medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> I had always thought the more common association of the north door was
> for funerals, since that typically opened onto land reserved for the
> cemetery in the shadow of the structure. The south side was for the
> servers with immediate access to the east end, while the west was
> usually the lay entrance, in addition to processions that included
> common people.
Dear Chuck,
This may, in general, be the case, although I would certainly like to see a systematic
treatment of the subject (which I do not believe exists yet). One always, however,
has to take local peculiarities of site and cult into consideration. In the case of
Chartres Cathedral, there was a cemetery to the east of the church, although I have
not yet run across any references to how it was used. I will certainly look for them,
thanks to your interesting suggestion. The west entrance was, as you say, most
probably the normal lay entrance, but there were exceptions. To take extreme
examples, exigencies of site prevented this at both Durham and Worcester
cathedral priories, and both in the entrances and in the planning of the monastic
buildings, rather more singular arrangements were devised that replicated as closely
as possible, on a functional basis, the "normal" arrangements.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|