage, Berlin 1975.

8 Houvet, Étienne. Chartres- Guide of the Cathedral(2019), p. 12-13

9 Favier, Jean. The World of Chartres. New York: Henry N. Abrams, 1990. p. 160.

10 Houvet, Étienne. Chartres- Guide of the Cathedral(2019), p. 12-13

11 Houvet (2019) p. 20

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid, p.19

15 Ibid, p.20

16 Adolf Katzenellenbogen, The Sculptural Programs of Chartres Cathedral, Baltimore, 1959

17 Houvet (2019) pp. 32-33