medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: John Briggs <[log in to unmask]>
> You will have to decide for yourself whether you wish to use "jubé" to
translate the English "choir screen" (or the technical architectural term
"pulpitum") or reserve it for the later post-(Counter) Reformation French
structure.
sorry, John.
clearly i haven't made myself clear.
i'm essentially not interested in anything else beyond what the meaning of
_pulpitum_ might have been, as it is used in *pre-13th c.* texts.
it seems to me that we may assume that, in the earliest texts where the word
appears, it refers to a structure which is, basically, a "pulpit", i.e., a
raised lectern, more or less massive, upon which the priest(s) read --and/or
chanted-- the scriptures, etc.
these structures could be more, or less, elaborate.
a case in point is this passage in Gregory of Tours' _Gloria Martyrum_ which i
came across thanks to the mind-bogglingly erudite Henri Leclercq's article
"Jubé" in the DACL:
Cyprianus beatissimus Carthaginensis et antestis... in cuius basilica
analogius [pulpitum], in quo libro superposito cantatur aut legitur,
mirabiliter conpositus esse refertur.
Nam ex uno lapide marmoris totus sculptus adseritur, id est mensa desuper, ad
quam per quatuor gradus ascenditur, cancelli in circuitu, subter colomnae;
quia et pulpitum habet, sub quo octo personae recipere possunt.... [MGH,
SSRM, I, ii (1969), p. 100]
now, as best i can make out, what he's describing there is a piece of church
furniture which looks, more or less, like this:
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/ravenna.jpg
though with fewer steps and columns.
a monumental, decorated "pulpit".
as opposed to something that looked like this:
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/mocquet.jpg (Chartres)
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/larmessin.jpg (Chartres, 1690s)
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/jube-1723.jpg (Chartres, 1723)
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/strassbourg-jube.jpg (Strassbourg)
clearly, the early 13th c. jubé at Chartres (datable to perhaps the 1230s by
the style of the surviving sculptural fragments) was a large, deep structure,
stretching between the eastern crossing piers of the cathedral,
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/reconstruction-mallion.jpg
a structure which could be processed through:
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/procession-henry4.jpg (Chartres, 1594?)
or, in a pinch, maybe even partied under(!):
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/laon-jube.jpg (Laon)
topped by a crucifix, i assume that it also passes as a "Rood Screen" in the
hapless English usage.
with two stairways and (presumably) some kind of lectern on top, it is
referred to in the 13th c. ordinal of the cathedral as the _pulpitum_
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/pulpitum-ordinal.doc [in note 6, a more complete
list of the ocurrances of the _pulpitum_ in the ordinal than the one which Jim
gave us earlier]
now, what i'm thinking is that at *some* time between the earliest uses of the
term _pulpitum_ and those which we have in texts like the 13th c. Chartres
ordinal, the meaning of the word expanded to include what we now call a
"jubé" or "rood screen".
morphologically, it appears (i suppose) that the massive "pulpit" of the sort
which we have in the Ravenna example
http://ariadne.org/cc/jube/ravenna.jpg
was moved from the side of the nave to the west end of the choir and
pierced with doorway(s) to allow access into the choir from the nave and
crossing.
my question is, *when* did that happen?
specifically, what can we assume the word _pulpitum_ means in the context of
the obituary notice of Bishop Ivo (d.1115) in his cathedral's necrology:
...Ivo...qui...pulpitum miri decoris construxit...
clearly, some kind of "pulpit" is intended (the "miri decoris" could be
applied to the Ravenna example, certainly); but was this a "pulpit" on top of
a "jubé" or "just" a "pulpit"?
hence my interest in the (lost) Ely example, said to be datable to c. 1133
--and how it might have appeared *in the contemporary documents* (**NOT** the
later ones).
my thanks to all who have expressed thoughts on this issue --and even to the
sympathetic Lurkers who may not yet have done so.
c
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