,mont-,saint-,michel and ,chartres ,by ,henry ,adams ,with an introduction by ,ralph ,adams ,cram ,editor's ,note ,from the moment when1 through the courtesy of my friend ,barrett ,wendell1 ,i came first to know ,mr4 ,henry ,adams's book1 ,mont-,saint- ,michel and ,chartres1 ,i was profoundly convinced that this privately printed1 jealously guarded volume should be withdrawn from its hiding-place amongst the bibliographical treasures of collectors and amateurs and given that wide publicity demanded alike by its intrinsic nature and the cause it could so admirably serve4 ,to say that the book was a revelation is inadequately to express a fact2 at once all the theology1 philosophy1 and mysticism1 the politics1 sociology1 and economics1 the romance1 literature1 and art of that greatest epoch of ,christian civilization became fused in the alembic of an unique insight and precipitated by the dynamic force of a personal and distinguished style4 ,a judgment that might well have been biased by personal inclination received the endorsement of many in two continents1 more competent to pass judgment1 better able to speak with authority2 and so fortified1 ,i had the honour of saying to ,mr4 ,adams1 in the autumn of #aiab1 that the ,american ,institute of ,architects asked the distinguished privilege of arranging for the publication of an edition for general sale1 under its own imprimatur4 ,the result is the volume now made available for public circulation4 ,in justice to ,mr4 ,adams1 it should be said that such publication is1 in his opinion1 unnecessary and uncalled-for1 a conclusion in which neither the ,american ,institute of ,architects1 the publishers1 nor the ,editor concurs4 ,furthermore1 the form in which the book is presented is no affair of the author1 who1 in giving reluctant consent to publication1 expressly stipulated that he should have no part or parcel in carrying out so mad a venture of faith1--as he estimated the project of giving his book to the public4 ,in this1 and for once1 his judgment is at fault4 ,mont-,saint-,michel and ,chartres is one of the most distinguished contributions to literature and one of the most valuable adjuncts to the study of mediaevalism ,america thus far has produced4 ,the rediscovery of this great epoch of ,christian civilization has had issue in many and valuable works on its religion1 its philosophy1 its economics1 its politics1 and its art1 but in nearly every instance1 whichever field has been traversed has been considered almost as an isolated phenomenon1 with insufficient reference to the other aspects of an era that was singularly united and at one with itself4 ,hugh of ,saint ,victor and ,saint ,thomas ,aquinas are fully comprehensible only in their relationship to ,saint ,anselm1 ,saint ,bernard1 and the development of ,catholic dogma and life2 feudalism1 the crusades1 the guilds and communes weave themselves into this same religious development and into the vicissitudes of crescent nationalities2 ,dante1 the cathedral builders1 the painters1 sculptors1 and music masters1 all are closely knit into the warp and woof of philosophy1 statecraft1 economics1 and religious devotion2--indeed1 it may be said that the ,middle ,ages1 more than any other recorded epoch of history1 must be considered en bloc1 as a period of consistent unity as highly emphasized as was its dynamic force4 ,it is unnecessary to say that ,mr4 ,adams deals with the art of the ,middle ,ages after this fashion3 he is not of those who would determine every element in art from its material antecedents4 ,he realizes very fully that its essential element1 the thing that differentiates it from the art that preceded and that which followed1 is its spiritual impulse2 the manifestation may have been1 and probably was1 more or less accidental1 but that which makes ,chartres ,cathedral and its glass1 the sculptures of ,rheims1 the ,dies ,irae1 ,aucassin and ,nicolette1 the ,song of ,roland1 the ,arthurian ,legends1 great art and unique1 is neither their technical mastery nor their fidelity to the enduring laws of all great art1--though these are singular in their perfection1--but rather the peculiar spiritual impulse which informed the time1 and by its intensity1 its penetrating power1 and its dynamic force wrought a rounded and complete civilization and manifested this through a thousand varied channels4 ,greater1 perhaps1 even than his grasp of the singular entirety of mediaeval civilization1 is ,mr4 ,adams's power of merging himself in a long dead time1 of thinking and feeling with the men and women thereof1 and so breathing on the dead bones of antiquity that again they clothe themselves with flesh and vesture1 call back their severed souls1 and live again1 not only to the consciousness of the reader1 but before his very eyes4 ,and it is not a thin simulacrum he raises by some doubtful alchemy3 it is no phantasm of the past that shines dimly before us in these magical pages2 it is the very time itself in which we are merged4 ,we forgather with the ,abbot and his monks1 and the crusaders and pilgrims in the ,shrine of the ,archangel3 we pay our devoirs to the fair ,french ,queens1--,blanche of ,castile1 ,eleanor of ,aquitaine1 ,mary of ,champagne1--fighting their battles for them as liege servants3 we dispute with ,abelard1 ,thomas of ,aquino1 ,duns the ,scotsman3 we take our parts in the ,court of ,love1 or sing the sublime and sounding praises of ,god with the ,canons of ,saint ,victor3 our eyes opened at last1 and after many days we kneel before ,our ,lady of ,pity1 asking her intercession for her lax but loyal devotees4 ,seven centuries dissolve and vanish away1 being as they were not1 and the thirteenth century lives less for us than we live in it and are a part of its gaiety and light- heartedness1 its youthful ardour and abounding action1 its childlike simplicity and frankness1 its normal and healthy and all-embracing devotion4 ,and it is well for us to have this experience4 ,apart from the desirable transformation it effects in preconceived and curiously erroneous superstitions as to one of the greatest eras in all history1 it is vastly heartening and exhilarating4 ,if it gives new and not always flattering standards for the judgment of contemporary men and things1 so does it establish new ideals1 new goals for attainment4 ,to live for a day in a world that built ,chartres ,cathedral1 even if it makes the living in a world that creates the ,black ,country of ,england or an ,iron ,city of ,america less a thing of joy and gladness than before1 equally opens up the far prospect of another thirteenth century in the times that are to come and urges to ardent action toward its attainment4 ,but apart from this1 the deepest value of ,mont-,saint-,michel and ,chartres1 its importance as a revelation of the eternal glory of mediaeval art and the elements that brought it into being is not lightly to be expressed4 ,to every artist1 whatever his chosen form of expression1 it must appear unique and invaluable1 and to none more than the architect1 who1 familiar at last with its beauties1 its power1 and its teaching force1 can only applaud the action of the ,american ,institute of ,architects in making ,mr4 ,adams an ,honorary ,member1 as one who has rendered distinguished services to the art1 and voice his gratitude that it has brought the book within his reach and given it publicity before the world4 ,whitehall1 ,sudbury1 ,massachusetts1 ,june1 #aiac4 ,,contents ,,preface ,i4 ,,saint ,,michiel ,,de ,,la ,,mer ,,del ,,peril ,,ii4 ,,la ,,chanson ,,de ,,roland ,,iii4 ,,the ,,merveille ,,iv4 ,,normandy ,,and ,,the ,,ile ,,de ,,france ,v4 ,,towers ,,and ,,portals ,,vi4 ,,the ,,virgin ,,of ,,chartres ,,vii4 ,,roses ,,and ,,apses ,,viii4 ,,the ,,twelfth-,,century ,,glass ,,ix4 ,,the ,,legendary ,,windows ,x4 ,,the ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,queen ,,of ,,heaven ,,xi4 ,,the ,,three ,,queens ,,xii4 ,,nicolette ,,and ,,marion ,,xiii4 ,,les ,,miracles ,,de ,,notre ,,dame ,,xiv4 ,,abelard ,,xv4 ,,the ,,mystics ,,xvi4 ,,saint ,,thomas ,,aquinas ,preface ,december1 #aijd4 ,some old ,elizabethan play or poem contains the lines3-- 4 4 4 ,who reads me1 when ,i am ashes1 ,is my son in wishes 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,the relationship1 between reader and writer1 of son and father1 may have existed in ,queen ,elizabeth's time1 but is much too close to be true for ours4 ,the utmost that any writer could hope of his readers now is that they should consent to regard themselves as nephews1 and even then he would expect only a more or less civil refusal from most of them4 ,indeed1 if he had reached a certain age1 he would have observed that nephews1 as a social class1 no longer read at all1 and that there is only one familiar instance recorded of a nephew who read his uncle4 ,the exception tends rather to support the rule1 since it needed a ,macaulay to produce1 and two volumes to record it4 ,finally1 the metre does not permit it4 ,one may not say3 ,who reads me1 when ,i am ashes1 is my nephew in wishes4 ,the same objections do not apply to the word niece4 ,the change restores the verse1 and1 to a very great degree1 the fact4 ,nieces have been known to read in early youth1 and in some cases may have read their uncles4 ,the relationship1 too1 is convenient and easy1 capable of being anything or nothing1 at the will of either party1 like a ,mohammedan or ,polynesian or ,american marriage4 ,no valid objection can be offered to this choice in the verse4 ,niece let it be6 ,the following lines1 then1 are written for nieces1 or for those who are willing1 for those1 to be nieces in wish4 ,for convenience of travel in ,france1 where hotels1 in out-of-the-way places1 are sometimes wanting in space as well as luxury1 the nieces shall count as one only4 ,as many more may come as like1 but one niece is enough for the uncle to talk to1 and one niece is much more likely than two to listen4 ,one niece is also more likely than two to carry a kodak and take interest in it1 since she has nothing else1 except her uncle1 to interest her1 and instances occur when she takes interest neither in the uncle nor in the journey4 ,one cannot assume1 even in a niece1 too emotional a nature1 but one may assume a kodak4 ,the party1 then1 with such variations of detail as may suit its tastes1 has sailed from ,new ,york1 let us say1 early in ,june for an entire summer in ,france4 ,one pleasant ,june morning it has landed at ,cherbourg or ,havre and takes the train across ,normandy to ,pontorson1 where1 with the evening light1 the tourists drive along the chaussee1 over the sands or through the tide1 till they stop at ,madame ,poulard's famous hotel within the ,gate of the ,mount4 ,the uncle talks3-- ,,chapter ,i ,,saint ,,michiel ,,de ,,la ,,mer ,,del ,,peril ,the ,archangel loved heights4 ,standing on the summit of the tower that crowned his church1 wings upspread1 sword uplifted1 the devil crawling beneath1 and the cock1 symbol of eternal vigilance1 perched on his mailed foot1 ,saint ,michael held a place of his own in heaven and on earth which seems1 in the eleventh century1 to leave hardly room for the ,virgin of the ,crypt at ,chartres1 still less for the ,beau ,christ of the thirteenth century at ,amiens4 ,the ,archangel stands for ,church and ,state1 and both militant4 ,he is the conqueror of ,satan1 the mightiest of all created spirits1 the nearest to ,god4 ,his place was where the danger was greatest2 therefore you find him here4 ,for the same reason he was1 while the pagan danger lasted1 the patron saint of ,france4 ,so the ,normans1 when they were converted to ,christianity1 put themselves under his powerful protection4 ,so he stood for centuries on his ,mount in ,peril of the ,sea1 watching across the tremor of the immense ocean1-immensi tremor oceani1-as ,louis ,,xi1 inspired for once to poetry1 inscribed on the collar of the ,order of ,saint ,michael which he created4 ,so soldiers1 nobles1 and monarchs went on pilgrimage to his shrine2 so the common people followed1 and still follow1 like ourselves4 ,the church stands high on the summit of this granite rock1 and on its west front is the platform1 to which the tourist ought first to climb4 ,from the edge of this platform1 the eye plunges down1 two hundred and thirty-five feet1 to the wide sands or the wider ocean1 as the tides recede or advance1 under an infinite sky1 over a restless sea1 which even we tourists can understand and feel without books or guides2 but when we turn from the western view1 and look at the church door1 thirty or forty yards from the parapet where we stand1 one needs to be eight centuries old to know what this mass of encrusted architecture meant to its builders1 and even then one must still learn to feel it4 ,the man who wanders into the twelfth century is lost1 unless he can grow prematurely young4 ,one can do it1 as one can play with children4 ,wordsworth1 whose practical sense equalled his intuitive genius1 carefully limited us to a season of calm weather1 which is certainly best2 but granting a fair frame of mind1 one can still have sight of that immortal sea which brought us hither from the twelfth century2 one can even travel thither and see the children sporting on the shore4 ,our sense is partially atrophied from disuse1 but it is still alive1 at least in old people1 who alone1 as a class1 have the time to be young4 ,one needs only to be old enough in order to be as young as one will4 ,from the top of this ,abbey ,church one looks across the bay to ,avranches1 and towards ,coutances and the ,cotentin1--the ,constantinus pagus1--whose shore1 facing us1 recalls the coast of ,new ,england4 ,the relation between the granite of one coast and that of the other may be fanciful1 but the relation between the people who live on each is as hard and practical a fact as the granite itself4 ,when one enters the church1 one notes first the four great triumphal piers or columns1 at the intersection of the nave and transepts1 and on looking into ,m4 ,corroyer's architectural study which is the chief source of all one's acquaintance with the ,mount1 one learns that these piers were constructed in #ajeh4 ,four out of five ,american tourists will instantly recall the only date of mediaeval history they ever knew1 the date of the ,norman ,conquest4 ,eight years after these piers were built1 in #ajff1 ,duke ,william of ,normandy raised an army of forty thousand men in these parts1 and in northern ,france1 whom he took to ,england1 where they mostly stayed4 ,for a hundred and fifty years1 until #abjd1 ,normandy and ,england were united2 the ,norman peasant went freely to ,england with his lord1 spiritual or temporal2 the ,norman woman1 a very capable person1 followed her husband or her parents2 ,normans held nearly all the ,english fiefs2 filled the ,english ,church2 crowded the ,english ,court2 created the ,english law2 and we know that ,french was still currently spoken in ,england as late as #adjj1 or thereabouts1 ,after the scole of ,stratford atte bowe4 ,the aristocratic ,norman names still survive in part1 and if we look up their origin here we shall generally find them in villages so remote and insignificant that their place can hardly be found on any ordinary map2 but the common people had no surnames1 and cannot be traced1 although for every noble whose name or blood survived in ,england or in ,normandy1 we must reckon hundreds of peasants4 ,since the generation which followed ,william to ,england in #ajff1 we can reckon twenty-eight or thirty from father to son1 and1 if you care to figure up the sum1 you will find that you had about two hundred and fifty million arithmetical ancestors living in the middle of the eleventh century4 ,the whole population of ,england and northern ,france may then have numbered five million1 but if it were fifty it would not much affect the certainty that1 if you have any ,english blood at all1 you have also ,norman4 ,if we could go back and live again in all our two hundred and fifty million arithmetical ancestors of the eleventh century1 we should find ourselves doing many surprising things1 but among the rest we should pretty certainly be ploughing most of the fields of the ,cotentin and ,calvados2 going to mass in every parish church in ,normandy2 rendering military service to every lord1 spiritual or temporal1 in all this region2 and helping to build the ,abbey ,church at ,mont- ,saint-,michel4 ,from the roof of the ,cathedral of ,coutances over yonder1 one may look away over the hills and woods1 the farms and fields of ,normandy1 and so familiar1 so homelike are they1 one can almost take oath that in this1 or the other1 or in all1 one knew life once and has never so fully known it since4 ,never so fully known it since6 ,for we of the eleventh century1 hard- headed1 close-fisted1 grasping1 shrewd1 as we were1 and as ,normans are still said to be1 stood more fully in the centre of the world's movement than our ,english descendants ever did4 ,we were a part1 and a great part1 of the ,church1 of ,france1 and of ,europe4 ,the ,leos and ,gregories of the tenth and eleventh centuries leaned on us in their great struggle for reform4 ,our ,duke ,richard-,sans-,peur1 in #iff1 turned the old canons out of the ,mount in order to bring here the highest influence of the time1 the ,benedictine monks of ,monte ,cassino4 ,richard ,,ii1 grandfather of ,william the ,conqueror1 began this ,abbey ,church in #ajbj1 and helped ,abbot ,hildebert to build it4 ,when ,william the ,conqueror in #ajff set out to conquer ,england1 ,pope ,alexander ,,ii stood behind him and blessed his banner4 ,from that moment our ,norman ,dukes cast the ,kings of ,france into the shade4 ,our activity was not limited to northern ,europe1 or even confined by ,anjou and ,gascony4 ,when we stop at ,coutances1 we will drive out to ,hauteville to see where ,tancred came from1 whose sons ,robert and ,roger were conquering ,naples and ,sicily at the time when the ,abbey ,church was building on the ,mount4 ,normans were everywhere in #ajff1 and everywhere in the lead of their age4 ,we were a serious race4 ,if you want other proof of it1 besides our record in war and in politics1 you have only to look at our art4 ,religious art is the measure of human depth and sincerity2 any triviality1 any weakness1 cries aloud4 ,if this church on the ,mount is not proof enough of ,norman character1 we will stop at ,coutances for a wider view4 ,then we will go to ,caen and ,bayeux4 ,from there1 it would almost be worth our while to leap at once to ,palermo4 ,it was in the year #aaca or thereabouts that ,roger began the ,cathedral at ,cefalu and the ,chapel ,royal at ,palermo2 it was about the year #aagd that his grandson ,william began the ,cathedral of ,monreale4 ,no art--either ,greek or ,byzantine1 ,italian or ,arab--has ever created two religious types so beautiful1 so serious1 so impressive1 and yet so different1 as ,mont- ,saint-,michel watching over its northern ocean1 and ,monreale1 looking down over its forests of orange and lemon1 on ,palermo and the ,sicilian seas4 ,down nearly to the end of the twelfth century the ,norman was fairly master of the world in architecture as in arms1 although the thirteenth century belonged to ,france1 and we must look for its glories on the ,seine and ,marne and ,loire2 but for the present we are in the eleventh century1--tenants of the ,duke or of the ,church or of small feudal lords who take their names from the neighbourhood1-- ,beaumont1 ,carteret1 ,greville1 ,percy1 ,pierpont1--who1 at the ,duke's bidding1 will each call out his tenants1 perhaps ten men-at-arms with their attendants1 to fight in ,brittany1 or in the ,vexin toward ,paris1 or on the great campaign for the conquest of ,england which is to come within ten years1--the greatest military effort that has been made in western ,europe since ,charlemagne and ,roland were defeated at ,roncesvalles three hundred years ago4 ,for the moment1 we are helping to quarry granite for the ,abbey ,church1 and to haul it to the ,mount1 or load it on our boat4 ,we never fail to make our annual pilgrimage to the ,mount on the ,archangel's ,day1 ,october #af4 ,we expect to be called out for a new campaign which ,duke ,william threatens against ,brittany1 and we hear stories that ,harold the ,saxon1 the powerful ,earl of ,wessex in ,england1 is a guest1 or1 as some say1 a prisoner or a hostage1 at the ,duke's ,court1 and will go with us on the campaign4 ,the year is #ajeh4 ,all this time we have been standing on the parvis1 looking out over the sea and sands which are as good eleventh-century landscape as they ever were2 or turning at times towards the church door which is the pons seclorum1 the bridge of ages1 between us and our ancestors4 ,now that we have made an attempt1 such as it is1 to get our minds into a condition to cross the bridge without breaking down in the effort1 we enter the church and stand face to face with eleventh- century architecture2 a ground-plan which dates from #ajbj2 a central tower1 or its piers1 dating from #ajeh2 and a church completed in #aace4 ,france can offer few buildings of this importance equally old1 with dates so exact4 ,perhaps the closest parallel to ,mont-,saint- ,michel is ,saint-,benoit-sur-,loire1 above ,orleans1 which seems to have been a shrine almost as popular as the ,mount1 at the same time4 ,chartres was also a famous shrine1 but of the ,virgin1 and the west porch of ,chartres1 which is to be our peculiar pilgrimage1 was a hundred years later than the ground-plan of ,mont-,saint-,michel1 although ,chartres porch is the usual starting-point of northern ,french art4 ,queen ,matilda's ,abbaye-aux-,dames1 now the ,church of the ,trinity1 at ,caen1 dates from #ajff4 ,saint ,sernin at ,toulouse1 the porch of the ,abbey ,church at ,moissac1 ,notre-,dame-du-,port at ,clermont1 the ,abbey ,church at ,vezelay1 are all said to be twelfth- century4 ,even ,san ,marco at ,venice was new in #ajbj4 ,yet in #ajbj ,norman art was already too ambitious4 ,certainly nine hundred years leave their traces on granite as well as on other material1 but the granite of ,abbot ,hildebert would have stood securely enough1 if the ,abbot had not asked too much from it4 ,perhaps he asked too much from the ,archangel1 for the thought of the ,archangel's superiority was clearly the inspiration of his plan4 ,the apex of the granite rock rose like a sugar-loaf two hundred and forty feet 7#gc4f metres7 above mean sea-level4 ,instead of cutting the summit away to give his church a secure rock foundation1 which would have sacrificed about thirty feet of height1 the ,abbot took the apex of the rock for his level1 and on all sides built out foundations of masonry to support the walls of his church4 ,the apex of the rock is the floor of the croisee1 the intersection of nave and transept4 ,on this solid foundation the ,abbot rested the chief weight of the church1 which was the central tower1 supported by the four great piers which still stand2 but from the croisee in the centre westward to the parapet of the platform1 the ,abbot filled the whole space with masonry1 and his successors built out still farther1 until some two hundred feet of stonework ends now in a perpendicular wall of eighty feet or more4 ,in this space are several ranges of chambers1 but the structure might perhaps have proved strong enough to support the light ,romanesque front which was usual in the eleventh century1 had not fashions in architecture changed in the great epoch of building1 a hundred and fifty years later1 when ,abbot ,robert de ,torigny thought proper to reconstruct the west front1 and build out two towers on its flanks4 ,the towers were no doubt beautiful1 if one may judge from the towers of ,bayeux and ,coutances1 but their weight broke down the vaulting beneath1 and one of them fell in #acjj4 ,in #afah the whole facade began to give way1 and in #aggf not only the facade but also three of the seven spans of the nave were pulled down4 ,of ,abbot ,hildebert's nave1 only four arches remain4 ,still1 the overmastering strength of the eleventh century is stamped on a great scale here1 not only in the four spans of the nave1 and in the transepts1 but chiefly in the triumphal columns of the croisee4 ,no one is likely to forget what ,norman architecture was1 who takes the trouble to pass once through this fragment of its earliest bloom4 ,the dimensions are not great1 though greater than safe construction warranted4 ,abbot ,hildebert's whole church did not exceed two hundred and thirty feet in length in the interior1 and the span of the triumphal arch was only about twenty-three feet1 if the books can be trusted4 ,the nave of the ,abbaye-aux-,dames appears to have about the same width1 and probably neither of them was meant to be vaulted4 ,the roof was of timber1 and about sixty-three feet high at its apex4 ,compared with the great churches of the thirteenth century1 this building is modest1 but its size is not what matters to us4 ,its style is the starting-point of all our future travels4 ,here is your first eleventh-century church6 ,how does it affect you8 ,serious and simple to excess6 is it not8 ,young people rarely enjoy it4 ,they prefer the ,gothic1 even as you see it here1 looking at us from the choir1 through the great ,norman arch4 ,no doubt they are right1 since they are young3 but men and women who have lived long and are tired1--who want rest1--who have done with aspirations and ambition1--whose life has been a broken arch1--feel this repose and self-restraint as they feel nothing else4 ,the quiet strength of these curved lines1 the solid support of these heavy columns1 the moderate proportions1 even the modified lights1 the absence of display1 of effort1 of self-consciousness1 satisfy them as no other art does4 ,they come back to it to rest1 after a long circle of pilgrimage1--the cradle of rest from which their ancestors started4 ,even here they find the repose none too deep4 ,indeed1 when you look longer at it1 you begin to doubt whether there is any repose in it at all1--whether it is not the most unreposeful thought ever put into architectural form4 ,perched on the extreme point of this abrupt rock1 the ,church ,militant with its aspirant ,archangel stands high above the world1 and seems to threaten heaven itself4 ,the idea is the stronger and more restless because the ,church of ,saint ,michael is surrounded and protected by the world and the society over which it rises1 as ,duke ,william rested on his barons and their men4 ,neither the ,saint nor the ,duke was troubled by doubts about his mission4 ,church and ,state1 ,soul and ,body1 ,god and ,man1 are all one at ,mont-,saint-,michel1 and the business of all is to fight1 each in his own way1 or to stand guard for each other4 ,neither ,church nor ,state is intellectual1 or learned1 or even strict in dogma4 ,here we do not feel the ,trinity at all2 the ,virgin but little2 ,christ hardly more2 we feel only the ,archangel and the ,unity of ,god4 ,we have little logic here1 and simple faith1 but we have energy4 ,we cannot do many things which are done in the centre of civilization1 at ,byzantium1 but we can fight1 and we can build a church4 ,no doubt we think first of the church1 and next of our temporal lord2 only in the last instance do we think of our private affairs1 and our private affairs sometimes suffer for it2 but we reckon the affairs of ,church and ,state to be ours1 too1 and we carry this idea very far4 ,our church on the ,mount is ambitious1 restless1 striving for effect2 our conquest of ,england1 with which the ,duke is infatuated1 is more ambitious still2 but all this is a trifle to the outburst which is coming in the next generation2 and ,saint ,michael on his ,mount expresses it all4 ,taking architecture as an expression of energy1 we can some day compare ,mont-,saint-,michel with ,beauvais1 and draw from the comparison whatever moral suits our frame of mind2 but you should first note that here1 in the eleventh century1 the ,church1 however simple-minded or unschooled1 was not cheap4 ,its self-respect is worth noticing1 because it was short-lived in its art4 ,mont-,saint- ,michel1 throughout1 even up to the delicate and intricate stonework of its cloisters1 is built of granite4 ,the crypts and substructures are as well constructed as the surfaces most exposed to view4 ,when we get to ,chartres1 which is largely a twelfth-century work1 you will see that the cathedral there1 too1 is superbly built1 of the hardest and heaviest stone within reach1 which has nowhere settled or given way2 while1 beneath1 you will find a crypt that rivals the church above4 ,the thirteenth century did not build so4 ,the great cathedrals after #abjj show economy1 and sometimes worse4 ,the world grew cheap1 as worlds must4 ,you may like it all the better for being less serious1 less heroic1 less militant1 and more what the ,french call bourgeois1 just as you may like the style of ,louis ,,xv better than that of ,louis ,,xiv1-- ,madame du ,barry better than ,madame de ,montespan1--for taste is free1 and all styles are good which amuse2 but since we are now beginning with the earliest1 in order to step down gracefully to the stage1 whatever it is1 where you prefer to stop1 we must try to understand a little of the kind of energy which ,norman art expressed1 or would have expressed if it had thought in our modes4 ,the only word which describes the ,norman style is the ,french word naif4 ,littre says that naif comes from natif1 as vulgar comes from vulgus1 as though native traits must be simple1 and commonness must be vulgar4 ,both these derivative meanings were strange to the eleventh century4 ,naivete was simply natural and vulgarity was merely coarse4 ,norman naivete was not different in kind from the naivete of ,burgundy or ,gascony or ,lombardy1 but it was slightly different in expression1 as you will see when you travel south4 ,here at ,mont-,saint-,michel we have only a mutilated trunk of an eleventh-century church to judge by4 ,we have not even a facade1 and shall have to stop at some ,norman village--at ,thaon or ,ouistreham--to find a west front which might suit the ,abbey here1 but wherever we find it we shall find something a little more serious1 more military1 and more practical than you will meet in other ,romanesque work1 farther south4 ,so1 too1 the central tower or lantern--the most striking feature of ,norman churches--has fallen here at ,mont-,saint-,michel1 and we shall have to replace it from ,cerisy-la-,foret1 and ,lessay1 and ,falaise4 ,we shall find much to say about the value of the lantern on a ,norman church1 and the singular power it expresses4 ,we shall have still more to say of the towers which flank the west front of ,norman churches1 but these are mostly twelfth-century1 and will lead us far beyond ,coutances and ,bayeux1 from fleche to fleche1 till we come to the fleche of all fleches1 at ,chartres4 ,we shall have a whole chapter of study1 too1 over the eleventh- century apse1 but here at ,mont-,saint-,michel1 ,abbot ,hildebert's choir went the way of his nave and tower4 ,he built out even more boldly to the east than to the west1 and although the choir stood for some four hundred years1 which is a sufficient life for most architecture1 the foundations gave way at last1 and it fell in #adba1 in the midst of the ,english wars1 and remained a ruin until #adej4 ,then it was rebuilt1 a monument of the last days of the ,gothic1 so that now1 standing at the western door1 you can look down the church1 and see the two limits of mediaeval architecture married together1--the earliest ,norman and the latest ,french4 ,through the ,romanesque arches of #ajeh1 you look into the exuberant choir of latest ,gothic1 finished in #aeba4 ,although the two structures are some five hundred years apart1 they live pleasantly together4 ,the ,gothic died gracefully in ,france4 ,the choir is charming1--far more charming than the nave1 as the beautiful woman is more charming than the elderly man4 ,one need not quarrel about styles of beauty1 as long as the man and woman are evidently satisfied and love and admire each other still1 with all the solidity of faith to hold them up2 but1 at least1 one cannot help seeing1 as one looks from the older to the younger style1 that whatever the woman's sixteenth- century charm may be1 it is not the man's eleventh-century trait of naivete2--far from it6 ,the simple1 serious1 silent dignity and energy of the eleventh century have gone4 ,something more complicated stands in their place2 graceful1 self-conscious1 rhetorical1 and beautiful as perfect rhetoric1 with its clearness1 light1 and line1 and the wealth of tracery that verges on the florid4 ,the crypt of the same period1 beneath1 is almost finer still1 and even in seriousness stands up boldly by the side of the ,romanesque2 but we have no time to run off into the sixteenth century3 we have still to learn the alphabet of art in ,france4 ,one must live deep into the eleventh century in order to understand the twelfth1 and even after passing years in the twelfth1 we shall find the thirteenth in many ways a world of its own1 with a beauty not always inherited1 and sometimes not bequeathed4 ,at the ,mount we can go no farther into the eleventh as far as concerns architecture4 ,we shall have to follow the ,romanesque to ,caen and so up the ,seine to the ,ile de ,france1 and across to the ,loire and the ,rhone1 far to the ,south where its home lay4 ,all the other eleventh-century work has been destroyed here or built over1 except at one point1 on the level of the splendid crypt we just turned from1 called the ,gros ,piliers1 beneath the choir4 ,there1 according to ,m4 ,corroyer1 in a corner between great constructions of the twelfth century and the vast ,merveille of the thirteenth1 the old refectory of the eleventh was left as a passage from one group of buildings to the other4 ,below it is the kitchen of ,hildebert4 ,above1 on the level of the church1 was the dormitory4 ,these eleventh-century abbatial buildings faced north and west1 and are close to the present parvis1 opposite the last arch of the nave4 ,the lower levels of ,hildebert's plan served as supports or buttresses to the church above1 and must therefore be older than the nave2 probably older than the triumphal piers of #ajeh4 ,hildebert planned them in #ajbj1 and died after carrying his plans out so far that they could be completed by ,abbot ,ralph de ,beaumont1 who was especially selected by ,duke ,william in #ajdh1 more for his high birth than for his merits4 ,ralph de ,beaumont died in #ajfj1 and was succeeded by ,abbot ,ranulph1 an especial favourite of ,duchess ,matilda1 and held in high esteem by ,duke ,william4 ,the list of names shows how much social importance was attributed to the place4 ,the ,abbot's duties included that of entertainment on a great scale4 ,the ,mount was one of the most famous shrines of northern ,europe4 ,we are free to take for granted that all the great people of ,normandy slept at the ,mount and1 supposing ,m4 ,corroyer to be right1 that they dined in this room1 between #ajej1 when the building must have been in use1 down to #aabb when the new abbatial quarters were built4 ,how far the monastic rules restricted social habits is a matter for antiquaries to settle if they can1 and how far those rules were observed in the case of great secular princes2 but the eleventh century was not very strict1 and the rule of the ,benedictines was always mild1 until the ,cistercians and ,saint ,bernard stiffened its discipline toward #aabj4 ,even then the ,church showed strong leanings toward secular poetry and popular tastes4 ,the drama belonged to it almost exclusively1 and the ,mysteries and ,miracle plays which were acted under its patronage often contained nothing of religion except the miracle4 ,the greatest poem of the eleventh century was the ,chanson de ,roland1 and of that the ,church took a sort of possession4 ,at ,chartres we shall find ,charlemagne and ,roland dear to the ,virgin1 and at about the same time1 as far away as at ,assisi in the ,perugian country1 ,saint ,francis himself--the nearest approach the ,western world ever made to an ,oriental incarnation of the divine essence--loved the ,french romans1 and typified himself in the ,chanson de ,roland4 ,with ,mont-,saint-,michel1 the ,chanson de ,roland is almost one4 ,the ,chanson is in poetry what the ,mount is in architecture4 ,without the ,chanson1 one cannot approach the feeling which the eleventh century built into the ,archangel's church4 ,probably there was never a day1 certainly never a week1 during several centuries1 when portions of the ,chanson were not sung1 or recited1 at the ,mount1 and if there was one room where it was most at home1 this one1 supposing it to be the old refectory1 claims to be the place4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,la ,,chanson ,,de ,,roland ,molz pelerins qui vunt al ,munt ,enquierent molt e grant dreit unt ,comment l'igliese fut fundee ,premierement et estoree4 ,cil qui lor dient de l'estoire ,que cil demandent en memoire ,ne l'unt pas bien ainz vunt faillant ,en plusors leus e mespernant4 ,por faire la apertement ,entendre a cels qui escient ,n'unt de clerzie l'a tornee ,de latin tote et ordenee ,pars veirs romieus novelement ,molt en segrei por son convent ,uns jovencels moine est del ,munt ,deus en son reigne part li dunt4 ,guillaume a non de ,saint ,paier ,cen vei escrit en cest quaier4 ,el tens ,robeirt de ,torignie ,fut cil romanz fait e trove4 ,most pilgrims who come to the ,mount ,enquire much and are quite right1 ,how the church was founded ,at first1 and established4 ,those who tell them the story ,that they ask1 in memory ,have it not well1 but fall in error ,in many places1 and misapprehension4 ,in order to make it clearly ,intelligible to those who have ,no knowledge of letters1 it has been turned ,from the ,latin1 and wholly rendered ,in ,romanesque verses1 newly1 ,much in secret1 for his convent1 ,by a youth2 a monk he is of the ,mount4 ,god in his kingdom grant him part6 ,william is his name1 of ,saint ,pair ,as is seen written in this book4 ,in the time of ,robert of ,torigny ,was this roman made and invented4 ,these verses begin the ,roman du ,mont-,saint-,michel1 and if the spelling is corrected1 they still read almost as easily as ,voltaire2 more easily than ,verlaine2 and much like a nursery rhyme2 but as tourists cannot stop to clear their path1 or smooth away the pebbles1 they must be lifted over the rough spots1 even when roughness is beauty4 ,translation is an evil1 chiefly because every one who cares for mediaeval architecture cares for mediaeval ,french1 and ought to care still more for mediaeval ,english4 ,the language of this ,roman was the literary language of ,england4 ,william of ,saint- ,pair was a subject of ,henry ,,ii1 ,king of ,england and ,normandy2 his verses1 like those of ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion1 are monuments of ,english literature4 ,to this day their ballad measure is better suited to ,english than to ,french2 even the words and idioms are more ,english than ,french4 ,any one who attacks them boldly will find that the vers romieus run along like a ballad1 singing their own meaning1 and troubling themselves very little whether the meaning is exact or not4 ,one's translation is sure to be full of gross blunders1 but the supreme blunder is that of translating at all when one is trying to catch not a fact but a feeling4 ,if translate one must1 we had best begin by trying to be literal1 under protest that it matters not a straw whether we succeed4 ,twelfth-century art was not precise2 still less precieuse1 like ,moliere's famous seventeenth-century prudes4 ,the verses of the young monk1 ,william1 who came from the little ,norman village of ,saint-,pair1 near ,granville1 within sight of the ,mount1 were verses not meant to be brilliant4 ,simple human beings like rhyme better than prose1 though both may say the same thing1 as they like a curved line better than a straight one1 or a blue better than a grey2 but1 apart from the sensual appetite1 they chose rhyme in creating their literature for the practical reason that they remembered it better than prose4 ,men had to carry their libraries in their heads4 ,these lines of ,william1 beginning his story1 are valuable because for once they give a name and a date4 ,abbot ,robert of ,torigny ruled at the ,mount from #aaed to #aahf4 ,we have got to travel again and again between ,mont-,saint-,michel and ,chartres during these years1 but for the moment we must hurry to get back to ,william the ,conqueror and the ,chanson de ,roland4 ,william of ,saint-,pair comes in here1 out of place1 only on account of a pretty description he gave of the annual pilgrimage to the ,mount1 which is commonly taken to be more or less like what he saw every year on the ,archangel's ,day1 and what had existed ever since the ,normans became ,christian in #iab3-- ,li jorz iert clers e sanz grant vent4 ,les meschines e les vallez ,chascuns d'els dist verz ou sonnez4 ,neis li viellart revunt chantant ,de leece funt tuit semblant4 ,qui plus ne seit si chante outree ,e ,dex aie u ,asusee4 ,cil jugleor la u il vunt ,tuit lor vieles traites unt ,laiz et sonnez vunt vielant4 ,li tens est beals la joie est grant4 ,cil palefrei e cil destrier ,e cil roncin e cil sommier ,qui errouent par le chemin ,que menouent cil pelerin ,de totes parz henissant vunt ,por la grant joie que il unt4 ,neis par les bois chantouent tuit ,li oiselet grant et petit4 ,li buef les vaches vunt muant ,par les forez e repaissant4 ,cors e boisines e fresteals ,e fleutes e chalemeals ,sonnoent si que les montaignes ,en retintoent et les pleignes4 ,que esteit dont les plaiseiz ,e des forez e des larriz4 ,en cels par a tel sonneiz ,com si ce fust cers acolliz4 ,entor le mont el bois follu ,cil travetier unt tres tendu ,rues unt fait par les chemins4 ,plentei i out de divers vins ,pain e pastez fruit e poissons ,oisels obleies veneisons ,de totes parz aveit a vendre ,assez en out qui ad que tendre4 ,the day was clear1 without much wind4 ,the maidens and the varlets ,each of them said verse or song2 ,even the old people go singing2 ,all have a look of joy4 ,who knows no more sings ,,hurrah1 ,or ,,god ,,help1 or ,,up ,,and ,,on6 ,the minstrels there where they go ,have all brought their viols2 ,lays and songs playing as they go4 ,the weather is fine2 the joy is great2 ,the palfreys and the chargers1 ,and the hackneys and the packhorses ,which wander along the road ,that the pilgrims follow1 ,on all sides neighing go1 ,for the great joy they feel4 ,even in the woods sing all ,the little birds1 big and small4 ,the oxen and the cows go lowing ,through the forests as they feed4 ,horns and trumpets and shepherd's pipes ,and flutes and pipes of reed ,sound so that the mountains ,echo to them1 and the plains4 ,how was it then with the glades ,and with the forests and the pastures8 ,in these there was such sound ,as though it were a stag at bay4 ,about the ,mount1 in the leafy wood1 ,the workmen have tents set up2 ,streets have made along the roads4 ,plenty there was of divers wines1 ,bread and pasties1 fruit and fish1 ,birds1 cakes1 venison1 ,everywhere there was for sale4 ,enough he had who has the means to pay4 ,if you are not satisfied with this translation1 any scholar of ,french will easily help to make a better1 for we are not studying grammar or archaeology1 and would rather be inaccurate in such matters than not1 if1 at that price1 a freer feeling of the art could be caught4 ,better still1 you can turn to ,chaucer1 who wrote his ,canterbury ,pilgrimage two hundred years afterwards3-- ,whanne that ,april with his shoures sote ,the droughte of ,march hath perced to the rote444 ,than longen folk to gon on pilgrimages ,and palmeres for to seken strange strondes444 ,and especially1 from every shires ende ,of ,englelonde1 to ,canterbury they wende ,the holy blisful martyr for to seke1 ,that hem hath holpen whan that they were seke4 ,the passion for pilgrimages was universal among our ancestors as far back as we can trace them4 ,for at least a thousand years it was their chief delight1 and is not yet extinct4 ,to feel the art of ,mont-,saint-,michel and ,chartres we have got to become pilgrims again3 but1 just now1 the point of most interest is not the pilgrim so much as the minstrel who sang to amuse him1--the jugleor or jongleur1-- who was at home in every abbey1 castle or cottage1 as well as at every shrine4 ,the jugleor became a jongleur and degenerated into the street-juggler2 the minstrel1 or menestrier1 became very early a word of abuse1 equivalent to blackguard2 and from the beginning the profession seems to have been socially decried1 like that of a music-hall singer or dancer in later times2 but in the eleventh century1 or perhaps earlier still1 the jongleur seems to have been a poet1 and to have composed the songs he sang4 ,the immense mass of poetry known as the ,chansons de ,geste seems to have been composed as well as sung by the unnamed ,homers of ,france1 and of all spots in the many provinces where the ,french language in its many dialects prevailed1 ,mont-,saint-,michel should have been the favourite with the jongleur1 not only because the swarms of pilgrims assured him food and an occasional small piece of silver1 but also because ,saint ,michael was the saint militant of all the warriors whose exploits in war were the subject of the ,chansons de ,geste4 ,william of ,saint- ,pair was a priest-poet2 he was not a minstrel1 and his ,roman was not a chanson2 it was made to read1 not to recite2 but the ,chanson de ,roland was a different affair4 ,so it was1 too1 with ,william's contemporaries and rivals or predecessors1 the monumental poets of ,norman-,english literature4 ,wace1 whose rhymed history of the ,norman dukes1 which he called the ,roman de ,rou1 or ,rollo1 is an ,english classic of the first rank1 was a canon of ,bayeux when ,william of ,saint-,pair was writing at ,mont-,saint-,michel4 ,his rival ,benoist1 who wrote another famous chronicle on the same subject1 was also a historian1 and not a singer4 ,in that day literature meant verse2 elegance in ,french prose did not yet exist2 but the elegancies of poetry in the twelfth century were as different1 in kind1 from the grand style of the eleventh1 as ,virgil was different from ,homer4 ,william of ,saint-,pair introduces us to the pilgrimage and to the jongleur1 as they had existed at least two hundred years before his time1 and were to exist two hundred years after him4 ,of all our two hundred and fifty million arithmetical ancestors who were going on pilgrimages in the middle of the eleventh century1 the two who would probably most interest every one1 after eight hundred years have passed1 would be ,william the ,norman and ,harold the ,saxon4 ,through ,william of ,saint-,pair and ,wace and ,benoist1 and the most charming literary monument of all1 the ,bayeux tapestry of ,queen ,matilda1 we can build up the story of such a pilgrimage which shall be as historically exact as the battle of ,hastings1 and as artistically true as the ,abbey ,church4 ,according to ,wace's ,roman de ,rou1 when ,harold's father1 ,earl ,godwin1 died1 ,april #ae1 #ajec1 ,harold wished to obtain the release of certain hostages1 a brother and a cousin1 whom ,godwin had given to ,edward the ,confessor as security for his good behaviour1 and whom ,edward had sent to ,duke ,william for safe-keeping4 ,wace took the story from other and older sources1 and its accuracy is much disputed1 but the fact that ,harold went to ,normandy seems to be certain1 and you will see at ,bayeux the picture of ,harold asking permission of ,king ,edward to make the journey1 and departing on horseback1 with his hawk and hounds and followers1 to take ship at ,bosham1 near ,chichester and ,portsmouth4 ,the date alone is doubtful4 ,common sense seems to suggest that the earliest possible date could not be too early to explain the rash youth of the aspirant to a throne who put himself in the power of a rival in the eleventh century4 ,when that rival chanced to be ,william the ,bastard1 not even boyhood could excuse the folly2 but ,mr4 ,freeman1 the chief authority on this delicate subject1 inclined to think that ,harold was forty years old when he committed his blunder1 and that the year was about #ajfd4 ,between #ajed and #ajfd the historian is free to choose what year he likes1 and the tourist is still freer4 ,to save trouble for the memory1 the year #ajeh will serve1 since this is the date of the triumphal arches of the ,abbey ,church on the ,mount4 ,harold1 in sailing from the neighbourhood of ,portsmouth1 must have been bound for ,caen or ,rouen1 but the usual west winds drove him eastward till he was thrown ashore on the coast of ,ponthieu1 between ,abbeville and ,boulogne1 where he fell into the hands of the ,count of ,ponthieu1 from whom he was rescued or ransomed by ,duke ,william of ,normandy and taken to ,rouen4 ,according to ,wace and the ,roman de ,rou3-- ,guillaume tint ,heraut maint jour ,si com il dut a grant enor4 ,a maint riche torneiement ,le fist aller mult noblement4 ,chevals e armes li dona ,et en ,bretaigne le mena ,ne sai de veir treiz faiz ou quatre ,quant as ,bretons se dut combattre4 ,william kept ,harold many a day1 ,as was his due in great honour4 ,to many a rich tournament ,made him go very nobly4 ,horses and arms gave him ,and into ,brittany led him ,i know not truly whether three or four times ,when he had to make war on the ,bretons4 ,perhaps the allusion to rich tournaments belongs to the time of ,wace rather than to that of ,harold a century earlier1 before the first crusade1 but certainly ,harold did go with ,william on at least one raid into ,brittany1 and the charming tapestry of ,bayeux1 which tradition calls by the name of ,queen ,matilda1 shows ,william's men- at-arms crossing the sands beneath ,mont-,saint-,michel1 with the ,latin legend3--,et venerunt ad ,montem ,michaelis4 ,hic ,harold dux trahebat eos de arena4 ,venerunt ad flumen ,cononis4 ,they came to ,mont-,saint- ,michel1 and ,harold dragged them out of the quicksands4 ,they came to the river ,couesnon4 ,harold must have got great fame by saving life on the sands1 to be remembered and recorded by the ,normans themselves after they had killed him2 but this is the affair of historians4 ,tourists note only that ,harold and ,william came to the ,mount3--,venerunt ad ,montem4 ,they would never have dared to pass it1 on such an errand1 without stopping to ask the help of ,saint ,michael4 ,if ,william and ,harold came to the ,mount1 they certainly dined or supped in the old refectory1 which is where we have lain in wait for them4 ,where ,duke ,william was1 his jongleur--jugleor--was not far1 and ,wace knew1 as every one in ,normandy seemed to know1 who this favourite was1--his name1 his character1 and his song4 ,to him ,wace owed one of the most famous passages in his story of the assault at ,hastings1 where ,duke ,william and his battle began their advance against the ,english lines3-- ,taillefer qui mult bien chantout ,sor un cheval qui tost alout ,devant le duc alout chantant ,de ,karlemaigne e de ,rollant ,e d',oliver e des vassals ,qui morurent en ,rencevals4 ,quant il orent chevalchie tant ,qu'as ,engleis vindrent apreismant3 ,sire1 dist ,taillefer1 merci6 ,io vos ai longuement servi4 ,tot mon servise me devez4 ,hui se vos plaist le me rendez4 ,por tot guerredon vos require ,e si vos veil forment preier ,otreiez mei que io ni faille ,le premier colp de la bataille4 ,li dus respondi3 ,io l'otrei4 ,taillefer who was famed for song1 ,mounted on a charger strong1 ,rode on before the ,duke1 and sang ,of ,roland and of ,charlemagne1 ,oliver and the vassals all ,who fell in fight at ,roncesvals4 ,when they had ridden till they saw ,the ,english battle close before3 ,sire1 said ,taillefer1 a grace6 ,i have served you long and well2 ,all reward you owe me still2 ,to-day repay me if you please4 ,for all guerdon ,i require1 ,and ask of you in formal prayer1 ,grant to me as mine of right ,the first blow struck in the fight4 ,the ,duke answered3 ,i grant4 ,of course1 critics doubt the story1 as they very properly doubt everything4 ,they maintain that the ,chanson de ,roland was not as old as the battle of ,hastings1 and certainly ,wace gave no sufficient proof of it4 ,poetry was not usually written to prove facts4 ,wace wrote a hundred years after the battle of ,hastings4 ,one is not morally required to be pedantic to the point of knowing more than ,wace knew1 but the feeling of scepticism1 before so serious a monument as ,mont-,saint-,michel1 is annoying4 ,the ,chanson de ,roland ought not to be trifled with1 at least by tourists in search of art4 ,one is shocked at the possibility of being deceived about the starting-point of ,american genealogy4 ,taillefer and the song rest on the same evidence that ,duke ,william and ,harold and the battle itself rest upon1 and to doubt the ,chanson is to call the very roll of ,battle ,abbey in question4 ,the whole fabric of society totters2 the ,british peerage turns pale4 ,wace did not invent all his facts4 ,william of ,malmesbury is supposed to have written his prose chronicle about #aabj when many of the men who fought at ,hastings must have been alive1 and ,william expressly said3 ,tune cantilena ,rollandi inchoata ut martium viri exemplum pugnaturos accenderet1 inclamatoque dei auxilio1 praelium consertum4 ,starting the ,chanson de ,roland to inflame the fighting temper of the men1 battle was joined4 ,this seems enough proof to satisfy any sceptic1 yet critics still suggest that the cantilena ,rollandi must have been a ,norman ,chanson de ,rou1 or ,rollo1 or at best an earlier version of the ,chanson de ,roland2 but no ,norman chanson would have inflamed the martial spirit of ,william's army1 which was largely ,french2 and as for the age of the version1 it is quite immaterial for ,mont-,saint-,michel2 the actual version is old enough4 ,taillefer himself is more vital to the interest of the dinner in the refectory1 and his name was not mentioned by ,william of ,malmesbury4 ,if the song was started by the ,duke's order1 it was certainly started by the ,duke's jongleur1 and the name of this jongleur happens to be known on still better authority than that of ,william of ,malmesbury4 ,guy of ,amiens went to ,england in #ajfh as almoner of ,queen ,matilda1 and there wrote a ,latin poem on the battle of ,hastings which must have been complete within ten years after the battle was fought1 for ,guy died in #ajgf4 ,taillefer1 he said1 led the ,duke's battle3-- ,incisor-ferri mimus cognomine dictus4 ,taillefer1 a jongleur known by that name4 ,a mime was a singer1 but ,taillefer was also an actor3-- ,histrio cor audax nimium quem nobilitabat4 ,a jongleur whom a very brave heart ennobled4 ,the jongleur was not noble by birth1 but was ennobled by his bravery4 ,hortatur ,gallos verbis et territat ,anglos ,alte projiciens ludit et ense suo4 ,like a drum-major with his staff1 he threw his sword high in the air and caught it1 while he chanted his song to the ,french1 and terrified the ,english4 ,the rhymed chronicle of ,geoffrey ,gaimer who wrote about #aaej1 and that of ,benoist who was ,wace's rival1 added the story that ,taillefer died in the melee4 ,the most unlikely part of the tale was1 after all1 not the singing of the ,chanson1 but the prayer of ,taillefer to the ,duke3-- ,otreiez mei que io ni faille ,le premier colp de la bataille4 ,legally translated1 ,taillefer asked to be ennobled1 and offered to pay for it with his life4 ,the request of a jongleur to lead the ,duke's battle seems incredible4 ,in early ,french bataille meant battalion1--the column of attack4 ,the ,duke's grant3 ,io l'otrei6 seems still more fanciful4 ,yet ,guy of ,amiens distinctly confirmed the story3 ,histrio cor audax nimium quem nobilitabat2 a stage- player--a juggler--the ,duke's singer--whose bravery ennobled him4 ,the ,duke granted him--octroya--his patent of nobility on the field4 ,all this preamble leads only to unite the ,chanson with the architecture of the ,mount1 by means of ,duke ,william and his ,breton campaign of #ajeh4 ,the poem and the church are akin2 they go together1 and explain each other4 ,their common trait is their military character1 peculiar to the eleventh century4 ,the round arch is masculine4 ,the ,chanson is so masculine that1 in all its four thousand lines1 the only ,christian woman so much as mentioned was ,alda1 the sister of ,oliver and the betrothed of ,roland1 to whom one stanza1 exceedingly like a later insertion1 was given1 toward the end4 ,never after the first crusade did any great poem rise to such heroism as to sustain itself without a heroine4 ,even ,dante attempted no such feat4 ,duke ,william's party1 then1 is to be considered as assembled at supper in the old refectory1 in the year #ajeh1 while the triumphal piers of the church above are rising4 ,the ,abbot1 ,ralph of ,beaumont1 is host2 ,duke ,william sits with him on a dais2 ,harold is by his side a grant enor2 the ,duke's brother1 ,odo1 ,bishop of ,bayeux1 with the other chief vassals1 are present2 and the ,duke's jongleur ,taillefer is at his elbow4 ,the room is crowded with soldiers and monks1 but all are equally anxious to hear ,taillefer sing4 ,as soon as dinner is over1 at a nod from the ,duke1 ,taillefer begins3-- ,carles li reis nostre emperere magnes ,set anz tuz pleins ad estet en ,espaigne ,cunquist la tere tresque en la mer altaigne ,ni ad castel ki devant lui remaigne ,murs ne citez ni est remes a fraindre4 ,charles the king1 our emperor1 the great1 ,seven years complete has been in ,spain1 ,conquered the land as far as the high seas1 ,nor is there castle that holds against him1 ,nor wall or city left to capture4 ,the ,chanson opened with these lines1 which had such a direct and personal bearing on every one who heard them as to sound like prophecy4 ,within ten years ,william was to stand in ,england where ,charlemagne stood in ,spain4 ,his mind was full of it1 and of the means to attain it2 and ,harold was even more absorbed than he by the anxiety of the position4 ,harold had been obliged to take oath that he would support ,william's claim to the ,english throne1 but he was still undecided1 and ,william knew men too well to feel much confidence in an oath4 ,as ,taillefer sang on1 he reached the part of ,ganelon1 the typical traitor1 the invariable figure of mediaeval society4 ,no feudal lord was without a ,ganelon4 ,duke ,william saw them all about him4 ,he might have felt that ,harold would play the part1 but if ,harold should choose rather to be ,roland1 ,duke ,william could have foretold that his own brother1 ,bishop ,odo1 after gorging himself on the plunder of half ,england1 would turn into a ,ganelon so dangerous as to require a prison for life4 ,when ,taillefer reached the battle- scenes1 there was no further need of imagination to realize them4 ,they were scenes of yesterday and to-morrow4 ,for that matter1 ,charlemagne or his successor was still at ,aix1 and the ,moors were still in ,spain4 ,archbishop ,turpin of ,rheims had fought with sword and mace in ,spain1 while ,bishop ,odo of ,bayeux was to marshal his men at ,hastings1 like a modern general1 with a staff1 but both were equally at home on the field of battle4 ,verse by verse1 the song was a literal mirror of the ,mount4 ,the battle of ,hastings was to be fought on the ,archangel's ,day4 ,what happened to ,roland at ,roncesvalles was to happen to ,harold at ,hastings1 and ,harold1 as he was dying like ,roland1 was to see his brother ,gyrth die like ,oliver4 ,even ,taillefer was to be a part1 and a distinguished part1 of his chanson4 ,sooner or later1 all were to die in the large and simple way of the eleventh century4 ,duke ,william himself1 twenty years later1 was to meet a violent death at ,mantes in the same spirit1 and if ,bishop ,odo did not die in battle1 he died1 at least1 like an eleventh-century hero1 on the first crusade4 ,first or last1 the whole company died in fight1 or in prison1 or on crusade1 while the monks shrived them and prayed4 ,then ,taillefer certainly sang the great death-scenes4 ,even to this day every ,french school-boy1 if he knows no other poetry1 knows these verses by heart4 ,in the eleventh century they wrung the heart of every man-at-arms in ,europe1 whose school was the field of battle and the hand-to-hand fight4 ,no modern singer ever enjoys such power over an audience as ,taillefer exercised over these men who were actors as well as listeners4 ,in the melee at ,roncesvalles1 overborne by innumerable ,saracens1 ,oliver at last calls for help3-- ,munjoie escriet e haltement e cler4 ,rollant apelet sun ami e sun per2 ,sire compainz a mei kar vus justez4 ,a grant dulur ermes hoi deserveret4 ,aoi4 ,montjoie6 he cries1 loud and clear1 ,roland he calls1 his friend and peer2 ,sir ,friend6 ride now to help me here6 ,parted today1 great pity were4 ,of course the full value of the verse cannot be regained4 ,one knows neither how it was sung nor even how it was pronounced4 ,the assonances are beyond recovering2 the laisse or leash of verses or assonances with the concluding cry1 ,aoi1 has long ago vanished from verse or song4 ,the sense is as simple as the ,ballad of ,chevy ,chase1 but one must imagine the voice and acting4 ,doubtless ,taillefer acted each motive2 when ,oliver called loud and clear1 ,taillefer's voice rose2 when ,roland spoke doulcement et suef1 the singer must have sung gently and soft2 and when the two friends1 with the singular courtesy of knighthood and dignity of soldiers1 bowed to each other in parting and turned to face their deaths1 ,taillefer may have indicated the movement as he sang4 ,the verses gave room for great acting4 ,hearing ,oliver's cry for help1 ,roland rode up1 and at sight of the desperate field1 lost for a moment his consciousness3-- ,as vus ,rollant sur sun cheval pasmet ,e ,olivier ki est a mort nafrez6 ,tant ad sainiet li oil li sunt trublet ,ne luinz ne pres ne poet veeir si cler ,que reconuisset nisun hume mortel4 ,sun cumpaignun cum il l'ad encuntret ,sil fiert amunt sur l'elme a or gemmet ,tut li detrenchet d'ici que al nasel ,mais en la teste ne l'ad mie adeset4 ,a icel colp l'ad ,rollanz reguardet ,si li demandet dulcement et suef ,sire cumpainz1 faites le vus de gred8 ,ja est co ,rollanz ki tant vus soelt amer4 ,par nule guise ne m'aviez desfiet1 ,dist ,oliviers3 ,or vus oi jo parler ,io ne vus vei4 ,veied vus damnedeus6 ,ferut vus ai4 ,kar le me pardunez6 ,rollanz respunt3 ,jo n'ai nient de mel4 ,jol vus parduins ici e devant deu4 ,a icel mot l'uns al altre ad clinet4 ,par tel amur as les vus desevrez6 ,there ,roland sits unconscious on his horse1 ,and ,oliver who wounded is to death1 ,so much has bled1 his eyes grow dark to him1 ,nor far nor near can see so clear ,as to recognize any mortal man4 ,his friend1 when he has encountered him1 ,he strikes upon the helmet of gemmed gold1 splits it from the crown to the nose-piece1 ,but to the head he has not reached at all4 ,at this blow ,roland looks at him1 ,asks him gently and softly3 ,sir ,friend1 do you it in earnest8 ,you know 't is ,roland who has so loved you4 ,in no way have you sent to me defiance4 ,says ,oliver3 ,indeed ,i hear you speak1 ,i do not see you4 ,may ,god see and save you6 ,strike you ,i did4 ,i pray you pardon me4 ,roland replies3 ,i have no harm at all4 ,i pardon you here and before ,god6 ,at this word1 one to the other bends himself4 ,with such affection1 there they separate4 ,no one should try to render this into ,english--or1 indeed1 into modern ,french--verse1 but any one who will take the trouble to catch the metre and will remember that each verse in the leash ends in the same sound1--aimer1 parler1 cler1 mortel1 damnede1 mel1 deu1 suef1 nasel1--however the terminal syllables may be spelled1 can follow the feeling of the poetry as well as though it were ,greek hexameter4 ,he will feel the simple force of the words and action1 as he feels ,homer4 ,it is the grand style1--the eleventh century3-- ,ferut vus ai6 ,kar le me pardunez6 ,not a syllable is lost1 and always the strongest syllable is chosen4 ,even the sentiment is monosyllabic and curt3-- ,ja est co ,rollanz ki tant vus soelt amer6 ,taillefer had1 in such a libretto1 the means of producing dramatic effects that the ,french comedy or the grand opera never approached1 and such as made ,bayreuth seem thin and feeble4 ,duke ,william's barons must have clung to his voice and action as though they were in the very melee1 striking at the helmets of gemmed gold4 ,they had all been there1 and were to be there again4 ,as the climax approached1 they saw the scene itself2 probably they had seen it every year1 more or less1 since they could swing a sword4 ,taillefer chanted the death of ,oliver and of ,archbishop ,turpin and all the other barons of the rear guard1 except ,roland1 who was left for dead by the ,saracens when they fled on hearing the horns of ,charlemagne's returning host4 ,roland came back to consciousness on feeling a ,saracen marauder tugging at his sword ,durendal4 ,with a blow of his ivory horn--oliphant--he killed the pagan2 then feeling death near1 he prepared for it4 ,his first thought was for ,durendal1 his sword1 which he could not leave to infidels4 ,in the singular triple repetition which gives more of the same solidity and architectural weight to the verse1 he made three attempts to break the sword1 with a lament--a plaint--for each4 ,three times he struck with all his force against the rock2 each time the sword rebounded without breaking4 ,the third time-- ,rollanz ferit en une pierre bise ,plus en abat que jo ne vus sai dire4 ,l'espee cruist ne fruisset ne ne briset ,cuntre le ciel amunt est resortie4 ,quant veit li quens que ne la fraindrat mie ,mult dulcement la plainst a sei meisme4 ,e6 ,durendal cum ies bele e saintisme6 ,en l'oret punt asez i ad reliques4 ,la dent saint ,pierre e del sanc seint ,basilie ,e des chevels mun seignur seint ,denisie ,del vestment i ad seinte ,marie4 ,il nen est dreiz que paien te baillisent4 ,de chrestiens devez estre servie4 ,ne vus ait hum ki facet cuardie6 ,mult larges terres de vus averai cunquises ,que ,carles tient ki la barbe ad flurie4 ,e li emperere en est e ber e riches4 ,roland strikes on a grey stone1 ,more of it cuts off than ,i can tell you4 ,the sword grinds1 but shatters not nor breaks1 ,upward against the sky it rebounds4 ,when the ,count sees that he can never break it1 ,very gently he mourns it to himself3 ,ah1 ,durendal1 how fair you are and sacred6 ,in your golden guard are many relics1 ,the tooth of ,saint ,peter and blood of ,saint ,basil1 ,and hair of my seigneur ,saint-,denis1 ,of the garment too of ,saint ,mary4 ,it is not right that pagans should own you4 ,by ,christians you should be served1 ,nor should man have you who does cowardice4 ,many wide lands by you ,i have conquered ,that ,charles holds1 who has the white beard1 ,and emperor of them is noble and rich4 ,this laisse is even more eleventh-century than the other1 but it appealed no longer to the warriors2 it spoke rather to the monks4 ,to the warriors1 the sword itself was the religion1 and the relics were details of ornament or strength4 ,to the priest1 the list of relics was more eloquent than the ,regent diamond on the hilt and the ,kohinoor on the scabbard4 ,even to us it is interesting if it is understood4 ,roland had gone on pilgrimage to the ,holy ,land4 ,he had stopped at ,rome and won the friendship of ,saint ,peter1 as the tooth proved2 he had passed through ,constantinople and secured the help of ,saint ,basil2 he had reached ,jerusalem and gained the affection of the ,virgin2 he had come home to ,france and secured the support of his seigneur ,saint ,denis2 for ,roland1 like ,hugh ,capet1 was a liege-man of ,saint ,denis and ,french to the heart4 ,france1 to him1 was ,saint ,denis1 and at most the ,ile de ,france1 but not ,anjou or even ,maine4 ,these were countries he had conquered with ,durendal3-- ,jo l'en cunquis e ,anjou e ,bretaigne ,si l'en cunquis e ,peitou e le ,maine ,jo l'en cunquis ,normendie la franche ,si l'en cunquis ,provence e ,equitaigne4 ,he had conquered these for his emperor ,charlemagne with the help of his immediate spiritual lord or seigneur ,saint ,denis1 but the monks knew that he could never have done these feats without the help of ,saint ,peter1 ,saint ,basil1 and ,saint ,mary the ,blessed ,virgin1 whose relics1 in the hilt of his sword1 were worth more than any king's ransom4 ,to this day a tunic of the ,virgin is the most precious property of the cathedral at ,chartres4 ,either one of ,roland's relics would have made the glory of any shrine in ,europe1 and every monk knew their enormous value and power better than he knew the value of ,roland's conquests4 ,yet even the religion is martial1 as though it were meant for the fighting ,archangel and ,odo of ,bayeux4 ,the relics serve the sword2 the sword is not in service of the relics4 ,as the death-scene approaches1 the song becomes even more military3-- ,co sent ,rollanz que la mort le tresprent ,devers la teste sur le quer li descent4 ,desuz un pin i est alez curanz ,sur l'erbe verte si est culchiez adenz ,desuz lui met s'espee e l'olifant ,turnat sa teste vers la paiene gent4 ,pur co l'ad fait que il voelt veirement ,que ,carles diet et trestute sa gent ,li gentils quens quil fut morz cunqueranz4 ,then ,roland feels that death is taking him2 ,down from the head upon the heart it falls4 ,beneath a pine he hastens running2 ,on the green grass he throws himself down2 ,beneath him puts his sword and oliphant1 ,turns his face toward the pagan army4 ,for this he does it1 that he wishes greatly ,that ,charles should say and all his men1 ,the gentle ,count has died a conqueror4 ,thus far1 not a thought or a word strays from the field of war4 ,with a childlike intensity1 every syllable bends toward the single idea-- ,li gentils quens quil fut morz cunqueranz4 ,only then the singer allowed the ,church to assert some of its rights3- ,co sent ,rollanz de sun tens ni ad plus ,devers ,espaigne gist en un pui agut ,a l'une main si ad sun piz batut4 ,deus meie culpe vers les tues vertuz ,de mes pecchiez des granz e des menuz ,que jo ai fait des l'ure que nez fui ,tresqu'a cest jur que ci sui consouz4 ,sun destre guant en ad vers deu tendut ,angle del ciel i descendent a lui4 ,aoi4 ,then ,roland feels that his last hour has come ,facing toward ,spain he lies on a steep hill1 ,while with one hand he beats upon his breast3 ,mea culpa1 ,god6 through force of thy miracles ,pardon my sins1 the great as well as small1 ,that ,i have done from the hour ,i was born ,down to this day that ,i have now attained4 ,his right glove toward ,god he lifted up4 ,angels from heaven descend on him4 ,aoi4 ,li quens ,rollanz se jut desuz un pin ,envers ,espaigne en ad turnet sun vis ,de plusurs choses a remembrer li prist ,de tantes terres cume li bers cunquist ,de dulce ,france des humes de sun lign ,de ,carlemagne sun seignur kil nurrit ,ne poet muer men plurt e ne suspirt ,mais lui meisme ne voelt metre en ubli ,claimet sa culpe si priet deu mercit4 ,veire paterne ki unkes ne mentis ,seint ,lazarun de mort resurrexis ,e ,daniel des liuns guaresis ,guaris de mei l'anme de tuz perils ,pur les pecchiez que en ma vie fis4 ,sun destre guant a deu en puroffrit ,e de sa main seinz ,gabriel lad pris ,desur sun braz teneit le chief enclin ,juintes ses mains est alez a sa fin4 ,deus li tramist sun angle cherubin ,e ,seint ,michiel de la mer del peril ,ensemble od els ,seinz ,gabriels i vint ,l' anme del cunte portent en pareis4 ,count ,roland throws himself beneath a pine ,and toward ,spain has turned his face away4 ,of many things he called the memory back1 ,of many lands that he1 the brave1 had conquered1 ,of gentle ,france1 the men of his lineage1 ,of ,charlemagne his lord1 who nurtured him2 ,he cannot help but weep and sigh for these1 ,but for himself will not forget to care2 ,he cries his ,culpe1 he prays to ,god for grace4 ,o ,god the ,father who has never lied1 ,who raised up ,saint ,lazarus from death1 ,and ,daniel from the lions saved1 ,save my soul from all the perils ,for the sins that in my life ,i did6 ,his right-hand glove to ,god he proffered2 ,saint ,gabriel from his hand took it2 ,upon his arm he held his head inclined1 ,folding his hands he passed to his end4 ,god sent to him his angel cherubim ,and ,saint ,michael of the ,sea in ,peril1 ,together with them came ,saint ,gabriel4 ,the soul of the ,count they bear to ,paradise4 ,our age has lost much of its ear for poetry1 as it has its eye for colour and line1 and its taste for war and worship1 wine and women4 ,not one man in a hundred thousand could now feel what the eleventh century felt in these verses of the ,chanson1 and there is no reason for trying to do so1 but there is a certain use in trying for once to understand not so much the feeling as the meaning4 ,the naivete of the poetry is that of the society4 ,god the ,father was the feudal seigneur1 who raised ,lazarus--his baron or vassal--from the grave1 and freed ,daniel1 as an evidence of his power and loyalty2 a seigneur who never lied1 or was false to his word4 ,god the ,father1 as feudal seigneur1 absorbs the ,trinity1 and1 what is more significant1 absorbs or excludes also the ,virgin1 who is not mentioned in the prayer4 ,to this seigneur1 ,roland in dying1 proffered 7puroffrit7 his right-hand gauntlet4 ,death was an act of homage4 ,god sent down his ,archangel ,gabriel as his representative to accept the homage and receive the glove4 ,to ,duke ,william and his barons nothing could seem more natural and correct4 ,god was not farther away than ,charlemagne4 ,correct as the law may have been1 the religion even at that time must have seemed to the monks to need professional advice4 ,roland's life was not exemplary4 ,the ,chanson had taken pains to show that the disaster at ,roncesvalles was due to ,roland's headstrong folly and temper4 ,in dying1 ,roland had not once thought of these faults1 or repented of his worldly ambitions1 or mentioned the name of ,alda1 his betrothed4 ,he had clung to the memory of his wars and conquests1 his lineage1 his earthly seigneur ,charlemagne1 and of douce ,france4 ,he had forgotten to give so much as an allusion to ,christ4 ,the poet regarded all these matters as the affair of the ,church2 all the warrior cared for was courage1 loyalty1 and prowess4 ,the interest of these details lies not in the scholarship or the historical truth or even the local colour1 so much as in the art4 ,the naivete of the thought is repeated by the simplicity of the verse4 ,word and thought are equally monosyllabic4 ,nothing ever matched it4 ,the words bubble like a stream in the woods3-- ,co sent ,rollanz de sun tens ni ad plus4 ,try and put them into modern ,french1 and see what will happen3-- ,que jo ai fait des l'ure que nez fui4 ,the words may remain exactly the same1 but the poetry will have gone out of them4 ,five hundred years later1 even the ,english critics had so far lost their sense for military poetry that they professed to be shocked by ,milton's monosyllables3-- ,whereat he inly raged1 and1 as they talked1 ,smote him into the midriff with a stone ,that beat out life4 ,milton's language was indeed more or less archaic and ,biblical2 it was a ,puritan affectation2 but the ,chanson in the refectory actually reflected1 repeated1 echoed1 the piers and arches of the ,abbey ,church just rising above4 ,the verse is built up4 ,the qualities of the architecture reproduce themselves in the song3 the same directness1 simplicity1 absence of self-consciousness2 the same intensity of purpose2 even the same material2 the prayer is granite3-- ,guaris de mei l'anme de tuz perils ,pur les pecchiez que en ma vie fisi ,the action of dying is felt1 like the dropping of a keystone into the vault1 and if the ,romanesque arches in the church1 which are within hearing1 could speak1 they would describe what they are doing in the precise words of the poem3-- ,desur sun braz teneit ,ie chief enclin ,juintes ses mains est alez a sa fin4 ,upon their shoulders have their heads inclined1 ,folded their hands1 and sunken to their rest4 ,many thousands of times these verses must have been sung at the ,mount and echoed in every castle and on every battle-field from the ,welsh ,marches to the shores of the ,dead ,sea4 ,no modern opera or play ever approached the popularity of the ,chanson4 ,none has ever expressed with anything like the same completeness the society that produced it4 ,chanted by every minstrel1--known by heart1 from beginning to end1 by every man and woman and child1 lay or clerical1--translated into every tongue1--more intensely felt1 if possible1 in ,italy and ,spain than in ,normandy and ,england1--perhaps most effective1 as a work of art1 when sung by the ,templars in their great castles in the ,holy ,land1--it is now best felt at ,mont-,saint- ,michel1 and from the first must have been there at home4 ,the proof is the line1 evidently inserted for the sake of its local effect1 which invoked ,saint ,michael in ,peril of the ,sea at the climax of ,roland's death1 and one needs no original documents or contemporary authorities to prove that1 when ,taillefer came to this invocation1 not only ,duke ,william and his barons1 but still more ,abbot ,ranulf and his monks1 broke into a frenzy of sympathy which expressed the masculine and military passions of the ,archangel better than it accorded with the rules of ,saint ,benedict4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,merveille ,the nineteenth century moved fast and furious1 so that one who moved in it felt sometimes giddy1 watching it spin2 but the eleventh moved faster and more furiously still4 ,the ,norman conquest of ,england was an immense effort1 and its consequences were far-reaching1 but the first crusade was altogether the most interesting event in ,european history4 ,never has the ,western world shown anything like the energy and unity with which she then flung herself on the ,east1 and for the moment made the ,east recoil4 ,barring her family quarrels1 ,europe was a unity then1 in thought1 will1 and object4 ,christianity was the unit4 ,mont-,saint-,michel and ,byzantium were near each other4 ,the ,emperor ,constantine and the ,emperor ,charlemagne were figured as allies and friends in the popular legend4 ,the ,east was the common enemy1 always superior in wealth and numbers1 frequently in energy1 and sometimes in thought and art4 ,the outburst of the first crusade was splendid even in a military sense1 but it was great beyond comparison in its reflection in architecture1 ornament1 poetry1 colour1 religion1 and philosophy4 ,its men were astonishing1 and its women were worth all the rest4 ,mont-,saint-,michel1 better than any other spot in the world1 keeps the architectural record of that ferment1 much as the ,sicilian temples keep the record of the similar outburst of ,greek energy1 art1 poetry1 and thought1 fifteen hundred years before4 ,of the eleventh century1 it is true1 nothing but the church remains at the ,mount1 and1 if studied further1 the century has got to be sought elsewhere1 which is not difficult1 since it is preserved in any number of churches in every path of tourist travel4 ,normandy is full of it2 ,bayeux and ,caen contain little else4 ,at the ,mount1 the eleventh-century work was antiquated before it was finished4 ,in the year #aaab1 ,abbot ,roger ,,ii was obliged to plan and construct a new group in such haste that it is said to have been finished in #aabb4 ,it extends from what we have supposed to be the old refectory to the parvis1 and abuts on the three lost spans of the church1 covering about one hundred and twenty feet4 ,as usual there were three levels2 a crypt or gallery beneath1 known as the ,aquilon2 a cloister or promenoir above2 and on the level of the church a dormitory1 now lost4 ,the group is one of the most interesting in ,france1 another pons seclorum1 an antechamber to the west portal of ,chartres1 which bears the same date 7i #aaj-be74 ,it is the famous period of ,transition1 the glory of the twelfth century1 the object of our pilgrimage4 ,art is a fairly large field where no one need jostle his neighbour1 and no one need shut himself up in a corner2 but1 if one insists on taking a corner of preference1 one might offer some excuse for choosing the ,gothic ,transition4 ,the quiet1 restrained strength of the ,romanesque married to the graceful curves and vaulting imagination of the ,gothic makes a union nearer the ideal than is often allowed in marriage4 ,the ,french1 in their best days1 loved it with a constancy that has thrown a sort of aureole over their fickleness since4 ,they never tired of its possibilities4 ,sometimes they put the pointed arch within the round1 or above it2 sometimes they put the round within the pointed4 ,sometimes a ,roman arch covered a cluster of pointed windows1 as though protecting and caressing its children2 sometimes a huge pointed arch covered a great rose-window spreading across the whole front of an enormous cathedral1 with an arcade of ,romanesque windows beneath4 ,the ,french architects felt no discord1 and there was none4 ,even the pure ,gothic was put side by side with the pure ,roman4 ,you will see no later ,gothic than the choir of the ,abbey ,church above 7#adej-aeba71 unless it is the north fleche of ,chartres ,cathedral 7#aejg-ac72 and if you will look down the nave1 through the triumphal arches1 into the pointed choir four hundred years more modern1 you can judge whether there is any real discord4 ,for those who feel the art1 there is none2 the strength and the grace join hands2 the man and woman love each other still4 ,the difference of sex is not imaginary4 ,in #ajeh1 when the triumphal columns were building1 and ,taillefer sang to ,william the ,bastard and ,harold the ,saxon1 ,roland still prayed his mea culpa to ,god the ,father and gave not a thought to ,alda his betrothed4 ,in the twelfth century ,saint ,bernard recited ,ave ,stella ,marts in an ecstasy of miracle before the image of the ,virgin1 and the armies of ,france in battle cried1 ,notre-,dame-,saint-,denis-,montjoie4 ,what the ,roman could not express flowered into the ,gothic2 what the masculine mind could not idealize in the warrior1 it idealized in the woman2 no architecture that ever grew on earth1 except the ,gothic1 gave this effect of flinging its passion against the sky4 ,when men no longer felt the passion1 they fell back on themselves1 or lower4 ,the architect returned to the round arch1 and even further to the flatness of the ,greek colonnade2 but this was not the fault of the twelfth or thirteenth centuries4 ,what they had to say they said2 what they felt they expressed2 and if the seventeenth century forgot it1 the twentieth in turn has forgotten the seventeenth4 ,history is only a catalogue of the forgotten4 ,the eleventh century is no worse off than its neighbours4 ,the twelfth is1 in architecture1 rather better off than the nineteenth4 ,these two rooms1 the ,aquilon and promenoir1 which mark the beginning of the ,transition1 are1 on the whole1 more modern than ,saint-,sulpice1 or ,il ,gesu at ,rome4 ,in the same situation1 for the same purposes1 any architect would be proud to repeat them to-day4 ,the ,aquilon1 though a hall or gallery of importance in its day1 seems to be classed among crypts4 ,m4 ,camille ,enlart1 in his ,manual of ,french ,archaeology 7p4 #beb7 gives a list of ,romanesque and ,transition crypts1 about one hundred and twenty1 to serve as examples for the study4 ,the ,aquilon is not one of them1 but the crypt of ,saint-,denis and that of ,chartres ,cathedral would serve to teach any over-curious tourist all that he should want to know about such matters4 ,photographs such as those of the ,monuments ,historiques answer all the just purposes of underground travel4 ,the ,aquilon is one's first lesson in ,transition architecture because it is dated 7#aaab72 and the crypt of ,saint-,denis serves almost equally well because the ,abbe ,suger must have begun his plans for it about #aabb4 ,both have the same arcs doubleaux and arcs-formerets1 though in opposite arrangement4 ,both show the first heavy hint at the broken arch4 ,there are no nervures--no rib-vaulting1--and hardly a suggestion of the ,gothic as one sees it in the splendid crypt of the ,gros ,fillers close at hand1 except the elaborately intersecting vaults and the heavy columns2 but the promenoir above is an astonishing leap in time and art4 ,the promenoir has the same arrangement and columns as the ,aquilon1 but the vaults are beautifully arched and pointed1 with ribs rising directly from the square capitals and intersecting the central spacings1 in a spirit which neither you nor ,i know how to distinguish from the pure ,gothic of the thirteenth century1 unless it is that the arches are hardly pointed enough2 they seem to the eye almost round4 ,the height appears to be about fourteen feet4 ,the promenoir of ,abbot ,roger ,,ii has an interest to pilgrims who are going on to the shrine of the ,virgin1 because the date of the promenoir seems to be exactly the same as the date which the ,abbe ,bulteau assigns for the western portal of ,chartres4 ,ordinarily a date is no great matter1 but when one has to run forward and back1 with the agility of an electric tram1 between two or three fixed points1 it is convenient to fix them once for all4 ,the ,transition is complete here in the promenoir1 which was planned as early as #aaae4 ,the subject of vaulting is far too ambitious for summer travel2 it is none too easy for a graduate of the ,beaux ,arts2 and few architectural fields have been so earnestly discussed and disputed4 ,we must not touch it4 ,the age of the ,chanson de ,roland itself is not so dangerous a topic4 ,our vital needs are met1 more or less sufficiently1 by taking the promenoir at the ,mount1 the crypt at ,saint-,denis1 and the western portal at ,chartres1 as the trinity of our ,transition1 and roughly calling their date the years #aaae-bj1 ,to overload the memory with dates is the vice of every schoolmaster and the passion of every second-rate scholar4 ,tourists want as few dates as possible2 what they want is poetry4 ,yet a singular coincidence1 with which every classroom is only too familiar1 has made of the years--#ae a curiously convenient group1 and the year #aaae is as convenient as any for the beginning of the century of ,transition4 ,that was the year when ,saint ,bernard laid the foundations of his ,abbey of ,clairvaux4 ,perhaps #aaae1 or at latest #aaag1 was the year when ,abelard sang love-songs to ,heloise in ,canon ,fulbert's house in the ,rue des ,chantres1 beside the cloister of ,notre ,dame in ,paris4 ,the ,abbe ,suger1 the ,abbe ,bernard1 and the ,abbe ,abelard are the three interesting men of the ,french ,transition4 ,the promenoir1 then1 shall pass for the year #aaae1 and1 as such1 is an exceedingly beautiful hall1 uniting the splendid calm and seriousness of the ,romanesque with the exquisite lines of the ,gothic4 ,you will hardly see its equal in the twelfth century4 ,at ,angers the great hall of the ,bishop's ,palace survives to give a point of comparison1 but commonly the halls of that date were not vaulted2 they had timber roofs1 and have perished4 ,the promenoir is about sixty feet long1 and divided into two aisles1 ten feet wide1 by a row of columns4 ,if it were used on great occasions as a refectory1 eighty or a hundred persons could have been seated at table1 and perhaps this may have been about the scale of the ,abbey's needs1 at that time4 ,whatever effort of fancy was needed to place ,duke ,william and ,harold in the old refectory of #ajeh1 none whatever is required in order to see his successors in the halls of ,roger ,,ii4 ,with one exception they were not interesting persons4 ,the exception was ,henry ,,ii of ,england and ,anjou1 and his wife ,eleanor of ,guienne1 who was for a while ,regent of ,normandy4 ,one of their children was born at ,domfront1 just beyond ,avranches1 and the ,abbot was asked to be godfather4 ,in #aaeh1 just one hundred years after ,duke ,william's visit1 ,king ,henry and his whole suite came to the ,abbey1 heard mass1 and dined in the refectory4 ,rex venit ad ,montem ,sancti ,michaelis1 audita missa ad magis altare1 comedit in ,refec-torio cum baronibus suis4 ,abbot ,robert of ,torigny was his host1 and very possibly ,william of ,saint-,pair looked on4 ,perhaps he recited parts of his ,roman before the ,king4 ,one may be quite sure that when ,queen ,eleanor came to the ,mount she asked the poet to recite his verses1 for ,eleanor gave law to poets4 ,one might linger over ,abbot ,robert of ,torigny1 who was a very great man in his day1 and an especially great architect1 but too ambitious4 ,all his work1 including the two towers1 crumbled and fell for want of proper support4 ,what would correspond to the cathedrals of ,noyon and ,soissons and the old clocher and fleche of ,chartres is lost4 ,we have no choice but to step down into the next century at once1 and into the full and perfect ,gothic of the great age when the new ,chartres was building4 ,in the year #abjc1 ,philip ,augustus expelled the ,english from ,normandy and conquered the province2 but1 in the course of the war the ,duke of ,brittany1 who was naturally a party to any war that took place under his eyes1 happened to burn the town beneath the ,abbey1 and in doing so1 set fire unintentionally to the ,abbey itself4 ,the sacrilege shocked ,philip ,augustus1 and the wish to conciliate so powerful a vassal as ,saint ,michel1 or his abbot1 led the ,king of ,france to give a large sum of money for repairing the buildings4 ,the ,abbot ,jordan 7#aaia-abab7 at once undertook to outdo all his predecessors1 and1 with an immense ambition1 planned the huge pile which covers the whole north face of the ,mount1 and which has always borne the expressive name of the ,merveille4 ,the general motive of abbatial building was common to them all4 ,abbeys were large households4 ,the church was the centre1 and at ,mont-,saint-,michel the summit1 for the situation compelled the abbots there to pile one building on another instead of arranging them on a level in squares or parallelograms4 ,the dormitory in any case had to be near a door of the church1 because the ,rule required constant services1 day and night4 ,the cloister was also hard-by the church door1 and1 at the ,mount1 had to be on the same level in order to be in open air4 ,naturally the refectory must be immediately beneath one or the other of these two principal structures1 and the hall1 or place of meeting for business with the outside world1 or for internal administration1 or for guests of importance1 must be next the refectory4 ,the kitchen and offices would be placed on the lowest stage1 if for no other reason1 because the magazines were two hundred feet below at the landing-place1 and all supplies1 including water1 had to be hauled up an inclined plane by windlass4 ,to administer such a society required the most efficient management4 ,an abbot on this scale was a very great man1 indeed1 who enjoyed an establishment of his own1 close by1 with officers in no small number2 for the monks alone numbered sixty1 and even these were not enough for the regular church services at seasons of pilgrimage4 ,the ,abbot was obliged to entertain scores and hundreds of guests1 and these1 too1 of the highest importance1 with large suites4 ,every ounce of food must be brought from the mainland1 or fished from the sea4 ,all the tenants and their farms1 their rents and contributions1 must be looked after4 ,no secular prince had a more serious task of administration1 and none did it so well4 ,tenants always preferred an abbot or bishop for landlord4 ,the ,abbey was the highest administrative creation of the ,middle ,ages1 and when one has made one's pilgrimage to ,chartres1 one might well devote another summer to visiting what is left of ,clairvaux1 ,citeaux1 ,cluny1 and the other famous monasteries1 with ,viollet-le-,duc to guide1 in order to satisfy one's mind whether1 on the whole1 such a life may not have had activity as well as idleness4 ,this is a matter of economics1 to be settled with the keepers of more modern hotels1 but the art had to suit the conditions1 and when ,abbot ,jordan decided to plaster this huge structure against the side of the ,mount1 the architect had a relatively simple task to handle4 ,the engineering difficulties alone were very serious2 ,the architectural plan was plain enough4 ,as the ,abbot laid his requirements before the architect1 he seems to have begun by fixing the scale for a refectory capable of seating two hundred guests at table4 ,probably no king in ,europe fed more persons at his table than this4 ,according to ,m4 ,corroyer's plan1 the length of the new refectory is one hundred and twenty-three feet 7#cg4e metres74 ,a row of columns down the centre divides it into two aisles1 measuring twelve feet clear1 from column to column1 across the room4 ,if tables were set the whole length of the two aisles1 forty persons could have been easily seated1 in four rows1 or one hundred and sixty persons4 ,without crowding1 the same space would give room for fifty guests1 or two hundred in all4 ,once the scale was fixed1 the arrangement was easy4 ,beginning at the lowest possible level1 one plain1 very solidly built1 vaulted room served as foundation for another1 loftier and more delicately vaulted2 and this again bore another which stood on the level of the church1 and opened directly into the north transept4 ,this arrangement was then doubled2 and the second set of rooms1 at the west end1 contained the cellar on the lower level1 another great room or hall above it1 and the cloister at the church door1 also entering into the north transept4 ,doorways1 passages1 and stairs unite them all4 ,the two heavy halls on the lowest level are now called the almonry and the cellar1 which is a distinction between administrative arrangements that does not concern us4 ,architecturally the rooms might1 to our untrained eyes1 be of the same age with the ,aquilon4 ,they are earliest ,transition1 as far as a tourist can see1 or at least they belong to the class of crypts which has an architecture of its own4 ,the rooms that concern us are those immediately above3 the so-called ,salle des ,chevaliers at the west end2 and the so-called refectory at the east4 ,every writer gives these rooms different names1 and assigns them different purposes1 but whatever they were meant for1 they are1 as halls1 the finest in ,france2 the purest in thirteenth-century perfection4 ,the ,salle des ,chevaliers of the ,order of ,saint ,michael created by ,louis ,,xi in #adfi was1 or shall be for tourist purposes1 the great hall that every palace and castle contained1 and in which the life of the chateau centred4 ,planned at about the same time with the ,cathedral of ,chartres 7#aaie-abaj71 and before the ,abbey ,church of ,saint-,denis1 this hall and its neighbour the refectory1 studied together with the cathedral and the abbey1 are an exceedingly liberal education for anybody1 tourist or engineer or architect1 and would make the fortune of an intelligent historian1 if such should happen to exist2 but the last thing we ask from them is education or instruction4 ,we want only their poetry1 and shall have to look for it elsewhere4 ,here is only the shell--the dead art--and silence4 ,the hall is about ninety feet long1 and sixty feet in its greatest width4 ,it has three ranges of columns making four vaulted aisles which seem to rise about twenty-two feet in height4 ,it is warmed by two huge and heavy cheminees or fireplaces in the outside wall1 between the windows4 ,it is lighted beautifully1 but mostly from above through round windows in the arching of the vaults4 ,the vaulting is a study for wiser men than we can ever be4 ,more than twenty strong round columns1 free or engaged1 with ,romanesque capitals1 support heavy ribs1 or nervures1 and while the two central aisles are eighteen feet wide1 the outside aisle1 into which the windows open1 measures only ten feet in width1 and has consequently one of the most sharply pointed vaults we shall ever meet4 ,the whole design is as beautiful a bit of early ,gothic as exists1 but what would take most time to study1 if time were to spare1 would be the instinct of the ,archangel's presence which has animated his architecture4 ,the masculine1 military energy of ,saint ,michael lives still in every stone4 ,the genius that realized this warlike emotion has stamped his power everywhere1 on every centimetre of his work2 in every ray of light2 on the mass of every shadow2 wherever the eye falls2 still more strongly on all that the eye divines1 and in the shadows that are felt like the lights4 ,the architect intended it all4 ,any one who doubts has only to step through the doorway in the corner into the refectory4 ,there the architect has undertaken to express the thirteenth-century idea of the ,archangel2 he has left the twelfth century behind him4 ,the refectory1 which has already served for a measure of the ,abbot's scale1 is1 in feeling1 as different as possible from the hall4 ,six charming columns run down the centre1 dividing the room into two vaulted aisles1 apparently about twenty-seven feet in height4 ,wherever the hall was heavy and serious1 the refectory was made light and graceful4 ,hardly a trace of the ,romanesque remains4 ,only the slight1 round columns are not yet grooved or fluted1 and their round capitals are still slightly severe4 ,every detail is lightened4 ,the great fireplaces are removed to each end of the room4 ,the most interesting change is in the windows4 ,when you reach ,chartres1 the great book of architecture will open on the word ,fenestration1-- ,fenestre1--a word as ugly as the thing was beautiful2 and then1 with pain and sorrow1 you will have to toil till you see how the architects of #abjj subordinated every other problem to that of lighting their spaces4 ,without feeling their lights1 you can never feel their shadows4 ,these two halls at ,mont-,saint-,michel are antechambers to the nave of ,chartres2 their fenestration1 inside and out1 controls the whole design4 ,the lighting of the refectory is superb1 but one feels its value in art only when it is taken in relation to the lighting of the hall1 and both serve as a simple preamble to the romance of the ,chartres windows4 ,the refectory shows what the architect did when1 to lighten his effects1 he wanted to use every possible square centimetre of light4 ,he has made nine windows2 six on the north1 two on the east1 and one on the south4 ,they are nearly five feet wide1 and about twenty feet high4 ,they flood the room4 ,probably they were intended for glass1 and ,m4 ,corroyer's volume contains wood-cuts of a few fragments of thirteenth-century glass discovered in his various excavations2 but one may take for granted that with so much light1 colour was the object intended4 ,the floors would be tiled in colour2 the walls would be hung with colour2 probably the vaults were painted in colour2 one can see it all in scores of illuminated manuscripts4 ,the thirteenth century had a passion for colour1 and made a colour-world of its own which we have got to explore4 ,the two halls remain almost the only monuments of what must be called secular architecture of the early and perfect period of ,gothic art 7#abjj-aj74 ,churches enough remain1 with ,chartres at their head1 but all the great abbeys1 palaces and chateaux of that day are ruins4 ,arques1 ,gaillard1 ,montargis1 ,coucy1 the old ,louvre1 ,chinon1 ,angers1 as well as ,cluny1 ,clairvaux1 ,citeaux1 ,jumieges1 ,vezelay1 ,saint-,denis1 ,poissy1 ,fontevrault1 and a score of other residences1 royal or semi-royal1 have disappeared wholly1 or have lost their residential buildings4 ,when ,viollet-le-,duc1 under the ,second ,empire1 was allowed to restore one great chateau1 he chose the latest1 ,pierrefonds1 built by ,louis d',orleans in #acij4 ,vestiges of ,saint ,louis's palace remain at the ,conciergerie1 but the first great royal residence to be compared with the ,merveille is ,amboise1 dating from about #aejj1 three centuries later4 ,civilization made almost a clean sweep of art4 ,only here1 at ,mont-,saint-,michel1 one may still sit at ease on the stone benches in2 the embrasures of the refectory windows1 looking over the thirteenth-century ocean and watching the architect as he worked out the details which were to produce or accent his contrasts or harmonies1 heighten his effects1 or hide his show of effort1 and all by means so true1 simpler and apparently easy that one seems almost competent to follow him4 ,one learns better in time4 ,one gets to feel that these things were due in part to an instinct that the architect himself might not have been able to explain4 ,the instinct vanishes as time creeps on4 ,the halls at ,rouen or at ,blois are more easily understood2 the ,salle des ,caryatides of ,pierre ,lescot at the ,louvre1 charming as it is1 is simpler still2 and one feels entirely at home in the ,salle des ,glaces which filled the ambition of ,louis ,,xiv at ,versailles4 ,if any lingering doubt remains in regard to the professional cleverness of the architect and the thoroughness of his study1 we had best return to the great hall1 and pass through a low door in its extreme outer angle1 up a few steps into a little room some thirteen feet square1 beautifully vaulted1 lighted1 warmed by a large stone fireplace1 and in the corner1 a spiral staircase leading up to another square room above opening directly into the cloister4 ,it is a little library or charter-house4 ,the arrangement is almost too clever for gravity1 as is the case with more than one arrangement in the ,merveille4 ,from the outside one can see that at this corner the architect had to provide a heavy buttress against a double strain1 and he built up from the rock below a square corner tower as support1 into which he worked a spiral staircase leading from the cellar up to the cloisters4 ,just above the level of the great hall he managed to construct this little room1 a gem4 ,the place was near and far2 it was quiet and central2 ,william of ,saint- ,pair1 had he been still alive1 might have written his ,roman there2 monks might have illuminated missals there4 ,a few steps upward brought them to the cloisters for meditation2 a few more brought them to the church for prayer4 ,a few steps downward brought them to the great hall1 for business1 a few steps more led them into the refectory1 for dinner4 ,to contemplate the goodness of ,god was a simple joy when one had such a room to work in2 such a spot as the great hall to walk in1 when the storms blew2 or the cloisters in which to meditate1 when the sun shone2 such a dining-room as the refectory2 and such a view from one's windows over the infinite ocean and the guiles of ,satan's quicksands4 ,from the battlements of ,heaven1 ,william of ,saint-,pair looked down on it with envy4 ,of all parts of the ,merveille1 in summer1 the most charming must always have been the cloisters4 ,only the ,abbey of the ,mount was rich and splendid enough to build a cloister like this1 all in granite1 carved in forms as light as though it were wood2 with columns arranged in a peculiar triangular order that excited the admiration of ,viollet-le-,duc4 ,one of the most curious and complete cloisters that we have in ,france1 he said2 although in ,france there are many beautiful and curious cloisters4 ,for another reason it has value4 ,the architect meant it to reassert1 with all the art and grace he could command1 the mastery of love1 of thought and poetry1 in religion1 over the masculine1 military energy of the great hall below4 ,the thirteenth century rarely let slip a chance to insist on this moral that love is law4 ,saint ,francis was preaching to the birds in #abae at ,assisi1 and the architect built this cloister in #abbf at ,mont-,saint-,michel4 ,both sermons were saturated with the feeling of the time1 and both are about equally worth noting1 if one aspires to feel the art4 ,a conscientious student has yet to climb down the many steps1 on the outside1 and look up at the ,merveille from below4 ,few buildings in ,france are better worth the trouble4 ,the horizontal line at the roof measures two hundred and thirty-five feet4 ,the vertical line of the buttresses measures in round numbers one hundred feet4 ,to make walls of that height and length stand up at all was no easy matter1 as ,robert de ,torigny had shown2 and so the architect buttressed them from bottom to top with twelve long buttresses against the thrust of the interior arches1 and three more1 bearing against the interior walls4 ,this gives1 on the north front1 fifteen strong vertical lines in a space of two hundred and thirty-five feet4 ,between these lines the windows tell their story2 the seven long windows of the refectory on one side2 the seven rounded windows of the hall on the other4 ,even the corner tower with the charter-house becomes as simple as the rest4 ,the sum of this impossible wall1 and its exaggerated vertical lines1 is strength and intelligence at rest4 ,the whole ,mount still kept the grand style2 it expressed the unity of ,church and ,state1 ,god and ,man1 ,peace and ,war1 ,life and ,death1 ,good and ,bad2 it solved the whole problem of the universe4 ,the priest and the soldier were both at home here1 in #abae as in #aaae or in #ajeh2 the politician was not outside of it2 the sinner was welcome2 the poet was made happy in his own spirit1 with a sympathy1 almost an affection1 that suggests a habit of verse in the ,abbot as well as in the architect4 ,god reconciles all4 ,the world is an evident1 obvious1 sacred harmony4 ,even the discord of war is a detail on which the ,abbey refuses to insist4 ,not till two centuries afterwards did the ,mount take on the modern expression of war as a discord in ,god's providence4 ,then1 in the early years of the fifteenth century1 ,abbot ,pierre le ,roy plastered the gate of the chatelet1 as you now see it1 over the sunny thirteenth-century entrance called ,belle ,chaise1 which had treated mere military construction with a sort of quiet contempt4 ,you will know what a chatelet is when you meet another2 it frowns in a spirit quite alien to the twelfth century2 it jars on the religion of the place2 it forebodes wars of religion2 dissolution of society2 loss of unity2 the end of a world4 ,nothing is sadder than the catastrophe of ,gothic art1 religion1 and hope4 ,one looks back on it all as a picture2 a symbol of unity2 an assertion of ,god and ,man in a bolder1 stronger1 closer union than ever was expressed by other art2 and when the idea is absorbed1 accepted1 and perhaps partially understood1 one may move on4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,normandy ,,and ,,the ,,ile ,,de ,,france ,from ,mont-,saint-,michel1 the architectural road leads across ,normandy1 up the ,seine to ,paris1 and not directly through ,chartres1 which lies a little to the south4 ,in the empire of architecture1 ,normandy was one kingdom1 ,brittany another2 the ,ile de ,france1 with ,paris1 was a third2 ,touraine and the valley of the ,loire were a fourth and in the centre1 the fighting-ground between them all1 lay the counties of ,chartres and ,dreux4 ,before going to ,chartres one should go up the ,seine and down the ,loire1 from ,angers to ,le ,mans1 and so enter ,chartres from ,brittany after a complete circle2 but if we set out to do our pleasure on that scale1 we must start from the ,pyramid of ,cheops4 ,we have set out from ,mont-,saint-,michel2 we will go next to ,paris4 ,the architectural highway lies through ,coutances1 ,bayeux1 ,caen1 ,rouen1 and ,mantes4 ,every great artistic kingdom solved its architectural problems in its own way1 as it did its religious1 political1 and social problems1 and no two solutions were ever quite the same2 but among them the ,norman was commonly the most practical1 and sometimes the most dignified4 ,we can test this rule by the standard of the first town we stop at--,coutances4 ,we can test it equally well at ,bayeux or ,caen1 but ,coutances comes first after ,mont-,saint-,michel let us begin with it1 and state the problems with their ,norman solution1 so that it may be ready at hand to compare with the ,french solution1 before coming to the solution at ,chartres4 ,the cathedral at ,coutances is said to be about the age of the ,merveille 7#abjj-ej71 but the exact dates are unknown1 and the work is so ,norman as to stand by itself2 yet the architect has grappled with more problems than one need hope to see solved in any single church in the tie de ,france4 ,even at ,chartres1 although the two stone fleches are1 by exception1 completed1 they are not of the same age1 as they are here4 ,neither at ,chartres nor at ,paris1 nor at ,laon or ,amiens or ,rheims or ,bourges1 will you see a central tower to compare with the enormous pile at ,coutances4 ,indeed the architects of ,france failed to solve this particular church problem1 and we- shall leave it behind us in leaving ,normandy1 although it is the most effective feature of any possible church4 ,a clocher of that period 7circa #abjj71 built over the croisee of a cathedral1 following lines so happy1 should be a monument of the greatest beauty2 unfortunately we possess not a single one in ,france4 ,fire1 and the hand of man more than time1 have destroyed them all1 and we find on our greatest religious edifices no more than bases and fragments of these beautiful constructions4 ,the cathedral of ,coutances alone has preserved its central clocher of the thirteenth century1 and even there it is not complete2 its stone fleche is wanting4 ,as for its style1 it belongs to ,norman architecture1 and diverges widely from the character of ,french architecture4 ,so says ,viollet-le-,duc2 but although the great churches for the most part never had central clochers1 which1 on the scale of ,amiens1 ,bourges1 or ,beauvais1 would have required an impossible mass1 the smaller churches frequently carry them still1 and they are1 like the dome1 the most effective features they can carry4 ,they were made to dominate the whole4 ,no doubt the fleche is wanting at ,coutances1 but you can supply it in imagination from the two fleches of the western tower1 which are as simple and severe as the spear of a man-at-arms4 ,supply the fleche1 and the meaning of the tower cannot be mistaken2 it is as military as the ,chanson de ,roland2 it is the man-at-arms himself1 mounted and ready for battle1 spear in rest4 ,the mere seat of the central tower astride of the church1 so firm1 so fixed1 so serious1 so defiant1 is ,norman1 like the seat of the ,abbey ,church on the ,mount2 and at ,falaise1 where ,william the ,bastard was born1 we shall see a central tower on the church which is ,william himself1 in armour1 on horseback1 ready to fight for the ,church1 and perhaps1 in his bad moods1 against it4 ,such militant churches were capable of forcing ,heaven itself2 all of them look as though they had fought at ,hastings or stormed ,jerusalem4 ,wherever the ,norman central clocher stands1 the ,church ,militant of the eleventh century survives2--not the ,church of ,mary ,queen1 but of ,michael the ,archangel2--not the ,church of ,christ1 but of ,god the ,father--,who never lied6 ,taken together with the fleches of the facade1 this clocher of ,coutances forms a group such as one very seldom sees4 ,the two towers of the facade are something apart1 quite by themselves among the innumerable church-towers of the ,gothic time4 ,we have got a happy summer before us1 merely in looking for these church-towers4 ,there is no livelier amusement for fine weather than in hunting them as though they were mushrooms1 and no study in architecture nearly so delightful4 ,no work of man has life like the fleche4 ,one sees it for a greater distance and feels it for a longer time than is possible with any other human structure1 unless it be the dome4 ,there is more play of light on the octagonal faces of the fleche as the sun moves around them than can be got out of the square or the cone or any other combination of surfaces4 ,for some reason1 the facets of the hexagon or octagon are more pleasing than the rounded surfaces of the cone1 and ,normandy is said to be peculiarly the home of this particularly ,gothic church ornament2 yet clochers and fleches are scattered all over ,france until one gets to look for them on the horizon as though every church in every hamlet were an architectural monument4 ,hundreds of them literally are so1--,monuments ,historiques1 -protected by the ,government2 but when you undertake to compare them1 or to decide whether they are more beautiful in ,normandy than in the ,ile de ,france1 or in ,burgundy1 or on the ,loire or the ,charente1 you are lost1 ,even the superiority of the octagon is not evident to every one4 ,over the little church at ,fenioux on the ,charente1 not very far from ,la ,rochelle1 is a conical steeple that an infidel might adore2 and if you have to decide between provinces1 you must reckon with the decision of architects and amateurs1 who seem to be agreed that the first of all filches is at ,chartres1 the second at ,vendome1 not far from ,blois in ,touraine1 and the third at ,auxerre in ,burgundy4 ,the towers of ,coutances are not in the list1 nor are those at ,bayeux nor those at ,caen4 ,france is rich in art4 ,yet the towers of ,coutances are in some ways as interesting1 if not as beautiful1 as the best4 ,the two stone fleches here1 with their octagon faces1 do not descend1 as in other churches1 to their resting-place on a square tower1 with the plan of junction more or less disguised2 they throw out nests of smaller fleches1 and these cover buttressing corner towers1 with lines that go directly to the ground4 ,whether the artist consciously intended it or not1 the effect is to broaden the facade and lift it into the air4 ,the facade itself has a distinctly military look1 as though a fortress had been altered into a church4 ,a charming arcade at the top has the air of being thrown across in order to disguise the alteration1 and perhaps owes much of its charm to the contrast it makes with the severity of military lines4 ,even the great west window looks like an afterthought2 one's instinct asks for a blank wall4 ,yet1 from the ground up to the cross on the spire1 one feels the ,norman nature throughout1 animating the whole1 uniting it all1 and crowding into it an intelligent variety of original motives that would build a dozen churches of late ,gothic4 ,nothing about it is stereotyped or conventional1--not even the conventionality4 ,if you have any doubts about this1 you have only to compare the photograph of ,coutances with the photograph of ,chartres2 and yet1 surely1 the facade of ,chartres is severe enough to satisfy ,saint ,bernard himself4 ,with the later fronts of ,rheims and ,amiens1 there is no field for comparison2 they have next to nothing in common2 yet ,coutances is said to be of the same date with ,rheims1 or nearly so1 and one can believe it when one enters the interior4 ,the ,normans1 as they slowly reveal themselves1 disclose most unexpected qualities2 one seems to sound subterranean caverns of feeling hidden behind their iron nasals4 ,no other cathedral in ,france or in ,europe has an interior more refined--one is tempted to use even the hard-worn adjective1 more tender--or more carefully studied4 ,one test is crucial here and everywhere4 ,the treatment of the apse and choir is the architect's severest standard4 ,this is a subject not to be touched lightly2 one to which we shall have to come back in a humble spirit1 prepared for patient study1 at ,chartres2 but the choir of ,coutances is a cousin to that of ,chartres1 as the facades are cousins2 ,coutances like ,chartres belongs to ,notre ,dame and is felt in the same spirit2 the church is built for the choir and apse1 rather than for the nave and transepts2 for the ,virgin rather than for the public4 ,in one respect ,coutances is even more delicate in the feminine charm of the ,virgin's peculiar grace than ,chartres1 but this was an afterthought of the fourteenth century4 ,the system of chapels radiating about the apse was extended down the nave1 in an arrangement so beautiful and so rare1 according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 that one shall seek far before finding its equal4 ,among the unexpected revelations of human nature that suddenly astonish historians1 one of the least reasonable was the passionate outbreak of religious devotion to the ideal of feminine grace1 charity1 and love that took place here in ,normandy while it was still a part of the ,english kingdom1 and flamed up into almost fanatical frenzy among the most hard-hearted and hard-headed race in ,europe4 ,so in this church1 in the centre of this arrangement of apse and chapels with their quite unusual--perhaps quite singular--grace1 the four huge piers which support the enormous central tower1 offer a tour de force almost as exceptional as the refinement of the chapels4 ,at ,mont-,saint-,michel1 among the monks1 the union of strength and grace was striking1 but at ,coutances it is exaggerated1 like ,tristram and ,iseult1--a roman of chivalry4 ,the four enormous columns of the croisee1 carry1 as ,viollet-le-,duc says1 the enormous octagonal tower1--like ,saint ,christopher supporting the ,christ- child1 before the image of the ,virgin1 in her honour4 ,nothing like this can be seen at ,chartres1 or at any of the later palaces which ,france built for the pleasure of the ,queen of ,heaven4 ,we are slipping into the thirteenth century again2 the temptation is terrible to feeble minds and tourist natures2 but a great mass of twelfth and eleventh-century work remains to be seen and felt4 ,to go back is not so easy as to begin with it2 the heavy round arch is like old cognac compared with the champagne of the pointed and fretted spire2 one must not quit ,coutances without making an excursion to ,lessayon the road to ,cherbourg1 where is a church of the twelfth century1 with a square tower and almost untouched ,norman interior1 that closely repeats the ,abbey ,church at ,mont-,saint- ,michel4 ,one of the most complete models of ,romanesque architecture to be found in ,normandy1 says ,m4 de ,caumont4 ,the central clocher will begin a photographic collection of square towers1 to replace that which was lost on the ,mount2 and a second example is near ,bayeux1 at a small place called ,cerisy-la-,foret1 where the church matches that on the ,mount1 according to ,m4 ,corroyer2 for ,cerisy-la- ,foret was also an abbey1 and the church1 built by ,richard ,,ii1 ,duke of ,normandy1 at the beginning of the eleventh century1 was larger than that on the ,mount4 ,it still keeps its central tower4 ,all this is intensely ,norman1 and is going to help very little in ,france2 it would be more useful in ,england2 but at ,bayeux is a great3 cathedral much more to the purpose1 with two superb western towers crowned by stone fleches1 cousins of those at ,coutances1 and distinctly related to the twelfth-century fleche at ,chartres4 ,the ,normans1 says ,viollet-le-,duc1 had not that instinct of proportion which the architects of the ,ile de ,france1 ,beauvais1 and ,soissons possessed to a high degree2 yet the boldness of their constructions1 their perfect execution1 the elevation of the fleches1 had evident influence on the ,french school properly called1 and that influence is felt in the old spire of ,chartres4 ,the ,norman seemed to show distinction in another respect which the ,french were less quick to imitate4 ,what they began1 they completed4 ,not one of the great ,french churches has two stone spires complete1 of the same age1 while each of the little towns of ,coutances1 ,bayeux1 and ,caen contains its twin towers and fleches of stone1 as solid and perfect now as they were seven hundred years ago4 ,still another ,norman character is worth noting1 because this is one part of the influence felt at ,chartres4 ,if you look carefully at the two western towers of the ,bayeux ,cathedral1 perhaps you will feel what is said to be the strength of the way they are built up4 ,they rise from their foundation with a quiet confidence of line and support1 which passes directly up to the weather-cock on the summit of the fleches4 ,at the plane where the square tower is changed into the octagon spire1 you will see the corner turrets and the long intermediate windows which effect the change without disguising it4 ,one can hardly call it a device2 it is so simple and evident a piece of construction that it does not need to be explained2 yet you will have to carry a photograph of this fleche to ,chartres1 and from there to ,vendome1 for there is to be a great battle of fleches about this point of junction1 and the ,norman scheme is a sort of standing reproach to the ,french4 ,coutances and ,bayeux are interesting1 but ,caen is a ,romanesque ,mecca4 ,there ,william the ,conqueror dealt with the same architectural problems1 and put his solution in his ,abbaye-aux-,hommes1 which bears the name of ,saint ,stephen4 ,queen ,matilda put her solution into her ,abbaye-aux-,femmes1 the ,church of the ,trinity4 ,one ought particularly to look at the beautiful central clocher of the church at ,vaucelles in the suburbs2 and one must drive out to ,thaon to see its eleventh- century church1 with a charming ,romanesque blind arcade on the outside1 and a little clocher1 the more interesting to us1 according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 because it bears the stamp of the traditions of defence of the primitive towers which were built over the porches4 ,even a sort of chemin de ronde remains around the clocher1 perhaps once provided with a parapet of defence4 ,c'est la1 du reste1 un charmant edifice4 ,a tower with stone fleche1 which actually served for defence in a famous recorded instance1 is that of the church at ,secqueville1 not far off2 this beautiful tower1 as charming as anything in ,norman art1 is known to have served as a fortress in #aaje1 which gives a valuable date4 ,the pretty old ,romanesque front of the little church at ,ouistreham1 with its portal that seems to come fresh from ,poitiers and ,moissac1 can be taken in1 while driving past2 but we must on no account fail to make a serious pilgrimage to ,saint-,pierre-sur-,dives1 where the church-tower and fleche are not only classed among the best in ,normandy1 but have an exact date1 #aade1 and a very close relation with ,chartres1 as will appear4 ,finally1 if for no other reason1 at least for interest in ,arlette1 the tanner's daughter1 one must go to ,falaise1 and look at the superb clocher of ,saint-,gervais1 which was finished and consecrated by #aace4 ,some day1 if you like1 we can follow this ,romanesque style to the south1 and on even to ,italy where it may be supposed to have been born2 but ,france had an architectural life fully a thousand years old when these twelfth-century churches were built1 and was long since artistically1 as she was politically1 independent4 ,the ,normans were new in ,france1 but not the ,romanesque architecture2 they only took the forms and stamped on them their own character4 ,it is the stamp we want to distinguish1 in order to trace up our lines of artistic ancestry4 ,the ,norman twelfth-century stamp was not easily effaced4 ,if we have not seen enough of it at ,mont-,saint-,michel1 ,coutances1 ,bayeux1 and ,caen1 we can go to ,rouen1 and drive out to ,boscherville1 and visit the ruined ,abbey of ,jumieges4 ,wherever there is a church-tower with a tall fleche1 as at ,boscherville1 ,secqueville1 ,saint-,pierre-sur-,dives1 ,caen1 and ,bayeux1 ,viollet-le- ,duc bids notice how the octagonal steeple is fitted on to the square tower4 ,always the passage from the octagon to the square seems to be quite simply made4 ,the ,gothic or ,romanesque spire had the advantage that a wooden fleche was as reasonable a covering for it as a stone one1 and the ,normans might have indulged in freaks of form very easily1 if they chose1 but they seem never to have thought of it4 ,the nearest approach to the freedom of wooden roofs is not in the lofty fleches1 but in the covering of the great square central towers1 like ,falaise or ,vaucelles1 a huge four-sided roof which tries to be a fleche1 and is as massive as the heavy structure it covers4 ,the last of the ,norman towers that ,viollet-le-,duc insists upon is the so-called ,clocher de ,saint-,romain1 the northern tower on the west front of the ,cathedral of ,rouen4 ,unfortunately it has lost its primitive octagon fleche if it ever had one1 but the tower remains entire1 and1 according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 is certainly one of the most beautiful in this part of ,france2 it offers a mixture of the two styles of the ,ile de ,france and of ,normandy1 in which the former element dominates2 it is of the same date as the old tower of ,chartres 7#aadj-fj71 and follows the same interior arrangement2 but here the petty1 confused disposition of the ,norman towers1 with their division into stories of equal height1 has been adopted by the ,french master builder1 although in submitting to these local customs he has still thrown over his work the grace and finesse1 the study of detail1 the sobriety in projections1 the perfect harmony between the profiles1 sculpture1 and the general effect of the whole1 which belong to the school he came from4 ,he has managed his voids and solids with especial cleverness1 giving the more importance to the voids1 and enlarging the scale of his details1 as the tower rose in height4 ,these details have great beauty2 the construction is executed in materials of small dimensions with the care that the twelfth-century architects put into their building2 the profiles project little1 and1 in spite of their extreme finesse1 produce much effect2 the buttresses are skilfully planted and profiled4 ,the staircase1 which1 on the east side1 deranges the arrangement of the bays1 is a chef-d'oeuvre of architecture4 ,this long panegyric1 by ,viollet-le-,duc1 on ,french taste at the expense of ,norman temper1 ought to be read1 book in hand1 before the ,cathedral of ,rouen1 with photographs of ,bayeux to compare4 ,certain it is that the ,normans and the ,french never talked quite the same language1 but it is equally certain that the ,norman language1 to the ,english ear1 expressed itself quite as clearly as the ,french1 and sometimes seemed to have more to express4 ,the complaint of the ,french artist against the ,norman is the mesquin treatment of dividing his tower into storeys of equal height4 ,even in the twelfth century and in religious architecture1 artists already struggled over the best solution of this particularly ,american problem of the twentieth century1 and when tourists return to ,new ,york1 they may look at the twenty-storey towers which decorate the city1 to see whether the ,norman or the ,french plan has won2 but this1 at least1 will be sure in advance3-- the ,norman will be the practical scheme which states the facts1 and stops2 while the ,french will be the graceful one1 which states the beauties1 and more or less fits the facts to suit them4 ,both styles are great3 both can sometimes be tiresome4 ,here we must take leave of ,normandy2 a small place1 but one which1 like ,attica or ,tuscany1 has said a great deal to the world1 and even goes on saying things--not often in the famous genre ennuyeux--to this day2 for ,gustave ,flaubert's style is singularly like that of the ,tour ,saint-,romain and the ,abbaye-aux-,hommes4 ,going up the ,seine one might read a few pages of his letters1 or of ,madame de ,bovary1 to see how an old art transmutes itself into a new one1 without changing its methods4 ,some critics have thought that at times ,flaubert was mesquin like the ,norman tower1 but these are1 as the ,french say1 the defects of his qualities2 we can pass over them1 and let our eyes rest on the simplicity of the ,norman fleche which pierces the line of our horizon4 ,the last of ,norman art is seen at ,mantes1 where there is a little church of ,gassicourt that marks the farthest reach of the style4 ,in arms as in architecture1 ,mantes barred the path of ,norman conquest2 ,william the ,conqueror met his death here in #ajhg4 ,geographically ,mantes is in the ,ile de ,france1 less than forty miles from ,paris4 ,architecturally1 it is ,paris itself2 while1 forty miles to the southward1 is ,chartres1 an independent or only feudally dependent country4 ,no matter how hurried the architectural tourist may be1 the boundary-line of the ,ile de ,france is not to be crossed without stopping4 ,if he came down from the north or east1 he would have equally to stop1--either at ,beauvais1 or at ,laon1 or ,noyon1 or ,soissons1--because there is an architectural douane to pass1 and one's architectural baggage must be opened4 ,neither ,notre ,dame de ,paris nor ,notre ,dame de ,chartres is quite intelligible unless one has first seen ,notre ,dame de ,mantes1 and studied it in the sacred sources of ,m4 ,viollet-le-,duc4 ,notre ,dame de ,mantes is a sister to the ,cathedral of ,paris1 built at the same time1 perhaps by the same architect1 and reproducing its general dispositions1 its mode of structure1 and some of its details2 but the ,cathedral of ,paris has been greatly altered1 so that its original arrangement is quite changed1 while the church at ,mantes remains practically as it was1 when both were new1 about the year #abjj4 ,as nearly as the dates can be guessed1 the cathedral was finished1 up to its vaulting1 in #aagj1 and was soon afterwards imitated on a smaller scale at ,mantes4 ,the scheme seems to have been unsatisfactory because of defects in the lighting1 for the whole system of fenestration had been changed at ,paris before #abcj1 naturally at great cost1 since the alterations1 according to ,viollet-le-,duc 7articles ,cathedral and ,rose1 and allusions ,triforium71 left little except the ground-plan unchanged4 ,to understand the ,paris design of #aafj-gj1 which was a long advance from the older plans1 one must come to ,mantes2 and1 reflecting that the great triumph of ,chartres was its fenestration1 which must have been designed immediately after #aaie1 one can understand how1 in this triangle of churches only forty or fifty miles apart1 the architects1 watching each other's experiments1 were influenced1 almost from day to day1 by the failures or successes which they saw ,the fenestration which the ,paris architect planned in #aafj-gj1 and repeated at ,mantes1 #aaij-abjj1 was wholly abandoned1 and a new system introduced1 immediately after the success of ,chartres in #abaj4 ,as they now stand1 ,mantes is the oldest4 ,while conscientiously trying to keep as far away as we can from technique1 about which we know nothing and should care if possible still less if only ignorance would help us to feel what we do not understand1 still the conscience is happier if it gains a little conviction1 founded on what it thinks a fact4 ,even theologians--even the great theologians of the thirteenth century--even ,saint ,thomas ,aquinas himself--did not trust to faith alone1 or assume the existence of ,god2 and what ,saint ,thomas found necessary in philosophy may also be a sure source of consolation in the difficulties of art4 ,the church at ,mantes is a very early fact in ,gothic art2 indeed1 it is one of the earliest2 for our purposes it will serve as the very earliest of pure ,gothic churches1 after the ,transition1 and this we are told to study in its windows4 ,before one can get near enough fairly to mark the details of the facade1 one sees the great rose window which fills a space nearly twenty-seven feet in width4 ,gothic fanatics commonly reckon the great rose windows of the thirteenth century as the most beautiful creation of their art1 among the details of ornament2 and this particular rose is the direct parent of that at ,chartres1 which is classic like the ,parthenon1 while both of them served as models or guides for that at ,paris which dates from #abbj1 those in the north and south transepts at ,rheims1 about #abcj1 and so on1 from parent to child1 till the rose faded forever4 ,no doubt there were ,romanesque roses before #abjj1 and we shall see them1 but this rose of ,mantes is the first ,gothic rose of great dimensions1 and that from which the others grew2 in its simplicity1 its honesty1 its large liberality of plan1 it is also one of the best1 if ,m4 ,viollet-le-,duc is a true guide2 but you will see a hundred roses1 first or last1 and can choose as you would among the flowers4 ,more interesting than even the great rose of the portal is the remark that the same rose-motive is carried round the church throughout its entire system of fenestration4 ,as one follows it1 on the outside1 one sees that all the windows are constructed on the same rose-scheme2 but the most curious arrangement is in the choir inside the church4 ,you look up to each of the windows through a sort of tunnel or telescope3 an arch enlarging outwards1 the roses at the end resembling oeil-de-boeufs1 oculi4 ,so curious is this arrangement that ,viollet-le-,duc has shown it1 under the head ,triforium1 in drawings and sections which any one can study who likes2 its interest to us is that this arrangement in the choir was probably the experiment which proved a failure in ,notre ,dame at ,paris1 and led to the tearing-out the old windows and substituting those which still stand4 ,perhaps the rose did not give enough light1 although the church at ,mantes seems well lighted1 and even at ,paris the rose windows remain in the transepts and in one bay of the nave4 ,all this is introduction to the windows of ,chartres1 but these three churches open another conundrum as one learns1 bit by bit1 a few of the questions to be asked of the forgotten ,middle ,ages4 ,the church towers at ,mantes are very interesting1 inside and out2 they are evidently studied with love and labour by their designer2 yet they have no fleches4 ,how happens it that ,notre ,dame at ,paris also has no fleches1 although the towers1 according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 are finished in full preparation for them8 ,this double omission on the part of the ,french architect seems exceedingly strange1 because his rival at ,chartres finished his fleche just when the architect of ,paris and ,mantes was finishing his towers 7#aage-abjj74 ,the ,frenchman was certainly consumed by jealousy at the triumph never attained on anything like the same scale by any architect of the ,ile de ,france2 and he was actually engaged at the time on at least two fleches1 close to ,paris1 one at ,saint-,denis1 another of ,saint-,leu-d',esserent1 which proved the active interest he took in the difficulties conquered at ,chartres1 and his perfect competence to deal with them4 ,indeed1 one is tempted to say that these twin churches1 ,paris and ,mantes1 are the only ,french churches of the time 7#abjj7 which were left without a fleche4 ,as we go from ,mantes to ,paris1 we pass1 about half-way1 at ,poissy1 under the towers of a very ancient and interesting church which has the additional merit of having witnessed the baptism of ,saint ,louis in #abae4 ,parts of the church at ,poissy go back to the seventh and ninth centuries4 ,the square base of the tower dates back before the time of ,hugh ,capet1 to the ,carolingian age1 and belongs1 like the square tower of ,saint- ,germain-des-,pres at ,paris1 to the old defensive military architecture2 but it has a later1 stone fleche and it has1 too1 by exception a central octagonal clocher1 with a timber fleche which dates from near #aajj4 ,paris itself has not much to show1 but in the immediate neighbourhood are a score of early churches with charming fleches1 and at ,etampes1 about thirty-five miles to the south1 is an extremely interesting church with an exquisite fleche1 which may claim an afternoon to visit4 ,that at ,saint-,leu-d',esserent is a still easier excursion1 for one need only drive over from ,chantilly a couple of miles4 ,the fascinating old ,abbey ,church of ,saint-,leu looks down over the valley of the ,oise1 and is a sort of antechamber to ,chartres1 as far as concerns architecture4 ,its fleche1 built towards #aafj1--when that at ,chartres was rising1--is unlike any other1 and shows how much the ,french architects valued their lovely ,french creation4 ,on its octagonal faces1 it carries upright batons1 or lances1 as a device for relieving the severity of the outlines2 a device both intelligent and amusing1 though it was never imitated4 ,a little farther from ,paris1 at ,senlis1 is another fleche1 which shows still more plainly the effort of the ,french architects to vary and elaborate the ,chartres scheme4 ,as for ,laon1 which is interesting throughout1 and altogether the most delightful building in the ,ile de ,france1 the fleches are gone1 but the towers are there1 and you will have to study them1 before studying those at ,chartres1 with all the intelligence you have to spare4 ,they were the chef-d'oeuvre of the mediaeval architect1 in his own opinion4 ,all this makes the absence of fleches at ,paris and ,mantes the more strange4 ,want of money was certainly not the cause1 since the ,parisians had money enough to pull their whole cathedral to pieces at the very time when fleches were rising in half the towns within sight of them4 ,possibly they were too ambitious1 and could find no design that seemed to satisfy their ambition4 ,they took pride in their cathedral1 and they tried hard to make their shrine of ,our ,lady rival the great shrine at ,chartres4 ,of course1 one must study their beautiful church1 but this can be done at leisure1 for1 as it stands1 it is later than ,chartres and more conventional4 ,saint- ,germain-des-,pres leads more directly to ,chartres2 but perhaps the church most useful to know is no longer a church at all1 but a part of the ,museum of ,arts et ,metiers1--the desecrated ,saint-,martin-des- ,champs1 a name which shows that it dates from a time when the present ,porte-,saint-,martin was far out among fields4 ,the choir of ,saint-,martin1 which is all that needs noting1 is said by ,m4 ,enlart to date from about #aaej4 ,hidden in a remnant of old ,paris near the ,pont ,notre ,dame1 where the student life of the ,middle ,ages was to be most turbulent and the ,latin ,quarter most renowned1 is the little church of ,saint-,julien-le-,pauvre1 towards #aagj4 ,on the whole1 further search in ,paris would not greatly help us4 ,if one is to pursue the early centuries1 one must go farther afield1 for the schools of ,normandy and the ,ile de ,france were only two among half a dozen which flourished in the various provinces that were to be united in the kingdom of ,saint ,louis and his successors4 ,we have not even looked to the south and east1 whence the impulse came4 ,the old ,carolingian school1 with its centre at ,aix-la-,chapelle1 is quite beyond our horizon4 ,the ,rhine had a great ,romanesque architecture of its own4 ,one broad architectural tide swept up the ,rhone and filled the ,burgundian provinces as far as the watershed of the ,seine4 ,another lined the ,mediterranean1 with a centre at ,arles4 ,another spread up the western rivers1 the ,charente and the ,loire1 reaching to ,le ,mans and touching ,chartres4 ,two more lay in the centre of ,france1 spreading from ,perigord and ,clermont in ,auvergne4 ,all these schools had individual character1 and all have charm2 but we have set out to go from ,mont-,saint-,michel to ,chartres in three centuries1 the eleventh1 twelfth1 and thirteenth1 trying to get1 on the way1 not technical knowledge2 not accurate information2 not correct views either on history1 art1 or religion2 not anything that can possibly be useful or instructive2 but only a sense of what those centuries had to say1 and a sympathy with their ways of saying it4 ,let us go straight to ,chartres6 ,,chapter ,v ,,towers ,,and ,,portals ,for a first visit to ,chartres1 choose some pleasant morning when the lights are soft1 for one wants to be welcome1 and the cathedral has moods1 at times severe4 ,at best1 the ,beauce is a country none too gay4 ,the first glimpse that is caught1 and the first that was meant to be caught1 is that of the two spires4 ,with all the education that ,normandy and the ,ile de ,france can give1 one is still ignorant4 ,the spire is the simplest part of the ,romanesque or ,gothic architecture1 and needs least study in order to be felt4 ,it is a bit of sentiment almost pure of practical purpose4 ,it tells the whole of its story at a glance1 and its story is the best that architecture had to tell1 for it typified the aspirations of man at the moment when man's aspirations were highest4 ,yet nine persons out of ten--perhaps ninety-nine in a hundred--who come within sight of the two spires of ,chartres will think it a jest if they are told that the smaller of the two1 the simpler1 the one that impresses them least1 is the one which they are expected to recognize as the most perfect piece of architecture in the world4 ,perhaps the ,french critics might deny that they make any such absolute claim2 in that case you can ask them what their exact claim is2 it will always be high enough to astonish the tourist4 ,astonished or not1 we have got to take this southern spire of the ,chartres ,cathedral as the object of serious study1 and before taking it as art1 must take it as history4 ,the foundations of this tower-- always to be known as the old tower--are supposed to have been laid in #ajia1 before the first crusade4 ,the fleche was probably half a century later 7#aade-gj74 ,the foundations of the new tower1 opposite1 were laid not before #aaaj1 when also the portal which stands between them1 was begun with the three lancet windows above it1 but not the rose4 ,for convenience1 this old facade--including the portal and the two towers1 but not the fleches1 and the three lancet windows1 but not the rose--may be dated as complete about #aaej4 ,originally the whole portal--the three doors and the three lancets-- stood nearly forty feet back1 on the line of the interior foundation1 or rear wall of the towers4 ,this arrangement threw the towers forward1 free on three sides1 as at ,poitiers1 and gave room for a parvis1 before the portal1--a porch1 roofed over1 to protect the pilgrims who always stopped there to pray before entering the church4 ,when the church was rebuilt after the great fire of #aaid1 and the architect was required to enlarge the interior1 the old portal and lancets were moved bodily forward1 to be flush with the front walls of the two towers1 as you see the facade to-day2 and the facade itself was heightened1 to give room for the rose1 and to cover the loftier pignon and vaulting behind4 ,finally1 the wooden roof1 above the stone vault1 was masked by the ,arcade of ,kings and its railing1 completed in the taste of ,philip the ,hardy1 who reigned from #abgj to #abhe4 ,these changes have1 of course1 altered the values of all the parts4 ,the portal is injured by being thrown into a glare of light1 when it was intended to stand in shadow1 as you will see in the north and south porches over the transept portals4 ,the towers are hurt by losing relief and shadow2 but the old fleche is obliged to suffer the cruellest wrong of all by having its right shoulder hunched up by half of a huge rose and the whole of a row of kings1 when it was built to stand free1 and to soar above the whole facade from the top of its second storey4 ,one can easily figure it so and replace the lost parts of the old facade1 more or less at haphazard1 from the front of ,noyon4 ,what an outrage it was you can see by a single glance at the new fleche opposite4 ,the architect of #aejj has flatly refused to submit to such conditions1 and has insisted1 with very proper self-respect1 on starting from the balustrade of the ,arcade of ,kings as his level4 ,not even content with that1 he has carried up his square tower another lofty storey before he would consent to touch the heart of his problem1 the conversion of the square tower into the octagon fleche4 ,in doing this1 he has sacrificed once more the old fleche2 but his own tower stands free as it should4 ,at ,vendome1 when you go there1 you will be in a way to appreciate still better what happened to the ,chartres fleche2 for the clocher at ,vendome1 which is of the same date1--,viollet-le-,duc says earlier1 and ,enlart1 after #aacj1--stood and still stands free1 like an ,italian campanile1 which gives it a vast advantage4 ,the tower of ,saint-,leu-d',esserent1 also after #aacj1 stands free1 above the second storey4 ,indeed1 you will hardly find1 in the long list of famous ,french spires1 another which has been treated with so much indignity as this1 the greatest and most famous of all2 and perhaps the most annoying part of it is that you must be grateful to the architect of #aaie for doing no worse4 ,he has1 on the contrary1 done his best to show respect for the work of his predecessor1 and has done so well that1 handicapped as it is1 the old tower still defies rivalry4 ,nearly three hundred and fifty feet high1 or1 to be exact1 #ajf4e metres from the church floor1 it is built up with an amount of intelligence and refinement that leaves to unprofessional visitors no chance to think a criticism--much less to express one4 ,perhaps-- when we have seen more--and feel less--who knows8--but certainly not now6 ,the greatest and surely the most beautiful monument of this kind that we possess in ,france1 says ,viollet-le-,duc2 but although an ignorant spectator must accept the architect's decision on a point of relative merit1 no one is compelled to accept his reasons1 as final4 ,there is no need to dwell1 he continues1 upon the beauty and the grandeur of composition in which the artist has given proof of rare sobriety1 where all the effects are obtained1 not by ornaments1 but by the just and skilful proportion of the different parts4 ,the transition1 so hard to adjust1 between the square base and the octagon of the fleche1 is managed and carried out with an address which has not been surpassed in similar monuments4 ,one stumbles a little at the word adresse4 ,one never caught one's self using the word in ,norman churches4 ,your photographs of ,bayeux or ,boscherville or ,secqueville will show you at a glance whether the term adresse applies to them4 ,even ,vendome would rather be praised for droiture than for adresse4--,whether the word adresse means cleverness1 dexterity1 adroitness1 or simple technical skill1 the thing itself is something which the ,french have always admired more than the ,normans ever did4 ,viollet-le-,duc himself seems to be a little uncertain whether to lay most stress on the one or the other quality3 ,if one tries to appreciate the conception of this tower1 quotes the ,abbe ,bulteau 7#aa1hd71 one will see that it is as frank as the execution is simple and skilful4 ,starting from the bottom1 one reaches the summit of the fleche without marked break2 without anything to interrupt the general form of the building4 ,this clocher1 whose base is broad 7pleine71 massive1 and free from ornament1 transforms itself1 as it springs1 into a sharp spire with eight faces1 without its being possible to say where the massive construction ends and the light construction begins4 ,granting1 as one must1 that this concealment of the transition is a beauty1 one would still like to be quite sure that the ,chartres scheme is the best4 ,the ,norman clochers being thrown out1 and that at ,vendome being admittedly simple1 the ,clocher de ,saint-,jean on the ,church of ,saint-,germain at ,auxerre seems to be thought among the next in importance1 although it is only about one hundred and sixty feet in height 7forty-nine metres71 and therefore hardly in the same class with ,chartres4 ,any photograph shows that the ,auxerre spire is also simple2 and that at ,etampes you have seen already to be of the ,vendome rather than of the ,chartres type4 ,the clocher at ,senlis is more habile2 it shows an effort to be clever1 and offers a standard of comparison2 but the mediaeval architects seem to have thought that none of them bore rivalry with ,laon for technical skill4 ,one of these professional experts1 named ,villard de ,honnecourt1 who lived between #abjj and #abej1 left a notebook which you can see in the vitrines of the ,bibliotheque ,nationale in the ,rue ,richelieu1 and which is the source of most that is known about the practical ideas of mediaeval architects4 ,he came to ,chartres1 and1 standing here before the doors1 where we are standing1 he made a rough drawing1 not of the tower1 but of the rose1 which was then probably new1 since it must have been planned between #aaie and #abjj4 ,apparently the tower did not impress him strongly1 for he made no note of it2 but on the other hand1 when he went to ,laon1 he became vehement in praise of the cathedral tower there1 which must have been then quite new3 ,i have been in many countries1 as you can find in this book4 ,in no place have ,i ever such a tower seen as that of ,laon4--,j'ai este en mult de tieres1 si cum vus pores trover en cest livre4 ,en aucun liu onques tel tor ne vi com est cele de ,loon4 ,the reason for this admiration is the same that ,viollet-le-,duc gives for admiring the tower of ,chartres--the adresse with which the square is changed into the octagon4 ,not only is the tower itself changed into the fleche without visible junction1 under cover of four corner tourelles1 of open work1 on slender columns1 which start as squares2 but the tourelles also convert themselves into octagons in the very act of rising1 and end in octagon fleches that carry up--or once carried up--the lines of profile to the central fleche that soared above them4 ,clearly this device far surpassed in cleverness the scheme of ,chartres1 which was comparatively heavy and structural1 the weights being adjusted for their intended work1 while the transformation at ,laon takes place in the air1 and challenges discovery in defiance of one's keenest eyesight4 ,regard444 how the tourelles pass from one disposition to another1 in rising6 ,meditate on it6 ,the fleche of ,laon is gone1 but the tower and tourelles are still there to show what the architects of the thirteenth century thought their most brilliant achievement4 ,one cannot compare ,chartres directly with any of its contemporary rivals1 but one can at least compare the old spire with the new one which stands opposite and rises above it4 ,perhaps you will like the new best4 ,built at a time which is commonly agreed to have had the highest standard of taste1 it does not encourage tourist or artist to insist on setting up standards of his own against it4 ,begun in #aejg1 it was finished in #aeag4 ,the dome of ,saint ,peter's at ,rome1 over which ,bramante and ,raphael and ,michael ,angelo toiled1 was building at the same time2 ,leonardo da ,vinci was working at ,amboise2 ,jean ,bullant1 ,pierre ,lescot1 and their patron1 ,francis ,i1 were beginning their architectural careers4 ,four hundred years1 or thereabouts1 separated the old spire from the new one2 and four hundred more separate the new one from us4 ,if ,viollet-le-,duc1 who himself built ,gothic spires1 had cared to compare his fleches at ,clermont-,ferrand with the new fleche at ,chartres1 he might perhaps have given us a rule where adresse ceases to have charm1 and where detail becomes tiresome2 but in the want of a schoolmaster to lay down a law of taste1 you can admire the new fleche as much as you please4 ,of course1 one sees that the lines of the new tower are not clean1 like those of the old2 the devices that cover the transition from the square to the octagon are rather too obvious2 the proportion of the fleche to the tower quite alters the values of the parts2 a rigid classical taste might even go so far as to hint that the new tower1 in comparison with the old1 showed signs of a certain tendency toward a dim and distant vulgarity4 ,there can be no harm in admitting that the new tower is a little wanting in repose for a tower whose business is to counterpoise the very classic lines of the old one2 but no law compels you to insist on absolute repose in any form of art2 if such a law existed1 it would have to deal with ,michael ,angelo before it dealt with us4 ,the new tower has many faults1 but it has great beauties1 as you can prove by comparing it with other late ,gothic spires1 including those of ,viollet-le-,duc4 ,its chief fault is to be where it is4 ,as a companion to the crusades and to ,saint ,bernard1 it lacks austerity4 ,as a companion to the ,virgin of ,chartres1 it recalls ,diane de ,poitiers4 ,in fact1 the new tower1 which in years is four centuries younger than its neighbour1 is in feeling fully four hundred years older4 ,it is self-conscious if not vain2 its coiffure is elaborately arranged to cover the effects of age1 and its neck and shoulders are covered with lace and jewels to hide a certain sharpness of skeleton4 ,yet it may be beautiful1 still2 the poets derided the wrinkles of ,diane de ,poitiers at the very moment when ,king ,henry ,,ii idealized her with the homage of a ,don ,quixote2 an atmosphere of physical beauty and decay hangs about the whole ,renaissance4 ,one cannot push these resemblances too far1 even for the twelfth century and the old tower4 ,exactly what date the old tower represents1 as a social symbol1 is a question that might be as much disputed as the beauty of ,diane de ,poitiers1 and yet half the interest of architecture consists in the sincerity of its reflection of the society that builds4 ,in mere time1 by actual date1 the old tower represents the second crusade1 and when1 in #aaej1 ,saint ,bernard was elected chief of that crusade in this very cathedral1-- or rather1 in the cathedral of #aabj1 which was burned1--the workmen were probably setting in mortar the stones of the fleche as we now see them2 yet the fleche does not represent ,saint ,bernard in feeling1 for ,saint ,bernard held the whole array of church-towers in horror as signs merely of display1 wealth and pride4 ,the fleche rather represents ,abbot ,suger of ,saint-,denis1 ,abbot ,peter the ,venerable of ,cluny1 ,abbot ,abelard of ,saint-,gildas-de-,rhuys1 and ,queen ,eleanor of ,guienne1 who had married ,louis-le-,jeune in #aacg2 who had taken the cross from ,saint ,bernard in #aadg2 who returned from the ,holy ,land in #aadi2 and who compelled ,saint ,bernard to approve her divorce in #aaeb4 ,eleanor and ,saint ,bernard were centuries apart1 yet they lived at the same time and in the same church4 ,speaking exactly1 the old tower represents neither of them2 the new tower itself is hardly more florid than ,eleanor was2 perhaps less so1 if one can judge from the fashions of the court-dress of her time4 ,the old tower is almost ,norman1 while ,eleanor was wholly ,gascon1 and ,gascony was always florid without being always correct4 ,the new tower1 if it had been built in #aaej1 like the old one1 would have expressed ,eleanor perfectly1 even in height and apparent effort to dwarf its mate1 except that ,eleanor dwarfed her husband without an effort1 and both in art and in history the result lacked harmony4 ,be the contrast what it may1 it does not affect the fact that no other church in ,france has two spires that need be discussed in comparison with these4 ,indeed1 no other cathedral of the same class has any spires at all1 and this superiority of ,chartres gave most of its point to a saying that with the spires of ,chartres1 the choir of ,beauvais1 the nave of ,amiens1 and the facade of ,rheims1 one could make a perfect church--for us tourists4 ,the towers have taken much time1 though they are the least religious and least complicated part of church architecture1 and in no way essential to the church2 indeed1 ,saint ,bernard thought them an excrescence due to pride and worldliness1 and this is merely ,saint ,bernard's way of saying that they were an ornament created to gratify the artistic sense of beauty4 ,beautiful as they are1 one's eyes must drop at last down to the church itself4 ,if the spire symbolizes aspiration1 the door symbolizes the way2 and the portal of ,chartres is the type of ,french doors2 it stands first in the history of ,gothic art2 and1 in the opinion of most ,gothic artists1 first in the interest of all art1 though this is no concern of ours4 ,here is the ,way to ,eternal ,life as it was seen by the ,church and the ,art of the first crusade6 ,the fortune of this monument has been the best attested ,miracle de la ,vierge in the long list of the ,virgin's miracles1 for it comes down1 practically unharmed1 through what may with literal accuracy be called the jaws of destruction and the flames of hell4 ,built some time in the first half of the twelfth century1 it passed1 apparently unscathed1 through the great fire of #aaid which burnt out the church behind1 and even the timber interior of the towers in front of it4 ,owing to the enormous mass of timber employed in the structure of the great churches1 these recurrent fires were as destructive as fire can be made1 yet not only the portals with their statuary and carving1 but also the lancet windows with their glass1 escaped the flames2 and1 what is almost equally strange1 escaped also the hand of the builder afterwards1 who1 if he had resembled other architects1 would have made a new front of his own1 but who1 with piety unexampled1 tenderly took the old stones down1 one by one1 and replaced them forty feet in advance of their old position4 ,the ,english wars and the wars of religion brought new dangers1 sieges1 and miseries2 the revolution of #agib brought actual rapine and waste2 boys have flung stones at the saints2 architects have wreaked their taste within and without2 fire after fire has calcined the church vaults2 the worst wrecker of all1 the restorer of the nineteenth century1 has prowled about it2 yet the porch still stands1 mutilated but not restored1 burned but not consumed1 as eloquent a witness to the power and perfections of ,our ,lady as it was seven hundred years ago1 and perhaps more impressive4 ,you will see portals and porches more or less of the same period elsewhere in many different places1--at ,paris1 ,le ,mans1 ,sens1 ,autun1 ,vezelay1 ,clermont-,ferrand1 ,moissac1 ,arles1--a score of them2 for the same piety has protected them more than once2 but you will see no other so complete or so instructive1 and you may search far before you will find another equally good in workmanship4 ,study of the ,chartres portal covers all the rest4 ,the feeling and motive of all are nearly the same1 or vary only to suit the character of the patron saint2 and the point of all is that this feeling is the architectural child of the first crusade4 ,at ,chartres one can read the first crusade in the portal1 as at ,mont-,saint-,michel in the ,aquilon and the promenoir4 ,the ,abbe ,bulteau gives reason for assuming the year #aaag as the approximate date of the sculpture about the west portal1 and you saw at ,mont-,saint-,michel1 in the promenoir of ,abbot ,roger ,,ii1 an accurately dated work of the same decade2 but whatever the date of the plan1 the actual work and its spirit belong to #aade or thereabouts1 ,some fifty years had passed since the crusaders streamed through ,constantinople to ,antioch and ,jerusalem1 and they were daily going and returning4 ,you can see the ideas they brought back with the relics and missals and enamels they bought in ,byzantium4 ,over the central door is the ,christ1 which might be sculptured after a ,byzantine enamel1 with its long nimbus or aureole or glory enclosing the whole figure4 ,over the left door is an ,ascension1 bearing the same stamp2 and over the right door1 the seated ,virgin1 with her crown and her two attendant archangels1 is an empress4 ,here is the ,church1 the ,way1 and the ,life of the twelfth century that we have undertaken to feel1 if not to understand6 ,first comes the central doorway1 and above it is the glory of ,christ1 as the church at ,chartres understood ,christ in the year #aaej2 for the glories of ,christ were many1 and the ,chartres ,christ is one4 ,whatever ,christ may have been in other churches1 here1 on this portal1 he offers himself to his flock as the herald of salvation alone4 ,among all the imagery of these three doorways1 there is no hint of fear1 punishment1 or damnation1 and this is the note of the whole time4 ,before #abjj1 the ,church seems not to have felt the need of appealing habitually to terror2 the promise of hope and happiness was enough2 even the portal at ,autun1 which displays a ,last ,judgment1 belonged to ,saint ,lazarus the proof and symbol of resurrection4 ,a hundred years later1 every church portal showed ,christ not as ,saviour but as ,judge1 and ,he presided over a ,last ,judgment at ,bourges and ,amiens1 and here on the south portal1 where the despair of the damned is the evident joy of the artist1 if it is not even sometimes a little his jest1 which is worse4 ,at ,chartres ,christ is identified with ,his ,mother1 the spirit of love and grace1 and ,his ,church is the ,church ,triumphant4 ,not only is fear absent2 there is not even a suggestion of pain2 there is not a martyr with the symbol of his martyrdom2 and what is still more striking1 in the sculptured life of ,christ1 from the ,nativity to the ,ascension1 which adorns the capitals of the columns1 the single scene that has been omitted is the ,crucifixion4 ,there1 as everywhere in this portal1 the artists seem actually to have gone out of their way in order to avoid a suggestion of suffering4 ,they have pictured ,christ and ,his ,mother in all the other events of their lives2 they have represented evangelists2 apostles2 the twenty-four old men of the ,apocalypse2 saints1 prophets1 kings1 queens1 and princes1 by the score2 the signs of the zodiac1 and even the seven liberal arts3 grammar1 rhetoric1 dialectics1 arithmetic1 geometry1 astronomy1 and music2 everything is there except misery4 ,perhaps ,our ,lady of ,chartres was known to be peculiarly gracious and gentle1 and this may partially account also for the extreme popularity of her shrine2 but whatever the reason1 her church was clearly intended to show only this side of her nature1 and to impress it on her ,son4 ,you can see it in the grave and gracious face and attitude of the ,christ1 raising ,his hand to bless you as you enter ,his kingdom2 in the array of long figures which line the entrance to greet you as you pass2 in the expression of majesty and mercy of the ,virgin herself on her throne above the southern doorway2 never once are you regarded as a possible rebel1 or traitor1 or a stranger to be treated with suspicion1 or as a child to be impressed by fear4 ,equally distinct1 perhaps even more emphatic1 is the sculptor's earnestness to make you feel1 without direct insistence1 that you are entering the ,court of the ,queen of ,heaven who is one with her ,son and ,his ,church4 ,the central door always bore the name of the ,royal ,door1 because it belonged to the celestial majesty of ,christ1 and naturally bears the stamp of royalty2 but the south door belongs to the ,virgin and to us4 ,stop a moment to see how she receives us1 remembering1 or trying to remember1 that to the priests and artists who designed the portal1 and to the generations that went on the first and second crusades1 the ,virgin in her shrine was at least as living1 as real1 as personal an empress as the ,basilissa at ,constantinople6 ,on the lintel immediately above the doorway is a succession of small groups3 first1 the ,annunciation2 ,mary stands to receive the ,archangel ,gabriel1 who comes to announce to her that she is chosen to be the ,mother of ,god4 ,the second is the ,visitation1 and in this scene also ,mary stands1 but she already wears a crown2 at least1 the ,abbe ,bulteau says so1 although time has dealt harshly with it4 ,then1 in the centre1 follows the ,nativity2 ,mary lies on a low bed1 beneath1 or before1 a sort of table or cradle on which lies the ,infant1 while ,saint ,joseph stands at the bed's head4 ,then the angel appears1 directing three shepherds to the spot1 filling the rest of the space4 ,in correct theology1 the ,virgin ought not to be represented in bed1 for she could not suffer like ordinary women1 but her palace at ,chartres is not much troubled by theology1 and to her1 as empress- mother1 the pain of child-birth was a pleasure which she wanted her people to share4 ,the ,virgin of ,chartres was the greatest of all queens1 but the most womanly of women1 as we shall see2 and her double character is sustained throughout her palace4 ,she was also intellectually gifted in the highest degree4 ,in the upper zone you see her again1 at the ,presentation in the ,temple1 supporting the ,child ,jesus on the altar1 while ,simeon aids4 ,other figures bring offerings4 ,the voussures of the arch above contain six archangels1 with curious wings1 offering worship to the ,infant and ,his ,imperial ,mother4 ,below are the signs of the zodiac2 the ,fishes and the ,twins4 ,the rest of the arch is filled by the seven liberal arts1 with ,pythagoras1 ,aristotle1 ,cicero1 ,euclid1 ,nicomachus1 ,ptolemy1 and ,priscian as their representatives1 testifying to the ,queen's intellectual superiority4 ,in the centre sits ,mary1 with her crown on her head and her ,son in her lap1 enthroned1 receiving the homage of heaven and earth2 of all time1 ancient and modern2 of all thought1 ,christian and ,pagan2 of all men1 and all women2 including1 if you please1 your homage and mine1 which she receives without question1 as her due2 which she cannot be said to claim1 because she is above making claims2 she is empress4 ,her left hand bore a sceptre2 her right supported the ,child1 ,who looks directly forward1 repeating the ,mother's attitude1 and raises ,his right hand to bless1 while ,his left rests on the orb of empire4 ,she and her ,child are one4 ,all this was noble beyond the nobility of man1 but its earthly form was inspired by the ,empire rather than by the petty royalty of ,louis-le-,gros or his pious queen ,alix of ,savoy4 ,one mark of the period is the long1 oval nimbus2 another is the imperial character of the ,virgin2 a third is her unity with the ,christ which is the ,church4 ,to us1 the mark that will distinguish the ,virgin of ,chartres1 or1 if you prefer1 the ,virgin of the ,crusades1 is her crown and robes and throne4 ,according to ,m4 ,rohault de ,fleury's ,iconographie de la ,sainte ,vierge 7#aa1 #fb71 the ,virgin's headdress and ornaments had been for long ages borrowed from the costume of the ,empresses of the ,east in honour of the ,queen of ,heaven4 ,no doubt the ,virgin of ,chartres was the ,virgin recognized by the ,empress ,helena1 mother of ,constantine1 and was at least as old as ,helena's pilgrimage to ,jerusalem in #cbf4 ,she was not a ,western1 feudal queen1 nor was her ,son a feudal king2 she typified an authority which the people wanted1 and the fiefs feared2 the ,pax ,romana2 the omnipotence of ,god in government4 ,in all ,europe1 at that time1 there was no power able to enforce justice or to maintain order1 and no symbol of such a power except ,christ and ,his ,mother and the ,imperial ,crown4 ,this idea is very different from that which was the object of our pilgrimage to ,mont-,saint-,michel2 but since all ,chartres is to be one long comment upon it1 you can lay the history of the matter on the shelf for study at your leisure1 if you ever care to study into the weary details of human illusions and disappointments1 while here we pray to the ,virgin1 and absorb ourselves in the art1 which is your pleasure and which shall not teach either a moral or a useful lesson4 ,the ,empress ,mary is receiving you at her portal1 and whether you are an impertinent child1 or a foolish old peasant-woman1 or an insolent prince1 or a more insolent tourist1 she receives you with the same dignity2 in fact1 she probably sees very little difference between you4 ,an empress of ,russia to-day would probably feel little difference in the relative rank of her subjects1 and the ,virgin was empress over emperors1 patriarchs1 and popes4 ,any one1 however ignorant1 can feel the sustained dignity of the sculptor's work1 which is asserted with all the emphasis he could put into it4 ,not one of these long figures which line the three doorways but is an officer or official in attendance on the ,empress or her ,son1 and bears the stamp of the ,imperial ,court4 ,they are mutilated1 but1 if they have been treated with indignity1 so were often their temporal rivals1 torn to pieces1 trampled on1 to say nothing of being merely beheaded or poisoned1 in the ,sacred ,palace and the ,hippodrome1 without losing that peculiar ,oriental dignity of style which seems to drape the least dignified attitudes4 ,the grand air of the twelfth century is something like that of a ,greek temple2 you can1 if you like1 hammer every separate stone to pieces1 but you cannot hammer out the ,greek style4 ,there were originally twenty-four of these statues1 and nineteen remain4 ,beginning at the north end1 and passing over the first figure1 which carries a head that does not belong to it1 notice the second1 a king with a long sceptre of empire1 a book of law1 and robes of ,byzantine official splendour4 ,beneath his feet is a curious woman's head with heavy braids of hair1 and a crown4 ,the third figure is a queen1 charming as a woman1 but particularly well-dressed1 and with details of ornament and person elaborately wrought2 worth drawing1 if one could only draw2 worth photographing with utmost care to include the strange support on which she stands3 a monkey1 two dragons1 a dog1 a basilisk with a dog's head4 ,two prophets follow--not so interesting2--prophets rarely interest4 ,then comes the central bay3 two queens who claim particular attention1 then a prophet1 then a saint next the doorway2 then on the southern jamb-shafts1 another saint1 a king1 a queen1 and another king4 ,last comes the southern bay1 the ,virgin's own1 and there stands first a figure said to be a youthful king2 then a strongly sculptured saint2 next the door a figure called also a king1 but so charmingly delicate in expression that the robes alone betray his sex2 and who this exquisite young aureoled king may have been who stands so close to the ,virgin1 at her right hand1 no one can now reveal4 ,opposite him is a saint who may be1 or should be1 the ,prince of the ,apostles2 then a bearded king with a broken sceptre1 standing on two dragons2 and1 at last1 a badly mutilated queen4 ,these statues are the ,eginetan marbles of ,french art2 from them all modern ,french sculpture dates1 or ought to date4 ,they are singularly interesting2 as naif as the smile on the faces of the ,greek warriors1 but no more grotesque than they4 ,you will see ,gothic grotesques in plenty1 and you cannot mistake the two intentions2 the twelfth century would sooner have tempted the tortures of every feudal dungeon in ,europe than have put before the ,virgin's eyes any figure that could be conceived as displeasing to her4 ,these figures are full of feeling1 and saturated with worship2 but what is most to our purpose is the feminine side which they proclaim and insist upon4 ,not only the number of the female figures1 and their beauty1 but also the singularly youthful beauty of several of the males2 the superb robes they wear2 the expression of their faces and their figures2 the details of hair1 stuffs1 ornaments1 jewels2 the refinement and feminine taste of the whole1 are enough to startle our interest if we recognize what meaning they had to the twelfth century4 ,these figures looked stiff and long and thin and ridiculous to enlightened citizens of the eighteenth century1 but they were made to fit the architecture2 if you want to know what an enthusiast thinks of them1 listen to ,m4 ,huysmans's ,cathedral4 ,beyond a doubt1 the most beautiful sculpture in the world is in this place4 ,he can hardly find words to express his admiration for the queens1 and particularly for the one on the right of the central doorway4 ,never in any period has a more expressive figure been thus wrought by the genius of man2 it is the chef-d'oeuvre of infantile grace and holy candour 4444 ,she is the elder sister of the ,prodigal ,son1 the one of whom ,saint ,luke does not speak1 but who1 if she existed1 would have pleaded the cause of the absent1 and insisted1 with the father1 that he should kill the fatted calf at his son's return4 ,the idea is charming if you are the returning son1 as many twelfth- century pilgrims must have thought themselves2 but1 in truth1 the figure is that of a queen2 an ,eleanor of ,guienne2 her position there is due to her majesty1 which bears witness to the celestial majesty of the ,court in which she is only a lady-in-waiting3 and she is hardly more humanly fascinating than her brother1 the youthful king at the ,virgin's right hand1 who has nothing of the ,prodigal ,son1 but who certainly has much of ,lohengrin1 or even--almost--,tristan4 ,the ,abbe ,bulteau has done his best to name these statues1 but the names would be only in your way4 ,that the sculptor meant them for a ,queen of ,sheba or a ,king of ,israel has little to do with their meaning in the twelfth century1 when the people were much more likely to have named them after the queens and kings they knew4 ,the whole charm lies for us in the twelfth-century humanity of ,mary and her ,court2 not in the scriptural names under which it was made orthodox4 ,here1 in this western portal1 it stands as the crusaders of #aajj-ej imagined it2 but by walking round the church to the porch over the entrance to the north transept1 you shall see it again as ,blanche of ,castile and ,saint ,louis imagined it1 a hundred years later1 so that you will know better whether the earthly attributes are exaggerated or untrue4 ,porches1 like steeples1 were rather a peculiarity of ,french churches1 and were studied1 varied1 one might even say petted1 by ,french architects to an extent hardly attempted elsewhere2 but among all the ,french porches1 those of ,chartres are the most famous4 ,there are two3 one on the north side1 devoted to the ,virgin2 the other1 on the south1 devoted to the ,son1 ,the mass of intelligence1 knowledge1 acquaintance with effects1 practical experience1 expended on these two porches of ,chartres1 says ,viollet-le-,duc1 would be enough to establish the glory of a whole generation of artists4 ,we begin with the north porch because it belonged to the ,virgin2 and it belonged to the ,virgin because the north was cold1 bleak1 sunless1 windy1 and needed warmth1 peace1 affection1 and power to protect against the assaults of ,satan and his swarming devils4 ,there the all-suffering but the all-powerful ,mother received other mothers who suffered like her1 but who1 as a rule1 were not powerful4 ,traditionally in the primitive church1 the northern porch belonged to the women4 ,when they needed help1 they came here1 because it was the only place in this world or in any other where they had much hope of finding even a reception4 ,see how ,mary received them6 ,the porch extends the whole width of the transept1 about one hundred and twenty feet 7#cg4fe metres71 divided into three bays some twenty feet deep1 and covered with a stone vaulted roof supported on piers outside4 ,begun toward #abae under ,philip ,augustus1 the architectural part was finished toward #abbe under ,louis ,,viii2 and after his death in #abbf1 the decorative work and statuary were carried on under the regency of his widow1 ,blanche of ,castile1 and through the reign of her son1 ,saint ,louis 7#abce-gj71 until about #abge1 when the work was completed by ,philip the ,hardy4 ,a gift of the royal family of ,france1 all the members of the family seem to have had a share in building it1 and several of their statues have been supposed to adorn it4 ,the walls are lined--the porch1 in a religious sense1 is inhabited--by more than seven hundred figures1 great and small1 all1 in one way or another1 devoted to the glory of the ,queen of ,heaven4 ,you will see that a hundred years have converted the ,byzantine ,empress into a ,french ,queen1 as the same years had converted ,alix of ,savoy into ,blanche of ,castile2 but the note of majesty is the same1 and the assertion of power is1 if possible1 more emphatic4 ,the highest note is struck at once1 in the central bay1 over the door1 where you see the ,coronation of ,mary as ,queen of ,heaven1 a favourite subject in art from very early times1 and the dominant idea of ,mary's church4 ,you see ,mary on the left1 seated on her throne2 on the right1 seated on a precisely similar throne1 is ,christ1 ,who holds up ,his right hand apparently to bless1 since ,mary already bears the crown4 ,mary bends forward1 with her hands raised toward her ,son1 as though in gratitude or adoration or prayer1 but certainly not in an attitude of feudal homage4 ,on either side1 an archangel swings a censer4 ,on the lintel below1 on the left1 is represented the death of ,mary2 on the right1 ,christ carries1 in the folds of ,his mantle1 the soul of ,mary in the form of a little child1 and at the same time blesses the body which is carried away by angels--,the ,resurrection of ,mary4 ,below the lintel1 supporting it1 and dividing the doorway in halves1 is the trumeau1--the central pier1--a new part of the portal which was unknown to the western door4 ,usually in the ,virgin's churches1 as at ,rheims1 or ,amiens or ,paris1 the ,virgin herself1 with her ,son in her arms1 stands against this pier1 trampling on the dragon with the woman's head4 ,here1 not the ,virgin with the ,christ1 but her mother ,saint ,anne stands1 with the infant ,virgin in her arms2 while beneath is1 or was1 ,saint ,joachim1 her husband1 among his flocks1 receiving from the ,archangel ,gabriel the annunciation4 ,so at the entrance the ,virgin declares herself divinely ,queen in her own right2 divinely born2 divinely resurrected from death1 on the third day2 seated by divine right on the throne of ,heaven1 at the right hand of ,god1 the ,son1 with ,whom she is one4 ,unless we feel this assertion of divine right in the ,queen of ,heaven1 apart from the ,trinity1 yet one with ,it1 ,chartres is unintelligible4 ,the extreme emphasis laid upon it at the church door shows what the church means within4 ,of course1 the assertion was not strictly orthodox2 perhaps1 since we are not members of the ,church1 we might be unnoticed and unrebuked if we start by suspecting that the worship of the ,virgin never was strictly orthodox2 but ,chartres was hers before it ever belonged to the ,church1 and1 like ,lourdes in our own time1 was a shrine peculiarly favoured by her presence4 ,the mere fact that it was a bishopric had little share in its sanctity4 ,the bishop was much more afraid of ,mary than he was of any ,church ,council ever held4 ,critics are doing their best to destroy the peculiar personal interest of this porch1 but tourists and pilgrims may be excused for insisting on their traditional rights here1 since the porch is singular1 even in the thirteenth century1 for belonging entirely to them and the royal family of ,france1 subject only to the ,virgin4 ,true artists1 turned critics1 think also less of rules than of values1 and no ignorant public can be trusted to join the critics in losing temper judiciously over the date or correctness of a portrait until they knew something of its motives and merits4 ,the public has always felt certain that some of the statues which stand against the outer piers of this porch are portraits1 and they see no force in the objection that such decoration was not customary in the ,church4 ,many things at ,chartres were not customary in the ,church1 although the ,church now prefers not to dwell on them4 ,therefore the student returns to ,viollet-le-,duc with his usual delight at finding at least one critic whose sense of values is stronger than his sense of rule3 ,each statue1 he says in his ,dictionary 7#aaa1 #aff71 possesses its personal character which remains graven on the memory like the recollection of a living being whom one has known 4444 ,a large part of the statues in the porches of ,notre ,dame de ,chartres1 as well as of the portals of the ,cathedrals of ,amiens and ,rheims1 possess these individual qualities1 and this it is which explains why these statues produce on the crowd so vivid an impression that it names them1 knows them1 and attaches to each of them an idea1 often a legend4 ,probably the crowd did so from the first moment they saw the statues1 and with good reason4 ,at all events1 they have attached to two of the most individual figures on the north porch1 two names1 perhaps the best known in ,france in the year #abbf1 but which since the year #acjj can have conveyed only the most shadowy meaning to any but pure antiquarians4 ,the group is so beautiful as to be given a plate to itself in the ,monographie 7number #bf71 as representing ,philip ,hurepel and his wife ,mahaut de ,boulogne4 ,so little could any crowd1 or even any antiquarian1 at any time within six hundred years have been likely to pitch on just these persons to associate with ,blanche of ,castile in any kind of family unity1 that the mere suggestion seems wild2 yet ,blanche outlived ,pierre by nearly twenty years1 and her power over this transept and porch ended only with her death as regent in #abeb4 ,philippe1 nicknamed ,hurepel1--,boarskin1--was a fils de,france1 whose father1 ,philip ,augustus1 had serious1 not to say fatal1 difficulties with the ,church about the legality of his marriage1 and was forced to abandon his wife1 who died in #abja1 after giving birth to ,hurepel in #abjj4 ,the child was recognized as legitimate1 and stood next to the throne1 after his half-brother ,louis1 who was thirteen years older4 ,almost at his birth he was affianced to ,mahaut1 ,countess of ,boulogne1 and the marriage was celebrated in #abaf4 ,rich and strongly connected1 ,hurepel naturally thought himself--and was--head of the royal family next to the ,king1 and when his half-brother1 ,louis ,,viii1 died in #abbf1 leaving only a son1 afterwards ,saint ,louis1 a ten-year-old boy1 to succeed1 ,hurepel very properly claimed the guardianship of his infant nephew1 and deeply resented being excluded by ,queen ,blanche from what he regarded-- perhaps with justice--as his right4 ,nearly all the great lords and the members of the royal family sided with him1 and entered into a civil war against ,blanche1 at the moment when these two porches of ,chartres were building1 between #abbh and #abcj4 ,the two greatest leaders of the conspiracy were ,hurepel1 whom we are expected to recognize on the pier of this porch1 and ,pierre ,mauclerc1 of ,brittany and ,dreux1 whom we have no choice but to admit on the trumeau of the other4 ,in those days every great feudal lord was more or less related by blood to the ,crown1 and although ,blanche of ,castile was also a cousin as well as queen-mother1 they hated her as a ,spanish intruder with such hatred as men felt in an age when passions were real4 ,that these two men should be found here1 associated with ,blanche in the same work1 at the same time1 under the same roof1 is a fantastic idea1 and students can feel in this political difficulty a much stronger objection to admitting ,hurepel to ,queen ,blanche's porch than any supposed rule of ,church custom2 yet the first privilege of tourist ignorance is the right to see1 or try to see1 their thirteenth century with thirteenth-century eyes4 ,passing by the statues of ,philip and ,mahaut1 and stepping inside the church door1 almost the first figure that the visitor sees on lifting his eyes to the upper windows of the transept is another figure of ,philippe ,hurepel1 in glass1 on his knees1 with clasped hands1 before an altar2 and to prevent possibility of mistake his blazoned coat bears the words3 ,phi3 ,conte de ,bolone4 ,apparently he is the donor1 for1 in the rose above1 he sits in arms on a white horse with a shield bearing the blazon of ,france4 ,obliged to make his peace with the ,queen in #abcj1 ,hurepel died in #abcc or #abcd1 while ,blanche was still regent1 and instantly took his place as of right side by side with ,blanche's castles of ,castile among the great benefactors of the church4 ,beneath the next rose is ,mahaut herself1 as donor1 bearing her husband's arms of ,france1 suggesting that the windows must have been given together1 probably before ,philip's death in #abcc1 since ,mahaut was married again in #abch1 this time to ,alfonso of ,portugal1 who repudiated her in #abdi1 and left her to die in her own town of ,boulogne in #abeh4 ,lastly1 in the third window of the series1 is her daughter ,jeanne1--,iehenne1--who was probably born before #abbj1 and who was married in #abcf to ,gaucher de ,chatillon1 one of the greatest warriors of his time4 ,jeanne also--according to the ,abbe ,bulteau 7#aaa1 #bbe7--;bears the arms of her father and mother2 which seems to suggest that she gave this window before her marriage4 ,these three windows1 therefore1 have the air of dating at least as early as #abcc when ,philip ,hurepel died1 while next them follow two more roses1 and the great rose of ,france1 presumably of the same date1 all scattered over with the castles of ,queen ,blanche4 ,the motive of the porch outside is repeated in the glass1 as it should be1 and as the ,saint ,anne of the ,rose of ,france1 within1 repeats the ,saint ,anne on the trumeau of the portal4 ,the personal stamp of the royal family is intense1 but the stamp of the ,virgin's personality is intenser still4 ,in the presence of ,mary1 not only did princes hide their quarrels1 but they also put on their most courteous manners and the most refined and even austere address4 ,the ,byzantine display of luxury and adornment had vanished4 ,all the figures suggest the sanctity of the ,king and his sister ,isabel2 the court has the air of a convent2 but the idea of ,mary's majesty is asserted through it all4 ,the artists and donors and priests forgot nothing which1 in their judgment1 could set off the authority1 elegance1 and refinement of the ,queen of ,heaven2 even the young ladies-in-waiting are there1 figured by the twelve ,virtues and the fourteen ,beatitudes2 and1 indeed1 though men are plenty and some of them are handsome1 women give the tone1 the charm1 and mostly the intelligence4 ,the ,court of ,mary is feminine1 and its charms are ,grace and ,love2 perhaps even more grace than love1 in a social sense1 if you look at ,beauty and ,friendship among ,beatitudes4 ,m4 ,huysmans insists that this sculpture is poor in comparison with his twelfth-century ,prodigal ,daughter1 and ,i hope you can enter into the spirit of his enthusiasm2 but other people prefer the thirteenth-century work1 and think it equals the best ,greek4 ,approaching1 or surpassing this1--as you like1--is the sculpture you will see at ,rheims1 of the same period1 and perhaps the same hands2 but1 for our purpose1 the ,queen of ,sheba1 here in the right-hand bay1 is enough1 because you can compare it on the spot with ,m4 ,huysmans's figure on the western portal1 which may also be a ,queen of ,sheba1 who1 as spouse of ,solomon1 typified the ,church1 and therefore prefigured ,mary herself4 ,both are types of ,court beauty and grace1 one from the twelfth century1 the other from the thirteenth1 and you can prefer which you please2 but you want to bear in mind that each1 in her time1 pleased the ,virgin4 ,you can even take for a settled fact that these were the types of feminine beauty and grace which pleased the ,virgin beyond all others4 ,the purity of taste1 feeling1 and manners which stamps the art of these centuries1 as it did the ,court of ,saint ,louis and his mother1 is something you will not wholly appreciate till you reach the depravity of the ,valois2 but still you can see how exquisite the ,virgin's taste was1 and how pure4 ,you can also see how she shrank from the sight of pain4 ,here1 in the central bay1 next to ,king ,david1 who stands at her right hand1 is the great figure of ,abraham about to sacrifice ,isaac4 ,if there is one subject more revolting than another to a woman who typifies the ,mother1 it is this subject of ,abraham and ,isaac1 with its compound horror of masculine stupidity and brutality4 ,the sculptor has tried to make even this motive a pleasing one4 ,he has placed ,abraham against the column in the correct harshness of attitude1 with his face turned aside and up1 listening for his orders2 but the little ,isaac1 with hands and feet tied1 leans like a bundle of sticks against his father's knee with an expression of perfect faith and confidence1 while ,abraham's left hand quiets him and caresses the boy's face1 with a movement that must have gone straight to ,mary's heart1 for ,isaac always prefigured ,christ4 ,the glory of ,mary was not one of terror1 and her porch contains no appeal to any emotion but those of her perfect grace4 ,if we were to stay here for weeks1 we should find only this idea worked into every detail4 ,the ,virgin of the thirteenth century is no longer an ,empress2 she is ,queen ,mother1--an idealized ,blanche of ,castile2--too high to want1 or suffer1 or to revenge1 or to aspire1 but not too high to pity1 to punish1 or to pardon4 ,the women went to her porch for help as naturally as babies to their mother2 and the men1 in her presence1 fell on their knees because they feared her intelligence and her anger4 ,not that all the men showed equal docility6 ,we must go next1 round the church1 to the south porch1 which was the gift of ,pierre ,mauclerc1 ,comte de ,dreux1 another member of the royal family1 great- grandson of ,louis ,,vi1 and therefore second cousin to ,louis ,,viii and ,philip ,hurepel4 ,philip ,augustus1 his father's first cousin1 married the young man1 in #abab1 to ,alix1 heiress of the ,duchy of ,brittany1 and this marriage made him one of the most powerful vassals of the ,crown4 ,he joined ,philip ,hurepel in resisting the regency of ,queen ,blanche in #abbg1 and ,blanche1 after a long struggle1 caused him to be deposed in #abcj4 ,pierre was obliged to submit1 and was pardoned4 ,until #abcf1 he remained in control of the ,duchy of ,brittany1 but then was obliged to surrender his power to his son1 and turned his turbulent activity against the infidels in ,syria and ,egypt1 dying in #abej1 on his return from ,saint ,louis's disastrous crusade4 ,pierre de ,dreux was a masculine character1--a bad cleric1 as his nickname ,mauclerc testified1 but a gentleman1 a soldier1 and a scholar1 and1 what is more to our purpose1 a man of taste4 ,he built the south porch at ,chartres1 apparently as a memorial of his marriage with ,alix in #abab1 and the statuary is of the same date with that of the north porch1 but1 like that1 it was not finished when ,pierre died in #abej4 ,one would like to know whether ,pierre preferred to take the southern entrance1 or whether he was driven there by the royal claim to the ,virgin's favour4 ,the southern porch belongs to the ,son1 as the northern belongs to the ,mother4 ,pierre never showed much deference to women1 and probably felt more at his ease under the protection of the ,son than of ,mary2 but in any case he showed as clearly as possible what he thought on this question of persons4 ,to ,pierre1 ,christ was first1 and he asserted his opinion as emphatically as ,blanche asserted hers4 ,which porch is the more beautiful is a question for artists to discuss and decide1 if they can4 ,either is good enough for us1 whose pose is ignorance1 and whose pose is strictly correct2 but apart from its beauty or its art1 there is also the question of feeling1 of motive1 which puts the ,porche de ,dreux in contrast with the ,porche de ,france1 and this is wholly within our competence4 ,at the outset1 the central bay displays1 above the doorway1 ,christ1 on a throne1 raising ,his hands to show the stigmata1 the wounds which were the proof of man's salvation4 ,at ,his right hand sits the ,mother1--without her crown2 on ,his left1 in equal rank with the ,mother1 sits ,saint ,john the ,evangelist4 ,both are in the same attitude of supplication as intercessors2 there is no distinction in rank or power between ,mary and ,john1 since neither has any power except what ,christ gives them4 ,pierre did not1 indeed1 put the ,mother on her knees before the ,son1 as you can see her at ,amiens and in later churches1--certainly bad taste in ,mary's own palace2 but he allowed her no distinction which is not her strict right4 ,the angels above and around bear the symbols of the ,passion2 they are unconscious of ,mary's presence2 they are absorbed in the perfections of the ,son4 ,on the lintel just below is the ,last ,judgment1 where ,saint ,michael reappears1 weighing the souls of the dead which ,mary and ,john above are trying to save from the strict justice of ,christ4 ,the whole melodrama of ,church terrors appears after the manner of the thirteenth century1 on this church door1 without regard to ,mary's feelings2 and below1 against the trumeau1 stands the great figure of ,christ1--the whole ,church1--trampling on the lion and dragon4 ,on either side of the doorway stand six great figures of the ,apostles asserting themselves as the columns of the ,church1 and looking down at us with an expression no longer calculated to calm our fears or encourage extravagant hopes4 ,no figure on this porch suggests a portrait or recalls a memory4 ,very grand1 indeed1 is this doorway2 dignified1 impressive1 and masculine to a degree seldom if ever equalled in art2 and the left bay rivals it4 ,there1 in the tympanum1 ,christ appears again2 standing2 bearing on ,his head the crown royal2 alone1 except for the two angels who adore1 and surrounded only by the martyrs1 ,his witnesses4 ,the right bay is devoted to ,saint ,nicholas and the ,saints ,confessors who bear witness to the authority of ,christ in faith4 ,of the twenty-eight great figures1 the officers of the royal court1 who make thus the strength of the ,church beneath ,christ1 not one is a woman4 ,the masculine orthodoxy of ,pierre ,mauclerc has spared neither sex nor youth2 all are of a maturity which chills the blood1 excepting two1 whose youthful beauty is heightened by the severity of their surroundings1 so that the ,abbe ,bulteau makes bold even to say that the two statues of ,saint ,george and of ,saint ,theodore may be regarded as the most beautiful of our cathedral1 perhaps even as the two masterpieces of statuary at the end of the thirteenth century4 ,on that point1 let every one follow his taste2 but one reflection at least seems to force itself on the mind in comparing these twenty-eight figures4 ,certainly the sword1 however it may compare with the pen in other directions1 is in art more powerful than all the pens1 or volumes1 or crosiers ever made4 ,your ,golden ,legend and ,roman ,breviary are here the only guide-books worth consulting1 and the stories of young ,george and ,theodore stand there recorded2 as their miracle under the walls of ,antioch1 during the first crusade1 is matter of history2 but among these magnificent figures one detects at a glance that it is not the religion or sacred purity of the subject1 or even the miracles or the sufferings1 which inspire passion for ,saint ,george and ,saint ,theodore1 under the ,abbe's robe2 it is with him1 as with the plain boy and girl1 simply youth1 with lance and sword and shield4 ,these two figures stand in the outer embrasures of the left bay1 where they can be best admired1 and perhaps this arrangement shows what ,perron de ,dreux1 as he was commonly called1 loved most1 in his heart of hearts2 but elsewhere1 even in this porch1 he relaxed his severity1 and became at times almost gracious to women4 ,good judges have1 indeed1 preferred this porch to the northern one2 but1 be that as you please1 it contains seven hundred and eighty-three figures1 large and small1 to serve for comparison4 ,among these1 the female element has its share1 though not a conspicuous one2 and even the ,virgin gets her rights1 though not beside her ,son4 ,to see her1 you must stand outside in the square and1 with a glass1 look at the central pignon1 or gable1 of the porch4 ,there1 just above the point of the arch1 you will see ,mary on her throne1 crowned1 wearing her royal robes1 and holding the ,child on her knees1 with the two archangels on either side offering incense4 ,pierre de ,dreux1 or some one else1 admitted at last that she was ,queen ,regent1 although evidently not eager to do so2 and if you turn your glass up to the gable of the transept itself1 above the great rose and the colonnade over it1 you can see another and a colossal statue of the ,virgin1 but standing1 with the ,child on her left arm4 ,she seems to be crowned1 and to hold the globe in her right hand2 but the ,abbe ,bulteau says it is a flower4 ,the two archangels are still there4 ,this figure is thought to have been a part of the finishing decoration added by ,philip the ,fair in #acjd4 ,in theology1 ,pierre de ,dreux seems to show himself a more learned clerk than his cousins of ,france1 and1 as an expression of the meaning the church of ,mary should externally display1 the ,porche de ,dreux1 if not as personal1 is as energetic as the ,porche de ,france1 or the western portal4 ,as we pass into the ,cathedral1 under the great ,christ1 on the trumeau1 you must stop to look at ,pierre himself4 ,a bridegroom1 crowned with flowers on his wedding-day1 he kneels in prayer1 while two servants distribute bread to the poor4 ,below1 you see him again1 seated with his wife ,alix before a table with one loaf1 assisting at the meal they give to the poor4 ,pierre kneels to ,god2 he and his wife bow before the ,virgin and the poor2-- but not to ,queen ,blanche6 ,now let us enter6-- ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,virgin ,,of ,,chartres ,we must take ten minutes to accustom our eyes to the light1 and we had better use them to seek the reason why we come to ,chartres rather than to ,rheims or ,amiens or ,bourges1 for the cathedral that fills our ideal4 ,the truth is1 there are several reasons2 there generally are1 for doing the things we like2 and after you have studied ,chartres to the ground1 and got your reasons settled1 you will never find an antiquarian to agree with you2 the architects will probably listen to you with contempt2 and even these excellent priests1 whose kindness is great1 whose patience is heavenly1 and whose good opinion you would so gladly gain1 will turn from you with pain1 if not with horror4 ,the ,gothic is singular in this2 one seems easily at home in the ,renaissance2 one is not too strange in the ,byzantine2 as for the ,roman1 it is ourselves2 and we could walk blindfolded through every chink and cranny of the ,greek mind2 all these styles seem modern1 when we come close to them2 but the ,gothic gets away4 ,no two men think alike about it1 and no woman agrees with either man4 ,the ,church itself never agreed about it1 and the architects agree even less than the priests4 ,to most minds it casts too many shadows2 it wraps itself in mystery2 and when people talk of mystery1 they commonly mean fear4 ,to others1 the ,gothic seems hoary with age and decrepitude1 and its shadows mean death4 ,what is curious to watch is the fanatical conviction of the ,gothic enthusiast1 to whom the twelfth century means exuberant youth1 the eternal child of ,wordsworth1 over whom its immortality broods like the day2 it is so simple and yet so complicated2 it sees so much and so little2 it loves so many toys and cares for so few necessities2 its youth is so young1 its age so old1 and its youthful yearning for old thought is so disconcerting1 like the mysterious senility of the baby that-- ,deaf and silent1 reads the eternal deep1 ,haunted forever by the eternal mind4 ,one need not take it more seriously than one takes the baby itself4 ,our amusement is to play with it1 and to catch its meaning in its smile2 and whatever ,chartres maybe now1 when young it was a smile4 ,to the ,church1 no doubt1 its cathedral here has a fixed and administrative meaning1 which is the same as that of every other bishop's seat and with which we have nothing whatever to do4 ,to us1 it is a child's fancy2 a toy-house to please the ,queen of ,heaven1-- to please her so much that she would be happy in it1--to charm her till she smiled4 ,the ,queen ,mother was as majestic as you like2 she was absolute2 she could be stern2 she was not above being angry2 but she was still a woman1 who loved grace1 beauty1 ornament1--her toilette1 robes1 jewels2--who considered the arrangements of her palace with attention1 and liked both light and colour2 who kept a keen eye on her ,court1 and exacted prompt and willing obedience from king and archbishops as well as from beggars and drunken priests4 ,she protected her friends and punished her enemies4 ,she required space1 beyond what was known in the ,courts of kings1 because she was liable at all times to have ten thousand people begging her for favours-- mostly inconsistent with law--and deaf to refusal4 ,she was extremely sensitive to neglect1 to disagreeable impressions1 to want of intelligence in her surroundings4 ,she was the greatest artist1 as she was the greatest philosopher and musician and theologist1 that ever lived on earth1 except her ,son1 ,who1 at ,chartres1 is still an ,infant under her guardianship4 ,her taste was infallible2 her sentence eternally final4 ,this church was built for her in this spirit of simple-minded1 practical1 utilitarian faith1--in this singleness of thought1 exactly as a little girl sets up a doll-house for her favourite blonde doll4 ,unless you can go back to your dolls1 you are out of place here4 ,if you can go back to them1 and get rid for one small hour of the weight of custom1 you shall see ,chartres in glory4 ,the palaces of earthly queens were hovels compared with these palaces of the ,queen of ,heaven at ,chartres1 ,paris1 ,laon1 ,noyon1 ,rheims1 ,amiens1 ,rouen1 ,bayeux1 ,coutances1--a list that might be stretched into a volume4 ,the nearest approach we have made to a palace was the ,merveille at ,mont-,saint-,michel1 but no ,queen had a palace equal to that4 ,the ,merveille was built1 or designed1 about the year #abjj2 toward the year #aejj1 ,louis ,,xi built a great castle at ,loches in ,touraine1 and there ,queen ,anne de ,bretagne had apartments which still exist1 and which we will visit4 ,at ,blois you shall see the residence which served for ,catherine de ,medicis till her death in #aehi4 ,anne de ,bretagne was trebly queen1 and ,catherine de ,medicis took her standard of comfort from the luxury of ,florence4 ,at ,versailles you can see the apartments which the queens of the ,bourbon line occupied through their century of magnificence4 ,all put together1 and then trebled in importance1 could not rival the splendour of any single cathedral dedicated to ,queen ,mary in the thirteenth century2 and of them all1 ,chartres was built to be peculiarly and exceptionally her delight4 ,one has grown so used to this sort of loose comparison1 this reckless waste of words1 that one no longer adopts an idea unless it is driven in with hammers of statistics and columns of figures4 ,with the irritating demand for literal exactness and perfectly straight lines which lights up every truly ,american eye1 you will certainly ask when this exaltation of ,mary began1 and unless you get the dates1 you will doubt the facts4 ,it is your own fault if they are tiresome2 you might easily read them all in the ,iconographie de la ,sainte ,vierge1 by ,m4 ,rohault de ,fleury1 published in #ahgh4 ,you can start at ,byzantium with the ,empress ,helena in #cbf1 or with the ,council of ,ephesus in #dca4 ,you will find the ,virgin acting as the patron saint of ,constantinople and of the ,imperial residence1 under as many names as ,artemis or ,aphrodite had borne4 ,as ,godmother word in ,greek ,deipara word in ,greek1 ,pathfinder word in ,greek1 afterwards gave to ,murillo the subject of a famous painting1 told that once1 when he was reciting before her statue the ,ave ,maris ,stella1 and came to the words1 ,monstra te esse ,matrem1 the image1 pressing its breast1 dropped on the lips of her servant three drops of the milk which had nourished the ,saviour4 ,the same miracle1 in various forms1 was told of many other persons1 both saints and sinners2 but it made so much impression on the mind of the age that1 in the fourteenth century1 ,dante1 seeking in ,paradise for some official introduction to the foot of the ,throne1 found no intercessor with the ,queen of ,heaven more potent than ,saint ,bernard4 ,you can still read ,bernard's hymns to the ,virgin1 and even his sermons1 if you like4 ,to him she was the great mediator4 ,in the eyes of a culpable humanity1 ,christ was too sublime1 too terrible1 too just1 but not even the weakest human frailty could fear to approach his ,mother4 ,her attribute was humility2 her love and pity were infinite4 ,let him deny your mercy who can say that he has ever asked it in vain4 ,saint ,bernard was emotional and to a certain degree mystical1 like ,adam de ,saint-,victor1 whose hymns were equally famous1 but the emotional saints and mystical poets were not by any means allowed to establish exclusive rights to the ,virgin's favour4 ,abelard was as devoted as they were1 and wrote hymns as well4 ,philosophy claimed her1 and ,albert the ,great1 the head of scholasticism1 the teacher of ,thomas ,aquinas1 decided in her favour the question3 ,whether the ,blessed ,virgin possessed perfectly the seven liberal arts4 ,the ,church at ,chartres had decided it a hundred years before by putting the seven liberal arts next her throne1 with ,aristotle himself to witness2 but ,albertus gave the reason3 ,i hold that she did1 for it is written1 ',wisdom has built herself a house1 and has sculptured seven columns4' ,that house is the blessed ,virgin2 the seven columns are the seven liberal arts4 ,mary1 therefore1 had perfect mastery of science4 ,naturally she had also perfect mastery of economics1 and most of her great churches were built in economic centres4 ,the guilds were1 if possible1 more devoted to her than the monks2 the bourgeoisie of ,paris1 ,rouen1 ,amiens1 ,laon1 spend money by millions to gain her favour4 ,most surprising of all1 the great military class was perhaps the most vociferous4 ,of all inappropriate haunts for the gentle1 courteous1 pitying ,mary1 a field of battle seems to be the worst1 if not distinctly blasphemous2 yet the greatest ,french warriors insisted on her leading them into battle1 and in the actual melee when men were killing each other1 on every battle-field in ,europe1 for at least five hundred years1 ,mary was present1 leading both sides4 ,the battle-cry of the famous ,constable du ,guesclin was ,notre-,dame-,guesclin2 ,notre-,dame-,coucy was the cry of the great ,sires de ,coucy2 ,notre-,dame-,auxerre2 ,notre-,dame-,sancerre2 ,notre- ,dame-,hainault2 ,notre-,dame-,gueldres2 ,notre-,dame-,bourbon2 ,notre- ,dame-,bearn2--all well-known battle-cries4 ,the ,king's own battle at one time cried1 ,notre-,dame-,saint-,denis-,montjoie2 the ,dukes of ,burgundy cried1 ,notre-,dame-,bourgogne2 and even the soldiers of the ,pope were said to cry1 ,notre-,dame-,saint-,pierre4 ,the measure of this devotion1 which proves to any religious ,american mind1 beyond possible cavil1 its serious and practical reality1 is the money it cost4 ,according to statistics1 in the single century between #aagj and #abgj1 the ,french built eighty cathedrals and nearly five hundred churches of the cathedral class1 which would have cost1 according to an estimate made in #ahdj1 more than five thousand millions to replace4 ,five thousand million francs is a thousand million dollars1 and this covered only the great churches of a single century4 ,the same scale of expenditure had been going on since the year #ajjj1 and almost every parish in ,france had rebuilt its church in stone2 to this day ,france is strewn with the ruins of this architecture1 and yet the still preserved churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries1 among the churches that belong to the ,romanesque and ,transition period1 are numbered by hundreds until they reach well into the thousands4 ,the share of this capital which was--if one may use a commercial figure--invested in the ,virgin cannot be fixed1 any more than the total sum given to religious objects between #ajjj and #acjj2 but in a spiritual and artistic sense1 it was almost the whole1 and expressed an intensity of conviction never again reached by any passion1 whether of religion1 of loyalty1 of patriotism1 or of wealth2 perhaps never even parallelled by any single economic effort1 except in war4 ,nearly every great church of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries belonged to ,mary1 until in ,france one asks for the church of ,notre ,dame as though it meant cathedral2 but1 not satisfied with this1 she contracted the habit of requiring in all churches a chapel of her own1 called in ,english the ,lady ,chapel1 which was apt to be as large as the church but was always meant to be handsomer2 and there1 behind the high altar1 in her own private apartment1 ,mary sat1 receiving her innumerable suppliants1 and ready at any moment to step up upon the high altar itself to support the tottering authority of the local saint4 ,expenditure like this rests invariably on an economic idea4 ,just as the ,french of the nineteenth century invested their surplus capital in a railway system in the belief that they would make money by it in this life1 in the thirteenth they trusted their money to the ,queen of ,heaven because of their belief in her power to repay it with interest in the life to come4 ,the investment was based on the power of ,mary as ,queen rather than on any orthodox ,church conception of the ,virgin's legitimate station4 ,papal ,rome never greatly loved ,byzantine empresses or ,french queens4 ,the ,virgin of ,chartres was never wholly sympathetic to the ,roman ,curia4 ,to this day the ,church writers--like the ,abbe ,bulteau or ,m4 ,rohault de ,fleury--are singularly shy of the true ,virgin of majesty1 whether at ,chartres or at ,byzantium or wherever she is seen4 ,the fathers ,martin and ,cahier at ,bourges alone left her true value4 ,had the ,church controlled her1 the ,virgin would perhaps have remained prostrate at the foot of the ,cross4 ,dragged by a ,byzantine ,court1 backed by popular insistence and impelled by overpowering self-interest1 the ,church accepted the ,virgin throned and crowned1 seated by ,christ1 the ,judge throned and crowned2 but even this did not wholly satisfy the ,french of the thirteenth century who seemed bent on absorbing ,christ in ,his ,mother1 and making the ,mother the ,church1 and ,christ the ,symbol4 ,the ,church had crowned and enthroned her almost from the beginning1 and could not have dethroned her if it would4 ,in all ,christian art-- sculpture or mosaic1 painting or poetry--the ,virgin's rank was expressly asserted4 ,saint ,bernard1 like ,john ,comnenus1 and probably at the same time 7#aabj-dj71 chanted hymns to the ,virgin as ,queen3-- ,o salutaris ,virgo ,stella ,maris ,generans prolem1 ,aequitatis solem1 ,lucis auctorem1 ,retinens pudorem1 ,suscipe laudem6 ,celi ,regina ,per quam medicina ,datur aegretis1 ,gratia devotis1 ,gaudium moestis1 ,mundo lux coelestis1 ,spesque salutis2 ,aula regalis1 ,virgo specialis1 ,posce medelam ,nobis et tutelam1 ,suscipe vota1 ,precibusque cuncta ,pelle molesta6 ,o ,saviour ,virgin1 ,star of ,sea1 ,who bore for child the ,son of ,justice1 ,the source of ,light1 ,virgin always ,hear our praise6 ,queen of ,heaven who have given ,medicine to the sick1 ,grace to the devout1 ,joy to the sad1 ,heaven's light to the world ,and hope of salvation2 ,court royal1 ,virgin typical1 ,grant us cure and guard1 ,accept our vows1 and by prayers ,drive all griefs away6 ,as the lyrical poet of the twelfth century1 ,adam de ,saint-,victor seems to have held rank higher if possible than that of ,saint ,bernard1 and his hymns on the ,virgin are certainly quite as emphatic an assertion of her majesty3-- ,imperatrix supernorum6 ,superatrix infernorum6 ,eligenda via coeli1 ,retinenda spe fideli1 ,separatos a te longe ,revocatos ad te junge ,tuorum collegio6 ,empress of the highest1 ,mistress over the lowest1 ,chosen path of ,heaven1 ,held fast by faithful hope1 ,those separated from you far1 ,recalled to you1 unite ,in your fold6 ,to delight in the childish jingle of the mediaeval ,latin is a sign of a futile mind1 no doubt1 and ,i beg pardon of you and of the ,church for wasting your precious summer day on poetry which was regarded as mystical in its age and which now sounds like a nursery rhyme2 but a verse or two of ,adam's hymn on the ,assumption of the ,virgin completes the record of her rank1 and goes to complete also the documentary proof of her majesty at ,chartres3-- ,salve1 ,mater ,salvatoris6 ,vas electum6 ,vas honoris6 ,vas coelestis ,gratiae6 ,ab aeterno ,vas provisum6 ,vas insigne6 ,vas excisum ,manu sapientiae6 ,salve1 ,mater pietatis1 ,et totius ,trinitatis ,nobile ,triclinium6 ,verbi tamen incarnati ,speciale majestati ,praeparans hospitium6 ,o ,maria6 ,stella maris6 ,dignitate singularis1 ,super omnes ordinaries ,ordines coelestium6 ,in supremo sita poli ,nos commenda tuae proli1 ,ne terrores sive doli ,nos supplantent hostium6 ,mother of our ,saviour1 hail6 ,chosen vessel6 ,sacred ,grail6 ,font of celestial grace6 ,from eternity forethought6 ,by the hand of ,wisdom wrought6 ,precious1 faultless ,vase6 ,hail1 ,mother of ,divinity6 ,hail1 ,temple of the ,trinity6 ,home of the ,triune ,god6 ,in whom the ,incarnate ,word had birth1 ,the ,king6 to whom you gave on earth ,imperial abode4 ,oh1 ,maria6 ,constellation6 ,inspiration6 ,elevation6 ,rule and ,law and ,ordination ,of the angels' host6 ,highest height of ,god's ,creation1 ,pray your ,son's commiseration1 ,lest1 by fear or fraud1 salvation ,for our souls be lost6 ,constantly--one might better say at once1 officially1 she was addressed in these terms of supreme majesty3 ,imperatrix supernorum6 ,coeli ,regina6 ,aula regalis6 but the twelfth century seemed determined to carry the idea out to its logical conclusion in defiance of dogma4 ,not only was the ,son absorbed in the ,mother1 or represented as under her guardianship1 but the ,father fared no better1 and the ,holy ,ghost followed4 ,the poets regarded the ,virgin as the ,templum ,trinitatis2 totius ,trinitatis nobile ,triclinium4 ,she was the refectory of the ,trinity--the ,triclinium--because the refectory was the largest room and contained the whole of the members1 and was divided in three parts by two rows of columns4 ,she was the ,templum ,trinitatis1 the ,church itself1 with its triple aisle4 ,the ,trinity was absorbed in her4 ,this is a delicate subject in the ,church1 and you must feel it with delicacy1 without brutally insisting on its necessary contradictions4 ,all theology and all philosophy are full of contradictions quite as flagrant and far less sympathetic4 ,this particular variety of religious faith is simply human1 and has made its appearance in one form or another in nearly all religions2 but though the twelfth century carried it to an extreme1 and at ,chartres you see it in its most charming expression1 we have got always to make allowances for what was going on beneath the surface in men's minds1 consciously or unconsciously1 and for the latent scepticism which lurks behind all faith4 ,the ,church itself never quite accepted the full claims of what was called ,mariolatry4 ,one may be sure1 too1 that the bourgeois capitalist and the student of the schools1 each from his own point of view1 watched the ,virgin with anxious interest4 ,the bourgeois had put an enormous share of1 his capital into what was in fact an economical speculation1 not unlike the ,south ,sea ,scheme1 or the railway system of our own time2 except that in one case the energy was devoted to shortening the road to ,heaven2 in the other1 to shortening the road to ,paris2 but no serious schoolman could have felt entirely convinced that ,god would enter into a business partnership with man1 to establish a sort of joint- stock society for altering the operation of divine and universal laws4 ,the bourgeois cared little for the philosophical doubt if the economical result proved to be good1 but he watched this result with his usual practical sagacity1 and required an experience of only about three generations 7#abjj-acjj7 to satisfy himself that relics were not certain in their effects2 that the ,saints were not always able or willing to help2 that ,mary herself could not certainly be bought or bribed2 that prayer without money seemed to be quite as efficacious as prayer with money2 and that neither the road to ,heaven nor ,heaven itself had been made surer or brought nearer by an investment of capital which amounted to the best part of the wealth of ,france4 ,economically speaking1 he became satisfied that his enormous money-investment had proved to be an almost total loss1 and the reaction on his mind was as violent as the emotion4 ,for three hundred years it prostrated ,france4 ,the efforts of the bourgeoisie and the peasantry to recover their property1 so far as it was recoverable1 have lasted to the present day and we had best take care not to get mixed in those passions4 ,if you are to get the full enjoyment of ,chartres1 you must1 for the time1 believe in ,mary as ,bernard and ,adam did1 and feel her presence as the architects did1 in every stone they placed1 and every touch they chiselled4 ,you must try first to rid your mind of the traditional idea that the ,gothic is an intentional expression of religious gloom4 ,the necessity for light was the motive of the ,gothic architects4 ,they needed light and always more light1 until they sacrificed safety and common sense in trying to get it4 ,they converted their walls into windows1 raised their vaults1 diminished their piers1 until their churches could no longer stand4 ,you will see the limits at ,beauvais2 at ,chartres we have not got so far1 but even here1 in places where the ,virgin wanted it1--as above the high altar1--the architect has taken all the light there was to take4 ,for the same reason1 fenestration became the most important part of the ,gothic architect's work1 and at ,chartres was uncommonly interesting because the architect was obliged to design a new system1 which should at the same time satisfy the laws of construction and the taste and imagination of ,mary4 ,no doubt the first command of the ,queen of ,heaven was for light1 but the second1 at least equally imperative1 was for colour4 ,any earthly queen1 even though she were not ,byzantine in taste1 loved colour2 and the truest of queens--the only true ,queen of ,queens--had richer and finer taste in colour than the queens of fifty earthly kingdoms1 as you will see when we come to the immense effort to gratify her in the glass of her windows4 ,illusion for illusion1--granting for the moment that ,mary was an illusion1--the ,virgin ,mother in this instance repaid to her worshippers a larger return for their money than the capitalist has ever been able to get1 at least in this world1 from any other illusion of wealth which he has tried to make a source of pleasure and profit4 ,the next point on which ,mary evidently insisted was the arrangement for her private apartments1 the apse1 as distinguished from her throne-room1 the choir2 both being quite distinct from the hall1 or reception-room of the public1 which was the nave with its enlargements in the transepts4 ,this arrangement marks the distinction between churches built as shrines for the deity and churches built as halls of worship for the public4 ,the difference is chiefly in the apse1 and the apse of ,chartres is the most interesting of all apses from this point of view4 ,the ,virgin required chiefly these three things1 or1 if you like1 these four3 space1 light1 convenience2 and colour decoration to unite and harmonize the whole4 ,this concerns the interior2 on the exterior she required statuary1 and the only complete system of decorative sculpture that existed seems to belong to her churches3-- ,paris1 ,rheims1 ,amiens1 and ,chartres4 ,mary required all this magnificence at ,chartres for herself alone1 not for the public4 ,as far as one can see into the spirit of the builders1 ,chartres was exclusively intended for the ,virgin1 as the ,temple of ,abydos was intended for ,osiris4 ,the wants of man1 beyond a mere roof-cover1 and perhaps space to some degree1 enter to no very great extent into the problem of ,chartres4 ,man came to render homage or to ask favours4 ,the ,queen received him in her palace1 where she alone was at home1 and alone gave commands4 ,the artist's second thought was to exclude from his work everything that could displease ,mary2 and since ,mary differed from living queens only in infinitely greater majesty and refinement1 the artist could admit only what pleased the actual taste of the great ladies who dictated taste at the ,courts of ,france and ,england1 which surrounded the little ,court of the ,counts of ,chartres4 ,what they were--these women of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries--we shall have to see or seek in other directions2 but ,chartres is perhaps the most magnificent and permanent monument they left of their taste1 and we can begin here with learning certain things which they were not4 ,in the first place1 they were not in the least vague1 dreamy1 or mystical in a modern sense2--far from it6 ,they seemed anxious only to throw the mysteries into a blaze of light2 not so much physical1 perhaps1--since they1 like all women1 liked moderate shadow for their toilettes1--but luminous in the sense of faith4 ,there is nothing about ,chartres that you would think mystical1 who know your ,lohengrin1 ,siegfried1 and ,parsifal4 ,if you care to make a study of the whole literature of the subject1 read ,m4 ,male's ,art ,religieux du ,x,i,i,ie ,siecle en ,france1 and use it for a guide-book4 ,here you need only note how symbolic and how simple the sculpture is1 on the portals and porches4 ,even what seems a grotesque or an abstract idea is no more than the simplest child's personification4 ,on the walls you may have noticed the ,ane qui vielle1--the ass playing the lyre2 and on all the old churches you can see bestiaries1 as they were called1 of fabulous animals1 symbolic or not2 but the symbolism is as simple as the realism of the oxen at ,laon4 ,it gave play to the artist in his effort for variety of decoration1 and it amused the people1--probably the ,virgin also was not above being amused2--now and then it seems about to suggest what you would call an esoteric meaning1 that is to say1 a meaning which each one of us can consider private property reserved for our own amusement1 and from which the public is excluded2 yet1 in truth1 in the ,virgin's churches the public is never excluded1 but invited4 ,the ,virgin even had the additional charm to the public that she was popularly supposed to have no very marked fancy for priests as such2 she was a queen1 a woman1 and a mother1 functions1 all1 which priests could not perform4 ,accordingly1 she seems to have had little taste for mysteries of any sort1 and even the symbols that seem most mysterious were clear to every old peasant-woman in her church4 ,the most pleasing and promising of them all is the woman's figure you saw on the front of the cathedral in ,paris2 her eyes bandaged2 her head bent down2 her crown falling2 without cloak or royal robe2 holding in her hand a guidon or banner with its staff broken in more than one place4 ,on the opposite pier stands another woman1 with royal mantle1 erect and commanding4 ,the symbol is so graceful that one is quite eager to know its meaning2 but every child in the ,middle ,ages would have instantly told you that the woman with the falling crown meant only the ,jewish ,synagogue1 as the one with the royal robe meant the ,church of ,christ4 ,another matter for which the female taste seemed not much to care was theology in the metaphysical sense4 ,mary troubled herself little about theology except when she retired into the south transept with ,pierre de ,dreux4 ,even there one finds little said about the ,trinity1 always the most metaphysical subtlety of the ,church4 ,indeed1 you might find much amusement here in searching the cathedral for any distinct expression at all of the ,trinity as a dogma recognized by ,mary4 ,one cannot take seriously the idea that the three doors1 the three portals1 and the three aisles express the ,trinity1 because1 in the first place1 there was no rule about it2 churches might have what portals and aisles they pleased2 both ,paris and ,bourges have five2 the doors themselves are not allotted to the three members of the ,trinity1 nor are the portals2 while another more serious objection is that the side doors and aisles are not of equal importance with the central1 but mere adjuncts and dependencies1 so that the architect who had misled the ignorant public into accepting so black a heresy would have deserved the stake1 and would probably have gone to it4 ,even this suggestion of trinity is wanting in the transepts1 which have only one aisle1 and in the choir1 which has five1 as well as five or seven chapels1 and1 as far as an ignorant mind can penetrate1 no triplets whatever4 ,occasionally1 no doubt1 you will discover in some sculpture or window1 a symbol of the ,trinity1 but this discovery itself amounts to an admission of its absence as a controlling idea1 for the ordinary worshipper must have been at least as blind as we are1 and to him1 as to us1 it would have seemed a wholly subordinate detail4 ,even if the ,trinity1 too1 is anywhere expressed1 you will hardly find here an attempt to explain its metaphysical meaning--not even a mystic triangle4 ,the church is wholly given up to the ,mother and the ,son4 ,the ,father seldom appears2 the ,holy ,ghost still more rarely4 ,at least1 this is the impression made on an ordinary visitor who has no motive to be orthodox2 and it must have been the same with the thirteenth-century worshipper who came here with his mind absorbed in the perfections of ,mary4 ,chartres represents1 not the ,trinity1 but the identity of the ,mother and ,son4 ,the ,son represents the ,trinity1 which is thus absorbed in the ,mother4 ,the idea is not orthodox1 but this is no affair of ours4 ,the ,church watches over its own4 ,the ,virgin's wants and tastes1 positive and negative1 ought now to be clear enough to enable you to feel the artist's sincerity in trying to satisfy them2 but first you have still to convince yourselves of the people's sincerity in employing the artists4 ,this point is the easiest of all1 for the evidence is express4 ,in the year #aade when the old fleche was begun1--the year before ,saint ,bernard preached the second crusade at ,vezelay1--,abbot ,haimon1 of ,saint-,pierre-sur-,dives in ,normandy1 wrote to the monks of ,tutbury ,abbey in ,england a famous letter to tell of the great work which the ,virgin was doing in ,france and which began at the ,church of ,chartres4 ,hujus sacrae institutionis ritus apud ,carnotensem ecclesiam est inchoatus4 ,from ,chartres it had spread through ,normandy1 where it produced among other things the beautiful spire which we saw at ,saint-,pierre-sur-,dives4 ,postremo per totam fere ,normanniam longe lateque convaluit ac loca per singula ,matri misericordiae dicata praecipue occupavit4 ,the movement affected especially the places devoted to ,mary1 but ran through all ,normandy1 far and wide4 ,of all ,mary's miracles1 the best attested1 next to the preservation of her church1 is the building of it2 not so much because it surprises us as because it surprised even more the people of the time and the men who were its instruments4 ,such deep popular movements are always surprising1 and at ,chartres the miracle seems to have occurred three times1 coinciding more or less with the dates of the crusades1 and taking the organization of a crusade1 as ,archbishop ,hugo of ,rouen described it in a letter to ,bishop ,thierry of ,amiens4 ,the most interesting part of this letter is the evident astonishment of the writer1 who might be talking to us to-day1 so modern is he3-- ,the inhabitants of ,chartres have combined to aid in the construction of their church by transporting the materials2 our ,lord has rewarded their humble zeal by miracles which have roused the ,normans to imitate the piety of their neighbours 444 ,since then the faithful of our diocese and of other neighbouring regions have formed associations for the same object2 they admit no one into their company unless he has been to confession1 has renounced enmities and revenges1 and has reconciled himself with his enemies4 ,that done1 they elect a chief1 under whose direction they conduct their waggons in silence and with humility4 ,the quarries at ,bercheres-l',eveque are about five miles from ,chartres4 ,the stone is excessively hard1 and was cut in blocks of considerable size1 as you can see for yourselves2 blocks which required great effort to transport and lay in place4 ,the work was done with feverish rapidity1 as it still shows1 but it is the solidest building of the age1 and without a sign of weakness yet4 ,the ,abbot told1 with more surprise than pride1 of the spirit which was built into the cathedral with the stone3--,who has ever seen6-- ,who has ever heard tell1 in times past1 that powerful princes of the world1 that men brought up in honour and in wealth1 that nobles1 men and women1 have bent their proud and haughty necks to the harness of carts1 and that1 like beasts of burden1 they have dragged to the abode of ,christ these waggons1 loaded with wines1 grains1 oil1 stone1 wood1 and all that is necessary for the wants of life1 or for the construction of the church8 ,but while they draw these burdens1 there is one thing admirable to observe2 it is that often when a thousand persons and more are attached to the chariots1--so great is the difficulty1--yet they march in such silence that not a murmur is heard1 and truly if one did not see the thing with one's eyes1 one might believe that among such a multitude there was hardly a person present4 ,when they halt on the road1 nothing is heard but the confession of sins1 and pure and suppliant prayer to ,god to obtain pardon4 ,at the voice of the priests who exhort their hearts to peace1 they forget all hatred1 discord is thrown far aside1 debts are remitted1 the unity of hearts is established4 ,but if any one is so far advanced in evil as to be unwilling to pardon an offender1 or if he rejects the counsel of the priest who has piously advised him1 his offering is instantly thrown from the wagon as impure1 and he himself ignominiously and shamefully excluded from the society of the holy4 ,there one sees the priests who preside over each chariot exhort every one to penitence1 to confession of faults1 to the resolution of better life6 ,there one sees old people1 young people1 little children1 calling on the ,lord with a suppliant voice1 and uttering to ,him1 from the depth of the heart1 sobs and sighs with words of glory and praise6 ,after the people1 warned by the sound of trumpets and the sight of banners1 have resumed their road1 the march is made with such ease that no obstacle can retard it 444 ,when they have reached the church they arrange the wagons about it like a spiritual camp1 and during the whole night they celebrate the watch by hymns and canticles4 ,on each waggon they light tapers and lamps2 they place there the infirm and sick1 and bring them the precious relics of the ,saints for their relief4 ,afterwards the priests and clerics close the ceremony by processions which the people follow with devout heart1 imploring the clemency of the ,lord and of his ,blessed ,mother for the recovery of the sick4 ,of course1 the ,virgin was actually and constantly present during all this labour1 and gave her assistance to it1 but you would get no light on the architecture from listening to an account of her miracles1 nor do they heighten the effect of popular faith4 ,without the conviction of her personal presence1 men would not have been inspired2 but1 to us1 it is rather the inspiration of the art which proves the ,virgin's presence1 and we can better see the conviction of it in the work than in the words4 ,every day1 as the work went on1 the ,virgin was present1 directing the architects1 and it is this direction that we are going to study1 if you have now got a realizing sense of what it meant4 ,without this sense1 the church is dead4 ,most persons of a deeply religious nature would tell you emphatically that nine churches out of ten actually were dead-born1 after the thirteenth century1 and that church architecture became a pure matter of mechanism and mathematics2 but that is a question for you to decide when you come to it2 and the pleasure consists not in seeing the death1 but in feeling the life4 ,now let us look about6 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,roses ,,and ,,apses ,like all great churches1 that are not mere storehouses of theology1 ,chartres expressed1 besides whatever else it meant1 an emotion1 the deepest man ever felt1--the struggle of his own littleness to grasp the infinite4 ,you may1 if you like1 figure in it a mathematic formula of infinity1--the broken arch1 our finite idea of space2 the spire1 pointing1 with its converging lines1 to unity beyond space2 the sleepless1 restless thrust of the vaults1 telling the unsatisfied1 incomplete1 overstrained effort of man to rival the energy1 intelligence1 and purpose of ,god4 ,thomas ,aquinas and the schoolmen tried to put it in words1 but their ,church is another chapter4 ,in act1 all man's work ends there2--mathematics1 physics1 chemistry1 dynamics1 optics1 every sort of machinery science may invent1--to this favour come at last1 as religion and philosophy did before science was born4 ,all that the centuries can do is to express the idea differently3--a miracle or a dynamo2 a dome or a coal-pit2 a cathedral or a world's fair2 and sometimes to confuse the two expressions together4 ,the world's fair tends more and more vigorously to express the thought of infinite energy2 the great cathedrals of the ,middle ,ages always reflected the industries and interests of a world's fair4 ,chartres showed it less than ,laon or ,paris1 for ,chartres was never a manufacturing town1 but a shrine1 such as ,lourdes1 where the ,virgin was known to have done miracles1 and had been seen in person2 but still the shrine turned itself into a market and created valuable industries4 ,indeed1 this was the chief objection which ,saint ,paul made to ,ephesus and ,saint ,bernard to the cathedrals4 ,they were in some ways more industrial than religious4 ,the mere masonry and structure made a vast market for labour2 the fixed metalwork and woodwork were another2 but the decoration was by far the greatest4 ,the wood-carving1 the glass windows1 the sculpture1 inside and out1 were done mostly in workshops on the spot1 but besides these fixed objects1 precious works of the highest perfection filled the church treasuries4 ,their money value was great then2 it is greater now4 ,no world's fair is likely to do better to- day4 ,after five hundred years of spoliation1 these objects fill museums still1 and are bought with avidity at every auction1 at prices continually rising and quality steadily falling1 until a bit of twelfth-century glass would be a trouvaille like an emerald2 a tapestry earlier than #afjj is not for mere tourists to hope2 an enamel1 a missal1 a crystal1 a cup1 an embroidery of the ,middle ,ages belongs only to our betters1 and almost invariably1 if not to the ,state1 to the rich ,jews1 whose instinctive taste has seized the whole field of art which rested on their degradation4 ,royalty and feudality spent their money rather on arms and clothes4 ,the ,church alone was universal patron1 and the ,virgin was the dictator of taste4 ,with the ,virgin's taste1 during her regency1 critics never find fault4 ,one cannot know its whole magnificence1 but one can accept it as a matter of faith and trust1 as one accepts all her other miracles without cavilling over small details of fact4 ,the period of eighteenth-century scepticism about such matters and the bourgeois taste of ,voltaire and ,diderot have long since passed1 with the advent of a scientific taste still more miraculous2 the whole world of the ,virgin's art1 catalogued in the ,dictionnaire du ,mobilier ,francais in six volumes by ,viollet-le-,duc2 narrated as history by ,m4 ,labarte1 ,m4 ,molinier1 ,m4 ,paul ,lacroix2 catalogued in museums by ,m4 du ,sommerard and a score of others1 in works almost as costly as the subjects1--all the vast variety of bric-a-brac1 useful or ornamental1 belonging to the ,church1 increased enormously by the insatiable1 universal1 private demands for imagery1 in ivory1 wood1 metal1 stone1 for every room in every house1 or hung about every neck1 or stuck on every hat1 made a market such as artists never knew before or since1 and such as instantly explains to the practical ,american not only the reason for the ,church's tenacity of life1 but also the inducements for its plunder4 ,the ,virgin especially required all the resources of art1 and the highest4 ,notre ,dame of ,chartres would have laughed at ,notre ,dame of ,paris if she had detected an economy in her robes2 ,notre ,dame of ,rheims or ,rouen would have derided ,notre ,dame of ,amiens if she had shown a feminine1 domestic1 maternal turn toward cheapness4 ,the ,virgin was never cheap4 ,her great ceremonies were as splendid as her rank of ,queen in ,heaven and on ,earth required2 and as her procession wound its way along the aisles1 through the crowd of her subjects1 up to the high altar1 it was impossible then1 and not altogether easy now1 to resist the rapture of her radiant presence4 ,many a young person1 and now and then one who is not in first youth1 witnessing the sight in the religious atmosphere of such a church as this1 without a suspicion of susceptibility1 has suddenly seen what ,paul saw on the road to ,damascus1 and has fallen on his face with the crowd1 grovelling at the foot of the ,cross1 which1 for the first time in his life1 he feels4 ,if you want to know what churches were made for1 come down here on some great festival of the ,virgin1 and give yourself up to it2 but come alone6 ,that kind of knowledge cannot be taught and can seldom be shared4 ,we are not now seeking religion2 indeed1 true religion generally comes unsought4 ,we are trying only to feel ,gothic art4 ,for us1 the world is not a schoolroom or a pulpit1 but a stage1 and the stage is the highest yet seen on earth4 ,in this church the old ,romanesque leaps into the ,gothic under our eyes2 of a sudden1 between the portal and the shrine1 the infinite rises into a new expression1 always a rare and excellent miracle in thought4 ,the two expressions are nowhere far apart2 not further than the ,mother from the ,son4 ,the new artist drops unwillingly the hand of his father or his grandfather2 he looks back1 from every corner of his own work1 to see whether it goes with the old4 ,he will not part with the western portal or the lancet windows2 he holds close to the round columns of the choir2 he would have kept the round arch if he could1 but the round arch was unable to do the work2 it could not rise2 so he broke it1 lifted the vaulting1 threw out flying buttresses1 and satisfied the ,virgin's wish4 ,the matter of ,gothic vaulting1 with its two weak points1 the flying buttress and the false1 wooden shelter-roof1 is the bete noire of the ,beaux ,arts4 ,the duty of defence does not lie on tourists1 who are at best hardly able to understand what it matters whether a wall is buttressed without or within1 and whether a roof is single or double4 ,no one objects to the dome of ,saint ,peter's4 ,no one finds fault with the ,pont ,neuf4 ,yet it is true that the ,gothic architect showed contempt for facts4 ,since he could not support a heavy stone vault on his light columns1 he built the lightest possible stone vault and protected it with a wooden shelter-roof which constantly burned4 ,the lightened vaults were still too heavy for the walls and columns1 so the architect threw out buttress beyond buttress resting on separate foundations1 exposed to extreme inequalities of weather1 and liable to multiplied chances of accident4 ,the results were certainly disastrous4 ,the roofs burned2 the walls yielded4 ,flying buttresses were not a necessity4 ,the ,merveille had none2 the ,angevin school rather affected to do without them2 ,albi had none2 ,assisi stands up independent2 but they did give support wherever the architect wanted it and nowhere else2 they were probably cheap2 and they were graceful4 ,whatever expression they gave to a church1 at least it was not that of a fortress4 ,amiens and ,albi are different religions4 ,the expression concerns us2 the construction concerns the ,beaux ,arts4 ,the problem of permanent equilibrium which distresses the builder of arches is a technical matter which does not worry1 but only amuses1 us who sit in the audience and look with delight at the theatrical stage-decoration of the ,gothic vault2 the astonishing feat of building up a skeleton of stone ribs and vertebrae1 on which every pound of weight is adjusted1 divided1 and carried down from level to level till it touches ground at a distance as a bird would alight4 ,if any stone in any part1 from apex to foundation1 weathers or gives way1 the whole must yield1 and the charge for repairs is probably great1 but1 on the best building the ,ecole des ,beaux ,arts can build1 the charge for repairs is not to be wholly ignored1 and at least the ,cathedral of ,chartres1 in spite of terribly hard usage1 is as solid to-day as when it was built1 and as plumb1 without crack or crevice4 ,even the towering fragment at ,beauvais1 poorly built from the first1 which has broken down oftener than most ,gothic structures1 and seems ready to crumble again whenever the wind blows over its windy plains1 has managed to survive1 after a fashion1 six or seven hundred years1 which is all that our generation had a right to ask4 ,the vault of ,beauvais is nearly one hundred and sixty feet high 7#dh metres71 and was cheaply built4 ,the vault of ,saint ,peter's at ,rome is nearly one hundred and fifty feet 7#de metres74 ,that of ,amiens is one hundred and forty-four feet 7#dd metres74 ,rheims1 ,bourges1 and ,chartres are nearly the same height2 at the entrance1 one hundred and twenty-two feet4 ,paris is one hundred and ten feet4 ,the ,abbe ,bulteau is responsible for these measurements2 but at ,chartres1 as in several very old churches1 the nave slopes down to the entrance1 because--as is said--pilgrims came in such swarms that they were obliged to sleep in the church1 and the nave had to be sluiced with water to clean it4 ,the true height of ,chartres1 at the croisee of nave and transept1 is as near as possible one hundred and twenty feet 7#cf4ee metres74 ,the measured height is the least interest of a church4 ,the architect's business is to make a small building look large1 and his failures are in large buildings which he makes to look small4 ,one chief beauty of the ,gothic is to exaggerate height1 and one of its most curious qualities is its success in imposing an illusion of size4 ,without leaving the heart of ,paris any one can study this illusion in the two great churches of ,notre ,dame and ,saint-,sulpice2 for ,saint-,sulpice is as lofty as ,notre ,dame in vaulting1 and larger in its other dimensions1 besides being1 in its style1 a fine building2 yet its ,roman arches show1 as if they were of the eleventh century1 why the long1 clean1 unbroken1 refined lines of the ,gothic1 curving to points1 and leading the eye with a sort of compulsion to the culminating point above1 should have made an architectural triumph that carried all ,europe off its feet with delight4 ,the world had seen nothing to approach it except1 perhaps1 in the dome of ,sancta ,sophia in ,constantinople2 and the discovery came at a moment when ,europe was making its most united and desperate struggle to attain the kingdom of ,heaven4 ,according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 ,chartres was the final triumph of the experiment on a very great scale1 for ,chartres has never been altered and never needed to be strengthened4 ,the flying buttresses of ,chartres answered their purpose1 and if it were not a matter of pure construction it would be worth while to read what ,viollet-le- ,duc says about them 7article1 ,arcs-boutants74 ,the vaulting above is heavy1 about fifteen inches thick2 the buttressing had also to be heavy2 and to lighten it1 the architect devised an amusing sort of arcades1 applied on his outside buttresses4 ,throughout the church1 everything was solid beyond all later custom1 so that architects would have to begin by a study of the crypt which came down from the eleventh century so strongly built that it still carries the church without a crack in its walls2 but if we went down into it1 we should understand nothing2 so we will begin1 as we did outside1 at the front4 ,a single glance shows what trouble the architect had with the old facade and towers1 and what temptation to pull them all down4 ,one cannot quite say that he has spoiled his own church in trying to save what he could of the old1 but if he did not quite spoil it1 he saved it only by the exercise of an amount of intelligence that we shall never learn enough to feel our incapacity to understand4 ,true ignorance approaches the infinite more nearly than any amount of knowledge can do1 and1 in our case1 ignorance is fortified by a certain element of nineteenth-century indifference which refuses to be interested in what it cannot understand2 a violent reaction from the thirteenth century which cared little to comprehend anything except the incomprehensible4 ,the architect at ,chartres was required by the ,virgin to provide more space for her worshippers within the church1 without destroying the old portal and fleche which she loved4 ,that this order came directly from the ,virgin1 may be taken for granted4 ,at ,chartres1 one sees everywhere the ,virgin1 and nowhere any rival authority2 one sees her give orders1 and architects obey them2 but very rarely a hesitation as though the architect were deciding for himself4 ,in his western front1 the architect has obeyed orders so literally that he has not even taken the trouble to apologize for leaving unfinished the details which1 if he had been responsible for them1 would have been his anxious care4 ,he has gone to the trouble of moving the heavy doorways forward1 so that the chapels in the towers1 which were meant to open on a porch1 now open into the nave1 and the nave itself has1 in appearance1 two more spans than in the old church2 but the work shows blind obedience1 as though he were doing his best to please the ,virgin without trying to please himself4 ,probably he could in no case have done much to help the side aisles in their abrupt collision with the solid walls of the two towers1 but he might at least have brought the vaulting of his two new bays1 in the nave1 down to the ground1 and finished it4 ,the vaulting is awkward in these two bays1 and yet he has taken great trouble to effect what seems at first a small matter4 ,whether the great rose window was an afterthought or not can never be known1 but any one can see with a glass1 and better on the architectural plan1 that the vaulting of the main church was not high enough to admit the great rose1 and that the architect has had to slope his two tower-spans upward4 ,so great is the height that you cannot see this difference of level very plainly even with a glass1 but on the plans it seems to amount to several feet2 perhaps a metre4 ,the architect has managed to deceive our eyes1 in order to enlarge the rose2 but you can see as plainly as though he were here to tell you1 that1 like a great general1 he has concentrated his whole energy on the rose1 because the ,virgin has told him that the rose symbolized herself1 and that the light and splendour of her appearance in the west were to redeem all his awkwardnesses4 ,of course this idea of the ,virgin's interference sounds to you a mere bit of fancy1 and that is an account which may be settled between the ,virgin and you2 but even twentieth-century eyes can see that the rose redeems everything1 dominates everything1 and gives character to the whole church4 ,in view of the difficulties which faced the artist1 the rose is inspired genius1--the kind of genius which ,shakespeare showed when he took some other man's play1 and adapted it4 ,thus far1 it shows its power chiefly by the way it comes forward and takes possession of the west front1 but if you want a foot-rule to measure by1 you may mark that the old1 twelfth-century lancet-windows below it are not exactly in its axis4 ,at the outset1 in the original plan of #ajij1 or thereabouts1 the old tower--the southern tower--was given greater width than the northern4 ,such inequalities were common in the early churches1 and so is a great deal of dispute in modern books whether they were accidental or intentional1 while no one denies that they are amusing4 ,in these towers the difference is not great1--perhaps fourteen or fifteen inches1--but it caused the architect to correct it1 in order to fit his front to the axis of the church1 by throwing his entrance six or seven inches to the south1 and narrowing to that extent the south door and south lancet4 ,the effect was bad1 even then1 and went far to ruin the south window2 but when1 after the fire of #aaid1 the architect inserted his great rose1 filling every inch of possible space between the lancet and the arch of the vault1 he made another correction which threw his rose six or seven inches out of axis with the lancets4 ,not one person in a hundred thousand would notice it1 here in the interior1 so completely are we under the control of the artist and the ,virgin2 but it is a measure of the power of the rose4 ,looking farther1 one sees that the rose-motive1 which so dominates the west front1 is carried round the church1 and comes to another outburst of splendour in the transepts4 ,this leads back to fenestration on a great scale1 which is a terribly ambitious flight for tourists2 all the more1 because here the tourist gets little help from the architect1 who1 in modern times1 has seldom the opportunity to study the subject at all1 and accepts as solved the problems of early ,gothic fenestration4 ,one becomes pedantic and pretentious at the very sound of the word1 which is an intolerable piece of pedantry in itself2 but ,chartres is all windows1 and its windows were as triumphant as its ,virgin1 and were one of her miracles4 ,one can no more overlook the windows of ,chartres than the glass which is in them4 ,we have already looked at the windows of ,mantes2 we have seen what happened to the windows at ,paris4 ,paris had at one leap risen twenty-five feet higher than ,noyon1 and even at ,noyon1 the architect1 about #aaej1 had been obliged to invent new fenestration4 ,paris and ,mantes1 twenty years later1 made another effort1 which proved a failure4 ,then the architect of ,chartres1 in #aaie1 added ten feet more to his vault1 and undertook1 once for all1 to show how a great cathedral should be lighted4 ,as an architectural problem1 it passes far beyond our powers of understanding1 even when solved2 but we can always turn to see what the inevitable ,viollet- le-,duc says about its solution at ,chartres3-- ,toward the beginning of the thirteenth century1 the architect of the ,cathedral of ,chartres sought out entirely new window combinations to light the nave from above4 ,below1 in the side aisles he kept to the customs of the times2 that is1 he opened pointed windows which did not wholly fill the spaces between the piers2 he wanted1 or was willing to leave here below1 the effect of a wall4 ,but in the upper part of his building we see that he changed the system2 he throws a round arch directly across from one pier to the next2 then1 in the enormous space which remains within each span1 he inserts two large pointed windows surmounted by a great rose 444 ,we recognize in this construction of ,notre ,dame de ,chartres a boldness1 a force1 which contrast with the fumbling of the architects in the ,ile de ,france and ,champagne4 ,for the first time one sees at ,chartres the builder deal frankly with the clerestory1 or upper fenestration1 occupying the whole width of the arches1 and taking the arch of the vault as the arch of the window4 ,simplicity of construction1 beauty in form1 strong workmanship1 structure true and solid1 judicious choice of material1 all the characteristics of good work1 unite in this magnificent specimen of architecture at the beginning of the thirteenth century4 ,viollet-le-,duc does not call attention to a score of other matters which the architect must have had in his mind1 such as the distribution of light1 and the relations of one arrangement with another3 the nave with the aisles1 and both with the transepts1 and all with the choir4 ,following him1 we must take the choir separately1 and the aisles and chapels of the apse also4 ,one cannot hope to understand all the experiments and refinements of the artist1 either in their successes or their failures1 but1 with diffidence1 one may ask one's self whether the beauty of the arrangement1 as compared with the original arrangement in ,paris1 did not consist in retaining the rose-motive throughout1 while throwing the whole upper wall into window4 ,triumphant as the clerestory windows are1 they owe their charm largely to their roses1 as you see by looking at the same scheme applied on a larger scale on the transept fronts2 and then1 by taking stand under the croisee1 and looking at all in succession as a whole4 ,the rose window was not ,gothic but ,romanesque1 and needed a great deal of coaxing to feel at home within the pointed arch4 ,at first1 the architects felt the awkwardness so strongly that they avoided it wherever they could4 ,in the beautiful facade of ,laon1 one of the chief beauties is the setting of the rose under a deep round arch4 ,the western roses of ,mantes and ,paris are treated in the same way1 although a captious critic might complain that their treatment is not so effective or so logical4 ,rheims boldly imprisoned the roses within the pointed arch2 but ,amiens1 toward #abdj1 took refuge in the same square exterior setting that was preferred1 in #abjj1 here at ,chartres2 and in the interior of ,amiens the round arch of the rose is the last vault of the nave1 seen through a vista of pointed vaults1 as it is here4 ,all these are supposed to be among the chief beauties of the ,gothic facade1 although the ,gothic architect1 if he had been a man of logic1 would have clung to his lines1 and put a pointed window in his front1 as in fact he did at ,coutances4 ,he felt the value of the rose in art1 and perhaps still more in religion1 for the rose was ,mary's emblem4 ,one is fairly sure that the great ,chartres rose of the west front was put there to please her1 since it was to be always before her eyes1 the most conspicuous object she would see from the high altar1 and therefore the most carefully considered ornament in the whole church1 outside the choir4 ,the mere size proves the importance she gave it4 ,the exterior diameter is nearly forty-four feet 7#ac4cf metres74 ,the nave of ,chartres is1 next perhaps to the nave of ,angers1 the widest of all ,gothic naves2 about fifty-three feet 7#af4ca metres72 and the rose takes every inch it can get of this enormous span4 ,the value of the rose1 among architects of the time1 was great1 since it was the only part of the church that ,villard de ,honnecourt sketched2 and since his time1 it has been drawn and redrawn1 described and commented by generations of architects till it has become as classic as the ,parthenon4 ,yet this ,chartres rose is solid1 serious1 sedate1 to a degree unusual in its own age2 it is even more ,romanesque than the pure ,romanesque roses4 ,at ,beauvais you must stop a moment to look at a ,romanesque rose on the transept of the ,church of ,saint-,etienne2 ,viollet-le-,duc mentions it1 with a drawing 7article1 ,pignon71 as not earlier than the year #aajj1 therefore about a century earlier than the rose of ,chartres2 it is not properly a rose1 but a wheel of fortune1 with figures climbing up and falling over4 ,another supposed twelfth-century rose is at ,etampes1 which goes with that of ,laon and ,saint-,leu-d',esserent and ,mantes4 ,the rose of ,chartres is so much the most serious of them all that ,viollet-le-,duc has explained it by its material1--the heavy stone of ,bercheres2--but the material was not allowed to affect the great transept roses1 and the architect made his material yield to his object wherever he thought it worth while4 ,standing under the central croisee1 you can see all three roses by simply turning your head4 ,that on the north1 the ,rose de ,france1 was built1 or planned1 between #abjj and #abaj1 in the reign of ,philip ,augustus1 since the porch outside1 which would be a later construction1 was begun by #abab4 ,the ,rose de ,france is the same in diameter as the western rose1 but lighter1 and built of lighter stone4 ,opposite the ,rose de ,france stands1 on the south front1 ,pierre ,mauclerc's ,rose de ,dreux1 of the same date1 with the same motive1 but even lighter2 more like a rose and less like a wheel4 ,all three roses must have been planned at about the same time1 perhaps by the same architect1 within the same workshop2 yet the western rose stands quite apart1 as though it had been especially designed to suit the twelfth-century facade and portal which it rules4 ,whether this was really the artist's idea is a question that needs the artist to answer2 but that this is the effect1 needs no expert to prove2 it stares one in the face4 ,within and without1 one feels that the twelfth-century spirit is respected and preserved with the same religious feeling which obliged the architect to injure his own work by sparing that of his grandfathers4 ,conspicuous1 then1 in the west front are two feelings3--respect for the twelfth-century work1 and passion for the rose fenestration2 both subordinated to the demand for light4 ,if it worries you to have to believe that these three things are in fact one2 that the architect is listening1 like the stone ,abraham1 for orders from the ,virgin1 while he caresses and sacrifices his child2 that ,mary and not her architects built this facade2 if the divine intention seems to you a needless impertinence1 you can soon get free from it by going to any of the later churches1 where you will not be forced to see any work but that of the architect's compasses4 ,according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 the inspiration ceased about #abej1 or1 as the ,virgin would have dated it1 on the death of ,blanche of ,castile in #abeb4 ,the work of ,chartres1 where her own hand is plainly shown1 belongs in feeling1 if not in execution1 to the last years of the twelfth century 7#aaie-abjj74 ,the great western rose which gives the motive for the whole decoration and is repeated in the great roses of the transepts1 marks the ,virgin's will1--the taste and knowledge of cele qui la rose est des roses1 or1 if you prefer the ,latin of ,adam de ,saint-,victor1 the hand of her who is ,super rosam rosida4 ,all this is easy2 but if you really cannot see the hand of ,mary herself in these broad and public courts1 which were intended1 not for her personal presence1 but for the use of her common people1 you had better stop here1 and not venture into the choir4 ,great halls seem to have been easy architecture4 ,naves and transepts were not often failures2 facades and even towers and fleches are invariably more or less successful because they are more or less balanced1 mathematical1 calculable products of reason and thought4 ,the most serious difficulties began only with the choir1 and even then did not become desperate until the architect reached the curve of the apse1 with its impossible vaultings1 its complicated lines1 its cross-thrusts1 its double problems1 internal and external1 its defective roofing and unequal lighting4 ,a perfect ,gothic apse was impossible2 an apse that satisfied perfectly its principal objects was rare2 the simplest and cheapest solution was to have no apse at all1 and that was the ,english scheme1 which was tried also at ,laon2 a square1 flat wall and window4 ,if the hunt for ,norman towers offered a summer's amusement1 a hunt for apses would offer an education1 but it would lead far out of ,france4 ,indeed1 it would be simpler to begin at once with ,sancta ,sophia at ,constantinople1 ,san ,vitale at ,ravenna and ,monreale at ,palermo1 and the churches at ,torcello and ,murano1 and ,san ,marco at ,venice2 and admit that no device has ever equalled the startling and mystical majesty of the ,byzantine half-dome1 with its marvellous mosaic ,madonna dominating the church1 from the entrance1 with her imperial and divine presence4 ,unfortunately1 the northern churches needed light1 and the northern architects turned their minds to a desperate effort for a new apse4 ,the scheme of the cathedral at ,laon seems to have been rejected unanimously2 the bare1 flat wall at the end of the choir was an eyesore2 it was quite bad enough at the end of the nave1 and became annoying at the end of the transepts1 so that at ,noyon and ,soissons the architect1 with a keen sense of interior form1 had rounded the transept ends2 but1 though external needs might require a square transept1 the unintelligence of the flat wall became insufferable at the east end4 ,neither did the square choir suit the church ceremonies and processions1 or offer the same advantages of arrangement1 as the ,french understood them4 ,with one voice1 the ,french architects seem to have rejected the ,laon experiment1 and turned back to a solution taken directly from the ,romanesque4 ,illustration with caption3 ,,saint-,,martin-,,des-,,champs ,quite early--in the eleventh century--a whole group of churches had been built in ,auvergne1--at ,clermont and ,issoire1 for example1-- possibly by one architect1 with a circular apse1 breaking out into five apsidal chapels4 ,tourists who get down as far south as ,toulouse see another example of this ,romanesque apse in the famous ,church of ,saint ,sernin1 of the twelfth century2 and few critics take offence at one's liking it4 ,indeed1 as far as concerns the exterior1 one might even risk thinking it more charming than the exterior of any ,gothic apse ever built4 ,many of these ,romanesque apses of the eleventh and twelfth centuries still remain in ,france1 showing themselves in unsuspected parish churches1 here and there1 but always a surprise for their quiet1 unobtrusive grace1 making a harmony with the ,romanesque tower1 if there is one1 into which they rise1 as at ,saint ,sernin2 but all these churches had only one aisle1 and1 in the interior1 there came invariable trouble when the vaults rose in height4 ,the architect of ,chartres1 in #abjj1 could get no direct help from these1 or even from ,paris which was a beautifully perfect apse1 but had no apsidal chapels4 ,the earliest apse that could have served as a suggestion for ,chartres--or1 at least1 as a point of observation for us--was that of the ,abbey ,church of ,saint- ,martin-des-,champs1 which we went to see in ,paris1 and which is said to date from about #aaej4 ,here is a circular choir1 surrounded by two rows of columns1 irregularly spaced1 with circular chapels outside1 which seems to have been more or less what the architect of ,chartres1 for the ,virgin's purposes1 had set his heart on obtaining4 ,closely following the scheme of ,saint-,martin-des-,champs came the scheme of the ,abbey ,church at ,vezelay1 built about #aafj-hj4 ,here the vaulting sprang directly from the last arch of the choir1 as is shown on the plan1 and bearing first on the light columns of the choir1 which were evenly spaced1 then fell on a row of heavier columns outside1 which were also evenly spaced1 and came to rest at last on massive piers1 between which were five circular chapels4 ,the plan shows at a glance that this arrangement stretched the second row of columns far apart1 and that a church much larger than ,vezelay would need to space them so much farther apart that the arch uniting them would have to rise indefinitely2 while1 if beyond this1 another aisle were added outside1 the piers finally would require impossible vaulting4 ,illustration with caption3 ,,vezelay ,the problem stood thus when the great cathedrals were undertaken1 and the architect of ,paris boldly grappled with the double aisle on a scale requiring a new scheme4 ,here1 in spite of the most virtuous resolutions not to be technical1 we must attempt a technicality1 because without it1 one of the most interesting eccentricities of ,chartres would be lost4 ,once more1 ,viollet-le-,duc3-- ,as the architect did not want to give the interior bays of the apse spaces between the columns 7,,aa7 less than that of the parallel bays 7,,bb71 it followed that the first radiating bay gave a first space 7,,lmgh7 which was difficult to vault1 and a second space 7,,hgef7 which was impossible2 for how establish an arch from ,f to ,e8 ,even if round1 its key would have risen much higher than the key of the pointed archivolt ,,lm4 ,as the second radiating bay opened out still wider1 the difficulty was increased4 ,the builder therefore inserted the two intermediate pillars ,o and ,p between the columns of the second aisle 7,h1 ,g1 and ,i72 which he supported1 in the outside wall of the church1 by one corresponding pier 7,q7 in the first bay of the apse1 and by two similar piers 7,r and ,s7 in the second bay4 ,illustration with caption3 ,,notre ,,dame ,,de ,,paris ,there is no need to point out1 continued ,viollet-le-,duc1 as though he much suspected that there might be need of pointing out1 what skill this system showed and how much the art of architecture had already been developed in the ,ile de ,france toward the end of the twelfth century2 to what an extent the unity of arrangement and style preoccupied the artists of that province4 ,in fact1 the arrangement seems mathematically and technically perfect4 ,at all events1 we know too little to criticize it4 ,yet one would much like to be told why it was not repeated by any other architect or in any other church4 ,apparently the ,parisians themselves were not quite satisfied with it1 since they altered it a hundred years later1 in #abif1 in order to build out chapels between the piers4 ,as the architects of each new cathedral had1 in the interval1 insisted on apsidal chapels1 one may venture to guess that the ,paris scheme hampered the services4 ,at ,chartres the church services are ,mary's own tastes2 the church is ,mary2 and the chapels are her private rooms4 ,she was not pleased with the arrangements made for her in her palace at ,paris2 they were too architectural2 too regular and mathematical2 too popular2 too impersonal2 and she rather abruptly ordered her architect at ,chartres to go back to the old arrangement4 ,the apse at ,paris was hardly covered with its leading before the architect of ,chartres adopted a totally new plan1 which1 according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 does him little credit1 but which was plainly imposed on him1 like the twelfth-century portal4 ,not only had it nothing of the mathematical correctness and precision of the ,paris scheme1 easy to understand and imitate1 but it carried even a sort of violence--a wrench--in its system1 as though the ,virgin had said1 with her grand ,byzantine air3--,i will it6 ,illustration with caption3 ,,chartres ,at ,chartres1 said ,viollet-le-,duc1 the choir of the ,cathedral presents a plan which does no great honour to its architect4 ,there is want of accord between the circular apse and the parallel sides of the sanctuary2 the spacings of the columns of the second collateral are loose 7laches72 the vaults quite poorly combined2 and in spite of the great width of the spaces between the columns of the second aisle1 the architect had still to narrow those between the interior columns4 ,the plan shows that1 from the first1 the architect must have deliberately rejected the ,paris scheme2 he must have begun by narrowing the spaces between his inner columns2 then1 with a sort of violence1 he fitted on his second row of columns2 and1 finally1 he showed his motive by constructing an outer wall of an original or unusual shape4 ,any woman would see at once the secret of all this ingenuity and effort4 ,the ,chartres apse1 enormous in size and width1 is exquisitely lighted4 ,here1 as everywhere throughout the church1 the windows give the law1 but here they actually take place of law4 ,the ,virgin herself saw to the lighting of her own boudoir4 ,according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 ,chartres differs from all the other great cathedrals by being built not for its nave or even for its choir1 but for its apse2 it was planned not for the people or the court1 but for the ,queen2 not a church but a shrine2 and the shrine is the apse where the ,queen arranged her light to please herself and not her architect1 who had already been sacrificed at the western portal and who had a free hand only in the nave and transepts where the ,queen never went1 and which1 from her own apartment1 she did not even see4 ,illustration with caption3 ,,laon ,this is1 in effect1 what ,viollet-le-,duc says in his professional language1 which is perhaps--or sounds--more reasonable to tourists1 whose imaginations are hardly equal to the effort of fancying a real deity4 ,perhaps1 indeed1 one might get so high as to imagine a real ,bishop of ,laon1 who should have ordered his architect to build an enormous hall of religion1 to rival the immense abbeys of the day1 and to attract the people1 as though it were a clubroom4 ,there they were to see all the great sights2 church ceremonies2 theatricals2 political functions2 there they were to do business1 and frequent society4 ,they were to feel at home in their church because it was theirs1 and did not belong to a priesthood or to ,rome4 ,jealousy of ,rome was a leading motive of ,gothic architecture1 and ,rome repaid it in full4 ,the ,bishop of ,laon conceded at least a transept to custom or tradition1 but the ,archbishop of ,bourges abolished even the transept1 and the great hall had no special religious expression except in the circular apse with its chapels which ,laon had abandoned4 ,one can hardly decide whether ,laon or ,bourges is the more popular1 industrial1 political1 or1 in other words1 the less religious2 but the ,parisians1 as the plan of ,viollet-le-,duc has shown1 were quite as advanced as either1 and only later altered their scheme into one that provided chapels for religious service4 ,illustration with caption3 ,,bourges ,illustration with caption3 ,,amiens ,amiens and ,beauvais have each seven chapels1 but only one aisle1 so that they do not belong in the same class with the apses of ,paris1 ,bourges1 and ,chartres1 though the plans are worth studying for comparison1 since they show how many-sided the problem was1 and how far from satisfied the architects were with their own schemes4 ,the most interesting of all1 for comparison with ,chartres1 is ,le ,mans1 where the apsidal chapels are carried to fanaticism1 while the vaulting seems to be reasonable enough1 and the double aisle successfully managed1 if ,viollet-le-,duc permits ignorant people to form an opinion on architectural dogma4 ,for our purposes1 the architectural dogma may stand1 and the ,paris scheme may be taken for granted1 as alone correct and orthodox2 all that ,viollet-le-,duc teaches is that the ,chartres scheme is unorthodox1 not to say heretical2 and this is the point on which his words are most interesting4 ,illustration with caption3 ,,beauvais ,the church at ,chartres belonged not to the people1 not to the priesthood1 and not even to ,rome2 it belonged to the ,virgin4 ,here the religious influence appears wholly2 three large chapels in the apse2 four others less pronounced2 double aisles of great width round the choir2 vast transepts6 ,here the church ceremonial could display all its pomp2 the choir1 more than at ,paris1 more than at ,bourges1 more than at ,soissons1 and especially more than at ,laon1 is the principal object2 for it1 the church is built4 ,illustration with caption3 ,,le ,,mans ,one who is painfully conscious of ignorance1 and who never would dream of suggesting a correction to anybody1 may not venture to suggest an idea of any sort to an architect2 but if it were allowed to paraphrase ,viollet-le-,duc's words into a more or less emotional or twelfth-century form1 one might say1 after him1 that1 compared with ,paris or ,laon1 the ,chartres apse shows the same genius that is shown in the ,chartres rose2 the same large mind that overrules1--the same strong will that defies difficulties4 ,the ,chartres apse is as entertaining as all the other ,gothic apses together1 because it overrides the architect4 ,you may1 if you really have no imagination whatever1 reject the idea that the ,virgin herself made the plan2 the feebleness of our fancy is now congenital1 organic1 beyond stimulant or strychnine1 and we shrink like sensitive-plants from the touch of a vision or spirit2 but at least one can still sometimes feel a woman's taste1 and in the apse of ,chartres one feels nothing else4 ,illustration with caption3 ,,chartres ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,twelfth-,,century ,,glass ,at last we are face to face with the crowning glory of ,chartres4 ,other churches have glass1--quantities of it1 and very fine1--but we have been trying to catch a glimpse of the glory which stands behind the glass of ,chartres1 and gives it quality and feeling of its own4 ,for once the architect is useless and his explanations are pitiable2 the painter helps still less2 and the decorator1 unless he works in glass1 is the poorest guide of all1 while1 if he works in glass1 he is sure to lead wrong2 and all of them may toil until ,pierre ,mauclerc's stone ,christ comes to life1 and condemns them among the unpardonable sinners on the southern portal1 but neither they nor any other artist will ever create another ,chartres4 ,you had better stop here1 once for all1 unless you are willing to feel that ,chartres was made what it is1 not by artist1 but by the ,virgin4 ,if this imperial presence is stamped on the architecture and the sculpture with an energy not to be mistaken1 it radiates through the glass with a light and colour that actually blind the true servant of ,mary4 ,one becomes1 sometimes1 a little incoherent in talking about it2 one is ashamed to be as extravagant as one wants to be2 one has no business to labour painfully to explain and prove to one's self what is as clear as the sun in the sky2 one loses temper in reasoning about what can only be felt1 and what ought to be felt instantly1 as it was in the twelfth century1 even by the truie qui file and the ane qui vielle4 ,any one should feel it that wishes2 any one who does not wish to feel it can let it alone4 ,still1 it may be that not one tourist in a hundred--perhaps not one in a thousand of the ,english-speaking race--does feel it1 or can feel it even when explained to him1 for we have lost many senses4 ,therefore1 let us plod on1 laboriously proving ,god1 although1 even to ,saint ,bernard and ,pascal1 ,god was incapable of proof2 and using such material as the books furnish for help4 ,it is not much4 ,the ,french have been shockingly negligent of their greatest artistic glory4 ,one knows not even where to seek4 ,one must go to the ,national ,library and beg as a special favour permission to look at the monumental work of ,m4 ,lasteyrie1 if one wishes to make even a beginning of the study of ,french glass4 ,fortunately there exists a fragment of a great work which the ,government began1 but never completed1 upon ,chartres2 and another1 quite indispensable1 but not official1 upon ,bourges2 while ,viollet-le-,duc's article ,vitrail serves as guide to the whole4 ,ottin's book ,le ,vitrail is convenient4 ,male's volume ,l',art ,religieux is essential4 ,in ,english1 ,westlake's ,history of ,design is helpful4 ,perhaps1 after reading all that is readable1 the best hope will be to provide the best glasses with the largest possible field2 and1 choosing an hour when the church is empty1 take seat about halfway up the nave1 facing toward the western entrance with a morning light1 so that the glass of the western windows shall not stand in direct sun4 ,the glass of the three lancets is the oldest in the cathedral4 ,if the portal beneath it1 with the sculpture1 was built in the twenty or thirty years before #aaej1 the glass could not be much later4 ,it goes with the ,abbe ,suger's glass at ,saint-,denis1 which was surely made as early as #aadj-ej1 since the ,abbe was a long time at work on it1 before he died in #aaeb4 ,their perfection proves1 what his biographer asserted1 that the ,abbe ,suger spent many years as well as much money on his windows at ,saint-,denis1 and the specialists affirm that the three lancets at ,chartres are quite as good as what remains of ,suger's work4 ,viollet-le-,duc and ,m4 ,paul ,durand1 the ,government expert1 are positive that this glass is the finest ever made1 as far as record exists2 and that the northern lancet representing the ,tree of ,jesse stands at the head of all glasswork whatever4 ,the windows claim1 therefore1 to be the most splendid colour decoration the world ever saw1 since no other material1 neither silk nor gold1 and no opaque colour laid on with a brush1 can compare with translucent glass1 and even the ,ravenna mosaics or ,chinese porcelains are darkness beside them4 ,the claim may not be modest1 but it is none of ours4 ,viollet-le-,duc must answer for his own sins1 and he chose the lancet window of the ,tree of ,jesse for the subject of his lecture on glass in general1 as the most complete and perfect example of this greatest decorative art4 ,once more1 in following him1 one is dragged1 in spite of one's self1 into technique1 and1 what is worse1 into a colour world whose technique was forgotten five hundred years ago4 ,viollet-le-,duc tried to recover it4 ,after studying our best ,french windows1 he cautiously suggests that one might maintain1 as their secret of harmony1 that the first condition for an artist in glass is to know how to manage blue4 ,the blue is the light in windows1 and light has value only by opposition4 ,the radiating power of blue is1 therefore1 the starting-point1 and on this matter ,viollet-le-,duc has much to say which a student would need to master2 but a tourist never should study1 or he ceases to be a tourist2 and it is enough for us if we know that1 to get the value they wanted1 the artists hatched their blues with lines1 covered their surface with figures as though with screens1 and tied their blue within its own field with narrow circlets of white or yellow1 which1 in their turn1 were beaded to fasten the blue still more firmly in its place4 ,we have chiefly to remember the law that blue is light3-- ,but also it is that luminous colour which gives value to all others4 ,if you compose a window in which there shall be no blue1 you will get a dirty or dull 7blafard7 or crude surface which the eye will instantly avoid2 but if you put a few touches of blue among all these tones1 you will immediately get striking effects if not skilfully conceived harmony4 ,so the composition of blue glass singularly preoccupied the glassworkers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries4 ,if there is only one red1 two yellows1 two or three purples1 and two or three greens at the most1 there are infinite shades of blue1 444 and these blues are placed with a very delicate observation of the effects they should produce on other tones1 and other tones on them4 ,viollet-le-,duc took the window of the ,tree of ,jesse as his first illustration of the rule1 for the reason that its blue ground is one continuous strip from top to bottom1 with the subordinate red on either side1 and a border uniting the whole so plainly that no one can fail to see its object or its method4 ,the blue tone of the principal subject that is to say1 the ground of the ,tree of ,jesse has commanded the tonality of all the rest4 ,this medium was necessary to enable the luminous splendour to display its energy4 ,this primary condition had dictated the red ground for the prophets1 and the return to the blue on reaching the outside semicircular band4 ,to give full value both to the vigour of the red1 and to the radiating transparency of the blue1 the ground of the corners is put in emerald green2 but then1 in the corners themselves1 the blue is recalled and is given an additional solidity of value by the delicate ornamentation of the squares4 ,this translation is very free1 but one who wants to know these windows must read the whole article1 and read it here in the church1 the ,dictionary in one hand1 and binocle in the other1 for the binocle is more important than the ,dictionary when it reaches the complicated border which repeats in detail the colour-scheme of the centre3-- ,the border repeats all the tones allotted to the principal subjects1 but by small fragments1 so that this border1 with an effect both solid and powerful1 shall not enter into rivalry with the large arrangements of the central parts4 ,one would think this simple enough2 easily tested on any illuminated manuscript1 ,arab1 ,persian1 or ,byzantine2 verified by any ,oriental rug1 old or new2 freely illustrated by any ,chinese pattern on a ,ming jar1 or cloisonne vase2 and offering a kind of alphabet for the shop-window of a ,paris modiste4 ,a strong red2 a strong and a weak yellow2 a strong and a weak purple2 a strong and a weak green1 are all to be tied together1 given their values1 and held in their places by blue4 ,the thing seems simpler still when it appears that perspective is forbidden1 and that these glass windows of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 like ,oriental rugs1 imply a flat surface1 a wall which must not be treated as open4 ,the twelfth- century glassworker would sooner have worn a landscape on his back than have costumed his church with it2 he would as soon have decorated his floors with painted holes as his walls4 ,he wanted to keep the coloured window flat1 like a rug hung on the wall4 ,the radiation of translucent colours in windows cannot be modified by the artist2 all his talent consists in profiting by it1 according to a given harmonic scheme on a single plane1 like a rug1 but not according to an effect of aerial perspective4 ,do what you like1 a glass window never does and never can represent anything but a plane surface2 its real virtues even exist only on that condition4 ,every attempt to present several planes to the eye is fatal to the harmony of colour1 without producing any illusion in the spectator 444 ,translucid painting can propose as its object only a design supporting as energetically as possible a harmony of colours4 ,whether this law is absolute you can tell best by looking at modern glass which is mostly perspective2 but1 whether you like it or not1 the matter of perspective does not enter into a twelfth-century window more than into a ,japanese picture1 and may be ignored4 ,the decoration of the twelfth century1 as far as concerns us1 was intended only for one plane1 and a window was another form of rug or embroidery or mosaic1 hung on the wall for colour1--simple decoration to be seen as a whole4 ,if the ,tree of ,jesse teaches anything at all1 it is that the artist thought first of controlling his light1 but he wanted to do it not in order to dim the colours2 on the contrary1 he toiled1 like a jeweller setting diamonds and rubies1 to increase their splendour4 ,if his use of blue teaches this lesson1 his use of green proves it4 ,the outside border of the ,tree of ,jesse is a sort of sample which our schoolmaster ,viollet-le-,duc sets1 from which he requires us to study out the scheme1 beginning with the treatment of light1 and ending with the value of the emerald green ground in the corners4 ,complicated as the border of the ,tree of ,jesse is1 it has its mates in the borders of the two other twelfth-century windows1 and a few of the thirteenth-century in the side aisles2 but the southern of the three lancets shows how the artists dealt with a difficulty that upset their rule4 ,the border of the southern window does not count as it should2 something is wrong with it and a little study shows that the builder1 and not the glassworker1 was to blame4 ,owing to his miscalculation--if it was really a miscalculation--in the width of the southern tower1 the builder economized six or eight inches in the southern door and lancet1 which was enough to destroy the balance between the colour-values1 as masses1 of the south and north windows4 ,the artist was obliged to choose whether he would sacrifice the centre or the border of his southern window1 and decided that the windows could not be made to balance if he narrowed the centre1 but that he must balance them by enriching the centre1 and sacrificing the border4 ,he has filled the centre with medallions as rich as he could make them1 and these he has surrounded with borders1 which are also enriched to the utmost2 but these medallions with their borders spread across the whole window1 and when you search with the binocle for the outside border1 you see its pattern clearly only at the top and bottom4 ,on the sides1 at intervals of about two feet1 the medallions cover and interrupt it2 but this is partly corrected by making the border1 where it is seen1 so rich as to surpass any other in the cathedral1 even that of the ,tree of ,jesse4 ,whether the artist has succeeded or not is a question for other artists--or for you1 if you please--to decide2 but apparently he did succeed1 since no one has ever noticed the difficulty or the device4 ,the southern lancet represents the ,passion of ,christ4 ,granting to ,viollet-le-,duc that the unbroken vertical colour-scheme of the ,tree of ,jesse made the more effective window1 one might still ask whether the medallion-scheme is not the more interesting4 ,once past the workshop1 there can be no question about it2 the ,tree of ,jesse has the least interest of all the three windows4 ,a genealogical tree has little value1 artistic or other1 except to those who belong in its branches1 and the ,tree of ,jesse was put there1 not to please us1 but to please the ,virgin4 ,the ,passion window was also put there to please her1 but it tells a story1 and does it in a way that has more novelty than the subject4 ,the draughtsman who chalked out the design on the whitened table that served for his sketch-board was either a ,greek1 or had before him a ,byzantine missal1 or enamel or ivory4 ,the first medallion on these legendary windows is the lower left-hand one1 which begins the story or legend2 here it represents ,christ after the manner of the ,greek ,church4 ,in the next medallion is the ,last ,supper2 the fish on the dish is ,greek4 ,in the middle of the window1 with the help of the binocle1 you will see a ,crucifixion1 or even two1 for on the left is ,christ on the ,cross1 and on the right a ,descent from the ,cross2 in this is the figure of man pulling out with pincers the nails which fasten ,christ's feet2 a figure unknown to ,western religious art4 ,the ,noli ,me ,tangere1 on the right1 near the top1 has a sort of ,greek character4 ,all the critics1 especially ,m4 ,paul ,durand1 have noticed this ,byzantine look1 which is even more marked in the ,suger window at ,saint-,denis1 so as to suggest that both are by the same hand1 and that the hand of a ,greek4 ,if the artist was really a ,greek1 he has done work more beautiful than any left at ,byzantium1 and very far finer than anything in the beautiful work at ,cairo1 but although the figures and subjects are more or less ,greek1 like the sculptures on the portal1 the art seems to be ,french4 ,look at the central window6 ,naturally1 there sits the ,virgin1 with her genealogical tree on her left1 and her ,son's testimony on her right to prove her double divinity4 ,she is seated in the long halo2 as1 on the western portal1 directly beneath her1 her ,son is represented in stone1 ,her crown and head1 as well as that of the ,child1 are fourteenth-century restorations more or less like the original2 but her cushioned throne and her robes of imperial state1 as well as the flowered sceptre in either hand1 are as old as the sculpture of the portal1 and redolent of the first crusade4 ,on either side of her1 the ,sun and the ,moon offer praise2 her two ,archangels1 ,michael and ,gabriel1 with resplendent wings1 offer not incense as in later times1 but the two sceptres of spiritual and temporal power2 while the ,child in her lap repeats ,his ,mother's action and even her features and expression4 ,at first sight1 one would take for granted that all this was pure ,byzantium1 and perhaps it is2 but it has rather the look of ,byzantium gallicized1 and carried up to a poetic ,french ideal4 ,at ,saint-,denis the little figure of the ,abbe ,suger at the feet of the ,virgin has a very ,oriental look1 and in the twin medallion the ,virgin resembles greatly the ,virgin of ,chartres1 yet1 for us1 until some specialist shows us the ,byzantine original1 the work is as thoroughly ,french as the fleches of the churches4 ,byzantine art is altogether another chapter1 and1 if we could but take a season to study it in ,byzantium1 we might get great amusement2 but the art of ,chartres1 even in #aajj1 was ,french and perfectly ,french1 as the architecture shows1 and the glass is even more ,french than the architecture1 as you can detect in many other ways4 ,perhaps the surest evidence is the glass itself4 ,the men who made it were not professionals but amateurs1 who may have had some knowledge of enamelling1 but who worked like jewellers1 unused to glass1 and with the refinement that a reliquary or a crozier required4 ,the cost of these windows must have been extravagant2 one is almost surprised that they are not set in gold rather than in lead4 ,the ,abbe ,suger shirked neither trouble nor expense1 and the only serious piece of evidence that this artist was a ,greek is given by his biographer who unconsciously shows that the artist cheated him3 ,he sought carefully for makers of windows and workmen in glass of exquisite quality1 especially in that made of sapphires in great abundance that were pulverized and melted up in the glass to give it the blue colour which he delighted to admire4 ,the materia saphirorum was evidently something precious1--as precious as crude sapphires would have been1--and the words imply beyond question that the artist asked for sapphires and that ,suger paid for them2 yet all specialists agree that the stone known as sapphire1 if ground1 could not produce translucent colour at all4 ,the blue which ,suger loved1 and which is probably the same as that of these ,chartres windows1 cannot be made out of sapphires4 ,probably the materia saphirorum means cobalt only1 but whatever it was1 the glassmakers seem to agree that this glass of #aadj-ej is the best ever made4 ,m4 ,paul ,durand in his official report of #ahha said that these windows1 both artistically and mechanically1 were of the highest class3 ,i will also call attention to the fact that the glass and the execution of the painting are1 materially speaking1 of a quality much superior to windows of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries4 ,having passed several months in contact with these precious works when ,i copied them1 ,i was able to convince myself of their superiority in every particular1 especially in the upper parts of the three windows4 ,he said that they were perfect and irreproachable4 ,the true enthusiast in glass would in the depths of his heart like to say outright that these three windows are worth more than all that the ,french have since done in colour1 from that day to this2 but the matter concerns us chiefly because it shows how ,french the experiment was1 and how ,suger's taste and wealth made it possible4 ,certain it is1 too1 that the southern window--the ,passion--was made on the spot1 or near by1 and fitted for the particular space with care proportionate to its cost4 ,all are marked by the hand of the ,chartres ,virgin4 ,they are executed not merely for her1 but by her4 ,at ,saint-,denis the ,abbe ,suger appeared1--it is true that he was prostrate at her feet1 but still he appeared4 ,at ,chartres no one--no suggestion of a human agency--was allowed to appear2 the ,virgin permitted no one to approach her1 even to adore4 ,she is enthroned above1 as ,queen and ,empress and ,mother1 with the symbols of exclusive and universal power4 ,below her1 she permitted the world to see the glories of her earthly life2--the ,annunciation1 ,visitation1 and ,nativity2 the ,magi2 ,king ,herod2 the ,journey to ,egypt2 and the single medallion1 which shows the gods of ,egypt falling from their pedestals at her coming1 is more entertaining than a whole picture- gallery of oil paintings4 ,in all ,france there exist barely a dozen good specimens of twelfth- century glass4 ,besides these windows at ,chartres and the fragments at ,saint-,denis1 there are windows at ,le ,mans and ,angers and bits at ,vendome1 ,chalons1 ,poitiers1 ,rheims1 and ,bourges2 here and there one happens on other pieces1 but the earliest is the best1 because the glass-makers were new at the work and spent on it an infinite amount of trouble and money which they found to be unnecessary as they gained experience4 ,even in #abjj the value of these windows was so well understood1 relatively to new ones1 that they were preserved with the greatest care4 ,the effort to make such windows was never repeated4 ,their jewelled perfection did not suit the scale of the vast churches of the thirteenth century4 ,by turning your head toward the windows of the side aisles1 you can see the criticism which the later artists passed on the old work4 ,they found it too refined1 too brilliant1 too jewel-like for the size of the new cathedral2 the play of light and colour allowed the eye too little repose2 indeed1 the eye could not see their whole beauty1 and half their value was thrown away in this huge stone setting4 ,at best they must have seemed astray on the bleak1 cold1 windy plain of ,beauce1--homesick for ,palestine or ,cairo1--yearning for ,monreale or ,venice1--but this is not our affair1 and1 under the protection of the ,empress ,virgin1 ,saint ,bernard himself could have afforded to sin even to drunkenness of colour4 ,with trifling expense of imagination one can still catch a glimpse of the crusades in the glory of the glass4 ,the longer one looks into it1 the more overpowering it becomes1 until one begins almost to feel an echo of what our two hundred and fifty million arithmetical ancestors1 drunk with the passion of youth and the splendour of the ,virgin1 have been calling to us from ,mont-,saint- ,michel and ,chartres4 ,no words and no wine could revive their emotions so vividly as they glow in the purity of the colours2 the limpidity of the blues2 the depth of the red2 the intensity of the green2 the complicated harmonies2 the sparkle and splendour of the light2 and the quiet and certain strength of the mass4 ,with too strong direct sun the windows are said to suffer1 and become a cluster of jewels--a delirium of coloured light4 ,the lines1 too1 have different degrees of merit4 ,these criticisms seldom strike a chance traveller1 but he invariably makes the discovery that the designs within the medallions are childish4 ,he may easily correct them1 if he likes1 and see what would happen to the window2 but although this is the alphabet of art1 and we are past spelling words of one syllable1 the criticism teaches at least one lesson4 ,primitive man seems to have had a natural colour-sense1 instinctive like the scent of a dog4 ,society has no right to feel it as a moral reproach to be told that it has reached an age when it can no longer depend1 as in childhood1 on its taste1 or smell1 or sight1 or hearing1 or memory2 the fact seems likely enough1 and in no way sinful2 yet society always denies it1 and is invariably angry about it2 and1 therefore1 one had better not say it4 ,on the other hand1 we can leave ,delacroix and his school to fight out the battle they began against ,ingres and his school1 in ,french art1 nearly a hundred years ago1 which turned in substance on the same point4 ,ingres held that the first motive in colour-decoration was line1 and that a picture which was well drawn was well enough coloured4 ,society seemed1 on the whole1 to agree with him4 ,society in the twelfth century agreed with ,delacroix4 ,the ,french held then that the first point in colour-decoration was colour1 and they never hesitated to put their colour where they wanted it1 or cared whether a green camel or a pink lion looked like a dog or a donkey provided they got their harmony or value4 ,everything except colour was sacrificed to line in the large sense1 but details of drawing were conventional and subordinate4 ,so we laugh to see a knight with a blue face1 on a green horse1 that looks as though drawn by a four-year-old child1 and probably the artist laughed1 too2 but he was a colourist1 and never sacrificed his colour for a laugh4 ,we tourists assume commonly that he knew no better4 ,in our simple faith in ourselves1 great hope abides1 for it shows an earnestness hardly less than that of the crusaders2 but in the matter of colour one is perhaps less convinced1 or more open to curiosity4 ,no school of colour exists in our world to-day1 while the ,middle ,ages had a dozen2 but it is certainly true that these twelfth-century windows break the ,french tradition4 ,they had no antecedent1 and no fit succession4 ,all the authorities dwell on their exceptional character4 ,one is sorely tempted to suspect that they were in some way an accident2 that such an art could not have sprung1 in such perfection1 out of nothing1 had it been really ,french2 that it must have had its home elsewhere--on the ,rhine--in ,italy--in ,byzantium-- or in ,bagdad4 ,the same controversy has raged for near two hundred years over the ,gothic arch1 and everything else mediaeval1 down to the philosophy of the schools4 ,the generation that lived during the first and second crusades tried a number of original experiments1 besides capturing ,jerusalem4 ,among other things1 it produced the western portal of ,chartres1 with its statuary1 its glass1 and its fleche1 as a by-play2 as it produced ,abelard1 ,saint ,bernard1 and ,christian of ,troyes1 whose acquaintance we have still to make4 ,it took ideas wherever it found them2--from ,germany1 ,italy1 ,spain1 ,constantinople1 ,palestine1 or from the source which has always attracted the ,french mind like a magnet--from ancient ,greece4 ,that it actually did take the ideas1 no one disputes1 except perhaps patriots who hold that even the ideas were original2 but to most students the ideas need to be accounted for less than the taste with which they were handled1 and the quickness with which they were developed4 ,that the taste was ,french1 you can see in the architecture1 or you will see if ever you meet the ,gothic elsewhere2 that it seized and developed an idea quickly1 you have seen in the arch1 the fleche1 the porch1 and the windows1 as well as in the glass2 but what we do not comprehend1 and never shall1 is the appetite behind all this2 the greed for novelty3 the fun of life4 ,every one who has lived since the sixteenth century has felt deep distrust of every one who lived before it1 and of every one who believed in the ,middle ,ages4 ,true it is that the last thirteenth-century artist died a long time before our planet began its present rate of revolution2 it had to come to rest1 and begin again2 but this does not prevent astonishment that the twelfth- century planet revolved so fast4 ,the pointed arch not only came as an idea into ,france1 but it was developed into a system of architecture and covered the country with buildings on a scale of height never before attempted except by the dome1 with an expenditure of wealth that would make a railway system look cheap1 all in a space of about fifty years2 the glass came with it1 and went with it1 at least as far as concerns us2 but1 if you need other evidence1 you can consult ,renan1 who is the highest authority3 ,one of the most singular phenomena of the literary history of the ,middle ,ages1 says ,renan of ,averroes1 is the activity of the intellectual commerce1 and the rapidity with which books were spread from one end of ,europe to the other4 ,the philosophy of ,abelard during his lifetime 7#aajj-db7 had penetrated to the ends of ,italy4 ,the ,french poetry of the trouveres counted within less than a century translations into ,german1 ,swedish1 ,norwegian1 ,icelandic1 ,flemish1 ,dutch1 ,bohemian1 ,italian1 ,spanish2 and he might have added that ,england needed no translation1 but helped to compose the poetry1 not being at that time so insular as she afterwards became4 ,such or such a work1 composed in ,morocco or in ,cairo1 was known at ,paris and at ,cologne in less time than it would need in our days for a ,german book of capital importance to pass the ,rhine2 and ,renan wrote this in #aheb when ,german books of capital importance were revolutionizing the literary world4 ,one is apt to forget the smallness of ,europe1 and how quickly it could always be crossed4 ,in summer weather1 with fair winds1 one can sail from ,alexandria or from ,syria1 to ,sicily1 or even to ,spain and ,france1 in perfect safety and with ample room for freight1 as easily now as one could do it then1 without the aid of steam2 but one does not now carry freight of philosophy1 poetry1 or art4 ,the world still struggles for unity1 but by different methods1 weapons1 and thought4 ,the mercantile exchanges which surprised ,renan1 and which have puzzled historians1 were in ideas4 ,the twelfth century was as greedy for them in one shape as the nineteenth century in another4 ,france paid for them dearly1 and repented for centuries2 but what creates surprise to the point of incredulity is her hunger for them1 the youthful gluttony with which she devoured them1 the infallible taste with which she dressed them out4 ,the restless appetite that snatched at the pointed arch1 the stone fleche1 the coloured glass1 the illuminated missal1 the chanson and roman and pastorelle1 the fragments of ,aristotle1 the glosses of ,avicenne1 was nothing compared with the genius which instantly gave form and flower to them all4 ,this episode merely means that the ,french twelfth-century artist may be supposed to have known his business1 and if he produced a grotesque1 or a green-faced ,saint1 or a blue castle1 or a syllogism1 or a song1 that he did it with a notion of the effect he had in mind4 ,the glass window was to him a whole1--a mass1--and its details were his amusement2 for the twelfth-century ,frenchman enjoyed his fun1 though it was sometimes rather heavy for modern ,french taste1 and less refined than the ,church liked4 ,these three twelfth-century windows1 like their contemporary portal outside1 and the fleche that goes with them1 are the ideals of enthusiasts of mediaeval art2 they are above the level of all known art1 in religious form2 they are inspired2 they are divine6 ,this is the claim of ,chartres and its ,virgin4 ,actually1 the ,french artist1 whether architect1 sculptor1 or painter in glass1 did rise here above his usual level4 ,he knew it when he did it1 and probably he attributed it1 as we do1 to the ,virgin2 for these works of his were hardly fifty years old when the rest of the old church was burned2 and already the artist felt the virtue gone out of him4 ,he could not do so well in #abjj as he did in #aaej2 and the ,virgin was not so near4 ,the proof of it--or1 if you prefer to think so1 the proof against it--is before our eyes on the wall above the lancet windows4 ,when ,villard de ,honnecourt came to ,chartres1 he seized at once on the western rose as his study1 although the two other roses were probably there1 in all their beauty and lightness4 ,he saw in the western rose some quality of construction which interested him2 and1 in fact1 the western rose is one of the flowers of architecture which reveals its beauties slowly without end2 but its chief beauty is the feeling which unites it with the portal1 the lancets1 and the fleche4 ,the glassworker here in the interior had the same task to perform4 ,the glass of the lancets was fifty years old when the glass for the rose was planned2 perhaps it was seventy1 for the exact dates are unknown1 but it does not matter1 for the greater the interval1 the more interesting is the treatment4 ,whatever the date1 the glass of the western rose cannot be much earlier or much later than that of the other roses1 or that of the choir1 and yet you see at a glance that it is quite differently treated4 ,on such matters one must1 of course1 submit to the opinion of artists1 which one does the more readily because they always disagree2 but until the artists tell us better1 we may please ourselves by fancying that the glass of the rose was intended to harmonize with that of the lancets1 and unite it with the thirteenth-century glass of the nave and transepts4 ,among all the thirteenth-century windows the western rose alone seems to affect a rivalry in brilliancy with the lancets1 and carries it so far that the separate medallions and pictures are quite lost1--especially in direct sunshine1--blending in a confused effect of opals1 in a delirium of colour and light1 with a result like a cluster of stones in jewelry4 ,assuming as one must1 in want of the artist's instruction1 that he knew what he wanted to do1 and did it1 one must take for granted that he treated the rose as a whole1 and aimed at giving it harmony with the three precious windows beneath4 ,the effect is that of a single large ornament2 a round breastpin1 or what is now called a sunburst1 of jewels1 with three large pendants beneath4 ,we are ignorant tourists1 liable to much error in trying to seek motives in artists who worked seven hundred years ago for a society which thought and felt in forms quite unlike ours1 but the medieval pilgrim was more ignorant than we1 and much simpler in mind2 if the idea of an ornament occurs to us1 it certainly occurred to him1 and still more to the glassworker whose business was to excite his illusions4 ,an artist1 if good for anything1 foresees what his public will see2 and what his public will see is what he ought to have intended--the measure of his genius4 ,if the public sees more than he himself did1 this is his credit2 if less1 this is his fault4 ,no matter how simple or ignorant we are1 we ought to feel a discord or a harmony where the artist meant us to feel it1 and when we see a motive1 we conclude that other people have seen it before us1 and that it must1 therefore1 have been intended4 ,neither of the transept roses is treated like this one2 neither has the effect of a personal ornament2 neither is treated as a jewel4 ,no one knew so well as the artist that such treatment must give the effect of a jewel4 ,the ,roses of ,france and of ,dreux bear indelibly and flagrantly the character of ,france and ,dreux2 on the western rose is stamped with greater refinement but equal decision the character of a much greater power than either of them4 ,no artist would have ventured to put up1 before the eyes of ,mary in ,majesty1 above the windows so dear to her1 any object that she had not herself commanded4 ,whether a miracle was necessary1 or whether genius was enough1 is a point of casuistry which you can settle with ,albertus ,magnus or ,saint ,bernard1 and which you will understand as little when settled as before2 but for us1 beyond the futilities of unnecessary doubt1 the ,virgin designed this rose2 not perhaps in quite the same perfect spirit in which she designed the lancets1 but still wholly for her own pleasure and as her own idea4 ,she placed upon the breast of her ,church--which symbolized herself--a jewel so gorgeous that no earthly majesty could bear comparison with it1 and which no other heavenly majesty has rivalled4 ,as one watches the light play on it1 one is still overcome by the glories of the jewelled rose and its three gemmed pendants2 one feels a little of the effect she meant it to produce even on infidels1 ,moors1 and heretics1 but infinitely more on the men who feared and the women who adored her2--not to dwell too long upon it1 one admits that hers is the only ,church4 ,one would admit anything that she should require4 ,if you had only the soul of a shrimp1 you would crawl1 like the ,abbe ,suger1 to kiss her feet4 ,unfortunately she is gone1 or comes here now so very rarely that we never shall see her2 but her genius remains as individual here as the genius of ,blanche of ,castile and ,pierre de ,dreux in the transepts4 ,that the three lancets were her own taste1 as distinctly as the ,trianon was the taste of ,louis ,,xiv1 is self-evident4 ,they represent all that was dearest to her2 her ,son's glory on her right2 her own beautiful life in the middle2 her royal ancestry on her left3 the story of her divine right1 thrice-told4 ,the pictures are all personal1 like family portraits4 ,above them the man who worked in #abjj to carry out the harmony1 and to satisfy the ,virgin's wishes1 has filled his rose with a dozen or two little compositions in glass1 which reveal their subjects only to the best powers of a binocle4 ,looking carefully1 one discovers at last that this gorgeous combination of all the hues of ,paradise contains or hides a ,last ,judgment--the one subject carefully excluded from the old work1 and probably not existing on the south portal for another twenty years4 ,if the scheme of the western rose dates from #abjj1 as is reasonable to suppose1 this ,last ,judgment is the oldest in the church1 and makes a link between the theology of the first crusade1 beneath1 and the theology of ,pierre ,mauclerc in the south porch4 ,the churchman is the only true and final judge on his own doctrine1 and we neither know nor care to know the facts2 but we are as good judges as he of the feeling1 and we are at full liberty to feel that such a ,last ,judgment as this was never seen before or since by churchman or heretic1 unless by virtue of the heresy which held that the true ,christian must be happy in being damned since such is the will of ,god4 ,that this blaze of heavenly light was intended1 either by the ,virgin or by her workmen1 to convey ideas of terror or pain1 is a notion which the ,church might possibly preach1 but which we sinners knew to be false in the thirteenth century as well as we know it now4 ,never in all these seven hundred years has one of us looked up at this rose without feeling it to be ,our ,lady's promise of ,paradise4 ,here as everywhere else throughout the church1 one feels the ,virgin's presence1 with no other thought than her majesty and grace4 ,to the ,virgin and to her suppliants1 as to us1 who though outcasts in other churches can still hope in hers1 the ,last ,judgment was not a symbol of ,god's justice or man's corruption1 but of her own infinite mercy4 ,the ,trinity judged1 through ,christ2--,christ loved and pardoned1 through her4 ,she wielded the last and highest power on earth and in hell4 ,in the glow and beauty of her nature1 the light of her ,son's infinite love shone as the sunlight through the glass1 turning the ,last ,judgment itself into the highest proof of her divine and supreme authority4 ,the rudest ruffian of the ,middle ,ages1 when he looked at this ,last ,judgment1 laughed2 for what was the ,last ,judgment to her6 ,an ornament1 a plaything1 a pleasure6 a jewelled decoration which she wore on her breast6 ,her chief joy was to pardon2 her eternal instinct was to love2 her deepest passion was pity6 ,on her imperial heart the flames of hell showed only the opaline colours of heaven4 ,christ the ,trinity might judge as much as ,he pleased1 but ,christ the ,mother would rescue2 and her servants could look boldly into the flames4 ,if you1 or even our friends the priests who still serve ,mary's shrine1 suspect that there is some exaggeration in this language1 it will only oblige you to admit presently that there is none2 but for the moment we are busy with glass rather than with faith1 and there is a world of glass here still to study4 ,technically1 we are done with it4 ,the technique of the thirteenth century comes naturally and only too easily out of that of the twelfth4 ,artistically1 the motive remains the same1 since it is always the ,virgin2 but although the ,virgin of ,chartres is always the ,virgin of ,majesty1 there are degrees in the assertion of her majesty even here1 which affect the art1 and qualify its feeling4 ,before stepping down to the thirteenth century1 one should look at these changes of the ,virgin's royal presence4 ,first and most important as record is the stone ,virgin on the south door of the western portal1 which we studied1 with her ,byzantine ,court2 and the second1 also in stone1 is of the same period1 on one of the carved capitals of the portal1 representing the ,adoration of the ,magi4 ,the third is the glass ,virgin at the top of the central lancet4 ,all three are undoubted twelfth-century work2 and you can see another at ,paris1 on the same door of ,notre ,dame1 and still more on ,abbe ,suger's window at ,saint-,denis1 and1 later1 within a beautiful grisaille at ,auxerre2 but all represent the same figure2 a ,queen1 enthroned1 crowned1 with the symbols of royal power1 holding in her lap the infant ,king whose guardian she is4 ,without pretending to know what special crown she bears1 we can assume1 till corrected1 that it is the ,carlovingian imperial1 not the ,byzantine4 ,the ,trinity nowhere appears except as implied in the ,christ4 ,at the utmost1 a mystic hand may symbolize the ,father4 ,the ,virgin as represented by the artists of the twelfth century in the ,ile de ,france and at ,chartres seems to be wholly ,french in spite of the ,greek atmosphere of her workmanship4 ,one might almost insist that she is blonde1 full in face1 large in figure1 dazzlingly beautiful1 and not more than thirty years of age4 ,the ,child never seems to be more than five4 ,you are equally free to see a ,southern or ,eastern type in her face1 and perhaps the glass suggests a dark type1 but the face of the ,virgin on the central lancet is a fourteenth-century restoration which may or may not reproduce the original1 while all the other ,virgins represented in glass1 except one1 belong to the thirteenth century4 ,the possible exception is a well-known figure called ,notre- ,dame-de-la-,belle-,verriere in the choir next the south transept4 ,a strange1 almost uncanny feeling seems to haunt this window1 heightened by the veneration in which it was long held as a shrine1 though it is now deserted for ,notre-,dame-du-,pilier on the opposite side of the choir4 ,the charm is partly due to the beauty of the scheme of the angels1 supporting1 saluting1 and incensing the ,virgin and ,child with singular grace and exquisite feeling1 but rather that of the thirteenth than of the twelfth century4 ,here1 too1 the face of the ,virgin is not ancient4 ,apparently the original glass was injured by time or accident1 and the colours were covered or renewed by a simple drawing in oil4 ,elsewhere the colour is thought to be particularly good1 and the window is a favourite mine of motives for artists to exploit1 but to us its chief interest is its singular depth of feeling4 ,the ,empress ,mother sits full-face1 on a rich throne and dais1 with the ,child on her lap1 repeating her attitude except that her hands support ,his shoulders4 ,she wears her crown2 her feet rest on a stool1 and both stool1 rug1 robe1 and throne are as rich as colour and decoration can make them4 ,at last a dove appears1 with the rays of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,imperial as the ,virgin is1 it is no longer quite the unlimited empire of the western lancet4 ,the aureole encircles her head only2 she holds no sceptre2 the ,holy ,ghost seems to give her support which she did not need before1 while ,saint ,gabriel and ,saint ,michael1 her archangels1 with their symbols of power1 have disappeared4 ,exquisite as the angels are who surround and bear up her throne1 they assert no authority4 ,the window itself is not a single composition2 the panels below seem inserted later merely to fill up the space2 six represent the ,marriage of ,cana1 and the three at the bottom show a grotesque little demon tempting ,christ in the ,desert4 ,the effect of the whole1 in this angle which is almost always dark or filled with shadow1 is deep and sad1 as though the ,empress felt her authority fail1 and had come down from the western portal to reproach us for neglect4 ,the face is haunting4 ,perhaps its force may be due to nearness1 for this is the only instance in glass of her descending so low that we can almost touch her1 and see what the twelfth century instinctively felt in the features which1 even in their beatitude1 were serious and almost sad under the austere responsibilities of infinite pity and power4 ,no doubt the window is very old1 or perhaps an imitation or reproduction of one which was much older1 but to the pilgrim its interest lies mostly in its personality1 and there it stands alone4 ,although the ,virgin reappears again and again in the lower windows1- -as in those on either side of the ,belle-,verriere2 in the remnant of window representing her miracles at ,chartres1 in the south aisle next the transept2 in the fifteenth-century window of the chapel of ,vendome which follows2 and in the third window which follows that of ,vendome and represents her coronation1--she does not show herself again in all her majesty till we look up to the high windows above4 ,there we shall find her in her splendour on her throne1 above the high altar1 and still more conspicuously in the ,rose of ,france in the north transept4 ,still again she is enthroned in the first window of the choir next the north transept4 ,elsewhere we can see her standing1 but never does she come down to us in the full splendour of her presence4 ,yet wherever we find her at ,chartres1 and of whatever period1 she is always ,queen4 ,her expression and attitude are always calm and commanding4 ,she never calls for sympathy by hysterical appeals to our feelings2 she does not even altogether command1 but rather accepts the voluntary1 unquestioning1 unhesitating1 instinctive faith1 love1 and devotion of mankind4 ,she will accept ours1 and we have not the heart to refuse it2 we have not even the right1 for we are her guests4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,legendary ,,windows ,one's first visit to a great cathedral is like one's first visit to the ,british ,museum2 the only intelligent idea is to follow the order of time1 but the museum is a chaos in time1 and the cathedral is generally all of one and the same time4 ,at ,chartres1 after finishing with the twelfth century1 everything is of the thirteenth4 ,to catch even an order in time1 one must first know what part of the thirteenth-century church was oldest4 ,the books say it was the choir4 ,after the fire of #aaid1 the pilgrims used the great crypt as a church where services were maintained2 but the builders must have begun with the central piers and the choir1 because the choir was the only essential part of the church4 ,nave and transepts might be suppressed1 but without a choir the church was useless1 and in a shrine1 such as ,chartres1 the choir was the whole church4 ,toward the choir1 then1 the priest or artist looks first2 and1 since dates are useful1 the choir must be dated4 ,the same popular enthusiasm1 which had broken out in #aade1 revived in #aaie to help the rebuilding2 and the work was pressed forward with the same feverish haste1 so that ten years should have been ample to provide for the choir1 if for nothing more2 and services may have been resumed there as early as the year #abjf2 certainly in #abaj4 ,probably the windows were designed and put in hand as soon as the architect gave the measurements1 and any one who intended to give a window would have been apt to choose one of the spaces in the apse1 in ,mary's own presence1 next the sanctuary4 ,the first of the choir windows to demand a date is the ,belle- ,verriere1 which is commonly classed as early thirteenth-century1 and may go with the two windows next it1 one of which--the so-called ,zodiac window--bears a singularly interesting inscription3 ,,comes ,,teobaldus ,,dat444,,ad ,,preces ,,comixis ,,pticensis4 ,if ,shakespeare could write the tragedy of ,king ,john1 we cannot admit ourselves not to have read it1 and this inscription might be a part of the play4 ,the pagus perticensis lies a short drive to the west1 some fifteen or twenty miles on the road to ,le ,mans1 and in history is known as the ,comte du ,perche1 although its memory is now preserved chiefly by its famous breed of ,percheron horses4 ,probably the horse also dates from the crusades1 and may have carried ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion1 but in any case the count of that day was a vassal of ,richard1 and one of his intimate friends1 whose memory is preserved forever by a single line in ,richard's prison-song3-- ,mes compaignons cui j'amoie et cui j'aim1 ,ces dou ,caheu et ces dou ,percherain4 ,in #aaid1 when ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion wrote these verses1 the ,comte du ,perche was ,geoffrey ,,iii1 who had been a companion of ,richard on his crusade in #aaib1 where1 according to the ,chronicle1 he shewed himself but a timid man2 which seems scarcely likely in a companion of ,richard2 but it is not of him that the ,chartres window speaks1 except as the son of ,mahaut or ,matilda of ,champagne who was a sister of ,alix of ,champagne1 ,queen of ,france4 ,the ,table shows1 therefore1 that ,geoffroi's son and successor as the ,comte du ,perche--,thomas-- was second cousin of ,louis the ,lion1 known as ,king ,louis ,,viii of ,france4 ,they were probably of much the same age4 ,if this were all1 one might carry it in one's head for a while1 but the relationship which dominates the history of this period was that of all these great ruling families with ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion and his brother ,john1 nicknamed ,lackland1 both of whom in succession were the most powerful ,frenchmen in ,france4 ,the ,table shows that their mother ,eleanor of ,guienne1 the first ,queen of ,louis ,,vii1 bore him two daughters1 one of whom1 ,alix1 married1 about #aafd1 the ,count ,thibaut of ,chartres and ,blois1 while the other1 ,mary1 married the great ,count of ,champagne4 ,both of them being half-sisters of ,coeur- de-,lion and ,john1 their children were nephews or half-nephews1 indiscriminately1 of all the reigning monarchs1 and ,coeur-de-,lion immortalized one of them by a line in his prison-song1 as he immortalized ,le ,perche3-- ,je nel di pas de celi de ,chartain1 ,la mere ,loeis4 ,loeis1 therefore1 or ,count ,louis of ,chatres1 was not only nephew of ,coeur-de-,lion and ,john ,lackland1 but was also1 like ,count ,thomas of ,le ,perche1 a second cousin of ,louis ,,viii4 ,feudally and personally he was directly attached to ,coeur-de-,lion rather than to ,philip ,augustus4 ,if society in the twelfth century could follow the effects of these relationships1 personal and feudal1 it was cleverer than society in the twentieth2 but so much is simple3 ,louis of ,france1 ,thibaut of ,chartres1 and ,thomas of ,le ,perche1 were cousins and close friends in the year #abae1 and all were devoted to the ,virgin of ,chartres4 ,judging from the character of ,louis's future queen1 ,blanche of ,castile1 their wives were1 if possible1 more devoted still2 and in that year ,blanche gave birth to ,saint ,louis1 who seems to have been the most devoted of all4 ,meanwhile their favourite uncle1 ,coeur-de-,lion1 had died in the year #aaii4 ,thibaut's great-grandmother1 ,eleanor of ,guienne1 died in #abjb4 ,king ,john1 left to himself1 rapidly accumulated enemies innumerable1 abroad and at home4 ,in #abjc1 ,philip ,augustus confiscated all the fiefs he held from the ,french ,crown1 and in #abjd seized ,normandy4 ,john sank rapidly from worse to worst1 until at last the ,english barons rose and forced him to grant their ,magna ,carta at ,runnimede in #abae4 ,the year #abae was1 therefore1 a year to be remembered at ,chartres1 as at ,mont-,saint-,michel2 one of the most convenient dates in history4 ,every one is supposed1 even now1 to know what happened then1 to give another violent wrench to society1 like the ,norman ,conquest in #ajff4 ,john turned on the barons and broke them down2 they sent to ,genealogical chart showing the relationships among ,england1 ,champagne and ,chartres and ,france and ,la ,perche4 ,france for help1 and offered the crown of ,england to young ,louis1 whose father1 ,philip ,augustus1 called a council which pledged support to ,louis4 ,naturally the ,comte du ,perche and the ,comte de ,chartres must have pledged their support1 among the foremost1 to go with ,louis to ,england4 ,he was then twenty-nine years old2 they were probably somewhat younger4 ,the ,zodiac window1 with its inscription1 was the immediate result4 ,the usual authority that figures in the histories is ,roger of ,wendover1 but much the more amusing for our purpose is a garrulous ,frenchman known as the ,menestrel de ,rheims who wrote some fifty years later4 ,after telling in his delightful thirteenth-century ,french1 how the ,english barons sent hostages to ,louis1 et mes sires ,loueys les fit bien gardeir et honourablement1 the ,menestrel continued3-- ,et assembla granz genz par amours1 et par deniers1 et par lignage4 ,et fu avec lui li cuens dou ,perche1 et li cuens de ,montfort1 et li cuens de ,chartres1 et li cuens de ,monbleart1 et mes sires ,enjorrans de ,couci1 et mout d'autre grant seigneur dont je ne parole mie4 ,the ,comte de ,chartres1 therefore1 may be supposed to have gone with the ,comte du ,perche1 and to have witnessed the disaster at ,lincoln which took place ,may #bj1 #abag1 after ,king ,john's death3-- ,et li cuens dou ,perche faisait l'avantgarde1 et courut tout leiz des portes2 et la garnisons de laienz issi hors et leur coururent sus2 et i ot asseiz trait et lancie2 et chevaus morz et chevaliers abatuz1 et gent a pie morz et navreiz4 ,et li cuens dou ,perche i fu morz par un ribaut qui li leva le pan dou hauberc1 et l'ocist d'un coutel2 et fu desconfite l'avantgarde par la mort le conte4 ,et quant mes sires ,loueys le sot1 si ot graigneur duel qu'il eust onques1 car il estoit ses prochains ami de char4 ,such language would be spoiled by translation4 ,for us it is enough to know that the ribaut who lifted the pan1 or skirt1 of the ,count's hauberc or coat-of-mail1 as he sat on his horse refusing to surrender to ,english traitors1 and stabbed him from below with a knife1 may have been an invention of the ,menestrel2 or the knight who pierced with his lance through the visor to the brain1 may have been an invention of ,roger of ,wendover2 but in either case1 ,count ,thomas du ,perche lost his life at ,lincoln1 ,may #bj1 #abag1 to the deepest regret of his cousin ,louis the ,lion as well as of the ,count ,thibaut of ,chartres1 whom he charged to put up a window for him in honour of the ,virgin4 ,the window must have been ordered at once1 because ,count ,thibaut1 le ,jeune ou le ,lepreux1 died himself within a year1 ,april #bb1 #abah1 thus giving an exact date for one of the choir windows4 ,probably it was one of the latest1 because the earliest to be provided would have been certainly those of the central apsidal chapel4 ,according to the rule laid down by ,viollet-le-,duc1 the windows in which blue strongly predominates1 like the ,saint ,sylvester1 are likely to be earlier than those with a prevailing tone of red4 ,we must take for granted that some of these great legendary windows were in place as early as #abaj1 because1 in ,october of that year1 ,philip ,augustus attended mass here4 ,there are some two dozen of these windows in the choir alone1 each of which may well have represented a year's work in the slow processes of that day1 and we can hardly suppose that the workshops of #abjj were on a scale such as to allow of more than two to have been in hand at once4 ,thirty or forty years later1 when the ,sainte ,chapelle was built1 the workshops must have been vastly enlarged1 but with the enlargement1 the glass deteriorated4 ,therefore1 if the architecture were so far advanced in the year #abjj as to allow of beginning work on the glass1 in the apse1 the year #abbe is none too late to allow for its completion in the choir4 ,dates are stupidly annoying2--what we want is not dates but taste2-- yet we are uncomfortable without them4 ,except the ,perche window1 none of the lower ones in the choir helps at all2 but the clere- story is more useful4 ,there they run in pairs1 each pair surmounted by a rose4 ,the first pair 7numbers #bg and #bh7 next the north transept1 shows the ,virgin of ,france1 supported1 according to the ,abbes ,bulteau and ,clerval1 by the arms of ,bishop ,reynault de ,moucon1 who was ,bishop of ,chartres at the time of the great fire in #aaid and died in #abag4 ,the window number #bh shows two groups of peasants on pilgrimage2 below1 on his knees1 ,robert of ,berou1 as donor3 ,,robertus ,,de ,,berou3 ,,carn4 ,,cancellarius4 ,the ,cartulary of the ,cathedral contains an entry 7,bulteau1 i1 #abc73 ,the #bfth ,february1 #abaf1 died ,robert de ,berou1 ,chancellor1 who has given us a window4 ,the ,cartulary mentions several previous gifts of windows by canons or other dignitaries of the ,church in the year #abae4 ,next follow1 or once followed1 a pair of windows 7numbers #bi and #cj7 which were removed by the sculptor ,bridan1 in #aghh1 in order to obtain light for his statuary below4 ,the donor was ,,domina ,,johannes ,,baptista1 who1 we are told1 was ,jeanne de ,dammartin2 and the window was given in memory1 or in honour1 of her marriage to ,ferdinand of ,castile in #abcg4 ,jeanne was a very great lady1 daughter of the ,comte d',aumale and ,marie de ,ponthieu4 ,her father affianced her in #abce to the ,king of ,england1 ,henry ,,iii1 and even caused the marriage to be celebrated by proxy1 but ,queen ,blanche broke it off1 as she had forbidden1 in #abca1 that of ,yolande of ,britanny4 ,she relented so far as to allow ,jeanne in #abcg to marry ,ferdinand of ,castile1 who still sits on horseback in the next rose3 ,,rex ,,castillae4 ,he won the crown of ,castile in #abag and died in #abeb1 when ,queen ,jeanne returned to ,abbeville and then1 at latest1 put up this window at ,chartres in memory of her husband4 ,the windows numbers #ca and #cb are the subject of much dispute1 but whether the donors were ,jean de ,chatillon or the three children of ,thibaut le ,grand of ,champagne1 they must equally belong to the later series of #abfj-gj1 rather than to the earlier of #abaj-bj4 ,the same thing is or was true of the next pair1 numbers #cc and #cd1 which were removed in #aggc1 but the record says that at the bottom of number #cd was the figure of ,saint ,louis's son1 ,louis of ,france1 who died in #abfj1 before his father1 who still rides in the rose above4 ,thus the north side of the choir shows a series of windows that precisely cover the lifetime of ,saint ,louis 7#abae-gj74 ,the south side begins1 next the apse1 with windows numbers #ce and #cf1 which belong1 according to the ,comte d',armancourt1 to the family of ,montfort1 whose ruined castle crowns the hill of ,montfort l',amaury1 on the road to ,paris1 some forty kilometres northeast of ,chartres4 ,every one is supposed to know the story of ,simon de ,montfort who was killed before ,toulouse in #abah4 ,simon left two sons1 ,amaury and ,simon4 ,the sculptor ,bridan put an end also to the window of ,amaury1 but in the rose1 ,amaury1 according to the ,abbes1 still rides on a white horse4 ,amaury's history is well known4 ,he was made ,constable of ,france by ,queen ,blanche in #abca2 went on crusade in #abci2 was captured by the infidels1 taken to ,babylon1 ransomed1 and in returning to ,france1 died at ,otranto in #abda4 ,for that age ,amaury was but a commonplace person1 totally overshadowed by his brother ,simon1 who went to ,england1 married ,king ,john's daughter ,eleanor1 and became almost king himself as ,earl of ,leicester4 ,at your leisure you can read ,matthew ,paris's dramatic account of him and of his death at the battle of ,evesham1 ,august #e1 #abfe4 ,he was perhaps the last of the very great men of the thirteenth century1 excepting ,saint ,louis himself1 who lived a few years longer4 ,m4 d',armancourt insists that it is the great ,earl of ,leicester who rides with his visor up1 in full armour1 on a brown horse1 in the rose above the windows numbers #cg and #ch4 ,in any case1 the windows would be later than #abdj4 ,the next pair of windows1 numbers #ci and #dj1 also removed in #aghh1 still offer1 in their rose1 the figure of a member of the ,courtenay family4 ,gibbon was so much attracted by the romance of the ,courtenays as to make an amusing digression on the subject which does not concern us or the cathedral except so far as it tells us that the ,courtenays1 like so many other benefactors of ,chartres ,cathedral1 belonged to the royal blood4 ,louis-le-,gros1 who died in #aacg1 besides his son ,louis-le-,jeune1 who married ,eleanor of ,guienne in that year1 had a younger son1 ,pierre1 whom he married to ,isabel de ,courtenay1 and who1 like ,philip ,hurepel1 took the title of his wife4 ,pierre had a son1 ,pierre ,,ii1 who was a cousin of ,philip ,augustus1 and became the hero of the most lurid tragedy of the time4 ,chosen ,emperor of ,constantinople in #abaf1 to succeed his brothers- in-law ,henry and ,baldwin1 he tried to march across ,illyria and ,macedonia1 from ,durazzo opposite ,brindisi1 with a little army of five thousand men1 and instantly disappeared forever4 ,the ,epirotes captured him in the summer of #abag1 and from that moment nothing is known of his fate4 ,on the whole1 this catastrophe was perhaps the grimmest of all the ,shakespearean tragedies of the thirteenth century2 and one would like to think that the ,chartres window was a memorial of this ,pierre1 who was a cousin of ,france and an emperor without empire2 but ,m4 d',armancourt insists that the window was given in memory not of this ,pierre1 but of his nephew1 another ,pierre de ,courtenay1 ,seigneur de ,conches1 who went on crusade with ,saint ,louis in #abdi to ,egypt1 and died shortly before the defeat and captivity of the ,king1 on ,february #h1 #abej4 ,his brother ,raoul1 ,seigneur d',illiers1 who died in #abga1 is said to be donor of the next window1 number #dj4 ,the date of the ,courtenay windows should therefore be no earlier than the death of ,saint ,louis in #abgj2 yet one would like to know what has become of another ,courtenay window left by the first ,pierre's son- in-law1 ,gaucher or ,gaultier of ,bar-sur-,seine1 who seems to have been ,vicomte de ,chartres1 and who1 dying before ,damietta in #abah1 made a will leaving to ,notre ,dame de ,chartres thirty silver marks1 de quibus fieri debet miles montatus super equum suum4 ,not only would this mounted knight on horseback supply an early date for these interesting figures1 but would fix also the cost1 for a mark contained eight ounces of silver1 and was worth ten sous1 or half a livre4 ,we shall presently see that ,aucassins gave twenty sous1 or a livre1 for a strong ox1 so that the miles montatus super equum suum in glass was equivalent to fifteen oxen if it were money of ,paris1 which is far from certain4 ,this is an economical problem which belongs to experts1 but the historical value of these early evidences is still something1-- perhaps still as much as ten sous4 ,all the windows tend to the same conclusion4 ,even the last pair1 numbers #da and #db1 offer three personal clues which lead to the same result3--the arms of ,bouchard de ,marly who died in #abbf1 almost at the same time as ,louis ,,viii2 a certain ,colinus or ,colin1 de camera ,regis1 who was alive in #abbe2 and ,robert of ,beaumont in the rose1 who seems to be a ,beaumont of ,le ,perche1 of whom little or nothing is as yet certainly known4 ,as a general rule1 there are two series of windows1 one figuring the companions or followers of ,louis ,,viii 7#abae-bf72 the other1 friends or companions of ,saint ,louis 7#abbf-gj71 ,queen ,blanche uniting both4 ,what helps to hold the sequences in a certain order1 is that the choir was complete1 and services regularly resumed there1 in #abaj1 while in #abbj the transept and nave were finished and vaulted4 ,for the apside windows1 therefore1 we will assume1 subject to correction1 a date from #abjj to #abbe for their design and workmanship2 for the transept1 #abbj to #abcf2 and for the nave a general tendency to the actual reign of ,saint ,louis from #abcf to #abgj4 ,since there is a deal of later glass scattered everywhere among the earlier1 the margin of error is great2 but by keeping the reign of ,louis ,,viii and its personages distinct from that of ,louis ,,ix and his generation1 we can be fairly sure of our main facts4 ,meanwhile the ,sainte ,chapelle in ,paris1 wholly built and completed between #abdj and #abdh1 offers a standard of comparison for the legendary windows4 ,the choir of ,chartres is as long as the nave1 and much broader1 besides that the apse was planned with seven circular projections which greatly increased the window space1 so that the guidebook reckons thirty-seven windows4 ,a number of these are grisailles1 and the true amateur of glass considers the grisailles to be as well worth study as the legendary windows4 ,they are a decoration which has no particular concern with churches1 and no distinct religious meaning1 but1 it seems1 a religious value which ,viollet-le-,duc is at some trouble to explain2 and1 since his explanation is not very technical1 we can look at it1 before looking at the legends3-- ,the colouration of the windows had the advantage of throwing on the opaque walls a veil1 or coloured glazing1 of extreme delicacy1 always assuming that the coloured windows themselves were harmoniously toned4 ,whether their resources did not permit the artists to adopt a complete system of coloured glass1 or whether they wanted to get daylight in purer quality into their interiors1-- whatever may have been their reasons1--they resorted to this beautiful grisaille decoration which is also a colouring harmony obtained by the aid of a long experience in the effects of light on translucent surfaces4 ,many of our churches retain grisaille windows filling either all1 or only a part1 of their bays4 ,in the latter case1 the grisailles are reserved for the side windows which are meant to be seen obliquely1 and in that case the coloured glass fills the bays of the fond1 the apsidal openings which are meant to be seen in face from a distance4 ,these lateral grisailles are still opaque enough to prevent the solar rays which pass through them from lighting the coloured windows on the reverse side2 yet1 at certain hours of the day1 these solar rays throw a pearly light on the coloured windows which gives them indescribable transparence and refinement of tones4 ,the lateral windows in the choir of the ,auxerre ,cathedral1 half-grisaille1 half-coloured1 throw on the wholly coloured apsidal window1 by this means1 a glazing the softness of which one can hardly conceive4 ,the opaline light which comes through these lateral bays1 and makes a sort of veil1 transparent in the extreme1 under the lofty vaulting1 is crossed by the brilliant tones of the windows behind1 which give the play of precious stones4 ,the solid outlines then seem to waver like objects seen through a sheet of clear water4 ,distances change their values1 and take depths in which the eye gets lost4 ,with every hour of the day these effects are altered1 and always with new harmonies which one never tires of trying to understand2 but the deeper one's study goes1 the more astounded one becomes before the experience acquired by these artists1 whose theories on the effects of colour1 assuming that they had any1 are unknown to us and whom the most kindly-disposed among us treat as simple children4 ,you can read the rest for yourselves4 ,grisaille is a separate branch of colour-decoration which belongs with the whole system of lighting and fenetrage1 and will have to remain a closed book because the feeling and experience which explained it once are lost1 and we cannot recover either4 ,such things must have been always felt rather than reasoned1 like the irregularities in plan of the builders2 the best work of the best times shows the same subtlety of sense as the dog shows in retrieving1 or the bee in flying1 but which tourists have lost4 ,all we can do is to note that the grisailles were intended to have values4 ,they were among the refinements of light and colour with which the apse of ,chartres is so crowded that one must be content to feel what one can1 and let the rest go4 ,understand1 we cannot6 nothing proves that the greatest artists who ever lived have1 in a logical sense1 understood6 or that omnipotence has ever understood6 or that the utmost power of expression has ever been capable of expressing more than the reaction of one energy on another1 but not of two on two2 and when one sits here1 in the central axis of this complicated apse1 one sees1 in mere light alone1 the reaction of hundreds of energies1 although time has left only a wreck of what the artist put here4 ,one of the best window spaces is wholly filled up by the fourteenth-century doorway to the chapel of ,saint ,piat1 and only by looking at the two windows which correspond on the north does a curious inquirer get a notion of the probable loss4 ,the same chapel more or less blocks the light of three other principal windows4 ,the sun1 the dust1 the acids of dripping water1 and the other works of time1 have in seven hundred years corroded or worn away or altered the glass1 especially on the south side4 ,windows have been darkened by time and mutilated by wilful injury4 ,scores of the panels are wholly restored1 modern reproductions or imitations4 ,even after all this loss1 the glass is probably the best-preserved1 or perhaps the only preserved part of the decoration in colour1 for we never shall know the colour- decoration of the vaults1 the walls1 the columns1 or the floors4 ,only one point is fairly sure2--that on festivals1 if not at other times1 every foot of space was covered in some way or another1 throughout the apse1 with colour2 either paint or tapestry or embroidery or ,byzantine brocades and ,oriental stuffs or rugs1 lining the walls1 covering the altars1 and hiding the floor4 ,occasionally you happen upon illuminated manuscripts showing the interiors of chapels with their colour-decoration2 but everything has perished here except the glass4 ,if one may judge from the glass of later centuries1 the first impression from the thirteenth-century windows ought to be disappointment4 ,you should find them too effeminate1 too soft1 too small1 and above all not particularly religious4 ,indeed1 except for the nominal subjects of the legends1 one sees nothing religious about them2 the medallions1 when studied with the binocle1 turn out to be less religious than decorative4 ,saint ,michael would not have felt at home here1 and ,saint ,bernard would have turned from them with disapproval2 but when they were put up1 ,saint ,bernard was long dead1 and ,saint ,michael had yielded his place to the ,virgin4 ,this apse is all for her4 ,at its entrance she sat1 on either side1 in the ,belle-,verriere or as ,our ,lady of the ,pillar1 to receive the secrets and the prayers of suppliants who wished to address her directly in person2 there she bent down to our level1 resumed her humanity1 and felt our griefs and passions4 ,within1 where the cross-lights fell through the wide columned space behind the high altar1 was her withdrawing room1 where the decorator and builder thought only of pleasing her4 ,the very faults of the architecture and effeminacy of taste witness the artists' object4 ,if the glassworkers had thought of themselves or of the public or even of the priests1 they would have strained for effects1 strong masses of colour1 and striking subjects to impress the imagination4 ,nothing of the sort is even suggested4 ,the great1 awe-inspiring mosaic figure of the ,byzantine half-dome was a splendid religious effect1 but this artist had in his mind an altogether different thought4 ,he was in the ,virgin's employ2 he was decorating her own chamber in her own palace2 he wanted to please her2 and he knew her tastes1 even when she did not give him her personal orders4 ,to him1 a dream would have been an order4 ,the salary of the twelfth-century artist was out of all relation with the percentage of a twentieth-century decorator4 ,the artist of #abjj was probably the last who cared little for the baron1 not very much for the priest1 and nothing for the public1 unless he happened to be paid by the guild1 and then he cared just to the extent of his hire1 or1 if he was himself a priest1 not even for that4 ,his pay was mostly of a different kind1 and was the same as that of the peasants who were hauling the stone from the quarry at ,bercheres while he was firing his ovens4 ,his reward was to come when he should be promoted to decorate the ,queen of ,heaven's palace in the ,new ,jerusalem1 and he served a mistress who knew better than he did what work was good and what was bad1 and how to give him his right place4 ,mary's taste was infallible2 her knowledge like her power had no limits2 she knew men's thoughts as well as acts1 and could not be deceived4 ,probably1 even in our own time1 an artist might find his imagination considerably stimulated and his work powerfully improved if he knew that anything short of his best would bring him to the gallows1 with or without trial by jury2 but in the twelfth century the gallows was a trifle2 the ,queen hardly considered it a punishment for an offence to her dignity4 ,the artist was vividly aware that ,mary disposed of hell4 ,all this is written in full1 on every stone and window of this apse1 as legible as the legends to any one who cares to read4 ,the artists were doing their best1 not to please a swarm of flat-eared peasants or slow-witted barons1 but to satisfy ,mary1 the ,queen of ,heaven1 to whom the ,kings and ,queens of ,france were coming constantly for help1 and whose absolute power was almost the only restraint recognized by ,emperor1 ,pope1 and clown4 ,the colour-decoration is hers1 and hers alone4 ,for her the lights are subdued1 the tones softened1 the subjects selected1 the feminine taste preserved4 ,that other great ladies interested themselves in the matter1 even down to its technical refinements1 is more than likely2 indeed1 in the central apside chapel1 suggesting the ,auxerre grisaille that ,viollet-le-,duc mentioned1 is a grisaille which bears the arms of ,castile and ,queen ,blanche2 further on1 three other grisailles bear also the famous castles1 but this is by no means the strongest proof of feminine taste4 ,the difficulty would be rather to find a touch of certainly masculine taste in the whole apse4 ,since the central apside chapel is the most important1 we can begin with the windows there1 bearing in mind that the subject of the central window was the ,life of ,christ1 dictated by rule or custom4 ,on ,christ's left hand is the window of ,saint ,peter2 next him is ,saint ,paul4 ,all are much restored2 thirty-three of the medallions are wholly new4 ,opposite ,saint ,peter1 at ,christ's right hand1 is the window of ,saint ,simon and ,saint ,jude2 and next is the grisaille with the arms of ,castile4 ,if these windows were ordered between #abje and #abaj1 ,blanche1 who was born in #aahg1 and married in #abjj1 would have been a young princess of twenty or twenty-five when she gave this window in grisaille to regulate and harmonize and soften the lighting of the ,virgin's boudoir4 ,the central chapel must be taken to be the most serious1 the most studied1 and the oldest of the chapels in the church1 above the crypt4 ,the windows here should rank in importance next to the lancets of the west front which are only about sixty years earlier4 ,they show fully that difference4 ,here one must see for one's self4 ,few artists know much about it1 and still fewer care for an art which has been quite dead these four hundred years4 ,the ruins of ,nippur would hardly be more intelligible to the ordinary architect of ,english tradition than these twelfth- century efforts of the builders of ,chartres4 ,even the learning of ,viollet-le-,duc was at fault in dealing with a building so personal as this1 the history of which is almost wholly lost4 ,this central chapel must have been meant to give tone to the apse1 and it shows with the colour-decoration of a queen's salon1 a subject-decoration too serious for the amusement of heretics4 ,one sees at a glance that the subject-decoration was inspired by church-custom1 while colour was an experiment and the decorators of this enormous window space were at liberty as colourists to please the ,countess of ,chartres and the ,princess ,blanche and the ,duchess of ,brittany1 without much regarding the opinions of the late ,bernard of ,clairvaux or even ,augustine of ,hippo1 since the great ladies of the ,court knew better than the ,saints what would suit the ,virgin4 ,the subject of the central window was prescribed by tradition4 ,christ is the ,church1 and in this church he and his ,mother are one2 therefore the life of ,christ is the subject of the central window1 but the treatment is the ,virgin's1 as the colours show1 and as the absence of every influence but hers1 including the ,crucifixion1 proves officially4 ,saint ,peter and ,saint ,paul are in their proper place as the two great ministers of the throne who represent the two great parties in western religion1 the ,jewish and the ,gentile4 ,opposite them1 balancing by their family influence the weight of delegated power1 are two of ,mary's nephews1 ,simon and ,jude2 but this subject branches off again into matters so personal to ,mary that ,simon and ,jude require closer acquaintance4 ,one must study a new guidebook--the ,golden ,legend1 by the blessed ,james1 ,bishop of ,genoa and member of the order of ,dominic1 who was born at ,varazze or ,voragio in almost the same year that ,thomas was born at ,aquino1 and whose ,legenda ,aurea1 written about the middle of the thirteenth century1 was more popular history than the ,bible itself1 and more generally consulted as authority4 ,the decorators of the thirteenth century got their motives quite outside the ,bible1 in sources that ,james of ,genoa compiled into a volume almost as fascinating as the ,fioretti of ,saint ,francis4 ,according to the ,golden ,legend and the tradition accepted in ,jerusalem by pilgrims and crusaders1 ,mary's family connection was large4 ,it appears that her mother ,anne was three times married1 and by each husband had a daughter ,mary1 so that there were three ,marys1 half-sisters4 ,joachim-,anne- ,cleophas- -,salome ,joseph-,mary ,alpheus-,mary ,mary-,zebedee ,christ ,james ,joseph ,simon ,jude ,james ,john the ,minor the the ,major the ,evangelist ,apostle ,just ,st4 ,iago of ,compostella ,simon and ,jude were1 therefore1 nephews of ,mary and cousins of ,christ1 whose lives were evidence of the truth not merely of ,scripture1 but specially of the private and family distinction of their aunt1 the ,virgin ,mother of ,christ4 ,they were selected1 rather than their brothers1 or cousins ,james and ,john1 for the conspicuous honour of standing opposite ,peter and ,paul1 doubtless by reason of some merit of their own1 but perhaps also because in art the two counted as one1 and therefore the one window offered two witnesses1 which allowed the artist to insert a grisaille in place of another legendary window to complete the chapel on their right4 ,according to ,viollet-le-,duc1 the grisaille in this position regulates the light and so completes the effect4 ,if custom prescribed a general rule for the central chapel1 it seems to have left great freedom in the windows near by4 ,at ,chartres the curved projection that contains the next two windows was not a chapel1 but only a window-bay1 for the sake of the windows1 and1 if the artists aimed at pleasing the ,virgin1 they would put their best work there4 ,at ,bourges in the same relative place are three of the best windows in the building3--the ,prodigal ,son1 the ,new ,alliance and the ,good ,samaritan2 all of them full of life1 story1 and colour1 with little reference to a worship or a saint4 ,at ,chartres the choice is still more striking1 and the windows are also the best in the building1 after the twelfth-century glass of the west front4 ,the first1 which comes next to ,blanche's grisaille in the central chapel1 is given to another nephew of ,mary and apostle of ,christ1 ,saint ,james the ,major1 whose life is recorded in the proper ,bible ,dictionaries1 with a terminal remark as follows3-- ,for legends respecting his death and his connections with ,spain1 see the ,roman ,breviary1 in which the healing of a paralytic and the conversion of ,hermogenes are attributed to him1 and where it is asserted that he preached the ,gospel in ,spain1 and that his remains were translated to ,compostella 444 ,as there is no shadow of foundation for any of the legends here referred to1 we pass them by without further notice4 ,even ,baronius shows himself ashamed of them4444 ,if the learned ,baronius thought himself required to show shame for all the legends that pass as history1 he must have suffered cruelly during his laborious life1 and his sufferings would not have been confined to the annals of the ,church2 but the historical accuracy of the glass windows is not our affair1 nor are historians especially concerned in the events of the ,virgin's life1 whether recorded or legendary4 ,religion is1 or ought to be1 a feeling1 and the thirteenth-century windows are original documents1 much more historical than any recorded in the ,bible1 since their inspiration is a different thing from their authority4 ,the true life of ,saint ,james or ,saint ,jude or any other of the apostles1 did not1 in the opinion of the ladies in the ,court of ,france1 furnish subjects agreeable enough to decorate the palace of the ,queen of ,heaven2 and that they were right1 any one must feel1 who compares these two windows with subjects of dogma4 ,saint ,james1 better known as ,santiago of ,compostella1 was a compliment to the young ,dauphine-- before ,dauphines existed--the ,princess ,blanche of ,castile1 whose arms1 or castles1 are on the grisaille window next to it4 ,perhaps she chose him to stand there4 ,certainly her hand is seen plainly enough throughout the church to warrant suspecting it here4 ,as a nephew1 ,saint ,james was dear to the ,virgin1 but1 as a friend to ,spain1 still more dear to ,blanche1 and it is not likely that pure accident caused three adjacent windows to take a ,spanish tone4 ,the ,saint ,james in whom the thirteenth century delighted1 and whose windows one sees at ,bourges1 ,tours1 and wherever the scallop-shell tells of the pilgrim1 belongs not to the ,bible but to the ,golden ,legend4 ,this window was given by the ,merchant ,tailors whose signature appears at the bottom1 in the corners1 in two pictures that paint the tailor's shop of ,chartres in the first quarter of the thirteenth century4 ,the shop-boy takes cloth from chests for his master to show to customers1 and to measure off by his ell4 ,the story of ,saint ,james begins in the lower panel1 where he receives his mission from ,christ1 ,above1 on the right1 he seems to be preaching4 ,on the left appears a figure which tells the reason for the popularity of the story4 ,it is ,almogenes1 or in the ,latin1 ,hermogenes1 a famous magician in great credit among the ,pharisees1 who has the command of demons1 as you see1 for behind his shoulder1 standing1 a little demon is perched1 while he orders his pupil ,filetus to convert ,james4 ,next1 ,james is shown in discussion with a group of listeners4 ,filetus gives him a volume of false doctrine4 ,almogenes then further instructs ,filetus4 ,james is led away by a rope1 curing a paralytic as he goes4 ,he sends his cloak to ,filetus to drive away the demon4 ,filetus receives the cloak1 and the droll little demon departs in tears4 ,almogenes1 losing his temper1 sends two demons1 with horns on their heads and clubs in their hands1 to reason with ,james2 who sends them back to remonstrate with ,almogenes4 ,the demons then bind ,almogenes and bring him before ,james1 who discusses differences with him until ,almogenes burns his books of magic and prostrates himself before the ,saint4 ,both are then brought before ,herod1 and ,almogenes breaks a pretty heathen idol1 while ,james goes to prison4 ,a panel comes in here1 out of place1 showing ,almogenes enchanting ,filetus1 and the demon entering into possession of him4 ,then ,almogenes is seen being very roughly handled by a young ,jew1 while the bystanders seem to approve4 ,james next makes ,almogenes throw his books of magic into the sea2 both are led away to execution1 curing the infirm on their way2 their heads are cut off2 and1 at the top1 ,god blesses the orb of the world4 ,that this window was intended to amuse the ,virgin seems quite as reasonable an idea as that it should have been made to instruct the people1 or us4 ,its humour was as humorous then as now1 for the ,french of the thirteenth century loved humour even in churches1 as their grotesques proclaim4 ,the ,saint ,james window is a tale of magic1 told with the vivacity of a fabliau2 but if its motive of amusement seems still a forced idea1 we can pass on1 at once1 to the companion window which holds the best position in the church1 where1 in the usual cathedral1 one expects to find ,saint ,john or some other apostle2 or ,saint ,joseph2 or a doctrinal lesson such as that called the ,new ,alliance where the ,old and ,new ,testaments are united4 ,the window which the artists have set up here is regarded as the best of the thirteenth-century windows1 and is the least religious4 ,the subject is nothing less than the ,chanson de ,roland in pictures of coloured glass1 set in a border worth comparing at leisure with the twelfth-century borders of the western lancets4 ,even at ,chartres1 the artists could not risk displeasing the ,virgin and the ,church by following a wholly profane work like the ,chanson itself1 and ,roland had no place in religion4 ,he could be introduced only through ,charlemagne1 who had almost as little right there as he4 ,the twelfth century had made persistent efforts to get ,charlemagne into the ,church1 and the ,church had made very little effort to keep him out2 yet by the year #abjj1 ,charlemagne had not been sainted except by the anti-,pope ,pascal ,,iii in #aafe1 although there was a popular belief1 supported in ,spain by the necessary documents1 that ,pope ,calixtus ,,ii in #aabb had declared the so-called ,chronicle of ,archbishop ,turpin to be authentic4 ,the ,bishop of ,chartres in #abjj was very much too enlightened a prelate to accept the ,chronicle or ,turpin or ,charlemagne himself1 still less ,roland and ,thierry1 as authentic in sanctity2 but if the young and beautiful ,dauphine of ,france1 and her cousins of ,chartres1 and their artists1 warmly believed that the ,virgin would be pleased by the story of ,charlemagne and ,roland1 the ,bishop might have let them have their way in spite of the irregularity4 ,that the window was an irregularity1 is plain2 that it has always been immensely admired1 is certain2 and that ,bishop ,renaud must have given his assent to it1 is not to be denied4 ,the most elaborate account of this window can be found in ,male's ,art ,religieux 7pp4 #ddd-ej74 ,its feeling or motive is quite another matter1 as it is with the statuary on the north porch4 ,the ,furriers or ,fur ,merchants paid for the ,charlemagne window1 and their signature stands at the bottom1 where a merchant shows a fur-lined cloak to his customer4 ,that ,mary was personally interested in furs1 no authority seems to affirm1 but that ,blanche and ,isabel and every lady of the ,court1 as well as every king and every count1 in that day1 took keen interest in the subject1 is proved by the prices they paid1 and the quantities they wore4 ,not even the ,merchant ,tailors had a better standing at ,court than the ,furriers1 which may account for their standing so near the ,virgin4 ,whatever the cause1 the ,furriers were allowed to put their signature here1 side by side with the ,tailors1 and next to the ,princess ,blanche4 ,their gift warranted it4 ,above the signature1 in the first panel1 the ,emperor ,constantine is seen1 asleep1 in ,constantinople1 on an elaborate bed1 while an angel is giving him the order to seek aid from ,charlemagne against the ,saracens4 ,charlemagne appears1 in full armour of the year #abjj1 on horseback4 ,then ,charlemagne1 sainted1 wearing his halo1 converses with two bishops on the subject of a crusade for the rescue of ,constantine4 ,in the next scene1 he arrives at the gates of ,constantinople where ,constantine receives him4 ,the fifth picture is most interesting2 ,charlemagne has advanced with his knights and attacks the ,saracens2 the ,franks wear coats-of-mail1 and carry long1 pointed shields2 the infidels carry round shields2 ,charlemagne1 wearing a crown1 strikes off with one blow of his sword the head of a ,saracen emir2 but the battle is desperate2 the chargers are at full gallop1 and a ,saracen is striking at ,charlemagne with his battle-axe4 ,after the victory has been won1 the ,emperor ,constantine rewards ,charlemagne by the priceless gift of three chasses or reliquaries1 containing a piece of the true ,cross2 the ,suaire or grave-cloth of the ,saviour2 and a tunic of the ,virgin4 ,charlemagne then returns to ,france1 and in the next medallion presents the three chasses and the crown of the ,saracen king to the church at ,aix1 which to a ,french audience meant the ,abbey of ,saint-,denis4 ,this scene closes the first volume of the story4 ,the second part opens on ,charlemagne1 seated between two persons1 looking up to heaven at the ,milky ,way1 called then the ,way of ,saint ,james1 which directs him to the grave of ,saint ,james in ,spain4 ,saint ,james himself appears to ,charlemagne in a dream1 and orders him to redeem the tomb from the infidels4 ,then ,charlemagne sets out1 with ,archbishop ,turpin of ,rheims and knights4 ,in presence of his army he dismounts and implores the aid of ,god4 ,then he arrives before ,pampeluna and transfixes with his lance the ,saracen chief as he flies into the city4 ,mounted1 he directs workmen to construct a church in honour of ,saint ,james2 a little cloud figures the hand of ,god4 ,next is shown the miracle of the lances2 stuck in the ground at night1 they are found in the morning to have burst into foliage1 prefiguring martyrdom4 ,two thousand people perish in battle4 ,then begins the story of ,roland which the artists and donors are so eager to tell1 knowing1 as they do1 that what has so deeply interested men and women on earth1 must interest ,mary who loves them4 ,you see ,archbishop ,turpin celebrating mass when an angel appears1 to warn him of ,roland's fate4 ,then ,roland himself1 also wearing a halo1 is introduced1 in the act of killing the giant ,ferragus4 ,the combat of ,roland and ,ferragus is at the top1 out of sequence1 as often happens in the legendary windows4 ,charlemagne and his army are seen marching homeward through the ,pyrenees1 while ,roland winds his horn and splits the rock without being able to break ,durendal4 ,thierry1 likewise sainted1 brings water to ,roland in a helmet4 ,at last ,thierry announces ,roland's death4 ,at the top1 on either side of ,roland and ,ferragus1 is an angel with incense4 ,the execution of this window is said to be superb4 ,of the colour1 and its relations with that of the ,saint ,james1 one needs time and long acquaintance to learn the value4 ,in the feeling1 compared with that of the twelfth century1 one needs no time in order to see a change4 ,these two windows are as ,french and as modern as a picture of ,lancret2 they are pure art1 as simply decorative as the decorations of the ,grand ,opera4 ,the thirteenth century knew more about religion and decoration than the twentieth century will ever learn4 ,the windows were neither symbolic nor mystical1 nor more religious than they pretended to be4 ,that they are more intelligent or more costly or more effective is nothing to the purpose1 so long as one grants that the combat of ,roland and ,ferragus1 or ,roland winding his olifant1 or ,charlemagne cutting off heads and transfixing ,moors1 were subjects never intended to teach religion or instruct the ignorant1 but to please the ,queen of ,heaven as they pleased the queens of earth with a roman1 not in verse but in colour1 as near as possible to decorative perfection4 ,instinctively one looks to the corresponding bay1 opposite1 to see what the artists could have done to balance these two great efforts of their art2 but the bay opposite is now occupied by the entrance to ,saint ,piat's chapel and one does not know what changes may have been made in the fourteenth century to rearrange the glass2 yet1 even as it now stands1 the ,sylvester window which corresponds to the ,charlemagne is1 as glass1 the strongest in the whole cathedral4 ,in the next chapel1 on our left1 come the martyrs1 with ,saint ,stephen1 the first martyr1 in the middle window4 ,naturally the subject is more serious1 but the colour is not differently treated4 ,a step further1 and you see the artists returning to their lighter subjects4 ,the stories of ,saint ,julian and ,saint ,thomas are more amusing than the plots of half the thirteenth-century romances1 and not very much more religious4 ,the subject of ,saint ,thomas is a pendant to that of ,saint ,james1 for ,saint ,thomas was a great traveller and an architect1 who carried ,mary's worship to ,india as ,saint ,james carried it to ,spain4 ,here is the amusement of many days in studying the stories1 the colour and the execution of these windows1 with the help of the ,monographs of ,chartres and ,bourges or the ,golden ,legend and occasional visits to ,le ,mans1 ,tours1 ,clermont ,ferrand1 and other cathedrals2 but1 in passing1 one has to note that the window of ,saint ,thomas was given by ,france1 and bears the royal arms1 perhaps for ,philip ,augustus the ,king2 while the window of ,saint ,julian was given by the ,carpenters and ,coopers4 ,one feels no need to explain how it happens that the taste of the royal family1 and of their tailors1 furriers1 carpenters1 and coopers1 should fit so marvellously1 one with another1 and with that of the ,virgin2 but one can compare with theirs the taste of the ,stone- workers opposite1 in the window of ,saint ,sylvester and ,saint ,melchiades1 whose blues almost kill the ,charlemagne itself1 and of the ,tanners in that of ,saint ,thomas of ,canterbury2 or1 in the last chapel on the south side1 with that of the ,shoemakers in the window to ,saint ,martin1 attributed for some reason to a certain ,clemens vitrearius ,carnutensis1 whose name is on a window in the cathedral of ,rouen4 ,the name tells nothing1 even if the identity could be proved4 ,clement the glassmaker may have worked on his own account1 or for others2 the glass differs only in refinements of taste or perhaps of cost4 ,nicolas ,lescine1 the canon1 or ,geoffroi ,chardonnel1 may have been less rich than the ,bakers1 and even the ,furriers may have not had the revenues of the ,king2 but some controlling hand has given more or less identical taste to all4 ,what one can least explain is the reason why some windows1 that should be here1 are elsewhere4 ,in most churches1 one finds in the choir a window of doctrine1 such as the so-called ,new ,alliance1 but here the ,new ,alliance is banished to the nave4 ,besides the costly ,charlemagne and ,saint ,james windows in the apse1 the ,furriers and ,drapers gave several others1 and one of these seems particularly suited to serve as companion to ,saint ,thomas1 ,saint ,james1 and ,saint ,julian1 so that it is best taken with these while comparing them4 ,it is in the nave1 the third window from the new tower1 in the north aisle1--the window of ,saint ,eustace4 ,the story and treatment and beauty of the work would have warranted making it a pendant to ,almogenes1 in the bay now serving as the door to ,saint ,piat's chapel1 which should have been the most effective of all the positions in the church for a legendary story4 ,saint ,eustace1 whose name was ,placidas1 commanded the guards of the ,emperor ,trajan4 ,one day he went out hunting with huntsmen and hounds1 as the legend in the lower panel of the window begins2 a pretty picture of a stag hunt about the year #abjj2 followed by one still prettier1 where the stag1 after leaping upon a rock1 has turned1 and shows a crucifix between his horns1 the stag on one side balancing the horse on the other1 while ,placidas on his knees yields to the miracle of ,christ4 ,then ,placidas is baptized as ,eustace2 and in the centre1 you see him with his wife and two children--another charming composition-- leaving the city4 ,four small panels in the corners are said to contain the signatures of the ,drapers and ,furriers4 ,above1 the story of adventure goes on1 showing ,eustace bargaining with a shipmaster for his passage2 his embarcation with wife and children1 and their arrival at some shore1 where the two children have landed1 and the master drives ,eustace after them while he detains the wife4 ,four small panels here have not been identified1 but the legend was no doubt familiar to the ,middle ,ages1 and they knew how ,eustace and the children came to a river1 where you can see a pink lion carrying off one child1 while a wolf1 which has seized the other1 is attacked by shepherds and dogs4 ,the children are rescued1 and the wife reappears1 on her knees before her lord1 telling of her escape from the shipmaster1 while the children stand behind2 and then the reunited family1 restored to the ,emperor's favour1 is seen feasting and happy4 ,at last ,eustace refuses to offer a sacrifice to a graceful antique idol1 and is then shut up1 with all his family1 in a brazen bull2 a fire is kindled beneath it2 and1 from above1 a hand confers the crown of martyrdom4 ,another subject1 which should have been placed in the apse1 stands in a singular isolation which has struck many of the students in this branch of church learning4 ,at ,sens1 ,saint ,eustace is in the choir1 and by his side is the ,prodigal ,son4 ,at ,bourges also the ,prodigal ,son is in the choir4 ,at ,chartres1 he is banished to the north transept1 where you will find him in the window next the nave1 almost as though he were in disgrace2 yet the glass is said to be very fine1 among the best in the church1 while the story is told with rather more vivacity than usual2 and as far as colour and execution go1 the window has an air of age and quality higher than the average4 ,at the bottom you see the signature of the corporation of ,butchers4 ,the window at ,bourges was given by the ,tanners4 ,the story begins with the picture showing the younger son asking the father for his share of the inheritance1 which he receives in the next panel1 and proceeds1 on horseback1 to spend1 as one cannot help suspecting1 at ,paris1 in the ,latin ,quarter1 where he is seen arriving1 welcomed by two ladies4 ,no one has offered to explain why ,chartres should consider two ladies theologically more correct than one2 or why ,sens should fix on three1 or why ,bourges should require six4 ,perhaps this was left to the artist's fancy2 but1 before quitting the twelfth century1 we shall see that the usual young man who took his share of patrimony and went up to study in the ,latin ,quarter1 found two schools of scholastic teaching1 one called ,realism1 the other ,nominalism1 each of which in turn the ,church had been obliged to condemn4 ,meanwhile the ,prodigal ,son is seen feasting with them1 and is crowned with flowers1 like a new ,abelard1 singing his songs to ,heloise1 until his religious capital is exhausted1 and he is dragged out of bed1 to be driven naked from the house with sticks1 in this also ,i resembling ,abelard4 ,at ,bourges he is gently turned out2 at ,sens he is dragged away by three devils4 ,then he seeks service1 and is seen knocking acorns from boughs1 to feed his employer's swine2 but1 among the thousands of young men who must have come here directly from the schools1 nine in every ten said that he was teaching letters to his employer's children or lecturing to the students of the ,latin ,quarter4 ,at last he decides to return to his father1--possibly the ,archbishop of ,paris or the ,abbot of ,saint-,denis1--who receives him with open arms1 and gives him a new robe1 which to the ribald student would mean a church living--an abbey1 perhaps ,saint ,gildas-de-,rhuys in ,brittany1 or elsewhere4 ,the fatted calf is killed1 the feast is begun1 and the elder son1 whom the malicious student would name ,bernard1 appears in order to make protest4 ,above1 ,god1 on ,his throne1 blesses the globe of the world4 ,the original symbol of the ,prodigal ,son was a rather different form of prodigality4 ,according to the ,church interpretation1 the ,father had two sons2 the older was the people of the ,jews2 the younger1 the ,gentiles4 ,the ,father divided his substance between them1 giving to the older the divine law1 to the younger1 the law of nature4 ,the younger went off and dissipated his substance1 as one must believe1 on ,aristotle2 but repented and returned when the ,father sacrificed the victim--,christ--as the symbol of reunion4 ,that the ,synagogue also accepts the sacrifice is not so clear2 but the ,church clung to the idea of converting the ,synagogue as a necessary proof of ,christ's divine character4 ,not until about the time when this window may have been made1 did the new ,church1 under the influence of ,saint ,dominic1 abandon the ,jews and turn in despair to the ,gentiles alone4 ,the old symbolism belonged to the fourth and fifth centuries1 and1 as told by the ,jesuit fathers ,martin and ,cahier in their ,monograph of ,bourges1 it should have pleased the ,virgin who was particularly loved by the young1 and habitually showed her attachment to them4 ,at ,bourges the window stands next the central chapel of the apse1 where at ,chartres is the entrance to ,saint ,piat's chapel2 but ,bourges did not belong to ,notre ,dame1 nor did ,sens4 ,the story of the prodigal sons of these years from #abjj to #abcj lends the window a little personal interest that the ,prodigal ,son of ,saint ,luke's ,gospel could hardly have had even to thirteenth-century penitents4 ,neither the ,church nor the ,crown loved prodigal sons4 ,so far from killing fatted calves for them1 the bishops in #abji burned no less than ten in ,paris for too great intimacy with ,arab and ,jew disciples of ,aristotle4 ,the position of the ,bishop of ,chartres between the schools had been always awkward4 ,as for ,blanche of ,castile1 her first son1 afterwards ,saint ,louis1 was born in #abae2 and after that time no ,prodigal ,son was likely to be welcomed in any society which she frequented4 ,for her1 above all other women on earth or in heaven1 prodigal sons felt most antipathy1 until1 in #abbi1 the quarrel became so violent that she turned her police on them and beat a number to death in the streets4 ,they retaliated without regard for loyalty or decency1 being far from model youth and prone to relapses from virtue1 even when forgiven and beneficed4 ,the ,virgin ,mary1 ,queen of ,heaven1 showed no prejudice against prodigal sons1 or even prodigal daughters4 ,she would hardly1 of her own accord1 have ordered such persons out of her apse1 when ,saint ,stephen at ,bourges and ,sens showed no such puritanism2 yet the ,chartres window is put away in the north transept4 ,even there it still stands opposite the ,virgin of the ,pillar1 on the women's and ,queen ,blanche's side of the church1 and in an excellent position1 better seen from the choir than some of the windows in the choir itself1 because the late summer sun shines full upon it1 and carries its colours far into the apse4 ,this may have been one of the many instances of tastes in the ,virgin which were almost too imperial for her official court4 ,omniscient as ,mary was1 she knew no difference between the ,blanches of ,castile and the students of the ,latin ,quarter4 ,she was rather fond of prodigals1 and gentle toward the ladies who consumed the prodigal's substance4 ,she admitted ,mary ,magdalen and ,mary the ,gipsy to her society4 ,she fretted little about ,aristotle so long as the prodigal adored her1 and naturally the prodigal adored her almost to the exclusion of the ,trinity4 ,she always cared less for her dignity than was to be wished4 ,especially in the nave and on the porch1 among the peasants1 she liked to appear as one of themselves2 she insisted on lying in bed1 in a stable1 with the cows and asses about her1 and her baby in a cradle by the bedside1 as though she had suffered like other women1 though the ,church insisted she had not4 ,her husband1 ,saint ,joseph1 was notoriously uncomfortable in her ,court1 and always preferred to get as near to the door as he could4 ,the choir at ,chartres1 on the contrary1 was aristocratic2 every window there had a court quality1 even down to the contemporary ,thomas a',becket1 the fashionable martyr of good society4 ,theology was put into the transepts or still further away in the nave where the window of the ,new ,alliance elbows the ,prodigal ,son4 ,even to ,blanche of ,castile1 ,mary was neither a philanthropist nor theologist nor merely a mother1--she was an absolute ,empress1 and whatever she said was obeyed1 but sometimes she seems to have willed an order that worried some of her most powerful servants4 ,mary chose to put her ,prodigal into the transept1 and one would like to know the reason4 ,was it a concession to the ,bishop or the ,queen8 ,or was it to please the common people that these familiar picture- books1 with their popular interest1 like the ,good ,samaritan and the ,prodigal ,son1 were put on the walls of the great public hall8 ,this can hardly be1 since the people would surely have preferred the ,charlemagne and ,saint ,james to any other4 ,we shall never know2 but sitting here in the subdued afternoon light of the apse1 one goes on for hours reading the open volumes of colour1 and listening to the steady discussion by the architects1 artists1 priests1 princes1 and princesses of the thirteenth century about the arrangements of this apse4 ,however strong-willed they might be1 each in turn whether priest1 or noble1 or glassworker1 would have certainly appealed to the ,virgin and one can imagine the architect still beside us1 in the growing dusk of evening1 mentally praying1 as he looked at the work of a finished day3 ,lady ,virgin1 show me what you like best6 ,the central chapel is correct1 ,i know4 ,the ,lady ,blanche's grisaille veils the rather strong blue tone nicely1 and ,i am confident it will suit you4 ,the ,charlemagne window seems to me very successful1 but the ,bishop feels not at all easy about it1 and ,i should never have dared put it here if the ,lady ,blanche had not insisted on a ,spanish bay4 ,to balance at once both the subjects and the colour1 we have tried the ,stephen window in the next chapel1 with more red2 but if ,saint ,stephen is not good enough to satisfy you1 we have tried again with ,saint ,julian1 whose story is really worth telling you as we tell it2 and with him we have put ,saint ,thomas because you loved him and gave him your girdle4 ,i do not myself care so very much for ,saint ,thomas of ,canterbury opposite1 though the ,count is wild about it1 and the ,bishop wants it2 but the ,sylvester is stupendous in the morning sun4 ,what troubles me most is the first right-hand bay4 ,the princesses would not have let me put the ,prodigal ,son there1 even if it were made for the place4 ,i've nothing else good enough to balance the ,charlemagne unless it be the ,eustace4 ,gracious ,lady1 what ought ,i to do8 ,forgive me my blunders1 my stupidity1 my wretched want of taste and feeling6 ,i love and adore you6 ,all that ,i am1 ,i am for you6 ,if ,i cannot please you1 ,i care not for ,heaven6 but without your help1 ,i am lost6 ,upon my word1 you may sit here forever imagining such appeals1 and the endless discussions and criticisms that were heard every day1 under these vaults1 seven hundred years ago4 ,that the ,virgin answered the questions is my firm belief1 just as it is my conviction that she did not answer them elsewhere4 ,one sees her personal presence on every side4 ,any one can feel it who will only consent to feel like a child4 ,sitting here any ,sunday afternoon1 while the voices of the children of the maitrise are chanting in the choir1--your mind held in the grasp of the strong lines and shadows of the architecture2 your eyes flooded with the autumn tones of the glass2 your ears drowned with the purity of the voices2 one sense reacting upon another until sensation reaches the limit of its range1--you1 or any other lost soul1 could1 if you cared to look and listen1 feel a sense beyond the human ready to reveal a sense divine that would make that world once more intelligible1 and would bring the ,virgin to life again1 in all the depths of feeling which she shows here1--in lines1 vaults1 chapels1 colours1 legends1 chants1-- more eloquent than the prayer-book1 and more beautiful than the autumn sunlight2 and any one willing to try could feel it like the child1 reading new thought without end into the art he has studied a hundred times2 but what is still more convincing1 he could1 at will1 in an instant1 shatter the whole art by calling into it a single motive of his own4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,queen ,,of ,,heaven ,all artists love the sanctuary of the ,christian ,church1 and all tourists love the rest4 ,the reason becomes clear as one leaves the choir1 and goes back to the broad1 open hall of the nave4 ,the choir was made not for the pilgrim but for the deity1 and is as old as ,adam1 or perhaps older2 at all events old enough to have existed in complete artistic and theological form1 with the whole mystery of the ,trinity1 the ,mother and ,child1 and even the ,cross1 thousands of years before ,christ was born2 but the ,christian ,church not only took the sanctuary in hand1 and gave it a new form1 more beautiful and much more refined than the ,romans or ,greeks or ,egyptians had ever imagined1 but it also added the idea of the nave and transepts1 and developed it into imperial splendour4 ,the pilgrim-tourist feels at home in the nave because it was built for him2 the artist loves the sanctuary because he built it for ,god4 ,chartres was intended to hold ten thousand people easily1 or fifteen thousand when crowded1 and the decoration of this great space1 though not a wholly new problem1 had to be treated in a new way4 ,sancta ,sofia was built by the ,emperor ,justinian1 with all the resources of the ,empire1 in a single violent effort1 in six years1 and was decorated throughout with mosaics on a general scheme1 with the unity that ,empire and ,church could give1 when they acted together4 ,the ,norman ,kings of ,sicily1 the richest princes of the twelfth century1 were able to carry out a complete work of the most costly kind1 in a single sustained effort from beginning to end1 according to a given plan4 ,chartres was a local shrine1 in an agricultural province1 not even a part of the royal domain1 and its cathedral was the work of society1 without much more tie than the ,virgin gave it4 ,socially ,chartres1 as far as its stone-work goes1 seems to have been mostly rural2 its decoration1 in the porches and transepts1 is royal and feudal2 in the nave and choir it is chiefly bourgeois4 ,the want of unity is much less surprising than the unity1 but it is still evident1 especially in the glass4 ,the mosaics of ,monreale begin and end2 they are a series2 their connection is artistic and theological at once2 they have unity4 ,the windows of ,chartres have no sequence1 and their charm is in variety1 in individuality1 and sometimes even in downright hostility to each other1 reflecting the picturesque society that gave them4 ,they have1 too1 the charm that the world has made no attempt to popularize them for its modern uses1 so that1 except for the useful little guide- book of the ,abbe ,clerval1 one can see no clue to the legendary chaos2 one has it to one's self1 without much fear of being trampled upon by critics or ,jew dealers in works of art2 any ,chartres beggar- woman can still pass a summer's day here1 and never once be mortified by ignorance of things that every dealer in bric-a-brac is supposed to know4 ,yet the artists seem to have begun even here with some idea of sequence1 for the first window in the north aisle1 next the new tower1 tells the story of ,noah2 but the next plunges into the local history of ,chartres1 and is devoted to ,saint ,lubin1 a bishop of this diocese who died in or about the year #eef1 and was1 for some reason1 selected by the ,wine-,merchants to represent them1 as their interesting medallions show4 ,then follow three amusing subjects1 charmingly treated3 ,saint ,eustace1 whose story has been told2 ,joseph and his brethren2 and ,saint ,nicholas1 the most popular saint of the thirteenth century1 both in the ,greek and in the ,roman ,churches4 ,the sixth and last window on the north aisle of the nave is the ,new ,alliance4 ,opposite these1 in the south aisle1 the series begins next the tower with ,john the ,evangelist1 followed by ,saint ,mary ,magdalen1 given by the ,water-,carriers4 ,the third1 the ,good ,samaritan1 given by the ,shoemakers1 has a rival at ,sens which critics think even better4 ,the fourth is the ,death1 ,assumption1 and ,coronation of the ,virgin4 ,then comes the fifteenth-century ,chapel of ,vendome1 to compare the early and later glass4 ,the sixth is1 or was1 devoted to the ,virgin's ,miracles at ,chartres2 but only one complete subject remains4 ,these windows light the two aisles of the nave and decorate the lower walls of the church with a mass of colour and variety of line still practically intact in spite of much injury2 but the windows of the transepts on the same level have almost disappeared1 except the ,prodigal ,son and a border to what was once a ,saint ,lawrence1 on the north2 and1 on the south1 part of a window to ,saint ,apollinaris of ,ravenna1 with an interesting hierarchy of angels above3--seraphim and cherubim with six wings1 red and blue2 ,dominations2 ,powers2 ,principalities2 all1 except ,thrones4 ,all this seems to be simple enough1 at least to the people for whom the nave was built1 and to whom the windows were meant to speak4 ,there is nothing esoteric here2 nothing but what might have suited the great hall of a great palace4 ,there is no difference in taste between the ,virgin in the choir1 and the ,water-,carriers by the doorway4 ,blanche1 the young ,queen1 liked the same colours1 legends1 and lines that her ,grocers and ,bakers liked4 ,all equally loved the ,virgin4 ,there was not even a social difference4 ,in the choir1 ,thibaut1 the ,count of ,chartres1 immediate lord of the province1 let himself be put in a dark corner next the ,belle ,verriere1 and left the ,bakers to display their wealth in the most serious spot in the church1 the central window of the central chapel1 while in the nave and transepts all the lower windows that bear signatures were given by trades1 as though that part of the church were abandoned to the commons4 ,one might suppose that the feudal aristocracy would have fortified itself in the clerestory and upper windows1 but even there the bourgeoisie invaded them1 and you can see1 with a glass1 the ,pastrycooks and ,turners looking across at the ,weavers and ,curriers and ,money-,changers1 and the ,men of ,tours4 ,beneath the throne of the ,mother of ,god1 there was no distinction of gifts2 and above it the distinction favoured the commonalty4 ,of the seven immense windows above and around the high altar1 which are designed as one composition1 none was given by a prince or a noble4 ,the ,drapers1 the ,butchers1 the ,bakers1 the ,bankers are charged with the highest duties attached to the ,virgin's service4 ,apparently neither ,saint ,louis1 nor his father ,louis ,,viii1 nor his mother ,blanche1 nor his uncle ,philippe ,hurepel1 nor his cousin ,saint ,ferdinand of ,castile1 nor his other cousin ,pierre de ,dreux1 nor the ,duchess ,alix of ,brittany1 cared whether their portraits or armorial shields were thrust out of sight into corners by ,pastrycooks and ,teamsters1 or took a whole wall of the church to themselves4 ,the only relation that connects them is their common relation to the ,virgin1 but that is emphatic1 and dominates the whole4 ,it dominates us1 too1 if we reflect on it1 even after seven hundred years that its meaning has faded4 ,when one looks up to this display of splendour in the clerestory1 and asks what was in the minds of the people who joined to produce1 with such immense effort and at such self-sacrifice1 this astonishing effect1 the question seems to answer itself like an echo4 ,with only half of an atrophied imagination1 in a happy mood we could still see the nave and transepts filled with ten thousand people on their knees1 and the ,virgin1 crowned and robed1 seating herself on the embroidered cushion that covered her imperial throne2 sparkling with gems2 bearing in her right hand the sceptre1 and in her lap the infant ,king2 but1 in the act of seating herself1 we should see her pause a moment to look down with love and sympathy on us1--her people1--who pack the enormous hall1 and throng far out beyond the open portals2 while1 an instant later1 she glances up to see that her great lords1 spiritual and temporal1 the advisers of her judgment1 the supports of her authority1 the agents of her will1 shall be in place2 robed1 mitred1 armed2 bearing the symbols of her authority and their office2 on horseback1 lance in hand2 all of them ready at a sign to carry out a sentence of judgment or an errand of mercy2 to touch with the sceptre or to strike with the sword2 and never err4 ,there they still stand6 unchanged1 unfaded1 as alive and complete as when they represented the real world1 and the people below were the unreal and ephemeral pageant6 ,then the reality was the ,queen of ,heaven on her throne in the sanctuary1 and her court in the glass2 not the queens or princes who were prostrating themselves1 with the crowd1 at her feet4 ,these people knew the ,virgin as well as they knew their own mothers2 every jewel in her crown1 every stitch of gold-embroidery in her many robes2 every colour2 every fold2 every expression on the perfectly familiar features of her grave1 imperial face2 every care that lurked in the silent sadness of her power2 repeated over and over again1 in stone1 glass1 ivory1 enamel1 wood2 in every room1 at the head of every bed1 hanging on every neck1 standing at every street-corner1 the ,virgin was as familiar to every one of them as the sun or the seasons2 far more familiar than their own earthly queen or countess1 although these were no strangers in their daily life2 familiar from the earliest childhood to the last agony2 in every joy and every sorrow and every danger2 in every act and almost in every thought of life1 the ,virgin was present with a reality that never belonged to her ,son or to the ,trinity1 and hardly to any earthly being1 prelate1 king1 or kaiser2 her daily life was as real to them as their own loyalty which brought to her the best they had to offer as the return for her boundless sympathy2 but while they knew the ,virgin as though she were one of themselves1 and because she had been one of themselves1 they were not so familiar with all the officers of her court at ,chartres2 and pilgrims from abroad1 like us1 must always have looked with curious interest at the pageant4 ,far down the nave1 next the western towers1 the rank began with saints1 prophets1 and martyrs1 of all ages and countries2 local1 like ,saint ,lubin2 national1 like ,saint ,martin of ,tours and ,saint ,hilary of ,poitiers2 popular like ,saint ,nicholas2 militant like ,saint ,george2 without order2 symbols like ,abraham and ,isaac2 the ,virgin herself1 holding on her lap the ,seven ,gifts of the ,holy ,ghost2 ,christ with the ,alpha and ,omega2 ,moses and ,saint ,augustine2 ,saint ,peter2 ,saint ,mary the ,egyptian2 ,saint ,jerome2 a whole throne-room of heavenly powers1 repeating1 within1 the pageant carved on the porches and on the portals without4 ,from the croisee in the centre1 where the crowd is most dense1 one sees the whole almost better than ,mary sees it from her high altar1 for there all the great rose windows flash in turn1 and the three twelfth-century lancets glow on the western sun4 ,when the eyes of the throng are directed to the north1 the ,rose of ,france strikes them almost with a physical shock of colour1 and1 from the south1 the ,rose of ,dreux challenges the ,rose of ,france4 ,every one knows that there is war between the two6 ,the thirteenth century has few secrets4 ,there are no outsiders4 ,we are one family as we are one ,church4 ,every man and woman here1 from ,mary on her throne to the beggar on the porch1 knows that ,pierre de ,dreux detests ,blanche of ,castile1 and that their two windows carry on war across the very heart of the cathedral4 ,both unite only in asking help from ,mary2 but ,blanche is a woman1 alone in the world with young children to protect1 and most women incline strongly to suspect that ,mary will never desert her4 ,pierre1 with all his masculine strength1 is no courtier4 ,he wants to rule by force4 ,he carries the assertion of his sex into the very presence of the ,queen of ,heaven4 ,the year happens to be #abcj1 when the roses may be supposed just finished and showing their whole splendour for the first time4 ,queen ,blanche is forty-three years old1 and her son ,louis is fifteen4 ,blanche is a widow these four years1 and ,pierre a widower since #abba4 ,both are regents and guardians for their heirs4 ,they have necessarily carried their disputes before ,mary4 ,queen ,blanche claims for her son1 who is to be ,saint ,louis1 the place of honour at ,mary's right hand2 she has taken possession of the north porch outside1 and of the north transept within1 and has filled the windows with glass1 as she is filling the porch with statuary4 ,above is the huge rose2 below are five long windows2 and all proclaim the homage that ,france renders to the ,queen of ,heaven4 ,the ,rose of ,france shows in its centre the ,virgin in her majesty1 seated1 crowned1 holding the sceptre with her right hand1 while her left supports the infant ,christ-,king on her knees2 which shows that she1 too1 is acting as regent for her ,son4 ,round her1 in a circle1 are twelve medallions2 four containing doves2 four six-winged angels or ,thrones2 four angels of a lower order1 but all symbolizing the gifts and endowments of the ,queen of ,heaven4 ,outside these are twelve more medallions with the ,kings of ,judah1 and a third circle contains the twelve lesser prophets4 ,so ,mary sits1 hedged in by all the divinity that graces earthly or heavenly kings2 while between the two outer circles are twelve quatrefoils bearing on a blue ground the golden lilies of ,france2 and in each angle below the rose are four openings1 showing alternately the lilies of ,louis and the castles of ,blanche4 ,we who are below1 the common people1 understand that ,france claims to protect and defend the ,virgin of ,chartres1 as her chief vassal1 and that this ostentatious profusion of lilies and castles is intended not in honour of ,france1 but as a demonstration of loyalty to ,notre ,dame1 and an assertion of her rights as ,queen ,regent of ,heaven against all comers1 but particularly against ,pierre1 the rebel1 who has the audacity to assert rival rights in the opposite transept4 ,beneath the rose are five long windows1 very unlike the twelfth- century pendants to the western rose4 ,these five windows blaze with red1 and their splendour throws the ,virgin above quite into the background4 ,the artists1 who felt that the twelfth-century glass was too fine and too delicate for the new scale of the church1 have not only enlarged their scale and coarsened their design1 but have coarsened their colour-scheme also1 discarding blue in order to crush us under the earthly majesty of red4 ,these windows1 too1 bear the stamp and seal of ,blanche's ,spanish temper as energetically as though they bore her portrait4 ,the great central figure1 the tallest and most commanding in the whole church1 is not the ,virgin1 but her mother ,saint ,anne1 standing erect as on the trumeau of the door beneath1 and holding the infant ,mary on her left arm4 ,she wears no royal crown1 but bears a flowered sceptre4 ,the only other difference between ,mary and her mother1 that seems intended to strike attention1 is that ,mary sits1 while her mother stands2 but as though to proclaim still more distinctly that ,france supports the royal and divine pretensions of ,saint ,anne1 ,queen ,blanche has put beneath the figure a great shield blazoned with the golden lilies on an azure ground4 ,with singular insistence on this motive1 ,saint ,anne has at either hand a royal court of her own1 marked as her own by containing only figures from the ,old ,testament4 ,standing next on her right is ,solomon1 her ,prime ,minister1 bringing wisdom in worldly counsel1 and trampling on human folly4 ,beyond ,wisdom stands ,law1 figured by ,aaron with the ,book1 trampling on the lawless ,pharaoh4 ,opposite them1 on ,saint ,anne's left1 is ,david1 the energy of ,state1 trampling on a ,saul suggesting suspicions of a ,saul de ,dreux2 while last1 ,melchisedec who is ,faith1 tramples on a disobedient ,nebuchadnezzar ,mauclerc4 ,how can we1 the common people1 help seeing all this1 and much more1 when we know that ,pierre de ,dreux has been for years in constant strife with the ,crown and the ,church8 ,he is very valiant and lion- hearted2--so say the chroniclers1 priests though they are2--very skilful and experienced in war whether by land or sea2 very adroit1 with more sense than any other great lord in ,france2 but restless1 factious1 and regardless of his word4 ,brave and bold as the day2 full of courtesy and largesse2 but very hard on the clergy2 a good ,christian but a bad churchman6 ,certainly the first man of his time1 says ,michelet6 ,i have never found any that sought to do me more ill than he1 says ,blanche1 and ,joinville gives her very words2 indeed1 this year1 #abcj1 she has summoned our own ,bishop of ,chartres among others to ,paris in a court of peers1 where ,pierre has been found guilty of treason and deposed4 ,war still continues1 but ,pierre must make submission4 ,blanche has beaten him in politics and in the field6 ,let us look round and see how he fares in theology and art6 ,there is his rose--so beautiful that ,blanche may well think it seeks to do hers ill6 ,as colour1 judge for yourselves whether it holds its own against the flaming self-assertion of the opposite wall6 ,as subject1 it asserts flat defiance of the monarchy of ,queen ,blanche4 ,in the central circle1 ,christ as ,king is seated on a royal throne1 both arms raised1 one holding the golden cup of eternal priesthood1 the other1 blessing the world4 ,two great flambeaux burn beside ,him4 ,the four ,apocalyptic figures surround and worship ,him2 and in the concentric circles round the central medallion are the angels and the kings in a blaze of colour1 symbolizing the ,new ,jerusalem4 ,all the force of the ,apocalypse is there1 and so is some of the weakness of theology1 for1 in the five great windows below1 ,pierre shows his training in the schools4 ,four of these windows represent what is called1 for want of a better name1 the ,new ,alliance2 the dependence of the ,new ,testament on the ,old2 but ,pierre's choice in symbols was as masculine as that of ,blanche was feminine4 ,in each of the four windows1 a gigantic ,evangelist strides the shoulders of a colossal ,prophet4 ,saint ,john rides on ,ezekiel2 ,saint ,mark bestrides ,daniel2 ,saint ,matthew is on the shoulders of ,isaiah2 ,saint ,luke is carried by ,jeremiah4 ,the effect verges on the grotesque4 ,the balance of ,christ's ,church seems uncertain4 ,the ,evangelists clutch the ,prophets by the hair1 and while the synagogue stands firm1 the ,church looks small1 feeble1 and vacillating4 ,the new dispensation has not the air of mastery either physical or intellectual2 the old gives it all the support it has1 and1 in the absence of ,saint ,paul1 both old and new seem little concerned with the sympathies of ,frenchmen4 ,the synagogue is stronger than the ,church1 but even the ,church is ,jew4 ,that ,pierre could ever have meant this is not to be dreamed2 but when the true scholar gets thoroughly to work1 his logic is remorseless1 his art is implacable1 and his sense of humour is blighted4 ,in the rose above1 ,pierre had asserted the exclusive authority of ,christ in the ,new ,jerusalem1 and his scheme required him to show how the ,church rested on the ,evangelists below1 who in their turn had no visible support except what the ,prophets gave them4 ,yet the artist may have had a reason for weakening the ,evangelists1 because there remained the ,virgin6 ,one dares no more than hint at a motive so disrespectful to the ,evangelists2 but it is certainly true that1 in the central window1 immediately beneath the ,christ1 and ,his chief support1 with the four staggering ,evangelists and ,prophets on either hand1 the ,virgin stands1 and betrays no sign of weakness4 ,the compliment is singularly masculine2 a kind of twelfth-century flattery that might have softened the anger of ,blanche herself1 if the ,virgin had been her own2 but the ,virgin of ,dreux is not the ,virgin of ,france4 ,no doubt she still wears her royal crown1 and her head is circled with the halo2 her right hand still holds the flowered sceptre1 and her left the infant ,christ1 but she stands1 and ,christ is ,king4 ,note1 too1 that she stands directly opposite to her mother ,saint ,anne in the ,rose of ,france1 so as to place her one stage lower than the ,virgin of ,france in the hierarchy4 ,she is the ,saint ,anne of ,france1 and shows it4 ,she is no longer1 says the official ,monograph1 that majestic queen who was seated on a throne1 with her feet on the stool of honour2 the personages have become less imposing and the heads show the decadence4 ,she is the ,virgin of ,theology2 she has her rights1 and no more2 but she is not the ,virgin of ,chartres4 ,she1 too1 stands on an altar or pedestal1 on which hangs a shield bearing the ermines1 an exact counterpart of the royal shield beneath ,saint ,anne4 ,in this excessive display of armorial bearings-- for the two roses above are crowded with them--one likes to think that these great princes had in their minds not so much the thought of their own importance--which is a modern sort of religion--as the thought of their devotion to ,mary4 ,the assertion of power and attachment by one is met by the assertion of equal devotion by the other1 and while both loudly proclaim their homage to the ,virgin1 each glares defiance across the church4 ,pierre meant the ,queen of ,heaven to know that1 in case of need1 her left hand was as good as her right1 and truer2 that the ermines were as well able to defend her as the lilies1 and that ,brittany would fight her battles as bravely as ,france4 ,whether his meaning carried with it more devotion to the ,virgin or more defiance to ,france depends a little on the date of the windows1 but1 as a mere point of history1 every one must allow that ,pierre's promise of allegiance was kept more faithfully by ,brittany than that of ,blanche and ,saint ,louis has been kept by ,france4 ,the date seems to be fixed by the windows themselves4 ,beneath the ,prophets kneel ,pierre and his wife ,alix1 while their two children1 ,yolande and ,jean1 stand4 ,alix died in #abba4 ,jean was born in #abag4 ,yolande was affianced in marriage in #abbg1 while a child1 and given to ,queen ,blanche to be brought up as the future wife of her younger son ,john1 then in his eighth year4 ,when ,john died1 ,yolande was contracted to ,thibaut of ,champagne in #abca1 and ,blanche is said to have written to ,thibaut in consequence3 ,sire ,thibauld of ,champagne1 ,i have heard that you have covenanted and promised to take to wife the daughter of ,count ,perron of ,brittany4 ,wherefore ,i charge you1 if you do not wish to lose whatever you possess in the kingdom of ,france1 not to do it4 ,if you hold dear or love aught in the said kingdom1 do it not4 ,whether ,blanche wrote in these words or not1 she certainly prevented the marriage1 and ,yolande remained single until #abch when she married the ,comte de la ,marche1 who was1 by the way1 almost as bitter an enemy of ,blanche as ,pierre had been2 but by that time both ,blanche and ,pierre had ceased to be regents4 ,yolande's figure in the window is that of a girl1 perhaps twelve or fourteen years old2 ,jean is younger1 certainly not more than eight or ten years of age2 and the appearance of the two children shows that the window itself should date between #abbe and #abcj1 the year when ,pierre de ,dreux was condemned because he had renounced his homage to ,king ,louis1 declared war on him1 and invited the ,king of ,england into ,france4 ,as already told1 ,philippe ,hurepel de ,boulogne1 the ,comte de la ,marche1 ,enguerrand de ,couci1--nearly all the great nobles1--had been leagued with ,pierre de ,dreux since ,blanche's regency began in #abbf4 ,that these transept windows harmonize at all1 is due to the ,virgin1 not to the donors4 ,at the time they were designed1 supposing it to be during ,blanche's regency 7#abbf-cf71 the passions of these donors brought ,france to momentary ruin1 and the ,virgin in ,blanche's ,rose de ,france1 as she looked across the church1 could not see a single friend of ,blanche4 ,what is more curious1 she saw enemies in plenty1 and in full readiness for battle4 ,we have seen in the centre of the small rose in the north transept1 ,philippe ,hurepel still waiting her orders2 across the nave1 in another small rose of the south transept1 sits ,pierre de ,dreux on his horse4 ,the upper windows on the side walls of the choir are very interesting but impossible to see1 even with the best glasses1 from the floor of the church4 ,their sequence and dates have already been discussed2 but their feeling is shown by the character of the ,virgin1 who in ,french territory1 next the north transept1 is still the ,virgin of ,france1 but in ,pierre's territory1 next the ,rose de ,dreux1 becomes again the ,virgin of ,dreux1 who is absorbed in the ,child1--not the ,child absorbed in her1--and accordingly the window shows the chequers and ermines4 ,the figures1 like the stone figures outside1 are the earliest of ,french art1 before any school of painting fairly existed4 ,among them1 one can see no friend of ,blanche4 ,indeed1 outside of her own immediate family and the ,church1 ,blanche had no friend of much importance except the famous ,thibaut of ,champagne1 the single member of the royal family who took her side and suffered for her sake1 and who1 as far as books tell1 has no window or memorial here4 ,one might suppose that ,thibaut1 who loved both ,blanche and the ,virgin1 would have claimed a place1 and perhaps he did2 but one seeks him in vain4 ,if ,blanche had friends here1 they are gone4 ,pierre de ,dreux1 lance in hand1 openly defies her1 and it was not on her brother-in-law ,philippe ,hurepel that she could depend for defence4 ,this is the court pageant of the ,virgin that shows itself to the people who are kneeling at high mass4 ,we1 the public1 whoever we are1--,chartrain1 ,breton1 ,norman1 ,angevin1 ,frenchman1 ,percherain1 or what not1--know our local politics as intimately as our lords do1 or even better1 for our imaginations are active1 and we do not love ,blanche of ,castile4 ,we know how to read the passions that fill the church4 ,from the north transept ,blanche flames out on us in splendid reds and flings her ,spanish castles in our face4 ,from the south transept ,pierre retorts with a brutal energy which shows itself in the ,prophets who serve as battle-chargers and in the ,evangelists who serve as knights1--mounted warriors of faith1--whose great eyes follow us across the church and defy ,saint ,anne and her ,french shield opposite4 ,pierre was not effeminate2 ,blanche was fairly masculine4 ,between them1 as a matter of sex1 we can see little to choose2 and1 in any case1 it is a family quarrel2 they are all cousins2 they are all equals on earth1 and none means to submit to any superior except the ,virgin and her ,son in heaven4 ,the ,virgin is not afraid4 ,she has seen many troubles worse than this2 she knows how to manage perverse children1 and if necessary she will shut them up in a darker room than ever their mothers kept open for them in this world4 ,one has only to look at the ,virgin to see6 ,there she is1 of course1 looking down on us from the great window above the high altar1 where we never forget her presence6 ,is there a thought of disturbance there8 ,around the curve of the choir are seven great windows1 without roses1 filling the whole semicircle and the whole vault1 forty-seven feet high1 and meant to dominate the nave as far as the western portal1 so that we may never forget how ,mary fills her church without being disturbed by quarrels1 and may understand why ,saint ,ferdinand and ,saint ,louis creep out of our sight1 close by the ,virgin's side1 far up above brawls2 and why ,france and ,brittany hide their ugly or their splendid passions at the ends of the transepts1 out of sight of the high altar where ,mary is to sit in state as ,queen with the young ,king on her lap4 ,in an instant she will come1 but we have a moment still to look about at the last great decoration of her palace1 and see how the artists have arranged it4 ,since the building of ,sancta ,sofia1 no artist has had such a chance4 ,no doubt1 ,rheims and ,amiens and ,bourges and ,beauvais1 which are now building1 may be even finer1 but none of them is yet finished1 and all must take their ideas from here4 ,one would like1 before looking at it1 to think over the problem1 as though it were new1 and so choose the scheme that would suit us best if the decoration were to be done for the first time4 ,the architecture is fixed2 we have to do only with the colour of this mass of seven huge windows1 forty-seven feet high1 in the clerestory1 round the curve of the choir1 which close the vista of the church as viewed from the entrance4 ,this vista is about three hundred and thirty feet long4 ,the windows rise above a hundred feet4 ,how ought this vast space to be filled8 ,should the perpendicular upward leap of the architecture be followed and accented by a perpendicular leap of colour8 ,the decorators of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries seem to have thought so1 and made perpendicular architectural drawings in yellow that simulated gold1 and lines that ran with the general lines of the building4 ,many fifteenth-century windows seem to be made up of florid ,gothic details rising in stages to the vault4 ,no doubt critics complained1 and still complain1 that the monotony of this scheme1 and its cheapness of intelligence1 were objections2 but at least the effect was light1 decorative1 and safe4 ,the artist could not go far wrong and was still at liberty to do beautiful work1 as can be seen in any number of churches scattered broadcast over ,europe and swarming in ,paris and ,france4 ,on the other hand1 might not the artist disregard the architecture and fill the space with a climax of colour8 ,could he not unite the ,roses of ,france and ,dreux above the high altar in an overpowering outburst of purples and reds8 ,the seventeenth century might have preferred to mass clouds and colours1 and ,michael ,angelo1 in the sixteenth1 might have known how to do it4 ,what we want is not the feeling of the artist so much as the feeling of ,chartres4 ,what shall it be--the jewelled brilliancy of the western windows1 or the fierce self-assertion of ,pierre ,mauclerc1 or the royal splendour of ,queen ,blanche1 or the feminine grace and decorative refinement of the ,charlemagne and ,santiago windows in the apse8 ,never again in art was so splendid a problem offered1 either before or since1 for the artist of ,chartres solved it1 as he did the whole matter of fenestration1 and later artists could only offer variations on his work4 ,you will see them at ,bourges and ,tours and in scores of thirteenth and fourteenth and fifteenth and sixteenth century churches and windows1 and perhaps in some of the twentieth century1--all of them interesting and some of them beautiful1--and far be it from us1 mean and ignorant pilgrims of art1 to condemn any intelligent effort to vary or improve the effect2 but we have set out to seek the feeling1 and while we think of art in relation to ourselves1 the sermon of ,chartres1 from beginning to end1 teaches and preaches and insists and reiterates and hammers into our torpid minds the moral that the art of the ,virgin was not that of her artists but her own4 ,we inevitably think of our tastes2 they thought instinctively of hers4 ,in the transepts1 ,queen ,blanche and ,duke ,perron1 in legal possession of their territory1 showed that they were thinking of each other as well as of the ,virgin1 and claimed loudly that they ought each to be first in the ,virgin's favour2 and they stand there in place1 as the thirteenth century felt them4 ,subject to their fealty to ,mary1 the transepts belonged to them1 and if ,blanche did not1 like ,pierre1 assert ,herself and her son on the ,virgin's window1 perhaps she thought the ,virgin would resent ,pierre's boldness the more by contrast with her own good taste4 ,so far as is known1 nowhere does ,blanche appear in person at ,chartres2 she felt herself too near the ,virgin to obtrude a useless image1 or she was too deeply religious to ask anything for herself4 ,a queen who was to have two children sainted1 to intercede for her at ,mary's throne1 stood in a solitude almost as unique as that of ,mary1 and might ignore the raw brutalities of a man-at-arms2 but neither she nor ,pierre has carried the quarrel into ,mary's presence1 nor has the ,virgin condescended even to seem conscious of their temper4 ,this is the theme of the artist--the purity1 the beauty1 the grace1 and the infinite loftiness of ,mary's nature1 among the things of earth1 and above the clamour of kings4 ,therefore1 when we1 and the crushed crowd of kneeling worshippers around us1 lift our eyes at last after the miracle of the mass1 we see1 far above the high altar1 high over all the agitation of prayer1 the passion of politics1 the anguish of suffering1 the terrors of sin1 only the figure of the ,virgin in majesty1 looking down on her people1 crowned1 throned1 glorified1 with the infant ,christ on her knees4 ,she does not assert herself2 probably she intends to be felt rather than feared4 ,compared with the ,greek ,virgin1 as you see her1 for example1 at ,torcello1 the ,chartres ,virgin is retiring and hardly important enough for the place4 ,she is not exaggerated either in scale1 drawing1 or colour4 ,she shows not a sign of self-consciousness1 not an effort for brilliancy1 not a trace of stage effect--hardly even a thought of herself1 except that she is at home1 among her own people1 where she is loved and known as well as she knows them4 ,the seven great windows are one composition2 and it is plain that the artist1 had he been ordered to make an exhibition of power1 could have overwhelmed us with a storm of purple1 red1 yellows1 or given us a ,virgin of ,passion who would have torn the vault asunder2 his ability is never in doubt1 and if he has kept true to the spirit of the western portal and the twelfth-century1 it is because the ,virgin of ,chartres was the ,virgin of ,grace1 and ordered him to paint her so4 ,one shudders to think how a single false note--a suggestion of meanness1 in this climax of line and colour--would bring the whole fabric down in ruins on the eighteenth-century meanness of the choir below2 and one notes1 almost bashfully1 the expedients of the artists to quiet their effects4 ,so the lines of the seven windows are built up1 to avoid the horizontal1 and yet not exaggerate the vertical4 ,the architect counts here for more than the colourist2 but the colour1 when you study it1 suggests the same restraint4 ,three great windows on the ,virgin's right1 balanced by three more on her left1 show the prophets and precursors of her ,son2 all architecturally support and exalt the ,virgin1 in her celestial atmosphere of blue1 shot with red1 calm in the certainty of heaven4 ,any one who is prematurely curious to see the difference in treatment between different centuries should go down to the church of ,saint ,pierre in the lower town1 and study there the methods of the ,renaissance4 ,then we can come back to study again the ways of the thirteenth century4 ,the ,virgin will wait2 she will not be angry2 she knows her power2 we all come back to her in the end4 ,or the ,renaissance1 if one prefers1 can wait equally well1 while one kneels with the thirteenth century1 and feels the little one still can feel of what it felt4 ,technically these apsidal windows have not received much notice2 the books rarely speak of them2 travellers seldom look at them2 and their height is such that even with the best glass1 the quality of the work is beyond our power to judge4 ,we see1 and the artists meant that we should see1 only the great lines1 the colour1 and the ,virgin4 ,the mass of suppliants before the choir look up to the light1 clear blues and reds of this great space1 and feel there the celestial peace and beauty of ,mary's nature and abode4 ,there is heaven6 and ,mary looks down from it1 into her church1 where she sees us on our knees1 and knows each one of us by name4 ,there she actually is--not in symbol or in fancy1 but in person1 descending on her errands of mercy and listening to each one of us1 as her miracles prove1 or satisfying our prayers merely by her presence which calms our excitement as that of a mother calms her child4 ,she is there as ,queen1 not merely as intercessor1 and her power is such that to her the difference between us earthly beings is nothing4 ,her quiet1 masculine strength enchants us most4 ,pierre ,mauclerc and ,philippe ,hurepel and their men-at-arms are afraid of her1 and the ,bishop himself is never quite at his ease in her presence2 but to peasants1 and beggars1 and people in trouble1 this sense of her power and calm is better than active sympathy4 ,people who suffer beyond the formulas of expression--who are crushed into silence1 and beyond pain--want no display of emotion--no bleeding heart--no weeping at the foot of the ,cross--no hysterics--no phrases6 ,they want to see ,god1 and to know that ,he is watching over ,his own4 ,how many women are there1 in this mass of thirteenth century suppliants1 who have lost children8 ,probably nearly all1 for the death rate is very high in the conditions of medieval life4 ,there are thousands of such women here1 for it is precisely this class who come most2 and probably every one of them has looked up to ,mary in her great window1 and has felt actual certainty1 as though she saw with her own eyes--there1 in heaven1 while she looked--her own lost baby playing with the ,christ-,child at the ,virgin's knee1 as much at home as the saints1 and much more at home than the kings4 ,before rising from her knees1 every one of these women will have bent down and kissed the stone pavement in gratitude for ,mary's mercy4 ,the earth1 she says1 is a sorry place1 and the best of it is bad enough1 no doubt1 even for ,queen ,blanche and the ,duchess ,alix who has had to leave her children here alone2 but there above is ,mary in heaven who sees and hears me as ,i see her1 and who keeps my little boy till ,i come2 so ,i can wait with patience1 more or less6 ,saints and prophets and martyrs are all very well1 and ,christ is very sublime and just1 but ,mary knows6 ,it was very childlike1 very foolish1 very beautiful1 and very true1- -as art1 at least3--so true that everything else shades off into vulgarity1 as you see the ,persephone of a ,syracusan coin shade off into the vulgarity of a ,roman emperor2 as though the heaven that lies about us in our infancy too quickly takes colours that are not so much sober as sordid1 and would be welcome if no worse than that4 ,vulgarity1 too1 has feeling1 and its expression in art has truth and even pathos1 but we shall have time enough in our lives for that1 and all the more because1 when we rise from our knees now1 we have finished our pilgrimage4 ,we have done with ,chartres4 ,for seven hundred years ,chartres has seen pilgrims1 coming and going more or less like us1 and will perhaps see them for another seven hundred years2 but we shall see it no more1 and can safely leave the ,virgin in her majesty1 with her three great prophets on either hand1 as calm and confident in their own strength and in ,god's providence as they were when ,saint ,louis was born1 but looking down from a deserted heaven1 into an empty church1 on a dead faith4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,three ,,queens ,after worshipping at the shrines of ,saint ,michael on his ,mount and of the ,virgin at ,chartres1 one may wander far and wide over ,france1 and seldom feel lost2 all later ,gothic art comes naturally1 and no new thought disturbs the perfected form4 ,yet tourists of ,english blood and ,american training are seldom or never quite at home there4 ,commonly they feel it only as a stage-decoration4 ,the twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 studied in the pure light of political economy1 are insane4 ,the scientific mind is atrophied1 and suffers under inherited cerebral weakness1 when it comes in contact with the eternal woman--,astarte1 ,isis1 ,demeter1 ,aphrodite1 and the last and greatest deity of all1 the ,virgin4 ,very rarely one lingers1 with a mild sympathy1 such as suits the patient student of human error1 willing to be interested in what he cannot understand4 ,still more rarely1 owing to some revival of archaic instincts1 he rediscovers the woman4 ,this is perhaps the mark of the artist alone1 and his solitary privilege4 ,the rest of us cannot feel2 we can only study4 ,the proper study of mankind is woman and1 by common agreement since the time of ,adam1 it is the most complex and arduous4 ,the study of ,our ,lady1 as shown by the art of ,chartres1 leads directly back to ,eve1 and lays bare the whole subject of sex4 ,if it were worth while to argue a paradox1 one might maintain that ,nature regards the female as the essential1 the male as the superfluity of her world4 ,perhaps the best starting-point for study of the ,virgin would be a practical acquaintance with bees1 and especially with queen bees4 ,precisely where the ,french man may come in1 on the genealogical tree of parthenogenesis1 one hesitates to say2 but certain it is that the ,french woman1 from very early times1 has shown qualities peculiar to herself1 and that the ,french woman of the ,middle ,ages was a masculine character4 ,almost any book which deals with the social side of the twelfth century has something to say on this subject1 like the following page from ,m4 ,garreau's volume published in #ahii1 on the ,social ,state of ,france during the ,crusades3-- ,a trait peculiar to this epoch is the close resemblance between the manners of men and women4 ,the rule that such and such feelings or acts are permitted to one sex and forbidden to the other was not fairly settled4 ,men had the right to dissolve in tears1 and women that of talking without prudery 4444 ,if we look at their intellectual level1 the women appear distinctly superior4 ,they are more serious2 more subtle4 ,with them we do not seem dealing with the rude state of civilization that their husbands belong to 4444 ,as a rule1 the women seem to have the habit of weighing their acts2 of not yielding to momentary impressions4 ,while the sense of ,christianity is more developed in them than in their husbands1 on the other hand they show more perfidy and art in crime 4444 ,one might doubtless prove by a series of examples that the maternal influence when it predominated in the education of a son gave him a marked superiority over his contemporaries4 ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion the crowned poet1 artist1 the king whose noble manners and refined mind in spite of his cruelty exercised so strong an impression on his age1 was formed by that brilliant ,eleanor of ,guienne who1 in her struggle with her husband1 retained her sons as much as possible within her sphere of influence in order to make party chiefs of them4 ,our great ,saint ,louis1 as all know1 was brought up exclusively by ,blanche of ,castile2 and ,joinville1 the charming writer so worthy of ,saint ,louis's friendship1 and apparently so superior to his surroundings1 was also the pupil of a widowed and regent mother4 ,the superiority of the woman was not a fancy1 but a fact4 ,man's business was to fight or hunt or feast or make love4 ,the man was also the travelling partner in commerce1 commonly absent from home for months together1 while the woman carried on the business4 ,the woman ruled the household and the workshop2 cared for the economy2 supplied the intelligence1 and dictated the taste4 ,her ascendancy was secured by her alliance with the ,church1 into which she sent her most intelligent children2 and a priest or clerk1 for the most part1 counted socially as a woman4 ,both physically and mentally the woman was robust1 as the men often complained1 and she did not greatly resent being treated as a man4 ,sometimes the husband beat her1 dragged her about by the hair1 locked her up in the house2 but he was quite conscious that she always got even with him in the end4 ,as a matter of fact1 probably she got more than even4 ,on this point1 history1 legend1 poetry1 romance1 and especially the popular fabliaux--invented to amuse the gross tastes of the coarser class-- are all agreed1 and one could give scores of volumes illustrating it4 ,the greatest men illustrate it best1 as one might show almost at hazard4 ,the greatest men of the eleventh1 twelfth1 and thirteenth centuries were ,william the ,norman2 his great grandson ,henry ,,ii ,plantagenet2 ,saint ,louis of ,france2 and1 if a fourth be needed1 ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion4 ,notoriously all these men had as much difficulty as ,louis ,,xiv himself with the women of their family4 ,tradition exaggerates everything it touches1 but shows1 at the same time1 what is passing in the minds of the society which tradites4 ,in ,normandy1 the people of ,caen have kept a tradition1 told elsewhere in other forms1 that one day1 ,duke ,william1--the ,conqueror1-- exasperated by having his bastardy constantly thrown in his face by the ,duchess ,matilda1 dragged her by the hair1 tied to his horse's tail1 as far as the suburb of ,vaucelles2 and this legend accounts for the splendour of the ,abbaye-aux-,dames1 because ,william1 the common people believed1 afterwards regretted the impropriety1 and atoned for it by giving her money to build the abbey4 ,the story betrays the man's weakness4 ,the ,abbaye-aux-,dames stands in the same relation to the ,abbaye-aux-,hommes that ,matilda took towards ,william4 ,inferiority there was none2 on the contrary1 the woman was socially the superior1 and ,william was probably more afraid of her than she of him1 if ,mr4 ,freeman is right in insisting that he married her in spite of her having a husband living1 and certainly two children4 ,if ,william was the strongest man in the eleventh century1 his great- grandson1 ,henry ,,ii of ,england1 was the strongest man of the twelfth2 but the history of the time resounds with the noise of his battles with ,queen ,eleanor whom he1 at last1 held in prison for fourteen years4 ,prisoner as she was1 she broke him down in the end4 ,one is tempted to suspect that1 had her husband and children been guided by her1 and by her policy as peacemaker for the good of ,guienne1 most of the disasters of ,england and ,france might have been postponed for the time2 but we can never know the truth1 for monks and historians abhor emancipated women1--with good reason1 since such women are apt to abhor them1--and the quarrel can never be pacified4 ,historians have commonly shown fear of women without admitting it1 but the man of the ,middle ,ages knew at least why he feared the woman1 and told it openly1 not to say brutally4 ,long after ,eleanor and ,blanche were dead1 ,chaucer brought the ,wife of ,bath on his ,shakespearean stage1 to explain the woman1 and as usual he touched masculine frailty with caustic1 while seeming to laugh at woman and man alike3-- ,my liege lady6 generally1 quoth he1 ,women desiren to have soverainetee4 ,the point was that the ,wife of ,bath1 like ,queen ,blanche and ,queen ,eleanor1 not only wanted sovereignty1 but won and held it4 ,that ,saint ,louis1 even when a grown man and king1 stood in awe of his mother1 ,blanche of ,castile1 was not only notorious but seemed to be thought natural4 ,joinville recorded it not so much to mark the ,king's weakness1 as the woman's strength2 for his ,queen1 ,margaret of ,provence1 showed the courage which the ,king had not4 ,blanche and ,margaret were exceedingly jealous of each other4 ,one day1 said ,joinville1 ,queen ,blanche went to the ,queen's ,margaret chamber where her son ,louis ,,ix had gone before to comfort her1 for she was in great danger of death from a bad delivery2 and he hid himself behind the ,queen ,margaret to avoid being seen2 but his mother perceived him1 and taking him by the hand said3 ',come along6 you will do no good here6' and put him out of the chamber4 ,queen ,margaret1 observing this1 and that she was to be separated from her husband1 cried aloud3 ',alas6 will you not allow me to see my lord either living or dying8' ,according to ,joinville1 ,king ,louis always hid himself when1 in his wife's chamber1 he heard his mother coming4 ,the great period of ,gothic architecture begins with the coming of ,eleanor 7#aacg7 and ends with the passing of ,blanche 7#abeb74 ,eleanor's long life was full of energy and passion of which next to nothing is known2 the woman was always too slippery for monks or soldiers to grasp4 ,eleanor came to ,paris1 a ,queen of fifteen years old1 in #aacg1 bringing ,poitiers and ,guienne as the greatest dowry ever offered to the ,french ,crown4 ,she brought also the tastes and manners of the ,south1 little in harmony with the tastes and manners of ,saint ,bernard whose authority at court rivalled her own4 ,the ,abbe ,suger supported her1 but the ,king leaned toward the ,abbe ,bernard4 ,what this puritan reaction meant is a matter to be studied by itself1 if one can find a cloister to study in2 but it bore the mark of most puritan reactions in its hostility to women4 ,as long as the woman remained docile1 she ruled1 through the ,church2 but the man feared her and was jealous of her1 and she of him4 ,bernard specially adored the ,virgin because she was an example of docile obedience to the ,trinity who atoned for the indocility of ,eve1 but ,eve herself remained the instrument of ,satan1 and ,french society as a whole showed a taste for ,eves4 ,genealogical chart showing the relationships among the three queens4 ,eleanor could hardly be called docile4 ,whatever else she loved1 she certainly loved rule4 ,she shared this passion to the full with her only great successor and rival on the ,english throne1 ,queen ,elizabeth1 and she happened to become ,queen of ,france at the moment when society was turning from worship of its military ideal1 ,saint ,michael1 to worship of its social ideal1 the ,virgin4 ,according to the monk ,orderic1 men had begun to throw aside their old military dress and manners even before the first crusade1 in the days of ,william ,rufus 7#ajhg-aajj71 and to affect feminine fashions4 ,in all ages1 priests and monks have denounced the growing vices of society1 with more or less reason2 but there seems to have been a real outbreak of display at about the time of the first crusade1 which set a deep mark on every sort of social expression1 even down to the shoes of the statues on the western portal of ,chartres3-- ,a debauched fellow named ,robert said ,orderic was the first1 about the time of ,william ,rufus1 who introduced the practice of filling the long points of the shoes with tow1 and of turning them up like a ram's horn4 ,hence he got the surname of ,cornard2 and this absurd fashion was speedily adopted by great numbers of the nobility as a proud distinction and sign of merit4 ,at this time effeminacy was the prevailing vice throughout the world 444 ,they parted their hair from the crown of the head on each side of the forehead1 and their locks grew long like women1 and wore long shirts and tunics1 closely tied with points 444 ,in our days1 ancient customs are almost all changed for new fashions4 ,our wanton youths are sunk in effeminacy 444 ,they insert their toes in things like serpents' tails which present to view the shape of scorpions4 ,sweeping the dusty ground with the prodigious trains of their robes and mantles1 they cover their hands with gloves 444 ,if you are curious to follow these monkish criticisms on your ancestors' habits1 you can read ,orderic at your leisure2 but you want only to carry in mind the fact that the generation of warriors who fought at ,hastings and captured ,jerusalem were regarded by themselves as effeminate1 and plunged in luxury4 ,their locks are curled with hot irons1 and instead of wearing caps1 they bind their heads with fillets4 ,a knight seldom appears in public with his head uncovered and properly shaved according to the apostolic precept4 ,the effeminacy of the first crusade took artistic shape in the west portal of ,chartres and the glass of ,saint-,denis1 and led instantly to the puritan reaction of ,saint ,bernard1 followed by the gentle asceticism of ,queen ,blanche and ,saint ,louis4 ,whether the pilgrimages to ,jerusalem and contact with the ,east were the cause or only a consequence of this revolution1 or whether it was all one1--a result of converting the ,northern pagans to peaceful habits and the consequent enrichment of northern ,europe1--is indifferent2 the fact and the date are enough4 ,the art is ,french1 but the ideas may have come from anywhere1 like the game of chess which the pilgrims or crusaders brought home from ,syria4 ,in the ,oriental game1 the ,king was followed step by step by a ,minister whose functions were personal4 ,the crusaders freed the piece from control2 gave it liberty to move up or down or diagonally1 forwards and backwards2 made it the most arbitrary and formidable champion on the board1 while the ,king and the ,knight were the most restricted in movement2 and this piece they named ,queen1 and called the ,virgin3-- ,li ,baudrains traist sa fierge por son paon sauver1 ,e cele son aufin qui cuida conquester ,la firge ou le paon1 ou faire reculer4 ,the aufin or dauphin became the ,fou of the ,french game1 and the bishop of the ,english4 ,baldwin played his ,virgin to save his pawn2 his opponent played the bishop to threaten either the ,virgin or the pawn4 ,for a hundred and fifty years1 the ,virgin and ,queens ruled ,french taste and thought so successfully that the ,french man has never yet quite decided whether to be more proud or ashamed of it4 ,life has ever since seemed a little flat to him1 and art a little cheap4 ,he saw that the woman1 in elevating herself1 had made him appear ridiculous1 and he tried to retaliate with a wit not always sparkling1 and too often at his own expense4 ,sometimes in museums or collections of bric-a-brac1 you will see1 in an illuminated manuscript1 or carved on stone1 or cast in bronze1 the figure of a man on his hands and knees1 bestridden by another figure holding a bridle and a whip2 it is ,aristotle1 symbol of masculine wisdom1 bridled and driven by woman4 ,six hundred years afterwards1 ,tennyson revived the same motive in ,merlin1 enslaved not for a time but forever4 ,in both cases the satire justly punished the man4 ,another version of the same story--perhaps the original--was the ,mystery of ,adam1 one of the earliest ,church plays4 ,gaston ,paris says it was written in ,england in the twelfth century1 and its author had real poetic talent2 the scene of the seduction of ,eve by the serpent is one of the best pieces of ,christian dramaturgy 444 ,this remarkable work seems to have been played no longer inside the church1 but under the porch3-- ,diabolus4 ,jo vi ,adam mais trop est fols4 ,eva4 ,un poi est durs4 ,diabolus4 ,il serra mols4 ,il est plus durs qui n'est enfers4 ,eva4 ,il est mult francs4 ,diabolus4 ,ainz est mult sers4 ,cure ne volt prendre de sei ,car la prenge sevals de tei4 ,tu es fieblette et tendre chose ,e es plus fresche que n'est rose4 ,tu es plus blanche que crystal ,que neif que chiet sor glace en val4 ,mal cuple en fist li ,criatur4 ,tu es trop tendre e il trop dur4 ,mais neporquant tu es plus sage ,en grant sens as mis tun corrage ,for co fait bon traire a tei4 ,parler te voil4 ,eva4 ,ore ja fai4 ,devil4 ,adam ,i've seen1 but he's too rough4 ,eve4 ,a little hard6 ,devil4 ,he'll soon be soft enough6 ,harder than hell he is till now4 ,eve4 ,he's very frank6 ,devil4 ,say very low6 ,to help himself he does not care2 ,the helping you shall be my share2 ,for you are tender1 gentle1 true1 ,the rose is not so fresh as you2 ,whiter than crystal1 or than snow ,that falls from heaven on ice below4 ,a sorry mixture ,god has brewed1 ,you too tender1 he too rude4 ,but you have much the greater sense1 ,your will is all intelligence4 ,therefore it is ,i turn to you4 ,i want to tell you-- ,eve4 ,do it now6 ,the woman's greater intelligence was to blame for ,adam's fall4 ,eve was justly punished because she should have known better1 while ,adam1 as the ,devil truly said1 was a dull animal1 hardly worth the trouble of deceiving4 ,adam was disloyal1 too1 untrue to his wife after being untrue to his ,creator3-- ,la femme que tu me donas ,ele fist prime icest trespass ,donat le mei e jo mangai4 ,or mest vis tornez est a gwai ,mal acontai icest manger4 ,jo ai mesfait par ma moiller4 ,the woman that you made me take ,first led me into this mistake4 ,she gave the apple that ,i ate ,and brought me to this evil state4 ,badly for me it turned1 ,i own1 ,but all the fault is hers alone4 ,the audience accepted this as natural and proper4 ,they recognized the man as1 of course1 stupid1 cowardly1 and traitorous4 ,the men of the baser sort revenged themselves by boorishness that passed with them for wit in the taverns of ,arras1 but the poets of the higher class commonly took sides with the women4 ,even ,chaucer1 who lived after the glamour had faded1 and who satirized women to satiety1 told their tale in his ,legend of ,good ,women1 with evident sympathy4 ,to him1 also1 the ordinary man was inferior1--stupid1 brutal1 and untrue4 ,full brittle is the truest1 he said3-- ,for well ,i wote that ,christ himself telleth ,that in ,israel1 as wide as is the lond1 ,that so great faith in all the loud he ne fond ,as in a woman1 and this is no lie2 ,and as for men1 look ye1 such tyrannie ,they doen all day1 assay hem who so list1 ,the truest is full brotell for to trist4 ,neither brutality nor wit helped the man much4 ,even ,bluebeard in the end fell a victim to the superior qualities of his last wife1 and ,scheherazade's wit alone has preserved the memory of her royal husband4 ,the tradition of thirteenth-century society still rules the ,french stage4 ,the struggle between two strong-willed women to control one weak-willed man is the usual motive of the ,french drama in the nineteenth century1 as it was the whole motive of ,partenopeus of ,blois1 one of the best twelfth-century romans2 and ,joinville described it1 in the middle of the thirteenth1 as the leading motive in the court of ,saint ,louis1 with ,queen ,blanche and ,queen ,margaret for players1 and ,saint ,louis himself for pawn4 ,one has only to look at the common1 so-called ,elzevirian1 volume of thirteenth-century nouvelles to see the ,frenchman as he saw himself4 ,the story of ,la ,comtesse de ,ponthieu is the more ,shakespearean1 but ,la ,belle ,jehanne is the more natural and lifelike4 ,the plot is the common masculine intrigue against the woman1 which was used over and over again before ,shakespeare appropriated it in ,much ,ado2 but its ,french development is rather in the line of ,all's ,well4 ,the fair ,jeanne1 married to a penniless knight1 not at all by her choice1 but only because he was a favourite of her father's1 was a woman of the true twelfth-century type4 ,she broke the head of the traitor1 and when he1 with his masculine falseness1 caused her husband to desert her1 she disguised herself as a squire and followed ,sir ,robert to ,marseilles in search of service in war1 for the poor knight could get no other means of livelihood4 ,robert was the husband1 and the wife1 in entering his service as squire without pay1 called herself ,john3-- ,molt fu mesire ,robiers dolans cant il vint a ,marselle de cou k'il n'oi parler de nulle chose ki fust ou pais2 si dist a ,jehan3 --,ke ferons nous8 ,vous m'aves preste de vos deniers la vostre mierchi1 si les vos renderai car je venderai mon palefroi et m'acuiterai a vous4 --,sire1 dist ,jehans1 crees moi se il vous plaist je vous dirai ke nous ferons2 jou ai bien enchore c sous de tournois1 s'll vous plaist je venderai nos ii chevaus et en ferai deniers2 et je suis li miousdres boulengiers ke vous sacies1 si ferai pain francois et je ne douc mie ke je ne gaagne bien et largement mon depens4 --,jehans1 dist mesire ,robiers1 je m'otroi del tout a faire votre volente ,et lendemam vendi ,jehans ses 4ii4 chevaux ,x livres de tornois1 et achata son ble et le fist muire1 et achata des corbelles et coumencha a faire pain francois si bon et si bien fait k'il en vendoit plus ke li doi melleur boulengier de la ville1 et fist tant dedens les ii ans k'il ot bien c livres de katel4 ,lors dist ,jehans a son segnour3 --,je lo bien que nous louons une tres grant mason et jou akaterai del vin et hierbegerai la bonne gent --,jehan1 dist mesire ,robiers1 faites a vo volente kar je l'otroi et si me loc molt de vous4 ,jehans loua une mason grant et bielle1 et si hierbrega la bonne gent et gaegnoit ases a plente1 et viestoit son segnour biellement et richement1 et avoit mesire ,robiers son palefroi et aloit boire et mengier aveukes les plus vallans de la ville1 et ,jehans li envoioit vins et viandes ke tout cil ki o lui conpagnoient s'en esmervelloient4 ,si gaegna tant ke dedens 4iiii ans il gaegna plus de ccc livres de meuble sains son harnois qui valoit bien 4,l4 livres4 ,much was ,sir ,robert grieved when he came to ,marseilles and found that there was no talk of anything doing in the country1 and he said to ,john3 ,what shall we do8 ,you have lent me your money1 ,i thank you1 and will repay you1 for ,i will sell my palfrey and discharge the debt to you4 ,sir1 said ,john1 trust to me1 if you please1 ,i will tell you what we will do1 ,i have still a hundred sous1 if you please ,i will sell our two horses and turn them into money1 and ,i am the best baker you ever knew1 ,i will make ,french bread1 and ,i've no doubt ,i shall pay my expenses well and make money ,john1 said ,sir ,robert1 ,i agree wholly to do whatever you like ,and the next day ,john sold their two horse for ten pounds1 and bought his wheat and had it ground1 and bought baskets1 and began to make ,french bread so good and so well made that he sold more of it than the two best bakers in the city1 and made so much within two years that he had a good hundred pound property ,then he said to his lord ,i advise our hiring a very large house1 and ,i will buy wine and will keep lodgings for good society ,john1 said ,sir ,robert1 do what you please1 for ,i grant it1 and am greatly pleased with you4 ,john hired a large and fine house and lodged the best people and gained a great plenty1 and dressed his master handsomely and richly1 and ,sir ,robert kept his palfrey and went out to eat and drink with the best people of the city1 and ,john sent them such wines and food that all his companions marvelled at it4 ,he made so much that within four years he gained more than three hundred pounds in money besides clothes1 etc1 well worth fifty4 ,the docile obedience of the man to the woman seemed as reasonable to the thirteenth century as the devotion of the woman to the man1 not because she loved him1 for there was no question of love1 but because he was ,,her man1 and she owned him as though he were child4 ,the tale went on to develop her character always in the same sense4 ,when she was ready1 ,jeanne broke up the establishment at ,marseilles1 brought her husband back to ,hainault1 and made him1 without knowing her object1 kill the traitor and redress her wrongs4 ,then after seven years' patient waiting1 she revealed herself and resumed her place4 ,if you care to see the same type developed to its highest capacity1 go to the theatre the first time some ambitious actress attempts the part of ,lady ,macbeth4 ,shakespeare realized the thirteenth-century woman more vividly than the thirteenth-century poets ever did2 but that is no new thing to say of ,shakespeare4 ,the author of ,la ,comtesse de ,ponthieu made no bad sketch of the character4 ,these are fictions1 but the ,chronicles contain the names of women by scores who were the originals of the sketch4 ,the society which ,orderic described in ,normandy--the generation of the first crusade--produced a great variety of ,lady ,macbeths4 ,in the country of ,evreux1 about #aajj1 ,orderic says that a worse than civil war was waged between two powerful brothers1 and the mischief was fomented by the spiteful jealousy of their haughty wives4 ,the ,countess ,havise of ,evreux took offence at some taunts uttered by ,isabel de ,conches1--wife of ,ralph1 the ,seigneur of ,conches1 some ten miles from ,evreux1--and used all her influence with her husband1 ,count ,william1 and his barons1 to make trouble 444 ,both the ladies who stirred up these fierce enmities were great talkers and spirited as well as handsome2 they ruled their husbands1 oppressed their vassals1 and inspired terror in various ways4 ,but still their characters were very different4 ,havise had wit and eloquence1 but she was cruel and avaricious4 ,isabel was generous1 enterprising1 and gay1 so that she was beloved and esteemed by those about her4 ,she rode in knight's armour when her vassals were called to war1 and showed as much daring among men- at-arms and mounted knights as ,camilla 444 ,more than three hundred years afterwards1 far off in the ,vosges1 from a village never heard of1 appeared a common peasant of seventeen years old1 a girl without birth1 education1 wealth1 or claim of any sort to consideration1 who made her way to ,chinon and claimed from ,charles ,,vii a commission to lead his army against the ,english4 ,neither the king nor the court had faith in her1 and yet the commission was given1 and the rank- and-file showed again that the true ,frenchman had more confidence in the woman than in the man1 no matter what the gossips might say4 ,no one was surprised when ,jeanne did what she promised1 or when the men burned her for doing it4 ,there were ,jeannes in every village4 ,ridicule was powerless against them4 ,even ,voltaire became what the ,french call frankly bete1 in trying it4 ,eleanor of ,guienne was the greatest of all ,frenchwomen4 ,her decision was law1 whether in ,bordeaux or ,poitiers1 in ,paris or in ,palestine1 in ,london or in ,normandy2 in the court of ,louis ,,vii1 or in that of ,henry ,,ii1 or in her own ,court of ,love4 ,for fifteen years she was ,queen of ,france2 for fifty she was ,queen in ,england2 for eighty or thereabouts she was equivalent to ,queen over ,guienne4 ,no other ,frenchwoman ever had such rule4 ,unfortunately1 as ,queen of ,france1 she struck against an authority greater than her own1 that of ,saint ,bernard1 and after combating it1 with ,suger's help1 from #aacg until #aaeb1 the monk at last gained such mastery that ,eleanor quitted the country and ,suger died4 ,she was not a person to accept defeat4 ,she royally divorced her husband and went back to her own kingdom of ,guienne4 ,neither ,louis nor ,bernard dared to stop her1 or to hold her territories from her1 but they put the best face they could on their defeat by proclaiming her as a person of irregular conduct4 ,the irregularity would not have stood in their way1 if they had dared to stand in hers1 but ,louis was much the weaker1 and made himself weaker still by allowing her to leave him for the sake of ,henry of ,anjou1 a story of a sort that rarely raised the respect in which ,french kings were held by ,french society4 ,probably politics had more to do with the matter than personal attachments1 for ,eleanor was a great ruler1 the equal of any ordinary king1 and more powerful than most kings living in #aaeb4 ,if she deserted ,france in order to join the enemies of ,france1 she had serious reasons besides love for young ,henry of ,anjou2 but in any case she did1 as usual1 what pleased her1 and forced ,louis to pronounce the divorce at a council held at ,beaugency1 ,march #ah1 #aaeb1 on the usual pretext of relationship4 ,the humours of the twelfth century were ,shakespearean4 ,eleanor1 having obtained her divorce at ,beaugency1 to the deep regret of all ,frenchmen1 started at once for ,poitiers1 knowing how unsafe she was in any territory but her own4 ,beaugency is on the ,loire1 between ,orleans and ,blois1 and ,eleanor's first night was at ,blois1 or should have been2 but she was told1 on arriving1 that ,count ,thibaut of ,blois1 undeterred by ,king ,louis's experience1 was making plans to detain her1 with perfectly honourable views of marriage2 and1 as she seems at least not to have been in love with ,thibaut1 she was obliged to depart at once1 in the night1 to ,tours4 ,a night journey on horseback from ,blois to ,tours in the middle of ,march can have been no pleasure-trip1 even in #aaeb2 but1 on arriving at ,tours in the morning1 ,eleanor found that her lovers were still so dangerously near that she set forward at once on the road to ,poitiers4 ,as she approached her own territory she learned that ,geoffrey of ,anjou1 the younger brother of her intended husband1 was waiting for her at the border1 with views of marriage as strictly honourable as those of all the others4 ,she was driven to take another road1 and at last got safe to ,poitiers4 ,about no figure in the ,middle ,ages1 man or woman1 did so many legends grow1 and with such freedom1 as about ,eleanor1 whose strength appealed to ,french sympathies and whose adventures appealed to their imagination4 ,they never forgave ,louis for letting her go4 ,they delighted to be told that in ,palestine she had carried on relations of the most improper character1 now with a ,saracen slave of great beauty2 now with ,raymond of ,poitiers1 her uncle1 the handsomest man of his time2 now with ,saladin himself2 and1 as all this occurred at ,antioch in #aadg or #aadh1 they could not explain why her husband should have waited until #aaeb in order to express his unwilling disapproval2 but they quoted with evident sympathy a remark attributed to her that she thought she had married a king1 and found she had married a monk4 ,to the ,frenchman1 ,eleanor remained always sympathetic1 which is the more significant because1 in ,english tradition1 her character suffered a violent and incredible change4 ,although ,english history has lavished on ,eleanor somewhat more than her due share of conventional moral reproof1 considering that1 from the moment she married ,henry of ,anjou1 ,may #ah1 #aaeb1 she was never charged with a breath of scandal1 it atoned for her want of wickedness by ,french standards1 in the usual manner of historians1 by inventing traits which reflected the moral standards of ,england4 ,tradition converted her into the fairy-book type of feminine jealousy and invented for her the legend of the ,fair ,rosamund and the poison of toads4 ,for us1 both legends are true4 ,they reflected1 not perhaps the character of ,eleanor1 but what the society liked to see acted on its theatre of life4 ,eleanor's real nature in no way concerns us4 ,the single fact worth remembering was that she had two daughters by ,louis ,,vii1 as shown in the table2 who1 in due time1 married--,mary1 in #aafd1 married ,henry1 the great ,count of ,champagne2 ,alix1 at the same time1 became ,countess of ,chartres by marriage with ,thibaut1 who had driven her mother from ,blois in #aaeb by his marital intentions4 ,henry and ,thibaut were brothers whose sister ,alix had married ,louis ,,vii in #aafj1 eight years after the divorce4 ,the relations thus created were fantastic1 especially for ,queen ,eleanor1 who1 besides her two ,french daughters1 had eight children as ,queen of ,england4 ,her second son1 ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion1 born in #aaeg1 was affianced in #aagd to a daughter of ,louis ,,vii and ,alix1 a child only six years old1 who was sent to ,england to be brought up as future queen4 ,this was certainly ,eleanor's doing1 and equally certain was it that the child came to no good in the ,english court4 ,the historians1 by exception1 have not charged this crime to ,queen ,eleanor2 they charged it to ,eleanor's husband1 who passed most of his life in crossing his wife's political plans2 but with politics we want as little as possible to do4 ,we are concerned with the artistic and social side of life1 and have only to notice the coincidence that while the ,virgin was miraculously using the power of spiritual love to elevate and purify the people1 ,eleanor and her daughters were using the power of earthly love to discipline and refine the courts4 ,side by side with the crude realities about them1 they insisted on teaching and enforcing an ideal that contradicted the realities1 and had no value for them or for us except in the contradiction4 ,the ideals of ,eleanor and her daughter ,mary of ,champagne were a form of religion1 and if you care to see its evangels1 you had best go directly to ,dante and ,petrarch1 or1 if you like it better1 to ,don ,quixote de la ,mancha4 ,the religion is dead as ,demeter1 and its art alone survives as1 on the whole1 the highest expression of man's thought or emotion2 but in its day it was almost as practical as it now is fanciful4 ,eleanor and her daughter ,mary and her granddaughter ,blanche knew as well as ,saint ,bernard did1 or ,saint ,francis1 what a brute the emancipated man could be2 and as though they foresaw the society of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries1 they used every terror they could invent1 as well as every tenderness they could invoke1 to tame the beasts around them4 ,their charge was of manners1 and1 to teach manners1 they made a school which they called their ,court of ,love1 with a code of law to which they gave the name of courteous love4 ,the decisions of this court were recorded1 like the decisions of a modern bench1 under the names of the great ladies who made them1 and were enforced by the ladies of good society for whose guidance they were made4 ,they are worth reading1 and any one who likes may read them to this day1 with considerable scepticism about their genuineness4 ,the doubt is only ignorance4 ,we do not1 and never can1 know the twelfth-century woman1 or1 for that matter1 any other woman1 but we do know the literature she created2 we know the art she lived in1 and the religion she professed4 ,we can collect from them some idea why the ,virgin ,mary ruled1 and what she was taken to be1 by the world which worshipped her4 ,mary of ,champagne created the literature of courteous love4 ,she must have been about twenty years old when she married ,count ,henry and went to live at ,troyes1 not actually a queen in title1 but certainly a queen in social influence4 ,in #aafd1 ,champagne was a powerful country1 and ,troyes a centre of taste4 ,in ,normandy1 at the same date1 ,william of ,saint ,pair and ,wace were writing the poetry we know4 ,in ,champagne the court poet was ,christian of ,troyes1 whose poems were new when the churches of ,noyon and ,senlis and ,saint ,leu d',esserent1 and the fleche of ,chartres1 and the ,leaning ,tower of ,pisa1 were building1 at the same time with the ,abbey of ,vezelay1 and before the church at ,mantes4 ,christian died not long after #aage1 leaving a great mass of verse1 much of which has survived1 and which you can read more easily than you can read ,dante or ,petrarch1 although both are almost modern compared with ,christian4 ,the quality of this verse is something like the quality of the glass windows-- conventional decoration2 colours in conventional harmonies2 refinement1 restraint1 and feminine delicacy of taste4 ,christian has not the grand manner of the eleventh century1 and never recalls the masculine strength of the ,chanson de ,roland or ,raoul de ,cambrai4 ,even his most charming story1 ,erec et ,enide1 carries chiefly a moral of courtesy4 ,his is poet-laureate's work1 says ,m4 ,gaston ,paris2 the flower of a twelfth-century court and of twelfth-century ,french2 the best example of an admirable language2 but not lyric2 neither strong1 nor deep1 nor deeply felt4 ,what we call tragedy is unknown to it4 ,christian's world is sky-blue and rose1 with only enough red to give it warmth1 and so flooded with light that even its mysteries count only by the clearness with which they are shown4 ,among other great works1 before ,mary of ,france came to ,troyes ,christian had1 toward #aafj1 written a ,tristan1 which is lost4 ,mary herself1 he says1 gave him the subject of ,lancelot1 with the request or order to make it a lesson of courteous love1 which he obeyed4 ,courtesy has lost its meaning as well as its charm1 and you might find the ,chevalier de la ,charette even more unintelligible than tiresome2 but its influence was great in its day1 and the lesson of courteous love1 under the authority of ,mary of ,champagne1 lasted for centuries as the standard of taste4 ,lancelot was never finished1 but later1 not long after #aagd1 ,christian wrote a ,perceval1 or ,conte du ,graal1 which must also have been intended to please ,mary1 and which is interesting because1 while the ,lancelot gave the twelfth-century idea of courteous love1 the ,perceval gave the twelfth-century idea of religious mystery4 ,mary was certainly concerned with both4 ,it is for this same ,mary1 says ,gaston ,paris1 that ,walter of ,arras undertook his poem of ',eracle'2 she was the object of the songs of the troubadours as well as of their ,french imitators2 for her use also she caused the translations of books of piety like ,genesis1 or the paraphrase at great length1 in verse1 of the psalm ',eructavit4' ,with her theories of courteous love1 every one is more or less familiar if only from the ridicule of ,cervantes and the follies of ,quixote1 who1 though four hundred years younger1 was ,lancelot's child2 but we never can know how far she took herself and her laws of love seriously1 and to speculate on so deep a subject as her seriousness is worse than useless1 since she would herself have been as uncertain as her lovers were4 ,visionary as the courtesy was1 the ,holy ,grail was as practical as any bric-a-brac that has survived of the time4 ,the mystery of ,perceval is like that of the ,gothic cathedral1 illuminated by floods of light1 and enlivened by rivers of colour4 ,unfortunately ,christian never told what he meant by the fragment1 itself a mystery1 in which he narrated the story of the knight who saw the ,holy ,grail1 because the knight1 who was warned1 as usual1 to ask no questions1 for once1 unlike most knights1 obeyed the warning when he should have disregarded it4 ,as knights-errant necessarily did the wrong thing in order to make their adventures possible1 ,perceval's error cannot be in itself mysterious1 nor was the castle in any way mysterious where the miracle occurred1 ,it appeared to him to be the usual castle1 and he saw nothing unusual in the manner of his reception by the usual old lord1 or in the fact that both seated themselves quite simply before the hall-fire with the usual household4 ,then1 as though it were an everyday habit1 the ,holy ,grail was brought in 7,bartsch1 ,chrestomathie1 #ahc-he1 ed4 #ahie73-- ,et leans avail luminaire ,si grant con l'an le porrait faire ,de chandoiles a un ostel4 ,que qu'il parloient d'un et d'el1 ,uns vallez d'une chambre vint ,qui une blanche lance tint ,ampoigniee par le mi lieu4 ,si passa par endroit le feu ,et cil qui al feu se seoient1 ,et tuit cil de leans veoient ,la lance blanche et le fer blanc4 ,s'issoit une gote de sang ,del fer de la lance au sommet1 ,et jusqu'a la main au vaslet ,coroit cele gote vermoille4444 ,a tant dui autre vaslet vindrent ,qui chandeliers an lors mains tindrent ,de fin or ovrez a neel4 ,li vaslet estoient moult bel ,qui les chandeliers aportoient4 ,an chacun chandelier ardoient ,dous chandoiles a tot le mains4 ,un graal antre ses dous mains ,une demoiselle tenoit1 ,qui avec les vaslets venoit1 ,bele et gente et bien acesmee4 ,quant cle fu leans antree ,atot le graal qu'ele tint ,une si granz clartez i vint ,qu'ausi perdirent les chandoiles ,lor clarte come les estoiles ,qant li solauz luist et la lune4 ,apres celi an revint une ,qui tint un tailleor d'argent4 ,le graal qui aloit devant ,de fin or esmere estoit1 ,pierres precieuses avoit ,el graal de maintes menieres ,des plus riches et des plus chieres ,qui en mer ne en terre soient4 ,totes autres pierres passoient ,celes del graal sanz dotance4 ,tot ainsi con passa la lance ,par devant le lit trespasserent ,et d'une chambre a l'autre alerent4 ,et li vaslet les vit passer1 ,ni n'osa mire demander ,del graal cui l'an an servoit4 ,and1 within1 the hall was bright ,as any hall could be with light ,of candles in a house at night4 ,so1 while of this and that they talked1 ,a squire from a chamber walked1 ,bearing a white lance in his hand1 ,grasped by the middle1 like a wand2 ,and1 as he passed the chimney wide1 ,those seated by the fireside1 ,and all the others1 caught a glance ,of the white steel and the white lance4 ,as they looked1 a drop of blood ,down the lance's handle flowed2 ,down to where the youth's hand stood4 ,from the lance-head at the top ,they saw run that crimson drop4444 ,presently came two more squires1 ,in their hands two chandeliers1 ,of fine gold in enamel wrought4 ,each squire that the candle brought ,was a handsome chevalier4 ,there burned in every chandelier ,two lighted candles at the least4 ,a damsel1 graceful and well dressed1 ,behind the squires followed fast ,who carried in her hands a graal2 ,and as she came within the hall ,with the graal there came a light ,so brilliant that the candles all ,lost clearness1 as the stars at night ,when moon shines1 or in day the sun4 ,after her there followed one ,who a dish of silver bore4 ,the graal1 which had gone before1 ,of gold the finest had been made1 ,with precious stones had been inlaid1 ,richest and rarest of each kind ,that man in sea or earth could find4 ,all other jewels far surpassed ,those which the holy graal enchased4 ,just as before had passed the lance ,they all before the bed advance1 ,passing straightway through the hall1 ,and the knight who saw them pass ,never ventured once to ask ,for the meaning of the graal4 ,the simplicity of this narration gives a certain dramatic effect to the mystery1 like seeing a ghost in full daylight1 but ,christian carried simplicity further still4 ,he seemed either to feel1 or to want others to feel1 the reality of the adventure and the miracle1 and he followed up the appearance of the graal by a solid meal in the style of the twelfth century1 such as one expects to find in ,ivanhoe or the ,talisman4 ,the knight sat down with his host to the best dinner that the county of ,champagne afforded1 and they ate their haunch of venison with the graal in full view4 ,they drank their ,champagne wine of various sorts1 out of gold cups3-- ,vins clers ne raspez ne lor faut ,a copes dorees a boivre2 they sat before the fire and talked till bedtime1 when the squires made up the beds in the hall1 and brought in supper--dates1 figs1 nutmegs1 spices1 pomegranates1 and at last lectuaries1 suspiciously like what we call jams2 and alexandrine gingerbread2 after which they drank various drinks1 with or without spice or honey or pepper2 and old moret1 which is thought to be mulberry wine1 but which generally went with clairet1 a colourless grape-juice1 or piment4 ,at least1 here are the lines1 and one may translate them to suit one's self3-- ,et li vaslet aparellierent ,les lis et le fruit au colchier ,que il en i ot de moult chier1 ,dates1 figues1 et nois mugates1 ,girofles et pomes de grenates1 ,et leituaires an la fin1 ,et gingenbret alixandrin4 ,apres ce burent de maint boivre1 ,piment ou n'ot ne miel ne poivre ,et viez more et cler sirop4 ,the twelfth century had the child's love of sweets and spices and preserved fruits1 and drinks sweetened or spiced1 whether they were taken for supper or for poetry2 the true knight's palate was fresh and his appetite excellent either for sweets or verses or love2 the world was young then2 ,robin ,hoods lived in every forest1 and ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion was not yet twenty years old4 ,the pleasant adventures of ,robin ,hood were real1 as you can read in the stories of a dozen outlaws1 and men troubled themselves about pain and death much as healthy bears did1 in the mountains4 ,life had miseries enough1 but few shadows deeper than those of the imaginative lover1 or the terrors of ghosts at night4 ,men's imaginations ran riot1 but did not keep them awake2 at least1 neither the preserved fruits nor the mulberry wine nor the clear syrup nor the gingerbread nor the ,holy ,graal kept ,perceval awake1 but he slept the sound and healthy sleep of youth1 and when he woke the next morning1 he felt only a mild surprise to find that his host and household had disappeared1 leaving him to ride away without farewell1 breakfast1 or ,graal4 ,christian wrote about ,perceval in #aagd in the same spirit in which the workmen in glass1 thirty years later1 told the story of ,charlemagne4 ,one artist worked for ,mary of ,champagne2 the others for ,mary of ,chartres1 commonly known as the ,virgin2 but all did their work in good faith1 with the first1 fresh1 easy instinct of colour1 light1 and line4 ,neither of the two ,maries was mystical1 in a modern sense2 none of the artists was oppressed by the burden of doubt2 their scepticism was as childlike as faith4 ,if one has to make an exception1 perhaps the passion of love was more serious than that of religion1 and gave to religion the deepest emotion1 and the most complicated one1 which society knew4 ,love was certainly a passion2 and even more certainly it was1 as seen in poets like ,dante and ,petrarch1--in romans like ,lancelot and ,aucassin1--in ideals like the ,virgin1--complicated beyond modern conception4 ,for this reason the loss of ,christian's ,tristan makes a terrible gap in art1 for ,christian's poem would have given the first and best idea of what led to courteous love4 ,the ,tristan was written before #aafj1 and belonged to the cycle of ,queen ,eleanor of ,england rather than to that of her daughter ,mary of ,troyes2 but the subject was one neither of courtesy nor of ,france2 it belonged to an age far behind the eleventh century1 or even the tenth1 or indeed any century within the range of ,french history2 and it was as little fitted for ,christian's way of treatment as for any avowed burlesque4 ,the original ,tristan--critics say--was not ,french1 and neither ,tristan nor ,isolde had ever a drop of ,french blood in their veins4 ,in their form as ,christian received it1 they were ,celts or ,scots2 they came from ,brittany1 ,wales1 ,ireland1 the northern ocean1 or farther still4 ,behind the ,welsh ,tristan1 which passed probably through ,england to ,normandy and thence to ,france and ,champagne1 critics detect a far more ancient figure living in a form of society that ,france could not remember ever to have known4 ,king ,marc was a tribal chief of the ,stone ,age whose subjects loved the forest and lived on the sea or in caves2 ,king ,marc's royal hall was a common shelter on the banks of a stream1 where every one was at home1 and king1 queen1 knights1 attendants1 and dwarf slept on the floor1 on beds laid down where they pleased2 ,tristan's weapons were the bow and stone knife2 he never saw a horse or a spear2 his ideas of loyalty and ,isolde's ideas of marriage were as vague as ,marc's royal authority2 and all were alike unconscious of law1 chivalry1 or church4 ,the note they sang was more unlike the note of ,christian1 if possible1 than that of ,richard ,wagner2 it was the simplest expression of rude and primitive love1 as one could perhaps find it among ,north ,american ,indians1 though hardly so defiant even there1 and certainly in the ,icelandic ,sagas hardly so lawless2 but it was a note of real passion1 and touched the deepest chords of sympathy in the artificial society of the twelfth century1 as it did in that of the nineteenth4 ,the task of the ,french poet was to tone it down and give it the fashionable dress1 the pointed shoes and long sleeves1 of the time4 ,the ,frenchman1 says ,gaston ,paris1 is specially interested in making his story entertaining for the society it is meant for2 he is 'social'2 that is1 of the world2 he smiles at the adventures he tells1 and delicately lets you see that he is not their dupe2 he exerts himself to give to his style a constant elegance1 a uniform polish1 in which a few neatly turned1 clever phrases sparkle here and there2 above all1 he wants to please1 and thinks of his audience more than of his subject4 ,in the twelfth century he wanted chiefly to please women1 as ,orderic complained2 ,isolde came out of ,brittany to meet ,eleanor coming up from ,guienne1 and the ,virgin from the east2 and all united in giving law to society4 ,in each case it was the woman1 not the man1 who gave the law2--it was ,mary1 not the ,trinity2 ,eleanor1 not ,louis ,,vii2 ,isolde1 not ,tristan4 ,no doubt1 the original ,tristan had given the law like ,roland or ,achilles1 but the twelfth-century ,tristan was a comparatively poor creature4 ,he was in his way a secondary figure in the romance1 as ,louis ,,vii was to ,eleanor and ,abelard to ,heloise4 ,every one knows how1 about twenty years before ,eleanor came to ,paris1 the poet-professor ,abelard1 the hero of the ,latin ,quarter1 had sung to ,heloise those songs which--he tells us--resounded through ,europe as widely as his scholastic fame1 and probably to more effect for his renown4 ,in popular notions ,heloise was ,isolde1 and would in a moment have done what ,isolde did 7,bartsch1 #ajg-jh73-- ,quaint reis ,marcs nus out conjeies ,e de sa curt nus out chascez1 ,as mains ensemble nus preismes ,e hors de la sale en eissimes1 ,a la forest puis en alasmes ,e un mult bel liu i trouvames ,e une roche1 fu cavee1 ,devant ert estraite la entree1 ,dedans fu voesse ben faite1 ,tante bel cum se fust portraite4 ,when ,king ,marc had banned us both1 ,and from his court had chased us forth1 ,hand in hand each clasping fast ,straight from out the hall we passed2 ,to the forest turned our face2 ,found in it a perfect place1 ,where the rock that made a cave ,hardly more than passage gave2 ,spacious within and fit for use1 ,as though it had been planned for us4 ,at any time of her life1 ,heloise would have defied society or church1 and would--at least in the public's fancy--have taken ,abelard by the hand and gone off to the forest much more readily than she went to the cloister2 but ,abelard would have made a poor figure as ,tristan4 ,abelard and ,christian of ,troyes were as remote as we are from the legendary ,tristan2 but ,isolde and ,heloise1 ,eleanor and ,mary were the immortal and eternal woman4 ,the legend of ,isolde1 both in the earlier and the later version1 seems to have served as a sacred book to the women of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 and ,christian's ,isolde surely helped ,mary in giving law to the ,court of ,troyes and decisions in the ,court of ,love4 ,countess ,mary's authority lasted from #aafd to #aaih1 thirty-four years1 during which1 at uncertain intervals1 glimpses of her influence flash out in poetry rather than in prose4 ,christian began his ,roman de la ,charette by invoking her3-- ,puisque ma dame de ,chanpaigne ,vialt que romans a faire anpraigne ,si deist et jel tesmoignasse ,que ce est la dame qui passe ,totes celes qui sont vivanz ,si con li funs passe les vanz ,qui vante en ,mai ou en ,avril ,dirai je3 tant com une jame ,vaut de pailes et de sardines ,vaut la contesse de reines8 ,christian chose curious similes4 ,his dame surpassed all living rivals as smoke passes the winds that blow in ,may2 or as much as a gem would buy of straws and sardines is the ,countess worth in queens4 ,louis ,,xiv would have thought that ,christian might be laughing at him1 but court styles changed with their masters4 ,louis ,,xiv would scarcely have written a prison-song to his sister such as ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion wrote to ,mary of ,champagne3-- ,ja nus bons pris ne dirat sa raison ,adroitement s'ansi com dolans non2 ,mais par confort puet il faire chanson4 ,moult ai d'amins1 mais povre sont li don2 ,honte en avront se por ma reancon ,suix ces deus yvers pris4 ,ceu sevent bien mi home et mi baron1 ,englois1 ,normant1 ,poitevin et ,gascon1 ,ke je n'avoie si povre compaingnon ,cui je laissasse por avoir au prixon4 ,je nel di pas por nulle retraison1 ,mais ancor suix je pris4 ,or sai ge bien de voir certainement ,ke mors ne pris n'ait amin ne parent1 ,cant on me lait por or ne por argent4 ,moult m'est de moi1 mais plus m'est de ma gent ,c'apres ma mort avront reprochier grant ,se longement suix pris4 ,n'est pas mervelle se j'ai lo cuer dolent ,cant li miens sires tient ma terre en torment4 ,s'or li menbroit de nostre sairement ,ke nos feismes andui communament1 ,bien sai de voir ke ceans longement ,ne seroie pas pris4 ,ce sevent bien ,angevin et ,torain1 ,cil bacheler ki or sont fort et sain1 ,c'ancombreis suix long d'aus en autrui main4 ,forment m'amoient1 mais or ne m'aimment grain4 ,de belles armes sont ores veut cil plain1 ,por tant ke je suix pris4 ,mes compaingnons cui j'amoie et cui j'aim1 ,ces dou ,caheu et ces dou ,percherain1 ,me di1 chanson1 kil ne sont pas certain1 ,c'onques vers aus n'en oi cuer faus ne vain4 ,s'il me guerroient1 il font moult que villain ,tant com je serai pris4 ,comtesse suer1 vostre pris soverain ,vos saut et gart cil a cui je me claim ,et par cui je suix pris4 ,je n'ou di pas de celi de ,chartain ,la meire ,loweis4 ,no prisoner can tell his honest thought ,unless he speaks as one who suffers wrong2 ,but for his comfort he may make a song4 ,my friends are many1 but their gifts are naught4 ,shame will be theirs1 if1 for my ransom1 here ,i lie another year4 ,they know this well1 my barons and my men1 ,normandy1 ,england1 ,gascony1 ,poitou1 ,that ,i had never follower so low ,whom ,i would leave in prison to my gain4 ,i say it not for a reproach to them1 ,but prisoner ,i am6 ,the ancient proverb now ,i know for sure3 ,death and a prison know nor kin nor tie1 ,since for mere lack of gold they let me lie4 ,much for myself ,i grieve2 for them still more4 ,after my death they will have grievous wrong ,if ,i am prisoner long4 ,what marvel that my heart is sad and sore ,when my own lord torments my helpless lands6 ,well do ,i know that1 if he held his hands1 ,remembering the common oath we swore1 ,i should not here imprisoned with my song1 ,remain a prisoner long4 ,they know this well who now are rich and strong ,young gentlemen of ,anjou and ,touraine1 ,that far from them1 on hostile bonds ,i strain4 ,they loved me much1 but have not loved me long4 ,their plains will see no more fair lists arrayed1 ,while ,i lie here betrayed4 ,companions1 whom ,i loved1 and still do love1 ,geoffroi du ,perche and ,ansel de ,caleux1 ,tell them1 my song1 that they are friends untrue4 ,never to them did ,i false-hearted prove2 ,but they do villainy if they war on me1 ,while ,i lie here1 unfree4 ,countess sister6 your sovereign fame ,may he preserve whose help ,i claim1 ,victim for whom am ,i6 ,i say not this of ,chartres' dame1 ,mother of ,louis6 ,richard's prison-song1 one of the chief monuments of ,english literature1 sounds to every ear1 accustomed to twelfth-century verse1 as charming as when it was household rhyme to mi ome et mi baron ,englois1 ,normant1 ,poitevin et ,gascon4 ,not only was ,richard a far greater king than any ,louis ever was1 but he also composed better poetry than any other king who is known to tourists1 and1 when he spoke to his sister in this cry of the heart altogether singular among monarchs1 he made law and style1 above discussion4 ,whether he meant to reproach his other sister1 ,alix of ,chartres1 historians may tell1 if they know4 ,if he did1 the reproach answered its purpose1 for the song was written in #aaic2 ,richard was ransomed and released in #aaid2 and in #aaih the young ,count ,loweis of ,chartres and ,blois leagued with the ,counts of ,flanders1 ,le ,perche1 ,guines1 and ,toulouse1 against ,philip ,augustus1 in favor of ,coeur-de-,lion to whom they rendered homage4 ,in any case1 neither ,mary nor ,alice in #aaic was reigning ,countess4 ,mary was a widow since #aaha1 and her son ,henry was ,count in ,champagne1 apparently a great favourite with his uncle ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion4 ,the life of this ,henry of ,champagne was another twelfth-century romance1 but can serve no purpose here except to recall the story that his mother1 the great ,countess ,mary1 died in #aaih of sorrow for the death of this son1 who was then ,king of ,jerusalem1 and was killed1 in #aaig1 by a fall from the window of his palace at ,acre4 ,coeur-de-,lion died in #aaii4 ,in #abja1 ,mary's other son1 who succeeded ,henry1--,count ,thibaut ,,iii1--died1 leaving a posthumous heir1 famous in the thirteenth century as ,thibaut-le-,grand--the ,thibaut of ,queen ,blanche4 ,they were all astonishing--men and women--and filled the world1 for two hundred years1 with their extraordinary energy and genius2 but the greatest of all was old ,queen ,eleanor1 who survived her son ,coeur-de-,lion1 as well as her two husbands1--,louis-le-,jeune and ,henry ,,ii ,plantagenet1--and was left in #abjj still struggling to repair the evils and fend off the dangers they caused4 ,queen by the wrath of ,god1 she called herself1 and she knew what just claim she had to the rank4 ,of her two husbands and ten children1 little remained except her son ,john1 who1 by the unanimous voice of his family1 his friends1 his enemies1 and even his admirers1 achieved a reputation for excelling in every form of twelfth-century crime4 ,he was a liar and a traitor1 as was not uncommon1 but he was thought to be also a coward1 which1 in that family1 was singular4 ,some redeeming quality he must have had1 but none is recorded4 ,his mother saw him running1 in his masculine1 twelfth-century recklessness1 to destruction1 and she made a last and a characteristic effort to save him and ,guienne by a treaty of amity with the ,french king1 to be secured by the marriage of the heir of ,france1 ,louis1 to ,eleanor's granddaughter1 ,john's niece1 ,blanche of ,castile1 then twelve or thirteen years old4 ,eleanor herself was eighty1 and yet she made the journey to ,spain1 brought back the child to ,bordeaux1 affianced her to ,louis ,,viii as she had herself been affianced in #aacg to ,louis ,,vii1 and in ,may1 #abjj1 saw her married4 ,the ,french had then given up their conventional trick of attributing ,eleanor's acts to her want of morals2 and ,france gave her--as to most women after sixty years old--the benefit of the convention which made women respectable after they had lost the opportunity to be vicious4 ,in ,french eyes1 ,eleanor played out the drama according to the rules4 ,she could not save ,john1 but she died in #abjb1 before his ruin1 and you can still see her lying with her husband and her son ,richard at ,fontevrault in her twelfth-century tomb4 ,in #abbc1 ,blanche became ,queen of ,france4 ,she was thirty-six years old4 ,her husband1 ,louis ,,viii1 was ambitious to rival his father1 ,philip ,augustus1 who had seized ,normandy in #abjc4 ,louis undertook to seize ,toulouse and ,avignon4 ,in #abbe1 he set out with a large army in which1 among the chief vassals1 his cousin ,thibaut of ,champagne led a contingent4 ,thibaut was five-and-twenty years old1 and1 like ,pierre de ,dreux1 then ,duke of ,brittany1 was one of the most brilliant and versatile men of his time1 and one of the greatest rulers4 ,as royal vassal ,thibaut owed forty days' service in the field2 but his interests were at variance with the ,king's1 and at the end of the term he marched home with his men1 leaving the ,king to fall ill and die in ,auvergne1 ,november #h1 #abbf1 and a child of ten years old to carry on the government as ,louis ,,ix4 ,chartres ,cathedral has already told the story twice1 in stone and glass2 but ,thibaut does not appear there1 although he saved the ,queen4 ,some member of the royal family must be regent4 ,queen ,blanche took the place1 and of course the princes of the blood1 who thought it was their right1 united against her4 ,at first1 ,blanche turned violently on ,thibaut and forbade him to appear at the coronation at ,rheims in his own territory1 on ,november #bi1 as though she held him guilty of treason2 but when the league of great vassals united to deprive her of the regency1 she had no choice but to detach at any cost any member of the league1 and ,thibaut alone offered help4 ,what price she paid him was best known to her2 but what price she would be believed to have paid him was as well known to her as what had been said of her grandmother ,eleanor when she changed her allegiance in #aaeb4 ,if the scandal had concerned ,thibaut alone1 she might have been well content1 but ,blanche was obliged also to pay desperate court to the papal legate4 ,every member of her husband's family united against her and libelled her character with the freedom which enlivened and envenomed royal tongues4 ,maintes paroles en dit en ,comme d',iseult et de ,tristan4 ,had this been all1 she would have cared no more than ,eleanor or any other queen had cared1 for in ,french drama1 real or imaginary1 such charges were not very serious and hardly uncomplimentary2 but ,iseult had never been accused1 over and above her arbitrary views on the marriage-contract1 of acting as an accomplice with ,tristan in poisoning ,king ,marc4 ,french convention required that ,thibaut should have poisoned ,louis ,,viii for love of the ,queen1 and that this secret reciprocal love should control their lives4 ,fortunately for ,blanche she was a devout ally of the ,church1 and the ,church believed evil only of enemies4 ,the legate and the prelates rallied to her support and after eight years of desperate struggle they crushed ,pierre ,mauclerc and saved ,thibaut and ,blanche4 ,for us the poetry is history1 and the facts are false4 ,french art starts not from facts1 but from certain assumptions as conventional as a legendary window1 and the commonest convention is the ,woman4 ,the fact1 then as now1 was ,power1 or its equivalent in exchange1 but ,frenchmen1 while struggling for the ,power1 expressed it in terms of ,art4 ,they looked on life as a drama1--and on drama as a phase of life--in which the bystanders were bound to assume and accept the regular stage-plot4 ,that the plot might be altogether untrue to real life affected in no way its interest4 ,to them ,thibaut and ,blanche were bound to act ,tristan and ,isolde4 ,whatever they were when off the stage1 they were lovers on it4 ,their loves were as real and as reasonable as the worship of the ,virgin4 ,courteous love was avowedly a form of drama1 but not the less a force of society4 ,illusion for illusion1 courteous love1 in ,thibaut's hands1 or in the hands of ,dante and ,petrarch1 was as substantial as any other convention2--the balance of trade1 the rights of man1 or the ,athanasian ,creed4 ,in that sense the illusions alone were real2 if the ,middle ,ages had reflected only what was practical1 nothing would have survived for us4 ,thibaut was ,tristan1 and is said to have painted his verses on the walls of his chateau4 ,if he did1 he painted there1 in the opinion of ,m4 ,gaston ,paris1 better poetry than any that was written on paper or parchment1 for ,thibaut was a great prince and great poet who did in both characters whatever he pleased4 ,in modern equivalents1 one would give much to see the chateau again with the poetry on its walls4 ,provins has lost the verses1 but ,troyes still keeps some churches and glass of ,thibaut's time which hold their own with the best4 ,even of ,thibaut himself1 something survives1 and though it were only the memories of his seneschal1 the famous ,sire de ,joinville1 history and ,france would be poor without him4 ,with ,joinville in hand1 you may still pass an hour in the company of these astonishing thirteenth-century men and women3--crusaders who fight1 hunt1 make love1 build churches1 put up glass windows to the ,virgin1 buy missals1 talk scholastic philosophy1 compose poetry3 ,blanche1 ,thibaut1 ,perron1 ,joinville1 ,saint ,louis1 ,saint ,thomas1 ,saint ,dominic1 ,saint ,francis--you may know them as intimately as you can ever know a world that is lost2 and in the case of ,thibaut you may know more1 for he is still alive in his poems2 he even vibrates with life4 ,one might try a few verses1 to see what he meant by courtesy4 ,perhaps he wrote them for ,queen ,blanche1 but1 to whomever he sent them1 the ,french were right in thinking that she ought to have returned his love 7edition of #agdb73-- ,nus hom ne puet ami reconforter ,se cele non ou il a son cuer mis4 ,pour ce m'estuet sovent plaindre et plourer ,que mis confors ne me vient1 ce m'est vis1 ,de la ou j'ai tote ma remembrance4 ,pour bien amer ai sovent esmaiance ,a dire voir4 ,dame1 merci6 donez moi esperance ,de joie avoir4 ,jene puis pas sovent a li parler ,ne remirer les biaus iex de son vis4 ,ce pois moi que je n'i puis aler ,car ades est mes cuers ententis4 ,ho6 bele riens1 douce sans conoissance1 ,car me mettez en millor attendance ,de bon espoir6 ,dame1 merci6 donez moi esperance ,de joie avoir4 ,aucuns si sont qui me vuelent blamer ,quant je ne di a qui je suis amis2 ,mais ja1 dame1 ne saura mon penser ,nus qui soit nes fors vous cui je le dis ,couardement a pavours a doutance ,dont puestes vous lors bien a ma semblance ,mon cuer savoir4 ,dame1 merci6 donez moi esperance ,de joie avoir4 ,there is no comfort to be found for pain ,save only where the heart has made its home4 ,therefore ,i can but murmur and complain ,because no comfort to my pain has come ,from where ,i garnered all my happiness4 ,from true love have ,i only earned distress ,the truth to say4 ,grace1 lady6 give me comfort to possess ,a hope1 one day4 ,seldom the music of her voice ,i hear ,or wonder at the beauty of her eyes4 ,it grieves me that ,i may not follow there ,where at her feet my heart attentive lies4 ,oh1 gentle ,beauty without consciousness1 ,let me once feel a moment's hopefulness1 ,if but one ray6 ,grace1 lady6 give me comfort to possess ,a hope1 one day4 ,certain there are who blame upon me throw ,because ,i will not tell whose love ,i seek2 ,but truly1 lady1 none my thought shall know1 ,none that is born1 save you to whom ,i speak ,in cowardice and awe and doubtfulness1 ,that you may happily with fearlessness ,my heart essay4 ,grace1 lady6 give me comfort to possess ,a hope1 one day4 ,does ,thibaut's verse sound simple8 ,it is the simplicity of the thirteenth-century glass--so refined and complicated that sensible people are mostly satisfied to feel1 and not to understand4 ,any blunderer in verse1 who will merely look at the rhymes of these three stanzas1 will see that simplicity is about as much concerned there as it is with the windows of ,chartres2 the verses are as perfect as the colours1 and the versification as elaborate4 ,these stanzas might have been addressed to ,queen ,blanche2 now see how ,thibaut kept the same tone of courteous love in addressing the ,queen of ,heaven6 ,de grant travail et de petit esploit ,voi ce siegle cargie et encombre ,que tant somes plain de maleurte ,ke nus ne pens a faire ce qu'il doit1 ,ains avons si le ,deauble trouve ,qu'a lui servir chascuns paine et essaie ,et ,diex ki ot pour nos ja cruel plaie ,metons arrier et sa grant dignite2 ,molt est hardis qui pour mort ne s'esmaie4 ,diex que tout set et tout puet et tout voit ,nous auroit tost en entre-deus giete ,se la ,dame plaine de grant bonte ,pardelez lui pour nos ne li prioit ,si tres douc mot plaisant et savoure ,le grant courous dou grant ,signour apaie2 ,molt par est fox ki autre amor essai ,k'en cestui n'a barat ne fausete ,ne es autres n'a ne merti ne manaie4 ,la souris quiert pour son cors garandir ,contre l'yver la noif et le forment ,et nous chaitif nous n'alons rien querant ,quant nous morrons ou nous puissions garir4 ,nous ne cherchons fors k'infer le puant2 ,or esgardes come beste sauvage ,pourvoit de loin encontre son domage ,et nous n'avons ne sens ne hardement2 ,il est avis que plain somes de rage4 ,li ,deable a getey por nos ravir ,quatre amecons aescbies de torment2 ,covoitise lance premierement ,et puis ,orguel por sa grant rois emplir ,et ,luxure va le batel trainant ,felonie les governe et les nage4 ,ensi peschant s'en viegnent au rivage ,dont ,diex nous gart par son commandement ,en qui sains fons nous feismes homage4 ,a la ,dame qui tous les bien avance ,t'en va1 chancon s'el te vielt escouter ,onques ne fu nus di millor chaunce4 ,with travail great1 and little cargo fraught1 ,see how our world is labouring in pain2 ,so filled we are with love of evil gain ,that no one thinks of doing what he ought1 ,but we all hustle in the ,devil's train1 ,and only in his service toil and pray2 ,and ,god1 who suffered for us agony1 ,we set behind1 and treat him with disdain2 ,hardy is he whom death does not dismay4 ,god who rules all1 from whom we can hide nought1 ,had quickly flung us back to nought again ,but that our gentle1 gracious1 ,lady ,queen ,begged him to spare us1 and our pardon wrought2 ,striving with words of sweetness to restrain ,our angry ,lord1 and his great wrath allay4 ,felon is he who shall her love betray ,which is pure truth1 and falsehood cannot feign1 ,while all the rest is lie and cheating play4 ,the feeble mouse1 against the winter's cold1 ,garners the nuts and grain within his cell1 ,while man goes groping1 without sense to tell ,where to seek refuge against growing old4 ,we seek it in the smoking mouth of ,hell4 ,with the poor beast our impotence compare6 ,see him protect his life with utmost care1 ,while us nor wit nor courage can compel ,to save our souls1 so foolish mad we are4 ,the ,devil doth in snares our life enfold2 ,four hooks has he with torments baited well2 ,and first with ,greed he casts a mighty spell1 ,and then1 to fill his nets1 has ,pride enrolled1 ,and ,luxury steers the boat1 and fills the sail1 ,and ,perfidy controls and sets the snare2 ,thus the poor fish are brought to land1 and there ,may ,god preserve us and the foe repel6 ,homage to him who saves us from despair6 ,to ,mary ,queen1 who passes all compare1 ,go1 little song6 to her your sorrows tell6 ,nor ,heaven nor ,earth holds happiness so rare4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,nicolette ,,and ,,marion ,c'est d',aucassins et de ,nicolete4 ,qui vauroit bons vers oir ,del deport du viel caitiff ,de deus biax enfans petis ,nicolete et ,aucassins2 ,des grans paines qu'il soufri ,et des proueces qu'il fist ,for s'amie o le cler vis4 ,dox est li cans biax est li dis ,et cortois et bien asis4 ,nus hom n'est si esbahis ,tant dolans ni entrepris ,de grant mal amaladis ,se il l'oit ne soit garis ,et de joie resbaudis ,tant par est dou-ce4 ,this is of ,aucassins and ,nicolette4 ,whom would a good ballad please ,by the captive from o'er-seas1 ,a sweet song in children's praise1 ,nicolette and ,aucassins2 ,what he bore for her caress1 ,what he proved of his prowess ,for his friend with the bright face8 ,the song has charm1 the tale has grace1 ,and courtesy and good address4 ,no man is in such distress1 ,such suffering or weariness1 ,sick with ever such sickness1 ,but he shall1 if he hear this1 ,recover all his happiness1 ,so sweet it is6 ,this little thirteenth-century gem is called a chante-fable1 a story partly in prose1 partly in verse1 to be sung according to musical notation accompanying the words in the single manuscript known1 and published in facsimile by ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,bourdillon at ,oxford in #ahif4 ,indeed1 few poems1 old or new1 have in the last few years been more reprinted1 translated1 and discussed1 than ,aucassins1 yet the discussion lacks interest to the idle tourist1 and tells him little4 ,nothing is known of the author or his date4 ,the second line alone offers a hint1 but nothing more4 ,caitif means in the first place a captive1 and secondly any unfortunate or wretched man4 ,critics have liked to think that the word means here a captive to the ,saracens1 and that the poet1 like ,cervantes three or four hundred years later1 may have been a prisoner to the infidels4 ,what the critics can do1 we can do4 ,if liberties can be taken with impunity by scholars1 we can take the liberty of supposing that the poet was a prisoner in the crusade of ,coeur-de-,lion and ,philippe- ,auguste2 that he had recovered his liberty1 with his master1 in #aaid2 and that he passed the rest of his life singing to the old ,queen ,eleanor or to ,richard1 at ,chinon1 and to the lords of all the chateaux in ,guienne1 ,poitiers1 ,anjou1 and ,normandy1 not to mention ,england4 ,the living was a pleasant one1 as the sunny atmosphere of the ,southern poetry proves4 ,dox est li cans2 biax est li dis1 ,et cortois et bien asis4 ,the poet-troubadour who composed and recited ,aucassins could not have been unhappy1 but this is the affair of his private life1 and not of ours4 ,what rather interests us is his poetic motive1 courteous love1 which gives the tale a place in the direct line between ,christian of ,troyes1 ,thibaut-le-,grand1 and ,william of ,lorris4 ,christian of ,troyes died in #aage2 at least he wrote nothing of a later date1 so far as is certainly known4 ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion died in #aaii1 very soon after the death of his half-sister ,mary of ,champagne4 ,thibaut-le-,grand was born in #abja4 ,william of ,lorris1 who concluded the line of great courteous poets1 died in #abfj or thereabouts4 ,for our purposes1 ,aucassins comes between ,christian of ,troyes and ,william of ,lorris2 the trouvere or jogleor1 who sang1 was a viel caitif when the ,chartres glass was set up1 and the ,charlemagne window designed1 about #abaj1 or perhaps a little later4 ,when one is not a professor1 one has not the right to make inept guesses1 and1 when one is not a critic1 one should not risk confusing a difficult question by baseless assumptions2 but even a summer tourist may without offence visit his churches in the order that suits him best2 and1 for our tour1 ,aucassins follows ,christian and goes hand in hand with ,blondel and the chatelain de ,coucy1 as the most exquisite expression of courteous love4 ,as one of ,aucassins' ,german editors says in his introduction3 ,love is the medium through which alone the hero surveys the world around him1 and for which he contemns everything that the age prized3 knightly honour2 deeds of arms2 father and mother2 hell1 and even heaven2 but the mere promise by his father of a kiss from ,nicolette inspires him to superhuman heroism2 while the old poet sings and smiles aside to his audience as though he wished them to understand that ,aucassins1 a foolish boy1 must not be judged quite seriously1 but that1 old as he was himself1 he was just as foolish about ,nicolette4 ,aucassins was the son of the ,count of ,beaucaire4 ,nicolette was a young girl whom the ,viscount of ,beaucaire had redeemed as a captive of the ,saracens1 and had brought up as a god-daughter in his family4 ,aucassins fell in love with ,nicolette1 and wanted to marry her4 ,the action turned on marriage1 for1 to the ,counts of ,beaucaire1 as to other counts1 not to speak of kings1 high alliance was not a matter of choice but of necessity1 without which they could not defend their lives1 let alone their counties2 and1 to make ,aucassins' conduct absolutely treasonable1 ,beaucaire was at that time surrounded and besieged1 and the ,count1 ,aucassins' father1 stood in dire need of his son's help4 ,aucassins refused to stir unless he could have ,nicolette4 ,what were honours to him if ,nicolette were not to share them4 ,s'ele estait empereris de ,colstentinoble u d',alemaigne u roine de ,france u d',engletere1 si aroit il asses peu en li1 tant est france et cortoise et de bon aire et entecie de toutes bones teces4 ,to be empress of ,colstentinoble would be none too good for her1 so stamped is she with nobility and courtesy and high-breeding and all good qualities4 ,so the ,count1 after a long struggle1 sent for his ,viscount and threatened to have ,nicolette burned alive1 and the ,viscount himself treated no better1 if he did not put a stop to the affair2 and the ,viscount shut up ,nicolette1 and remonstrated with ,aucassins3 ,marry a king's daughter1 or a count's6 leave ,nicolette alone1 or you will never see ,paradise6 ,this at once gave ,aucassins the excuse for a charming tirade against ,paradise1 for which1 a century or two later1 he would properly have been burned together with ,nicolette3-- ,en paradis qu'ai je a faire8 ,je n'i quier entrer mais que j'aie ,nicolete1 ma tres douce amie1 que j'aim tant4 ,c'en paradis ne vont fors tex gens con je vous dirai4 ,il i vont ci viel prestre et cil vieil clop et cil manke1 qui tote jour et tote nuit cropent devant ces autex et en ces vies cruutes1 et ci a ces vies capes ereses et a ces vies tatereles vestues1 qui sont nu et decauc et estrumele1 qui moeurent de faim et d'esci et de froid et de mesaises4 ,icil vont en paradis2 aveuc ciax n'ai jou que faire2 mais en infer voil jou aler4 ,car en infer vont li bel clerc et li bel cevalier qui sont mort as tornois et as rices gueres1 et li bien sergant et li franc home4 ,aveuc ciax voil jou aler4 ,et si vont les beles dames cortoises que eles ont ii amis ou iii avec leurs barons4 ,et si va li ors et li agens et li vairs et li gris2 et si i vont herpeor et jogleor et li roi del siecle4 ,avec ciax voil jou aler mais que j'aie ,nicolete1 ma tres douce amie1 aveuc moi4 ,in ,paradise what have ,i to do8 ,i do not care to go there unless ,i may have ,nicolette1 my very sweet friend1 whom ,i love so much4 ,for to ,paradise goes no one but such people as ,i will tell you of4 ,there go old priests and old cripples and the maimed1 who all day and all night crouch before altars and in old crypts1 and are clothed with old worn-out capes and old tattered rags2 who are naked and footbare and sore2 who die of hunger and want and misery4 ,these go to ,paradise2 with them ,i have nothing to do2 but to ,hell ,i am willing to go4 ,for1 to ,hell go the fine scholars and the fair knights who die in tournies and in glorious wars2 and the good men-at-arms and the well-born4 ,with them ,i will gladly go4 ,and there go the fair courteous ladies whether they have two or three friends besides their lords4 ,and the gold and silver go there1 and the ermines and sables2 and there go the harpers and jongleurs1 and the kings of the world4 ,with these will ,i go1 if only ,i may have ,nicolette1 my very sweet friend1 with me4 ,three times1 in these short extracts1 the word courteous has already appeared4 ,the story itself is promised as courteous2 ,nicolette is courteous2 and the ladies who are not to go to heaven are courteous4 ,aucassins is in the full tide of courtesy1 and evidently a professional1 or he never would have claimed a place for harpers and jongleurs with kings and chevaliers in the next world4 ,the poets of courteous love showed as little interest in religion as the poets of the eleventh century had shown for it in their poems of war4 ,aucassins resembled ,christian of ,troyes in this1 and both of them resembled ,thibaut1 while ,william of ,lorris went beyond them all4 ,the literature of the siecle was always unreligious1 from the ,chanson de ,roland to the ,tragedy of ,hamlet2 to be papelard was unworthy of a chevalier2 the true knight of courtesy made nothing of defying the torments of hell1 as he defied the lance of a rival1 the frowns of society1 the threats of parents or the terrors of magic2 the perfect1 gentle1 courteous lover thought of nothing but his love4 ,whether the object of his love were ,nicolette of ,beaucaire or ,blanche of ,castile1 ,mary of ,champagne or ,mary of ,chartres1 was a detail which did not affect the devotion of his worship4 ,so ,nicolette1 shut up in a vaulted chamber1 leaned out at the marble window and sang1 while ,aucassins1 when his father promised that he should have a kiss from ,nicolette1 went out to make fabulous slaughter of the enemy2 and when his father broke the promise1 shut himself up in his chamber1 and also sang2 and the action went on by scenes and interludes1 until1 one night1 ,nicolette let herself down from the window1 by the help of sheets and towels1 into the garden1 and1 with a natural dislike of wetting her skirts which has delighted every hearer or reader from that day to this1 prist se vesture a l'une main devant et a l'autre deriere si s'escorca por le rousee qu'ele vit grande sor l'erbe si s'en ala aval le gardin2 she raised her skirts with one hand in front and the other behind1 for the dew which she saw heavy on the grass1 and went off down the garden1 to the tower where ,aucassins was locked up1 and sang to him through a crack in the masonry1 and gave him a lock of her hair1 and they talked till the friendly night-watch came by and warned her by a sweetly-sung chant1 that she had better escape4 ,so she bade farewell to ,aucassins1 and went on to a breach in the city wall1 and she looked through it down into the fosse which was very deep and very steep4 ,so she sang to herself-- ,peres rois de maeste ,or ne sai quel part aler4 ,se je vois u gaut rame ,ja me mengeront li le ,li lions et li sengler ,dont il i a a plente4 ,father1 ,king of ,majesty6 ,now ,i know not where to flee4 ,if ,i seek the forest free1 ,then the lions will eat me1 ,wolves and wild boars terribly1 ,of which plenty there there be4 ,the lions were a touch of poetic licence1 even for ,beaucaire1 but the wolves and wild boars were real enough2 yet ,nicolette feared even them less than she feared the ,count1 so she slid down what her audience well knew to be a most dangerous and difficult descent1 and reached the bottom with many wounds in her hands and feet1 et san en sali bien en xii lius2 so that blood was drawn in a dozen places1 and then she climbed up the other side1 and went off bravely into the depths of the forest2 an uncanny thing to do by night1 as you can still see4 ,then followed a pastoral1 which might be taken from the works of another poet of the same period1 whose acquaintance no one can neglect to make--,adam de la ,halle1 a ,picard1 of ,arras4 ,adam lived1 it is true1 fifty years later than the date imagined for ,aucassins1 but his shepherds and shepherdesses are not so much like1 as identical with1 those of the ,southern poet1 and all have so singular an air of life that the conventional courteous knight fades out beside them4 ,the poet1 whether bourgeois1 professional1 noble1 or clerical1 never much loved the peasant1 and the peasant never much loved him1 or any one else4 ,the peasant was a class by himself1 and his trait1 as a class1 was suspicion of everybody and all things1 whether material1 social1 or divine4 ,naturally he detested his lord1 whether temporal or spiritual1 because the seigneur and the priest took his earnings1 but he was never servile1 though a serf2 he was far from civil2 he was commonly gross4 ,he was cruel1 but not more so than his betters2 and his morals were no worse4 ,the object of oppression on all sides1--the invariable victim1 whoever else might escape1--the ,french peasant1 as a class1 held his own--and more4 ,in fact1 he succeeded in plundering ,church1 ,crown1 nobility1 and bourgeoisie1 and was the only class in ,french history that rose steadily in power and well-being1 from the time of the crusades to the present day1 whatever his occasional suffering may have been2 and1 in the thirteenth century1 he was suffering4 ,when ,nicolette1 on the morning after her escape1 came upon a group of peasants in the forest1 tending the ,count's cattle1 she had reason to be afraid of them1 but instead they were afraid of her4 ,they thought at first that she was a fairy4 ,when they guessed the riddle1 they kept the secret1 though they risked punishment and lost the chance of reward by protecting her4 ,worse than this1 they agreed1 for a small present1 to give a message to ,aucassins if he should ride that way4 ,aucassins was not very bright1 but when he got out of prison after ,nicolette's escape1 he did ride out1 at his friends' suggestion1 and tried to learn what had become of her4 ,passing through the woods he came upon the same group of shepherds and shepherdesses3-- ,esmeres et ,martinet1 ,fruelins et ,johannes1 ,robecons et ,aubries1-- who might have been living in the ,forest of ,arden1 so like were they to the clowns of ,shakespeare4 ,they were singing of ,nicolette and her present1 and the cakes and knives and flute they would buy with it4 ,aucassins jumped to the bait they offered him2 and they instantly began to play him as though he were a trout3-- ,bel enfant1 dix vos i ait6 ,dix vos benie6 fait cil qui fu plus enparles des autres4 ,bel enfant1 fait il1 redites le cancon que vos disiez ore6 ,nous n'i dirons1 fait cil qui plus fu enparles des autres4 ,dehait ore qui por vos i cantera1 biax sire6 ,bel enfant6 fait ,aucassins1 enne me connissies vos8 ,oil6 nos savions bien que vos estes ,aucassins1 nos damoisiax1 mais nos ne somes mie a vos1 ains somes au conte4 ,bel enfant1 si feres1 je vos en pri6 ,os1 por le cuer be6 fait cil4 ,por quoi canteroie je por vos1 s'il ne me seoit6 ,quant il n'a si rice home en cest pais sans le cors le conte ,garin s'il trovait mes bues ne mes vaces ne mes brebis en ses pres n'en sen forment qu'il fust mie tant hardis por les es a crever qu'il les en ossast cacier4 ,et por quoi canteroie je por vos s'il ne me seoit8 ,se dix vos ait1 bel enfant1 si feres6 et tenes x sous que j'ai ci en une borse6 ,god bless you1 fair child6 said ,aucassins4 ,god be with you6 replied the one who talked best4 ,fair child6 said he1 repeat the song you were just singing4 ,we won't6 replied he who talked best among them4 ,bad luck to him who shall sing for you1 good sir6 ,fair child1 said ,aucassins1 do you know me8 ,yes6 we know very well that you are ,aucassins1 our young lord2 but we are none of yours2 we belong to the ,count4 ,fair child1 indeed you'll do it1 ,i pray you6 ,listen1 for love of ,god6 said he4 ,why should ,i sing for you if it does not suit me8 when there is no man so powerful in this country1 except ,count ,garin1 if he found my oxen or my cows or my sheep in his pasture or his close1 would not rather risk losing his eyes than dare to turn them out6 and why should ,i sing for you1 if it does not suit me6 ,so ,god help you1 good child1 indeed you will do it6 and take these ten sous that ,i have here in my purse4 ,sire les deniers prenderons nos1 mais je ne vos canterai mie1 car j'en ai jure4 ,mais je le vos conterai se vos voles4 ,de par diu6 faits ,aucassins4 ,encore aim je mix center que nient4 ,sire1 the money we will take1 but ,i'll not sing to you1 for ,i've sworn it4 ,but ,i will tell it you1 if you like4 ,for ,god's sake6 said ,aucassins2 better telling than nothing6 ,ten sous was no small gift6 twenty sous was the value of a strong ox4 ,the poet put a high money-value on the force of love1 but he set a higher value on it in courtesy4 ,these boors were openly insolent to their young lord1 trying to extort money from him1 and threatening him with telling his father2 but they were in their right1 and ,nicolette was in their power4 ,at heart they meant ,aucassins well1 but they were rude and grasping1 and the poet used them in order to show how love made the true lover courteous even to clowns4 ,aucassins' gentle courtesy is brought out by the boors' greed1 as the colours in the window were brought out and given their value by a bit of blue or green4 ,the poet1 having got his little touch of colour rightly placed1 let the peasants go4 ,cil qui fu plus enparles des autres1 having been given his way and his money1 told ,aucassins what he knew of ,nicolette and her message2 so ,aucassins put spurs to his horse and cantered into the forest1 singing3-- ,se diu plaist le pere fort ,je vos reverai encore ,suer1 douce a-mie6 ,so please ,god1 great and strong1 ,i will find you now ere long1 ,sister1 sweet friend6 ,but the peasant had singular attraction for the poet4 ,whether the character gave him a chance for some clever mimicry1 which was one of his strong points as a story-teller3 or whether he wanted to treat his subjects1 like the legendary windows1 in pairs2 or whether he felt that the forest-scene specially amused his audience1 he immediately introduced a peasant of another class1 much more strongly coloured1 or deeply shadowed4 ,every one in the audience was--and1 for that matter1 still would be--familiar with the great forests1 the home of half the fairy and nursery tales of ,europe1 still wild enough and extensive enough to hide in1 although they have now comparatively few lions1 and not many wolves or wild boars or serpents such as ,nicolette feared4 ,every one saw1 without an effort1 the young damoiseau riding out with his hound or hawk1 looking for game2 the lanes under the trees1 through the wood1 or the thick underbrush before lanes were made2 the herdsmen watching their herds1 and keeping a sharp look-out for wolves2 the peasant seeking lost cattle2 the black kiln-men burning charcoal2 and in the depths of the rocks or swamps or thickets--the outlaw4 ,even now1 forests like ,rambouillet1 or ,fontainebleau or ,compiegne are enormous and wild2 one can see ,aucassins breaking his way through thorns and branches in search of ,nicolette1 tearing his clothes and wounding himself en xl lius u en xxx1 until evening approached1 and he began to weep for disappointment3-- ,il esgarda devant lui enmi la voie si vit un vallet tei que je vos dirai4 ,grans estoit et mervellex et lais et hidex4 ,il avoit une grande hure plus noire qu'une carbouclee1 et avoit plus de planne paume entre ii ex1 et avoit unes grandes joes et un grandisme nez plat1 et une grans narines lees et unes grosses levres plus rouges d'unes carbounees1 et uns grans dens gaunes et lais et estoit caucies d'uns housiax et d'uns sollers de buef fretes de tille dusque deseure le genol et estoit afules d'une cape a ii envers si estoit apoiies sor une grande macue4 ,aucassins s'enbati sor lui s'eut grand paor quant il le sorvit444 ,baix frere1 dix ti ait6 ,dix vos benie6 fait cil4 ,se dix t'ait1 que fais tu ilec8 ,a vos que monte8 fait cil4 ,nient6 fait ,aucassins2 je nel vos demant se por bien non4 ,mais pour quoi ploures vos8 fait cil1 et faites si fait doel8 ,certes se j'estoie ausi rices hom que vos estes1 tos li mons ne me feroit mie plorer4 ,ba6 me conissies vos6 fait ,aucassins4 ,oie6 je sai bien que vos estes ,aucassins li fix le conte1 et se vos me dites por quoi vos plores je vos dirai que je fac ici4 ,as he looked before him along the way he saw a man such as ,i will tell you4 ,tall he was1 and menacing1 and ugly1 and hideous4 ,he had a great mane blacker than charcoal and had more than a full palm- width between his two eyes1 and had big cheeks1 and a huge flat nose and great broad nostrils1 and thick lips redder than raw beef1 and large ugly yellow teeth1 and was shod with hose and leggings of raw hide laced with bark cord to above the knee1 and was muffled in a cloak without lining1 and was leaning on a great club4 ,aucassins came upon him suddenly and had great fear when he saw him4 ,fair brother1 good day6 said he4 ,god bless you6 said the other4 ,as ,god help you1 what do you here8 ,what is that to you8 said the other4 ,nothing6 said ,aucassins2 ,i ask only from good-will4 ,but why are you crying6 said the other1 and mounring so loud8 ,sure1 if ,i were as great a man as you are1 nothing on earth would make me cry4 ,bah6 you know me8 said ,aucassins4 ,yes1 ,i know very well that you are ,aucassins1 the count's son2 and if you will tell me what you are crying for1 ,i will tell you what ,i am doing here4 ,aucassins seemed to think this an equal bargain4 ,all damoiseaux were not as courteous as ,aucassins1 nor all varlets as rude as his peasants2 we shall see how the young gentlemen of ,picardy treated the peasantry for no offence at all2 but ,aucassins carried a softer1 ,southern temper in a happier climate1 and1 with his invariable gentle courtesy1 took no offence at the familiarity with which the ploughman treated him4 ,yet he dared not tell the truth1 so he invented1 on the spur of the moment1 an excuse2--he has lost1 he said1 a beautiful white hound4 ,the peasant hooted-- ,os6 fait cil2 por le cuer que cil sires eut en sen ventre6 que vos plorastes por un cien puant6 ,mal dehait ait qui ja mais vos prisera quant il n'a si rice home en ceste tere se vos peres len mandoit x u xv u xx qu'il ne les envoyast trop volontiers et s'en esteroit trop lies4 ,mais je dois plorer et dol faire8 ,et tu de quoi frere8 ,sire je lo vos dirai4 ,j'estoie liues a un rice vilain si cacoie se carue4 iiii bues i avoit4 ,or a iii jors qu il m'avint une grande malaventure que je perdi le mellor de mes bues ,roget le mellor de me carue4 ,si le vois querant4 ,si ne mengai ne ne bue iii jors a passes4 ,si n'os aler a le vile c'on me metroit en prison que je ne l'ai de quoi saure4 ,de tot l'avoir du monde n'ai je plus vaillant que vos vees sor le cors de mi4 ,une lasse mere avoie1 si n'avoit plus vaillant que une keutisele1 si h a on sacie de desous le dos si gist a pur l'estrain1 si m'en poise asses plus que denu4 ,car avoirs va et viaent2 se j'ai or perdu je gaaignerai une autre fois si sorrai mon buef quant je porrai1 ne ja por cien n'en plorerai4 ,et vos plorastes por un cien de longaigne6 ,mal dehait ait qui mais vos prisera6 ,certes tu es de bon confort1 biax frere6 que benois sois tu6 ,et que valoit tes bues6 ,sire xx sous m'en demande on1 je n'en puis mie abatre une seule maille4 ,or1 tien fait ,aucassins1 xx que j'ai ci en me borse1 si sol ten buef6 ,listen6 said he1 ,by the heart ,god had in his body1 that you should cry for a stinking dog6 ,bad luck to him who ever prizes you6 ,when there is no man in this land so great1 if your father sent to him for ten or fifteen or twenty but would fetch them very gladly1 and be only too pleased4 ,but ,i ought to cry and mourn4 ,and--why you1 brother8 ,sir1 ,i will tell you4 ,i was hired out to a rich farmer to drive his plough4 ,there were four oxen4 ,now three days ago ,i had a great misfortune1 for ,i lost the best of my oxen1 ,roget1 the best of my team4 ,i am looking to find him4 ,i've not eaten or drunk these three days past4 ,i dare n't go to the town1 for they would put me in prison as ,i've nothing to pay with4 ,in all the world ,i've not the worth of anything but what you see on my body ,i've a poor old mother who owned nothing but a feather mattress1 and they've dragged it from under her back so she lies on the bare straw1 and she troubles me more than myself4 ,for riches come and go if ,i lose to day1 ,i gain to-morrow2 ,i will pay for my ox when ,i can1 and will not cry for that4 ,and you cry for a filthy dog6 ,bad luck to him who ever thinks well of you6 ,truly1 you counsel well1 good brother6 ,god bless you6 ,and what was your ox worth8 ,sir1 they ask me twenty sous for it4 ,i cannot beat them down a single centime4 ,here are twenty1 said ,aucassins1 that ,i have in my purse6 ,pay for your ox6 ,sire6 fait il1 grans mercies6 et dix vos laist trover ce que vox queres6 ,sir6 said he2 many thanks6 and ,go6 grant you find what you seek6 ,the little episode was thrown in without rhyme or reason to the rapid emotion of the love-story1 as though the jongleur were showing his own cleverness and humour1 at the expense of his hero1 as jongleurs had a way of doing2 but he took no such liberties with his heroine4 ,while ,aucassins tore through the thickets on horseback1 crying aloud1 ,nicolette had built herself a little hut in the depths of the forest3-- ,ele prist des flors de lis ,et de l'erbe du garris ,et de le foille autresi2 ,une belle loge en fist1 ,ainques tant gente ne vi4 ,jure diu qui ne menti ,se par la vient ,aucassins ,et il por l'amor de li ,ne si repose un petit ,ja ne sera ses amis ,n'ele s'a-mie4 ,so she twined the lilies' flower1 ,roofed with leafy branches o'er1 ,made of it a lovely bower1 ,with the freshest grass for floor ,such as never mortal saw4 ,by ,god's ,verity1 she swore1 ,should ,aucassins pass her door1 ,and not stop for love of her1 ,to repose a moment there1 ,he should be her love no more1 ,nor she his dear6 ,so night came on1 and ,nicolette went to sleep1 a little distance away from her hut4 ,aucassins at last came by1 and dismounted1 spraining his shoulder in doing it4 ,then he crept into the little hut1 and lying on his back1 looked up through the leaves to the moon1 and sang3-- ,estoilete1 je te voi1 ,que la lune trait a soi4 ,nicolete est aveuc toi1 ,m'amiete o le blond poil4 ,je quid que dix le veut avoir ,por la lumiere de soir ,que par li plus clere soit4 ,vien1 amie1 je te proie6 ,ou monter vauroie droit1 ,que que fust du recaoir4 ,que fuisse lassus o toi ,ja te baiseroi estroit4 ,se j'estoie fix a roi ,s'afferies vos bien a moi ,suer douce amie6 ,i can see you1 little star1 ,that the moon draws through the air4 ,nicolette is where you are1 ,my own love with the blonde hair4 ,i think ,god must want her near ,to shine down upon us here ,that the evening be more clear4 ,come down1 dearest1 to my prayer1 ,or ,i climb up where you are6 ,though ,i fell1 ,i would not care4 ,if ,i once were with you there ,i would kiss you closely1 dear6 ,if a monarch's son ,i were ,you should all my kingdom share1 ,sweet friend1 sister6 ,how ,nicolette heard him sing1 and came to him and rubbed his shoulder and dressed his wounds as though he were a child2 and how in the morning they rode away together1 like ,tennyson's ,sleeping ,beauty1-- ,o'er the hills and far away ,beyond their utmost purple rim1 ,beyond the night1 beyond the day1 singing as they rode1 the story goes on to tell or to sing in verse-- ,aucassins1 li biax1 li blons1 ,li gentix1 ,it amorous1 ,est issous del gaut parfont1 ,entre ses bras ses amors ,devant lui sor son arcon4 ,les ex li baise et le front1 ,et le bouce et le menton4 ,elle l'a mis a raison4 ,aucassins1 biax amis dox1 ,en quel tere en irons nous8 ,douce amie1 que sai jou8 ,moi ne caut u nous aillons1 ,en forest u en destor ,mais que je soie aveuc vous4 ,passent les vaus et les mons1 ,et les viles et les bors ,a la mer vinrent au jor1 ,si descendent u sablon ,les le rivage4 ,aucassins1 the brave1 the fair1 ,courteous knight and gentle lover1 ,from the forest dense came forth2 ,in his arms his love he bore ,on his saddle-bow before2 ,her eyes he kisses and her mouth1 ,and her forehead and her chin4 ,she brings him back to earth again3 ,aucassins1 my love1 my own1 ,to what country shall we turn8 ,dearest angel1 what say you8 ,i care nothing where we go1 ,in the forest or outside1 ,while you on my saddle ride4 ,so they pass by hill and dale1 ,and the city1 and the town1 ,till they reach the morning pale1 ,and on sea-sands set them down1 ,hard by the shore4 ,there we will leave them1 for their further adventures have not much to do with our matter4 ,like all the romans1 or nearly all1 ,aucassins is singularly pure and refined4 ,apparently the ladies of courteous love frowned on coarseness and allowed no licence4 ,their power must have been great1 for the best romans are as free from grossness as the ,chanson de ,roland itself1 or the church glass1 or the illuminations in the manuscripts2 and as long as the power of the ,church ruled good society1 this decency continued4 ,as far as women were concerned1 they seem always to have been more clean than the men1 except when men painted them in colours which men liked best4 ,perhaps society was actually cleaner in the thirteenth century than in the sixteenth1 as ,saint ,louis was more decent than ,francis ,i1 and as the bath was habitual in the twelfth century and exceptional at the ,renaissance4 ,the rule held good for the bourgeoisie as well as among the dames cortoises4 ,christian and ,thibaut1 ,aucassins and the ,roman de la ,rose1 may have expressed only the tastes of high- born ladies1 but other poems were avowedly bourgeois1 and among the bourgeois poets none was better than ,adam de la ,halle4 ,adam wrote also for the court1 or at least for ,robert of ,artois1 ,saint ,louis's nephew1 whom he followed to ,naples in #abhd1 but his poetry was as little aristocratic as poetry could well be1 and most of it was cynically--almost defiantly--middle-class1 as though the weavers of ,arras were his only audience1 and recognized him and the objects of his satire in every verse4 ,the bitter personalities do not concern us1 but1 at ,naples1 to amuse ,robert of ,artois and his court1 ,adam composed the first of ,french comic operas1 which had an immense success1 and1 as a pastoral poem1 has it still4 ,the ,idyll of ,arras was a singular contrast to the ,idyll of ,beaucaire1 but the social value was the same in both2 ,robin and ,marion were a pendant to ,aucassins and ,nicolette2 ,robin was almost a burlesque on ,aucassins1 while ,marion was a ,northern1 energetic1 intelligent1 pastoral ,nicolette4 ,li ,gieus de ,robin et de ,marion had little or no plot4 ,adam strung together1 on a thread of dialogue and by a group of suitable figures1 a number of the favourite songs of his time1 followed by the favourite games1 and ending with a favourite dance1 the tresca4 ,the songs1 the games1 and the dances do not concern us1 but the dialogue runs along prettily1 with an air of ,flemish realism1 like a picture of ,teniers1 as unlike that of courtoisie as ,teniers was to ,guido ,reni4 ,underneath it all a tone of satire made itself felt1 good-natured enough1 but directed wholly against the men4 ,the scene opens on ,marion tending her sheep1 and singing the pretty air3 ,robin m'aime1 ,robin ma'a1 after which enters a chevalier or esquire1 on horseback1 and sings3 ,je me repairoie du tournoiement4 ,then follows a dialogue between the chevalier and ,marion1 with no other object than to show off the charm of ,marion against the masculine defects of the knight4 ,being1 like most squires1 somewhat slow of ideas in conversation with young women1 the gentleman began by asking for sport for his falcon4 ,has she seen any duck down by the river8 ,mais veis tu par chi devant ,vers ceste riviere nul ane8 ,ane1 it seems1 was the usual word for wild duck1 the falcon's prey1 and ,marion knew it as well as he1 but she chose to misunderstand him3-- ,c'est une bete qui recane2 ,j'en vis ier iii sur che quemin1 ,tous quarchies aler au moulin4 ,est che chou que vous demandes8 ,it is a beast that brays2 ,i saw three yesterday on the road1 all with loads going to the mill4 ,is that what you ask8 ,that is not what the squire has asked1 and he is conscious that ,marion knows it1 but he tries again4 ,if she has not seen a duck1 perhaps she has seen a heron3-- ,hairons1 sire8 par me foi1 non6 ,je n'en vi nesun puis quareme ,que j'en vi mengier chies dame ,eme ,me taiien qui sorit ches brebis4 ,heron1 sir6 by my faith1 no6 ,i've not seen one since ,lent when ,i saw some eaten at my grandmother's--,dame ,emma who owns these sheep4 ,hairons1 it seems1 meant also herring1 and this wilful misunderstanding struck the chevalier as carrying jest too far3-- ,par foi6 or suis j'ou esbaubis6 ,n'ainc mais je ne fui si gabes6 ,on my word1 ,i am silenced6 never in my life was ,i so chaffed6 ,marion herself seems to think her joke a little too evident1 for she takes up the conversation in her turn1 only to conclude that she likes ,robin better than she does the knight2 he is gayer1 and when he plays his musette he starts the whole village dancing4 ,at this1 the squire makes a declaration of love with such energy as to spur his horse almost over her3-- ,aimi1 sirel ostez vo cheval6 ,a poi que il ne m'a blechie4 ,li ,robin ne regiete mie ,quand je voie apres se karue4 ,aimi6 is an exclamation of alarm1 real or affected3 ,dear me1 sir6 take your horse away6 he almost hurt me6 ,robin's horse never rears when ,i go behind his plough6 ,still the knight persists1 and though ,marion still tells him to go away1 she asks his name1 which he says is ,aubert1 and so gives her the catchword for another song3--,vos perdes vo paine1 sire ,aubert6--which ends the scene with a duo4 ,the second scene begins with a duo of ,marion and ,robin1 followed by her giving a softened account of the chevalier's behaviour1 and then they lunch on bread and cheese and apples1 and more songs follow1 till she sends him to get ,baldwin and ,walter and ,peronette and the pipers1 for a dance4 ,in his absence the chevalier returns and becomes very pressing in his attentions1 which gives her occasion to sing3- ,j'oi ,robin flagoler ,au flagol d'argent4 ,when ,robin enters1 the knight picks a quarrel with him for not handling properly the falcon which he has caught in the hedge2 and ,robin gets a severe beating4 ,the scene ends by the horseman carrying off ,marion by force2 but he soon gets tired of carrying her against her will1 and drops her1 and disappears once for all4 ,certes voirement sui je beste ,quant a ceste beste m'areste4 ,adieu1 bergiere6 ,bete the knight certainly was1 and was meant to be1 in order to give the necessary colour to ,marion's charms4 ,chevaliers were seldom intellectually brilliant in the mediaeval romans1 and even the ,chansons de ,geste liked better to talk of their prowess than of their wit2 but ,adam de la ,halle1 who felt no great love for chevaliers1 was not satisfied with ridiculing them in order to exalt ,marion2 his second act was devoted to exalting ,marion at the expense of her own boors4 ,the first act was given up to song2 the second1 to games and dances4 ,the games prove not to be wholly a success2 ,marion is bored by them1 and wants to dance4 ,the dialogue shows ,marion trying constantly to control her clowns and make them decent1 as ,blanche of ,castile had been all her life trying to control her princes1 and ,mary of ,chartres her kings4 ,robin is a rustic counterpart to ,thibaut4 ,he is tamed by his love of ,marion1 but he has just enough intelligence to think well of himself1 and to get himself into trouble without knowing how to get out of it4 ,marion loves him much as she would her child2 she makes only a little fun of him2 defends him from the others2 laughs at his jealousy2 scolds him on occasion2 flatters his dancing2 sends him on errands1 to bring the pipers or drive away the wolf2 and what is most to our purpose1 uses him to make the other peasants decent4 ,walter and ,baldwin and ,hugh are coarse1 and their idea of wit is to shock the women or make ,robin jealous4 ,love makes gentlemen even of boors1 whether noble or villain1 is the constant moral of mediaeval story1 and love turns ,robin into a champion of decency4 ,when1 at last1 ,walter1 playing the jongleur1 begins to repeat a particularly coarse fabliau1 or story in verse1 ,robin stops him short-- ,ho1 ,gautier1 je n'en voeil plus6 fi6 ,dites1 seres vous tous jours teus6 ,vous estes un ors menestreus6 ,ho1 ,walter6 ,i want no more of that3 ,shame6 ,say6 are you going to be always like that8 ,you're a dirty beggar6 ,a fight seems inevitable1 but ,marion turns it into a dance1 and the whole party1 led by the pipers1 with ,robin and ,marion at the head of the band1 leave the stage in the dance which is said to be still known in ,italy as the tresca4 ,marion is in her way as charming as ,nicolette1 but we are less interested in her charm than in her power4 ,always the woman appears as the practical guide2 the one who keeps her head1 even in love3-- ,elle l'a mis a raison3 ,aucassins1 biax amis dox1 ,en quele tere en irons nous8 ,douce amie1 que sai jou8 ,moi ne caut ou nous aillons4 ,the man never cared2 he was always getting himself into crusades1 or feuds1 or love1 or debt1 and depended on the woman to get him out4 ,the story was always of ,charles ,,vii and ,jeanne d',arc1 or ,agnes ,sorel4 ,the woman might be the good or the evil spirit1 but she was always the stronger force4 ,the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a period when men were at their strongest2 never before or since have they shown equal energy in such varied directions1 or such intelligence in the direction of their energy2 yet these marvels of history1--these ,plantagenets2 these scholastic philosophers2 these architects of ,rheims and ,amiens2 these ,innocents1 and ,robin ,hoods and ,marco ,polos2 these crusaders1 who planted their enormous fortresses all over the ,levant2 these monks who made the wastes and barrens yield harvests2--all1 without apparent exception1 bowed down before the woman4 ,explain it who will6 ,we are not particularly interested in the explanation2 it is the art we have chased through this ,french forest1 like ,aucassins hunting for ,nicolette2 and the art leads always to the woman4 ,poetry1 like the architecture and the decoration1 harks back to the same standard of taste4 ,the specimens of ,christian of ,troyes1 ,thibaut1 ,tristan1 ,aucassins1 and ,adam de la ,halle were mild admissions of feminine superiority compared with some that were more in vogue1 ,if ,thibaut painted his love-verses on the walls of his castle1 he put there only what a more famous poet1 who may have been his friend1 set on the walls of his ,chateau of ,courteous ,love1 which1 not being made with hands or with stone1 but merely with verse1 has not wholly perished4 ,the ,roman de la ,rose is the end of true mediaeval poetry and goes with the ,sainte- ,chapelle in architecture1 and three hundred years of more or less graceful imitation or variation on the same themes which followed4 ,our age calls it false taste1 and no doubt our age is right2--every age is right by its own standards as long as its standards amuse it2--but after all1 the ,roman de la ,rose charmed ,chaucer1--it may well charm you4 ,the charm may not be that of ,mont-,saint-,michel or of ,roland2 it has not the grand manner of the eleventh century1 or the jewelled brilliancy of the ,chartres lancets1 or the splendid self- assertion of the roses3 but even to this day it gives out a faint odour of ,champagne and ,touraine1 of ,provence and ,cyprus4 ,one hears ,thibaut and sees ,queen ,blanche4 ,of course1 this odour of true sanctity belongs only to the ,roman of ,william of ,lorris1 which dates from the death of ,queen ,blanche and of all good things1 about #abej2 a short allegory of courteous love in forty-six hundred and seventy lines4 ,to modern taste1 an allegory of forty-six hundred and seventy lines seems to be not so short as it might be2 but the fourteenth century found five thousand verses totally inadequate to the subject1 and1 about #acjj1 ,jean de ,meung added eighteen thousand lines1 the favourite reading of society for one or two hundred years1 but beyond our horizon4 ,the ,roman of ,william of ,lorris was complete in itself2 it had shape2 beginning1 middle1 and end2 even a certain realism1 action1--almost life6 ,the ,rose is any feminine ideal of beauty1 intelligence1 purity1 or grace1--always culminating in the ,virgin1--but the scene is the ,court of ,love1 and the action is avowedly in a dream1 without time or place4 ,the poet's tone is very pure2 a little subdued2 at times sad2 and the poem ends sadly2 but all the figures that were positively hideous were shut out of the court1 and painted on the outside walls3--,hatred2 ,felony2 ,covetousness2 ,envy2 ,poverty2 ,melancholy1 and ,old ,age4 ,death did not appear4 ,the passion for representing death in its horrors did not belong to the sunny atmosphere of the thirteenth century1 and indeed jarred on ,french taste always1 though the ,church came to insist on it2 but ,old ,age gave the poet a motive more artistic1 foreshadowing ,death1 and quite sad enough to supply the necessary contrast4 ,the poet who approached the walls of the chateau and saw1 outside1 all the unpleasant facts of life conspicuously posted up1 as though to shut them out of doors1 hastened to ask for entrance1 and1 when once admitted1 found a court of ideals4 ,their names matter little4 ,in the mind of ,william of ,lorris1 every one would people his ideal world with whatever ideal figures pleased him1 and the only personal value of ,william's figures is that they represent what he thought the thirteenth- century ideals of a perfect society4 ,here is ,courtesy1 with a translation long thought to be by ,chaucer3- ,apres se tenoit ,cortoisie ,qui moult estoit de tous prisie4 ,si n'ere orgueilleuse ne fole4 ,c'est cele qui a la karole1 ,la soe merci1 m'apela1 ,ains que nule1 quand je vins la4 ,et ne fut ne nice n'umbrage1 ,mais sages auques1 sans outrage1 ,de biaus respons et de biaus dis1 ,onc nus ne fu par li laidis1 ,ne ne porta nului rancune1 ,et fu clere comme la lune ,est avers les autres estoiles ,qui ne resemblent que chandoiles4 ,faitisse estoit et avenant2 ,je ne sai fame plus plaisant4 ,ele ert en toutes cors bien digne ,d'estre empereris ou roine4 ,and next that daunced ,courtesye1 ,that preised was of lowe and hye1 ,for neither proude ne foole was she2 ,she for to daunce called me1 ,i pray ,god yeve hir right good grace1 ,when ,i come first into the place4 ,she was not nyce ne outrageous1 ,but wys and ware and vertuous2 ,of faire speche and of faire answere2 ,was never wight mysseid of her1 ,ne she bar rancour to no wight4 ,clere browne she was1 and thereto bright ,of face1 of body avenaunt4 ,i wot no lady so pleasaunt4 ,she were worthy forto bene ,an empresse or crowned quene4 ,you can read for yourselves the characters1 and can follow the simple action which owes its slight interest only to the constant effort of the dreamer to attain his ideal1--the ,rose1--and owes its charm chiefly to the constant disappointment and final defeat4 ,an undertone of sadness runs through it1 felt already in the picture of ,time which foreshadows the end of ,love--the ,rose--and her court1 and with it the end of hope3-- ,li tens qui s'en va nuit et jor1 ,sans repos prendre et sans sejor1 ,et qui de nous se part et emble ,si celeement qu'il nous semble ,qu'il s'arreste ades en un point1 ,et il ne s'i arreste point1 ,ains ne fine de trespasser1 ,que nus ne puet neis penser ,quex tens ce est qui est presens2 ,s'el demandes as clers lisans1 ,aincois que l'en l'eust pense ,seroit il ja trois tens passe2 ,li tens qui ne puet sejourner1 ,ains vait tous jors sans retorner1 ,com l'iaue qui s'avale toute1 ,n'il n'en retourne arriere goute2 ,li tens vers qui noient ne dure1 ,ne fer ne chose tant soit dure1 ,car il gaste tout et menjue2 ,li tens qui tote chose mue1 ,qui tout fait croistre et tout norist1 ,et qui tout use et tout porrist4 ,the tyme that passeth nyght and daye4 ,and restelesse travayleth aye1 ,and steleth from us so prively1 ,that to us semeth so sykerly ,that it in one poynt dwelleth never1 ,but gothe so fast1 and passeth aye ,that there nys man that thynke may ,what tyme that now present is2 ,asketh at these clerkes this1 ,for or men thynke it readily ,thre tymes ben ypassed by4 ,the tyme that may not sojourne ,but goth1 and may never returne1 ,as water that down renneth ay1 ,but never drope retourne may4 ,there may no thing as time endure1 ,metall nor earthly creature3 ,for alle thing it frette and shall4 ,the tyme eke that chaungith all1 ,and all doth waxe and fostered be1 ,and alle thing distroieth he4 ,the note of sadness has begun1 which the poets were to find so much more to their taste than the note of gladness4 ,from the ,roman de la ,rose to the ,ballade des ,dames du ,temps jadis was a short step for the ,middle-,age giant ,time1--a poor two hundred years4 ,then ,villon woke up to ask what had become of the ,roses3--,ou est la tres sage ,helois ,pour qui fut chastie puis moyne1 ,pierre ,esbaillart a ,saint ,denis8 ,pour son amour ot cest essoyne4 ,et ,jehanne la bonne ,lorraine ,qu' ,englois brulerent a ,rouan2 ,ou sont elles1 ,vierge ,souvraine8 ,mais ou sont les neiges dantan8 ,where is the virtuous ,heloise1 ,for whom suffered1 then turned monk1 ,pierre ,abelard at ,saint-,denis8 ,for his love he bore that pain4 ,and ,jeanne d',arc1 the good ,lorraine1 ,whom the ,english burned at ,rouen6 ,where are they1 ,virgin ,queen8 ,but where are the snows of spring8 ,between the death of ,william of ,lorris and the advent of ,john of ,meung1 a short half-century 7#abej-acjj71 the ,woman and the ,rose became bankrupt4 ,satire took the place of worship4 ,man1 with his usual monkey-like malice1 took pleasure in pulling down what he had built up4 ,the ,frenchman had made what he called fausse route4 ,william of ,lorris was first to see it1 and say it1 with more sadness and less bitterness than ,villon showed2 he won immortality by telling how he1 and the thirteenth century in him1 had lost himself in pursuing his ,rose1 and how he had lost the ,rose1 too1 waking up at last to the dull memory of pain and sorrow and death1 that tout porrist4 ,the world had still a long march to make from the ,rose of ,queen ,blanche to the guillotine of ,madame du ,barry2 but the ,roman de la ,rose made epoch4 ,for the first time since ,constantine proclaimed the reign of ,christ1 a thousand years1 or so1 before ,philip the ,fair dethroned ,him1 the deepest expression of social feeling ended with the word3 ,despair4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,les ,,miracles ,,de ,,notre ,,dame ,vergine ,madre1 figlia del tuo figlio1 ,umile ed alta piu che creatura1 ,termine fisso d'eterno consiglio1 ,tu sei colei che l'umana natura ,nobilitasti si1 che il suo fattore ,non disdegno di farsi sua fattura4444 ,la tua benignita non pur soccorre ,a chi dimanda1 ma molte fiate ,liberamente al dimandar precorre4 ,in te misericordia1 in te pietate1 ,in te magnificenza1 in te s'aduna ,quantunque in creatura e di bontate4 ,vergine bella1 che di sol vestita1 ,coronata di stelle1 al sommo sole ,piacesti si che'n te sua luce ascose2 ,amor mi spinge a dir di te parole2 ,ma non so 'ncominciar senza tu aita1 ,e di colui ch'amando in te si pose4 ,invoco lei che ben sempre rispose ,chi la chiamo con fede4 ,vergine1 s'a mercede ,miseria estrema dell' umane cose ,giammai ti volse1 al mio prego t'inchina6 ,soccorri alia mia guerra1 ,bench'i sia terra1 e tu del del regina6 ,dante composed one of these prayers2 ,petrarch the other4 ,chaucer translated ,dante's prayer in the ,second ,nonnes ,tale4 ,he who will may undertake to translate either2--not ,i6 ,the ,virgin1 in whom is united whatever goodness is in created being1 might possibly1 in her infinite grace1 forgive the sacrilege2 but her power has limits1 if not her grace2 and the whole ,trinity1 with the ,virgin to aid1 had not the power to pardon him who should translate ,dante and ,petrarch4 ,the prayers come in here1 not merely for their beauty1--although the ,virgin knows how beautiful they are1 whether man knows it or not2 but chiefly to show the good faith1 the depth of feeling1 the intensity of conviction1 with which society adored its ideal of human perfection4 ,the ,virgin filled so enormous a space in the life and thought of the time that one stands now helpless before the mass of testimony to her direct action and constant presence in every moment and form of the illusion which men thought they thought their existence4 ,the twelfth and thirteenth centuries believed in the supernatural1 and might almost be said to have contracted a miracle-habit1 as morbid as any other form of artificial stimulant2 they stood1 like children1 in an attitude of gaping wonder before the miracle of miracles which they felt in their own consciousness2 but one can see in this emotion1 which is1 after all1 not exclusively infantile1 no special reason why they should have so passionately flung themselves at the feet of the ,woman rather than of the ,man4 ,dante wrote in #acjj1 after the height of this emotion had passed2 and ,petrarch wrote half a century later still2 but so slowly did the vision fade1 and so often did it revive1 that1 to this day1 it remains the strongest symbol with which the ,church can conjure4 ,men were1 after all1 not wholly inconsequent2 their attachment to ,mary rested on an instinct of self-preservation4 ,they knew their own peril4 ,if there was to be a future life1 ,mary was their only hope4 ,she alone represented ,love4 ,the ,trinity were1 or was1 ,one1 and could1 by the nature of its essence1 administer justice alone4 ,only childlike illusion could expect a personal favour from ,christ4 ,turn the dogma as one would1 to this it must logically come4 ,call the three ,godheads by what names one liked1 still they must remain ,one2 must administer one justice2 must admit only one law4 ,in that law1 no human weakness or error could exist2 by its essence it was infinite1 eternal1 immutable4 ,there was no crack and no cranny in the system1 through which human frailty could hope for escape4 ,one was forced from corner to corner by a remorseless logic until one fell helpless at ,mary's feet4 ,without ,mary1 man had no hope except in atheism1 and for atheism the world was not ready4 ,hemmed back on that side1 men rushed like sheep to escape the butcher1 and were driven to ,mary2 only too happy in finding protection and hope in a being who could understand the language they talked1 and the excuses they had to offer4 ,how passionately they worshipped ,mary1 the ,cathedral of ,chartres shows2 and how this worship elevated the whole sex1 all the literature and history of the time proclaim4 ,if you need more proof1 you can read more ,petrarch2 but still one cannot realize how actual ,mary was1 to the men and women of the ,middle ,ages1 and how she was present1 as a matter of course1 whether by way of miracle or as a habit of life1 throughout their daily existence4 ,the surest measure of her reality is the enormous money value they put on her assistance1 and the art that was lavished on her gratification1 but an almost equally certain sign is the casual allusion1 the chance reference to her1 which assumes her presence4 ,the earliest prose writer in the ,french language1 who gave a picture of actual ,french life1 was ,joinville2 and although he wrote after the death of ,saint ,louis and of ,william of ,lorris and ,adam de la ,halle1 in the full decadence of ,philip the ,fair1 toward #acjj1 he had been a vassal of ,thibaut and an intimate friend of ,louis1 and his memories went back to the ,france of ,blanche's regency4 ,born in #abbd1 he must have seen in his youth the struggles of ,thibaut against the enemies of ,blanche1 and in fact his memoirs contain ,blanche's emphatic letter forbidding ,thibaut to marry ,yolande of ,brittany4 ,he knew ,pierre de ,dreux well1 and when they were captured by the ,saracens at ,damietta1 and thrown into the hold of a galley1 ,i had my feet right on the face of the ,count ,pierre de ,bretagne1 whose feet1 in turn1 were by my face4 ,joinville is almost twelfth-century in feeling4 ,he was neither feminine nor sceptical1 but simple4 ,he showed no concern for poetry1 but he put up a glass window to the ,virgin4 ,his religion belonged to the ,chanson de ,roland4 ,when ,saint ,louis1 who had a pleasant sense of humour put to him his favourite religious conundrums1 ,joinville affected not the least hypocrisy4 ,would you rather be a leper or commit a mortal sin8 asked the ,king4 ,i would rather commit thirty mortal sins than be a leper1 answered ,joinville4 ,do you wash the feet of the poor on ,holy ,thursday8 asked the ,king4 ,god forbid6 replied ,joinville2 never will ,i wash the feet of such creatures6 ,saint ,louis mildly corrected his1 or rather ,thibaut's1 seneschal1 for these impieties1 but he was no doubt used to them1 for the soldier was never a churchman4 ,if one asks ,joinville what he thinks of the ,virgin1 he answers with the same frankness3-- ,ung jour moi estant devant le roi lui demanday congie d'aller en pelerinage a nostre ,dame de ,tourtouze ,tortosa in ,syria qui estoit ung veage tres fort requis4 ,et y avoit grant quantite de pelerins par chacun jour pour ce que c'est le premier autel qui onques fust fait en l'onneur de la ,mere de ,dieu ainsi qu'on disoit lors4 ,et y faisoit nostre ,dame de grans miracles a merveilles4 ,entre lesquelz elle en fist ung d'un pouvre homme qui estoit hors de son sens et demoniacle4 ,car il avoit le maling esperit dedans le corps4 ,et advint par ung jour qu'il fut amene a icelui autel de nostre ,dame de ,tourtouze4 ,et ainsi que ses amys qui l'avoient la amene prioient a nostre ,dame qu'elle lui voulsist recouvrer sante et guerison le diable que la pouvre creature avoit ou corps respondit3 ,nostre ,dame n'est pas ici2 elle est en ,egipte pour aider au ,roi de ,france et aux ,chrestiens qui aujourdhui arrivent en la ,terre sainte centre toute paiennie qui sont a cheval4 ,et fut mis en escript le jour que le deable profera ces motz et fut apporte au legat qui estoit avecques le roi de ,france2 lequel me dist depuis que a celui jour nous estion arrivez en la terre d',egipte4 ,et suis bien certain que la bonne ,dame ,marie nous y eut bien besoin4 ,this happened in ,syria1 after the total failure of the crusade in ,egypt4 ,the ordinary man1 even if he were a priest or a soldier1 needed a miraculous faith to persuade him that ,our ,lady or any other divine power1 had helped the crusades of ,saint ,louis4 ,few of the usual fictions on which society rested had ever required such defiance of facts2 but1 at least for a time1 society held firm4 ,the thirteenth century could not afford to admit a doubt4 ,society had staked its existence1 in this world and the next1 on the reality and power of the ,virgin2 it had invested in her care nearly its whole capital1 spiritual1 artistic1 intellectual1 and economical1 even to the bulk of its real and personal estate2 and her overthrow would have been the most appalling disaster the ,western world had ever known4 ,without her1 the ,trinity itself could not stand2 the ,church must fall2 the future world must dissolve4 ,not even the collapse of the ,roman ,empire compared with a calamity so serious2 for that had created1 not destroyed1 a faith4 ,if sceptics there were1 they kept silence4 ,men disputed and doubted about the ,trinity1 but about the ,virgin the satirists ,rutebeuf and ,adam de la ,halle wrote in the same spirit as ,saint ,bernard and ,abelard1 ,adam de ,saint-,victor and the pious monk ,gaultier de ,coincy4 ,in the midst of violent disputes on other points of doctrine1 the disputants united in devotion to ,mary2 and it was the single redeeming quality about them4 ,the monarchs believed almost more implicitly than their subjects1 and maintained the belief to the last4 ,doubtless the death of ,queen ,blanche marked the flood-tide at its height2 but an authority so established as that of the ,virgin1 founded on instincts so deep1 logic so rigorous1 and1 above all1 on wealth so vast1 declined slowly4 ,saint ,louis died in #abgj4 ,two hundred long and dismal years followed1 in the midst of wars1 decline of faith1 dissolution of the old ties and interests1 until1 toward #adgj1 ,louis ,,xi succeeded in restoring some semblance of solidity to the ,state2 and ,louis ,,xi divided his time and his money impartially between the ,virgin of ,chartres and the ,virgin of ,paris4 ,in that respect1 one can see no difference between him and ,saint ,louis1 nor much between ,philippe de ,commines and ,joinville4 ,after ,louis ,,xi1 another fantastic century passed1 filled with the foulest horrors of history--religious wars2 assassinations2 ,saint ,bartholomews2 sieges of ,chartres2 ,huguenot leagues and sweeping destruction of religious monuments2 ,catholic leagues and fanatical reprisals on friends and foes1--the actual dissolution of society in a mass of horrors compared with which even the ,albigensian crusade was a local accident1 all ending in the reign of the last ,valois1 ,henry ,,iii1 the weirdest1 most fascinating1 most repulsive1 most pathetic and most pitiable of the whole picturesque series of ,french kings4 ,if you look into the ,journal of ,pierre de l',estoile1 under date of ,january #bf1aehb1 you can read the entry3-- ,the ,king and the ,queen ,louise de ,lorraine1 separately1 and each accompanied by a good troop of companions went on foot from ,paris to ,chartres on a pilgrimage voyage to ,notre-,dame-de-dessous-,terre ,our ,lady of the ,crypt1 where a neuvaine was celebrated at the last mass at which the ,king and ,queen assisted1 and offered a silver-gilt statue of ,notre ,dame which weighed a hundred marks eight hundred ounces1 with the object of having lineage which might succeed to the throne4 ,in the dead of winter1 in robes of penitents1 over the roughest roads1 on foot1 the ,king and ,queen1 then seven years married1 walked fifty miles to ,chartres to supplicate the ,virgin for children1 and back again2 and this they did year after year until ,jacques ,clement put an end to it with his dagger1 in #aehi1 although the ,virgin never chose to perform that miracle2 but1 instead1 allowed the ,house of ,valois to die out and sat on her throne in patience while the ,house of ,bourbon was anointed in their place4 ,the only ,french ,king ever crowned in the presence of ,our ,lady of ,chartres was ,henry ,,iv--a heretic4 ,the year #aehi1 which was so decisive for ,henry ,,iv in ,france1 marked in ,england the rise of ,shakespeare as a sort of stage-monarch4 ,while in ,france the ,virgin still held such power that kings and queens asked her for favours1 almost as instinctively as they had done five hundred years before1 in ,england ,shakespeare set all human nature and all human history on the stage1 with hardly an allusion to the ,virgin's name1 unless as an oath4 ,the exceptions are worth noting as a matter of curious ,shakespearean criticism1 for they are but two1 and both are lines in the ,first ,part of ,henry ,,vi1 spoken by the ,maid of ,orleans3-- ,christ's mother helps me1 else ,i were too weak6 ,whether the ,first ,part of ,henry ,,vi was written by ,shakespeare at all has been a doubt much discussed1 and too deep for tourists2 but that this line was written by a ,roman ,catholic is the more likely because no such religious thought recurs in all the rest of ,shakespeare's works1 dramatic or lyric1 unless it is implied in ,gaunt's allusion to the world's ransom1 blessed ,mary's ,son4 ,thus1 while three hundred years caused in ,england the disappearance of the great divinity on whom the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had lavished all their hopes1 and during these three centuries every earthly throne had been repeatedly shaken or shattered1 the ,church had been broken in halves1 faith had been lost1 and philosophies overthrown1 the ,virgin still remained and remains the most intensely and the most widely and the most personally felt1 of all characters1 divine or human or imaginary1 that ever existed among men4 ,nothing has even remotely taken her place4 ,the only possible exception is the ,buddha1 ,sakya ,muni2 but to the ,western mind1 a figure like the ,buddha stood much farther away than the ,virgin4 ,that of the ,christ even to ,saint ,bernard stood not so near as that of his mother4 ,abelard expressed the fact in its logical necessity even more strongly than ,saint ,bernard did3-- ,te requirunt vota fidelium1 ,ad te corda suspirant omnium1 ,tu spes nostra post ,deum unica1 ,advocata nobis es posita4 ,ad judicis matrem confugiunt1 ,qui judicis iram effugiunt1 ,quae praecari pro eis cogitur1 ,quae pro reis mater efficitur4 ,after the ,trinity1 you are our ,,only hope2 spes nostra unica2 you are placed there as our advocate2 all of us who fear the wrath of the ,judge1 fly to the ,judge's mother1 who is logically compelled to sue for us1 and stands in the place of a mother to the guilty4 ,abelard's logic was always ruthless1 and the cogitur is a stronger word than one would like to use now1 with a priest in hearing4 ,we need not insist on it2 but what one must insist on1 is the good faith of the whole people1--kings1 queens1 princes of all sorts1 philosophers1 poets1 soldiers1 artists1 as well as of the commoners like ourselves1 and the poor1--for the good faith of the priests is not important to the understanding1 since any class which is sufficiently interested in believing will always believe4 ,in order to feel ,gothic architecture in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 one must feel first and last1 around and above and beneath it1 the good faith of the public1 excepting only ,jews and atheists1 permeating every portion of it with the conviction of an immediate alternative between heaven and hell1 with ,mary as the ,,only court in equity capable of overruling strict law4 ,the ,virgin was a real person1 whose tastes1 wishes1 instincts1 passions1 were intimately known4 ,enough of the ,virgin's literature survives to show her character1 and the course of her daily life4 ,we know more about her habits and thoughts than about those of earthly queens4 ,the ,miracles de la ,vierge make a large part1 and not the poorest part1 of the enormous literature of these two centuries1 although the works of ,albertus ,magnus fill twenty-one folio volumes and those of ,thomas ,aquinas fill more1 while the ,chansons de ,geste and the ,romans1 published or unpublished1 are a special branch of literature with libraries to themselves4 ,the collection of the ,virgin's miracles put in verse by ,gaultier de ,coincy1 monk1 prior1 and poet1 between #abad and #abcc--the precise moment of the ,chartres sculpture and glass--contains thirty thousand lines4 ,another great collection1 narrating especially the miracles of the ,virgin of ,chartres1 was made by a priest of ,chartres ,cathedral about #abdj4 ,separate series1 or single tales1 have appeared and are appearing constantly1 but no general collection has ever been made1 although the whole poetic literature of the ,virgin could be printed in the space of two or three volumes of scholastic philosophy1 and if the ,church had cared half as truly for the ,virgin as it has for ,thomas ,aquinas1 every miracle might have been collected and published a score of times4 ,the miracles themselves1 indeed1 are not very numerous4 ,in ,gaultier de ,coincy's collection they number only about fifty4 ,the ,chartres collection relates chiefly to the horrible outbreak of what was called leprosy--the mal ardent1--which ravaged the north of ,france during the crusades1 and added intensity to the feelings which brought all society to the ,virgin's feet4 ,recent scholars are cataloguing and classifying the miracles1 as far as they survive1 and have reduced the number within very moderate limits4 ,as poetry1 ,gaultier de ,coincy's are the best4 ,of ,gaultier de ,coincy and his poetry1 ,gaston ,paris has something to say which is worth quoting3-- ,it is the most curious1 and often the most singular monument of the infantile piety of the ,middle ,ages4 ,devotion to ,mary is presented in it as a kind of infallible guarantee not only against every sort of evil1 but also against the most legitimate consequences of sin and even of crime4 ,in these stories which have revolted the most rational piety1 as well as the philosophy of modern times1 one must still admit a gentle and penetrating charm2 a naivete2 a tenderness and a simplicity of heart1 which touch1 while they raise a smile4 ,there1 for instance1 one sees a sick monk cured by the milk that ,our ,lady herself comes to invite him to draw from her douce mamelle2 a robber who is in the habit of recommending himself to the ,virgin whenever he is going to embler1 is held up by her white hands for three days on the gibbet where he is hung1 until the miracle becomes evident1 and procures his pardon2 an ignorant monk who knows only his ,ave ,maria1 and is despised on that account1 when dead reveals his sanctity by five roses which come out of his mouth in honour of the five letters of the name ,maria2 a nun1 who has quitted her convent to lead a life of sin1 returns after long years1 and finds that the ,holy ,virgin1 to whom1 in spite of all1 she has never ceased to offer every day her prayer1 has1 during all this time1 filled her place as sacristine1 so that no one has perceived her absence4 ,gaston ,paris inclined to apologize to his bons bourgeois de ,paris for reintroducing to them a character so doubtful as the ,virgin ,mary1 but1 for our studies1 the professor's elementary morality is eloquent4 ,clearly1 ,m4 ,paris1 the highest academic authority in the world1 thought that the ,virgin could hardly1 in his time1 say the year #aijj1 be received into good society in the ,latin ,quarter4 ,our own ,english ancestors1 known as ,puritans1 held the same opinion1 and excluded her from their society some four hundred years earlier1 for the same reasons which affected ,m4 ,gaston ,paris4 ,these reasons were just1 and showed the respectability of the citizens who held them4 ,in no well-regulated community1 under a proper system of police1 could the ,virgin feel at home1 and the same thing may be said of most other saints as well as sinners4 ,her conduct was at times undignified1 as ,m4 ,paris complained1 ,she condescended to do domestic service1 in order to help her friends1 and she would use her needle1 if she were in the mood1 for the same object4 ,the ,golden ,legend relates that3-- ,a certain priest1 who celebrated every day a mass in honour of the ,holy ,virgin1 was brought up before ,saint ,thomas of ,canterbury who suspended him from his charge1 judging him to be short-witted and irresponsible4 ,now ,saint ,thomas had occasion to mend his hair-cloth shirt1 and while waiting for an opportunity to do so1 had hidden it under his bed2 so the ,virgin appeared to the priest and said to him3 ,go find the archbishop and tell him that she1 for love of whom you celebrated masses1 has herself mended his shirt for him which is under his bed2 and tell him that she sends you to him that he may take off the interdict he has imposed on you4 ,and ,saint ,thomas found that his shirt had in fact been mended4 ,he relieved the priest1 begging him to keep the secret of his wearing a hair-shirt4 ,mary did some exceedingly unconventional things1 and among them the darning ,thomas ,a',becket's hair-shirt1 and the supporting a robber on the gibbet1 were not the most singular1 yet they seem not to have shocked ,queen ,blanche or ,saint ,francis or ,saint ,thomas ,aquinas so much as they shocked ,m4 ,gaston ,paris and ,m4 ,prudhomme4 ,you have still to visit the cathedral at ,le ,mans for the sake of its twelfth- century glass1 and there1 in the lower panel of the beautiful1 and very early1 window of ,saint ,protais1 you will see the full-length figure of a man1 lying in bed1 under a handsome blanket1 watching1 with staring eyes1 the ,virgin1 in a green tunic1 wearing her royal crown1 who is striking him on the head with a heavy hammer and with both hands4 ,the miracle belongs to local history1 and is amusing only to show how little the ,virgin cared for criticism of her manners or acts4 ,she was above criticism4 ,she made manners4 ,her acts were laws4 ,no one thought of criticizing1 in the style of a normal school1 the will of such a queen2 but one might treat her with a degree of familiarity1 under great provocation1 which would startle easier critics than the ,french1 ,here is an instance3-- ,a widow had an only child whom she tenderly loved4 ,on hearing that this son had been taken by the enemy1 chained1 and put in prison1 she burst into tears1 and addressing herself to the ,virgin1 to whom she was especially devoted1 she asked her with obstinacy for the release of her son2 but when she saw at last that her prayers remained unanswered1 she went to the church where there was a sculptured image of ,mary1 and there1 before the image1 she said3 ,holy ,virgin1 ,i have begged you to deliver my son1 and you have not been willing to help an unhappy mother6 ,i've implored your patronage for my son1 and you have refused it6 ,very good6 just as my son has been taken away from me1 so ,i am going to take away yours1 and keep him as a hostage6 ,saying this1 she approached1 took the statue child on the ,virgin's breast1 carried it home1 wrapped it in spotless linen1 and locked it up in a box1 happy to have such a hostage for her son's return4 ,now1 the following night1 the ,virgin appeared to the young man1 opened his prison doors1 and said3 ,tell your mother1 my child1 to return me my ,son now that ,i have returned hers6 ,the young man came home to his mother and told her of his miraculous deliverance2 and she1 overjoyed1 hastened to go with the little ,jesus to the ,virgin1 saying to her3 ,i thank you1 heavenly lady1 for restoring me my child1 and in return ,i restore yours6 ,for the exactness of this story in all its details1 ,bishop ,james of ,voragio could not have vouched1 nor did it greatly matter4 ,what he could vouch for was the relation of intimacy and confidence between his people and the ,queen of ,heaven4 ,the fact1 conspicuous above all other historical certainties about religion1 that the ,virgin was by essence illogical1 unreasonable and feminine1 is the only fact of any ultimate value worth studying1 and starts a number of questions that history has shown itself clearly afraid to touch4 ,protestant and ,catholic differ little in that respect4 ,no one has ventured to explain why the ,virgin wielded exclusive power over poor and rich1 sinners and saints1 alike4 ,why were all the ,protestant churches cold failures without her help8 ,why could not the ,holy ,ghost--the spirit of ,love and ,grace--equally answer their prayers8 ,why was the ,son powerless8 ,why was ,chartres ,cathedral in the thirteenth century-- like ,lourdes to-day--the expression of what is in substance a separate religion8 ,why did the gentle and gracious ,virgin ,mother so exasperate the ,pilgrim ,father8 ,why was the ,woman struck out of the ,church and ignored in the ,state8 ,these questions are not antiquarian or trifling in historical value2 they tug at the very heart-strings of all that makes whatever order is in the cosmos4 ,if a ,unity exists1 in which and toward which all energies centre1 it must explain and include ,duality1 ,diversity1 ,infinity--,sex6 ,although certain to be contradicted by every pious churchman1 a heretic must insist on thinking that the ,mater ,dolorosa was the logical ,virgin of the ,church1 and that the ,trinity would never have raised her from the foot of the ,cross1 had not the ,virgin of ,majesty been imposed1 by necessity and public unanimity1 on a creed which was meant to be complete without her4 ,the true feeling of the ,church was best expressed by the ,virgin herself in one of her attested miracles3 ,a clerk1 trusting more in the ,mother than in the ,son1 never stopped repeating the angelic salutation for his only prayer4 ,once as he said again the ',ave ,maria1' the ,lord appeared to him1 and said to him3 ',my ,mother thanks you much for all the ,salutations that you make her2 but still you should not forget to salute me also3 tamen et me salutare memento4' ,the ,trinity feared absorption in her1 but was compelled to accept1 and even to invite her aid1 because the ,trinity was a court of strict law1 and1 as in the old customary law1 no process of equity could be introduced except by direct appeal to a higher power4 ,she was imposed unanimously by all classes1 because what man wanted most in the ,middle ,ages was not merely law or equity1 but also and particularly favour4 ,strict justice1 either on earth or in heaven1 was the last thing that society cared to face4 ,all men were sinners1 and had1 at least1 the merit of feeling that1 if they got their deserts1 not one would escape worse than whipping4 ,the instinct of individuality went down through all classes1 from the count at the top1 to the jugleors and menestreus at the bottom4 ,the individual rebelled against restraint2 society wanted to do what it pleased2 all disliked the laws which ,church and ,state were trying to fasten on them4 ,they longed for a power above law1--or above the contorted mass of ignorance and absurdity bearing the name of law2 but the power which they longed for was not human1 for humanity they knew to be corrupt and incompetent from the day of ,adam's creation to the day of the ,last ,judgment4 ,they were all criminals2 if not1 they would have had no use for the ,church and very little for the ,state2 but they had at least the merit of their faults2 they knew what they were1 and1 like children1 they yearned for protection1 pardon1 and love4 ,this was what the ,trinity1 though omnipotent1 could not give4 ,whatever the heretic or mystic might try to persuade himself1 ,god could not be ,love4 ,god was ,justice1 ,order1 ,unity1 ,perfection2 ,he could not be human and imperfect1 nor could the ,son or the ,holy ,ghost be other than the ,father4 ,the ,mother alone was human1 imperfect1 and could love2 she alone was ,favour1 ,duality1 ,diversity4 ,under any conceivable form of religion1 this duality must find embodiment somewhere1 and the ,middle ,ages logically insisted that1 as it could not be in the ,trinity1 either separately or together1 it must be in the ,mother4 ,if the ,trinity was in its essence ,unity1 the ,mother alone could represent whatever was not ,unity2 whatever was irregular1 exceptional1 outlawed2 and this was the whole human race4 ,the saints alone were safe1 after they were sainted4 ,every one else was criminal1 and men differed so little in degree of sin that1 in ,mary's eyes1 all were subjects for her pity and help4 ,this general rule of favour1 apart from law1 or the reverse of law1 was the mark of ,mary's activity in human affairs4 ,take1 for an example1 an entire class of her miracles1 applying to the discipline of the ,church6 ,a bishop ejected an ignorant and corrupt priest from his living1 as all bishops constantly had to do4 ,the priest had taken the precaution to make himself ,mary's ,,man2 he had devoted himself to her service and her worship4 ,mary instantly interfered1-- just as ,queen ,eleanor or ,queen ,blanche would have done1--most unreasonably1 and never was a poor bishop more roughly scolded by an orthodox queen6 ,moult airieement1 very airily or angrily1 she said to him 7,bartsch1 #ahhg1 p4 #cfc73-- ,ce saches tu certainement ,se tu li matinet bien main ,ne rapeles mon chapelain ,a son servise et a s'enor1 ,l'ame de toi a desenor ,ains trente jors departira ,et es dolors d'infer ira4 ,now know you this for sure and true1 ,unless to-morrow this you do1 --,and do it very early too1-- ,restore my chaplain to his due1 ,a much worse fate remains for you6 ,within a month your soul shall go ,to suffer in the flames below4 ,the story-teller--himself a priest and prior--caught the lofty trick of manner which belonged to the great ladies of the court1 and was inherited by them1 even in ,england1 down to the time of ,queen ,elizabeth1 who treated her bishops also like domestic servants2-- matinet bien main6 ,to the public1 as to us1 the justice of the rebuke was nothing to the point2 but that a friend should exist on earth or in heaven1 who dared to browbeat a bishop1 caused the keenest personal delight4 ,the legends are clearer on this point than on any other4 ,the people loved ,mary because she trampled on conventions2 not merely because she could do it1 but because she liked to do what shocked every well-regulated authority4 ,her pity had no limit4 ,one of the ,chartres miracles expresses the same motive in language almost plainer still4 ,a good-for-nothing clerk1 vicious1 proud1 vain1 rude1 and altogether worthless1 but devoted to the ,virgin1 died1 and with general approval his body was thrown into a ditch 7,bartsch1 #ahhg1 p4 #cfi73-- ,mais cele ou sort tote pities ,tote douceurs tote amisties ,et qui les siens onques n'oublie ,,son ,,pecheor n'oblia mie4 ,,her sinner6 ,mary would not have been a true queen unless she had protected her own4 ,the whole morality of the ,middle ,ages stood in the obligation of every master to protect his dependent4 ,the herdsmen of ,count ,garin of ,beaucaire were the superiors of their damoiseau ,aucassins1 while they felt sure of the ,count4 ,mary was the highest of all the feudal ladies1 and was the example for all in loyalty to her own1 when she had to humiliate her own ,bishop of ,chartres for the sake of a worthless brute4 ,do you suppose it doesn't annoy me1 she said1 to see my friend buried in a common ditch8 ,take him out at once6 ,i command6 tell the clergy it is my order1 and that ,i will never forgive them unless to-morrow morning without delay1 they bury my friend in the best place in the cemetery63-- ,cuidies vos donc qu'il ne m'enuit ,quant vos l'aves si adosse ,que mis l'aves en un fosse8 ,metes ,ten fors je le comant6 ,di le clergie que je li mant6 ,ne me puet mi repaier ,se le matin sans delayer ,a grant heneur n'est mis amis ,ou plus beau leu de l'aitre mis4 ,naturally1 her order was instantly obeyed4 ,in the feudal regime1 disobedience to an order was treason--or even hesitation to obey-- when the order was serious2 very much as in a modern army1 disobedience is not regarded as conceivable4 ,mary's wish was absolute law1 on earth as in heaven4 ,for her1 other laws were not made4 ,intensely human1 but always ,queen1 she upset1 at her pleasure1 the decisions of every court and the orders of every authority1 human or divine2 interfered directly in the ordeal2 altered the processes of nature2 abolished space2 annihilated time4 ,like other queens1 she had many of the failings and prejudices of her humanity4 ,in spite of her own origin1 she disliked ,jews1 and rarely neglected a chance to maltreat them4 ,she was not in the least a prude4 ,to her1 sin was simply humanity1 and she seemed often on the point of defending her arbitrary acts of mercy1 by frankly telling the ,trinity that if the ,creator meant to punish man1 ,he should not have made him4 ,the people1 who always in their hearts protested against bearing the responsibility for the ,creator's arbitrary creations1 delighted to see her upset the law1 and reverse the rulings of the ,trinity4 ,they idolized her for being strong1 physically and in will1 so that she feared nothing1 and was as helpful to the knight in the melee of battle as to the young mother in child-bed4 ,the only character in which they seemed slow to recognize ,mary was that of bourgeoise4 ,the bourgeoisie courted her favour at great expense1 but she seemed to be at home on the farm1 rather than in the shop4 ,she had very rudimentary knowledge1 indeed1 of the principles of political economy as we understand them1 and her views on the subject of money-lending or banking were so feminine as to rouse in that powerful class a vindictive enmity which helped to overthrow her throne4 ,on the other hand1 she showed a marked weakness for chivalry1 and one of her prettiest and most twelfth-century miracles is that of the knight who heard mass while ,mary took his place in the lists4 ,it is much too charming to lose 7,bartsch1 #ahie1 p4 #caa73-- ,un chevalier courtois et sages1 ,hardis et de grant vasselages1 ,nus mieudres en chevalerie1 ,moult amoit la vierge ,marie4 ,pour son barnage demener ,et son franc cors d'armes pener1 ,aloit a son tournoiement ,garnis de son contentement4 ,au dieu plaisir ainsi avint ,que quant le jour du tournoi vint ,il se hastoit de chevauchier1 ,bien vousist estre en champ premier4 ,d'une eglise qui pres estoit ,oi les sains que l'on sonnoit ,pour la sainte messe chanter4 ,le chevalier sans arrester ,s'en est ale droit a l'eglise ,pour escouter le dieu servise4 ,l'en chantoit tantost hautement ,une messe devotement ,de la sainte ,vierge ,marie2 ,puis a on autre comencie4 ,le chevalier vien l'escouta1 ,de bon cuer la dame pria1 ,et quant la messe fut finee ,la tierce fu recomenciee ,tantost en ce meisme lieu4 ,sire1 pour la sainte char dieu6 ,ce li a dit son escuier1 ,l'heure passe de tournoier1 ,et vous que demourez ici8 ,venez vous en1 je vous en pri6 ,volez vous devenir hermite ,ou papelart ou ypocrite8 ,alons en a nostre mestier6 ,a knight both courteous and wise ,and brave and bold in enterprise4 ,no better knight was ever seen1 ,greatly loved the ,virgin ,queen4 ,once1 to contest the tourney's prize ,and keep his strength in exercise1 ,he rode out to the listed field ,armed at all points with lance and shield2 ,but it pleased ,god that when the day ,of tourney came1 and on his way ,he pressed his charger's speed apace ,to reach1 before his friends1 the place1 ,he saw a church hard by the road ,and heard the church-bells sounding loud ,to celebrate the holy mass4 ,without a thought the church to pass ,the knight drew rein1 and entered there ,to seek the aid of ,god in prayer4 ,high and dear they chanted then ,a solemn mass to ,mary ,queen2 ,then afresh began again4 ,lost in his prayers the good knight stayed2 ,with all his heart to ,mary prayed2 ,and1 when the second one was done1 ,straightway the third mass was begun1 ,right there upon the self-same place4 ,sire1 for mercy of ,god's grace6 ,whispered his squire in his ear2 ,the hour of tournament is near2 ,why do you want to linger here8 ,is it a hermit to become1 ,or hypocrite1 or priest of ,rome8 ,come on1 at once6 despatch your prayer6 ,let us be off to our affair6 ,the accent of truth still lingers in this remonstrance of the squire1 who must1 from all time1 have lost his temper on finding his chevalier addicted to papelardie when he should have been fighting2 but the priest had the advantage of telling the story and pointing the moral4 ,this advantage the priest neglected rarely1 but in this case he used it with such refinement and so much literary skill that even the squire might have been patient4 ,with the invariable gentle courtesy of the true knight1 the chevalier replied only by soft words3-- ,amis6 ce dist li chevalier1 ,cil tournoie moult noblement ,qui le servise dieu entent4 ,in one of ,milton's sonnets is a famous line which is commonly classed among the noblest verses of the ,english language3-- ,they also serve1 who only stand and wait4 ,fine as it is1 with the simplicity of the grand style1 like the ,chanson de ,roland the verse of ,milton does not quite destroy the charm of thirteenth-century diction3-- ,friend6 said to him the chevalier1 ,he tourneys very nobly too1 ,who only hears ,god's service through6 ,no doubt the verses lack the singular power of the eleventh century2 it is not worth while to pretend that any verse written in the thirteenth century wholly holds its own against ,roland3-- ,sire cumpain6 faites le vus de gred8 ,ja est co ,rollanz ki tant vos soelt amer6 ,the courtesy of ,roland has the serious solidity of the ,romanesque arch1 and that of ,lancelot and ,aucassins has the grace of a legendary window2 but one may love it1 all the same2 and one may even love the knight1--papelard though he were1--as he turned back to the altar and remained in prayer until the last mass was ended4 ,then they mounted and rode on toward the field1 and of course you foresee what had happened4 ,in itself the story is bald enough1 but it is told with such skill that one never tires of it4 ,as the chevalier and the squire approached the lists1 they met the other knights returning1 for the jousts were over2 but1 to the astonishment of the chevalier1 he was greeted by all who passed him with shouts of applause for his marvellous triumph in the lists1 where he had taken all the prizes and all the prisoners3-- ,les chevaliers ont encontrez1 ,qui du tournois sont retournes1 ,qui du tout en tout est feru4 ,s'en avoit tout le pris eu ,le chevalier qui reperoit ,des messes qu' oies avoit4 ,les autres qui s'en reperoient ,le saluent et le conjoient ,et distrent bien que onques mes ,nul chevalier ne prist tel fes ,d'armes com il ot fet ce jour2 ,a tousjours en avroit l'onnour4 ,moult en i ot qui se rendoient ,a lui prisonier1 et disoient ,nous somes vostre prisonier1 ,ne nous ne pourrions nier1 ,ne nous aiez par armes pris4 ,lors ne fu plus cil esbahis1 ,car il a entendu tantost ,que cele fu pour lui en l'ost ,pour qui il fu en la chapelle4 ,his friends1 returning from the fight1 ,on the way there met the knight1 ,for the jousts were wholly run1 ,and all the prizes had been won ,by the knight who had not stirred ,from the masses he had heard4 ,all the knights1 as they came by1 ,saluted him and gave him joy1 ,and frankly said that never yet ,had any knight performed such feat1 ,nor ever honour won so great ,as he had done in arms that day2 ,while many of them stopped to say ,that they all his prisoners were3 ,in truth1 your prisoners we are3 ,we cannot but admit it true3 ,taken we were in arms by you6 ,then the truth dawned on him there1 ,and all at once he saw the light1 ,that ,she1 by whom he stood in prayer1 --,the ,virgin1--stood by him in fight6 ,the moral of the tale belongs to the best feudal times4 ,the knight at once recognized that he had become the liege-man of the ,queen1 and henceforth must render his service entirely to her4 ,so he called his barons1 or tenants1 together1 and after telling them what had happened1 took leave of them and the siecle3-- ,moult est ciest tournoiement beaux ,ou ele a pour moi tournoie2 ,mes trop l'avroit mal emploie ,se pour lui je ne tournoioie6 ,fox seroie se retournoie ,a la mondaine vanite4 ,a dieu promet en verite ,que james ne tournoierai ,fors devant le juge verai ,qui conoit le bon chevalier ,et selonc le fet set jutgier4 ,lors prent congie piteusement1 ,et maint en plorent tenrement4 ,d'euls se part1 en une abaie ,servi puis la vierge ,marie4 ,glorious has the tourney been ,where for me has fought the ,queen2 ,but a disgrace for me it were ,if ,i tourneyed not for her4 ,traitor to her should ,i be1 ,returned to worldly vanity4 ,i promise truly1 by ,god's grace1 ,never again the lists to see1 ,except before that ,judge's face1 ,who knows the true knight from the base1 ,and gives to each his final place4 ,then piteously he takes his leave ,while in tears his barons grieve4 ,so he parts1 and in an abbey ,serves henceforth the ,virgin ,mary4 ,observe that in this case ,mary exacted no service6 ,usually the legends are told1 as in this instance1 by priests1 though they were told in the same spirit by laymen1 as you can see in the poems of ,rutebeuf1 and they would not have been told very differently by soldiers1 if one may judge from ,joinville2 but commonly the ,virgin herself prescribed the kind of service she wished4 ,especially to the young knight who had1 of his own accord1 chosen her for his liege1 she showed herself as exacting as other great ladies showed themselves toward their ,lancelots and ,tristans4 ,when she chose1 she could even indulge in more or less coquetry1 else she could never have appealed to the sympathies of the thirteenth-century knight- errant4 ,one of her miracles told how she disciplined the young men who were too much in the habit of assuming her service in order to obtain selfish objects4 ,a youthful chevalier1 much given to tournaments and the other worldly diversions of the siecle1 fell in love1 after the rigorous obligation of his class1 as you know from your ,dulcinea del ,toboso1 with a lady who1 as was also prescribed by the rules of courteous love1 declined to listen to him4 ,an abbot of his acquaintance1 sympathizing with his distress1 suggested to him the happy idea of appealing for help to the ,queen of ,heaven4 ,he followed the advice1 and for an entire year shut himself up1 and prayed to ,mary1 in her chapel1 that she would soften the heart of his beloved1 and bring her to listen to his prayer4 ,at the end of the twelvemonth1 fixed as a natural and sufficient proof of his earnestness in devotion1 he felt himself entitled to indulge again in innocent worldly pleasures1 and on the first morning after his release1 he started out on horseback for a day's hunting4 ,probably thousands of young knights and squires were always doing more or less the same thing1 and it was quite usual that1 as they rode through the fields or forests1 they should happen on a solitary chapel or shrine1 as this knight did4 ,he stopped long enough to kneel in it and renew his prayer to the ,queen3-- ,la mere dieu qui maint chetif ,a retrait de chetivete ,par sa grant debonnairte ,par sa courtoise courtoisie ,au las qui tant l'apele et prie ,ignelement s'est demonstree1 ,d'une coronne corronnee ,plaine de pierres precieuses ,si flamboianz si precieuses ,pour pou li euil ne li esluisent4 ,si netement ainsi reluisent ,et resplendissent com la raie ,qui en este au matin raie4 ,tant par a bel et cler le vis ,que buer fu mez1 ce li est vis1 ,qui s'i puest assez mirer4 ,cele qui te fait soupirer ,et en si grant erreur t'a mis1 ,fait nostre dame1 biau douz amis1 ,est ele plus bele que moi8 ,li chevaliers a tel effroi ,de la clarte1 ne sai que face2 ,ses mains giete devant sa face2 ,tel hide a et tel freeur ,chaoir se laisse de freeur2 ,mais cele en qui pitie est toute ,li dist3 ,amis1 or n'aies doute6 ,je suis cele1 n'en doute mie1 ,qui te doi faire avoir t'amie4 ,or prens garde que tu feras4 ,cele que tu miex ameras ,de nous ii auras a amie4 ,god's ,mother who to many a wretch ,has brought relief from wretchedness4 ,by her infinite goodness1 ,by her courteous courteousness1 ,to her suppliant in distress ,came from heaven quickly down2 ,on her head she bore the crown1 ,full of precious stones and gems ,darting splendour1 flashing flames1 ,till the eye near lost its sight ,in the keenness of the light1 ,as the summer morning's sun ,blinds the eyes it shines upon4 ,so beautiful and bright her face1 ,only to look on her is grace4 ,she who has caused you thus to sigh1 ,and has brought you to this end1-- ,said ,our ,lady1--,tell me1 friend1 ,is she handsomer than ,i8 ,scared by her brilliancy1 the knight ,knows not what to do for fright2 ,he clasps his hands before his face1 ,and in his shame and his disgrace ,falls prostrate on the ground with fear2 ,but she with pity ever near ,tells him3--,friend1 be not afraid6 ,doubt not that ,i am she whose aid ,shall surely bring your love to you2 ,but take good care what you shall do6 ,she you shall love most faithfully ,of us two1 shall your mistress be4 ,one is at a loss to imagine what a young gentleman could do1 in such a situation1 except to obey1 with the fewest words possible1 the suggestion so gracefully intended4 ,queen's favours might be fatal gifts1 but they were much more fatal to reject than to accept4 ,whatever might be the preferences of the knight1 he had invited his own fate1 and in consequence was fortunate to be allowed the option of dying and going to heaven1 or dying without going to heaven4 ,mary was not always so gentle with young men who deserted or neglected her for an earthly rival2--the offence which irritated her most1 and occasionally caused her to use language which hardly bears translation into modern ,english4 ,without meaning to assert that the ,queen of ,heaven was jealous as ,queen ,blanche herself1 one must still admit that she was very severe on lovers who showed willingness to leave her service1 and take service with any other lady4 ,one of her admirers1 educated for the priesthood but not yet in full orders1 was obliged by reasons of family interest to quit his career in order to marry4 ,an insult like this was more than ,mary could endure1 and she gave the young man a lesson he never forgot3-- ,ireement li prent a dire ,la mere au roi de paradis3 ,di moi1 di moi1 tu que jadis ,m'amoies tant de tout ton coeur4 ,pourquoi m'as tu jete puer8 ,di moi1 di moi1 ou est donc cele ,qui plus de moi bone est et bele8444 ,pourquoi1 pourquoi1 las durfeus1 ,las engignez1 las deceuz1 ,me lais pour une lasse fame1 ,qui suis du del ,royne et ,dame8 ,enne fais tu trop mauvais change ,qui tu por une fame estrange ,me laisses qui par amors t'amoie ,et ja ou ciel t'apareilloie ,en mes chambres un riche lit ,por couchier t'ame a grand delit8 ,trop par as faites grant merveilles ,s'autrement tost ne te conseilles ,ou ciel serra tes lits deffais ,et en la flamme d'enfer faiz6 ,with anger flashing in her eyes ,answers the ,queen of ,paradise3 ,tell me1 tell me6 you of old ,loved me once with love untold2 ,why now throw me aside8 ,tell me1 tell me6 where a bride ,kinder or fairer have you won8444 ,wherefore1 wherefore1 wretched one1 ,deceived1 betrayed1 misled1 undone1 ,leave me for a creature mean1 ,me1 who am of ,heaven the ,queen8 ,can you make a worse exchange1 ,you that for a woman strange1 ,leave me who1 with perfect love1 ,waiting you in heaven above1 ,had in my chamber richly dressed ,a bed of bliss your soul to rest8 ,terrible is your mistake6 ,unless you better council take1 ,in heaven your bed shall be unmade1 ,and in the flames of hell be spread4 ,a mistress who loved in this manner was not to be gainsaid4 ,no earthly love had a chance of holding its own against this unfair combination of heaven and hell1 and ,mary was as unscrupulous as any other great lady in abusing all her advantages in order to save ,,her souls4 ,frenchmen never found fault with abuses of power for what they thought a serious object4 ,the more tyrannical ,mary was1 the more her adorers adored1 and they wholly approved1 both in love and in law1 the rule that any man who changed his allegiance without permission1 did so at his own peril4 ,his life and property were forfeit4 ,mary showed him too much grace in giving him an option4 ,even in anger ,mary always remained a great lady1 and in the ordinary relations of society her manners were exquisite1 as they were1 according to ,joinville1 in the court of ,saint ,louis1 when tempers were not overwrought4 ,the very brutality of the brutal compelled the courteous to exaggerate courtesy1 and some of the royal family were as coarse as the king was delicate in manners4 ,in heaven the manners were perfect1 and almost as stately as those of ,roland and ,oliver4 ,on one occasion ,saint ,peter found himself embarrassed by an affair which the public opinion of the ,court of ,heaven1 although not by any means puritanic1 thought more objectionable--in fact1 more frankly discreditable--than an honest corrupt job ought to be2 and even his influence1 though certainly considerable1 wholly failed to carry it through the law-court4 ,the case1 as reported by ,gaultier de ,coincy1 was this3 ,a very worthless creature of ,saint ,peter's--a monk of ,cologne--who had led a scandalous life1 and ne cremoit dieu1 ordre ne roule1 died1 and in due course of law was tried1 convicted1 and dragged off by the devils to undergo his term of punishment4 ,saint ,peter could not desert his sinner1 though much ashamed of him1 and accordingly made formal application to the ,trinity for a pardon4 ,the ,trinity1 somewhat severely1 refused4 ,finding his own interest insufficient1 ,saint ,peter tried to strengthen it by asking the archangels to help him2 but the case was too much for them also1 and they declined4 ,the brother apostles were appealed to1 with the same result2 and finally even the saints1 though they had so obvious interest in keeping friendly relations with ,peter1 found public opinion too strong to defy4 ,the case was desperate4 ,the ,trinity were--or was--emphatic1 and--what was rare in the ,middle ,ages--every member of the feudal hierarchy sustained its decision4 ,nothing more could be done in the regular way4 ,saint ,peter was obliged to divest himself of authority1 and place himself and his dignity in the hands of the ,virgin4 ,accordingly he asked for an audience1 and stated the case to ,our ,lady4 ,with the utmost grace1 she instantly responded3-- ,pierre1 ,pierre1 dit ,nostre ,dame1 ,en moult grand poine et por ceste ame ,de mon douz filz me fierai ,tant que pour toi l'en prierai4 ,la ,mere ,dieu lors s'est levee1 ,devant son filz s'en est alee ,et ses virges toutes apres4 ,de lui si tint ,pierre pres1 ,quar sanz doutance bien savoit ,que sa besoigne faite avoit ,puisque cele l'avoit en prise ,ou forme humaine avoit prise4 ,quant sa ,mere vit li douz ,sire ,qui de son doit daigna escrire ,qu'en honourant et pere et mere ,en contre lui a chere clere ,se leva moult festivement ,et si li dist moult doucement2 ,bien veigniez vous1 ma douce mere1 ,comme douz filz1 comme douz pere4 ,doucement l'a par la main prise ,et doucement lez lui assise2 ,lors li a dit3--,a douce chiere1 ,que veus ma douce mere chiere1 ,mes amies et mes sereurs8 ,pierre1 ,pierre1 our ,lady said1 ,with all my heart ,i'll give you aid1 ,and to my gentle ,son ,i'll sue ,until ,i beg that soul for you4 ,god's ,mother then arose straightway1 ,and sought her ,son without delay2 ,all her virgins followed her1 ,and ,saint ,peter kept him near1 ,for he knew his task was done ,and his prize already won1 ,since it was hers1 in whom began ,the life of ,god in form of ,man4 ,when our dear ,lord1 who deigned to write ,with his own hand that in his sight ,those in his kingdom held most dear ,father and mother honoured here1-- ,when ,he saw ,his ,mother's face ,he rose and said with gentle grace3 ,well are you come1 my heart's desire6 ,like loving son1 like gracious sire2 ,took her hand gently in ,his own2 ,gently placed her on ,his throne1 ,wishing her graciously good cheer3-- ,what brings my gentle ,mother here1 ,my sister1 and my dearest friend8 ,one can see ,queen ,blanche going to beg--or command--a favour of her son1 ,king ,louis1 and the stately dignity of their address1 while ,saint ,peter and the virgins remain in the antechamber2 but1 as for ,saint ,peter's lost soul1 the request was a mere form1 and the doors of paradise were instantly opened to it1 after such brief formalities as should tend to preserve the technical record of the law-court4 ,we tread here on very delicate ground4 ,gaultier de ,coincy1 being a priest and a prior1 could take liberties which we cannot or ought not to take4 ,the doctrines of the ,church are too serious and too ancient to be wilfully misstated1 and the doctrines of what is called ,mariolatry were never even doctrines of the ,church4 ,yet it is true that1 in the hearts of ,mary's servants1 the ,church and its doctrines were at the mercy of ,mary's will4 ,gaultier de ,coincy claimed that ,mary exasperated the devils by exercising a wholly arbitrary and illegitimate power4 ,gaultier not merely admitted1 but frankly asserted1 that this was the fact3-- ,font li deables3--de cest plait1 ,mal por mal1 assez miex nous plest ,que nous aillons au jugement ,li haut jugeur qui ne ment4 ,c'au plait n'au jugement sa mere ,de droit jugier est trop avere2 ,mais dieu nous juge si adroit1 ,plainement nous lest notre droit4 ,sa mere juge en tel maniere ,qu'elle nous met touz jors arriere ,quant nous cuidons estre devant4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,en ciel et en terre est plus ,dame ,par un petit que ,diex ne soit4 ,il l'aimme tant et tant la croit1 ,n'est riens qu'elle face ne die ,qu'il desveile ne contredie4 ,quant qu'elle veut li fait acroire1 ,s'elle disoit la pie est noire ,et l'eue trouble est toute clere3 ,si diroit il voir dit ma mere6 ,in this law-suit1 say the devils1 ,since it is a choice of evils1 ,we had best appeal on high ,to the ,judge ,who does not lie4 ,what is law to any other1 ',t is no use pleading with ,his ,mother2 ,but ,god judges us so true ,that ,he leaves us all our due4 ,his ,mother judges us so short ,that she throws us out of court ,when we ought to win our cause4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,in heaven and earth she makes more laws ,by far1 than ,god ,himself can do1 ,he loves her so1 and trusts her so1 ,there's nothing she can do or say ,that ,he'll refuse1 or say her nay4 ,whatever she may want is right1 ,though she say that black is white1 ,and dirty water clear as snow3-- ,my ,mother says it1 and it's so6 ,if the ,virgin took the feelings of the ,trinity into consideration1 or recognized its existence except as her ,son1 the case has not been reported1 or1 at all events1 has been somewhat carefully kept out of sight by the ,virgin's poets4 ,the devils were emphatic in denouncing ,mary for absorbing the whole ,trinity4 ,in one sharply disputed case in regard to a villain1 or labourer1 whose soul the ,virgin claimed because he had learned the ,ave ,maria1 the devils became very angry1 indeed1 and protested vehemently3-- ,li lait maufe1 li rechinie ,adonc ont ris et eschinie4 ,c'en font il3--,merveillans merveille6 ,por ce vilain plate oreille ,aprent vo ,dame a saluer1 ,se nous vorro trestous tuer ,se regarder osons vers s'ame4 ,de tout le monde vieut estre ,dame6 ,ains nule dame ne fu tiez4 ,,ii est avis qu'ele soit ,diex ,ou qu'ele ait ,diex en main bornie4 ,nul besoigne n'est fournie1 ,ne terrienne ne celestre1 ,que toute ,dame ne veille estre4 ,il est avis que tout soit suen2 ,dieu ne deable n'i ont rien4 ,the ugly demons laugh outright ,and grind their teeth with envious spite2 ,crying3--,marvel marvellous6 ,because that flat-eared ploughman there ,learned to make your ,dame a prayer1 ,she would like to kill us all ,just for looking toward his soul4 ,all the world she wants to rule6 ,no such ,dame was ever seen6 ,she thinks that she is ,god1 ,i ween1 ,or holds ,him in her hollow hand4 ,not a judgment or command ,or an order can be given ,here on earth or there in heaven1 ,that she does not want control4 ,she thinks that she ordains the whole1 ,and keeps it all for her own profit4 ,god nor ,devil share not of it4 ,as regards ,mary of ,chartres1 these charges seem to have been literally true1 except so far as concerned the laid maufe ,pierre de ,dreux4 ,gaultier de ,coincy saw no impropriety in accepting1 as sufficiently exact1 the allegations of the devils against the ,virgin's abuse of power4 ,down to the death of ,queen ,blanche1 which is all that concerns us1 the public saw no more impropriety in it than ,gaultier did4 ,the ugly1 envious devils1 notorious as students of the ,latin ,quarter1 were perpetually making the same charges against ,queen ,blanche and her son1 without disturbing her authority4 ,no one could conceive that the ,virgin held less influence in heaven than the queen mother on earth4 ,nevertheless there were points in the royal policy and conduct of ,mary which thoughtful men even then hesitated to approve4 ,the ,church itself never liked to be dragged too far under feminine influence1 although the moment it discarded feminine influence it lost nearly everything of any value to it or to the world1 except its philosophy4 ,mary's tastes were too popular2 some of the uglier devils said they were too low2 many ladies and gentlemen of the siecle thought them disreputable1 though they dared not say so1 or dared say so only by proxy1 as in ,aucassins4 ,as usual1 one must go to the devils for the exact truth1 and in spite of their outcry1 the devils admitted that they had no reason to complain of ,mary's administration3-- ,les beles dames de grant pris ,qui traynant vont ver et gris1 ,roys1 roynes1 dus et contesses1 ,en enfer vienent a granz presses2 ,mais ou ciel vont pres tout a fait ,tort et bocu et contrefait4 ,ou ciel va toute la ringaille2 ,le grain avons et diex la paille4 ,all the great dames and ladies fair ,who costly robes and ermine wear1 ,kings1 queens1 and countesses and lords ,come down to hell in endless hordes2 ,while up to heaven go the lamed1 ,the dwarfs1 the humpbacks1 and the maimed2 ,to heaven goes the whole riff-raff2 ,we get the grain and ,god the chaff4 ,true it was1 although one should not say it jestingly1 that the ,virgin embarrassed the ,trinity2 and perhaps this was the reason1 behind all the other excellent reasons1 why men loved and adored her with a passion such as no other deity has ever inspired3 and why we1 although utter strangers to her1 are not far from getting down on our knees and praying to her still4 ,mary concentrated in herself the whole rebellion of man against fate2 the whole protest against divine law2 the whole contempt for human law as its outcome2 the whole unutterable fury of human nature beating itself against the walls of its prison-house1 and suddenly seized by a hope that in the ,virgin man had found a door of escape4 ,she was above law2 she took feminine pleasure in turning hell into an ornament2 she delighted in trampling on every social distinction in this world and the next4 ,she knew that the universe was as unintelligible to her1 on any theory of morals1 as it was to her worshippers1 and she felt1 like them1 no sure conviction that it was any more intelligible to the ,creator of it4 ,to her1 every suppliant was a universe in itself1 to be judged apart1 on his own merits1 by his love for her1--by no means on his orthodoxy1 or his conventional standing in the ,church1 or according to his correctness in defining the nature of the ,trinity4 ,the convulsive hold which ,mary to this day maintains over human imagination--as you can see at ,lourdes--was due much less to her power of saving soul or body than to her sympathy with people who suffered under law1--divine or human1--justly or unjustly1 by accident or design1 by decree of ,god or by guile of ,devil4 ,she cared not a straw for conventional morality1 and she had no notion of letting her friends be punished1 to the tenth or any other generation1 for the sins of their ancestors or the peccadilloes of ,eve4 ,so ,mary filled heaven with a sort of persons little to the taste of any respectable middle-class society1 which has trouble enough in making this world decent and pay its bills1 without having to continue the effort in another4 ,mary stood in a ,church of her own1 so independent that the ,trinity might have perished without much affecting her position2 but1 on the other hand1 the ,trinity could look on and see her dethroned with almost a breath of relief4 ,aucassins and the devils of ,gaultier de ,coincy foresaw her danger4 ,mary's treatment of respectable and law-abiding people who had no favours to ask1 and were reasonably confident of getting to heaven by the regular judgment1 without expense1 rankled so deeply that three hundred years later the ,puritan reformers were not satisfied with abolishing her1 but sought to abolish the woman altogether as the cause of all evil in heaven and on earth4 ,the ,puritans abandoned the ,new ,testament and the ,virgin in order to go back to the beginning1 and renew the quarrel with ,eve4 ,this is the ,church's affair1 not ours1 and the women are competent to settle it with ,church or ,state1 without help from outside2 but honest tourists are seriously interested in putting the feeling back into the dead architecture where it belongs4 ,mary was rarely harsh to any suppliant or servant1 and she took no special interest in humiliating the rich or the learned or the wise4 ,for them1 law was made2 by them1 law was administered2 and with their doings ,mary never arbitrarily interfered2 but occasionally she could not resist the temptation to intimate her opinion of the manner in which the ,trinity allowed their--the regular--,church to be administered4 ,she was a queen1 and never for an instant forgot it1 but she took little thought about her divine rights1 if she had any1--and in fact ,saint ,bernard preferred her without them1--while she was scandalized at the greed of officials in her ,son's ,court4 ,one day a rich usurer and a very poor old woman happened to be dying in the same town4 ,gaultier de ,coincy did not say1 as an accurate historian should1 that he was present1 nor did he mention names or dates1 although it was one of his longest and best stories4 ,mary never loved bankers1 and had no reason for taking interest in this one1 or for doing him injury2 but it happened that the parish priest was summoned to both death-beds at the same time1 and neglected the old pauper in the hope of securing a bequest for his church from the banker4 ,this was the sort of fault that most annoyed ,mary in the ,church of the ,trinity1 which1 in her opinion1 was not cared for as it should be1 and she felt it her duty to intimate as much4 ,although the priest refused to come at the old woman's summons1 his young clerk1 who seems to have acted as vicar though not in orders1 took pity on her1 and went alone with the sacrament to her hut1 which was the poorest of poor hovels even for that age3-- ,close de piex et de serciaus ,comme une viez souz a porciaus4 ,roof of hoops1 and wall of logs1 ,like a wretched stye for hogs4 ,there the beggar lay1 already insensible or at the last gasp1 on coarse thatch1 on the ground1 covered by an old hempen sack4 ,the picture represented the extremest poverty of the thirteenth century2 a hovel without even a feather bed or bedstead1 as ,aucassins' ploughman described his mother's want2 and the old woman alone1 dying1 as the clerk appeared at the opening3-- ,li clers qui fu moult bien apris ,le cors ,nostre ,seigneur a pris ,a l'ostel a la povre fame ,s'en vient touz seus mes n'i treuve ame4 ,si grant clarte y a veue ,que grant peeur en a eue4 ,ou povre lit a la vieillete ,qui couvers iert d'une nateite ,assises voit ,,xii puceles ,si avenans et si tres beles ,n'est nus tant penser i seust ,qui raconter le vout peust4 ,a coutee voist ,nostre ,dame ,sus le chevez la povre fame ,qui por la mort sue et travaille4 ,la ,mere ,dieu d'une tovaille ,qui blanche est plus que fleur de lis ,la grant sueur d'entor le vis ,a ses blanches mains li essuie4 ,the clerk1 well in these duties taught1 ,the body of our ,saviour brought ,where she lay upon her bed ,without a soul to give her aid4 ,but such brightness there he saw ,as filled his mind with fear and awe4 ,covered with a mat of straw ,the woman lay2 but round and near ,a dozen maidens sat1 so fair ,no mortal man could dream such light1 ,no mortal tongue describe the sight4 ,then he saw that next the bed1 ,by the poor old woman's head1 ,as she gasped and strained for breath ,in the agony of death1 ,sat ,our ,lady1--bending low1-- ,while1 with napkin white as snow1 ,she dried the death-sweat on the brow4 ,the clerk1 in terror1 hesitated whether to turn and run away1 but ,our ,lady beckoned him to the bed1 while all rose and kneeled devoutly to the sacrament4 ,then she said to the trembling clerk3-- ,friend1 be not afraid6 ,but seat yourself1 to give us aid1 ,beside these maidens1 on the bed4 ,and when the clerk had obeyed1 she continued-- ,or tost1 amis6 fait ,nostre ,dame1 ,confessies ceste bone fame ,et puis apres tout sans freeur ,recevra tost son sauveeur ,qui char et sanc vout en moi prendre4 ,come quickly1 friend6 ,our ,lady says1 ,this good old woman now confess ,and afterwards without distress ,she will at once receive her ,god ,who deigned in me take flesh and blood4 ,after the sacrament came a touch of realism that recalls the simple death-scenes that ,walter ,scott described in his grand twelfth- century manner4 ,the old woman lingered pitiably in her agony3-- ,lors dit une des demoiselles ,a madame sainte ,marie3 ,encore1 dame1 n'istra mie ,si com moi semble du cors l'ame4 ,bele fille1 fait ,nostre ,dame1 ,traveiller lais un peu le cors1 ,aincois que l'ame en isse hors1 ,si que puree soil et nete ,aincois qu'en ,paradis la mete4 ,n'est or mestier qui soions plus1 ,ralon nous en ou ciel lassus1 ,quant tens en iert bien reviendrons ,en paradis l'ame emmerrons4 ,a maiden said to ,saint ,marie1 ,my lady1 still it seems to me ,the soul will not the body fly4 ,fair child6 ,our ,lady made reply1 ,still let awhile the body fight ,before the soul shall leave it quite4 ,so that it pure may be1 and cleansed ,when it to ,paradise ascends4 ,no longer need we here remain2 ,we can go back to heaven again2 ,we will return before she dies1 ,and take the soul to paradise4 ,the rest of the story concerned the usurer1 whose death-bed was of a different character1 but ,mary's interest in death-beds of that kind was small4 ,the fate of the usurer mattered the less because she knew too well how easily the banker1 in good credit1 could arrange with the officials of the ,trinity to open the doors of paradise for him4 ,the administration of heaven was very like the administration of ,france2 the ,queen ,mother saw many things of which she could not wholly approve2 but her nature was pity1 not justice1 and she shut her eyes to much that she could not change4 ,her miracles1 therefore1 were for the most part mere evidence of her pity for those who needed it most1 and these were rarely the well-to-do people of the siecle1 but more commonly the helpless4 ,every saint performed miracles1 and these are standard1 not peculiar to any one intermediator2 and every saint protected his own friends2 but beyond these exhibitions of power1 which are more or less common to the whole hierarchy below the ,trinity1 ,mary was the mother of pity and the only hope of despair4 ,one might go on for a volume1 studying the character of ,mary and the changes that time made in it1 from the earliest ,byzantine legends down to the daily recorded miracles at ,lourdes2 no character in history has had so long or varied a development1 and none so sympathetic2 but the greatest poets long ago plundered that mine of rich motives1 and have stolen what was most dramatic for popular use4 ,the ,virgin's most famous early miracle seems to have been that of the monk ,theophilus1 which was what one might call her salvation of ,faust4 ,another ,byzantine miracle was an original version of ,shylock4 ,shakespeare and his fellow dramatists plundered the ,church legends as freely as their masters plundered the ,church treasuries1 yet left a mass of dramatic material untouched4 ,let us pray the ,virgin that it may remain untouched1 for1 although a good miracle was in its day worth much money--so much that the rival shrines stole each other's miracles without decency--one does not care to see one's ,virgin put to money- making for ,jew theatre-managers4 ,one's two-hundred and fifty million arithmetical ancestors shrink4 ,for mere amusement1 too1 the miracle is worth reading of the little ,jew child who ignorantly joined in the ,christian communion1 and was thrown into a furnace by his father in consequence2 but when the furnace was opened1 the ,virgin appeared seated in the midst of the flames1 with the little child unharmed in her lap4 ,better is that called the ,tombeor de ,notre ,dame1 only recently printed2 told by some unknown poet of the thirteenth century1 and told as well as any of ,gaultier de ,coincy's4 ,indeed the ,tombeor de ,notre ,dame has had more success in our time than it ever had in its own1 as far as one knows1 for it appeals to a quiet sense of humour that pleases modern ,french taste as much as it pleased the ,virgin4 ,one fears only to spoil it by translation1 but if a translation be merely used as a glossary or footnote1 it need not do fatal harm4 ,the story is that of a tumbler--tombeor1 street-acrobat--who was disgusted with the world1 as his class has had a reputation for becoming1 and who was fortunate enough to obtain admission into the famous monastery of ,clairvaux1 where ,saint ,bernard may have formerly been blessed by the ,virgin's presence4 ,ignorant at best1 and especially ignorant of letters1 music1 and the offices of a religious society1 he found himself unable to join in the services3-- ,car n'ot vescu fors de tumer ,et d'espringier et de baler4 ,treper1 saillir1 ice savoit2 ,ne d'autre rien il ne savoit2 ,car ne savoit autre lecon ,ne pater noster ne chancon ,ne le credo ne le salu ,ne rien qui fust a son salu4 ,for he had learned no other thing ,than to tumble1 dance and spring3 ,leaping and vaulting1 that he knew1 ,but nothing better could he do4 ,he could not say his prayers by rote2 ,not ,pater noster1 not a note1 ,not ,ave ,mary1 nor the creed2 ,nothing to help his soul in need4 ,tormented by the sense of his uselessness to the society whose bread he ate without giving a return in service1 and afraid of being expelled as a useless member1 one day while the bells were calling to mass he hid in the crypt1 and in despair began to soliloquize before the ,virgin's altar1 at the same spot1 one hopes1 where the ,virgin had shown herself1 or might have shown herself1 in her infinite bounty1 to ,saint ,bernard1 a hundred years before3-- ,hai1 fait il1 con suis trais6 ,or dira ja cascuns sa laisse ,et jo suis ci i hues en laisse ,qui ne fas ci fors que broster ,et viandes por nient gaster4 ,si ne dirai ne ne ferai8 ,par la mere deu1 si ferai6 ,ja n'en serai ore repris2 ,jo ferai ce que j'ai apris2 ,si servirai de men mestier ,la mere deu en son mostier2 ,li autre servent de canter ,et jo servirai de tumer4 ,sa cape oste1 si se despoille1 ,deles l'autel met sa despoille1 ,mais por sa char que ne soit nue ,une cotele a retenue ,qui moult estait tenre et alise1 ,petit vaut miex d'une chemise1 ,si est en pur le cors remes4 ,il s'est bien chains et acesmes1 ,sa cote caint et bien s'atorne1 ,devers l'ymage se retorne ,mout humblement et si l'esgarde3 ,dame1 fait il1 en vostre garde ,comant jo et mon cors et m'ame4 ,douce reine1 douce dame1 ,ne despisies ce que jo sai ,car jo me voil metre a l'asai ,de vos servir en bone foi ,se dex m'ait sans nul desroi4 ,jo ne sai canter ne lire ,mais certes jo vos voil eslire ,tos mes biax gieus a eslicon4 ,or soie al fuer de taurecon ,qui trepe et saut devant sa mere4 ,dame1 qui n'estes mie amere ,a cels qui vos servent a droit1 ,quelsque jo soie1 por vos soit6 ,lors li commence a faire saus ,bas et petits et grans et haus ,primes deseur et puis desos1 ,puis se remet sor ses genols1 ,devers l'ymage1 et si l'encline3 ,he6 fait il1 tres douce reine ,par vo pitie1 par vo francise1 ,ne despisies pas mon servise6 ,ha6 said he1 how ,i am ashamed6 ,to sing his part goes now each priest1 ,and ,i stand here1 a tethered beast1 ,who nothing do but browse and feed ,and waste the food that others need4 ,shall ,i say nothing1 and stand still8 ,no6 by ,god's mother1 but ,i will6 ,she shall not think me here for naught2 ,at least ,i'll do what ,i've been taught6 ,at least ,i'll serve in my own way ,god's mother in her church to-day4 ,the others serve to pray and sing2 ,i will serve to leap and spring4 ,then he strips him of his gown1 ,lays it on the altar down2 ,but for himself he takes good care ,not to show his body bare1 ,but keeps a jacket1 soft and thin1 ,almost a shirt1 to tumble in4 ,clothed in this supple woof of maille ,his strength and health and form showed well4 ,and when his belt is buckled fast1 ,toward the ,virgin turns at last3 ,very humbly makes his prayer2 ,lady6 says he1 to your care ,i commit my soul and frame4 ,gentle ,virgin1 gentle dame1 ,do not despise what ,i shall do1 ,for ,i ask only to please you1 ,to serve you like an honest man1 ,so help me ,god1 the best ,i can4 ,i cannot chant1 nor can ,i read1 ,but ,i can show you here instead1 ,all my best tricks to make you laugh1 ,and so shall be as though a calf ,should leap and jump before its dam4 ,lady1 who never yet could blame ,those who serve you well and true1 ,all that ,i am1 ,i am for you4 ,then he begins to jump about1 ,high and low1 and in and out1 ,straining hard with might and main2 ,then1 falling on his knees again1 ,before the image bows his face3 ,by your pity6 by your grace6 ,says he1 ,ha6 my gentle queen1 ,do not despise my offering6 ,in his earnestness he exerted himself until1 at the end of his strength1 he lay exhausted and unconscious on the altar steps4 ,pleased with his own exhibition1 and satisfied that the ,virgin was equally pleased1 he continued these devotions every day1 until at last his constant and singular absence from the regular services attracted the curiosity of a monk1 who kept watch on him and reported his eccentric exercise to the ,abbot4 ,the mediaeval monasteries seem to have been gently administered4 ,indeed1 this has been made the chief reproach on them1 and the excuse for robbing them for the benefit of a more energetic crown and nobility who tolerated no beggars or idleness but their own2 at least1 it is safe to say that few well-regulated and economically administered modern charities would have the patience of the ,abbot of ,clairvaux1 who1 instead of calling up the weak-minded tombeor and sending him back to the world to earn a living by his profession1 went with his informant to the crypt1 to see for himself what the strange report meant4 ,we have seen at ,chartres what a crypt may be1 and how easily one might hide in its shadows while mass is said at the altars4 ,the ,abbot and his informant hid themselves behind a column in the shadow1 and watched the whole performance to its end when the exhausted tumbler dropped unconscious and drenched with perspiration on the steps of the altar1 with the words3-- ,dame6 fait il1 ne puis plus ore2 ,mais voire je reviendrai encore4 ,lady6 says he1 no more ,i can1 ,but truly ,i'll come back again6 ,you can imagine the dim crypt2 the tumbler lying unconscious beneath the image of the ,virgin2 the ,abbot peering out from the shadow of the column1 and wondering what sort of discipline he could inflict for this unforeseen infraction of rule2 when suddenly1 before he could decide what next to do1 the vault above the altar1 of its own accord1 opened3-- ,l'abes esgarde sans atendre ,et vit de la volte descendre ,une dame si gloriouse ,ains nus ne vit si preciouse ,ni si ricement conreee1 ,n'onques tant bele ne fu nee4 ,ses vesteures sont bien chieres ,d'or et de precieuses pieres4 ,avec li estoient li angle ,del ciel amont1 et li arcangle1 ,qui entor le menestrel vienent1 ,si le solacent et sostienent4 ,quant entor lui sont arengie ,s'ot tot son cuer asoagie4 ,dont s'aprestent de lui servir ,por ce qu'ils volrent deservir ,la servise que fait la dame ,qui tant est precieuse geme4 ,et la douce reine france ,tenoit une touaille blance1 ,s'en avente son menestrel ,mout doucement devant l'autel4 ,la franc dame debonnaire ,le col1 le cors1 et le viaire ,li avente por refroidier2 ,bien s'entremet de lui aidier2 ,la dame bien s'i abandone2 ,li bons hom garde ne s'en done1 ,car il ne voit1 si ne set mie ,qu'il ait si bele compaignie4 ,the ,abbot strains his eyes to see1 ,and1 from the vaulting1 suddenly1 ,a lady steps1--so glorious1-- ,beyond all thought so precious1-- ,her robes so rich1 so nobly worn1-- ,so rare the gems the robes adorn1-- ,as never yet so fair was born4 ,along with her the angels were1 ,archangels stood beside her there2 ,round about the tumbler group ,to give him solace1 bring him hope2 ,and when round him in ranks they stood1 ,his whole heart felt its strength renewed4 ,so they haste to give him aid ,because their wills are only made ,to serve the service of their ,queen1 ,most precious gem the earth has seen4 ,and the lady1 gentle1 true1 ,holds in her hand a towel new2 ,fans him with her hand divine ,where he lies before the shrine4 ,the kind lady1 full of grace1 ,fans his neck1 his breast1 his face6 ,fans him herself to give him air6 ,labours1 herself1 to help him there6 ,the lady gives herself to it2 ,the poor man takes no heed of it2 ,for he knows not and cannot see ,that he has such fair company4 ,beyond this we need not care to go4 ,if you cannot feel the colour and quality--the union of naivete and art1 the refinement1 the infinite delicacy and tenderness--of this little poem1 then nothing will matter much to you2 and if you can feel it1 you can feel1 without more assistance1 the majesty of ,chartres4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,abelard ,super cuncta1 subter cuncta1 ,extra cuncta1 intra cuncta1 ,intra cuncta nec inclusus1 ,extra cuncta nec exclusus1 ,super cuncta nec elatus1 ,subter cuncta nec substratus1 ,super totus1 praesidendo1 ,subter totus1 sustinendo1 ,extra totus1 complectendo1 ,intra totus est1 implendo4 ,according to ,hildebert1 ,bishop of ,le ,mans and ,archbishop of ,tours1 these verses describe ,god4 ,hildebert was the first poet of his time2 no small merit1 since he was contemporary with the ,chanson de ,roland and the first crusade2 he was also a strong man1 since he was able1 as ,bishop of ,le ,mans1 to gain great credit by maintaining himself against ,william the ,norman and ,fulk of ,anjou2 and finally he was a prelate of high authority4 ,he lived between #ajee and #aacc4 ,supposing his verses to have been written in middle life1 toward the year #aajj1 they may be taken to represent the accepted doctrine of the ,church at the time of the first crusade4 ,they were little more than a versified form of the ,latin of ,saint ,gregory the ,great who wrote five-hundred years before3 ,ipse manet intra omnia1 ipse extra omnia1 ipse supra omnia1 ipse infra omnia2 et superior est per potentiam et inferior per sustentationem2 exterior per magnitudinem et interior per subtilitatem2 sursum regens1 deorsum continens1 extra circumdans1 interius penetrans2 nec alia parte superior1 alia inferior1 aut alia ex parte exterior atque ex alia manet interior1 sed unus idemque totus ubique4 ,according to ,saint ,gregory1 in the sixth century1 ,god was one and the same and wholly everywhere2 immanent within everything1 without everything1 above everything1 below everything1 sursum regens1 dear sum continens2 while according to ,archbishop ,hildebert in the eleventh century3 ,god is overall things1 under all things2 outside all1 inside all2 within but not enclosed2 without but not excluded2 above but not raised up2 below but not depressed2 wholly above1 presiding2 wholly beneath1 sustaining2 wholly without1 embracing2 wholly within1 filling4 ,finally1 according to ,benedict ,spinoza1 another five hundred years later still3 ,god is a being1 absolutely infinite2 that is to say1 a substance made up of an infinity of attributes1 each one of which expresses an eternal and infinite essence4 ,spinoza was the great pantheist1 whose name is still a terror to the orthodox1 and whose philosophy is--very properly--a horror to the ,church--and yet ,spinoza never wrote a line that1 to the unguided student1 sounds more ,spinozist than the words of ,saint ,gregory and ,archbishop ,hildebert4 ,if ,god is everywhere2 wholly2 presiding1 sustaining1 embracing and filling1 sursum regens1 deorsum continens1 ,he is the only possible energy1 and leaves no place for human will to act4 ,a force which is one and the same and wholly everywhere is more ,spinozist than ,spinoza1 and is likely to be mistaken for frank pantheism by the large majority of religious minds who must try to understand it without a theological course in a ,jesuit college4 ,in the year #aajj ,jesuit colleges did not exist1 and even the great ,dominican and ,franciscan schools were far from sight in the future2 but the ,school of ,notre ,dame at ,paris existed1 and taught the existence of ,god much as ,archbishop ,hildebert described it4 ,the most successful lecturer was ,william of ,champeaux1 and to any one who ever heard of ,william at all1 the name instantly calls up the figure of ,abelard1 in flesh and blood1 as he sang to ,heloise the songs which he says resounded through ,europe4 ,the twelfth century1 with all its sparkle1 would be dull without ,abelard and ,heloise4 ,with infinite regret1 ,heloise must be left out of the story1 because she was not a philosopher or a poet or an artist1 but only a ,frenchwoman to the last millimetre of her shadow4 ,even though one may suspect that her famous letters to ,abelard are1 for the most part1 by no means above scepticism1 she was1 by ,french standards1 worth at least a dozen ,abelards1 if only because she called ,saint ,bernard a false apostle4 ,unfortunately1 ,french standards1 by which she must be judged in our ignorance1 take for granted that she philosophized only for the sake of ,abelard1 while ,abelard taught philosophy to her not so much because he believed in philosophy or in her as because he believed in himself4 ,to this day1 ,abelard remains a problem as perplexing as he must have been to ,heloise1 and almost as fascinating4 ,as the west portal of ,chartres is the door through which one must of necessity enter the ,gothic architecture of the thirteenth century1 so ,abelard is the portal of approach to the ,gothic thought and philosophy within4 ,neither art nor thought has a modern equivalent2 only ,heloise1 like ,isolde1 unites the ages4 ,the first crusade seems1 in perspective1 to have rilled the whole field of vision in ,france at the time2 but1 in fact1 ,france seethed with other emotions1 and while the crusaders set out to scale heaven by force at ,jerusalem1 the monks1 who remained at home1 undertook to scale heaven by prayer and by absorption of body and soul in ,god2 the ,cistercian ,order was founded in #ajih1 and was joined in #aaab by young ,bernard1 born in #ajij at ,fontaines-les-,dijon1 drawing with him or after him so many thousands of young men into the self-immolation of the monastery as carried dismay into the hearts of half the women of ,france4 ,at the same time--that is1 about #ajih or #aajj--;,abelard came up to ,paris from ,brittany1 with as much faith in logic as ,bernard had in prayer or ,godfrey of ,bouillon in arms1 and led an equal or even a greater number of combatants to the conquest of heaven by force of pure reason4 ,none showed doubt4 ,hundreds of thousands of young men wandered from their provinces1 mostly to ,palestine1 largely to cloisters1 but also in great numbers to ,paris and the schools1 while few ever returned4 ,abelard had the advantage of being well-born2 not so highly descended as ,albertus ,magnus and ,thomas ,aquinas who were to complete his work in the thirteenth century1 but1 like ,bernard1 a gentleman born and bred4 ,he was the eldest son of ,berenger1 ,sieur du ,pallet1 a chateau in ,brittany1 south of the ,loire1 on the edge of ,poitou4 ,his name was ,pierre du ,pallet1 although1 for some unknown reason1 he called himself ,pierre ,abailard1 or ,abeillard1 or ,esbaillart1 or ,beylard2 for the spelling was never fixed4 ,he was born in #ajgi1 and when1 in #ajif1 the young men of his rank were rushing off to the first crusade1 ,pierre1 a boy of seventeen1 threw himself with equal zeal into the study of science1 and1 giving up his inheritance or birthright1 at last came to ,paris to seize a position in the schools4 ,the year is supposed to have been #aajj4 ,the ,paris of ,abelard's time was astonishingly old2 so old that hardly a stone of it can be now pointed out4 ,even the oldest of the buildings still standing in that quarter--,saint-,julien-le-,pauvre1 ,saint-,severin1 and the tower of the ,lycee ,henri ,,iv--are more modern2 only the old ,roman ,thermae1 now part of the ,musee de ,cluny1 within the walls1 and the ,abbey ,tower of ,saint-,germain-des-,pres1 outside1 in the fields1 were standing in the year #aajj4 ,politically1 ,paris was a small provincial town before the reign of ,louis-le-,gros 7#aajh- #cg71 who cleared its gates of its nearest enemies2 but as a school1 ,paris was even then easily first4 ,students crowded into it by thousands1 till the town is said to have contained more students than citizens1 ,modern ,paris seems to have begun as a university town before it had a university4 ,students flocked to it from great distances1 encouraged and supported by charity1 and stimulated by privileges1 until they took entire possession of what is still called the ,latin ,quarter from the barbarous ,latin they chattered2 and a town more riotous1 drunken1 and vicious than it became1 in the course of time1 hardly existed even in the ,middle ,ages4 ,in #aajj1 when enthusiasm was fresh and faith in science was strong1 the great mass of students came there to study1 and1 having no regular university organization or buildings1 they thronged the cloister of ,notre ,dame--not our ,notre ,dame1 which dates only from #aafc1 but the old ,romanesque cathedral which stood on the same spot--and there they listened1 and retained what they could remember1 for they were not encouraged to take notes even if they were rich enough to buy notebooks1 while manuscripts were far beyond their means4 ,one valuable right the students seem to have had--that of asking questions and even of disputing with the lecturer provided they followed the correct form of dialectics4 ,the lecturer himself was licensed by the ,bishop4 ,five thousand students are supposed to have swarmed about the cloister of ,notre ,dame1 across the ,petit ,pont1 and up the hill of ,sainte-,genevieve2 three thousand are said to have paid fees to ,abelard in the days of his great vogue and they seem to have attached themselves to their favourite master as a champion to be upheld against the world4 ,jealousies ran high1 and neither scholars nor masters shunned dispute4 ,indeed1 the only science they taught or knew was the art of dispute--dialectics4 ,rhetoric1 grammar1 and dialectics were the regular branches of science1 and bold students1 who were not afraid of dabbling in forbidden fields1 extended their studies to mathematics--exercitium nefarium1 according to ,abelard1 which he professed to know nothing about but which he studied nevertheless4 ,abelard1 whether pupil or master1 never held his tongue if he could help it1 for his fortune depended on using it well2 but he never used it so well in dialectics or theology as he did1 toward the end of his life1 in writing a bit of autobiography1 so admirably told1 so vivid1 so vibrating with the curious intensity of his generation1 that it needed only to have been written in ,romieu to be the chief monument of early ,french prose1 as the western portal of ,chartres is the chief monument of early ,french sculpture1 and of about the same date4 ,unfortunately ,abelard was a noble scholar1 who necessarily wrote and talked ,latin1 even with ,heloise1 and1 although the ,latin was mediaeval1 it is not much the better on that account1 because1 in spite of its quaintness1 the naivetes of a young language--the egotism1 jealousies1 suspicions1 boastings1 and lamentations of a childlike time--take a false air of outworn ,rome and ,byzantium1 although1 underneath1 the spirit lives3-- ,i arrived at last in ,paris where for a long time dialectics had specially flourished under ,william of ,champeaux1 rightly reckoned the first of my masters in that branch of study4 ,i stayed some time in his school1 but1 though well received at first1 ,i soon got to be an annoyance to him because ,i persisted in refuting certain ideas of his1 and because1 not being afraid to enter into argument against him1 ,i sometimes got the better4 ,this boldness1 too1 roused the wrath of those fellow students who were classed higher1 because ,i was the youngest and the last comer4 ,this was the beginning of my series of misfortunes which still last2 my renown every day increasing1 envy was kindled against me in every direction4 ,this picture of the boy of twenty1 harassing the professor1 day after day1 in his own lecture-room before hundreds of older students1 paints ,abelard to the life2 but one may safely add a few touches that heighten the effect2 as that ,william of ,champeaux himself was barely thirty1 and that ,abelard throughout his career1 made use of every social and personal advantage to gain a point1 with little scruple either in manner or in sophistry4 ,one may easily imagine the scene4 ,teachers are always much the same4 ,pupils and students differ only in degrees of docility4 ,in #aajj1 both classes began by accepting the foundations of society1 as they have to do still2 only they then accepted laws of the ,church and ,aristotle1 while now they accept laws of the legislature and of energy4 ,in #aajj1 the students took for granted that1 with the help of ,aristotle and syllogisms1 they could build out the ,church intellectually1 as the architects1 with the help of the pointed arch1 were soon to enlarge it architecturally4 ,they never doubted the certainty of their method4 ,to them words had fixed values1 like numbers1 and syllogisms were hewn stones that needed only to be set in place1 in order to reach any height or support any weight4 ,every sentence was made to take the form of a syllogism4 ,one must have been educated in a ,jesuit or ,dominican school in order to frame these syllogisms correctly1 but merely by way of illustration one may timidly suggest how the phrases sounded in their simplest form4 ,for example1 ,plato or other equally good authority deemed substance as that which stands underneath phenomena2 the most universal of universals1 the ultimate1 the highest in order of generalization4 ,the ultimate essence or substance is indivisible2 ,god is substance2 ,god is indivisible4 ,the divine substance is incapable of alteration or accident2 all other substance is liable to alteration or accident2 therefore1 the divine substance differs from all other substance4 ,a substance is a universal2 as for example1 ,humanity1 or the ,human1 is a universal and indivisible2 the ,man ,socrates1 for instance1 is not a universal1 but an individual2 therefore1 the substance ,humanity1 being indivisible1 must exist entire and undivided in ,socrates4 ,the form of logic most fascinating to youthful minds1 as well as to some minds that are only too acute1 is the reductio ad absurdum2 the forcing an opponent into an absurd alternative or admission2 and the syllogism lent itself happily to this use4 ,socrates abused the weapon and ,abelard was the first ,french master of the art2 but neither ,state nor ,church likes to be reduced to an absurdity1 and1 on the whole1 both ,socrates and ,abelard fared ill in the result4 ,even now1 one had best be civil toward the idols of the forum4 ,abelard would find most of his old problems sensitive to his touch to-day4 ,time has settled few or none of the essential points of dispute4 ,science hesitates1 more visibly than the ,church ever did1 to decide once for all whether unity or diversity is ultimate law2 whether order or chaos is the governing rule of the universe1 if universe there is2 whether anything1 except phenomena1 exists4 ,even in matters more vital to society1 one dares not speak too loud4 ,why1 and for what1 and to whom1 is man a responsible agent8 ,every jury and judge1 every lawyer and doctor1 every legislator and clergyman has his own views1 and the law constantly varies4 ,every nation may have a different system4 ,one court may hang and another may acquit for the same crime1 on the same day2 and science only repeats what the ,church said to ,abelard1 that where we know so little1 we had better hold our tongues4 ,according to the latest authorities1 the doctrine of universals which convulsed the schools of the twelfth century has never received an adequate answer4 ,what is a species8 what is a genus or a family or an order8 ,more or less convenient terms of classification1 about which the twelfth century cared very little1 while it cared deeply about the essence of classes6 ,science has become too complex to affirm the existence of universal truths1 but it strives for nothing else1 and disputes the problem1 within its own limits1 almost as earnestly as in the twelfth century1 when the whole field of human and superhuman activity was shut between these barriers of substance1 universals1 and particulars4 ,little has changed except the vocabulary and the method4 ,the schools knew that their society hung for life on the demonstration that ,god1 the ultimate universal1 was a reality1 out of which all other universal truths or realities sprang4 ,truth was a real thing1 outside of human experience4 ,the schools of ,paris talked and thought of nothing else4 ,john of ,salisbury1 who attended ,abelard's lectures about #aacf1 and became ,bishop of ,chartres in #aagf1 seems to have been more surprised than we need be at the intensity of the emotion4 ,one never gets away from this question1 he said4 ,from whatever point a discussion starts1 it is always led back and attached to that4 ,it is the madness of ,rufus about ,naevia2 ',he thinks of nothing else2 talks of nothing else1 and if ,naevia did not exist1 ,rufus would be dumb4' ,abelard began it4 ,after his first visit to ,paris in #aajj1 he seems to have passed several years elsewhere1 while ,guillaume de ,champeaux in #aajh1 retired from the school in the cloister of ,notre ,dame1 and1 taking orders1 established a class in a chapel near by1 afterwards famous as the ,abbaye-de-,saint-,victor4 ,the ,jardin des ,plantes and the ,gare d',orleans now cover the ground where the ,abbey stood1 on the banks of the ,seine outside the ,latin ,quarter1 and not a trace is left of its site2 but there ,william continued his course in dialectics1 until suddenly ,abelard reappeared among his scholars1 and resumed his old attacks4 ,this time ,abelard could hardly call himself a student4 ,he was thirty years old1 and long since had been himself a teacher2 he had attended ,william's course on dialectics nearly ten years before1 and was past master in the art2 he had nothing to learn from ,william in theology1 for neither ,william nor he was yet a theologist by profession4 ,if ,abelard went back to school1 it was certainly not to learn2 but indeed1 he himself made little or no pretence of it1 and told with childlike candour not only why he went1 but also how brilliantly he succeeded in his object3-- ,i returned to study rhetoric in his school4 ,among other controversial battles1 ,i succeeded1 by the most irrefutable argument1 in making him change1 or rather ruin his doctrine of universals4 ,his doctrine consisted in affirming the perfect identity of the essence in every individual of the same species1 so that according to him there was no difference in the essence but only in the infinite variety of accidents4 ,he then came to amend his doctrine so as to affirm1 not the identity any longer1 but the absence of distinction--the want of difference--in the essence4 ,and as this question of universals had always been one of the most important questions of dialectics--so important that ,porphyry1 touching on it in his ,preliminaries1 did not dare to take the responsibility of cutting the knot1 but said1 ,it is a very grave point1--,champeaux1 who was obliged to modify his idea and then renounce it1 saw his course fall into such discredit that they hardly let him make his dialectical lectures1 as though dialectics consisted entirely in the question of universals4 ,why was this point so very grave8 ,not because it was mere dialectics6 ,the only part of the story that seems grave today is the part that ,abelard left out2 the part which ,saint ,bernard1 thirty years later put in1 on behalf of ,william4 ,we should be more credulous than twelfth-century monks1 if we believed1 on ,abelard's word in #aace1 that in #aaaj he had driven out of the schools the most accomplished dialectician of the age by an objection so familiar that no other dialectician was ever silenced by it--whatever may have been the case with theologians--and so obvious that it could not have troubled a scholar of fifteen4 ,william stated a settled doctrine as old as ,plato2 ,abelard interposed an objection as old as ,aristotle4 ,probably ,plato and ,aristotle had received the question and answer from philosophers ten-thousand years older than themselves4 ,certainly the whole of philosophy has always been involved in the dispute4 ,the subject is as amusing as a comedy2 so amusing that ten minutes may be well given to playing the scene between ,william and ,abelard1 not as it happened1 but in a form nearer our ignorance1 with liberty to invent arguments for ,william1 and analogies--which are figures intended to serve as fatal weapons if they succeed1 and as innocent toys if they fail--such as he never imagined2 while ,abelard can respond with his true rejoinder1 fatal in a different sense4 ,for the chief analogy1 the notes of music would serve1 or the colours of the solar spectrum1 or an energy1 such as gravity--but the best is geometrical1 because ,euclid was as scholastic as ,william of ,champeaux himself1 and his axioms are even more familiar to the schoolboy of the twentieth1 than to the schoolman of the twelfth century4 ,in these scholastic tournaments the two champions started from opposite points--one1 from the ultimate substance1 ,god--the universal1 the ideal1 the type--the other from the individual1 ,socrates1 the concrete1 the observed fact of experience1 the object of sensual perception4 ,the first champion--,william in this instance-- assumed that the universal was a real thing2 and for that reason he was called a realist4 ,his opponent--,abelard--held that the universal was only nominally real2 and on that account he was called a nominalist4 ,truth1 virtue1 humanity1 exist as units and realities1 said ,william4 ,truth1 replied ,abelard1 is only the sum of all possible facts that are true1 as humanity is the sum of all actual human beings4 ,the ideal bed is a form1 made by ,god1 said ,plato4 ,the ideal bed is a name1 imagined by ourselves1 said ,aristotle4 ,i start from the universe1 said ,william4 ,i start from the atom1 said ,abelard2 and1 once having started1 they necessarily came into collision at some point between the two4 ,william of ,champeaux1 lecturing on dialectics or logic1 comes to the question of universals1 which he says1 are substances4 ,starting from the highest substance1 ,god1 all being descends through created substances by stages1 until it reaches the substance animality1 from which it descends to the substance humanity3 and humanity being1 like other essences or substances1 indivisible1 passes wholly into each individual1 becoming ,socrates1 ,plato1 and ,aristotle1 much as the divine substance exists wholly and undivided in each member of the ,trinity4 ,here ,abelard interrupts4 ,the divine substance1 he says1 operates by laws of its own1 and cannot be used for comparison4 ,in treating of human substance1 one is bound by human limitations4 ,if the whole of humanity is in ,socrates1 it is wholly absorbed by ,socrates1 and cannot be at the same time in ,plato1 or elsewhere4 ,following his favourite reductio ad absurdum1 ,abelard turns the idea round1 and infers from it that1 since ,socrates carries all humanity in him1 he carries ,plato1 too2 and both must be in the same place1 though ,socrates is at ,athens and ,plato in ,rome4 ,the objection is familiar to ,william1 who replies by another commonplace3-- ,mr4 ,abelard1 might ,i1 without offence1 ask you a simple matter8 ,can you give me ,euclid's definition of a point8 ,if ,i remember right it is1 'illud cujus nulla pars est'2 that which has no parts4 ,has it existence8 ,only in our minds4 ,not1 then1 in ,god8 ,all necessary truths exist first in ,god4 ,if the point is a necessary truth1 it exists first there4 ,then might ,i ask you for ,euclid's definition of the line8 ,the line is that which has only extension2 ',linea vocatur illa quae solam longitudinem habet4' ,can you conceive an infinite straight line8 ,only as a line which has no end1 like the point extended4 ,supposing we imagine a straight line1 like opposite rays of the sun1 proceeding in opposite directions to infinity--is it real8 ,it has no reality except in the mind that conceives it4 ,supposing we divide that line which has no reality into two parts at its origin in the sun or star1 shall we get two infinities8--or shall we say1 two halves of the infinite8 ,we conceive of each as partaking the quality of infinity4 ,now1 let us cut out the diameter of the sun2 or rather--since this is what our successors in the school will do1--let us take a line of our earth's longitude which is equally unreal1 and measure a degree of this thing which does not exist1 and then divide it into equal parts which we will use as a measure or metre4 ,this metre1 which is still nothing1 as ,i understand you1 is infinitely divisible into points8 and the point itself is infinitely small8 ,therefore we have the finite partaking the nature of the infinite8 ,undoubtedly6 ,one step more1 ,mr4 ,abelard1 if ,i do not weary you6 ,let me take three of these metres which do not exist1 and place them so that the ends of one shall touch the ends of the others4 ,may ,i ask what is that figure8 ,i presume you mean it to be a triangle4 ,precisely6 and what sort of a triangle8 ,an equilateral triangle1 the sides of which measure one metre each4 ,now let me take three more of these metres which do not exist1 and construct another triangle which does not exist2--are these two triangles or one triangle8 ,they are most certainly one--a single concept of the only possible equilateral triangle measuring one metre on each face4 ,you told us a moment ago that a universal could not exist wholly and exclusively in two individuals at once4 ,does not the universal by definition--,,the equilateral triangle measuring one metre on each face--does it not exist wholly1 in its integrity of essence1 in each of the two triangles we have conceived8 ,it does--as a conception4 ,i thank you6 ,now1 although ,i fear wearying you1 perhaps you will consent to let me add matter to mind4 ,i have here on my desk an object not uncommon in nature1 which ,i will ask you to describe4 ,it appears to be a crystal4 ,may ,i ask its shape8 ,i should call it a regular octahedron4 ,that is1 two pyramids1 set base to base8 making eight plane surfaces1 each a perfect equilateral triangle8 ,concedo triangula 7,i grant the triangles74 ,do you know1 perchance1 what is this material which seems to give substantial existence to these eight triangles8 ,i do not4 ,nor ,i6 nor does it matter1 unless you conceive it to be the work of man8 ,i do not claim it as man's work4 ,whose1 then8 ,we believe all actual creation of matter1 united with form1 to be the work of ,god4 ,surely not the substance of ,god himself8 ,perhaps you mean that this form--this octahedron--is a divine concept4 ,i understand such to be the doctrine of the ,church4 ,then it seems that ,god uses this concept habitually to create this very common crystal4 ,one question more1 and only one1 if you will permit me to come to the point4 ,does the matter--the material--of which this crystal is made affect in any way the form--the nature1 the soul--of the universal equilateral triangle as you see it bounding these eight plane surfaces8 ,that ,i do not know1 and do not think essential to decide4 ,as far as these triangles are individual1 they are made so by the will of ,god1 and not by the substance you call triangle4 ,the universal--the abstract right angle1 or any other abstract form--is only an idea1 a concept1 to which reality1 individuality1 or what we might call energy is wanting4 ,the only true energy1 except man's free will1 is ,god4 ,very good1 ,mr4 ,abelard6 we can now reach our issue4 ,you affirm that1 just as the line does not exist in space1 although the eye sees little else in space1 so the triangle does not exist in this crystal1 although the crystal shows eight of them1 each perfect4 ,you are aware that on this line which does not exist1 and its combination in this triangle which does not exist1 rests the whole fabric of mathematics with all its necessary truths4 ,in other words1 you know that in this line1 though it does not exist1 is bound up the truth of the only branch of human knowledge which claims absolute certainty for human processes4 ,you admit that this line and triangle1 which are mere figments of our human imagination1 not only exist independent of us in the crystal1 but are1 as we suppose1 habitually and invariably used by ,god ,himself to give form to the matter contained within the planes of the crystal4 ,yet to this line and triangle you deny reality4 ,to mathematical truth1 you deny compulsive force4 ,you hold that an equilateral triangle may1 to you and all other human individuals1 be a right-angled triangle if you choose to imagine it so4 ,allow me to say1 without assuming any claim to superior knowledge1 that to me your logic results in a different conclusion4 ,if you are compelled1 at one point or another of the chain of being1 to deny existence to a substance1 surely it should be to the last and feeblest4 ,i see nothing to hinder you from denying your own existence1 which is1 in fact1 impossible to demonstrate4 ,certainly you are free1 in logic1 to argue that ,socrates and ,plato are mere names--that men and matter are phantoms and dreams4 ,no one ever has proved or ever can prove the contrary1 ,infallibly1 a great philosophical school will some day be founded on that assumption4 ,i venture even to recommend it to your acute and sceptical mind2 but ,i cannot conceive how1 by any process of reasoning1 sensual or supersensual1 you can reach the conclusion that the single form of truth which instantly and inexorably compels our submission to its laws--is nothing4 ,thus far1 all was familiar ground2 certainly at least as familiar as the ,pons ,asinorum2 and neither of the two champions had need to feel ruffled in temper by the discussion4 ,the real struggle began only at this point2 for until this point was reached1 both positions were about equally tenable4 ,abelard had hitherto rested quietly on the defensive1 but ,william's last thrust obliged him to strike in his turn1 and he drew himself up for what1 five hundred years later1 was called the ,coup de ,jarnac3-- ,i do not deny1 he begins2 on the contrary1 ,i affirm that the universal1 whether we call it humanity1 or equilateral triangle1 has a sort of reality as a concept2 that it is something2 even a substance1 if you insist upon it4 ,undoubtedly the sum of all individual men results in the concept of humanity4 ,what ,i deny is that the concept results in the individual4 ,you have correctly stated the essence of the point and the line as sources of our concept of the infinite2 what ,i deny is that they are divisions of the infinite4 ,universals cannot be divided2 what is capable of division cannot be a universal4 ,i admit the force of your analogy in the case of the crystal2 but ,i am obliged to point out to you that1 if you insist on this analogy1 you will bring yourself and me into flagrant contradiction with the fixed foundations of the ,church4 ,if the energy of the triangle gives form to the crystal1 and the energy of the line gives reality to the triangle1 and the energy of the infinite gives substance to the line1 all energy at last becomes identical with the ultimate substance1 ,god ,himself4 ,socrates becomes ,god in small2 ,judas is identical with both2 humanity is of the divine essence1 and exists1 wholly and undivided1 in each of us4 ,the equilateral triangle we call humanity exists1 therefore1 entire1 identical1 in you and me1 as a subdivision of the infinite line1 space1 energy1 or substance1 which is ,god4 ,i need not remind you that this is pantheism1 and that if ,god is the only energy1 human free will merges in ,god's free will2 the ,church ceases to have a reason for existence2 man cannot be held responsible for his own acts1 either to the ,church or to the ,state2 and finally1 though very unwillingly1 ,i must1 in regard for my own safety1 bring the subject to the attention of the ,archbishop1 which1 as you know better than ,i1 will lead to your seclusion1 or worse4 ,whether ,abelard used these precise words is nothing to the point4 ,the words he left on record were equivalent to these4 ,as translated by ,m4 de ,remusat from a manuscript entitled3 ,glossulae magistri ,petri ,baelardi super ,porphyrium1 the phrase runs3 ,a grave heresy is at the end of this doctrine2 for1 according to it1 the divine substance which is recognized as admitting of no form1 is necessarily identical with every substance in particular and with all substance in general4 ,even had he not stated the heresy so bluntly1 his objection necessarily pushed ,william in face of it4 ,realism1 when pressed1 always led to pantheism4 ,william of ,champeaux and ,bishop or ,archbishop ,hildebert were personal friends1 and ,hildebert's divine substance left no more room for human free will than ,abelard saw in the geometric analogy imagined for ,william4 ,throughout the history of the ,church for fifteen hundred years1 whenever this theological point has been pressed against churchmen it has reduced them to evasion or to apology4 ,admittedly1 the weak point of realism was its fatally pantheistic term4 ,of course1 ,william consulted his friends in the ,church1 probably ,archbishop ,hildebert among the rest1 before deciding whether to maintain or to abandon his ground1 and the result showed that he was guided by their advice4 ,realism was the ,roman arch--the only possible foundation for any ,church2 because it assumed unity1 and any other scheme was compelled to prove it1 for a starting-point4 ,let us see1 for a moment1 what became of the dialogue1 when pushed into theology1 in order to reach some of the reasons which reduced ,william to tacit abandonment of a doctrine he could never have surrendered unless under compulsion4 ,that he was angry is sure1 for ,abelard1 by thus thrusting theology into dialectics1 had struck him a full blow2 and ,william knew ,abelard well3-- ,ah6 he would have rejoined2 you are quick1 ,m4 du ,pallet1 to turn what ,i offered as an analogy1 into an argument of heresy against my person4 ,you are at liberty to take that course if you choose1 though ,i give you fair warning that it will lead you far4 ,but now ,i must ask you still another question4 ,this concept that you talk about-- this image in the mind of man1 of ,god1 of matter2 for ,i know not where to seek it--whether is it a reality or not8 ,i hold it as1 in a manner1 real4 ,i want a categorical answer--,yes or ,no6 ,distinguo6 7,i must qualify47 ,i will have no qualifications4 ,a substance either is1 or not4 ,choose6 ,to this challenge ,abelard had the choice of answering ,yes1 or of answering no1 or of refusing to answer at all4 ,he seems to have done the last2 but we suppose him to have accepted the wager of battle1 and to answer3-- ,yes1 then6 ,good6 ,william rejoins2 now let us see how your pantheism differs from mine4 ,my triangle exists as a reality1 or what science will call an energy1 outside my mind1 in ,god1 and is impressed on my mind as it is on a mirror1 like the triangle on the crystal1 its energy giving form4 ,your triangle you say is also an energy1 but an essence of my mind itself2 you thrust it into the mind as an integral part of the mirror2 identically the same concept1 energy1 or necessary truth which is inherent in ,god4 ,whatever subterfuge you may resort to1 sooner or later you have got to agree that your mind is identical with ,god's nature as far as that concept is concerned4 ,your pantheism goes further than mine4 ,as a doctrine of the ,real ,presence peculiar to yourself1 ,i can commend it to the ,archbishop together with your delation of me4 ,supposing that ,abelard took the opposite course1 and answered3-- ,no6 my concept is a mere sign4 ,a sign of what1 in ,god's name6 ,a sound6 a word6 a symbol6 an echo only of my ignorance4 ,nothing1 then6 ,so truth and virtue and charity do not exist at all4 ,you suppose yourself to exist1 but you have no means of knowing ,god2 therefore1 to you ,god does not exist except as an echo of your ignorance2 and1 what concerns you most1 the ,church does not exist except as your concept of certain individuals1 whom you cannot regard as a unity1 and who suppose themselves to believe in a ,trinity which exists only as a sound1 or a symbol4 ,i will not repeat your words1 ,m4 du ,pallet1 outside this cloister1 because the consequences to you would certainly be fatal2 but it is only too clear that you are a materialist1 and as such your fate must be decided by a ,church ,council1 unless you prefer the stake by judgment of a secular court4 ,in truth1 pure nominalism--if1 indeed1 any one ever maintained it-- afforded no cover whatever4 ,nor did ,abelard's concept help the matter1 although for want of a better refuge1 the ,church was often driven into it4 ,conceptualism was a device1 like the false wooden roof1 to cover and conceal an inherent weakness of construction4 ,unity either is1 or is not4 ,if soldiers1 no matter in what number1 can never make an army1 and worshippers1 though in millions1 do not make a ,church1 and all humanity united would not necessarily constitute a ,state1 equally little can their concepts1 individual or united1 constitute the one or the other4 ,army1 ,church1 and ,state1 each is an organic whole1 complex beyond all possible addition of units1 and not a concept at all1 but rather an animal that thinks1 creates1 devours1 and destroys4 ,the attempt to bridge the chasm between multiplicity and unity is the oldest problem of philosophy1 religion1 and science1 but the flimsiest bridge of all is the human concept1 unless somewhere1 within or beyond it1 an energy not individual is hidden2 and in that case the old question instantly reappears3 ,what is that energy8 ,abelard would have done well to leave ,william alone1 but ,abelard was an adventurer1 and ,william was a churchman4 ,to win a victory over a churchman is not very difficult for an adventurer1 and is always a tempting amusement1 because the ambition of churchmen to shine in worldly contests is disciplined and checked by the broader interests of the ,church3 but the victory is usually sterile1 and rarely harms the churchman4 ,the ,church cares for its own4 ,probably the bishops advised ,william not to insist on his doctrine1 although every bishop may have held the same view4 ,william allowed himself to be silenced without a judgment1 and in that respect stands almost if not quite alone among schoolmen4 ,the students divined that he had sold himself to the ,church1 and consequently deserted him4 ,very soon he received his reward in the shape of the highest dignity open to private ambition--a bishopric4 ,as ,bishop of ,chalons-sur-,marne he made for himself a great reputation1 which does not concern us1 although it deeply concerned the unfortunate ,abelard1 for it happened1 either by chance or design1 that within a year or two after ,william established himself at ,chalons1 young ,bernard of ,citeaux chose a neighbouring diocese in which to establish a branch of the ,cistercian ,order1 and ,bishop ,william took so keen an interest in the success of ,bernard as almost to claim equal credit for it4 ,clairvaux was1 in a manner1 ,william's creation1 although not in his diocese1 and yet1 if there was a priest in all ,france who fervently despised the schools1 it was young ,bernard4 ,william of ,champeaux1 the chief of schoolmen1 could never have gained ,bernard's affections4 ,bishop ,william of ,chalons must have drifted far from dialectics into mysticism in order to win the support of ,clairvaux1 and train up a new army of allies who were to mark ,abelard for an easy prey4 ,meanwhile ,abelard pursued his course of triumph in the schools1 and in due time turned from dialectics to theology1 as every ambitious teacher could hardly fail to do4 ,his affair with ,heloise and their marriage seem to have occupied his time in #aaag or #aaah1 for they both retired into religious orders in #aaai1 and he resumed his lectures in #aabj4 ,with his passion for rule1 he was fatally certain to attempt ruling the ,church as he ruled the schools2 and1 as it was always enough for him that any point should be tender in order that he should press upon it1 he instantly and instinctively seized on the most sensitive nerve of the ,church system to wrench it into his service4 ,he became a sort of apostle of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,that the ,trinity is a mystery was a law of theology so absolute as in a degree to hide the law of philosophy that the ,trinity was meant as a solution of a greater mystery still4 ,in truth1 as a matter of philosophy1 the ,trinity was intended to explain the eternal and primary problem of the process by which unity could produce diversity4 ,starting from unity alone1 philosophers found themselves unable to stir hand or foot until they could account for duality4 ,to the common1 ignorant peasant1 no such trouble occurred1 for he knew the ,trinity in its simpler form as the first condition of life1 like time and space and force4 ,no human being was so stupid as not to understand that the father1 mother1 and child made a trinity1 returning into each other1 and although every father1 every mother1 and every child1 from the dawn of man's intelligence1 had asked why1 and had never received an answer more intelligible to them than to philosophers1 they never showed difficulty in accepting that trinity as a fact4 ,they might even1 in their beneficent blindness1 ask the ,church why that trinity1 which had satisfied the ,egyptians for five or ten-thousand years1 was not good enough for churchmen4 ,they themselves were doing their utmost1 though unconsciously1 to identify the ,holy ,ghost with the ,mother1 while philosophy insisted on excluding the human symbol precisely because it was human and led back to an infinite series4 ,philosophy required three units to start from2 it posed the equilateral triangle1 not the straight line1 as the foundation of its deometry4 ,the first straight line1 infinite in extension1 must be assumed1 and its reflection engendered the second1 but whence came the third8 ,under protest1 philosophy was compelled to accept the symbol of ,father and ,son as a matter of faith1 but1 if the relation of ,father and ,son were accepted for the two units which reflected each other1 what relation expressed the ,holy ,ghost8 ,in philosophy1 the product of two units was not a third unit1 but diversity1 multiplicity1 infinity4 ,the subject was1 for that reason1 better handled by the ,arabs1 whose reasoning worked back on the ,christian theologists and made the point more delicate still4 ,common people1 like women and children and ourselves1 could never understand the ,trinity2 naturally1 intelligent people understood it still less1 but for them it did not matter2 they did not need to understand it provided their neighbours would leave it alone4 ,the mass of mankind wanted something nearer to them than either the ,father or the ,son2 they wanted the ,mother1 and the ,church tried1 in what seems to women and children and ourselves rather a feeble way1 to give the ,holy ,ghost1 as far as possible1 the ,mother's attributes --,love1 ,charity1 ,grace2 but in spite of conscientious effort and unswerving faith1 the ,holy ,ghost remained to the mass of ,frenchmen somewhat apart1 feared rather than loved4 ,the sin against the ,holy ,ghost was a haunting spectre1 for no one knew what else it was4 ,naturally the ,church1 and especially its official theologists1 took an instinctive attitude of defence whenever a question on this subject was asked1 and were thrown into a flutter of irritation whenever an answer was suggested4 ,no man likes to have his intelligence or good faith questioned1 especially if he has doubts about it himself4 ,the distinguishing essence of the ,holy ,ghost1 as a theological substance1 was its mystery4 ,that this mystery should be touched at all was annoying to every one who knew the dangers that lurked behind the veil1 but that it should be freely handled before audiences of laymen by persons of doubtful character was impossible4 ,such license must end in discrediting the whole ,trinity under pretence of making it intelligible4 ,precisely this license was what ,abelard took1 and on it he chose to insist4 ,he said nothing heretical2 he treated the ,holy ,ghost with almost exaggerated respect1 as though other churchmen did not quite appreciate its merits2 but he would not let it alone1 and the ,church dreaded every moment lest1 with his enormous influence in the schools1 he should raise a new storm by his notorious indiscretion4 ,yet so long as he merely lectured1 he was not molested2 only when he began to publish his theology did the ,church interfere4 ,then a council held at ,soissons in #aaba abruptly condemned his book in block1 without reading it1 without specifying its errors1 and without hearing his defence2 obliged him to throw the manuscript into the fire with his own hands1 and finally shut him up in a monastery4 ,he had invited the jurisdiction by taking orders1 but even the ,church was shocked by the summary nature of the judgment1 which seems to have been quite irregular4 ,in fact1 the ,church has never known what it was that the council condemned4 ,the latest great work on the ,trinity1 by the ,jesuit ,father de ,regnon1 suggests that ,abelard's fault was in applying to the ,trinity his theory of concepts4 ,yes6 he says2 the mystery is explained2 the key of conceptualism has opened the tabernacle1 and ,saint ,bernard was right in saying that1 thanks to ,abelard1 every one can penetrate it and contemplate it at his ease2 'even the graceless1 even the uncircumcised4' ,yes6 the ,trinity is explained1 but after the manner of the ,sabellians4 ,for to identify the ,persons in the terms of human concepts is1 in the same stroke1 to destroy their 'subsistances propres4' ,although the ,saviour seems to have felt no compunctions about identifying the persons of the ,trinity in the terms of human concepts1 it is clear that tourists and heretics had best leave the ,church to deal with its subsistances propres1 and with its own members1 in its own way4 ,in sum1 the ,church preferred to stand firm on the ,roman arch1 and the architects seem now inclined to think it was right2 that scholastic science and the pointed arch proved to be failures4 ,in the twelfth century the world may have been rough1 but it was not stupid4 ,the ,council of ,soissons was held while the architects and sculptors were building the west porch of ,chartres and the ,aquilon at ,mont-,saint-,michel4 ,averroes was born at ,cordova in #aabf2 ,omar ,khayyam died at ,naishapur in #aabc4 ,poetry and metaphysics owned the world1 and their quarrel with theology was a private1 family dispute4 ,very soon the tide turned decisively in ,abelard's favour4 ,suger1 a political prelate1 became minister of the ,king1 and in ,march1 #aabb1 ,abbot of ,saint-,denis4 ,in both capacities he took the part of ,abelard1 released him from restraint1 and even restored to him liberty of instruction1 at least beyond the jurisdiction of the ,bishop of ,paris4 ,abelard then took a line of conduct singularly parallel with that of ,bernard4 ,quitting civilized life he turned wholly to religion4 ,when the agreement1 he said1 had been executed by both parties to it1 in presence of the ,king and his ministers1 ,i next retired within the territory of ,troyes1 upon a desert spot which ,i knew1 and on a piece of ground given me by certain persons1 ,i built1 with the consent of the bishop of the diocese1 a sort of oratory of reeds and thatch1 which ,i placed under the invocation of the ,holy ,trinity 444 ,founded at first in the name of the ,holy ,trinity1 then placed under its invocation1 it was called ',paraclete' in memory of my having come there as a fugitive and in my despair having found some repose in the consolations of divine grace4 ,this denomination was received by many with great astonishment1 and some attacked it with violence under pretext that it was not permitted to consecrate a church specially to the ,holy ,ghost any more than to ,god the ,father1 but that1 according to ancient usage1 it must be dedicated either to the ,son alone or to the ,trinity4 ,the spot is still called ,paraclete1 near ,nogent-sur-,seine1 in the parish of ,quincey about halfway between ,fontainebleau and ,troyes4 ,the name ,paraclete as applied to the ,holy ,ghost meant the ,consoler1 the ,comforter1 the ,spirit of ,love and ,grace2 as applied to the oratory by ,abelard it meant a renewal of his challenge to theologists1 a separation of the ,persons in the ,trinity1 a vulgarization of the mystery2 and1 as his story frankly says1 it was so received by many4 ,the spot was not so remote but that his scholars could follow him1 and he invited them to do so4 ,they came in great numbers1 and he lectured to them4 ,in body ,i was hidden in this spot2 but my renown overran the whole world and filled it with my word4 ,undoubtedly ,abelard taught theology1 and1 in defiance of the council that had condemned him1 attempted to define the persons of the ,trinity4 ,for this purpose he had fallen on a spot only fifty or sixty miles from ,clairvaux where ,bernard was inspiring a contrary spirit of religion2 he placed himself on the direct line between ,clairvaux and its source at ,citeaux near ,dijon2 indeed1 if he had sought for a spot as central as possible to the active movement of the ,church and the time1 he could have hit on none more convenient and conspicuous unless it were the city of ,troyes itself1 the capital of ,champagne1 some thirty miles away4 ,the proof that he meant to be aggressive is furnished by his own account of the consequences4 ,two rivals1 he says1 one of whom seems to have been ,bernard of ,clairvaux1 took the field against him1 and succeeded in exciting the hostility of certain ecclesiastical and secular authorities1 by charging monstrous things1 not only against my faith1 but also against my manner of life1 to such a point as to detach from me some of my principal friends2 even those who preserved some affection for me dared no longer display it1 for fear4 ,god is my witness that ,i never heard of the union of an ecclesiastical assembly without thinking that its object was my condemnation4 ,the ,church had good reason1 for ,abelard's conduct defied discipline2 but far from showing harshness1 the ,church this time showed a true spirit of conciliation most creditable to ,bernard4 ,deeply as the ,cistercians disliked and distrusted ,abelard1 they did not violently suppress him1 but tacitly consented to let the authorities buy his silence with ,church patronage4 ,the transaction passed through ,suger's hands1 and offered an ordinary example of political customs as old as history4 ,an abbey in ,brittany became vacant2 at a hint from the ,duke ,conan1 which may well be supposed to have been suggested from ,paris1 the monks chose ,abelard as their new abbot1 and sent some of their number to ,suger to request permission for ,abelard1 who was a monk of ,saint-,denis1 to become ,abbot of ,saint-,gildas-de-,rhuys1 near ,vannes1 in ,brittany4 ,suger probably intimated to ,abelard1 with a certain degree of authority1 that he had better accept4 ,abelard1 struck with terror1 and as it were under the menace of a thunderbolt1 accepted4 ,of course the dignity was in effect banishment and worse1 and was so understood on all sides4 ,the ,abbaye-de-,saint-,gildas-de-,rhuys1 though less isolated than ,mont-,saint-,michel1 was not an agreeable winter residence4 ,though situated in ,abelard's native province of ,brittany1 only sixty or eighty miles from his birthplace1 it was for him a prison with the ocean around it and a singularly wild people to deal with2 but he could have endured his lot with contentment1 had not discipline or fear or pledge compelled him to hold his tongue4 ,from #aabe1 when he was sent to ,brittany until #aace when he reappeared in ,paris1 he never opened his mouth to lecture4 ,never1 as ,god is my witness1--never would ,i have acquiesced in such an offer1 had it not been to escape1 no matter how1 from the vexations with which ,i was incessantly overwhelmed4 ,a great career in the ,church was thus opened for him against his will1 and if he did not die an archbishop it was not wholly the fault of the ,church4 ,already he was a great prelate1 the equal in rank of the ,abbe ,suger1 himself1 of ,saint-,denis2 of ,peter the ,venerable of ,cluny2 of ,bernard of ,clairvaux4 ,he was in a manner a peer of the realm4 ,almost immediately he felt the advantages of the change4 ,barely two years passed when1 in #aabg1 the ,abbe ,suger1 in reforming his subordinate ,abbey of ,argenteuil1 was obliged to disturb ,heloise1 then a sister in that congregation4 ,abelard was warned of the necessity that his wife should be protected1 and with the assistance of everyone concerned1 he was allowed to establish his wife at the ,paraclete as head of a religious sisterhood4 ,i returned there2 ,i invited ,heloise to come there with the nuns of her community2 and when they arrived1 ,i made them the entire donation of the oratory and its dependencies 444 ,the bishops cherished her as their daughter2 the abbots as their sister2 the laymen as their mother4 ,this was merely the beginning of her favour and of his4 ,for ten years they were both of them petted children of the ,church4 ,the formal establishment of ,heloise at the ,paraclete took place in #aabi4 ,in ,february1 #aacj1 on the death of the ,pope at ,rome1 a schism broke out1 and the cardinals elected two popes1 one of whom took the name of ,innocent ,,ii1 and appealed for support to ,france4 ,suger saw a great political opportunity and used it4 ,the heads of the ,french ,church agreed in supporting ,innocent1 and the ,king summoned a ,church council at ,etampes to declare its adhesion4 ,the council met in the late summer2 ,bernard of ,clairvaux took the lead2 ,peter the ,venerable1 ,suger of ,saint-,denis1 and the ,abbot of ,saint-,gildas-de- ,rhuys supported him2 ,innocent himself took refuge at ,cluny in ,october1 and on ,january #bj1 #aaca1 he stopped at the ,benedictine ,abbey of ,morigny4 ,the ,chronicle of the monastery1 recording the abbots present on this occasion1--the ,abbot of ,morigny itself1 of ,feversham2 of ,saint-,lucien of ,beauvais1 and so forth1--added especially3 ,bernard of ,clairvaux1 who was then the most famous pulpit orator in ,france2 and ,peter ,abelard1 ,abbot of ,saint-,gildas1 also a monk and the most eminent master of the schools to which the scholars of almost all the ,latin races flowed4 ,innocent needed popular support2 ,bernard and ,abelard were the two leaders of popular opinion in ,france4 ,to attach them1 ,innocent could refuse nothing4 ,probably ,abelard remained with ,innocent1 but in any case ,innocent gave him1 at ,auxerre1 in the following ,november1 a diploma1 granting to ,heloise1 prioress of the ,oratory of the ,holy ,trinity1 all rights of property over whatever she might possess1 against all assailants2 which proves ,abelard's favour4 ,at this time he seems to have taken great interest in the new sisterhood4 ,i made them more frequent visits1 he said1 in order to work for their benefit4 ,he worked so earnestly for their benefit that he scandalized the neighbourhood and had to argue at unnecessary length his innocence of evil4 ,he went so far as to express a wish to take refuge among them and to abandon his abbey in ,brittany4 ,he professed to stand in terror of his monks2 he excommunicated them2 they paid no attention to him2 he appealed to the ,pope1 his friend1 and ,innocent sent a special legate to enforce their submission in presence of the ,count and the ,bishops4 ,even since that1 they would not keep quiet4 ,and quite recently1 since the expulsion of those of whom ,i have spoken1 when ,i returned to the abbey1 abandoning myself to the rest of the brothers who inspired me with less distrust1 ,i found them even worse than the others4 ,it was no longer a question of poison2 it was the dagger that they now sharpened against my breast4 ,i had great difficulty in escaping from them under the guidance of one of the neighbouring lords4 ,similar perils menace me still and every day ,i see the sword raised over my head4 ,even at table ,i can hardly breathe 444 ,this is the torture that ,i endure every moment of the day2 ,i1 a poor monk1 raised to the prelacy1 becoming more miserable in becoming more great1 that by my example the ambitious may learn to curb their greed4 ,with this1 the ,story of ,calamity ends4 ,the allusions to ,innocent ,,ii seem to prove that it was written not earlier than #aacb2 the confession of constant and abject personal fear suggests that it was written under the shock caused by the atrocious murder of the ,prior of ,saint-,victor by the nephews of the ,archdeacon of ,paris1 who had also been subjected to reforms4 ,this murder was committed a few miles outside of the walls of ,paris1 on ,august #bj1 #aacc4 ,the ,story of ,calamity is evidently a long plea for release from the restraints imposed on its author by his position in the prelacy and the tacit1 or possibly the express1 contract he had made1 or to which he had submitted1 in #aabe4 ,this plea was obviously written in order to serve one of two purposes3--either to be placed before the authorities whose consent alone could relieve ,abelard from his restraints2 or to justify him in throwing off the load of the ,church1 and resuming the profession of schoolman4 ,supposing the second explanation1 the date of the paper would be more or less closely fixed by ,john of ,salisbury1 who coming to ,paris as a student1 in #aacf1 found ,abelard lecturing on the ,mont-,sainte- ,genevieve2 that is to say1 not under the license of the ,bishop of ,paris or his ,chancellor1 but independently1 in a private school of his own1 outside the walls4 ,i attached myself to the ,palatine ,peripatician who then presided on the hill of ,sainte-,genevieve1 the doctor illustrious1 admired by all4 ,there1 at his feet1 ,i received the first elements of the dialectic art1 and according to the measure of my poor understanding ,i received with all the avidity of my soul everything that came from his mouth4 ,this explanation is hardly reasonable1 for no prelate who was not also a temporal lord would have dared throw off his official duties without permission from his superiors4 ,in ,abelard's case the only superior to whom he could apply1 as ,abbot of ,saint-,gildas in ,brittany1 was probably the ,pope himself4 ,in the year #aace the moment was exceedingly favourable for asking privileges4 ,innocent1 driven from ,rome a second time1 had summoned a council at ,pisa for ,may #cj to help him4 ,louis-le-,gros and his minister ,suger gave at first no support to this council1 and were overruled by ,bernard of ,clairvaux who in a manner drove them into giving the ,french clergy permission to attend4 ,the principal archbishops1 a number of bishops1 and sixteen abbots went to ,pisa in ,may1 #aace1 and some one of them certainly asked ,innocent for favours on behalf of ,abelard1 which the ,pope granted4 ,the proof is a papal bull1 dated in #aacf1 in favour of ,heloise1 giving her the rank and title of ,abbess1 accompanied by another giving to the ,oratory of the ,holy ,trinity the rank and name of ,monastery of the ,paraclete1 a novelty in ,church tradition so extraordinary or so shocking that it still astounds churchmen4 ,with this excessive mark of favour ,innocent could have felt little difficulty in giving ,abelard the permission to absent himself from his abbey1 and with this permission in his hands ,abelard might have lectured on dialectics to ,john of ,salisbury in the summer or autumn of #aacf4 ,he did not1 as far as known1 resume lectures on theology4 ,such success might have turned heads much better balanced than that of ,abelard4 ,with the support of the ,pope and at least one of the most prominent cardinals1 and with relations at court with the ministers of ,louis-le-,gros1 ,abelard seemed to himself as strong as ,bernard of ,clairvaux1 and a more popular champion of reform4 ,the year #aacg1 which has marked a date for so many great points in our travels1 marked also the moment of ,abelard's greatest vogue4 ,the victory of ,aristotle and the pointed arch seemed assured when ,suger effected the marriage of the young ,prince ,louis to the heiress ,eleanor of ,guienne4 ,the exact moment was stamped on the facade of his exquisite creation1 the ,abbey ,church of ,saint-,denis1 finished in #aadj and still in part erect4 ,from ,saint-,denis to ,saint-,sulpice was but a step4 ,louis-le-,grand seems to stand close in succession to ,louis-le-,gros4 ,fortunately for tourists1 the world1 restless though it might be1 could not hurry1 and ,abelard was to know of the pointed arch very little except its restlessness4 ,just at the apex of his triumph1 ,august #a1 #aacg1 ,louis-le-,gros died4 ,six months afterwards the anti- pope also died1 the schism ended1 and ,innocent ,,ii needed ,abelard's help no more4 ,bernard of ,clairvaux became ,pope and ,king at once4 ,both ,innocent and ,louis-le-,jeune were in a manner his personal creations4 ,the ,king's brother ,henry1 next in succession1 actually became a monk at ,clairvaux not long afterwards4 ,even the architecture told the same story1 for at ,saint-,denis1 though the arch might simulate a point1 the old ,romanesque lines still assert as firmly as ever their spiritual control4 ,the fleche that gave the facade a new spirit was not added until #abae1 which marks ,abelard's error in terms of time4 ,once arrived at power1 ,bernard made short work of all that tried to resist him4 ,during #aaci he seems to have been too busy or too ill to take up the affair of ,abelard1 but in ,march1 #aadj1 the attack was opened in a formal letter from ,william of ,saint-,thierry1 who was ,bernard's closest friend1 bringing charges against ,abelard before ,bernard and the ,bishop of ,chartres4 ,the charges were simple enough3-- ,pierre ,abelard seized the moment1 when all the masters of ecclesiastical doctrine have disappeared from the scene of the world1 to conquer a place apart1 for himself1 in the schools1 and to create there an exclusive domination4 ,he treats ,holy ,scripture as though it were dialectics4 ,it is a matter with him of personal invention and annual novelties4 ,he is the censor and not the disciple of the faith2 the corrector and not the imitator of the authorized masters4 ,in substance1 this is all4 ,the need of action was even simpler4 ,abelard's novelties were becoming a danger2 they affected not only the schools1 but also even the ,curia at ,rome4 ,bernard must act because there was no one else to act3 ,this man fears you2 he dreads you6 if you shut your eyes1 whom will he fear8 444 ,the evil has become too public to allow a correction limited to amicable discipline and secret warning4 ,in fact1 ,abelard's works were flying about ,europe in every direction1 and every year produced a novelty4 ,one can still read them in ,m4 ,cousin's collected edition2 among others1 a volume on ethics3 ,ethica1 seu ,scito teipsum2 on theology in general1 an epitome2 a ,dialogus inter ,philosophum1 ,judaeum et ,christianum2 and1 what was perhaps the most alarming of all1 an abstract of quotations from standard authorities1 on the principle of the parallel column1 showing the fatal contradictions of the authorized masters1 and entitled ,sic et ,non6 ,not one of these works but dealt with sacred matters in a spirit implying that the ,essence of ,god was better understood by ,pierre du ,pallet than by the whole array of bishops and prelates in ,europe6 ,had ,bernard been fortunate enough to light upon the ,story of ,calamity1 which must also have been in existence1 he would have found there ,abelard's own childlike avowal that he taught theology because his scholars said that they did not want mere words2 that one can believe only what one understands2 and that it is ridiculous to preach to others what one understands no better than they do4 ,bernard himself never charged ,abelard with any presumption equal to this4 ,bernard said only that he sees nothing as an enigma1 nothing as in a mirror1 but looks on everything face to face4 ,if this had been all1 even ,bernard could scarcely have complained4 ,for several thousand years mankind has stared ,infinity in the face without pretending to be the wiser2 the pretension of ,abelard was that1 by his dialectic method1 he could explain the ,infinite1 while all other theologists talked mere words2 and by way of proving that he had got to the bottom of the matter1 he laid down the ultimate law of the universe as his starting-point3 ,all that ,god does1 he said1 ,he wills necessarily and does it necessarily2 for ,his goodness is such that it pushes ,him necessarily to do all the good ,he can1 and the best ,he can1 and the quickest ,he can 444 ,therefore it is of necessity that ,god willed and made the world4 ,pure logic admitted no contingency2 it was bound to be necessitarian or ceased to be logical2 but the result1 as ,bernard understood it1 was that ,abelard's world1 being the best and only possible1 need trouble itself no more about ,god1 or ,church1 or man4 ,strange as the paradox seems1 ,saint ,bernard and ,lord ,bacon1 though looking at the world from opposite standpoints1 agreed in this3 that the scholastic method was false and mischievous1 and that the longer it was followed1 the greater was its mischief4 ,bernard thought that because dialectics led wrong1 therefore faith led right4 ,he saw no alternative1 and perhaps in fact there was none4 ,if he had lived a century later1 he would have said to ,thomas ,aquinas what he said to a schoolman of his own day3 ,if you had once tasted true food1--if you knew what true religion is1--how quick you would leave those ,jew makers of books 7literatoribus judaeis7 to gnaw their crusts by themselves6 ,locke or ,hume might perhaps still have resented a little the literator judaeus1 but ,faraday or ,clerk-,maxwell would have expressed the same opinion with only the change of a word3 ,if the twelfth century had once tasted true science1 how quick they would have dropped ,avicenna and ,averroes6 ,science admits that ,bernard's disbelief in scholasticism was well founded1 whatever it may think of his reasons4 ,the only point that remains is personal3 ,which is the more sympathetic1 ,bernard or ,abelard8 ,the ,church feels no doubt1 but is a bad witness4 ,bernard is not a character to be taken or rejected in a lump4 ,he was many-sided1 and even toward ,abelard he showed more than one surface4 ,he wanted no unnecessary scandals in the ,church2 he had too many that were not of his seeking4 ,he seems to have gone through the forms of friendly negotiation with ,abelard although he could have required nothing less than ,abelard's submission and return to ,brittany1 and silence2 terms which ,abelard thought worse than death4 ,on ,abelard's refusal1 ,bernard began his attack4 ,we know1 from the ,story of ,calamity1 what ,bernard's party could not have certainly known then1--the abject terror into which the very thought of a council had for twenty years thrown ,abelard whenever he was threatened with it2 and in #aadj he saw it to be inevitable4 ,he preferred to face it with dignity1 and requested to be heard at a council to meet at ,sens in ,june4 ,one cannot admit that he felt the shadow of a hope to escape4 ,at the utmost he could have dreamed of nothing more than a hearing4 ,bernard's friends1 who had a lively fear of his dialectics1 took care to shut the door on even this hope4 ,the council was carefully packed and overawed4 ,the ,king was present2 archbishops1 bishops1 abbots1 and other prelates by the score2 ,bernard acted in person as the prosecuting attorney2 the public outside were stimulated to threaten violence4 ,abelard had less chance of a judicial hearing than he had had at ,soissons twenty years before4 ,he acted with a proper sense of their dignity and his own by simply appearing and entering an appeal to ,rome4 ,the council paid no attention to the appeal1 but passed to an immediate condemnation4 ,his friends said that it was done after dinner2 that when the volume of ,abelard's ,theology was produced and the clerk began to read it aloud1 after the first few sentences the bishops ceased attention1 talked1 joked1 laughed1 stamped their feet1 got angry1 and at last went to sleep4 ,they were waked only to growl ,damnamus--namus1 and so made an end4 ,the story may be true1 for all prelates1 even in the twelfth century1 were not ,bernards of ,clairvaux or ,peters of ,cluny2 all drank wine1 and all were probably sleepy after dinner2 while ,abelard's writings are1 for the most part1 exceedingly hard reading4 ,the clergy knew quite well what they were doing2 the judgment was certain long in advance1 and the council was called only to register it4 ,political trials were usually mere forms4 ,the appeal to ,rome seems to have been taken seriously by ,bernard1 which is surprising unless the character of ,innocent ,,ii inspired his friends with doubts unknown to us4 ,innocent owed everything to ,bernard1 while ,abelard owed everything to ,innocent4 ,the ,pope was not in a position to alienate the ,french ,church or the ,french ,king4 ,to any one who knows only what is now to be known1 ,bernard seems to have been sure of the ,curia1 yet he wrote in a tone of excitement as though he feared ,abelard's influence there even more than at home4 ,he became abusive2 ,abelard was a crawling viper 7coluber tortuosus7 who had come out of his hole 7egressus est de caverna sua71 and after the manner of a hydra 7in similitudinem hydrae71 after having one head cut off at ,soissons1 had thrown out seven more4 ,he was a monk without rule2 a prelate without responsibility2 an abbot without discipline2 disputing with boys2 conversing with women4 ,the charges in themselves seem to be literally true1 and would not in some later centuries have been thought very serious2 neither faith nor morals were impugned4 ,on the other hand1 ,abelard never affected or aspired to be a saint1 while ,bernard always affected to judge the acts and motives of his fellow-creatures from a standpoint of more than worldly charity4 ,bernard had no right to ,abelard's vices2 he claimed to be judged by a higher standard2 but his temper was none of the best1 and his pride was something of the worst2 which gave to ,peter the ,venerable occasion for turning on him sharply with a rebuke that cut to the bone4 ,you perform all the difficult religious duties1 wrote ,peter to the saint who wrought miracles2 you fast2 you watch2 you suffer2 but you will not endure the easy ones--you do not love 7non vis levia ferre1 ut diligas74 ,this was the end of ,abelard4 ,of course the ,pope confirmed the judgment1 and even hurried to do so in order that he might not be obliged to give ,abelard a hearing4 ,the judgment was not severe1 as judgments went2 indeed1 it amounted to little more than an order to keep silence1 and1 as it happened1 was never carried into effect4 ,abelard1 at best a nervous invalid1 started for ,rome1 but stopped at ,cluny1 perhaps the most agreeable stopping-place in ,europe4 ,personally he seems to have been a favourite of ,abbot ,peter the ,venerable1 whose love for ,bernard was not much stronger than ,abelard's or ,suger's4 ,bernard was an excessively sharp critic1 and spared worldliness1 or what he thought lack of spirituality1 in no prelate whatever2 ,clairvaux existed for nothing else1 politically1 than as a rebuke to them all1 and ,bernard's enmity was their bond of union4 ,under the protection of ,peter the ,venerable1 the most amiable figure of the twelfth century1 and in the most agreeable residence in ,europe1 ,abelard remained unmolested at ,cluny1 occupied1 as is believed1 in writing or revising his treatises1 in defiance of the council4 ,he died there two years later1 ,april #ba1 #aadb1 in full communion1 still nominal ,abbot of ,saint-,gildas1 and so distinguished a prelate that ,peter the ,venerable thought himself obliged to write a charming letter to ,heloise at the ,paraclete not far away1 condoling with her on the loss of a husband who was the ,socrates1 the ,aristotle1 the ,plato1 of ,france and the ,west2 who1 if among logicians he had rivals1 had no master2 who was the prince of study1 learned1 eloquent1 subtle1 penetrating2 who overcame everything by the force of reason1 and was never so great as when he passed to true philosophy1 that of ,christ4 ,all this was in ,latin verses1 and seems sufficiently strong1 considering that ,abelard's philosophy had been so recently and so emphatically condemned by the entire ,church1 including ,peter the ,venerable himself4 ,the twelfth century had this singular charm of liberty in practice1 just as its architecture knew no mathematical formula of precision2 but ,peter's letter to ,heloise went further still1 and rang with absolute passion3-- ,thus1 dear and venerable sister in ,god1 he to whom you are united1 after your tie in the flesh1 by the better and stronger bond of the divine love2 he1 with whom1 and under whom1 you have served the ,lord1 the ,lord now takes1 in your place1 like another you1 and warms in ,his bosom2 and1 for the day of ,his coming1 when shall sound the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of ,god descending from heaven1 ,he keeps him to restore him to you by ,his grace4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,mystics ,the schoolmen of the twelfth century thought they could reach ,god by reason2 the ,council of ,sens1 guided by ,saint ,bernard1 replied that the effort was futile and likely to be mischievous4 ,the council made little pretence of knowing or caring what method ,abelard followed2 they condemned any effort at all on that line2 and no sooner had ,bernard silenced the ,abbot of ,saint-,gildas for innovation than he turned about and silenced the ,bishop of ,poitiers for conservatism4 ,neither in the twelfth nor in any other century could three men have understood alike the meaning of ,gilbert de la ,poree1 who seems to one high authority unworthy of notice and to another1 worthy of an elaborate but quite unintelligible commentary4 ,when ,m4 ,rousselet and ,m4 ,haureau judge so differently of a voluminous writer1 the ,council at ,rheims which censured ,bishop ,gilbert in #aadh can hardly have been clear in mind4 ,one dare hazard no more than a guess at ,gilbert's offence1 but the guess is tolerably safe that he1 like ,abelard1 insisted on discussing and analyzing the ,trinity4 ,gilbert seems to have been a rigid realist1 and he reduced to a correct syllogism the idea of the ultimate substance--,god4 ,to make theology a system capable of scholastic definition he had to suppose1 behind the active deity1 a passive abstraction1 or absolute substance without attributes2 and then the attributes--justice1 mercy1 and the rest-- fell into rank as secondary substances4 ,formam dei divinitatem appellant4 ,bernard answered him by insisting with his usual fiery conviction that the ,church should lay down the law1 once for all1 and inscribe it with iron and diamond1 that ,divinity--,divine ,wisdom --is ,god4 ,in philosophy and science the question seems to be still open4 ,whether anything ultimate exists--whether substance is more than a complex of elements--whether the thing in itself is a reality or a name--is a question that ,faraday and ,clerk-,maxwell seem to answer as ,bernard did1 while ,haeckel answers it as ,gilbert did2 but in theology even a heretic wonders how a doubt was possible4 ,the absolute substance behind the attributes seems to be pure ,spinoza4 ,this supposes that the heretic understands what ,gilbert or ,haeckel meant1 which is certainly a mistake2 but it is possible that he may see in part what ,bernard meant and this is enough if it is all4 ,abelard's necessitarianism and ,gilbert's ,spinozism1 if ,bernard understood them right1 were equally impossible theology1 and the ,church could by no evasion escape the necessity of condemning both4 ,unfortunately1 ,bernard could not put his foot down so roughly on the schools without putting it on ,aristotle as well2 and1 for at least sixty years after the ,council of ,rheims1 ,aristotle was either tacitly or expressly prohibited4 ,one cannot stop to explain why ,aristotle himself would have been first to forbid the teaching of what was called by his name in the ,middle ,ages2 but you are bound to remember that this period between #aadj and #abjj was that of ,transition architecture and art4 ,one must go to ,noyon1 ,soissons1 and ,laon to study the ,church that trampled on the schools2 one must recall how the peasants of ,normandy and the ,chartrain were crusading for the ,virgin in #aade1 and building her fleches at ,chartres and ,saint-,pierre-sur-,dives while ,bernard was condemning ,gilbert at ,rheims in #aadh2 we must go to the poets to see what they all meant by it2 but the sum is an emotion--clear and strong as love and much clearer than logic--whose charm lies in its unstable balance4 ,the ,transition is the equilibrium between the love of ,god--which is faith--and the logic of ,god--which is reason2 between the round arch and the pointed4 ,one may not be sure which pleases most1 but one need not be harsh toward people who think that the moment of balance is exquisite4 ,the last and highest moment is seen at ,chartres1 where1 in #abjj1 the charm depends on the constant doubt whether emotion or science is uppermost4 ,at ,amiens1 doubt ceases2 emotion is trained in school2 ,thomas ,aquinas reigns4 ,bernard of ,clairvaux and ,thomas of ,aquino were both artists1--very great artists1 if the ,church pleases1--and one need not decide which was the greater2 but between them is a region of pure emotion--of poetry and art--which is more interesting than either4 ,in every age man has been apt to dream uneasily1 rolling from side to side1 beating against imaginary bars1 unless1 tired out1 he has sunk into indifference or scepticism4 ,religious minds prefer scepticism4 ,the true saint is a profound sceptic2 a total disbeliever in human reason1 who has more than once joined hands on this ground with some who were at best sinners4 ,bernard was a total disbeliever in scholasticism2 so was ,voltaire4 ,bernard brought the society of his time to share his scepticism1 but could give the society no other intellectual amusement to relieve its restlessness4 ,his crusade failed2 his ascetic enthusiasm faded2 ,god came no nearer4 ,if there was in all ,france1 between #aadj and #abjj1 a more typical ,englishman of the future ,church of ,england type than ,john of ,salisbury1 he has left no trace2 and ,john wrote a description of his time which makes a picturesque contrast with the picture painted by ,abelard1 his old master1 of the century at its beginning4 ,john weighed ,abelard and the schools against ,bernard and the cloister1 and coolly concluded that the way to truth led rather through ,citeaux1 which brought him to ,chartres as ,bishop in #aagf1 and to a mild scepticism in faith4 ,i prefer to doubt1 he said1 rather than rashly define what is hidden4 ,the battle with the schools had then resulted only in creating three kinds of sceptics3--the disbelievers in human reason2 the passive agnostics2 and the sceptics proper1 who would have been atheists had they dared4 ,the first class was represented by the ,school of ,saint-,victor2 the second by ,john of ,salisbury himself2 the third1 by a class of schoolmen whom he called ,cornificii1 as though they made a practice of inventing horns of dilemma on which to fix their opponents2 as1 for example1 they asked whether a pig which was led to market was led by the man or the cord4 ,one asks instantly3 ,what cord8--whether ,grace1 for instance1 or ,free ,will8 ,bishop ,john used the science he had learned in the school only to reach the conclusion that1 if philosophy were a science at all1 its best practical use was to teach charity--love4 ,even the early1 superficial debates of the schools1 in #aajj-ej1 had so exhausted the subject that the most intelligent men saw how little was to be gained by pursuing further those lines of thought4 ,the twelfth century had already reached the point where the seventeenth century stood when ,descartes renewed the attempt to give a solid1 philosophical basis for deism by his celebrated ,cogito1 ergo sum4 ,although that ultimate fact seemed new to ,europe when ,descartes revived it as the starting-point of his demonstration1 it was as old and familiar as ,saint ,augustine to the twelfth century1 and as little conclusive as any other assumption of the ,ego or the ,non-,ego4 ,the schools argued1 according to their tastes1 from unity to multiplicity1 or from multiplicity to unity2 but what they wanted was to connect the two4 ,they tried realism and found that it led to pantheism4 ,they tried nominalism and found that it ended in materialism4 ,they attempted a compromise in conceptualism which begged the whole question4 ,then they lay down1 exhausted4 ,in the seventeenth century the same violent struggle broke out again1 and wrung from ,pascal the famous outcry of despair in which the ,french language rose1 perhaps for the last time1 to the grand style of the twelfth century4 ,to the twelfth century it belongs2 to the century of faith and simplicity2 not to the mathematical certainties of ,descartes and ,leibnitz and ,newton1 or to the mathematical abstractions of ,spinoza4 ,descartes had proclaimed his famous conceptual proof of ,god3 ,i am conscious of myself1 and must exist2 ,i am conscious of ,god and ,he must exist4 ,pascal wearily replied that it was not ,god he doubted1 but logic4 ,he was tortured by the impossibility of rejecting man's reason by reason2 unconsciously sceptical1 he forced himself to disbelieve in himself rather than admit a doubt of ,god4 ,man had tried to prove ,god1 and had failed3 ,the metaphysical proofs of ,god are so remote 7eloignees7 from the reasoning of men1 and so contradictory 7impliquees1 far-fetched7 that they make little impression2 and even if they served to convince some people1 it would only be during the instant that they see the demonstration2 an hour afterwards they fear to have deceived themselves4 ,moreover1 this kind of proof could lead only to a speculative knowledge1 and to know ,god only in that way was not to know ,him at all4 ,the only way to reach ,god was to deny the value of reason1 and to deny reason was scepticism3-- ,en voyant l'aveuglement et la misere de l'homme et ces contrarietes etonnantes qui se decouvrent dans sa nature1 et regardant tout l'univers muet1 et l'homme sans lumiere1 abandonne a lui-meme et comme egare dans ce recoin de l'umvers1 sans savoir qui l'y a mis1 ce qu'il y est venu faire1 ce qu'il deviendra en mourant1 j'entre en effroi comme un homme qu'on aurait porte endormi dans une ile deserte et effroyable1 et qui s'eveillerait sans connaitre ou il est et sans avoir aucun moyen d'en sortir4 ,et sur cela j'admire comment on n'entre pas en desespoir d'un si miserable etat4 ,je vois d'autres personnes aupres de moi de semblable nature1 et je leur demande s'ils sont mieux instruits que moi1 et ils me disent que non ,et sur cela1 ces miserables egares1 ayant regarde autour d'eux1 et ayant vu quelques objets plaisants1 s'y sont donnes et s'y sont attaches ,pour moi je n'ai pu m'y arreter ni me reposer dans la societe de ces personnes1 en tout semblables a moi1 miserables comme moi1 impuissants comme moi4 ,je vois qu'ils ne m'aideraient pas a mourir1 je mourrai seul1 il faut donc faire comme si j'etais seul or1 si j'etais seul1 je ne batirais pas des maisons1 je ne m'embarrasserais point dans des occupations tumultuaires1 je ne chercherais l'estime de personne1 mais je tacherais settlement a decouvrir la verite4 ,ainsi1 considerant combien il y a d'apparence qu'il y a autre chose que ce que je vois1 j'ai recherche si ce ,dieu dont tout le monde parle n'aurait pas laisse quelques marques de lui4 ,je regarde de toutes parts et ne vois partout qu' obscuritd4 ,la nature ne m'offre rien que ne soit matiere de doute et d'inquietude4 ,si je n'y voyais rien qui marquat une divinite1 je me determinerais a n'en rien croire4 ,si je voyais partout les marques d'un ,createur1 je me reposerais en paix dans la foi4 ,mais voyant trop pour nier1 et trop peu pour m'assurer1 je suis dans un etat a plaindre1 et ou j'ai souhaite cent fois que si un ,dieu soutient la nature1 elle le marquat sans ,equivoque2 et que1 si les marques qu'elle en donne sont trompeuses1 elle les supprimat tout a fait2 qu'elle dit tout ou rien1 afin que je visse quel parti je dois suivre4 ,when ,i see the blindness and misery of man and the astonishing contradictions revealed in his nature1 and observe the whole universe mute1 and man without light1 abandoned to himself1 as though lost in this corner of the universe1 without knowing who put him here1 or what he has come here to do1 or what will become of him in dying1 ,i feel fear like a man who has been carried when asleep into a desert and fearful island1 and has waked without knowing where he is and without having means of rescue4 ,and thereupon ,i wonder how man escapes despair at so miserable an estate4 ,i see others about me1 like myself1 and ,i ask them if they are better informed than ,i1 and they tell me no4 ,and then these wretched wanderers1 after looking about them and seeing some pleasant object1 have given themselves up and attached themselves to it4 ,as for me ,i cannot stop there1 or rest in the company of these persons1 wholly like myself1 miserable like me1 impotent like me4 ,i see that they would not help me to die1 ,i shall die alone1 ,i must then act as though alone1 but if ,i were alone ,i should not build houses1 ,i should not fret myself with bustling occupations1 ,i should seek the esteem of no one1 but ,i should try only to discover the truth4 ,so1 considering how much appearance there is that something exists other than what ,i see ,i have sought whether this ,god of ,whom every one talks may not have left some marks of ,himself4 ,i search everywhere1 and see only obscurity everywhere4 ,nature offers me nothing but matter of possible doubt and disquiet4 ,if ,i saw there nothing to mark a divinity1 ,i should make up my mind to believe nothing of it4 ,if ,i saw everywhere the marks of a ,creator1 ,i should rest in peace in faith4 ,but seeing too much to deny1 and too little to affirm1 ,i am in a pitiable state1 where ,i have an hundred times wishes that1 if a ,god supports nature1 she would show it without equivocation2 and that1 if the marks she gives are deceptive1 she would suppress them wholly2 that she say all of nothing1 that ,i may see my path4 ,this is the true ,prometheus lyric1 but when put back in its place it refuses to rest at ,port-,royal which has a right to nothing but precision2 it has but one real home--the ,abbaye-de-,saint-,victor4 ,the mind that recoils from itself can only commit a sort of ecstatic suicide2 it must absorb itself in ,god2 and in the bankruptcy of twelfth-century science the ,western ,christian seemed actually on the point of attainment2 he1 like ,pascal1 touched ,god behind the veil of scepticism4 ,the schools had already proved one or two points which need never have been discussed again4 ,in essence1 religion was love2 in no case was it logic4 ,reason can reach nothing except through the senses2 ,god1 by essence1 cannot be reached through the senses2 if ,he is to be known at all1 ,he must be known by contact of spirit with spirit1 essence with essence2 directly2 by emotion2 by ecstasy2 by absorption of our existence in ,his2 by substitution of his spirit for ours4 ,the world had no need to wait five hundred years longer in order to hear this same result reaffirmed by ,pascal4 ,saint ,francis of ,assisi had affirmed it loudly enough1 even if the voice of ,saint ,bernard had been less powerful than it was4 ,the ,virgin had asserted it in tones more gentle1 but any one may still see how convincing1 who stops a moment to feel the emotion that lifted her wonderful ,chartres spire up to ,god4 ,the ,virgin1 indeed1 made all easy1 for it was little enough she cared for reason or logic4 ,she cared for her baby1 a simple matter1 which any woman could do and understand4 ,that1 and the grace of ,god1 had made her ,queen of ,heaven4 ,the ,trinity had its source in her1-- totius ,trinitatis nobile ,triclinium1--and she was maternity4 ,she was also poetry and art4 ,in the bankruptcy of reason1 she alone was real4 ,so ,guillaume de ,champeaux1 half a century dead1 came to life again in another of his creations4 ,his own ,abbey of ,saint-,victor1 where ,abelard had carried on imaginary disputes with him1 became the dominant school4 ,as far as concerns its logic1 we had best pass it by4 ,the ,victorians needed logic only to drive away logicians1 which was hardly necessary after ,bernard had shut up the schools4 ,as for its mysticism1 all training is much alike in idea1 whether one follows the six degrees of contemplation taught by ,richard of ,saint- ,victor1 or the eightfold noble way taught by ,gautama ,buddha4 ,the theology of the school was still less important1 for the ,victorians contented themselves with orthodoxy only in the sense of caring as little for dogma as for dialectics2 their thoughts were fixed on higher emotions4 ,not ,richard the teacher1 but ,adam the poet1 represents the school to us1 and when ,adam dealt with dogma he frankly admitted his ignorance and hinted his indifference2 he was1 as always1 conscientious2 but he was not always1 or often1 as cold4 ,his statement of the ,trinity is a marvel2 but two verses of it are enough3-- ,digne loqui de personis ,vim transcendit rationis1 ,excedit ingenia4 ,quid sit gigni1 quid processus1 ,me nescire sum professus1 ,sed fide non dubia4 ,qui sic credit1 non festinet1 ,et a via non declinet ,insolenter regia4 ,servet fidem1 formet mores1 ,nec attendat ad errors ,quos damnat ,ecclesia4 ,of the ,trinity to reason ,leads to license or to treason ,punishment deserving4 ,what is birth and what procession ,is not mine to make profession1 ,save with faith unswerving4 ,thus professing1 thus believing1 ,never insolently leaving ,the highway of our faith1 ,duty weighing1 law obeying1 ,never shall we wander straying ,where heresy is death4 ,such a school took natural refuge in the ,holy ,ghost and the ,virgin1 --,grace and ,love1--but the ,holy ,ghost1 as usual1 profited by it much less than the ,virgin4 ,comparatively little of ,adam's poetry is expressly given to the ,saint ,esprit1 and too large a part of this has a certain flavour of dogma3-- ,qui procedis ab utroque ,genitore ,genitoque ,pariter1 ,paraclite6 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,amor ,patris1 ,filiique ,par amborum et utrique ,compar et consimilis6 ,the ,holy ,ghost is of the ,father and of the ,son2 neither made nor created nor begotten1 but proceeding4 ,the whole three ,persons are coeternal together2 and coequal4 ,this sounds like a mere versification of the ,creed1 yet when ,adam ceased to be dogmatic and broke into true prayer1 his verse added a lofty beauty even to the ,holy ,ghost2 a beauty too serious for modern rhyme3-- ,oh1 juvamen oppressorum1 ,oh1 solamen miserorum1 ,pauperum refugium1 ,da contemptum terrenorum6 ,ad amorem supernorum ,trahe desiderium6 ,consolator et fundator1 ,habitator et amator1 ,cordium humilium1 ,pelle mala1 terge sordes1 ,et discordes fac ,concordes1 ,et affer praesidium6 ,oh1 helper of the heavy-laden1 ,oh1 solace of the miserable1 ,of the poor1 the refuge1 ,give contempt of earthly pleasures6 ,to the love of heavenly treasures ,lift our hearts' desire6 ,consolation and foundation1 ,dearest friend and habitation ,of the lowly-hearted1 ,dispel our evil1 cleanse our foulness1 ,and our discords turn to concord1 ,and bring us succour6 ,adam's scholasticism was the most sympathetic form of mediaeval philosophy4 ,even in prose1 the greatest writers have not often succeeded in stating simply and clearly the fact that infinity can make itself finite1 or that space can make itself bounds1 or that eternity can generate time4 ,in verse1 ,adam did it as easily as though he were writing any other miracle1--as ,gaultier de ,coincy told the ,virgin's1--and any one who thinks that the task was as easy as it seems1 has only to try it and see whether he can render into a modern tongue any single word which shall retain the whole value of the word which ,adam has chosen3-- ,ne periret homo reus ,redemptorem misit ,deus1 ,pater unigenitum2 ,visitavit quos amavit ,nosque vitae revocavit ,gratia non meritum4 ,infinitus et ,immensus1 ,quem non capit ullus sensus ,nec locorum spatia1 ,ex eterno temporalis1 ,ex immenso fit localis1 ,ut restauret omnia4 ,to death condemned by awful sentence1 ,god recalled us to repentance1 ,sending ,his only ,son2 ,whom ,he loved ,he came to cherish2 ,whom ,his justice doomed to perish1 ,by grace to life he won4 ,infinity1 ,immensity1 ,whom no human eye can see ,or human thought contain1 ,made of infinity a space1 ,made of ,immensity a place1 ,to win us ,life again4 ,the ,english verses1 compared with the ,latin1 are poor enough1 with the canting jingle of a cheap religion and a thin philosophy1 but by contrast and comparison they give higher value to the ,latin4 ,one feels the dignity and religious quality of ,adam's chants the better for trying to give them an equivalent4 ,one would not care to hazard such experiments on poetry of the highest class like that of ,dante and ,petrarch1 but ,adam was conventional both in verse and thought1 and aimed at obtaining his effects from the skilful use of the ,latin sonorities for the purposes of the chant4 ,with dogma and metaphysics he dealt boldly and even baldly as he was required to do1 and successfully as far as concerned the ear or the voice2 but poetry was hardly made for dogma2 even the ,trinity was better expressed mathematically than by rhythm4 ,with the stronger emotions1 such as terror1 ,adam was still conventional1 and showed that he thought of the chant more than of the feeling and exaggerated the sound beyond the value of the sense4 ,he could never have written the ,dies ,irae4 ,he described the shipwreck of the soul in magnificent sounds without rousing an emotion of fear2 the raging waves and winds that swept his bark past the abysses and up to the sky were as conventional as the sirens1 the dragons1 the dogs1 and the pirates that lay in wait4 ,the mast nodded as usual2 the sails were rent2 the sailors ceased work2 all the machinery was classical2 only the prayer to the ,virgin saved the poetry from sinking like the ship2 and yet1 when chanted1 the effect was much too fine to bear translation3-- ,ave1 ,virgo singularis1 ,mater nostri ,salutaris1 ,quae vocaris ,stella ,maris1 ,stella non erratica2 ,nos in hujus vitae mari ,non permitte naufragari1 ,sed pro nobis ,salutari ,tuo semper supplica6 ,saevit mare1 fremunt venti1 ,fluctus surgunt turbulenti2 ,navis currit1 sed currenti ,tot occurrunt obvia6 ,hic sirenes voluptatis1 ,draco1 canes cum piratis1 ,mortem pene desperatis ,haec intentant omnia4 ,post abyssos1 nunc ad coelum ,furens unda fert phaselum2 ,nutat malus1 fluit velum1 ,nautae cessat opera2 ,contabescit in his malis ,homo noster animalis2 ,tu nos1 ,mater spiritalis1 ,pereuntes liberal6 ,finer still is the famous stanza sung at ,easter1 in which ,christ rises1 the ,lion of ,judah1 in the crash of the burst gates of death1 at the roar of the ,father ,lion3-- ,sic de ,juda1 leo fortis1 ,fractis portis dirae mortis1 ,die surgens tertia1 ,rugiente voce patris ,ad supernae sinum matris ,tot revexit spolia4 ,for terror or ferocity or images of pain1 the art of the twelfth century had no use except to give a higher value to their images of love4 ,the figures on the west portal of ,chartres are alive with the spirit of ,adam's poetry1 but it is the spirit of the ,virgin4 ,like ,saint ,bernard1 ,adam lavished his affections on ,mary1 and even more than ,saint ,bernard he could claim to be her poet-laureate4 ,bernard was not himself author of the hymn ,stella ,maris which brought him the honour of the ,virgin's personal recognition1 but ,adam was author of a dozen hymns in which her perfections were told with equal fervour1 and which were sung at her festivals4 ,among these was the famous ,salve1 ,mater ,pietatis1 ,et totius ,trinitatis ,nobile ,triclinium6 a compliment so refined and yet so excessive that the ,venerable ,thomas ,cantimpratensis who died a century later1 about #abhj1 related in his ,apiarium that when venerabilis ,adam wrote down these lines1 ,mary herself appeared to him and bent her head in recognition4 ,although the manuscripts do not expressly mention this miracle1 they do contain1 at that stanza1 a curious note expressing an opinion1 apparently authorized by the prior1 that1 if the ,virgin had seen fit to recognize the salutation of the ,venerable ,adam in this manner1 she would have done only what he merited3 ab ea resalutari et regratiari meruit4 ,adam's poems are still on the shelves of most ,parisian bookshops1 as common as ,aucassins and better known than much poetry of our own time2 for the mediaeval ,latin rhymes have a delightful sonority and simplicity that keep them popular because they were not made to be read but to be sung4 ,one does not forget their swing3-- ,infinitus et ,immensus2 or-- ,oh1 juvamen oppressorum2 or-- ,consolatrix miserorum ,suscitatrix mortuorum4 ,the organ rolls through them as solemnly as ever it did in the ,abbey ,church2 but in mediaeval art so much more depends on the mass than on the measure--on the dignity than on the detail--that equivalents are impossible4 ,even ,walter ,scott was content to translate only three verses of the ,dies ,irae4 ,at best1 ,viollet-le-,duc could reproduce only a sort of modern ,gothic2 a more or less effaced or affected echo of a lost emotion which the world never felt but once and never could feel again4 ,adam composed a number of hymns to the ,virgin1 and1 in them all1 the feeling counts for more1 by far1 than the sense4 ,supposing we choose the simplest and try to give it a modern version1 aiming to show1 by comparison1 the difference of sound2 one can perhaps manage to recover a little of the simplicity1 but give it the grand style one cannot2 or1 at least1 if any one has ever done both1 it is ,walter ,scott1 and merely by placing side by side the ,dies ,irae and his translation of it1 one can see at a glance where he was obliged to sacrifice simplicity only to obtain sound3-- ,dies irae1 dies illa1 ,solvet seclum in favilla1 ,teste ,david cum ,sibylla4 ,quantus tremor est futurus1 ,quando judex est venturus1 ,cuncta stride discussurus6 ,tuba mirum spargens sonum ,per sepulchra regionum1 ,coget omnes ante thronum4 ,that day of wrath1 that dreadful day1 ,when heaven and earth shall pass away1 ,what power shall be the sinner's stay8 ,how shall he meet that dreadful day8 ,when shrivelling like a parched scroll ,the flaming heavens together roll2 ,when louder yet and yet more dread ,swells the high trump that wakes the dead4 ,as translation the last line is artificial4 ,the ,dies ,irae does not belong1 in spirit1 to the twelfth century2 it is sombre and gloomy like the ,last ,judgments on the thirteenth- century portals2 it does not love4 ,adam loved4 ,his verses express the ,virgin2 they are graceful1 tender1 fervent1 and they hold the same dignity which cannot be translated3-- ,in hac valle lacrimarum ,nihil dulce1 nihil carum1 ,suspecta sunt omnia2 ,quid hic nobis erit tutum1 ,cum nec ipsa vel virtutum ,tuta sit victoria6 ,caro nobis adversatur1 ,mundus cami suffragatur ,in nostram perniciem2 ,hostis instat1 nos infestans1 ,nunc se palam manifestans1 ,nunc occultans rabiem4 ,et peccamus et punimur1 ,et diversis irretimur ,laqueis venantium4 ,o ,maria1 mater ,dei1 ,tu1 post ,deum1 summa spei1 ,tu dulce refugium2 ,tot et tantis irretiti1 ,non valemus his reniti ,ne vi nec industria2 ,consolatrix miserorum1 ,suscitatrix mortuorum1 ,mortis rompe retia6 ,in this valley full of tears1 ,nothing softens1 nothing cheers1 ,all is suspected lure2 ,what safety can we hope for1 here1 ,when even virtue faints for fear ,her victory be not sure6 ,within1 the flesh a traitor is1 ,without1 the world encompasses1 ,a deadly wound to bring4 ,the foe is greedy for our spoils1 ,now clasping us within his coils1 ,or hiding now his sting4 ,we sin1 and penalty must pay1 ,and we are caught1 like beasts of prey1 ,within the hunter's snares4 ,nearest to ,god6 oh ,mary ,mother6 ,hope can reach us from none other1 ,sweet refuge from our cares2 ,we have no strength to struggle longer1 ,for our bonds are more and stronger ,than our hearts can bear6 ,you who rest the heavy-laden1 ,you who lead lost souls to ,heaven1 ,burst the hunter's snare6 ,the art of this poetry of love and hope1 which marked the mystics1 lay of course in the background of shadows which marked the cloister4 ,inter vania nihil vanius est homine4 ,man is an imperceptible atom always trying to become one with ,god4 ,if ever modern science achieves a definition of energy1 possibly it may borrow the figure3 ,energy is the inherent effort of every multiplicity to become unity4 ,adam's poetry was an expression of the effort to reach absorption through love1 not through fear2 but to do this thoroughly he had to make real to himself his own nothingness2 most of all1 to annihilate pride2 for the loftiest soul can comprehend that an atom1--say1 of hydrogen1--which is proud of its personality1 will never merge in a molecule of water4 ,the familiar verse3 ,oh1 why should the spirit of mortal be proud8 echoes ,adam's epitaph to this day3-- ,haeres peccati1 natura filius irae1 ,exiliique reus nascitur omnis homo4 ,unde superbit homo1 cujus conceptio culpa1 ,nasci poena1 labor vita1 necesse mori8 ,heir of sin1 by nature son of wrath1 ,condemned to exile1 every man is born4 ,whence is man's pride1 whose conception fault1 ,birth pain1 life labour1 and whose death is sure8 ,four concluding lines1 not by him1 express him even better3-- ,hic ego qui jaceo1 miser et miserabilis ,adam1 ,unam pro summo munere posco precem4 ,peccavi1 fateor2 veniam peto2 parce fatenti2 ,parce1 pater3 fratres1 parcite2 parce1 ,deus6 ,one does not conceive that ,adam insisted so passionately on his sins because he thought them--or himself--important before the ,infinite4 ,chemistry does not consider an atom of oxygen as in itself important1 yet if it wishes to get a volume of pure gas1 it must separate the elements4 ,the human soul was an atom that could unite with ,god only as a simple element4 ,the ,french mystics showed in their mysticism the same ,french reasonableness2 the sense of measure1 of logic1 of science2 the allegiance to form2 the transparency of thought1 which the ,french mind has always shown on its surface like a shell of nacre4 ,the mystics were in substance rather more logical than the schoolmen and much more artistic in their correctness of line and scale4 ,at bottom1 ,french saints were not extravagant4 ,one can imagine a ,byzantine asserting that no ,french saint was ever quite saintly4 ,their aims and ideals were very high1 but not beyond reaching and not unreasonable4 ,drag the ,french mind as far from line and logic as space permits1 the instant it is freed it springs back to the classic and tries to look consequent4 ,this paradox1 that the ,french mystics were never mystical1 runs through all our travels1 so obstinately recurring in architecture1 sculpture1 legend1 philosophy1 religion1 and poetry1 that it becomes tiresome2 and yet it is an idea that1 in spite of ,matthew ,arnold and many other great critics1 never has got lodgment in the ,english or ,german mind1 and probably never will4 ,every one who loves travel will hope that it never may4 ,if you are driven to notice it as the most distinctive mark of ,french art1 it is not at all for the purpose of arguing a doubtful law1 but only in order to widen the amusement of travel4 ,we set out to travel from ,mont-,saint-,michel to ,chartres1 and no farther2 there we stop2 but we may still look across the boundary to ,assisi for a specimen of ,italian ,gothic architecture1 a scheme of colour decoration1 or still better for a mystic to compare with the ,bernadines and ,victorians4 ,every one who knows anything of religion knows that the ideal mystic saint of western ,europe was ,francis of ,assisi1 and that ,francis1 though he loved ,france1 was as far as possible from being ,french2 though not in the least ,french1 he was still the finest flower from the ,french mediaeval garden2 and though the ,french mystics could never have understood him1 he was what the ,french mystics would have liked to be or would have thought they liked to be as long as they knew him to be not one of themselves4 ,as an ,italian or as a ,spaniard1 ,francis was in harmony with his world2 as a ,frenchman1 he would have been out of place even at ,clairvaux1 and still more among his own ,cordeliers at the doors of the ,sorbonne4 ,francis was born in #aahf1 at the instant when ,french art was culminating1 or about to culminate1 in the new cathedrals of ,laon and ,chartres1 on the ruins of scholastic religion and in the full summer of the ,courts of ,love4 ,he died in #abbf1 just as ,queen ,blanche became ,regent of ,france and when the ,cathedral of ,beauvais was planned4 ,his life precisely covered the most perfect moment of art and feeling in the thousand years of pure and confident ,christianity4 ,to an emotional nature like his1 life was still a phantasm or concept of crusade against real or imaginary enemies of ,god1 with the ,chanson de ,roland for a sort of evangel1 and a feminine ideal for a passion4 ,he chose for his mistress domina nostra paupertas1 and the rules of his order of knighthood were as visionary as those of ,saint ,bernard were practical4 ,isti sunt fratres mei milites tabulae rotundae1 qui latitant in desertis2 his ,knights of the ,round ,table hid themselves for their training in deserts of poverty1 simplicity1 humility1 innocence of self1 absorption in nature1 in the silence of ,god1 and1 above all1 in love and joy incarnate1 whose only influence was example4 ,poverty of body in itself mattered nothing2 what ,francis wanted was poverty of pride1 and the external robe or the bare feet were outward and necessary forms of protection against its outward display4 ,against riches or against all external and visible vanity1 rules and laws could be easily enforced if it were worth while1 although the purest humility would be reached only by those who were indifferent and unconscious of their external dress2 but against spiritual pride the soul is defenceless1 and of all its forms the subtlest and the meanest is pride of intellect4 ,if nostra domina paupertas had a mortal enemy1 it was not the pride beneath a scarlet robe1 but that in a schoolmaster's ferule1 and of all schoolmasters the vainest and most pretentious was the scholastic philosopher4 ,satan was logic4 ,lord ,bacon held much the same opinion4 ,i reject the syllogism1 was the starting-point of his teaching as it was the essence of ,saint ,francis's1 and the reasons of both men were the same though their action was opposite4 ,let men please themselves as they will in admiring and almost adoring the human mind1 this is certain3--that1 as an uneven mirror distorts the rays of objects according to its own figure and section1 so the mind 444 cannot be trusted 444 ,bacon's first object was the same as that of ,francis1 to humiliate and if possible destroy the pride of human reason2 both of them knew that this was their most difficult task1 and ,francis1 who was charity incarnate1 lost his self-control whenever he spoke of the schools1 and became almost bitter1 as though in constant terror of a poison or a cancer4 ,praeodorabat etiam tempora non longe ventura in quibus jam praesciebat scientiam inflativam debere esse occasionem ruinae4 ,he foresaw the time not far off when puffed-up science would be the ruin of his domina paupertas4 ,his struggle with this form of human pride was desperate and tragical in its instant failure4 ,he could not make even his novices understand what he meant4 ,the most impossible task of the mind is to reject in practice the reflex action of itself1 as ,bacon pointed out1 and only the highest training has sometimes partially succeeded in doing it4 ,the schools--ancient1 mediaeval1 or modern--have almost equally failed1 but even the simple rustics who tried to follow ,francis could not see why the rule of poverty should extend to the use of a psalter4 ,over and over again he explained vehemently and dramatically as only an ,italian or a ,spaniard could1 and still they failed to catch a notion of what he meant4 ,quum ergo venisset beatus ,franciscus ad locum ubi erat ille novitius1 dixit ille novitius3 ,pater1 mihi esset magna consolatio habere psalterium1 sed licet generalis illud mihi concesserit1 tamen vellem ipsum habere1 pater1 de conscientia tua4 ,cui beatus ,franciscus respondit3 ,carolus imperator1 ,rolandus et ,oliverus et omnes palatini et robusti viri qui potentes fuerunt in proelio1 prosequendo infideles cum multa sudore et labore usque ad mortem1 habuerunt de illis victoriara memorialiter1 et ad ultimum ipsi sancti martyres sunt mortui pro fide ,christi in certamine4 ,nunc autem multi sunt qui sola narratione eorum quae illi fecerunt volunt recipere honorem et humanam laudem4 ,ita et inter nos sunt multi qui solum recitando et praedicando opera quae sancti fecerunt volunt recipere honorem et laudem2 444 postquam habueris psalterium1 concupisces et volueris habere breviarium2 et postquam habueris breviarium1 sedebis in cathedra tanquam magnus prelatus et dices fratri tuo3--,apporta mihi breviarium6 ,haec autem dicens beatus ,franciscus cum magno fervore spiritus accepit de cinere et posuit super caput suum1 et ducendo manum super caput suum in circuitu sicut ille qui lavat caput1 dicebat3 ,ego breviarium6 ego breviarium6 et sic reiteravit multoties ducendo manum per caput4 ,et stupefactus et verecundatus est frater ille 444 ,elapsis autem pluribus mensibus quum esset beatus ,franciscus apud locum sanctae ,mariae de ,portiuncula1 juxta cellam post domum in via1 praedictus frater iterum locutus est ei de psalterio4 ,cui beatus ,franciscus dixit3 ,vade et facias de hoc sicut dicet tibi minister tuus6 ,quo audito1 frater ille coepit redire per viam unde venerat4 ,beatus autem ,franciscus remanens in via coepit considerare illud quod dixerat illi fratri1 et statim clamavit post cum1 dicens3 ,expecta me1 frater6 expecta6 ,et ivit usque ad eum et ait illi3 ,revertere mecum1 frater1 et ostende mihi locum ubi dixi tibi quod faceres de psalterio sicut diceret minister tuus4 ,quum ergo pervenissent ad locum1 beatus ,franciscus genuflexit coram fratre illo1 et dixit3 ,mea culpa1 frater6 mea culpa6 quia quicunque vult esse frater ,minor non debet habere nisi tunicam1 sicut regula sibi concedit1 et cordam et femoralia et qui manifesta necessitate coguntur calciamenta4 ,so when ,saint ,francis happened to come to the place where the novice was1 the novice said3 ,father1 it would be a great comfort to me to have a psalter1 but though my general should grant it1 still ,i would rather have it1 father1 with your knowledge too4 ,saint ,francis answered3 ,the ,emperor ,charlemagne1 ,roland and ,oliver1 and all the palatines and strong men who were potent in battle1 pursuing the infidels with much toil and sweat even to death1 triumphed over them memorably without writing it81 and at last these holy martyrs died in the contest for the faith of ,christ4 ,but now there are many who1 merely by telling of what those men did1 want to receive honour and human praise4 ,so1 too1 among us are many who1 merely by reciting and preaching the works which the saints have done1 want to receive honour and praise2 444 ,after you have got the psalter1 you will covet and want a breviary2 and after getting the breviary1 you will sit on your throne like a bishop1 and will say to your brother3 ',bring me the breviary6' ,while saying this1 ,saint ,francis with great vehemence took up a handful of ashes and spread it over his bead2 and moving his hand about his head in a circle as though washing it1 said3 ,i1 breviary6 ,i1 breviary6 and so kept on1 repeatedly moving his hand about his head2 and stupefied and ashamed was that novice4 444 ,but several months afterwards when ,saint ,francis happened to be near ,sta ,maria de ,portiuncula1 by the cell behind the house on the road1 the same brother again spoke to him about the psalter4 ,saint ,francis replied3 ,go and do about it as your director says4 ,on this the brother turned back1 but ,saint ,francis1 standing in the road1 began to reflect on what he had said1 and suddenly called after him3 ,wait for me1 brother6 wait6 and going after him1 said3 ,return with me1 brother1 and show me the place where ,i told you to do as your director should say1 about the psalter4 ,when they had come back to it1 ,saint ,francis bent before the brother1 and said3 ,mea culpa1 brother1 mea culpa6 because whoever wishes to be a ,minorite must have nothing but a tunic1 as the rule permits1 and the cord1 and the loincloth1 and what covering is manifestly necessary for the limbs4 ,so vivid a picture of an actual mediaeval saint stands out upon this simple background as is hardly to be found elsewhere in all the records of centuries1 but if the brother himself did not understand it and was so shamed and stupefied by ,francis's vehemence1 the world could understand it no better2 the ,order itself was ashamed of ,saint ,francis because they understood him too well4 ,they hastened to suppress this teaching against science1 although it was the life of ,francis's doctrine4 ,he taught that the science of the schools led to perdition because it was puffed up with emptiness and pride4 ,humility1 simplicity1 poverty were alone true science4 ,they alone led to heaven4 ,before the tribunal of ,christ1 the schoolmen would be condemned1 and1 with their dark logic 7opinionibus tenebrosis7 shall be plunged into outer darkness with the spirits of the darkness4 ,they were devilish1 and would perish with the devils4 ,one sees instantly that neither ,francis of ,assisi nor ,bacon of ,verulam could have hoped for peace with the schools2 twelfth-century ecstasy felt the futility of mere rhetoric quite as keenly as seventeenth-century scepticism was to feel it2 and yet when ,francis died in #abbf at ,assisi1 ,thomas was just being born at ,aquino some two hundred kilometres to the southward4 ,true scholasticism had not begun4 ,four hundred years seem long for the human mind to stand still--or go backward2 the more because the human mind was never better satisfied with itself than when thus absorbed in its mirror2 but with that chapter we have nothing to do4 ,the pleasantest way to treat it was that of ,saint ,francis2 half-serious1 half-jesting2 as though1 after all1 in the thought of infinity1 four hundred years were at most only a serio-comic interlude4 ,at ,assisi1 once1 when a theologian attacked ,fra ,egidio by the usual formal arraignment in syllogisms1 the brother waited until the conclusions were laid down1 and then1 taking out a flute from the folds of his robe1 he played his answer in rustic melodies4 ,the soul of ,saint ,francis was a rustic melody and the simplest that ever reached so high an expression4 ,compared with it1 ,theocritus and ,virgil are as modern as ,tennyson and ourselves4 ,all this shows only what ,saint ,francis was not2 to understand what he was and how he goes with ,saint ,bernard and ,saint ,victor through the religious idyll of ,transition architecture1 one must wander about ,assisi with the ,floretum or ,fioretti in one's hand2--the legends which are the gospel of ,francis as the evangels are the gospel of ,christ1 who was reincarnated in ,assisi4 ,we have given a deal of time to showing our own sceptical natures how simple the architects and decorators of ,chartres were in their notions of the ,virgin and her wants2 but ,french simple-mindedness was already complex compared with ,italian4 ,the ,virgin was human2 ,francis was elementary nature itself1 like sun and air2 he was ,greek in his joy of life3-- 444 ,recessit inde et venit inter ,cannarium et ,mevanium4 ,et respexit quasdam arbores juxta viam in quibus residebat tanta multitudo avium diversarum quod nunquam in partibus illis visa similis multitudo4 ,in campo insuper juxta praedictas arbores etiam multitudo maxima residebat4 ,quam multitudinem sanctus ,franciscus respiciens et admirans1 facto super eum ,spiritu ,dei1 dixit sociis3 ,vobis hic me in via exspectantibus1 ibo et praedicabo sororibus nostris aviculis4 ,et intravit in campum ad aves quae residebant in terra4 ,et statim quum praedicare incepit omnes aves in arboribus residentes descenderunt ad eum et simul cum aliis de campo immobiles perman serunt1 quum tamen ipse inter eas iret plurimas tunica contingendo4 ,et nulla earum penitus movebatur1 sicut recitavit frater ,jacobus de ,massa1 sanctus homo1 qui omnia supradicta habuit ab ore fratris ,massei1 qui fuit unus de iis qui tune erant socii sancti patris4 ,quibus avibus sanctus ,franciscus ait3 ,multum tenemini ,deo1 sorores meas aves1 et debetis eum semper et ubique laudare propter liberum quem ubique habetis volatum1 propter vestitum duplicatum et triplicatum1 propter habitum pictum et ornatum1 propter victum sine vestro labore paratum1 propter cantum a ,creatore vobis intimatum1 propter numerum ex ,dei benedictione multiplicatum1 propter semen vestrum a ,deo in area reservatum1 propter elementum aeris vobis deputatum4 ,vos non seminatis neque metitis1 et ,deus vos pascit2 et dedit vobis flumina et fontes ad potandum1 montes et colles1 saxa et ibices ad refugium1 et arbores altes ad nidificandum2 et quum nec filare nec texere sciatis1 praebet tam vobis quam vestris filiis necessarium indumentum4 ,unde multum diligit vos ,creator qui tot beneficia contulit4 ,quapropter cavete1 sorores mes aviculae1 ni sitis ingratae sed semper laudare ,deum studete4 444 ,he departed thence and came between ,cannara and ,bevagna2 and near the road he saw some trees on which perched so great a number of birds as never in those parts had been seen the like4 ,also in the field beyond1 near these same trees1 a very great multitude rested on the ground4 ,this multitude1 ,saint ,francis seeing with wonder1 the spirit of ,god descending on him he said to his companions3 ,wait for me on the road1 while ,i go and preach to our sisters the little birds4 ,and he went into the field where the birds were on the ground4 ,and as soon as he began to preach1 all the birds in the trees came down to him and with those in the field stood quite still1 even when he went among them touching many with his robe4 ,not one of them moved1 as ,brother ,james of ,massa related1 a saintly man who had the whole story from the mouth of ,brother ,masseo who was one of those then with the sainted father4 ,to these birds1 ,saint ,francis said3 ,much are you bound to ,god1 birds1 my sisters1 and everywhere and always must you praise him for the free flight you everywhere have2 for the double and triple covering2 for the painted and decorated robe2 for the food prepared without your labour2 for the song taught you by the ,creator2 for your number multiplied by ,god's blessing2 for your seed preserved by ,god in the ark2 for the element of air allotted to you4 ,you neither sow nor reap1 and ,god feeds you2 and has given you rivers and springs to drink at1 mountains and hills1 rocks and wild goats for refuge1 and high trees for nesting2 and though you know neither how to spin nor to weave1 ,he gives both you and your children all the garments you need4 ,whence much must the ,creator love you1 ,who confers so many blessings4 ,therefore take care1 my small bird sisters1 never to be ungrateful1 but always strive to praise ,god4 ,fra ,ugolino1 or whoever wrote from the dictation of ,brother ,james of ,massa1 after the tradition of ,brother ,masseo of ,marignano reported ,saint ,francis's sermon in absolute good faith as ,saint ,francis probably made it and as the birds possibly received it4 ,all were ,god's creatures1 brothers and sisters1 and ,god alone knew or knows whether or how far they understand each other2 but ,saint ,francis1 in any case1 understood them and believed that they were in sympathy with him4 ,as far as the birds or wolves were concerned1 it was no great matter1 but ,francis did not stop with vertebrates or even with organic forms4 ,nor was it surprising1 said the ,speculum1 if fire and other creatures sometimes revered and obeyed him2 for1 as we who were with him very frequently saw1 he held them in such affection and so much delighted in them1 and his soul was moved by such pity and compassion for them1 that he would not see them roughly handled1 and talked with them with such evident delight as if they were rational beings3-- ,nam quadam vice1 quum sederet juxta ignem1 ipso nesciente1 ignis invasit pannos ejus de lino1 sive brachas1 juxta genu1 quumque sentiret calorem ejus nolebat ipsum extinguere4 ,socius autem ejus videns comburi pannos ejus cucurrit ad eum volens extinguere ignem2 ipse vero prohibuit ei1 dicens3 ,noli1 frater1 carissime1 noli male facere igni6 ,et sic nullo modo voluit quod extingueret ipsum4 ,ille vero festinanter ivit ad fratrem qui erat guardianus ipsius1 et duxit eum ad beatum ,franciscum1 et statim contra voluntatem beati ,francisci1 extinxit ignem4 ,unde quacunque necessitate urgente nunquam voluit extinguere ignem vel lampadem vel candelam1 tantum pietate movebatur ad ipsum4 ,nolebat etiam quod frater projiceret ignem vel lignum fumigantem de loco ad locum sicut solet fieri1 sed volebat ut plane poneret ipsum in terra ob reverentiam illius cujus est creatura4 ,for once when he was sitting by the fire1 a spark1 without his knowing it1 caught his linen drawers and set them burning near the knee1 and when he felt the heat he would not extinguish it2 but his companion1 seeing his clothes on fire1 ran to put it out1 and he forbade it1 saying3 ,don't1 my dearest brother1 don't hurt the fire6 ,so he utterly refused to let him put it out1 and the brother hurried off to get his guardian1 and brought him to ,saint ,francis1 and together they put out the fire at once against ,saint ,francis's will4 ,so1 no matter what the necessity1 he would never put out fire ,or a lamp or candle1 so strong was his feeling for it2 he would not even let a brother throw fire or a smoking log from place to place1 as is usual1 but wanted it placed gently 7piano7 on the ground1 out of respect for ,him ,whose creature it is4 ,the modern tourist1 having with difficulty satisfied himself that ,saint ,francis acted thus in good faith1 immediately exclaims that he was a heretic and should have been burned2 but1 in truth1 the immense popular charm of ,saint ,francis1 as of the ,virgin1 was precisely his heresies4 ,both were illogical and heretical by essence2--in strict discipline1 in the days of the ,holy ,office1 a hundred years later1 both would have been burned by the ,church1 as ,jeanne d',arc was1 with infinitely less reason1 in #adca4 ,the charm of the twelfth-century ,church was that it knew how to be illogical--no great moral authority ever knew it better--when ,god ,himself became illogical4 ,it cared no more than ,saint ,francis1 or ,lord ,bacon1 for the syllogism4 ,nothing in twelfth-century art is so fine as the air and gesture of sympathetic majesty with which the ,church drew aside to let the ,virgin and ,saint ,francis pass and take the lead--for a time4 ,both were human ideals too intensely realized to be resisted merely because they were illogical4 ,the ,church bowed and was silent4 ,this does not concern us4 ,what the ,church thought or thinks is its own affair1 and what it chooses to call orthodox is orthodox4 ,we have been trying only to understand what the ,virgin and ,saint ,francis thought1 which is matter of fact1 not of faith4 ,saint ,francis was even more outspoken than the ,virgin4 ,she calmly set herself above dogma1 and1 with feminine indifference to authority1 overruled it4 ,he1 having asserted in the strongest terms the principle of obedience1 paid no further attention to dogma1 but1 without the least reticence1 insisted on practices and ideas that no ,church could possibly permit or avow4 ,toward the end of his life1 his physician cauterized his face for some neuralgic pain3-- ,et posito ferro in igne pro coctura fienda1 beatus ,franciscus volens confortare spiritum suum ne pavesceret1 sic locutus est ad ignem3 ,frater mi1 ignis1 nobilis et utilis inter alias creaturas1 esto mihi curialis in hac hora quia olim te dilexi et diligam amore illius qui creavit te4 ,deprecor etiam creatorem nostrum qui nos creavit ut ita tuum calorem temperct ut ipsum sustinere valeam4 ,et oratione finita signavit ignem signo crucis4 ,when the iron was put on the fire for making the cotterie1 ,saint ,francis1 wishing to encourage himself against fear1 spoke thus to the fire3 ,my brother1 fire1 noblest and usefullest of creatures1 be gentle to me now1 because ,i have loved and will love you with the love of ,him who created you4 ,our ,creator1 too1 ,who created us both1 ,i implore so to temper your heat that ,i may have strength to bear it4 ,and having spoken1 he signed the fire with the cross4 ,with him1 this was not merely a symbol4 ,children and saints can believe two contrary things at the same time1 but ,saint ,francis had also a complete faith of his own which satisfied him wholly4 ,all nature was ,god's creature4 ,the sun and fire1 air and water1 were neither more nor less brothers and sisters than sparrows1 wolves1 and bandits4 ,even daemones sunt castalli ,domini nostri2 the devils are wardens of our ,lord4 ,if ,saint ,francis made any exception from his univeral law of brotherhood it was that of the schoolmen1 but it was never expressed4 ,even in his passionate outbreak1 in the presence of ,saint ,dominic1 at the great ,chapter of his ,order at ,sancta ,maria de ,portiuncula in #abah1 he did not go quite to the length of denying the brotherhood of schoolmen1 although he placed them far below the devils1 and yet every word of this address seems to sob with the anguish of his despair at the power of the school anti-,christ3-- ,quum beatus ,franciscus esset in capitulo generali apud ,sanctam ,mariam de ,portiuncula 444 et fuerunt ibi quinque millia fratres1 quamplures fratres sapientes et scientiati iverunt ad dominum ,ostiensem qui erat ibidem1 et dixerunt ei3 ,domine1 volumus ut suadetis fratri ,francisco quod sequatur consilium fratrum sapientium et permittat se interdum duci ab eis4 ,et allegabant regulam sancti ,benedicti1 ,augustini et ,bernardi qui docent sic et sic vivere ordinate4 ,quae omnia quum retulisset cardinalis beato ,francisco per modum admoni admonitionis1 beatus ,franciscus1 nihil sibi respondens1 cepit ipsum per manum et duxit eum ad fratres congregatos in capitulo1 et sic locutus est fratribus in fervore et virtute ,spirit us sancti3-- ,fratres mei1 fratres mei1 ,dominus vocavit me per viam simplicitatis et humilitatis1 et bane viam ostendit mini in veritate pro me et pro illis qui volunt mini credere et imitari4 ,et ideo volo quod non nominetis mihi aliquam regulam neque sancti ,benedicti neque sancti ,augustini neque sancti ,bernardi1 neque aliquam viam et formam vivendi praeter illam quae mihi a ,domino est ostensa misericorditer et donata4 ,et dixit mihi ,dominus quod volebat me esse unum pauperem et stultum idiotam magnum fatuum in hoc mundo et noluit nos ducere per viam aliam quam per istam scientiam4 ,sed per vestram scientiam et sapientiam ,deus vos confundet et ego confido in castallis ,domini idest dasmonibus quod per ipsos puniet vos ,deus et adhuc redibitis ad vestrum statum cum vituperio vestro velitis nolitis4 ,when ,saint ,francis was at the ,general ,chapter held at ,sancta maris de ,portiuncula 444 and five thousand brothers were present1 ,a number of them who were schoolmen went to ,cardinal ,hugolino who was there1 and said to him3 ,my lord1 we want you to persuade ,brother ,francis to follow the council of the learned brothers1 and sometimes let himself be guided by them4 ,and they suggested the rule of ,saint ,benedict or ,augustine or ,bernard who require their congregations to live so and so1 by regulation4 ,when the cardinal had repeated all this to ,saint ,francis by way of counsel1 ,saint ,francis1 making no answer1 took him by the hand and led him to the brothers assembled in ,chapter1 and in the fervour and virtue of the ,holy ,ghost1 spoke thus to the brothers3 ,my brothers1 my brothers1 ,god has called me by way of simplicity and humility1 and has shown me in verity this path for me and those who want to believe and follow me2 so ,i want you to talk of no ,rule to me1 neither ,saint ,benedict nor ,saint ,augustine nor ,saint ,bernard1 nor any way or form of ,life whatever except that which ,god has mercifully pointed out and granted to me4 ,and ,god said that he wanted me to be a pauper poverello and an idiot--a great fool--in this world1 and would not lead us by any other path of science than this4 ,but by your science and syllogisms ,god will confound you1 and ,i trust in ,god's warders1 the devils1 that through them ,god shall punish you1 and you will yet come back to your proper station with shame1 whether you will or no4 ,the narration continues3 ,tunc cardinalis obstupuit valde et nihil respondit4 ,et omnes fratres plurimum timuerunt4 ,one feels that the reporter has not exaggerated a word2 on the contrary1 he softened the scandal1 because in his time the ,cardinal had gained his point1 and ,francis was dead4 ,one can hear ,francis beginning with some restraint1 and gradually carried away by passion till he lost control of himself and his language3 ',god told me1 with his own words1 that he meant me to be a beggar and a great fool1 and would not have us on any other terms2 and as for your science1 ,i trust in ,god's devils who will beat you out of it1 as you deserve4' ,and the ,cardinal was utterly dumbfounded and answered nothing2 and all the brothers were scared to death4 ,the ,cardinal ,hugolino was a great schoolman1 and ,dominic was then founding the famous order in which the greatest of all doctors1 ,albertus ,magnus1 was about to begin his studies4 ,one can imagine that the ,cardinal obstupuit valde1 and that ,dominic felt shaken in his scheme of school instruction4 ,for a single instant1 in the flash of ,francis's passion1 the whole mass of five thousand monks in a state of semi- ecstasy recoiled before the impassable gulf that opened between them and the ,church4 ,no one was to blame--no one ever is to blame--because ,god wanted contradictory things1 and man tried to carry out1 as he saw them1 ,god's trusts4 ,the schoolmen saw their duty in one direction2 ,francis saw his in another2 and1 apparently1 when both lines had been carried1 after such fashion as might be1 to their utmost results1 and five hundred years had been devoted to the effort1 society declared both to be failures4 ,perhaps both may some day be revived1 for the two paths seem to be the only roads that can exist1 if man starts by taking for granted that there is an object to be reached at the end of his journey4 ,the ,church1 embracing all mankind1 had no choice but to march with caution1 seeking ,god by every possible means of intellect and study4 ,francis1 acting only for himself1 could throw caution aside and trust implicitly in ,god1 like the children who went on crusade4 ,the two poles of social and political philosophy seem necessarily to be organization or anarchy2 man's intellect or the forces of nature4 ,francis saw ,god in nature1 if he did not see nature in ,god2 as the builders of ,chartres saw the ,virgin in their apse4 ,francis held the simplest and most childlike form of pantheism4 ,he carried to its last point the mystical union with ,god1 and its necessary consequence of contempt and hatred for human intellectual processes4 ,even ,saint ,bernard would have thought his ideas wanting in that mesure which the ,french mind so much prizes4 ,at the same time we had best try1 as innocently as may be1 to realize that no final judgment has yet been pronounced1 either by the ,church or by society or by science1 on either or any of these points2 and until mankind finally settles to a certainty where it means to go1 or whether it means to go anywhere1--what its object is1 or whether it has an object1--,saint ,francis may still prove to have been its ultimate expression4 ,in that case1 his famous chant-- the ,cantico del ,sole--will be the last word of religion1 as it was probably its first4 ,here it is--too sincere for translation3-- ,,cantico ,,del ,,sole 444 ,laudato sie1 misignore1 con tucte le tue creature spetialmente messor lo frate sole lo quale iorno et allumini noi per loi et ellu e bellu e radiante cum grande splendore de te1 altissimo1 porta significatione4 ,laudato si1 misignore1 per sora luna e le stelle in celu lai formate clarite et pretiose et belle4 ,laudato si1 misignore1 per frate vento et per aere et nubilo et sereno et onne tempo per lo quale a le tue creature dai sustentamento4 ,laudato si1 misignore1 per sor aqua la quale e multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta4 ,laudato si1 misignore1 per frate focu per lo quale enallumini la nocte ed ello e bello et jocondo et robustoso et forte4 ,laudato si1 misignore1 per sora nostra matre terra la quale ne sustenta et governa et produce diversi fructi con coloriti flori et herba4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,laudato si1 misignore1 per sora nostra morte corporale de la quale nullu homo vivente po skappare guai acquelli ke morrano ne le peccata mortali4444 ,the verses1 if verses they are1 have little or nothing in common with the art of ,saint ,bernard or ,adam of ,saint-,victor4 ,whatever art they have1 granting that they have any1 seems to go back to the cave-dwellers and the age of stone4 ,compared with the naivete of the ,cantico del ,sole1 the ,chanson de ,roland or the ,iliad is a triumph of perfect technique4 ,the value is not in the verse4 ,the ,chant of the ,sun is another ,pons ,seclorum--or perhaps rather a ,pons ,sanctorum--over which only children and saints can pass4 ,it is almost a paraphrase of the sermon to the birds4 ,thank you1 mi signore1 for messor brother sun1 in especial1 who is your symbol2 and for sister moon and the stars2 and for brother wind and air and sky2 and for sister water2 and for brother fire2 and for mother earth6 ,we are all yours1 mi signore6 ,we are your children2 your household2 your feudal family6 but we never heard of a ,church4 ,we are all varying forms of the same ultimate energy2 shifting symbols of the same absolute unity2 but our only unity1 beneath you1 is nature1 not law6 ,we thank you for no human institutions1 even for those established in your name2 but1 with all our hearts we thank you for sister our mother ,earth and its fruits and coloured flowers6 ,francis loved them all--the brothers and sisters--as intensely as a child loves the taste and smell of a peach1 and as simply2 but behind them remained one sister whom no one loved1 and for whom1 in his first verses1 ,francis had rendered no thanks4 ,only on his death- bed he added the lines of gratitude for our sister death1 the long-sought1 never-found sister of the schoolmen1 who solved all philosophy and merged multiplicity in unity4 ,the solution was at least simple2 one must decide for one's self1 according to one's personal standards1 whether or not it is more sympathetic than that with which we have got lastly to grapple in the works of ,saint ,thomas ,aquinas4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,saint ,,thomas ,,aquinas ,long before ,saint ,francis's death1 in #abbf1 the ,french mystics had exhausted their energies and the siecle had taken new heart4 ,society could not remain forever balancing between thought and act4 ,a few gifted natures could absorb themselves in the absolute1 but the rest lived for the day1 and needed shelter and safety4 ,so the ,church bent again to its task1 and bade the ,spaniard ,dominic arm new levies with the best weapons of science1 and flaunt the name of ,aristotle on the ,church banners along with that of ,saint ,augustine4 ,the year #abae1 which happened to be the date of ,magna ,charta and other easily fixed events1 like the birth of ,saint ,louis1 may serve to mark the triumph of the schools4 ,the pointed arch revelled at ,rheims and the ,gothic architects reached perfection at ,amiens just as ,francis died at ,assisi and ,thomas was born at ,aquino4 ,the ,franciscan ,order itself was swept with the stream that ,francis tried to dam1 and the great ,franciscan schoolman1 ,alexander ,hales1 in #abbb1 four years before the death of ,francis1 joined the order and began lecturing as though ,francis himself had lived only to teach scholastic philosophy4 ,the rival ,dominican champion1 ,albertus ,magnus1 began his career a little later1 in #abbh4 ,born of the noble ,swabian family of ,bollstadt1 in #aaic1 he drifted1 like other schoolmen1 to ,paris1 and the ,rue ,maitre ,albert1 opposite ,notre ,dame1 still records his fame as a teacher there4 ,thence he passed to a school established by the order at ,cologne1 where he was lecturing with great authority in #abdc when the general superior of the order brought up from ,italy a young man of the highest promise to be trained as his assistant4 ,thomas1 the new pupil1 was born under the shadow of ,monte ,cassino in #abbf or #abbg4 ,his father1 the ,count of ,aquino1 claimed descent from the imperial line of ,swabia2 his mother1 from the ,norman princes of ,sicily2 so that in him the two most energetic strains in ,europe met4 ,his social rank was royal1 and the order set the highest value on it4 ,he took the vows in #abdc1 and went north at once to help ,albertus at ,cologne4 ,in #abde1 the order sent ,albertus back to ,paris1 and ,thomas with him4 ,there he remained till #abdh when he was ordered to ,cologne as assistant lecturer1 and only four years afterwards1 at twenty-five years old1 he was made full professor at ,paris4 ,his industry and activity never rested till his death in #abgd1 not yet fifty years old1 when he bequeathed to the ,church a mass of manuscript that tourists will never know enough to estimate except by weight4 ,his complete works1 repeatedly printed1 fill between twenty and thirty quarto volumes4 ,for so famous a doctor1 this is almost meagre4 ,unfortunately his greatest work1 the ,summa ,theologiae1 is unfinished--like ,beauvais ,cathedral4 ,perhaps ,thomas's success was partly due to his memory which is said to have been phenomenal2 for1 in an age when cyclopaedias were unknown1 a cyclopaedic memory must have counted for half the battle in these scholastic disputes where authority could be met only by authority2 but in this case1 memory was supported by mind4 ,outwardly ,thomas was heavy and slow in manner1 if it is true that his companions called him the big dumb ox of ,sicily2 and in fashionable or court circles he did not enjoy reputation for acute sense of humour4 ,saint ,louis's household offers a picture not wholly clerical1 least of all among the ,king's brothers and sons2 and perhaps the dinner-table was not much more used then than now to abrupt interjections of theology into the talk about hunting and hounds2 but however it happened1 ,thomas one day surprised the company by solemnly announcing--,i have a decisive argument against the ,manicheans6 ,no wit or humour could be more to the point-- between two saints that were to be--than a decisive argument against enemies of ,christ1 and one greatly regrets that the rest of the conversation was not reported1 unless1 indeed1 it is somewhere in the twenty-eight quarto volumes2 but it probably lacked humour for courtiers4 ,the twenty-eight quarto volumes must be closed books for us4 ,none but ,dominicans have a right to interpret them4 ,no ,franciscan--or even ,jesuit--understands ,saint ,thomas exactly or explains him with authority4 ,for summer tourists to handle these intricate problems in a theological spirit would be altogether absurd2 but1 for us1 these great theologians were also architects who undertook to build a ,church ,intellectual1 corresponding bit by bit to the ,church ,administrative1 both expressing--and expressed by--the ,church ,architectural4 ,alexander ,hales1 ,albert the ,great1 ,thomas ,aquinas1 ,duns ,scotus1 and the rest1 were artists2 and if ,saint ,thomas happens to stand at their head as type1 it is not because we choose him or understand him better than his rivals1 but because his order chose him rather than his master ,albert1 to impose as authority on the ,church2 and because ,pope ,john ,,xxii canonized him on the ground that his decisions were miracles2 and because the ,council of ,trent placed his ,summa among the sacred books on their table2 and because ,innocent ,,vi said that his doctrine alone was sure2 and finally1 because ,leo ,,xiii very lately made a point of declaring that1 on the wings of ,saint ,thomas's genius1 human reason has reached the most sublime height it can probably ever attain4 ,although the ,franciscans1 and1 later1 the ,jesuits1 have not always shown as much admiration as the ,dominicans for the genius of ,saint ,thomas1 and the mystics have never shown any admiration whatever for the philosophy of the schools1 the authority of ,leo ,,xiii is final1 at least on one point and the only one that concerns us4 ,saint ,thomas is still alive and overshadows as many schools as he ever did2 at all events1 as many as the ,church maintains4 ,he has outlived ,descartes and ,leibnitz and a dozen other schools of philosophy more or less serious in their day4 ,he has mostly outlived ,hume1 ,voltaire1 and the militant sceptics4 ,his method is typical and classic2 his sentences1 when interpreted by the ,church1 seem1 even to an untrained mind1 intelligible and consistent2 his ,church ,intellectual remains practically unchanged1 and1 like the ,cathedral of ,beauvais1 erect1 although the storms of six or seven centuries have prostrated1 over and over again1 every other social or political or juristic shelter4 ,compared with it1 all modern systems are complex and chaotic1 crowded with self-contradictions1 anomalies1 impracticable functions and outworn inheritances2 but beyond all their practical shortcomings is their fragmentary character4 ,an economic civilization troubles itself about the universe much as a hive of honey-bees troubles about the ocean1 only as a region to be avoided4 ,the hive of ,saint ,thomas sheltered ,god and man1 mind and matter1 the universe and the atom1 the one and the multiple1 within the walls of an harmonious home4 ,theologians1 like architects1 were supposed to receive their ,church complete in all its lines2 they were modern judges who interpreted the laws but never invented it4 ,saint ,thomas merely selected between disputed opinions1 but he allowed himself to wander very far afield1 indeed1 in search of opinions to dispute4 ,the field embraced all that existed1 or might have existed1 or could never exist4 ,the immense structure rested on ,aristotle and ,saint ,augustine at the last1 but as a work of art it stood alone1 like ,rheims or ,amiens ,cathedral1 as though it had no antecedents4 ,then1 although1 like ,rheims1 its style was never meant to suit modern housekeeping and is ill-seen by the ,ecole des ,beaux ,arts1 it reveals itself in its great mass and intelligence as a work of extraordinary genius2 a system as admirably proportioned as any cathedral and as complete2 a success not universal either in art or science4 ,saint ,thomas's architecture1 like any other work of art1 is best studied by itself as though he created it outright2 otherwise a tourist would never get beyond its threshold4 ,beginning with the foundation which is ,god and ,god's active presence in ,his ,church1 ,thomas next built ,god into the walls and towers of ,his ,church1 in the ,trinity and its creation of mind and matter in time and space2 then finally he filled the ,church by uniting mind and matter in man1 or man's soul1 giving to humanity a free will that rose1 like the fleche1 to heaven4 ,the foundation--the structure--the congregation-- are enough for students of art2 his ideas of law1 ethics1 and politics2 his vocabulary1 his syllogisms1 his arrangement are1 like the drawings of ,villard de ,honnecourt's sketch-book1 curious but not vital4 ,after the eleventh-century ,romanesque ,church of ,saint ,michael came the twelfth-century ,transition ,church of the ,virgin1 and all merged and ended at last in the thirteenth-century ,gothic ,cathedral of the ,trinity4 ,one wants to see the end4 ,the foundation of the ,christian ,church should be--as the simple deist might suppose--always the same1 but ,saint ,thomas knew better4 ,his foundation was ,norman1 not ,french2 it spoke the practical architect who knew the mathematics of his art1 and who saw that the foundation laid by ,saint ,bernard1 ,saint ,victor1 ,saint ,francis1 the whole mystical1 semi-mystical1 ,cartesian1 ,spinozan foundation1 past or future1 could not bear the weight of the structure to be put on it4 ,thomas began by sweeping the ground clear of them4 ,god must be a concrete thing1 not a human thought4 ,god must be proved by the senses like any other concrete thing2 nihil est in intellectu quin prius fuerit in sensu2 even if ,aristotle had not affirmed the law1 ,thomas would have discovered it4 ,he admitted at once that ,god could not be taken for granted4 ,the admission1 as every boy-student of the ,latin ,quarter knew1 was exceedingly bold and dangerous4 ,the greatest logicians commonly shrank from proving unity by multiplicity4 ,thomas was one of the greatest logicians that ever lived2 the question had always been at the bottom of theology2 he deliberately challenged what every one knew to be an extreme peril4 ,if his foundation failed1 his ,church fell4 ,many critics have thought that he saw dangers four hundred years ahead4 ,the time came1 about #afej-agjj1 when ,descartes1 deserting ,saint ,thomas1 started afresh with the idea of ,god as a concept1 and at once found himself charged with a deity that contained the universe2 nor did the ,cartesians--until ,spinoza made it clear--seem able or willing to see that the ,church could not accept this deity because the ,church required a ,god who caused the universe4 ,the two deities destroyed each other4 ,one was passive2 the other active4 ,thomas warned ,descartes of a logical quicksand which must necessarily swallow up any ,church1 and which ,spinoza explored to the bottom4 ,thomas said truly that every true cause must be proved as a cause1 not merely as a sequence2 otherwise they must end in a universal energy or substance without causality--a source4 ,whatever ,god might be to others1 to ,his ,church he could not be a sequence or a source4 ,that point had been admitted by ,william of ,champeaux1 and made the division between ,christians and infidels4 ,on the other hand1 if ,god must be proved as a true cause in order to warrant the ,church or the ,state in requiring men to worship ,him as ,creator1 the student became the more curious--if a churchman1 the more anxious--to be assured that ,thomas succeeded in his proof1 especially since he did not satisfy ,descartes and still less ,pascal4 ,that the mystics should be dissatisfied was natural enough1 since they were committed to the contrary view1 but that ,descartes should desert was a serious blow which threw the ,french ,church into consternation from which it never quite recovered4 ,i see motion1 said ,thomas3 ,i infer a motor6 ,this reasoning1 which may be fifty thousand years old1 is as strong as ever it was2 stronger than some more modern inferences of science2 but the average mechanic stated it differently4 ,i see motion1 he admitted3 ,i infer energy4 ,i see motion everywhere2 ,i infer energy everywhere4 ,saint ,thomas barred this door to materialism by adding3 ,i see motion2 ,i cannot infer an infinite series of motors3 ,i can only infer1 somewhere at the end of the series1 an intelligent1 fixed motor4 ,the average modern mechanic might not dissent but would certainly hesitate4 ,no doubt6 he might say2 we can conduct our works as well on that as on any other theory1 or as we could on no theory at all2 but1 if you offer it as proof1 we can only say that we have not yet reduced all motion to one source or all energies to one law1 much less to one act of creation1 although we have tried our best4 ,the result of some centuries of experiment tended to raise rather than silence doubt1 although1 even in his own day1 ,thomas would have been scandalized beyond the resources of his ,latin had ,saint ,bonaventure met him at ,saint ,louis's dinner-table and complimented him1 in the ,king's hearing1 on having proved1 beyond all ,franciscan cavils1 that the ,church ,intellectual had necessarily but one first cause and creator--himself4 ,the ,church ,intellectual1 like the ,church ,architectural1 implied not one architect1 but myriads1 and not one fixed1 intelligent architect at the end of the series1 but a vanishing vista without a beginning at any definite moment2 and if ,thomas pressed his argument1 the twentieth-century mechanic who should attend his conferences at the ,sorbonne would be apt to say so4 ,what is the use of trying to argue me into it8 ,your inference may be sound logic1 but is not proof4 ,actually we know less about it than you did4 ,all we know is the thing we handle1 and we cannot handle your fixed1 intelligent prime motor4 ,to your old ideas of form we have added what we call force1 and we are rather further than ever from reducing the complex to unity4 ,in fact1 if you are aiming to convince me1 ,i will tell you flatly that ,i know only the multiple1 and have no use for unity at all4 ,in the thirteenth century men did not depend so much as now on actual experiment1 but the nominalist said in effect the same thing4 ,unity to him was a pure concept1 and any one who thought it real would believe that a triangle was alive and could walk on its legs4 ,without proving unity1 philosophers saw no way to prove ,god4 ,they could only fall back on an attempt to prove that the concept of unity proved itself1 and this phantasm drove the ,cartesians to drop ,thomas's argument and assert that the mere fact of having within us the idea of a thing more perfect than ourselves1 proves the real existence of that thing4 ,four hundred years earlier ,saint ,thomas had replied in advance that ,descartes wanted to prove altogether too much1 and ,spinoza showed mathematically that ,saint ,thomas had been in the right4 ,the finest religious mind of the time--,pascal-- admitted it and gave up the struggle1 like the mystics of ,saint- ,victor4 ,thus some of the greatest priests and professors of the ,church1 including ,duns ,scotus himself1 seemed not wholly satisfied that ,thomas's proof was complete1 but most of them admitted that it was the safest among possible foundations1 and that it showed1 as architecture1 the ,norman temper of courage and caution4 ,the ,norman was ready to run great risks1 but he would rather grasp too little than too much2 he narrowed the spacing of his piers rather than spread them too wide for safe vaulting4 ,between ,norman blood and ,breton blood was a singular gap1 as ,renan and every other ,breton has delighted to point out4 ,both ,abelard and ,descartes were ,breton4 ,the ,breton seized more than he could hold2 the ,norman took less than he would have liked4 ,god1 then1 is proved4 ,what the schools called form1 what science calls energy1 and what the intermediate period called the evidence of design1 made the foundation of ,saint ,thomas's cathedral4 ,god is an intelligent1 fixed prime motor--not a concept1 or proved by concepts2--a concrete fact1 proved by the senses of sight and touch4 ,on that foundation ,thomas built4 ,the walls and vaults of his ,church were more complex than the foundation2 especially the towers were troublesome4 ,dogma1 the vital purpose of the ,church1 required support4 ,the most weighty dogma1 the central tower of the ,norman cathedral1 was the ,trinity1 and between the ,breton solution which was too heavy1 and the ,french solution which was too light1 the ,norman ,thomas found a way4 ,remembering how vehemently the ,french ,church1 under ,saint ,bernard1 had protected the ,trinity from all interference whatever1 one turns anxiously to see what ,thomas said about it2 and unless one misunderstands him1--as is very likely1 indeed1 to be the case1 since no one may even profess to understand the ,trinity1--,thomas treated it as simply as he could4 ,god1 being conscious of ,himself1 thinks ,himself2 his thought is ,himself1 his own reflection in the ,verb--the so-called ,son4 ,est in ,deo intelligente seipsum ,verbum ,dei quasi ,deus intellectus4 ,the idea was not new1 and as ideas went it was hardly a mystery2 but the next step was naif3--,god1 as a double consciousness1 loves ,himself1 and realizes ,himself in the ,holy ,ghost4 ,the third side of the triangle is love or grace4 ,many theologians have found fault with this treatment of the subject1 which seemed open to every objection that had been made to ,abelard1 ,gilbert de la ,poree1 or a thousand other logicians4 ,they commonly asked why ,thomas stopped the ,deity's self-realizations at love1 or inside the triangle1 since these realizations were real1 not symbolic1 and the square was at least as real as any other combination of line4 ,thomas replied that knowledge and will--the ,verb and the ,holy ,ghost--were alone essential4 ,the reply did not suit every one1 even among doctors1 but since ,saint ,thomas rested on this simple assertion1 it is no concern of ours to argue the theology4 ,only as art1 one can afford to say that the form is more architectural than religious2 it would surely have been suspicious to ,saint ,bernard4 ,mystery there was none1 and logic little4 ,the concept of the ,holy ,ghost was childlike2 for a pupil of ,aristotle it was inadmissible1 since it led to nothing and helped no step toward the universe4 ,admitting1 if necessary1 the criticism1 ,thomas need not admit the blame1 if blame there were4 ,every theologian was obliged to stop the pursuit of logic by force1 before it dragged him into paganism and pantheism4 ,theology begins with the universal1--,god1--who must be a reality1 not a symbol2 but it is forced to limit the process of ,god's realizations somewhere1 or the priest soon becomes a worshipper of ,god in sticks and stones4 ,theologists had commonly chosen1 from time immemorial1 to stop at the ,trinity2 within the triangle they were wholly realist2 but they could not admit that ,god went on to realize ,himself in the square and circle1 or that the third member of the ,trinity contained multiplicity1 because the ,trinity was a restless weight on the ,church piers1 which1 like the central tower1 constantly tended to fall1 and needed to be lightened4 ,thomas gave it the lightest form possible1 and there fixed it4 ,then came his great tour-de-force1 the vaulting of his broad nave2 and1 if ignorance is allowed an opinion1 even a lost soul may admire the grand simplicity of ,thomas's scheme4 ,he swept away the horizontal lines altogether1 leaving them barely as a part of decoration4 ,the whole weight of his arches fell1 as in the latest ,gothic1 where the eye sees nothing to break the sheer spring of the nervures1 from the rosette on the keystone a hundred feet above down to the church floor4 ,in ,thomas's creation nothing intervened between ,god and his world2 secondary causes become ornaments2 only two forces1 ,god and man1 stood in the ,church4 ,the chapter of ,creation is so serious1 and ,thomas's creation1 like every other1 is open to so much debate1 that no student can allow another to explain it2 and certainly no man whatever1 either saint or sceptic1 can ever yet have understood ,creation aright unless divinely inspired2 but whatever ,thomas's theory was as he meant it1 he seems to be understood as holding that every created individual-- animal1 vegetable1 or mineral--was a special1 divine act4 ,whatever has form is created1 and whatever is created takes form directly from the will of ,god1 which is also his act4 ,the intermediate universals--the secondary causes--vanish as causes2 they are1 at most1 sequences or relations2 all merge in one universal act of will2 instantaneous1 infinite1 eternal4 ,saint ,thomas saw ,god1 much as ,milton saw him1 resplendent in ,that glorious form1 that light unsufferable1 ,and that far-beaming blaze of ,majesty1 ,wherewith he wont1 at ,heaven's high council-table1 ,to sit the midst of ,trinal ,unity2 except that1 in ,thomas's thought1 the council-table was a work- table1 because ,god did not take counsel2 ,he was an act4 ,the ,trinity was an infinite possibility of will2 nothing within but ,the baby image of the giant mass ,of things to come at large4 ,neither time nor space1 neither matter nor mind1 not even force existed1 nor could any intelligence conceive how1 even though they should exist1 they could be united in the lowest association4 ,a crystal was as miraculous as ,socrates4 ,only abstract force1 or what the schoolmen called form1 existed undeveloped from eternity1 like the abstract line in mathematics4 ,fifty or a hundred years before ,saint ,thomas settled the ,church dogma1 a monk of ,citeaux or some other abbey1 a certain ,alain of ,lille1 had written a ,latin poem1 as abstruse an allegory as the best1 which had the merit of painting the scene of man's creation as far as concerned the mechanical process much as ,thomas seems to have seen it4 ,m4 ,haureau has printed an extract 7vol4 ,i1 p4 #ceb74 ,alain conceded to the weakness of human thought1 that ,god was working in time and space1 or rather on ,his throne in heaven1 when nature1 proposing to create a new and improved man1 sent ,reason and ,prudence up to ask ,him for a soul to fit the new body4 ,having passed through various adventures and much scholastic instruction1 the messenger ,prudence arrived1 after having dropped her dangerous friend ,reason by the way4 ,the request was respectfully presented to ,god1 and favourably received4 ,god promised the soul1 and at once sent ,his servant ,noys--,thought--to the storehouse of ideas1 to choose it3-- ,ipse ,deus rem prosequitur1 producit in actum ,quod pepigit4 ,vocat ergo ,noym quae praepaert illi ,numinis exemplar1 humanae mentis ,idaeam1 ,ad cujus formam formetur spiritus omni ,munere virtutum dives1 qui1 nube caducae ,carnis odumbratus veletur corporis umbra4 ,tunc ,noys ad regis praeceptum singula rerum ,vestigans exempla1 novam perquirit ,idaeam4 ,inter tot species1 speciem vix invenit illam ,quam petit2 offertur tandem quaesita petenti 4 ,hanc formam ,noys ipsa ,deo praesentat ut ejus ,formet ad exemplar animam4 ,tunc ille sigillum ,sumit1 ad ipsius formae vestigia formam ,dans animae1 vultum qualem deposcit ,idaea ,imprimit exemplo2 totas usurpat imago ,exemplaris opes1 loquiturque figura sigillum4 ,god ,himself pursues the task1 and sets in act ,what ,he promised4 ,so ,he calls ,noys to seek ,a copy of ,his will1 ,idea of the human mind1 ,to whose form the spirit should be shaped1 ,rich in every virtue1 which1 veiled in garb ,of frail flesh1 is to be hidden in a shade of body1 ,then ,noys1 at the ,king's order1 turning one by one ,each sample1 seeks the new ,idea4 ,among so many images she hardly finds that ,which she seeks2 at last the sought one appears4 ,this form ,noys herself brings to ,god for ,him ,to form a soul to its pattern4 ,he takes the seal1 ,and gives form to the soul after the model ,of the form itself1 stamping on the sample ,the figure such as the ,idea requires4 ,the seal ,covers the whole field1 and the impression expresses the stamp4 ,the translation is probably full of mistakes2 indeed1 one is permitted to doubt whether ,alain himself accurately understood the process2 but in substance he meant that ,god contained a storehouse of ideas1 and stamped each creation with one of these forms4 ,the poets used a variety of figures to help out their logic1 but that of the potter and his pot was one of the most common4 ,omar ,khayyam was using it at the same time with ,alain of ,lille1 but with a difference3 for his pot seems to have been matter alone1 and his soul was the wine it received from ,god2 while ,alain's soul seems to have been the form and not the contents of the pot4 ,the figure matters little4 ,in any case ,god's act was the union of mind with matter by the same act or will which created both4 ,no intermediate cause or condition intervened2 no secondary influence had anything whatever to do with the result4 ,time had nothing to do with it4 ,every individual that has existed or shall exist was created by the same instantaneous act1 for all time4 ,when the question regards the universal agent who produces beings and time1 we cannot consider him as acting now and before1 according to the succession of time4 ,god emanated time1 force1 matter1 mind1 as ,he might emanate gravitation1 not as a part of ,his substance but as an energy of ,his will1 and maintains them in their activity by the same act1 not by a new one4 ,every individual is a part of the direct act2 not a secondary outcome4 ,the soul has no father or mother4 ,of all errors one of the most serious is to suppose that the soul descends by generation4 ,having life and action of its own1 it subsists without the body2 444 it must therefore be produced directly1 and since it is not a material substance1 it cannot be produced by way of generation2 it must necessarily be created by ,god4 ,consequently to suppose that the intelligence or intelligent soul is the effect of generation is to suppose that it is not a pure and simple substance1 but corruptible like the body4 ,it is therefore heresy to say that this soul is transmitted by generation4 ,what is true of the soul should be true of all other form1 since no form is a material substance4 ,the utmost possible relation between any two individuals is that ,god may have used the same stamp or mould for a series of creations1 and especially for the less spiritual3 ,god is the first model for all things4 ,one may also say that1 among ,his creatures some serve as types or models for others because there are some which are made in the image of others2 but generation means sequence1 not cause4 ,the only true cause is ,god4 ,creation is ,his sole act1 in which no second cause can share4 ,creation is more perfect and loftier than generation1 because it aims at producing the whole substance of the being1 though it starts from absolute nothing4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 when he pleased1 was singularly lucid1 and on this point he was particularly positive4 ,the architect insisted on the controlling idea of his structure4 ,the ,church was ,god1 and its lines excluded interference4 ,god and the ,church embraced all the converging lines of the universe1 and the universe showed none but lines that converged4 ,between ,god and man1 nothing whatever intervened4 ,the individual was a compound of form1 or soul1 and matter2 but both were always created together1 by the same act1 out of nothing4 ,simpliciter fatendum est animas simul cum corporibus creari et infundi4 ,it must be distinctly understood that souls were not created before bodies1 but that they were created at the same time as the bodies they animate4 ,nothing whatever preceded this union of two substances which did not exist3 ,creatio est productio alicujus rei secundum suam totam substantiam1 nullo praesupposito1 quod sit vel increatum vel ab aliquo creatum4 ,language can go no further in exclusion of every possible preceding1 secondary1 or subsequent cause1 ,productio universalis entis a ,deo non est motus nec mutatio1 sed est quaedam simplex emanatio4 ,the whole universe is1 so to speak1 a simple emanation from ,god4 ,the famous junction1 then1 is made6--that celebrated fusion of the universal with the individual1 of unity with multiplicity1 of ,god and nature1 which had broken the neck of every philosophy ever invented2 which had ruined ,william of ,champeaux and was to ruin ,descartes2 this evolution of the finite from the infinite was accomplished4 ,the supreme triumph was as easily effected by ,thomas ,aquinas as it was to be again effected1 four hundred years later1 by ,spinoza4 ,he had merely to assert the fact3 ,it is so6 it cannot be otherwise6 ,for the thousandth and hundred-thousandth time2--what is the use of discussing this prime motor1 this ,spinozan substance1 any longer8 ,we know it is there6 that--as ,professor ,haeckel very justly repeats for the millionth time--is enough4 ,one point1 however1 remained undetermined4 ,the ,prime ,motor and ,his action stood fixed1 and no one wished to disturb ,him2 but this was not the point that had disturbed ,william of ,champeaux4 ,abelard's question still remained to be answered4 ,how did ,socrates differ from ,plato--,judas from ,john--,thomas ,aquinas from ,professor ,haeckel8 ,were they1 in fact1 two1 or one8 ,what made an individual8 ,what was ,god's centimetre measure8 ,the abstract form or soul which existed as a possibility in ,god1 from all time1--was it one or many8 ,to the ,church1 this issue overshadowed all else1 for1 if humanity was one and not multiple1 the ,church1 which dealt only with individuals1 was lost4 ,to the schools1 also1 the issue was vital1 for1 if the soul or form was already multiple from the first1 unity was lost2 the ultimate substance and prime motor itself became multiple2 the whole issue was reopened4 ,to the consternation of the ,church1 and even of his own order1 ,thomas1 following closely his masters1 ,albert and ,aristotle1 asserted that the soul was measured by matter4 ,division occurs in substances in ratio of quantity1 as ,aristotle says in his ',physics4' ,and so dimensional quantity is a principle of individuation4 ,the soul is a fluid absorbed by matter in proportion to the absorptive power of the matter4 ,the soul is an energy existing in matter proportionately to the dimensional quantity of the matter4 ,the soul is a wine1 greater or less in quantity according to the size of the cup4 ,in our report of the great debate of #aaaj1 between ,champeaux and ,abelard1 we have seen ,william persistently tempting ,abelard to fall into this admission that matter made the man2--that the universal equilateral triangle became an individual if it were shaped in metal1 the matter giving it reality which mere form could not give2 and ,abelard evading the issue as though his life depended on it4 ,in fact1 had ,abelard dared to follow ,aristotle into what looked like an admission that ,socrates and ,plato were identical as form and differed only in weight1 his life might have been the forfeit4 ,how ,saint ,thomas escaped is a question closely connected with the same inquiry about ,saint ,francis of ,assisi4 ,a ,church which embraced1 with equal sympathy1 and within a hundred years1 the ,virgin1 ,saint ,bernard1 ,william of ,champeaux and the ,school of ,saint- ,victor1 ,peter the ,venerable1 ,saint ,francis of ,assisi1 ,saint ,dominic1 ,saint ,thomas ,aquinas1 and ,saint ,bonaventure1 was more liberal than any modern ,state can afford to be4 ,radical contradictions the ,state may perhaps tolerate1 though hardly1 but never embrace or profess4 ,such elasticity long ago vanished from human thought4 ,yet only ,dominicans believe that the ,church adopted this law of individualization1 or even assented to it4 ,if ,m4 ,jourdain is right1 ,thomas was quickly obliged to give it another form3--that1 though all souls belonged to the same species1 they differed in their aptitudes for uniting with particular bodies4 ,this soul is commensurate with this body1 and not with that other one4 ,the idea is double2 for either the souls individualized themselves1 and ,thomas abandoned his doctrine of their instantaneous creation1 with the bodies1 out of nothing2 or ,god individualized them in the act of creation1 and matter had nothing to do with it4 ,the difficulty is no concern of ours1 but the great scholars who took upon themselves to explain it made it worse1 until at last one gathers only that ,saint ,thomas held one of three views3 either the soul of humanity was individualized by ,god1 or it individualized itself1 or it was divided by ratio of quantity1 that is1 by matter4 ,this amounts to saying that one knows nothing about it1 which we knew before and may admit with calmness2 but ,thomas ,aquinas was not so happily placed1 between the ,church and the schools4 ,humanity had a form common to itself1 which made it what it was4 ,by some means this form was associated with matter2 in fact1 matter was only known as associated with form4 ,if1 then1 ,god1 by an instantaneous act1 created matter and gave it form according to the dimensions of the matter1 innocent ignorance might infer that there was1 in the act of ,god1 one world- soul and one world-matter1 which ,he united in different proportions to make men and things4 ,such a doctrine was fatal to the ,church4 ,no greater heresy could be charged against the worst ,arab or ,jew1 and ,thomas was so well aware of his danger that he recoiled from it with a vehemence not at all in keeping with his supposed phlegm4 ,with feverish eagerness to get clear of such companions1 he denied and denounced1 in all companies1 in season and out of season1 the idea that intellect was one and the same for all men1 differing only with the quantity of matter it accompanied4 ,he challenged the adherent of such a doctrine to battle2 let him take the pen if he dares6 ,no one dared1 seeing that even ,jews enjoyed a share of common sense and had seen some of their friends burn at the stake not very long before for such opinions1 not even openly maintained2 while uneducated people1 who are perhaps incapable of receiving intellect at all1 but for whose instruction and salvation the great work of ,saint ,thomas and his scholars must chiefly exist1 cannot do battle because they cannot understand ,thomas's doctrine of matter and form which to them seems frank pantheism4 ,so it appeared to ,duns ,scotus also1 if one may assert in the ,doctor ,subtilis any opinion without qualification4 ,duns began his career only about #acjj1 after ,thomas's death1 and stands1 therefore1 beyond our horizon2 but he is still the pride of the ,franciscan ,order and stands second in authority to the great ,dominican alone4 ,in denying ,thomas's doctrine that matter individualizes mind1 ,duns laid himself open to the worse charge of investing matter with a certain embryonic1 independent1 shadowy soul of its own4 ,scot's system1 compared with that of ,thomas1 tended toward liberty4 ,scot held that the excess of power in ,thomas's prime motor neutralized the power of his secondary causes1 so that these appeared altogether superfluous4 ,this is a point that ought to be left to the ,church to decide1 but there can be no harm in quoting1 on the other hand1 the authority of some of ,scot's critics within the ,church1 who have thought that his doctrine tended to deify matter and to keep open the road to ,spinoza4 ,narrow and dangerous was the border-line always between pantheism and materialism1 and the chief interest of the schools was in finding fault with each other's paths4 ,the opinions in themselves need not disturb us1 although the question is as open to dispute as ever it was and perhaps as much disputed2 but the turn of ,thomas's mind is worth study4 ,a century or two later1 his passion to be reasonable1 scientific1 architectural would have brought him within range of the ,inquisition4 ,francis of ,assisi was not more archaic and cave-dweller than ,thomas of ,aquino was modern and scientific4 ,in his effort to be logical he forced his ,deity to be as logical as himself1 which hardly suited ,omnipotence4 ,he hewed the ,church dogmas into shape as though they were rough stones4 ,about no dogma could mankind feel interest more acute than about that of immortality1 which seemed to be the single point vitally necessary for any ,church to prove and define as clearly as light itself4 ,thomas trimmed down the soul to half its legitimate claims as an immortal being by insisting that ,god created it from nothing in the same act or will by which ,he created the body and united the two in time and space4 ,the soul existed as form for the body1 and had no previous existence4 ,logic seemed to require that when the body died and dissolved1 after the union which had lasted1 at most1 only an instant or two of eternity1 the soul1 which fitted that body and no other1 should dissolve with it4 ,in that case the ,church dissolved1 too1 since it had no reason for existence except the soul4 ,thomas met the difficulty by suggesting that the body's form might take permanence from the matter to which it gave form4 ,that matter should individualize mind was itself a violent wrench of logic1 but that it should also give permanence--the one quality it did not possess--to this individual mind seemed to many learned doctors a scandal4 ,perhaps ,thomas meant to leave the responsibility on the ,church1 where it belonged as a matter not of logic but of revealed truth4 ,at all events1 this treatment of mind and matter brought him into trouble which few modern logicians would suspect4 ,the human soul having become a person by contact with matter1 and having gained eternal personality by the momentary union1 was finished1 and remains to this day for practical purposes unchanged2 but the angels and devils1 a world of realities then more real than man1 were never united with matter1 and therefore could not be persons4 ,thomas admitted and insisted that the angels1 being immaterial1--neither clothed in matter1 nor stamped on it1 nor mixed with it1--were universals2 that is1 each was a species in himself1 a class1 or perhaps what would be now called an energy1 with no other individuality than he gave himself4 ,the idea seems to modern science reasonable enough4 ,science has to deal1 for example1 with scores of chemical energies which it knows little about except that they always seem to be constant to the same conditions2 but every one knows that in the particular relation of mind to matter the battle is as furious as ever4 ,the soul has always refused to live in peace with the body4 ,the angels1 too1 were always in rebellion4 ,they insisted on personality1 and the devils even more obstinately than the angels4 ,the dispute was--and is--far from trifling4 ,mind would rather ignore matter altogether4 ,in the thirteenth century mind did1 indeed1 admit that matter was something1--which it quite refuses to admit in the twentieth1--but treated it as a nuisance to be abated4 ,to the pure in spirit one argued in vain that spirit must compromise2 that nature compromised2 that ,god compromised2 that man himself was nothing but a somewhat clumsy compromise4 ,no argument served4 ,mind insisted on absolute despotism4 ,schoolmen as well as mystics would not believe that matter was what it seemed1--if1 indeed1 it existed2--unsubstantial1 shifty1 shadowy2 changing with incredible swiftness into dust1 gas1 flame2 vanishing in mysterious lines of force into space beyond hope of recovery2 whirled about in eternity and infinity by that mind1 form1 energy1 or thought which guides and rules and tyrannizes and is the universe4 ,the ,church wanted to be pure spirit2 she regarded matter with antipathy as something foul1 to be held at arms' length lest it should stain and corrupt the soul2 the most she would willingly admit was that mind and matter might travel side by side1 like a doubleheaded comet1 on parallel lines that never met1 with a preestablished harmony that existed only in the prime motor4 ,thomas and his master ,albert were almost alone in imposing on the ,church the compromise so necessary for its equilibrium4 ,the balance of matter against mind was the same necessity in the ,church ,intellectual as the balance of thrusts in the arch of the ,gothic cathedral4 ,nowhere did ,thomas show his architectural obstinacy quite so plainly as in thus taking matter under his protection4 ,nothing would induce him to compromise with the angels4 ,he insisted on keeping man wholly apart1 as a complex of energies in which matter shared equally with mind4 ,the ,church must rest firmly on both4 ,the angels differed from other beings below them' precisely because they were immaterial and impersonal4 ,such rigid logic outraged the spiritual ,church4 ,perhaps ,thomas's sudden death in #abgd alone saved him from the fate of ,abelard1 but it did not save his doctrine4 ,two years afterwards1 in #abgf1 the ,french and ,english churches combined to condemn it4 ,etienne ,tempier1 ,bishop of ,paris1 presided over the ,french ,synod2 ,robert ,kilwardeby1 of the ,dominican ,order1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 presided over the ,council at ,oxford4 ,the synods were composed of schoolmen as well as churchmen1 and seem to have been the result of a serious struggle for power between the ,dominican and ,franciscan ,orders4 ,apparently the ,church compromised between them by condemning the errors of both4 ,some of these errors1 springing from ,alexander ,hales and his ,franciscan schools1 were in effect the foundation of another ,church4 ,some were expressly charged against ,brother ,thomas4 ,contra fratrem ,thomam the councils forbade teaching that--quia intelligentiae non habent materiam1 ,deus non potest plures ejusdem speciei facere2 et quod materia non est in angelis2 further1 the councils struck at the vital centre of ,thomas's system--quod ,deus non potest individua multiplicare sub una specie sine materia2 and again in its broadest form1--quod formae non accipiunt divisionem nisi secundam materiam4 ,these condemnations made a great stir4 ,old ,albertus ,magnus1 who was the real victim of attack1 fought for himself and for ,thomas4 ,after a long and earnest effort1 the ,thomists rooted out opposition in the order1 and carried their campaign to ,rome4 ,after fifty years of struggle1 by use of every method known in ,church politics1 the ,dominican ,order1 in #acbc1 caused ,john ,,xxii to canonize ,thomas and in effect affirm his doctrine4 ,the story shows how modern1 how heterodox1 how material1 how altogether new and revolutionary the system of ,saint ,thomas seemed at first even in the schools2 but that was the affair of the ,church and a matter of pure theology4 ,we study only his art4 ,step by step1 stone by stone1 we see him build his church-building like a stonemason1 with the care that the twelfth-century architects put into their work1 as ,viollet-le-,duc saw some similar architect at ,rouen1 building the tower of ,saint-,romain3 ,he has thrown over his work the grace and finesse1 the study of detail1 the sobriety in projections1 the perfect harmony1 which belongs to his school1 and yet he was rigidly structural and ,norman4 ,the foundation showed it2 the elevation1 which is ,god1 developed it2 the vaulting1 with its balance of thrusts in mind and matter1 proved it2 but he had still the hardest task in art1 to model man4 ,the cathedral1 then1 is built1 and ,god is built into it1 but1 thus far1 ,god is there alone1 filling it all1 and maintains the equilibrium by balancing created matter separately against created mind4 ,the proportions of the building are superb2 nothing so lofty1 so large in treatment1 so true in scale1 so eloquent of multiplicity in unity1 has ever been conceived elsewhere2 but it was the virtue or the fault of superb structures like ,bourges and ,amiens and the ,church universal that they seemed to need man more than man needed them2 they were made for crowds1 for thousands and tens of thousands of human beings2 for the whole human race1 on its knees1 hungry for pardon and love4 ,chartres needed no crowd1 for it was meant as a palace of the ,virgin1 and the ,virgin filled it wholly2 but the ,trinity made their church for no other purpose than to accommodate man1 and made man for no other purpose than to fill their church2 if man failed to fill it1 the church and the ,trinity seemed equally failures4 ,empty1 ,bourges and ,beauvais are cold2 hardly as religious as a wayside cross2 and yet1 even empty1 they are perhaps more religious than when filled with cattle and machines4 ,saint ,thomas needed to fill his ,church with real men1 and although he had created his own ,god for that special purpose1 the task was1 as every boy knew by heart1 the most difficult that ,omnipotence had dealt with4 ,god1 as ,descartes justly said1 we know6 but what is man8 ,the schools answered3 ,man is a rational animal6 ,so was apparently a dog1 or a bee1 or a beaver1 none of which seemed to need churches4 ,modern science1 with infinite effort1 has discovered and announced that man is a bewildering complex of energies1 which helps little to explain his relations with the ultimate substance or energy or prime motor whose existence both science and schoolmen admit2 which science studies in laboratories and religion worships in churches4 ,the man whom ,god created to fill his ,church1 must be an energy independent of ,god2 otherwise ,god filled his own ,church with his own energy4 ,thus far1 the ,god of ,saint ,thomas was alone in ,his ,church4 ,the beings ,he had created out of nothing--,omar's pipkins of clay and shape--stood against the walls1 waiting to receive the wine of life1 a life of their own4 ,of that life1 energy1 will1 or wine1--whatever the poets or professors called it1--,god was the only cause1 as ,he was also the immediate cause1 and support4 ,thomas was emphatic on that point4 ,god is the cause of energy as the sun is the cause of colour3 prout sol dicitur causa manifestationis coloris4 ,he not only gives forms to his pipkins1 or energies to his agents1 but ,he also maintains those forms in being3 dat formas creaturis agentibus et eas tenet in esse4 ,he acts directly1 not through secondary causes1 on everything and every one3 ,deus in omnibus intime operatur4 ,if1 for an instant1 ,god's action1 which is also ,his will1 were to stop1 the universe would not merely fall to pieces1 but would vanish1 and must then be created anew from nothing3 ,quia non habet radicem in aere1 statim cessat lumen1 cessante actione solis4 ,sic autem se habet omnis creatura ad ,deum sicut aer ad solem illuminantem4 ,god radiates energy as the sun radiates light1 and the whole fabric of nature would return to nothing if that radiation ceased even for an instant4 ,everything is created by one instantaneous1 eternal1 universal act of will1 and by the same act is maintained in being4 ,where1 then1--in what mysterious cave outside of creation1--could man1 and his free will1 and his private world of responsibilities and duties1 lie hidden8 ,unless man was a free agent in a world of his own beyond constraint1 the ,church was a fraud1 and it helped little to add that the ,state was another4 ,if ,god was the sole and immediate cause and support of everything in ,his creation1 ,god was also the cause of its defects1 and could not--being ,justice and ,goodness in essence--hold man responsible for ,his own omissions4 ,still less could the ,state or ,church do it in ,his name4 ,whatever truth lies in the charge that the schools discussed futile questions by faulty methods1 one cannot decently deny that in this case the question was practical and the method vital4 ,theist or atheist1 monist or anarchist must all admit that society and science are equally interested with theology in deciding whether the universe is one or many1 a harmony or a discord4 ,the ,church and ,state asserted that it was a harmony1 and that they were its representatives4 ,they say so still4 ,their claim led to singular but unavoidable conclusions1 with which society has struggled for seven hundred years1 and is still struggling4 ,freedom could not exist in nature1 or even in ,god1 after the single1 unalterable act or will which created4 ,the only possible free will was that of ,god before the act4 ,abelard with his rigid logic averred that ,god had no freedom2 being ,himself whatever is most perfect1 ,he produced necessarily the most perfect possible world4 ,nothing seemed more logical1 but if ,god acted necessarily1 ,his world must also be of necessity the only possible product of ,his act1 and the ,church became an impertinence1 since man proved only fatuity by attempting to interfere4 ,thomas dared not disturb the foundations of the ,church1 and therefore began by laying down the law that ,god-- previous to ,his act--could choose1 and had chosen1 whatever scheme of creation ,he pleased1 and that the harmony of the actual scheme proved ,his perfections4 ,thus he saved ,god's free will4 ,this philosophical apse would have closed the lines and finished the plan of his church-choir had the universe not shown some divergencies or discords needing to be explained4 ,the student of the ,latin ,quarter was then harder to convince than now that ,god was ,infinite ,love and ,his world a perfect harmony1 when perfect love and harmony showed them1 even in the ,latin ,quarter1 and still more in revealed truth1 a picture of suffering1 sorrow1 and death2 plague1 pestilence1 and famine2 inundations1 droughts1 and frosts2 catastrophes world-wide and accidents in corners2 cruelty1 perversity1 stupidity1 uncertainty1 insanity2 virtue begetting vice2 vice working for good2 happiness without sense1 selfishness without gain1 misery without cause1 and horrors undefined4 ,the students in public dared not ask1 as ,voltaire did1 avec son hideux sourire1 whether the ,lisbon earthquake was the final proof of ,god's infinite goodness1 but in private they used the argumentum ad personam divinam freely enough1 and when the ,church told them that evil did not exist1 the ribalds laughed4 ,saint ,augustine certainly tempted ,satan when he fastened the ,church to this doctrine that evil is only the privation of good1 an amissio boni2 and that good alone exists4 ,the point was infinitely troublesome4 ,good was order1 law1 unity4 ,evil was disorder1 anarchy1 multiplicity4 ,which was truth8 ,the ,church had committed itself to the dogma that order and unity were the ultimate truth1 and that the anarchist should be burned4 ,she could do nothing else1 and society supported her--still supports her2 yet the ,church1 who was wiser than the ,state1 had always seen that ,saint ,augustine dealt with only half the question4 ,she knew that evil might be an excess of good as well as absence of it2 that good leads to evil1 evil to good2 and that1 as ,pascal says1 three degrees of polar elevation upset all jurisprudence2 a meridian decides truth2 fundamental laws change2 rights have epochs4 ,pleasing ,justice6 bounded by a river or a mountain6 truths on this side the ,pyrenees6 errors beyond6 ,thomas conceded that ,god ,himself1 with the best intentions1 might be the source of evil1 and pleaded only that his action might in the end work benefits4 ,he could offer no proof of it1 but he could assume as probable a plan of good which became the more perfect for the very reason that it allowed great liberty in detail4 ,one hardly feels ,saint ,thomas here in all his force4 ,he offers suggestion rather than proof2--apology--the weaker because of obvious effort to apologize--rather than defence1 for ,infinite ,goodness1 ,justice1 and ,power2 scoffers might add that he invented a new proof ab defectu1 or argument for proving the perfection of a machine by the number of its imperfections2 but at all events1 society has never done better by way of proving its right to enforce morals or unity of opinion4 ,unless it asserts law1 it can only assert force4 ,rigid theology went much further4 ,in ,god's providence1 man was as nothing4 ,with a proper sense of duty1 every solar system should be content to suffer1 if thereby the efficiency of the ,milky ,way were improved4 ,such theology shocked ,saint ,thomas1 who never wholly abandoned man in order to exalt ,god4 ,he persistently brought ,god and man together1 and if he erred1 the ,church rightly pardons him because he erred on the human side4 ,whenever the path lay through the valley of despair he called ,god to his aid1 as though he felt the moral obligation of the ,creator to help ,his creation4 ,at best the vision of ,god1 sitting forever at ,his work-table1 willing the existence of mankind exactly as it is1 while conscious that1 among these myriad arbitrary creations of ,his will1 hardly one in a million could escape temporary misery or eternal damnation1 was not the best possible background for a ,church1 as the ,virgin and the ,saviour frankly admitted by taking the foreground2 but the ,church was not responsible for it4 ,mankind could not admit an anarchical--a dual or a multiple--universe4 ,the world was there1 staring them in the face1 with all its chaotic conditions1 and society insisted on its unity in self-defence4 ,society still insists on treating it as unity1 though no longer affecting logic4 ,society insists on its free will1 although free will has never been explained to the satisfaction of any but those who much wish to be satisfied1 and although the words in any common sense implied not unity but duality in creation4 ,the ,church had nothing to do with inventing this riddle--the oldest that fretted mankind4 ,apart from all theological interferences1--fall of ,adam or fault of ,eve1 ,atonement1 ,justification1 or ,redemption1--either the universe was one1 or it was two1 or it was many2 either energy was one1 seen only in powers of itself1 or it was several2 either ,god was harmony1 or ,he was discord4 ,with practical unanimity1 mankind rejected the dual or multiple scheme2 it insisted on unity4 ,thomas took the question as it was given him4 ,the unity was full of defects2 he did not deny them2 but he claimed that they might be incidents1 and that the admitted unity might even prove their beneficence4 ,granting this enormous concession1 he still needed a means of bringing into the system one element which vehemently refused to be brought3--that is1 man himself1 who insisted that the universe was a unit1 but that he was a universe2 that energy was one1 but that he was another energy2 that ,god was omnipotent1 but that man was free4 ,the contradiction had always existed1 exists still1 and always must exist1 unless man either admits that he is a machine1 or agrees that anarchy and chaos are the habit of nature1 and law and order its accident4 ,the agreement may become possible1 but it was not possible in the thirteenth century nor is it now4 ,saint ,thomas's settlement could not be a simple one or final1 except for practical use1 but it served1 and it holds good still4 ,no one ever seriously affirmed the literal freedom of will4 ,absolute liberty is absence of restraint2 responsibility is restraint2 therefore1 the ideally free individual is responsible only to himself4 ,this principle is the philosophical foundation of anarchism1 and1 for anything that science has yet proved1 may be the philosophical foundation of the universe2 but it is fatal to all society and is especially hostile to the ,state4 ,perhaps the ,church of the thirteenth century might have found a way to use even this principle for a good purpose2 certainly1 the influence of ,saint ,bernard was sufficiently unsocial and that of ,saint ,francis was sufficiently unselfish to conciliate even anarchists of the militant class2 but ,saint ,thomas was working for the ,church and the ,state1 not for the salvation of souls1 and his chief object was to repress anarchy4 ,the theory of absolute free will never entered his mind1 more than the theory of material free will would enter the mind of an architect4 ,the ,church gave him no warrant for discussing the subject in such a sense4 ,in fact1 the ,church never admitted free will1 or used the word when it could be avoided4 ,in ,latin1 the term used was liberum arbitrium1--free choice1--and in ,french to this day it remains in strictness libre arbitre still4 ,from ,saint ,augustine downwards the ,church was never so unscientific as to admit of liberty beyond the faculty of choosing between paths1 some leading through the ,church and some not1 but all leading to the next world2 as a criminal might be allowed the liberty of choosing between the guillotine and the gallows1 without infringing on the supremacy of the judge4 ,thomas started from that point1 already far from theoretic freedom4 ,we are masters of our acts1 he began1 in the sense that we can choose such and such a thing2 now1 we have not to choose our end1 but the means that relate to it1 as ,aristotle says4 ,unfortunately1 even this trenchant amputation of man's free energies would not accord with fact or with logic4 ,experience proved that man's power of choice in action was very far from absolute1 and logic seemed to require that every choice should have some predetermining cause which decided the will to act4 ,science affirmed that choice was not free1--could not be free1--without abandoning the unity of force and the foundation of law4 ,society insisted that its choice must be left free1 whatever became of science or unity4 ,saint ,thomas was required to illustrate the theory of liberum arbitrium by choosing a path through these difficulties1 where path there was obviously none4 ,thomas's method of treating this problem was sure to be as scientific as the vaulting of a ,gothic arch4 ,indeed1 one follows it most easily by translating his school-vocabulary into modern technical terms4 ,with very slight straining of equivalents1 ,thomas might now be written thus3-- ,by the term ,god1 is meant a prime motor which supplies all energy to the universe1 and acts directly on man as well as on all other creatures1 moving him as a mechanical motor might do2 but man1 being specially provided with an organism more complex than the organisms of other creatures1 enjoys an exceptional capacity for reflex action1--a power of reflection1--which enables him within certain limits to choose between paths2 and this singular capacity is called free choice or free will4 ,of course1 the reflection is not choice1 and though a man's mind reflected as perfectly as the facets of a lighthouse lantern1 it would never reach a choice without an energy which impels it to act4 ,now let us read ,saint ,thomas3-- ,some kind of an agent is required to determine one's choice2 that agent is reflection4 ,man reflects1 then1 in order to learn what choice to make between the two acts which offer themselves4 ,but reflection is1 in its turn1 a faculty of doing opposite things1 for we can reflect or not reflect2 and we are no further forward than before4 ,one cannot carry back this process infinitely1 for in that case one would never decide4 ,the fixed point is not in man1 since we meet in him1 as a being apart by himself1 only the alternative faculties2 we must1 therefore1 recur to the intervention of an exterior agent who shall impress on our will a movement capable of putting an end to its hesitations3--,that exterior agent is nothing else than ,god6 ,the scheme seems to differ little1 and unwillingly1 from a system of dynamics as modern as the dynamo4 ,even in the prime motor1 from the moment of action1 freedom of will vanished4 ,creation was not successive2 it was one instantaneous thought and act1 identical with the will1 and was complete and unchangeable from end to end1 including time as one of its functions4 ,thomas was as clear as possible on that point3--,supposing ,god wills anything in effect2 ,he cannot will not to will it1 because ,his will cannot change4 ,he wills that some things shall be contingent and others necessary1 but ,he wills in the same act that the contingency shall be necessary4 ,they are contingent because ,god has willed them to be so1 and with this object has subjected them to causes which are so4 ,in the same way ,he wills that ,his creation shall develop itself in time and space and sequence1 but ,he creates these conditions as well as the events4 ,he creates the whole1 in one act1 complete1 unchangeable1 and it is then unfolded like a rolling panorama1 with its predetermined contingencies4 ,man's free choice--liberum arbitrium--falls easily into place as a predetermined contingency4 ,god is the first cause1 and acts in all secondary causes directly2 but while ,he acts mechanically on the rest of creation1--as far as is known1--,he acts freely at one point1 and this free action remains free as far as it extends on that line4 ,man's freedom derives from this source1 but it is simply apparent1 as far as he is a cause2 it is a reflex action determined by a new agency of the first cause4 ,however abstruse these ideas may once have sounded1 they are far from seeming difficult in comparison with modern theories of energy4 ,indeed1 measured by that standard1 the only striking feature of ,saint ,thomas's motor is its simplicity4 ,thomas's prime motor was very powerful1 and its lines of energy were infinite4 ,among these infinite lines1 a certain group ran to the human race1 and1 as long as the conduction was perfect1 each man acted mechanically4 ,in cases where the current1 for any reason1 was for a moment checked1--that is to say1 produced the effect of hesitation or reflection in the mind1--the current accumulated until it acquired power to leap the obstacle4 ,as ,saint ,thomas expressed it1 the ,prime ,motor1 ,who was nothing else than ,god1 intervened to decide the channel of the current4 ,the only difference between man and a vegetable was the reflex action of the complicated mirror which was called mind1 and the mark of mind was reflective absorption or choice4 ,the apparent freedom was an illusion arising from the extreme delicacy of the machine1 but the motive power was in fact the same--that of ,god4 ,this exclusion of what men commonly called freedom was carried still further in the process of explaining dogma4 ,supposing the conduction to be insufficient for a given purpose2 a purpose which shall require perfect conduction8 ,under ordinary circumstances1 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred1 the conductor will be burned out1 so to speak2 condemned1 and thrown away4 ,this is the case with most human beings4 ,yet there are cases where the conductor is capable of receiving an increase of energy from the prime motor1 which enables it to attain the object aimed at4 ,in dogma1 this store of reserved energy is technically called ,grace4 ,in the strict1 theological sense of the word1 as it is used by ,saint ,thomas1 the exact1 literal meaning of ,grace is a motion which the ,prime ,motor1 as a supernatural cause1 produces in the soul1 perfecting free will4 ,it is a reserved energy1 which comes to aid and reinforce the normal energy of the battery4 ,to religious minds this scientific inversion of solemn truths seems1 and is1 sacrilege2 but ,thomas's numerous critics in the ,church have always brought precisely this charge against his doctrine1 and are doing so still4 ,they insist that he has reduced ,god to a mechanism and man to a passive conductor of force4 ,he has left1 they say1 nothing but ,god in the universe4 ,the terrible word which annihilates all other philosophical systems against which it is hurled1 has been hurled freely against his for six hundred years and more1 without visibly affecting the ,church2 and yet its propriety seems1 to the vulgar1 beyond reasonable cavil4 ,to ,father de ,regnon1 of the extremely learned and intelligent ,society of ,jesus1 the difference between pantheism and ,thomism reduces itself to this3 ,pantheism1 starting from the notion of an infinite substance which is the plenitude of being1 concludes that there can exist no other beings than ,,the being2 no other realities than the absolute reality4 ,thomism1 starting from the efficacy of the first cause1 tends to reduce more and more the efficacy of second causes1 and to replace it by a passivity which receives without producing1 which is determined without determining4 ,to students of architecture1 who know equally little about pantheism and about ,thomism1--or1 indeed1 for that matter1 about architecture1 too1--the quality that rouses most surprise in ,thomism is its astonishingly scientific method4 ,the ,franciscans and the ,jesuits call it pantheism1 but science1 too1 is pantheism1 or has till very recently been wholly pantheistic4 ,avowedly science has aimed at nothing but the reduction of multiplicity to unity1 and has excommunicated1 as though it were itself a ,church1 any one who doubted or disputed its object1 its method1 or its results4 ,the effort is as evident and quite as laborious in modern science1 starting as it does from multiplicity1 as in ,thomas ,aquinas1 who started from unity2 and it is necessarily less successful1 for its true aims1 as far as it is science and not disguised religion1 were equally attained by reaching infinite complexity2 but the assertion or assumption of ultimate unity has characterized the ,law of ,energy as emphatically as it has characterized the definition of ,god in theology4 ,if it is a reproach to ,saint ,thomas1 it is equally a reproach to ,clerk-,maxwell4 ,in truth1 it is what men most admire in both--the power of broad and lofty generalization4 ,under any conceivable system the process of getting ,god and man under the same roof--of bringing two independent energies under the same control--required a painful effort1 as science has much cause to know4 ,no doubt1 many good ,christians and some heretics have been shocked at the tour de force by which they felt themselves suddenly seized1 bound hand and foot1 attached to each other1 and dragged into the ,church1 without consent or consultation4 ,to religious mystics1 whose scepticism concerned chiefly themselves and their own existence1 ,saint ,thomas's man seemed hardly worth herding1 at so much expense and trouble1 into a ,church where he was not eager to go4 ,true religion felt the nearness of ,god without caring to see the mechanism4 ,mystics like ,saint ,bernard1 ,saint ,francis1 ,saint ,bonaventure1 or ,pascal had a right to make this objection1 since they got into the ,church1 so to speak1 by breaking through the windows2 but society at large accepted and retains ,saint ,thomas's man much as ,saint ,thomas delivered him to the ,government2 a two- sided being1 free or unfree1 responsible or irresponsible1 an energy or a victim of energy1 moved by choice or moved by compulsion1 as the interests of society seemed for the moment to need4 ,certainly ,saint ,thomas lavished no excess of liberty on the man he created1 but still he was more generous than the ,state has ever been4 ,saint ,thomas asked little from man1 and gave much2 even as much freedom of will as the ,state gave or now gives2 he added immortality hereafter and eternal happiness under reasonable restraints2 his ,god watched over man's temporal welfare far more anxiously than the ,state has ever done1 and assigned him space in the ,church which he never can have in the galleries of ,parliament or ,congress2 more than all this1 ,saint ,thomas and his ,god placed man in the centre of the universe1 and made the sun and the stars for his uses4 ,no statute law ever did as much for man1 and no social reform ever will try to do it2 yet man bitterly complained that he had not his rights1 and even in the ,church is still complaining1 because ,saint ,thomas set a limit1 more or less vague1 to what the man was obstinate in calling his freedom of will4 ,thus ,saint ,thomas completed his work1 keeping his converging lines clear and pure throughout1 and bringing them together1 unbroken1 in the curves that gave unity to his plan4 ,his sense of scale and proportion was that of the great architects of his age4 ,one might go on studying it for a lifetime4 ,he showed no more hesitation in keeping his ,deity in scale than in adjusting man to it4 ,strange as it sounds1 although man thought himself hardly treated in respect to freedom1 yet1 if freedom meant superiority1 man was in action much the superior of ,god1 ,whose freedom suffered1 from ,saint ,thomas1 under restraints that man never would have tolerated4 ,saint ,thomas did not allow ,god even an undetermined will2 ,he was pure ,act1 and as such ,he could not change4 ,man alone was allowed1 in act1 to change direction4 ,what was more curious still1 man might absolutely prove his freedom by refusing to move at all2 if he did not like his life he could stop it1 and habitually did so1 or acquiesced in its being done for him2 while ,god could not commit suicide or even cease for a single instant ,his continuous action4 ,if man had the singular fancy of making himself absurd1--a taste confined to himself but attested by evidence exceedingly strong1--he could be as absurd as he liked2 but ,god could not be absurd4 ,saint ,thomas did not allow the ,deity the right to contradict ,himself1 which is one of man's chief pleasures4 ,while man enjoyed what was1 for his purposes1 an unlimited freedom to be wicked1--a privilege which1 as both ,church and ,state bitterly complained and still complain1 he has outrageously abused1--,god was ,goodness1 and could be nothing else4 ,while man moved about his relatively spacious prison with a certain degree of ease1 ,god1 being everywhere1 could not move4 ,in one respect1 at least1 man's freedom seemed to be not relative but absolute1 for his thought was an energy paying no regard to space or time or order or object or sense2 but ,god's thought was ,his act and will at once2 speaking correctly1 ,god could not think2 ,he is4 ,saint ,thomas would not1 or could not1 admit that ,god was ,necessity1 as ,abelard seems to have held1 but he refused to tolerate the idea of a divine maniac1 free from moral obligation to himself4 ,the atmosphere of ,saint ,louis surrounds the ,god of ,saint ,thomas1 and its pure ether shuts out the corruption and pollution to come1--the ,valois and ,bourbons1 the ,occams and ,hobbes's1 the ,tudors and the ,medicis1 of an enlightened ,europe4 ,the theology turns always into art at the last1 and ends in aspiration4 ,the spire justifies the church4 ,in ,saint ,thomas's ,church1 man's free will was the aspiration to ,god1 and he treated it as the architects of ,chartres and ,laon had treated their famous fleches4 ,the square foundation-tower1 the expression of ,god's power in act1--,his ,creation1--rose to the level of the ,church facade as a part of the normal unity of ,god's energy2 and then1 suddenly1 without show of effort1 without break1 without logical violence1 became a many-sided1 voluntary1 vanishing human soul1 and neither ,villard de ,honnecourt nor ,duns ,scotus could distinguish where ,god's power ends and man's free will begins4 ,all they saw was the soul vanishing into the skies4 ,how it was done1 one does not care to ask2 in a result so exquisite1 one has not the heart to find fault with adresse4 ,about ,saint ,thomas's theology we need not greatly disturb ourselves2 it can matter now not much1 whether he put more pantheism than the law allowed or more materialism than ,duns ,scotus approved--or less of either--into his universe1 since the ,church is still on the spot1 responsible for its own doctrines2 but his architecture is another matter4 ,so scientific and structural a method was never an accident or the property of a single mind even with ,aristotle to prompt it4 ,neither his ,church nor the architect's church was a sketch1 but a completely studied structure4 ,every relation of parts1 every disturbance of equilibrium1 every detail of construction was treated with infinite labour1 as the result of two hundred years of experiment and discussion among thousands of men whose minds and whose instincts were acute1 and who discussed little else4 ,science and art were one4 ,thomas ,aquinas would probably have built a better cathedral at ,beauvais than the actual architect who planned it2 but it is quite likely that the architect might have saved ,thomas some of his errors1 as pointed out by the ,councils of #abgf4 ,both were great artists2 perhaps in their professions1 the greatest that ever lived2 and both must have been great students beyond their practice4 ,both were subject to constant criticism from men and bodies of men whose minds were as acute and whose learning was as great as their own4 ,if the ,archbishop of ,canterbury and the ,bishop of ,paris condemned ,thomas1 the ,bernardines had1 for near two hundred years1 condemned ,beauvais in advance4 ,both the ,summa ,theologiae and ,beauvais ,cathedral were excessively modern1 scientific1 and technical1 marking the extreme points reached by ,europe on the lines of scholastic science4 ,this is all we need to know4 ,if we like1 we can go on to study1 inch by inch1 the slow decline of the art4 ,the essence of it--the despotic central idea--was that of organic unity both in the thought and the building4 ,from that time1 the universe has steadily become more complex and less reducible to a central control4 ,with as much obstinacy as though it were human1 it has insisted on expanding its parts2 with as much elusiveness as though it were feminine1 it has evaded the attempt to impose on it a single will4 ,modern science1 like modern art1 tends1 in practice1 to drop the dogma of organic unity4 ,some of the mediaeval habit of mind survives1 but even that is said to be yielding before the daily evidence of increasing and extending complexity4 ,the fault1 then1 was not in man1 if he no longer looked at science or art as an organic whole or as the expression of unity4 ,unity turned itself into complexity1 multiplicity1 variety1 and even contradiction4 ,all experience1 human and divine1 assured man in the thirteenth century that the lines of the universe converged4 ,how was he to know that these lines ran in every conceivable and inconceivable direction1 and that at least half of them seemed to diverge from any imaginable centre of unity6 ,dimly conscious that his ,trinity required in logic a fourth dimension1 how was the schoolman to supply it1 when even the mathematician of to-day can only infer its necessity8 ,naturally man tended to lose his sense of scale and relation4 ,a straight line1 or a combination of straight lines1 may have still a sort of artistic unity1 but what can be done in art with a series of negative symbols8 ,even if the negative were continuous1 the artist might express at least a negation2 but supposing that ,omar's kinetic analogy of the ball and the players turned out to be a scientific formula6--supposing that the highest scientific authority1 in order to obtain any unity at all1 had to resort to the ,middle ,ages for an imaginary demon to sort his atoms6--how could art deal with such problems1 and what wonder that art lost unity with philosophy and science6 ,art had to be confused in order to express confusion2 but perhaps it was truest1 so4 ,some future summer1 when you are older1 and when ,i have left1 like ,omar1 only the empty glass of my scholasticism for you to turn down1 you can amuse yourselves by going on with the story after the death of ,saint ,louis1 ,saint ,thomas1 and ,william of ,lorris1 and after the failure of ,beauvais4 ,the pathetic interest of the drama deepens with every new expression1 but at least you can learn from it that your parents in the nineteenth century were not to blame for losing the sense of unity in art4 ,as early as the fourteenth century1 signs of unsteadiness appeared1 and1 before the eighteenth century1 unity became only a reminiscence4 ,the old habit of centralizing a strain at one point1 and then dividing and subdividing it1 and distributing it on visible lines of support to a visible foundation1 disappeared in architecture soon after #aejj1 but lingered in theology two centuries longer1 and even1 in very old-fashioned communities1 far down to our own time2 but its values were forgotten1 and it survived chiefly as a stock jest against the clergy4 ,the passage between the two epochs is as beautiful as the ,slave of ,michael ,angelo2 but1 to feel its beauty1 you should see it from above1 as it came from its radiant source4 ,truth1 indeed1 may not exist2 science avers it to be only a relation2 but what men took for truth stares one everywhere in the eye and begs for sympathy4 ,the architects of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries took the ,church and the universe for truths1 and tried to express them in a structure which should be final4 ,knowing by an enormous experience precisely where the strains were to come1 they enlarged their scale to the utmost point of material endurance1 lightening the load and distributing the burden until the gutters and gargoyles that seem mere ornament1 and the grotesques that seem rude absurdities1 all do work either for the arch or for the eye2 and every inch of material1 up and down1 from crypt to vault1 from man to ,god1 from the universe to the atom1 had its task1 giving support where support was needed1 or weight where concentration was felt1 but always with the condition of showing conspicuously to the eye the great lines which led to unity and the curves which controlled divergence2 so that1 from the cross on the fleche and the keystone of the vault1 down through the ribbed nervures1 the columns1 the windows1 to the foundation of the flying buttresses far beyond the walls1 one idea controlled every line2 and this is true of ,saint ,thomas's ,church as it is of ,amiens ,cathedral4 ,the method was the same for both1 and the result was an art marked by singular unity1 which endured and served its purpose until man changed his attitude toward the universe4 ,the trouble was not in the art or the method or the structure1 but in the universe itself which presented different aspects as man moved4 ,granted a ,church1 ,saint ,thomas's ,church was the most expressive that man has made1 and the great ,gothic cathedrals were its most complete expression4 ,perhaps the best proof of it is their apparent instability4 ,of all the elaborate symbolism which has been suggested for the ,gothic cathedral1 the most vital and most perfect may be that the slender nervure1 the springing motion of the broken arch1 the leap downwards of the flying buttress1--the visible effort to throw off a visible strain1--never let us forget that ,faith alone supports it1 and that1 if ,faith fails1 ,heaven is lost4 ,the equilibrium is visibly delicate beyond the line of safety2 danger lurks in every stone4 ,the peril of the heavy tower1 of the restless vault1 of the vagrant buttress2 the uncertainty of logic1 the inequalities of the syllogism1 the irregularities of the mental mirror1--all these haunting nightmares of the ,church are expressed as strongly by the ,gothic cathedral as though it had been the cry of human suffering1 and as no emotion had ever been expressed before or is likely to find expression again4 ,the delight of its aspirations is flung up to the sky4 ,the pathos of its self-distrust and anguish of doubt is buried in the earth as its last secret4 ,you can read out of it whatever else pleases your youth and confidence2 to me1 this is all4 ,,the ,,end