Chartres Cathedral (Part Two).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Français: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, 

Eure-et-Loir, Centre, France. La façade nord.

English: Chartres Cathedral, Eure-et-Loir, 

Centre, France. The North Façade.

Photo: 27 September 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Tango7174.

(Wikimedia Commons)

There have been at least five Cathedrals on this site, each replacing an earlier building damaged by war or fire. Nothing survives of the earliest Church, which was destroyed during an attack on the City by the Danes in 858 A.D. Of the Carolingian Church that replaced it, all that remains is a semi-circular Chamber located directly below the centre of the present Apse. This Chamber, known as the Lubinus Crypt (named after the Mid-6th-Century Bishop of Chartres), is lower than the rest of the Crypt and may have been the Shrine of a local Saint, prior to the Church's re-dedication to The Virgin.

Another fire, in 962 A.D., is mentioned in the annals, though nothing is known about the subsequent rebuilding. A more serious conflagration occurred in 1020, after which Bishop Fulbert (Bishop from 1006 to 1028) began the construction of an entirely new building. Most of the present Crypt, which is the largest in France, dates from that period.

The rebuilding proceeded in phases over the next hundred years or so, culminating in 1145 in a display of public enthusiasm dubbed the "Cult of the Carts" – one of several such incidents recorded during the period. It was claimed that, during this religious outburst, a crowd of more than a thousand penitents dragged carts, filled with building supplies and provisions, including stones, wood, grain, etc, to the site.

English: Central tympanum of the Royal portal of Chartres Cathedral.

Français: Tympan central du portail royal de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres.

Photo: 7 February 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: This photo was taken by Eusebius (Guillaume Piolle).

Feel free to reuse it, but always credit me as the Author, as specified below.

Attribution: © Guillaume Piolle / CC-BY-3.0.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1134, another fire damaged the Town, and perhaps part of the Cathedral. The North Tower was started immediately afterwards – the South Tower some time later. From the beginning, it was intended that these Towers flank a Central Porch of some sort and a Narthex.

When the North Tower rose to the level of the second storey, the South Tower was begun – the evidence lies in the profiles and in the Masons' marks on the two levels of the two Towers. Between them, on the first level, a Chapel was constructed to Saint Michael. Traces of the Vaults and the Shafts, which supported them, are still visible in the Western two Bays. This Chapel was probably Vaulted, and those Vaults saved the Western Glass. The Stained Glass, in the three Lancets over the Portals, date from sometime between 1145 and 1155, while the South Spire, some 103 metres high, was also completed by 1155.

Work was begun on the Royal Portal, with the South Lintel around 1136 and with all its sculpture installed up to 1141. Opinions are uncertain, as the sizes and styles of the Figures vary and some elements, such as the Lintel over the Right-Hand Portal, have clearly been cut down to fit the available spaces. 

The sculpture was originally designed for these Portals, but the layouts were changed by successive Masters (see careful lithic analysis by John James). Either way, most of the carving follows the exceptionally high standard typical of this period and exercised a strong influence on the subsequent development of Gothic Portal design.

Some of the Masters have been identified by John James, and drafts of these studies have been published on the web-site of the International Centre of Mediaeval Art, New York.

Chartres Cathedral.

Sacred Geometry.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/sQB_P6ECvE8.

On 10 June 1194, another fire caused extensive damage to Fulbert's Cathedral. The true extent of the damage is unknown, though the fact that the Lead Cames, holding the West Windows together, survived the conflagration intact, suggests contemporary accounts of the terrible devastation may have been exaggerated. Either way, the opportunity was taken to begin a complete rebuilding of the Choir and Nave in the latest style. The undamaged Western Towers and Façade were incorporated into the new works, as was the earlier Crypt, effectively limiting the designers of the new building to the same General Plan as its predecessor. In fact, the present building is only marginally longer than Fulbert's Cathedral.

One of the unusual features of Chartres Cathedral is the speed with which it was built – a factor which helped contribute to the consistency of its design. Even though there were innumerable changes to the details, the Plan remains remarkably consistent. The major change occurred six years after work began, when the seven deep Chapels, around the Choir opening off a Single Ambulatory, were turned into shallow recesses opening off a Double-Aisled Ambulatory.

Chartres Cathedral.
Sacred Geometry.
Available on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/puFsJQnPTyo.

Australian architectural historian, John James, who made a detailed study of the Cathedral, has estimated that there were about 300 men working on the site at any one time, although it has to be acknowledged that current knowledge of working practices at this time is somewhat limited. Normally, Mediaeval Churches were built from East to West, so that the Choir could be completed first and put into use (with a temporary wall sealing off the West End), while The Crossing and Nave were completed.

Canon Delaporte argued that building work started at The Crossing and proceeded outwards from there, but the evidence, in the stonework itself, is unequivocal, especially within the level of the Triforium. The Nave was at all times more advanced than the Ambulatory Bays of the Choir, and this has been confirmed by dendrochronology.

The history of the Cathedral has been plagued by more theories than any other, a singular problem for those attempting to discover the truth. For example, Louis Grodecki argued that the lateral doors of the Transept Portals were cut through the walls at a later date, and van der Meulen that they had wanted to rebuild the Western Portals (then only 50 years old).

None of these theories refer back to the actual stonework, and it is only when one has done so, as John James did exhaustively in 1969, that one realises that the construction process was in fact simple and logical.

PART THREE FOLLOWS.