50 Art Criticism

Materials of Conferences

CLASSIFICATION OF RELIGIOUS Besides, Lombard architectural school (par- GOTHIC BUILDINGS OF SOUTHERN tially Tuscan) infl uenced greatly the formation of (OCCITANIA) IN THE CONTEXT Languedoc’s peculiar Gothic, because the towns of OF IDEOLOGICAL AND ARTISTIC Languedoc and Lombard were connected by both PROGRAMS AS THEIR BASIS trade and political, as well as religious ties (the Orlov I.I. Catars doctrine). The architectural schools of An- jou (through its trade, political and dynastic ties), Russian Academy of Sciences and Arts, St. Petersburg; Burgundy and Auvergne (connected with Occitania Lipetsk State Technical University, Lipetsk, e-mail: [email protected] from early Christian times) also had a great impact on the formation of Languedoc’s Gothic [1.] In rich amendments to the article, the author de- On the whole, speaking about the religious scribes social-ideological context of the period of church Gothic of Languedoc of that time, we can point construction and its character. The author devoted to a out some regional features .The architecture of ca- cult Gothic style of Southern France (Languedoc). thedrals and churches is not so prevailing as of the The Gothic art of Occitainia (Languedoc), which “classic” of northern France, because for a long time had been considered in foreign and the outer wall preserves its massiveness and den- native medievalism as the art of “invaders from sity specially accentuated by abutments adjoining Northern France”, is the manifestation of the creative tightly the wall. The shell of the wall seems to hide genius of local architects and customers. It was the the chapels, and as a rule there is no transept. Thus, masters from Southern France who could fi nd their the wall plane gets back its rights despite the fact own original “Gothic style” by way of creative revis- that it is profi led with orbs, mashiculi or round sky- ing the Parisian “radiant” Gothic which was fashion- lights (under the infl uence of the Lombard school). able at that time in Europe and which they used as The volumes of buildings tend to greater cliquish- their model. This style has been known in art stud- ness, removing systematically all “extra” protru- ies as “eglise fortifi ee” (church-fortress, fortifi ed sive details; it is typical for the 14th c. religious church). The monks of the new orders (fi rst of all Do- of parish churches, infl uenced minicans and Franciscans) played the most important by mendicant religious orders. Chapels occupy the role in introducing the new “Parisian style” (Gothic). space indoors between buttresses and are an inte- As these orders had to struggle with the heresy of Ca- gral part of the whole. Sculpture tends to occupy thars (widespread in the region), so they were most the inner part of the interior, moving there from the interested in creating a new type of cult architecture outer space of Gothic portals. “The Bible for the called “predicatory Church”, which would be differ- illiterate” – church wall painting scenes devoted ent from the classic Gothic of Île-de-France. Further, to Christ, Virgin and the saints – plays an impor- when the struggle with heretics became repressive tant role in the creation of the mystical mood of (with the introduction of inquisitional tribunals), parishioners along with traditional Gothic stained it was bishops from the Dominicans who initiated glass windows [4, p. 165]. The religious Languedoc the development of the concept of religious Gothic Gothic has almost no example of the “classic” two- structures in the style of “indestructible fortress of tower scheme of the western façade, with the ex- faith”; they were erected in the areas (Albi, towns ception of “imitative cathedrals” in and of the Toulouse diocese) where the struggle with Beziers. Western façades in the Languedoc Gothic the Cathars was at its peak. And vice versa, where style have a restrained, even austere, interpretation, the heresy of the Cathars was completely extirpated and single bell towers similar to Italian campaniles either by repressions (Béziers) or by resettling the directly adjoin the side of the building. population infected by heresy from captured towns Thus, we can say that Languedoc’s Gothic was (Carcassonne, Narbonne), cathedrals were built as not of an obviously imitative character, as it was a mere imitation of the “Parisian Gothic”, which considered earlier; its peculiarity was conditioned later caused such a dismissive attitude to the Gothic by various ideological and artistic programs, the in- of Languedoc [3, p. 227]. tersection and combination of which created such Another important factor which in a most a variety of forms of religious Gothic construc- prominent way infl uenced the formation of peculiar tions in a small enough region. It was the religious ideological and artistic programs of Languedoc’s Languedoc’s Gothic that later exerted a material ef- Gothic became the heritage of Rome’s ancient tra- fect on the formation of the original Catalan Gothic dition, the latter achieving its further development of the Kingdom of Aragon and the peculiar Gothic in a wealth of images in the Romanesque architec- of the Kingdom of Palma-Mallorca. tural school of Languedoc and Provence. It is to In his monographs “The religious Gothic of this style of South that France and Europe owe the Languedoc” (Moscow Stroganov Academy, NPO appearance of Gothic sculpture plastic, the beauti- Orius, 2010) [1] and “Anticatharistic fortresses of ful images of which are exhibited nowadays in the faith – the religious Gothic of Languedoc” (Lam- Museum of Augustinians in Toulouse. bert Academic Publishing, Gmbh,2012) [2] the

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY №2, 2014 Art Criticism 51 author suggests the following classifi cation of the the apse at times) spanned with simple bars. Later, a researched religious Gothic structures: special type of parish churches was formed in con- 1. Monastic churches of mendicant orders (fi rst nection with Albigensian wars and the necessity to of all those orders, whose creation had fi ghting the conduct the anticatharistic preaching and under the Cathars’ heresy as their aim or the reason of founda- infl uence of ideological and artistic programs of Do- tion). To these orders, we should fi rst of all pertain minican “predicatory” churches. Due to the peculiar- the order of “mendicant preachers”, or the Domini- ities of fi nancing the construction of parish churches, can order, whose origination, organization and ac- their western facades acquire an independent role of tivities were connected with the Cathari doctrine. A a front-screen, i.e. a façade that doesn’t perform any wonderful model of Gothic “predicatory church” in constructive function (except, probably, a few bells, a Dominican monastery in Toulouse is an evidence which, however, are mounted later). of it. The monographs contain a semantic analysis 3. churches (churches which were of the Gothic forms of the Jacobins church in Tou- built where there was an episcopal or archiepiscopal louse as an “anticatharistic” preaching in the mate- see) built in the towns where the spread of the Ca- rial, through its architectural forms [6, p. 79]. thars’ heresy and therefore their infl uence on city life Besides, the author analyses the architectural and culture was so great that the was forms, composite solutions and conceptual icono- forced to found there constant tribunals of the Holy graphic programs of religious Gothic structures of the Offi ce for the extermination of heretics. So here the “predicatory” type. Apart from the church of a Domini- division into three sub-groups is appropriate. can monastery, the author investigates the church of an – In the fi rst sub-group there should be churches Augustinian monastery (now the Augustin museum). which were built “in accordance with the models of The iconography of this church was greatly infl uenced the French Kingdom”, as Narbonne’s canons would by the ideological and artistic programs embodied in write, and which were built directly under the infl u- the Jacobins church. The Activities of the Augustinian ence of the Parisian “radiant” style. Such are, fi rst missionary order was brought to life (even if indirect- of all, the Saint-Nazaire cathedral church in Upper ly) by the necessity to cleanse the Church through the Carcassonne (the capital of the possessions of vis- promotion of the concept of “return to earlier simple counts Trencavel). The reconstruction, while in fact life” of early Church, which was determined by the the construction, of the church anew was caused by speeches of Albigensian preachers revealing the abuse a wide spread of the Cathars’ heresy in the region of Catholic prelates of the South. Based on the above, and, as a consequence, by complete expulsion of the the church of the Augustinian monastery can also be citizens to Lower City (Bastida) after seizing Carcas- considered as a “Predicatory Church”. sonne. The new citizens (true Catholics) and the new 2. Churches of urban and rural parishes located in regents (the king’s seneschal) naturally aspired to those regions, where the spread of the Cathar heresy, confi rm power of the King of France through ideo- and therefore the intensity of the struggle against them logical and artistic programs of the “radiant” Gothic, were especially great. We also suggest the division of which by that time had become international. Tak- parish churches into two sub-groups according to the ing into account the importance of strengthening his characteristics that stand out in one group or another. power in Languedoc, Saint Louis the King person- – The fi rst subgroup includes churches, whose ally took the initiative in building the Saint-Nazaire ideological and artistic program was directly or indi- cathedral. It is due to these reasons that the choir and rectly infl uenced by the iconography of the churches the transept of the Saint-Nazaire cathedral in their of Toulouse “mendicant orders” and partly by the lofty Gothic part virtually reproduce the concept of the Gothic of Northern France: Notre-Dame la Dalbade royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle. The construction of and Saint-Nicolaus in Toulouse, Saint-Michel in Car- the cathedral performed under the control of French cassonne. That kind of churches was built in the re- kings Saint Luis and Phillip the Bold in 1269–1322, gions where the anticatharistic preaching was carried together with the double system of defensive walls out in word and deed (the Tribunal of the Inquisition), of Carcassonne, was undoubtedly a realization of and, as a result, “the Dominican component” of the “the royal concept of the world” in Languedoc. That Jacobins church in Toulouse takes the leading place in was why both specialists from the French king- the basis of ideological and artistic programs of these dom and local masters were invited for the erection religious buildings. There are simple and strict exter- of a symbol of that power. Despite the fact that the nal forms and a well thought-out semantic and icono- building of the cathedral never fi nished, the ideo- graphic scheme of the epic building in general. logical and artistic programs and constructive so- – The second subgroup comprises churches, lutions which were applied during the erection of whose iconography reveals the typical features of Saint-Nazaire had a big impact on the formation of Toulouse and Languedoc: Saint-Salvy in Albi and the French-Occitan Gothic alliance in Languedoc parish churches with west facade being of a deco- architecture. In particular, the “radiant” Gothic of rative character, a kind of screen: Notre-Dame du Carcassonne had an indubitable infl uence on reli- Taur and Midi toulousain churches. The research of gious Gothic constructions in the cities of Beziers ideological and artistic programs of these religious (the cathedral of Saint-Nazaire) and Narbonne (the buildings reveals the presence of a long-standing cathedral of Saint-Just-Saint-Pasteur). tradition of Romanesque Languedoc, i.e. the con- – The second sub-group should include the ca- struction of single-nave buildings (originally without thedrals of the “transitional type”; during their con-

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY №2, 2014 52 Art Criticism struction the new Gothic design of space and masses drals (which were erected according to the “clas- was based on the rich inheritance of the Romanesque sic” Gothic of Ile-de-France), it has to be noted that architecture of Languedoc. Among them are, fi rst of it has a peculiar ascetic and exalted beauty in it in all, “the majestic Toulouse” (the capital of the Tou- contrast with the fervent dynamic of “radiant” style louse county) with the Saint-Etienne cathedral. The cathedrals. The oversimplifi cation of confi guration features of iconography due to which this religious makes the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia look like a cita- building can be related to the “transitional” type fi rst del, which produces an impression of sullen force, of all ride on the historical and cultural features of thus demonstrating the inevitability of judgment on the city itself as the heart of Quatari heresy and the heretics already here, on the Earth [5, р. 173]. main center of the Occitan culture. It was in Tou- Since the period of time considered in our re- louse, which until the fi nal stages of the Albigensian search is the 13th and 14th centuries, the author re- wars was loyal to its suzerains (counts de Foix), that garded it necessary to apply in his monographs the ideological and political resistance to Catholic clergy general scholastic scheme of designing medieval and French barons (and later to the king) prohibited treatises of the researched period (secundum ordi- erecting religious buildings in the classic Gothic style nem disciplinae), so as to move step by step from regarded as a symbol of the “occupying” power. That one judgment to another, constantly informing the was why bishop Fulk (1206–1231), who initiated the reader on the development of this logical process. reconstruction of the Saint-Etienne Cathedral, had to Such methods, both simple and clear, applied to the seek for the “architectural compromise” between the classifi cation of religious Gothic structures made it rich Toulouse’s Roman tradition and the new archi- possible to investigate the “Occitan” Gothic know- tectural outlook of the “French Kingdom”. Such was ing (or assuming) before the ideological and artistic the original concept of the Saint-Etienne Cathedral’s programs which were initially stipulated by the place erection in Toulouse (since a tense struggle with both of an erected church in the suggested classifi cation. Quataris and local clergy and patricians, partially As a proof to support the correctness of the suggested sympathizing with them, was carried on during the method, which our investigation followed, it would construction period). Later, as this religious and po- be appropriate to quote E. Panofsky as saying that litical struggle was fading, the ideological and artistic “just as the scholastic movement prepared by the scheme began to change. The materials given in Igor Benedictine doctrine and founded by Lanfranc and Orlov’s monographs clearly show that the Cathedral Anselm of Bec was carried on and perfected by Do- of a later (second) period (after 1272) was construct- minicans and Franciscans, the Gothic style prepared ed according to the “classic” plan (possibly under the in Benedictine monasteries and founded by Suger infl uence of the Narbonne Cathedral’s schemes). The in Saint-Denis climaxes in city churches. The main bold attempt to combine the two ideological and ar- achievements in the Romanesque period were Bene- tistic programs into one conceptual building, unfor- dictine abbeys, in High Gothic – cathedrals, while in tunately, met no success. As a result, the construction Late Gothic they were parish churches” [7. р. 229]. of the Cathedral in Toulouse wasn’t completed till the French Revolution, that is why nowadays it dem- References onstrates a wonderful phenomenon of mixing diverse 1. Orlov I.I. cult gothic style of Languedoc. The anti-Qatar ideological and artistic programs. sermon in a stone or the requiem of the disappeared civiliza- tion. – M.: MGHPA of S.G. Stroganov – the ORIUS personal – Finally, cathedrals which most completely computer, 2010. – 375 p. of ISBN 978-5-87627-081-8. demonstrated the ideological and artistic programs 2. Orlov I.I. Antikatarskiye of “the belief fortress” – a cult of Languedoc’s religious Gothic and then infl u- gothic style of Languedoc. LAM-BERT Academic Publishing Gmbh, 2012. ISBN 978-3-8473-2675-5. enced widely Gothic architecture in other regions 3. Orlov I.I. Oksitaniya’s cult architecture of “eglises fot- are to be gathered into the third group. First of all, tifi ees” of the XIII-XV centuries. Monograph. – Lipetsk: LGTU the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia in Albi should be re- publishing house, 2013 – 338 p. ISBN 978-5-88247-587-0. 4. Orlov I. The Origin and Development of the Typology of ferred to this class. In researching this type of Goth- Fortress – type Churches (Eglises – Fortifi ees) In France // Sci- ic constructions the author primarily notes the fact entifi c enquiry in the contemporary World: theoretical basics and that the cathedrals which are considered to be clas- Innovative approach / Research articles. L 10 “A person in the Modern World” / F.L. Titusville, USA, L&L Publishing, 2013. sic examples of Languedoc’s Gothic were built in ISBN-13: 978-1481823159; ISBN-10: 1481823159. the cities where Catharists’ heresy was fought most 5. Orlov I. The problems of complete approach to the His- heatedly and this contention lasted for a long time. toriography of the cult Gothic Style. The tendecies of the Gen- eral development of Midieval Studies // Science and World. Because of this opposition Dominican inquisitors International Scientifi c Jornal. – 2013. – № 2 (2) October. – are appointed local bishops. Surprisingly, it is to Р. 172–175, ISSN 2308-4804. bishops-inquisitors that we owe the creation and the 6. Orlov I. The origin and development of the typology of for- tress – type churches (eglises fortifi ees) in France // A Person in Modern design of the ideological and artistic features of a World. – B&M Publishing, San Francisco, California, USA, 2013. – Gothic cathedral of the “indestructible fortress of Р. 78–88 ISBN-13: 978-0-9887556-2-8; ISBN-10: 0988755629. faith” type. The Cathedral of Saint Cecilia in Albi 7. Panofsky E. Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism. Latrrobe, Pensylvannia, 1951. – СПб.: “ Alphabet-classics”, 2004. – Р. 229. is the most typical example of Languedoc’s Gothic, which demonstrates the “sacramental hymn” in hon- or of victory over heretics and a formidable “inde- The work is submitted to the International Sci- structible fortress of faith”. If it comes to comparing entifi c Conference “Modern high technologies”, this astonishing Languedoc’s Gothic construction Jordan, June 9–16, 2014, came to the editorial of- with Carcassonne’s, Bezier’s or Narbonne’s cathe- fi ce оn 08.04.2014.

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY №2, 2014