Part 1

# The secrets of a great cathedral ### By Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Henry Donald Maurice)

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This is companion to the preceding volume--“The Dean’s Handbook to Gloucester Cathedral.”

[Illustration: MAUSOLEUM OF GALLA PLACIDIA, RAVENNA.

Circa A.D. 440.]

THE SECRETS OF A GREAT CATHEDRAL

BY THE VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE-JONES, M.A., D.D.

_Dean of Gloucester_ _Professor of Ancient History in the Royal Academy_

[Illustration]

LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. 1914

_All rights reserved_

_This book, “The Secrets of a Great Cathedral,” is, after a fashion, the sequel to the Dean’s “Handbook to Gloucester Cathedral,” although it has no special reference to, no real connection with the former work._

_These “Secrets” belong to no one solitary pile, but are the heritage of the many Cathedrals, at once the glory and the riddle of Catholic Europe. Still, references to one pile--Gloucester, the loved home of the writer of the book--will be found constantly to crop up and appear unexpectedly in the following pages._

_Like King Charles the First in the “Memorial” of the immortal Mr. Dick in Dickens’ “David Copperfield,” so is Gloucester ever straying into the “Cathedrals” of the “Secrets.” Its haunting memory_ will _not be kept out_.

_The reader must forgive, and perhaps forget, the writer’s fancy, and--quietly read on._

INTRODUCTORY

The quaint name which the writer has given to his little book, “The Secrets of a Great Cathedral,” is based upon his desire to answer briefly some of the leading questions which have been put to him in the long course of his office as chief custodian of one of the most notable of Romanesque cathedrals.

For after viewing with more or less interest and care the grey, time-worn pile of Gloucester, the visitors often long to learn something of the genesis and meaning of the several principal parts of the mighty church.

They ask first, naturally enough, what is the meaning of the term “Romanesque,” which they have often heard now and again popularly described as “Norman.” Whence then came this massive round-arch architecture? Is it not perhaps much older than the Norman period, which only dates from the eleventh and twelfth centuries? If so, who were the inventors of this widely diffused style? when and where did they live and work?

The writer of this little book answers the question, and tells the inquirer that this so-called “Romanesque” style is of very ancient date, and he traces its wonderful story back for some seven or eight hundred years _before the coming_ of the Normans into England.

* * * * *

In late years not a few scholars[1] have dwelt with more or less detail on “the secret” of this wonderful and stately “Romanesque” round-arch architecture, of which so many splendid examples still remain in different lands. These scholars give us many important details, and they suggest various interesting theories on its origin and development.

But the most exhaustive histories that we possess of Romanesque architecture have quite lately appeared.[2] One of these belongs to Italy and is the work of Signor Rivoira; the other to England, and is from the pen of Sir Thomas Jackson, R.A. They both travel over much of the same ground, but with infinite varieties of detail and illustration--both, however, in their own way, telling the most interesting story that historical ecclesiastical architecture has ever had to tell. No one, after a careful study of these two great works, but will feel that the veil which has partly concealed “the secret” of Romanesque has at length been lifted.

But comparatively few, alas, find the leisure necessary to master the contents of these four massive quarto volumes.

One word on these great works, not of criticism but of legitimate comment, is called for.

Rivoira, the Italian scholar, throughout his great study of Romanesque, seeks and finds in Italy, the old home of Rome and the Empire, the inspiration and the cradle of all Romanesque. Sir T. Jackson, R.A., on the other hand, refers to Constantinople and the near East as the principal source of this the most famous and enduring of all architectural schools.

_The Triforium._--The great gallery which appears in so many of the more important Anglo-Norman churches, and which in Gloucester Cathedral surrounds the choir, perplexes the student of the architecture of these mighty churches. What, is often asked, was the purpose of this striking feature? When and where was it first designed?

The story of the origin of a Triforium is sketched out; the reason for its exclusive ancient use in the Eastern Church is given, while in the West (Latin Christianity) it rarely, if ever, for many centuries appears.

Then its strange reappearance as a conspicuous and characteristic feature especially in Anglo-Norman Romanesque is discussed.

_The Lady Chapel._--So well-known and frequent a feature in our more important mediæval cathedrals, abbeys and churches, notably in such English examples as Gloucester, Westminster Abbey, Salisbury, etc., often perplexes the inquirers. Whence, they ask, comes this striking “annexe” to the great religious piles of our forefathers? It seems to speak of a cult certainly unknown in the “inspired” writings--of a cult which is evidently a comparatively late development in Christian teaching.

The strange story of the “Lady Chapel” is traced in the pages of this little book.

_The Crypt_ is by no means a universal feature even in Western Christendom, while in the East it is absolutely unknown. In the West, however, we frequently find a Crypt in the planning of the more important churches. The question often is put--What was its use? When and where was it first introduced? Is it not possibly “the memory” of some sacred spot once deeply revered and often visited in far-back days by tens of thousands from many distant lands? Emphatically a strange mystery hangs over those dark and gloomy Crypts which sleep beneath such great churches as the cathedrals of Gloucester and Canterbury, the mighty church of Chartres, the storied abbey of S. Benignus of Dijon. The true secret of the Crypt is a thrilling story and one that goes back to the earliest days of Christianity.

Some account is given of the Crypt of S. Peter’s, Rome, the “mother of Crypts,” and of the strange modern discoveries in that hallowed spot.

_The Cloister_, once so general a feature in the planning of the abbey and the cathedral church, and which even now has left not a few examples still striking with their scarred and often ruined beauty--the Cloister is to many the subject of perhaps a mute inquiry as to its origin and primitive use.

It is clearly a special adjunct to important Christian buildings, and was evidently once of the highest importance to the community of the abbey or the cathedral to which it was annexed.

It has a curious history, and one that is quickly and easily told; but this history is after all but very little known. It ranks emphatically as one of the secrets of a cathedral.

_The Altar of S. Petronilla_ is a “memory” that belongs exclusively to Gloucester Cathedral, the home and the scene of work of the writer of this book. It is the earliest historical record in the many-coloured story of this great cathedral, and dates from the far-back early years of the eighth century. Its curious connection with the mighty church of the Severn Lands has suggested its inclusion in this work which deals with “the secrets” of a cathedral church.

The writer of these pages on “the secrets” of a cathedral has drawn much of his inspiration from the cathedral he loves so well. The story of S. Petronilla, so curiously and mysteriously linked with the fortunes of Gloucester Abbey some twelve centuries ago, possesses a deep and peculiar interest, as it tells of a sainted personage, now well-nigh forgotten, and round whom, for various reasons, modern criticism has been curiously busy.

The conclusions of modern critics, some of them of the first rank, _if accepted_, would destroy the supreme interest which in the early Christian centuries undoubtedly invested S. Petronilla with a halo of a rare and peculiar sanctity. The theories of modern critics have been refuted, mainly on historical grounds, in this study.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY (p. vii-xi)

The meaning of the title of this book, “The Secrets of a Great Cathedral,” is briefly explained.

The “Secrets” include the leading questions which are often put to the writer, who is the chief custodian of a great pile, partly Romanesque, partly Gothic, as to the signification and origin of certain prominent features of an important Mediæval Church.

These questions include the meaning and history of the term _Romanesque_ architecture, sometimes mistakenly termed _Norman_.

_The Lady Chapel._--The circumstances are discussed at some length, which gave rise to this comparatively late addition in the planning of a great church or abbey.

_The Crypt._--A reply is given to the query--whence comes this remarkable and little understood feature in many of the cathedrals, abbeys and large churches--a feature only found in the churches of Western Christendom.

_The Cloister._--The history of the “Cloister” is given with some detail--a sketch of what it evidently replaced is briefly written--some of the early criticisms on the elaborate ornamentation of Cloisters are discussed.

_S. Petronilla._--This strange memory of a once famous, but now forgotten Saint--a memory which belongs especially to Gloucester Cathedral--is referred to. The true history of this Saint is sketched out.

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

“Romanesque” a modern term--When first used--General signification of the word 3

Romanesque--really a falling back on the ante-classical style of Roman architecture--Freeman’s definition--Parts of Diocletian’s palace of Spalatro, the earliest known example of Romanesque, where the Greek feature of the entablature is cast away, and the arches rest on capitals of columns 4

A brief review of the architectural story of Romanesque between the fourth and eleventh centuries--How Ravenna, from days of Honorius, became a great Art capital--The splendid Romanesque churches of Ravenna in the days of her glory--A list of Ravennese churches which have been preserved 6

After the Lombard conquest, a period of darkness in the Art world of Italy and the West set in--Renaissance of Art under the Lombard Queen Theodolinda--Two hundred years of Lombard rule--Who were the builders under the Lombards 13

History and appearance of the Comacine Guild of Architects 14

The remains of earlier Comacine work under the Lombards--Lombard Comacine work under Charlemagne 19

Romanesque, or the round-arch style, develops and penetrates into Gaul and even as far as England 20

The _Byzantine_-domed Basilica. (A Note.) 20

_England._ Lombardic work traced--its slow advance and progress before the Norman Conquest 22

_Germany._ Little traces of early Romanesque save in the Palace-chapel of Aix-la-Chapelle 22

The rare examples in Germany before the eleventh century--a few examples quoted, however, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries 24

_Gaul--France._ Tells us very little of Romanesque Art for many centuries, although there were many important buildings in the fourth and fifth centuries--We learn this from Sidonius Apollinaris, Gregory of Tours, etc. Very few Romanesque remains, however, exist dating from Merovingian and Carlovingian times 24

_Something_ had happened in Gaul between the sixth and eleventh centuries to account for the absence of remains of early churches. In truth, the country was subjected, in a special degree, to disastrous invasions--by sea and land. (1) The Saracens. (2) The Northmen--Catalogue of devastated cities at hands of Northmen--Special reason for the complete destruction of churches in these raids--Rare facilities for these raids in Gaul 25

At the end of the tenth century, comparative stillness prevailed in France--Settlement of Northmen in Normandy and Northern France--We have in the eleventh and twelfth centuries many Romanesque buildings--not a few of an elaborate type 28

Varieties of Romanesque in the different Gallic provinces--Thus we find in _Aquitaine_ and in the South-West the influence of Byzantine art very conspicuous, especially in the _domed_ churches 29

In _Provence_ Romanesque was largely inspired by memories of Imperial Rome--Here we find few examples of domed churches 30

In _Toulouse_--and generally in _Languedoc_--exist fewer remains of Romanesque churches, owing to the Albigensian wars, so disastrous to the cities and their buildings 30

In _Auvergne_. A peculiar feature here in the Romanesque remains is the polychrome masonry of the ornamentation--The beautiful cloisters of Puy 31

_Burgundy._ The home “par excellence” of Monasticism so important in the eleventh century--especially in Cluny and Citeaux--The busy workshop of Cluny--The remarkable porches of certain of the churches--Progress of the new feature of vaulting--The vast Church of Cluny--Simplicity of Citeaux--its example is followed by the countless daughter Cistercian churches 31

_The Royal Domain_ (l’Ile de France). Its narrow limits at first--Few Romanesque remains are found here owing to special ravages of the North-folk--The “Royal Domain” is greatly enlarged under Philip Augustus--It became the “cradle” of French Gothic--List of mighty Gothic cathedrals mostly completed in the thirteenth century 32

(In a Note.) Romanesque continued to hold its own in other provinces longer than in the Royal Domain--In the Royal Domain Gothic architecture superseded at an earlier date the older Romanesque type 33

NORMAN-ROMANESQUE

_Norman-Romanesque_--Its origin and rise--William of Volpiano the Lombard, a monk of Cluny--At the end of the tenth century he became Abbot and re-builder of S. Benignus of Dijon--His fame and story--Invited by Duke Richard II of Normandy, who appointed him Abbot of Fécamp--William of Volpiano and his pupils’ work in Normandy--Lombardic style generally followed with certain differences--List of some of the work of his school in Normandy. Lanfranc further develops it--His Church of S. Etienne at Caen--Some features of Norman work--It passed over into England with the Conqueror--Great development of Norman-Romanesque work in England--The enormous number and great size of churches and abbeys built under the influence of the Norman kings of England--Reasons for this building passion here--The famous English abbeys of expiation--all built under Norman inspiration 33

A brief recapitulation of the story of Romanesque from the beginning of the fourth century--Ravenna--Coming of the Lombards--Charlemagne, and the dark age which followed--Cluny and William of Volpiano--His school of architecture 40

Norman-Romanesque--A few words on the work of the Comacine Guild is repeated--Norman-Romanesque passes into England--Its glory--Variations in its style--One novel and important feature alluded to 41

On the Comacine symbol of Solomon’s knot--The interlaced line--Its meaning--Copied but not understood by Byzantine artists 45

Comacine symbol of the Lion of Judah 47

ROMANESQUE--THE CAMPANILE OR BELL TOWER

The Lombardic Romanesque Campanile Towers--the ancestors of the countless Bell Towers and Steeples of the Middle Ages--The Tower of San Satiro Milan, ninth century, probably the oldest example--The Campaniles of the ancient Ravenna churches, all of later date than the churches to which they are adjuncts 47

The Liturgical use of Bells--Goes back to the fifth century--Their use became gradually more marked--Their use at a later date in the East 48

Normandy especially famous for its Bells and Towers--Durandus of Mende on the symbolism of Bells--his fanciful derivations 50

After the eleventh century the Bell became of greater importance--A short sketch of its history in the fifteenth century--The Bell now attained its great dimensions 51

List of the more famous Bells in the present day 53

A few dates generally illustrative of Romanesque architecture 53

THE PASSING OF ROMANESQUE

A few memoranda on the transition of Romanesque into Gothic--The term “Gothic” a misnomer--Adopted in the Renaissance period as a term of reproach--Curious fallacy of Evelyn and others here--The term “Gothic” remained, though the old opprobrium was gradually removed--Gothic is really perfected Romanesque 54

Some of the new principles in Gothic architecture lightly sketched--The walls are slighter--The buttress now introduced--It does the work of the massive walls--The pointed arch--a principal outward and visible sign--This, however, really no new feature, for in the East it had been long used. The yet greater outward and visible feature of Gothic windows--More light needed for interiors--Glass, too, became less costly in twelfth and thirteenth centuries--Progress of art in stained glass demanded larger windows--The walls might now, owing to the support of buttresses, be safely pierced with large openings 56

Elaborate tracery in transoms and mullions of windows 58

On the deeper inner meaning of Gothic architecture--France, as the original home of Gothic, selected as example here 59

The exterior of great French cathedrals somewhat sacrificed to interior--where exceeding height was aimed at--Contrast with English great churches--The French cathedrals represent one continuous design, different to English cathedrals--Gloucester a good example here--where no _one_ design exists, but original plan was constantly changed and added to 60

The French builders of the great cathedrals believed that in their wonderful height lay in part the secret of inspiring the worshippers with awe and reverence 62

As they built, their cathedrals were made higher and higher. The “splendid folly” of Beauvais was the climax of their striving here 62

The Beauvais Cathedral work briefly described 62

THE TRIFORIUM

The question is often asked--What is the meaning and use of the great Triforium gallery? 67

Suggested derivation of the word “Triforium”--Was a Triforium ever found in the great ancient churches of the West (in Latin Christianity)? 67

The real story of the reason of its appearance in the planning of an important church 68

Note on Rivoira’s theory of a Pagan origin for this Byzantine feature of a great church 68

The inquirer must go back to the age of Justinian, when the Basilicas of Constantinople and Salonica, etc., were built. In these great churches we ever find a gallery _exclusively intended for women_ 68

In the Eastern Church the sexes were as a rule kept separate at Divine worship--Not so in the West--This separation was _never_ a “Latin use.” Thus we never find a women’s gallery in the churches of Gaul and Italy, except these buildings were erected under direct Byzantine influences 69

But, strangely enough, the Triforium reappears in the West, especially in Anglo-Norman Romanesque, where it is a marked feature, although the original purpose for which it was designed no longer existed 70

Suggestions as to its possible use in these great later Romanesque piles: (1) Was it an ornamental architectural device? (2) Was it connected with pilgrimage--as affording a longer and more interesting procession for pilgrims? Neither of these suggestions, however, is fully satisfactory 71

General summary of the story of a Triforium 71

The reason for the Anglo-Norman reappearance of the Triforium must remain a mystery 72

The strange but remarkable theory of Mr. Hutton in his _Ravenna_ is quoted 73

THE LADY CHAPEL

Position of the Blessed Virgin Mary--In the New Testament, and in the oldest Liturgies--Estimate in the Eastern Church in the first half of sixth century 77

In the Western Church, in the days of Gregory the Great, the honour paid to her became more accentuated 78

Men thought much on the state of the blessed dead--Gradual multiplication of Saints, almost deified in prayer--These were regarded as more accessible to prayer than the Persons of the ever blessed Trinity--Among these Saints, the Virgin Mary occupied naturally the chief position--Devotion to her gradually became a special cult 78

This cult was introduced into the life of the people, mainly through the Crusades--Chivalry in its religious aspect, especially in its regard for women, was one result of these strange wars, and the Virgin Mary became the object of passionate devotion to the great Crusading hosts 79

Detailed explanation of this--To her every Crusader looked for success in war--From the soldiers of the Crusading armies this passionate devotion passed to the people 80

Soon every important church after the period of the Crusades had its “Mary Chapel”--Hymns were written; Liturgies in her name were introduced--Thus a new adoration was added to Christian teaching--Ever higher and higher was the estimate conceived of her--The Lady Chapel soon became an important feature in a great church 81

The magnificent Gloucester Lady Chapel is a conspicuous and late example of this development in church planning 81

A marked impulse was given to this novel cult in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries through the teaching of the Mendicant Orders, Franciscans and Dominicans; the Dominicans especially professed an intense devotion to the Virgin Mary--The famous “Rosary” prayer, which still holds its own, was “revealed” to S. Dominic--Yet some of the greatest mediæval masters, notably S. Bernard of Clairvaux, shrank from the extreme development of this strange novel cult 82

Art--its powerful testimony to the growth of this teaching 83

The rare Catacomb pictures give it little or no support--In the very ancient Christian sarcophagi no prominent place is given to the Virgin Mary--Even in the ninth and tenth centuries, when the Crucifixion was often depicted in sculpture, the Virgin Mary and S. John are simply represented on either side of the Redeemer’s Cross 84

But in the middle of the twelfth century a marked change is noticeable--In sculpture or in painted glass, the Virgin Mary appears enthroned and crowned, with the Infant Christ in her arms 84

In the thirteenth century the Virgin Mary becomes a central figure--sometimes, though not always, with the Divine Child in her arms. But clearly it is to _her_ that adoration was specially offered. And in the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, she appears in stained glass, in sculpture, in hymns and liturgies, portrayed as Queen of Heaven 85

_A Short Appendix on certain remarkable Features in the Lady Chapel at Gloucester_

The east end of this great annexe to the cathedral, different to the original east end, is square-ended, not apsidal. It possesses also two little transepts. These are peculiarly English features 85

The square-ended form for churches was the ancient British “use,” and represents an independent tradition different to the Italian Basilican tradition of an apsidal or semi-circular end 86

The square end was general in the Irish oratories or little churches of remote antiquity, a few of which still remain. These were, of course, small and rough copies of the British churches which were all destroyed by the North-folk invaders in the fifth century. The only exception to this plan of the square end seems to have been in churches frequented by the Roman colonists and officials--Silchester is an example of these 86

After the coming of Augustine, A.D. 597, naturally the Italian apsidal end was introduced--But the old vogue of the traditional square end was rooted in the hearts of the dwellers in this Island, and largely reappeared in Saxon times 88

After the coming of the Normans, again, the apsidal end was adopted. But gradually the square end superseded the Italian apsidal end re-introduced by the Normans--A list is given of great English churches which now possess the square end--The exceptions are, comparatively speaking, rare 88

On the Continent of Europe the square end is hardly ever found. The few generally unimportant exceptions are quoted, and special causes are adduced for most of these exceptions 89

In England, the Abbey (Cathedral) of Gloucester is one of the notable exceptions--It has ever possessed an apsidal end 90

But in 1457 when the present vast Lady Chapel was built, the architect determined to give it the _square end_--thus giving to the ancient abbey the original British form, which hitherto it had lacked 90

Another peculiar English use was the double transept. This, too, was added in the Lady Chapel, in the two little so-called Chantry Chapels of the Lady Chapel--Thus Gloucester in its latest additions became possessed of both the English special features--the square end, and the double eastern transepts 91

The recent discovery of two little churches on the north-west coast of Cornwall, hitherto buried in the sand, both dating from about A.D. 450. These lost churches are apparently the only survivors of the old British churches which were destroyed in the invasions of the North-folk--hence their importance. Some account of these long-lost Cornish churches or oratories is given. Both of these are built with the square end 91

THE CRYPT

Meaning of the principal terms used in this chapter, viz. Crypt, Confessio, Memoria, Cubiculum, Catacomb--the last of these terms a curious misnomer 97