medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Dr Jim Bugslag <[log in to unmask]>
>Chartres Cathedral...has retained a considerable amount of its early
13th-century paving, including its labyrinth, and this consists of large,
rectangular paving stones.
the most interesting paving i have seen in 11th-13th c. "parish" churches
(most of which were originally priory churches) in the Chartrain region is to
be found in the village of Ouarville (a priory of St. John's of Chartres),
about 25km west south west of Chartres
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=ouarville&hl=en&ll=48.463816,1.767426&spn=0.641077,1.234589&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&z=10
like most of the churches in the Beauce, Ouarville's was seriously redecorated
by the Huguenots in the 16th c. and, as best i can recall, nothing early of
much interest remains above ground, though it is of a decent size, and sports
a large, splendid 16th c. set of windows on its flat chevet
http://www.geneanet.org/gallery/?action=detail&rubrique=cartes&id=18831&desc=Place-de-l-eglise-et-bureau-de-poste
http://www.notrefamille.com/cartes-postales-photos/cartes-postales-photos-Interieur-de-l-Eglise-OUARVILLE-28150-2767-20070826-1g5l4l5y1z4v3m4j0j8g.jpg-1-maxi.jpg
what i remember most about the building is its paving stones, which are
virtually identical to those found in the cathedral, rectangular "Bercheres"
stone, somewhat uneven surfaces, and clearly quite old --i assumed that they
are 13th c.
not much to look at today, Ouarville was, in the 12th c., the seat of a rather
substantial castellany.
surviving documents from the collegiate church of St. John of Chartres (and a
few elsewhere) enable us to trace the fortunes of part of the family in some
unusual detail, over a period of nearly a century.
tomorrow-nine-month after his return from Louis VII's disastrous 2nd crusade,
the Lord of the place, Raginald of Ouarville, had his new born son baptized by
Bishop Goslen of Chartres, who, the document tells us, "held him at the font"
--the child was christened Goslen.
Goslen of Ouarville was destined for an ecclesiastical career and became a
canon of the cathedral, then one of the Provosts of the chapter, ending up as
the Cantor, the second ranked Dignitary after the Dean.
it is quite likely that Goslen was one of the major players in the chapter who
oversaw the reconstruction of the cathedral after 1194.
it is probable that the similarity of the splendid pavement of his home town
church with that of the cathedral is no accident.
c
**********************************************************************
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
|