medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Jim Bugslag <[log in to unmask]>
> The answer to that, at least sometimes, is that courts were conducted in
porches. I
quote from Paul Williamson, Gothic Sculpture 1140-1300 (New Haven, 1995),
alas, the first chapter of this (all that i read) was so damned *bad* that it
has prejudiced me against anything in the book.
>p. 4:
"The deep porches of the more ambitious churches would have provided shelter
for large numbers of people and could be used in a variety of ways.
Chartres, perhaps; Laon, maybe.
and there are small porches on the transepts of Bourges and LeMans.
i'd say that particularly deep "porches" are certainly not the rule, in French
cathedrals.
the "porches" of Paris Reims, Amiens don't offer much at all in the way of
shelter from the elements.
what, are we talking about "fair weather" courts?
imagine the signs the "court" would have to have handy:
"Court Postponed in case of Rain"
"Next Court in the Spring. Have a nice Winter!"
>The ubiquitous subject of the Last Judgement on Gothic portals, often with
the supporting figures of Virtues and Vices and Wise and Foolish Virgins,
would serve as an especially appropriate backdrop to the dispensation of
justice,
nutz.
>as was the case at Leon Cathedral. Here, from an early date, a column set on
the front of a Gothic canopied tabernacle was placed between the piers to the
left of the Judgement portal. Its function is literally spelt out by the
inscription LOCUS APPELLACIONIS carved on its front face, and the arms of Leon
and Castile appear below. Presiding over this symbol, in the niche behind, is
the seated figure of King Solomon, and a later personification of Justice,
holding a sword and scales, has been inserted among the jamb figures of the
adjacent doorway.
reminds one of the "Kings' Heads" portal on Chartres North --overlooking the
North close and the famous stone i mentioned yesterday to which, legend has
it, the acussed were chained while awaiting their day in the Bishop's court.
>Leon was not an isolated case, and it is known that trials were also
conducted in the area of the south transept of Strasbourg Cathedral, in the
west porches of the Minster of Freiburg im Breisgau, Saint-Urbain
at Troyes, and elsewhere."
isolated cases.
> See also Barbara Deimling, "Le portail d'eglise au Moyen Age et sa
signification juridique historique," in Rolf Toman, ed., L'Art roman (Cologne:
Konemann, 1996), pp. 324-27 [also available in German and English editions],
who gives a number of other examples, mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries,
will have to take a look.
>although where it is stipulated, the justice rendered seems to have been
secular rather than episcopal.
Aahhhh.....
*secular* courts, eh?
even more unlikely --that a secular lord possessing justice rights would use
the porch of a church to hold his regular court.
that's just not how Jurisdiction worked, in the M.A.
> Church doors before which justice was rendered were often painted red, as in
the Porte rouge at Notre-Dame in Paris.
Mmmmm....
c
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