Ambulatories in Fourteenth-Century Central
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Anna Kinde AMBULATORIES IN FOURTEENTH-CENTURY CENTRAL EUROPEAN CATHEDRALS MA Thesis in Medieval Studies Central European University CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2018 AMBULATORIES IN FOURTEENTH-CENTURY CENTRAL EUROPEAN CATHEDRALS by Anna Kinde (Hungary) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ Chair, Examination Committee ____________________________________________ Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________________ Examiner ____________________________________________ CEU eTD Collection Examiner Budapest May 2018 AMBULATORIES IN FOURTEENTH-CENTURY CENTRAL EUROPEAN CATHEDRALS by Anna Kinde (Hungary) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ External Reader CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2018 AMBULATORIES IN FOURTEENTH-CENTURY CENTRAL EUROPEAN CATHEDRALS by Anna Kinde (Hungary) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ External Supervisor CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2018 I, the undersigned, Anna Kinde, candidate for the MA degree in Medieval Studies, declare herewith that the present thesis is exclusively my own work, based on my research and only such external information as properly credited in notes and bibliography. I declare that no unidentified and illegitimate use was made of the work of others, and no part of the thesis infringes on any person’s or institution’s copyright. I also declare that no part of the thesis has been submitted in this form to any other institution of higher education for an academic degree. Budapest, 17 May 2018 ________________________ Signature CEU eTD Collection Abstract While the ambulatory with polygonal radiating chapels was very popular in French cathedral architecture in the eleventh-twelfth centuries, it became less popular by 1300. However, it has seen a resurgence in Central Europe in six cathedrals: Kraków, Gniezno and Poznań in the Polish Kingdom, Eger and Várad in the Hungarian Kingdom and in Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia. The aim of this research is to assess the reasons why the builders chose this choir type for the cathedrals. The monuments, along with the most important written and visual sources are examined to reconstruct their fourteenth-century building history, and then the possible reasons are considered. The traditional association of the ambulatories with pilgrimage seems less fitting for the more complicated political and liturgical settings of the fourteenth century. I argue that cathedral ambulatories could and did fulfill multiple roles. In the case of Kraków and Prague, the two most important centers, royal prestige, honoring the patron saint, liturgical considerations and creating a place for high-profile burials were all reasons that probably contributed to the choice. In all the cathedrals, ambulatories provided an ideal solution for wealthy patrons and bishops who wished to be buried close to the main altar. In addition, in the archcathedral of Gniezno and the cathedral of Várad, the development of the cults of Saints Adalbert and Ladislaus probably influenced the architecture. CEU eTD Collection i Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude towards everyone who has helped me through this project. I would like to thank my kind supervisor Béla Zsolt Szakács for his insight and encouraging words, and the unwavering support I have received in the last years. I am also grateful to Eszter Tímár for the writing advice and insightful discussions, and Zsuzsanna Reed for helping navigate through the complicated world of the Chicago Style. I would also like to thank my professors, friends and colleagues from CEU who have contributed to what turned out to be an amazing experience. I owe thanks to Dorottya Uhrin for her valuable comments, recommendations, and the many kind words and encouragement. I am also grateful to the organizers and participants of the VII. MA Medievalist Conference at ELTE, where I presented the draft of this thesis for the first time and got amazing feedback. Lastly, I would like to say how grateful I am to my dear partner for supporting me throughout the thesis writing process. CEU eTD Collection ii Table of contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Ambulatories throughout the Years ......................................................................................... 8 Thirteenth-Century Central European Cathedrals ............................................................. 12 Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary, Kalocsa ............................................................ 12 Cathedral of Saint Maurice and Saint Catherine, Magdeburg ....................................... 14 Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Wrocław ............................................................... 15 Fourteenth-Century Central European Cathedrals with Ambulatories .................................. 16 Kingdom of Poland ............................................................................................................ 17 Kraków, Cathedral of Saint Stanislaus and Wenceslaus ............................................... 17 Gniezno, Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Adalbert .. 22 Poznań, Cathedral of Peter and Paul .............................................................................. 24 Kingdom of Bohemia: Prague, Cathedral of Saint Vitus .................................................. 28 Hungarian Kingdom .......................................................................................................... 32 Eger, Cathedral of Saint John ........................................................................................ 32 CEU eTD Collection Várad, Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary ............................................................... 35 Why Were Ambulatories Built? ............................................................................................ 39 The Cult of Saints .............................................................................................................. 39 iii Prestige – Bishops and the “Royal Cathedral” .................................................................. 46 Burials ................................................................................................................................ 51 Liturgy and Other Possible Considerations ....................................................................... 55 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 58 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 62 Primary Sources ................................................................................................................. 62 Secondary Sources ............................................................................................................. 62 Appendices – Figures ............................................................................................................ 69 CEU eTD Collection iv List of Figures Figure 1. Ambulatory in a general cathedral floorplan .......................................................... 69 Figure 2. Santo Stefano Rotondo, Rome. Reconstruction of exterior ................................... 70 Figure 3. Anastasis Rotunda and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. ................................... 71 Figure 4. Sant Agnese and Santa Constanza in Rome. .......................................................... 71 Figure 5. Reconstruction of the ambulatory at Old St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome .................. 72 Figure 6. Tournus, St. Philibert (c. 960-970) ......................................................................... 72 Figure 7. "Pilgrimage churches": St Martin, Tours (1); St Martial, Limoges (2); St Foi, Conques (3); St Sernin, Toulouse (4); Santiago de Compostela (5).......................................... 73 Figure 8. Ground plan of the abbey church of St. Denis ....................................................... 74 Figure 9. Ground plan of Chartres Cathedral ........................................................................ 74 Figure 10. Ground plan of Amiens Cathedral ....................................................................... 75 Figure 11. Ground plan of Clairvaux Abbey ......................................................................... 76 Figure 12. Lausanne Cathedral .............................................................................................. 77 Figure 13. Ground plan of Basel Cathedral ........................................................................... 78 Figure 14. Ground plan of Royaumont Abbey .....................................................................