Faith and bondage: The spiritual and political meaning of chains at Sainte-Foy de Conques Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Sinram, Marianne, 1963- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 08:50:56 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278370 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 1355162 Faith and bondage: The spiritual and political meaning of chains at Sainte-Foy de Conques Sinram, Marianne, M.A. The University of Arizona, 1993 UMI 300 N. ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 FAITH AND BONDAGE: THE SPIRITUAL AND POLITICAL MEANING OF CHAINS AT SAINTE-FOY DE CONQUES by Marianne Sinram A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ART In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS WITH A MAJOR IN ART HISTORY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1993 2 STATEMENT BY THE AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department of the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: n! Jane Welch Williams Professor of Art History 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper has seen many different forms and variations, originating from an early term paper, metamorphosing into what may become a project which will occupy me for many years. To the development of this paper I owe a debt of gratitude to many people who have given their support and encouragement. For the success of this project, I am indebted to Dr. Jane Welch Williams for her tireless efforts and endless rereadings of my work. Her boundless enthusiasm, scholastic energy (energy I can only dream of approximating), and constant questioning have supported and enriched this research many times over. Her generosity, with her time, attention, and books, is unmatched, and I will remain indebted to her. I also wish to thank Bill Miller, whose constant support, patience and encouragement can often go beyond reason, especially when at times this project has made me slightly difficult to live with. I also wish to thank with sincere gratitude M. Pierre Lan^on, and M. Michel and Mme. Jean-Marie Delbos, for their very kind and generous assistance during my research. Without the aid of the Delbos family, in a particularly difficult crisis, much of my research would have been confined to only the preliminary stages. I am also grateful for the continued support and encouragement of my colleagues in Art History at the University of Arizona, whose advice and criticism of this work at various stages, in written and oral form, has offered insight to new areas of inquiry and tremendously improved the quality of this work, perhaps more than they know. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 7 n. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 9 IE. PILGRIMAGE AND RECONQUISTA 13 Introduction 13 Pilgrimage 14 Conques and the Spanish Reconquista 18 IV. IMAGES 21 Introduction 21 Condemnation of Ste. Foy 24 The Images of St. Peter 28 V. THE RELATIONSHIP OF STE. FOY AND ST. PETER AT CONQUES. 34 VI. CONCLUSION 38 VII. ILLUSTRATIONS 43 Vin. REFERENCES 55 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1, Plan of Sainte-Foy de Conques 43 FIGURE 2, View of Conques and valley, from the north 44 FIGURE 3, Pilgrimage roads in France and Spain 45 FIGURE 4, Capital, Martyrdom of St. Peter, south transept 46 FIGURE 5, Capital, Condemnation of Ste. Foy, nave 47 FIGURE 6, Ste. Foy before the hand of God, detail of tympanum 48 FIGURE 7, Plan of south transept 49 FIGURE 8, Capital, St. Peter's imprisonment by Herod 50 FIGURE 9, Capital, St. Peter's liberation by the angel 51 FIGURE 10, Capital, St. Peter's meeting with Christ (Domine, quo vadis?) 52 FIGURE 11, Capital, St. Peter imprisoned by Nero 53 FIGURE 12, Procession of the elect, detail of tympanum 54 6 ABSTRACT The early medieval abbey church of Conques, located in a treacherous mountain region of southern France, received few visitors until the relics of the virgin martyr Ste. Foy were brought there. Among her abilities, Ste. Foy was credited with the power to provide protection from capture and to free prisoners. The themes of bondage and liberation are found throughout the church in the sculpture, grillwork and especially in the Liber miraculorum. This paper argues that the repetitive imagery of chains and release from bondage had a twofold function which increased the wealth and power of the monks at Conques. First, the images evoked the power of the Ste. Foy to absolve and release one from the bonds of sin through pilgrimage and donation to this church, and second, the images refered to Ste. Foy's renowned power to provide protection and free prisoners, powers especially attractive to those involved in the Reconquista in Spain. 7 I. INTRODUCTION Throughout the Romanesque abbey church of Sainte-Foy de Conques, located on a major pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, one finds repeated allusions to themes of capture, bondage, and liberation. These themes are found in the historiated capitals, the carved tympanum, the grillwork in the chevet, and perhaps most prominantly in the collection of miracle stories of the church's patron Ste. Foy who was believed to possess the power to provide protection and to free prisoners. Those captives whose prayers for release were answered by the saint made a journey to Conques to give thanks, carrying with them their chains of captivity which they donated to the church as a votive offering. The significance of Ste. Foy's legendary powers to protect and liberate has been discussed in relationship to the efforts of the monks of Conques to develop their church as an important pilgrimage site and as a participant in the Reconquista in Spain.1 However, scholars have overlooked the schema of the imagery in the church and its relationship to an overall topos in the abbey emphasizing the double theme of capture and release from bondage. A series of sculpted capitals in the south transept describe selected images from the life of St. Peter which stress his bondage in prison and his release. Scores of chains brought by freed prisoners hung from the ceiling, and still more were forged by the monks into gates and grilles which were erected around the chevet of 1 Jean-Claude Fau, Les chapiteaux de Conques-en-Rouergue (Toulouse. 1956), pp. 7-8; Marcel Durliat, La sculpture romane de la route de Saint-Jacques: de Conques & Compostelle (Mont-de-Maisan, 1990), p. 46; Georges Gaillard, Rouergue roman (La Pierre-qui-Vire, 1963), p. 39-40. 8 the church.2 A representation of Ste. Foy on the tympanum over the west entrance of the church includes two sets of chains, one of which is open, the other closed, signifying her power to save. In the Middle Ages, these images of capture and release were contextualixed with the miracle stories of Ste. Foy which were read as part of the liturgy of the church on the feast days of Ste. Foy.3 This thesis will examine the implications of the repetitive imagery of capture and release at Conques and the significance of that imagery to the abbey's twofold efforts to increase its status as an important spiritual centre. First, the theme of bondage and liberation aided in defining the church as an important penitential pilgrimage site offering absolution and spiritual renewal, where the penitent could be delivered or liberated from the bondage of sin.