The cathedral of the Black Madonna 1594770204

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JEAN MARKALE |

Cathedral OF THE

Black

Madonna

The Druids and the Mysteries of Chartres

|

1

|

Boston Public Library Boston, MA 02116

Cathedral OF THE

Black

Madonna

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2017 with funding from

Kahle/Austin Foundation

https://archive.org/details/cathedralofblackOOmark

Cathedral of THE

Black

Madonna The Druids and the Mysteries of Chartres

JEAN MARKALE Translated by Jon

Graham

Inner Traditions Rochester,

Vermont

Inner Traditions

One Park

Street

Rochester,

Vermont 05767

www.InnerTraditions.corn

Copyright

©

1988 by Editions Pygmalion/Gerard Watelet,

English translation copyright

©

2004 by Inner Traditions

Originally published in French under the

Paris

International

Chartres et Venigme des Druides by

title

Editions Pygmalion/Gerard Watelet, Paris First U.S. edition

published by Inner Traditions in 2004

All rights reserved.

No

form or by any means, ing, or

part of this

book may be reproduced or

any

utilized in

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, record-

by any information storage and

without permission

retrieval system,

in

writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Markale, Jean. [Chartres et l'enigme des Druides. English]

Cathedral of the Black

Jean Markale p.

;

Madonna

translated by Jon

:

the Druids

Graham.

—

and the mysteries of Chartres

/

1st U.S. ed.

cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-59477-020-4

(pbk.)

—Devotion to—France. Black Virgins. Christianity and other religions — Druidism. Cathedrale de Chartres. 1.

Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint

2.

4.

3. I.

Title.

BT652.F7M37 2004 282'. 445 124

—dc22 2004018268

Printed and

10

bound

in the

United States at Lake Book Manufacturing, Inc.

987654321

Text design and layout by

Priscilla

Baker

This book was typeset in Sabon, with Trajan as a display typeface

Contents 1.

2. 3.

m Part » 1

4.

The

The Entrance

Sites

to the Labyrinth

The Vibrating Stones

2

31

Chartres over the Course of History 7. 8.

73

m Part 2 w

9. The Virgin’s Great Shadow

The Mother of God

108

Worship of the Virgin

5.

10. 6.

The Black Madonna

132 168

Part 3

The Mystery of the Druids The Forest of

the Carnutes

Gargantua’s Itinerary

Our Lady

of

226

Under Ground

The Virgin of

Index

the Druids

290

200

244

267

PART

The

1

Sites

The Entrance to the Labyrinth

of us have our

of things, especially

upon something previously unknown

lay eyes

cially true for

dim past

are

endowed with an

still

For me, odd as

My

trains.

thanks to the

it

is

espe-

legacies of the

The

evocatively luminous power.

sounds, the cathedral

which fueled many

associated with

fantasies: Didn’t

which

beyond

my way

hope of ever finding

is

rail-

became acquainted with the world

first

the entrance to a labyrinth in all

is

first

such a monument.

generation

train,

when we

to us. This

monuments whose

those famous old

cathedral at Chartres

road

own view

I

it

show me

dreamed of losing myself, out?

“Look! That’s Chartres Cathedral!” From our third-class compartment (we rode third class),

amid

window

class only

because there was not a fourth

the din of wheels switching tracks,

that bizarre silhouette suddenly

I

spied through the

looming from a

many had

mound

ris-

ing out of a

wooded

me from

road through the appalling flatness of the Beauce. Yes,

that

a

was my

into the

West

first

valley. It

is

a sight

sight of Chartres,

in search of

were already beginning to There

was

from the long

seen long before

trains

burrowing

an almost mythical Brittany, whose ghosts stir in

my

fertile

imagination.

another curious circumstance, terribly charged with emo2

I

The Entrance

Labyrinth

to the

3

tion

and invoking incredible images, that dates from 1936, when

was

eight

and a half years

dominated by the absence

whose shadow poisoned

my

mention for librium.

I

never loved

throw myself she

father,

—

or,

daily

who

was

It I

a fairly sad period of

should

say, the flight

creator, she

my mother. Nor

was

Around

mother was

behaved to

my

on

When I would

feelings of affection for her,

the pretext that

me more

I

was wrin-

me; although she was

a stranger to

like a foster

mother.

environment.

to imagine another world, one to this time,

and me, not to

did she love me.

lonely, introverted child confined in a closed

resource

life,

struggled constantly to maintain his equi-

would roughly push me away under

My

my

—of my mother,

my grandmother

for

life

into her arms, acting

kling her dress.

my

old.

I

which

without knowing what to

I

was

I

My

had no

call

it,

a

sole

right.

began

I

engaging in metaphysical speculation. Well educated in the best Catholic principles, respectful of the clergymen street

whether

I

knew them

nizable by their cassocks) nal grandfather,

or not

(in

—no doubt

who cawed like

a

I

would

greet in the

those days they were recog-

in reaction against

crow every time he saw

my

mater-

a priest

—

asked myself weighty questions concerning the Beyond. Paradise

had been described to me

as

an immense region where

little

angels

played music and everyone wore white. But this image, which had

been designed to reassure me, instead

would

I

do for

every time

I

filled

me

eternity in this bizarre place? Vertigo

pondered the notion, not because

I

What assailed me

with terror:

had doubts about

the reality of an eternal paradise, but because eternity, like infinity,

was

intolerable to the understanding

sad, distraught child. In

shaped

my

later

any

case,

I

— or

misunderstanding

— of a

firmly believe that this vertigo

behavior and largely explains the path

I

have cho-

sen to attempt to discover a certain truth.

During

this

September

ing about a figure

in

1936,

named Adolf

said to be taking place in Spain,

when

Hitler,

strange rumors were

when

we had

terrible things

just spent

friends

who

were

some peaceful

days in the Perche region, Mortagne to be precise, at the

some family

fly-

home

have always been more than friends to

of

me

— The

4

Sites

and with and

whom

in a train to

home.

feel at

Night had

the fog

My

grandmother,

We

had taken

we

my

bumpy

a

ride

got on another, faster train

where we would catch the

to Chartres,

father,

train to

where the strange circumstance occurred.

is

window

Paris.

Conde-sur-Huisne, where

would take us

Paris. This

the

always

were heading back toward

I

that

I

fallen,

and

it

was

foggy.

but an opaque mass

toward Chartres.

I

could see nothing outside

around

all

us.

The

train dived into

was an agonizingly long

It

ride.

suddenly

I

imagined that the only thing existing was the track on which the train

was

and there was nothing around that

traveling,

track.

We

were on a kind of dike or bridge extending across the universe, extending across that assailed

me when

get to Chartres?

I

This thought prompted the same vertigo

infinity. I

When would we

heard descriptions of heaven.

remember my

vividly

we would

certainty that

never

reach Chartres, and that our journey through the fog would continue

through

eternity.

These were strange sensations that are

When

words.

bling because

found myself on the Chartres train platform, stum-

I

I

was

still

half asleep,

world

really existed. Yet

lights.

And

I

the signs told us

magically inside I

my

it

was hard

was walking on

we were

head as the

have never forgotten

island in a motionless sea

so dear to Peguy, but

—not

among

awareness of

my

how

who

glebe”

as

in

if

response

in the ruts

the old city of Chartres appeared to

eyes to the contours of an

swamps

“fertile

have gone astray

rises

it

never occurred to

unknown over a

the road to travelers, and especially to prevent in the

an

Francois Villon’s “infernal marshes”

shadows. Our Lady the Virgin often

mired

reality.

a peaceful haven,

middle of the

that foggy September evening, although

to raise

name resonated

Chartres represented deliverance

in the

to the desperate appeals of those is

to believe the

my own

watched over by the reassuring image of Our Lady

of time and space. This

me

in Chartres. This

sole

how

for

the ground. There were

from an unspeakable nightmare, Chartres,

me

capture in

difficult to

of suffering.

me

cathedral in the

mound

to point out

them from

getting

The Entrance

I

had no idea then of what

moors, and through enced that evening

my

an indelible imprint on

What was Lady of

It

was

Madonna

in other churches. Yet questions arose:

Our Lady

the difference between

Our

of Chartres and

between Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of

Paris,

Montligeon? Are they

many names?

same person?

the

all

Why

does she have so

hadn’t reached the point of wondering about

I

monotheism and polytheism, but intrigue a child. After

all,

Christmas, but they are

“Our Lady”

was

experi-

I

character.

one name, simply a name, followed by the image of the

and Child that can be found

5

longer journey along shores, over

but the sense of deliverance

forests,

left

Labyrinth

a cathedral could be. Chartres

much

only a stop, one leg in a

to the

the

was material

to

numerous incarnations of Father

there are

all

the same, there

all

same Father Christmas. So why not

in a never-ending variety?

Then war moved

into

and

my world,

can

ieties,

privations,

felt in

the barely heated houses, the

suffering.

I

by smoky candlelight because the

with

accompanying anx-

all its

still

clearly recall

memory

electricity

of doing

my

when I roamed

cathedrals.

Notre-Dame

in the

in

through ancient

shadows of the

My

Paris fascinated me. cities that

streets past strange shops,

I

had never

cut.

stomach. Yet

seen.

The

cold

I

my homework

had been

ber the pangs of hunger that gripped

how

this

I

remem-

was

also

architecture of

imagination wandered I

walked down narrow

beneath canopies that sheltered

me from

the rain, in dead cities that held in their centers vast edifices covered

with flying buttresses and grotesque sculpture, topped by aggressive spires that soared into space. ter

And

the dull drone of airplanes, sinis-

messengers of sneaking death, often darkened

noise of the In this

bombs drowned out

the music of the angels.

world of hatred and violence,

of a past that

I

I

took refuge

in the

shadow

reconstructed with the great comfort of books.

covered medieval

literature:

I

The

this space.

reveled in the

Lancelot of the Lake, and Perceval;

I

company

wished to have

of Merlin to transform with a single gesture the

around me into a wonderful orchard

filled

all

I

dis-

of Tristan, the

powers

unwholesome world

with beautiful young

girls

;

The

6

Sites

with tormenting eyes.

My

image of heaven began to borrow

ments that no longer had anything blessed robed in white

immutable full

eternity.

I

and singing praises

confess that the

of ripe fruits, where

common

in

Isle

Morgana and

ele-

with the host of the

Lord

the

to

of Avalon,

trees

its

in

an

always

her sisters lived in a crystal

me more than the sad, monotonous Christian parinspired so much vertigo. In fact, when evoking the Isle of

palace, pleased adise that

Avalon

— or any other marvelous island from Celtic

Emain Ablach,

as

Promised

Isle

—

Insula

Pomorum,

the

Land of

never experienced any vertigo.

I

tradition, such

I

felt I

Faery, or the

was

from

safe

everything there, including distress, given a sense of security by the

women who

presence of these beautiful and mysterious drafts of forgetfulness to the sailors

Lady made way

for

Morgana,

to love with a love that

is

a

wrecked upon

their shores.

Our

whom one yearns

queen of the night

absolute and eternal.

offered

The

vertigo

came

then not from the duration, but from the instant of the fugitive

my

encounter with the Queen of Faery. This was eroticism. But

it

was

also a kind of adherence to the doctrines of

Woman, woman.

courtly or rather fine love: salvation by the the Divine through the intermediary of

Thinking about

now,

it

believe there

I

the desire for salvation through Virgin.

meeting with

first

woman

is

and

the merger with

no difference between trust in

Our Fady

Marian worship developed concurrently with

fine love they are

two

ably not be repeated

sides of the

lest it

same

reality.

But

this

the

the

theme of

should prob-

be seen as evidence of a “sick mind.”

I

already have enough of a reputation for being an unyielding agnostic.

To dare compare Mary, mother of

woman It

of the Courts of Fove

Jesus, with just

—some hussy! —

is

any noble

not even a sacrilege.

demonstrates the kind of antireligious belligerence whose

reward

is

And

just

excommunication.

yet

.

.

.

the last time

I

attended a Christmas midnight Mass,

which was not so long ago,

at

the reading of the Gospel.

The

Vannes Cathedral,

was

horrified at

priest coolly said that

Joseph had

I

traveled to Bethlehem for the census, with Mary, his wife,

who was

The Entrance

Once

pregnant.

returned home,

I

looked up the passage “

.

.

proved otherwise,

who was

Furthermore, one of the translators of

former professor of mine, and for his expertise, honesty,

impenitent agnostic,

and dishonesty of

and

word and

not an agnostic.

join the priesthood.

was

was

I

stifle

my

by

certainly fueled

How much

cated me.

with merely

have always

deeply about

felt

I

told that

Renan and

my

Stalin

who owe

the image of

me

well that

They

my

I

Morgana some

suits their needs. I

am with

mean

I

others.

I

desire

The Oratorians,

satis-

become

my

to reflect

and

requests and ques-

and helped put

anxieties,

my

me

me

my

good they did

stormy for

me.

friends.

a priest.

I

was too tormented by

the Fay to tranquilly content myself with the

priests

One

My

finality of the Creation,

will never forget all the

did not

wished to

were seminar-

inspired

do not share

my

all

scruples

only canon law but also the fluctuations of their

as

I

so.

the “catechism,” nor in giving

worship rendered to a Virgin Mary stripped of full

do

They were not

these Oratorians!

them have become

all that,

a

are devoted servants of the Faith, edu-

responded to

For

is

a bishop. This did

familial environment.

tions,

of

text.

of appearing an

was twelve years old

I

meaning, the

its

I

a

the greatest esteem

the only one able to

it is

God. They always welcomed warmly

in order.

is

and unshakable Truth ex

the essential

When

instilling in

life,

has been

same that not only claims

finally

And many

it

Father Auvray,

faith. So, at the risk

the standard “brainwashing” treatment.

thoughts

Until

ardent desire to become a Catholic priest.

remarkable intellectuals

fied

I

this Bible,

Fouche was Oratorian, and Talleyrand was

ians,

not

”

quite edifying:

cannot refrain from denouncing the hypocrisy

I

cathedra, but also asserts that

am

was

matches the original

a certain clergy, the very

to deliver the divine

I

It

pregnant.

closely

7

Jerusalem Bible and

believe that the Jerusalem Bible translation

I

and objective work that

serious

my

Gospel of Luke.

in the

with Mary, his fiancee,

.

opened

I

to the Labyrinth

of

my

flaws

is

that

I

am

which

I

and

I

know

interpret not

own minds

as best

as honest with myself

therefore elected the profane

lost all sense of the sacred,

sexuality.

life.

This does not

continued to seek through

The

8

all

Sites

my

that crossed

path

—

in

women,

of course, but also in

medieval cathedrals with whose magnetic aura

I

the

all

was permeated,

as

well as in those modest but mysterious country chapels and disused yet still-living sanctuaries that provide an incomparable testimony to

the transcendence established between the this

the divine.

Is

an agnostic attitude? You cannot be as passionately interested

in

the quest for the Grail as in

human and

what?

am

I

have not leaned

I

one day that

God

believe in something. But

Galahad over the sacred

like

been blinded by the impossible realize

you

unless

emanating from

light

could be present in the

it,

vessel

and

but

did

I

priest’s chalice as

well as in the Grail, and that the Virgin presided over church liturgies,

even

when

they were botched by priests

who no

longer under-

stood them. It is

easy to be disappointed and sometimes disconcerted by the

attitudes of

some

representatives of the Church.

Church

heart’s content that the

aspects

that

And we can this

only

condemn

world (“You

and currently “work

smells a

bow down

will get

thinkers” by remarking on trine

yet

my

for

in the Beyond!”),

while at the same time for-

we

and spread.

risk being taken for “free-

my faith,

shows how

beyond

and protected from any dogma, can be considered

And

all

doc-

heretical.

abrupt realization that there was something real in

these botched liturgies ence.

it. It

if

who

before the great and

your reward

in the social sphere,”

a betrayal, even

little like

has

it

of the

fires

the hypocrisy of clerics

getting the spiritual message they are supposed to share It

our

alliances contracted with totalitarian govern-

centuries have compelled the poor to

powerful of

institution, but

such as the

unacceptable,

totally

and the

Inquisition

ments.

are

human

a

is

We can repeat to

At the time

I

came about through

was madly

with a

in love

involved in a relationship with a priest.

a rather sordid experi-

I

woman who was

found myself with her

at

Mass one

day,

where

remained

like

marble, content merely to witness the spectacle.

I

saw her putting on

quite a

show

of faith.

During Communion, when she rushed up to receive the host,

I

I

could

not help but imagine a different kind of communion, along the lines

The Entrance

Remy

of that described by

and Sammael (Satan)

Lilith

in

Gourmont

de

God

— a blasphemy involving “communion” if

refrain

you who

my

you do not grant

take neither food nor drink before it is

I

from send-

making

a challenge similar to that of Saint Patrick in

request of the Lord: “God,

9

about

in his strange play

both the holy and profane senses. Nor could

ing

to the Labyrinth

my prayer

is

prayer,

swear to

granted, and

Legend claims that

will be responsible!”

I

a

this

if I

die,

always

worked, not only for Saint Patrick but also for every other saint of

who knew what

the original Celtic Christian Church, individuals

they wanted, ions I

who were

on such matters

heroes before they became statues.

are well

known, and

it

My opin-

was not by chance

that

wrote a book celebrating the merits of the different forms assumed

by ancient Celtic Christianity, which were among the most ardent forms of worship existing So

I

challenged

to have a sign.

I

God

had

to

1 .

in the

know.

I

same way

made

as did Saint Patrick.

this silent prayer:

“God,

are truly present in the host, in the appearance of bread,

woman who

accept being ingested by this sacrilegious priest to

commit

the

just for

show.”

A

response.

It

same

mute

arrived.

sacrilege;

During the night the

I

purest

have believed

in.

if

you

you cannot

else this I

is all

awaited a

woman became

sick

and

This was the sign. Since that

in the true presence of

wind the dawn has

had

has caused a

prayer, but a sincere one.

vomited everything she had taken time

you cannot. Or

I

to offer can

God

in the host.

The

sometimes emerge from the

most sickening swamp.

How many times

have

I

passed before the cathedral of Chartres

without stopping, simply looking tecture that raises so

many

at

it,

intrigued by

questions for

me and

its

strange archi-

pushes

me

into an

imaginary world. The Middle Ages was a time of

faith

icence as well as a time of darkness and obscurity.

As an adolescent,

I

assiduously frequented

Dame

1.

Notre-Dame

in Paris as well as

de Montligeon in the Perche region, where

Jean Markale, Le Christianisme celtique

(Paris:

and magnif-

I

Imago, 1984).

left

Notre-

behind some

The

10

of

my

meant

Sites

Our Lady

youthful fantasies. But what could

me

to

during those stormy times

not only of God, but of

humanity?

all

from the Gospel of John:

I

—she who was the mother

repeated to myself the words

“J esus said to his mother,

your son.’ Then to the disciple he said ‘This I

I

had been taught that Jesus had given

did not understand. Certainly

she said this. She was, for

mother” her

entire

all

your mother.’”

mother to humanity.

who had repeatedly told me

down from

the cross.

lost her

she

felt

It

was

a

my own

minute think of

for a

I

a “sorrowing

mother”?

my

remember one of

and purposes,

intents

But could

life.

as a “sorrowing

made good was

is

My grandmother would have tears in her eyes when

touching image:

I

his

this

mater dolorosa, the Virgin on whose knees lay the body of

her dead son after he had been taken

mother

is

‘Woman,

grandmother,

World War,

eldest son during the First like the

my

the Virgin have

teachers

—not a

priest

—who thought

on the greatness of maternity

sense to give a course

the middle of the Petain era

and

motto of “Work,

its

it

(this

family,

country”) that would extol the merits and sacrifices of every

“mama.”

made me

It

And

feel sick.

Lady, Mary, the virgin mother of God,

any

in

mean

what could Our

case,

to

me?

Why should the

various images of the mater dolorosa have any effect on yet there

was something tormenting me, something

depths of

my entrails.

missing.

The

It

“Consoler of ordeals ...” goes. But

it

embedding

Many

A

lot of

came back

good

this did

itself in

my

years later

September

my memory:

me, as the saying

so.

mind. realized

I

I

was

what was then

in a

mountain

same way

the

—

it is

former student,

as

Our Lady

always September!

— and

in truth the best student

ago era of 1968, when the most

I

common

really stirring inside

village,

Velay region, not far from that mysterious

me

to

did not prevent the image of the Pieta from permanently

and troubling me

haunts

arising out of the

was, of course, the sense that something was

of the Virgin

litanies

me? And

Saugues, in the

Our Lady

of Puy that

of Chartres. I

It

was

was accompanied by

in

a

ever had during that long-

philosophical activity

was

The Entrance

throwing paving stones I

esting classes of students

found myself

eventful

life

Her blue

in

I

having

had the pleasure

ever

the

lively intel-

most

over the twenty years since

to teach.

we had

last

seen each other.

eyes expressed suffering and despair. She seemed the forces of

if

me

She had brought

her.

inter-

Saugues with Dominique. She had led an

to be a part of this world, as

snatched

me from

what may have been one of

lectual discussions with

I

did not keep

it

11

Don’t worry,

at the representatives of Order.

was among them. But

So

to the Labyrinth

no longer

shadow had already

to a desolate

and deserted pond,

where she told me strange voices spoke to her from beneath the water. She told

me

that their hands were reaching

toward her to

pull

down to their sunken city. She recounted legends, ones I have told many times myself, and threw out the name of Virginia Woolf her

as

if

by chance

— but which

I

found a provocation, as

the dull blue-

if

green waters would bring back the image of an Ophelia forever vanished.

Dominique, so young and

frail

yet fierce

and hard, showed

the indelible traces of drug use. She spoke in beseeching tones, as a

drunken boat cast back by the storm She had

became

me accompany

lost in

to

.

.

her into the Saugues church, where she

contemplation of a Pieta, which was quite beautiful

and moving, by the way.

wanted

.

We

then

left

the building. She

now

chest.

The

rising

wind

I

to strike

me

stirred her hair like algae in a

pond:

who

world to become

And

then

I

moment, were

passed by stared at us

a particularly scorching glare;

if

she

with lightning, she would have done

so.

stared insolently back at her, asking myself

for the

hand, and

asleep

One woman gave me

had been able

my

fell

another image of Ophelia. The people accusingly.

said she

regarded as solely a decorative

element. She snuggled up next to me, took

my

had

beneath the porch on the stone benches that once

sit

served just this purpose but are

on

if

warm and

how

holding her dead son against

We her,

it

would take

understanding.

suddenly realized that the two of a reversed Pieta.

long

us, at that precise

were not the sorrowful Mother but rather the suffering Father

holding his dead daughter and looking for any means to restore her

,

The

12

to

life. I

then recalled to mind Breton Calvary depictions of this same

which

scene, in is

as

Sites

him

new

to

light. Yes, this

was

the gesture she

life,

I

eternal

made by

was not Mary,

realized

nestled

when

A

the Virgin of virgins.

Several days

later,

rate ways, she pulled

spoke volumes about her

I

was only

a

man. And

terrifying desire: Restore

only

I

could do nothing more for

when Dominique and

me

close

name on my

“Can you promise me one

“When

I

to I

yet

life!

also

knew

there

about

my

was nothing

absence, and

told the caller that she tigative inquiry.

had been saved

poned the

It

again went our sepa-

will

I

was

quite simple in

And

come looking

its

depth:

several minutes

for you; I

we

will

left her.

I

could do. But there was some concern

I

someone had telephoned Dominique. She killed

me, thus setting off an entire inves-

actually she

in extremis

inevitable.

I

be yours.” She followed this a

thing? Die with me.”

had

was

nothing.

and whispered: “You know, when

lips will

the time arrives,

her,

both leave together and never return.” Like a coward,

And

me

grasped the meaning of the Pieta. But

short while later with a question that

later:

and

for,

my own powerlessness. Dominique, her head stubbornly against my chest, trying to live by the rhythm of my heart,

was already dead, and

die, the

in

strange scene that held a strange sensation.

finally

I

with a glorious body garbed

my hand

taking

was aware of Dominique’s

This was

life,

This was what Dominique was asking

it.

deepest motivations. I

It

Mary, the universal Mother, wished to reintegrate her son and

if

restore

But

body never extends below Mary’s knees.

Christ’s

but

I

who had

knew

“killed” herself. She

that this

There was nothing more

I

had merely postcould do for

her.

Mary haunted me, because Mary is the only one capable of rescuing human beings from despair. Why are there so many representations of the Virgin holding her child? Why are there so many representations of the mater the image of the Virgin

dolorosa ?

It

must correspond

sciousness.

Why

Our Lady

unless

would it

is

to something deep in

there be so

many

human

con-

sanctuaries dedicated to

because the image of the mother haunts the

memories of the sons and daughters of

this

world?

When

I

began

The Entrance

to the Labyrinth

13

taking an interest in the Middle Ages and Gothic architecture,

my

eagerly read everything

I

cathedral of Chartres.

learned that

dral in the world.

dows from

I

I

could put

hands on that concerned the

was

it

the

most beautiful cathe-

learned that the most beautiful stained-glass win-

the thirteenth century could be found there.

learned that the sanctuary had been built on the ple in

which

The Druids,

statue, for they

now know

was

it

also

of a pagan tem-

site

said,

on the threshold of

that this tradition

were responsible for erecting the

must be taken with

all

monition of the Christian Mary, but

I

I

the necessary

claim that the virgo paritura

its

a

giv-

had long foreseen the mystery of the Incarnation.

reservations, particularly

lescent

I

had been discovered along with

a mysterious well

statue depicting a virgo paritura, a “Virgin

ing birth.”

I

is

a pre-

must confess that to an ado-

haunted by the Middle Ages and utterly enthralled by the

Celtic origins of

Western

civilization, the revelation

was food

for

thought.

Chartres became for believed

— and

Western

me

—are

believe

still

spirituality.

a vital center of

Here again

I

essential to

had been

laid

of the cathedral. This labyrinth as to

its

others

Cretan

it

my

story,

I

it

the development of a conviction has

also learned that a

I

over the flagstones in the nave

prompted wildly varying conjectures as a simple decorative element,

it

know

the labyrinth to be a feature of an old

part,

I

and

wondered what such

I

I

sensed that

had

it

was doing

in a

a purpose, however,

and

a depiction

might be necessary to discover what

entering

I

contained the most arcane secrets of Hermetic philoso-

Christian sanctuary. that

down

meaning. Some regarded

felt it

phy. For

the living forces

do not think such

anything to do with an agnostic attitude. But strange labyrinth

all

this

purpose was before

and finding the way out again.

strove for

many

Chartres. Although

years to find the entrance to the labyrinth of I

continued to investigate the cathedral by

devouring countless books about twenty-five.

When

I

passed

my

it,

I

did not

visit

it

until

I

turned

baccalaureat [the French equivalent

of receiving a high school diploma

— Translator

j,

my

grandmother

The

14

Sites

promised to make

pilgrimage

a

Circumstances and the to I

vow.

fulfill this

now

think that

I

eventually did

later date.

mature enough to handle such a con-

yet

which ultimately took place

frontation,

not allow her

much

for her, but at a

it

Chartres.

of

fragile state of her health did

was not

I

Our Lady

to

several stages,

in

as

if

entrance to the famous labyrinth was forbidden to me. Initiation

always takes place on deceptive and intentionally tortuous paths.

My

path was indeed tortuous, but

what awaited me

took

it

with no knowledge of This touches on mys-

in the heart of the labyrinth.

weight to the most unconscious

teries that lend their

to

I

make our way

human

desire;

to the holy of holies necessarily entails a certain

period of apprenticeship.

But was tuality? live,

Contemporary

therefore

or less well later

an apprenticeship

this

we must

what

is

falsely

essentials.

known

reminds of

my

me

of

what my

desire to

must “have

program!

It

showed

social hierarchy

must

—more and

a job,” is

the basic

It is

all

well

and concern ourselves with

for example, the

father used to

become

a writer.

tell

day of

literature

He would

his real

on Sunday,

to

concern to see

whose core value

is

amuse

me

security.

I

rest.

me when I made

too

invariably reply:

“That’s fine, but begin by studying seriously and getting a

Then you can make

We

on condition that we do so outside nor-

mal working hours-— on Sunday,

much

We

as “secularism”:

to display our religious faith

religious matters, but only

It

called spiri-

take part in a system that functions

spare time to think about the soul. This

principle of

and good

is

society has taken a definitive stand:

—to protect the

we can

what

in life or in

good

yourself.”

find

“my

job.

A fine

place” in a

vainly remonstrated

with him, retorting that humanity’s progress had been achieved only because hooligans, marginal types, and troublemakers had broken

through the

“it

a dreamer. In a

Sunday

goes without saying” mentality.

any

case,

I

glass of beer

on the

treated

me

like

never forgave him for considering literature

distraction, just like the obligatory

(what a bore!), the

He

visits to

Aunt Machin,

terrace of a cafe.

Sunday promenade

the theater matinee, or the

And when I spoke

to

him about

The Entrance

to the Labyrinth

15

going to hear a symphony, he answered that he would prefer attending an operetta: “At least

Here not

is

was

from alone

far

so-called cultural

in

me from

can-

I

—which my promoting and defending — concerning

phenomena and

this attitude

the behavior of those described as

“good Christians” because they contribute regularly

to the collec-

and attend eleven o’clock Mass every Sunday before

tion plate

returning

thinking.”

from thinking.

the crux of the matter: It keeps us

proposing an analogy between

resist

father

relaxing and keeps

it is

home

And Sunday

ored accordingly as a person was able. day; therefore,

The Lord was hon-

to carve the roast beef or lamb.

a day unlike the others.

it is

It is

the Lord’s

is

possible and even

obligatory to think about religion that day and also to relax. But the

other days of the

week

earn our daily bread and

work

remunerated

over,

activity

“good works”

is

we can

for the parish. This

that time,

it

was

when I was

ond imagine

on the

eties, I

other.

I

was

life

erations

same

I

had not

the society

it

I

I

proposed to

could not for a sec-

saying!? a precipice spiritual

faces of but lived in

I

I

I

one

what they

really

this

your mother!” So

I

is

and

flouted delib-

was already thinking along

vaguely listened to on Sunday pieces of

in

good

in Christ!”

any case we would have had

Holy

Virgin, the

model

my children, that you swallowed my hostility.

the reason,

just

reality,

meant. These same sermons always

extolled the merits of the blessed

— “And

—

cultural

was unaware of his

good Christians every day of the week! Live

to understand

and

would have

Mass were loaded with

But no one really listened to them, and

mother

I

seems

the sermons

during that famous 11:15 advice: “Be

two

yet read Pascal, so

Of course,

life

realizing that in so-called primitive soci-

on “amusement,” but lines.

financially

violently rejected. For even at

I

on the one hand and the

why

all

model.

—what am

the sacred and the profane were

this basic rule.

the kind of

face, as a

a ditch

had begun

could not understand

the

was

same model

once

We

devote our efforts to doing

only a dreamy adolescent,

that there

between the profane life

the

serious matters:

until the evening;

me, with a completely straight Obviously

more

are reserved for

for every

should love

,

The

16

I

Sites

now

think

My

Lady of Chartres.

was not merely

was what obstructed my approach

all this

me

been impossible for

Middle Ages and Gothic

interest in the

cultural;

was part of a

it

Our

to

greater whole.

would have

It

to grasp the beauty of the architecture with-

out being aware of the worship that took place in the sanctuary this instance,

attention.

I

trated the

art

—

worship of the Virgin Mary. Other elements drew

had learned that some of the stained-glass windows

Song of Roland which

my

illus-

had studied and appreciated

I

in

in

tenth grade under the guidance of the remarkable teacher and writer

Jean Hani, the person truly responsible for giving research.

knew

I

that

some of

me

a taste for deep

windows had been

these

crafted

thanks to the generous donations of Pierre Mauclerc, count of

Creux and duke of

Brittany,

association was, of course, a leave

me

indifferent.

I

through

hook

knew

also

Aristotle could be seen there, lost

This struck

me

Thomism was

my

Duchess Alix. This

native region and did not

that the statue of the philosopher

amid

all

as bizarre at the time, for

the sages of Christendom. I

was not

simply a revival of Aristotelianism

Most important,

that era.

to

his wife,

I

knew

there

was

made

relic

that

in her

was

honor

sacrifices

this cathedral? It

—and to preserve,

a silk cloth given

believed

I still

me.

But what was the Virgin Mary’s role in been erected

relevant for

human

these legendary figures were capable of engaging in pit attracted

aware that

a mysterious crypt

where the shadows of the Druids lurked. At the time

on dolmens. This dark

yet

it

was

said, a

had

symbolic

by the Byzantine emperors to

Charlemagne and was, according to legend, worn by the Virgin on either the

Annunciation or the day of Christ’s

real question

concerning

me

then: In

the exemplary mother, relevant to rejected

me? Under

Chartres interested

what way was

less

But

this

was

the

the Virgin Mary,

me when my own mother had

these circumstances,

me much

birth.

it

is

understandable that

than Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre

in Paris

or the Saint-Kornely church in Carnac.

Nonetheless, one day entered the cathedral. But

I

I

did

make my way

to

Chartres and

was more concerned with

fulfilling

my

a

The Entrance

vow

grandmother’s

than determining what gave

Furthermore,

intensity.

was

it

this

sanctuary

in the context of a family outing

Sunday excursion of the “something that should be seen” Nothing particularly

my memory

striking remains in

of

to address.

day.

The next time we would go

one

in Beauvais.

see the cathedral of

was

it

little I

sunsets of Brittany,

would catch

I

Our Lady

trains that carried

me

was

a nice

Amiens or the

And

These too were things that should be seen.

from the long-distance

towers of

did not matter;

It

—

other

it,

the strange labyrinth that raised questions

no position

at the time in

its

type.

than the dazzling light of the stained-glass windows and, a

more emphatically,

17

to the Labyrinth

to the golden

a quick glimpse of the

brown

two

tall

of Chartres flickering over the plain, sometimes

wind over

illuminated by lightning flashes, like trees twisted by the

shores on which no ship will wreck.

was almost twenty years before

It

was

my

a fairly dark period of

at night

life. I

on the small roads around

tryside, traversing

dead towns

in

returned to Chartres. This

I

anesthetized myself by driving

through the deserted coun-

Paris,

which the houses opened only on

certain Sundays, losing myself in remote valleys that to I

an agglomeration that

was beginning

I

was running away from

myself, but

still

close

to find demoniacal. In fact

did not

I

were

know where

I

was

going.

A woman who

wanted

to be called Frangoise

accompanied me.

She loved to ride during the night. She intoxicated

and was good

at

making

was up

crest of the hills;

it

other side. After

all,

satisfied

love.

some of my

this

to imagine

should have,

fantasies

that night in September

Chartres. But

I

as in space.

It

was

lie

on the

not delighted me, at least

me

to slow

whose

that the precipice

—

trickier,

a

way

down

existence

1936 outside the railroad car

knew now

from the world

what might

and inspired delusions of which

tipping off a precipice of nothingness,

arate

if

Sometimes the fog forced

yet unaware.

with words

But her gaze never went beyond the

me

to

me

was

I

I

was

to avoid

had sensed

rolling

toward

farther away, sep-

no doubt, but remote

in time as well

of forgetting something, perhaps even

,

The

18

Sites

something

Chartres that likely that

But the fact remains that

essential. I

was always toward

wandered during these nocturnal adventures.

was haunted by

I

it

a passage

It is

from Caesar’s Commentary

on the Gallic Wars when he spoke of the land of the Carnutes, where he maintained that the

was

located. I

and

largest sanctuary of the Gallic Druids

had passionately studied the history of Gaul

I

knew

peoples,

knew

for a long time,

quite well the territories occupied by the different Gallic

who had

that the

often

names on

left their

name Arras came from

a city or region. So

the Atrebates, that the

I

name

Auvergne derived from the Arvernes, and that the name Chartres reflected that of the Carnutes

much

farther, to the very

(although their domain extended

banks of the Loire, and encompassed

Orleans, Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire, and even Blois). This the

famous

where

forest of the Carnutes

would gather once

a year.

It

all

was

the site of

the Druids of Gaul

therefore represented a veritable central

sanctuary of the Gallic religion, a kind of omphalos around which the vital forces of druidic spirituality radiated.

bury myself

in this radiation that

I

made

It

was perhaps

these nightly drives along

the roads of the Beauce. In truth, the Beauce region

only at night. The flatness of

its

is

interesting

countryside irritated me, and

tainly did not share the idiotic indulgence of Charles

“Presentation de

Peguy

Beauce a Notre-Dame de Chartres.”

la

I

(strange mixture!)

I

have

We

this

in

is

On

all

—that

is,

among

the twentieth-century writers of

a single line inspires

have the right to love or

no way

reject

me

to volcanic erup-

whom we

want

to,

and

a literary judgment.

the other hand,

this instance, the

my

company with Paul Claudel and Andre Gide

whose work reading but tions.

cer-

in his

always detested Peguy’s poetry and have firmly placed him in personal “hell” in

to

I

have never failed to mention Rabelais— in

famous episode from “Gargantua,”

in

which the

author shares a curious etymology with his readers. Gargantua

is

crossing through the great Carnute Forest on the back of an enor-

mous mare. But

it

is

quite hot,

and

horseflies are tormenting the

The Entrance

mare. She swishes her

ferociously to

tail

gigantic animal, these blows

down

start pulling

Not

tated.

tree

[How

ce!”

tear

tail

flies,

19

but as she

up the

a

devas-

is

utters these simple

is

which

trees,

until the entire forest

sight,

this

the

Labyrinth

standing on the horizon,

left

is

Gargantua, contemplating

“Que beau

them

others with

single

a

from her

kill

to the

and

words,

beautiful!] Ever since, this region has been

called the Beauce. I

can easily imagine that Rabelais was using

commentary on

ironic

this

episode as an

mania of medieval and ancient authors

the

always to seek a historical or mythological reason for a place-name.

But

I

also

that time

know that I

was

Gallo-Roman

cognomen means

every joke by Rabelais hides something. During

inclined to see in the

my

Belsa, which, in

name Beauce

a derivative of the

opinion, contains the name, or

rather, of the Gallic solar deity Bel or Belenos. This

Or

“brilliant” or “shining.”

Belsa could have been from

Belisama, which means “very brilliant” and has given

me

its

name

to

not far from there, in the Perche region.

the city of Belleme,

Furthermore,

name

this story of trees

knocking each other down reminds

of a very ancient Celtic mythological theme, that of the “walk-

Combat

ing forest” or the

of the Trees, a historical version of which

can be found in Titus Livy. Titus Livy portrays the Gauls as having

sawed through

number

a certain

allowed them to

fall,

knocking

the process but taking with

anecdote therefore takes there

was good reason

at night

it

of trees in a forest, then having

down an

me back

others, ravaging the forest in

entire

for this fierce

if

unconscious desire to roam

— an

ideal

how I found

desire to

and needed

go

myself one day back in Chartres. In truth,

there;

to find

it

was

solely that Frangoise

someplace to

stay.

have served equally well, but Chartres was next day

and symbolic pro-

heaven on earth.

This was

tired

So

through an area that had once been a sacred enclosure, a

jection of

had no

legion. Rabelais’s

to the oldest Druidic tradition.

nemeton, to use the Gallic expression

I

Roman

we wandered through

the

narrow

Any

other place

closest.

streets

and

Of

I

were

would

course, the

near the cathedral.

20

The

Of

course,

I

Sites

we went

into the sanctuary

and descended into the

leaned over the edge of the well and evoked

Ground. But Fay;

an island

knew

open

smothered

Morgana

bore the features of

air.

the

and

know what

did not

I

make

to

officiated

of this sanctuary

in the center of the earth.

cinating. But right,

and

that the Druids did not build temples

my interest was the

But what really held I

found

I

it

fas-

could not find the entrance. The time was not yet

was

I

labyrinth.

but a blind man, like Maeterlinck’s Golaud,

still

looks for his treasure at the bottom of the sea.

My

had been

to the cathedral

first visit

admired without understanding. This second neither admired nor ever,

Under

than in a dank, dark subterranean passage.

lost in the sea

all, I

in the

who

still

of

could more easily imagine her in the middle of an orchard on

I

After

Madonna

this

Our Lady

crypt.

was

No

the folds of a Vale of

knights spells.

was

that Frangoise

who

was

visit

What

nor understood.

felt

beneficial, but

Return, lighting the

fires that

conveniently forgotten

imprisoned; they view

is

it

this

Vale of

No

Return

that the knights are

and

as their due,

it is

is

blinded the

told,

happy

only

into

them with her

arrived from outside and ensnaring

But when the story of

I

how-

Morgana, pulling me

a perverse

had

a setback:

did gather,

I

I

what

is

to be thus

when

they have

been reawakened by Lancelot of the Lake that their memories are restored.

I

was

one of these knights, aware that

like

I

had been

blinded by Fran^oise, but perfectly at ease and asking for nothing

more.

And

was not even waiting

I

eyes to behold the statue of

Our Lady

This took place in 1971, ate pages of I

my book

on the

could catch sight of

Morgana. She was

was

also perverse

for

when Celtic

I

some Lancelot

woman, 2 and

Jean Markale,

certainly just as beautiful

Women

of the Celts (Rochester,

my

the

most passion-

this

woman whom

had the appearance of

in the night clearly

entire

depths of her eyes that escaped me. Fladn’t

2.

open

of Chartres.

was writing

and sensual, with an

to

I

and

attractive, but she

zone of shadows

in the

used a Breton proverb,

Vt.: Inner Traditions, 1987).

The Entrance

“Woman tion?

It

to the

21

Labyrinth

deeper than the deepest ocean,” as the book’s inscrip-

is

was

a vibrant

homage

to femininity, but also testimony to a

swallowed up completely would

certain fear, a certain vertigo: Being

not be long in coming. There are exalted vertigos that prevent us

from measuring the depth of the abyss. Sometimes, very strange fogs

would

from

issue

this abyss.

The empress of

me from

Francois Villon says, was watching

But was

Fran^oise or

it

Subsequently,

I

Our Lady

often

at night, preferably,

wandered over the same Beauce roads,

and no longer with Fran^oise. Other

Morgana, she who welcomes

I

had

encourages and pulls back the in the final analysis,

Lady the

faces of

yet to encounter the

who

who

consoles, she

Somewhere

hiding

veil

Else

—she

not so different from the one called

is

Virgin. Errantry has one valuable feature:

we

elimination of roads where

It

Our

allows the

bogged down

risk getting

still

and guides them over

travelers

the tortuous paths of the Druidic forest, she

who,

the mists of twilight.

the Virgin?

Morgana haunted me, no doubt because true

the infernal marshes, as

— on con-

we take the time to observe what is going on cannot be made to stumble in the same ruts twice. The

dition, of course, that

around

us.

problem

is

I

that there are a lot of ruts

on the paths of

this vast

world.

my “Romanesque” period. Having indulged in much fantasy during my youth and adolescence about the extravagance of the Gothic and the influence of the broken arch, I now I

then went into

rejected

them

for the semicircular vault

modest sanctuaries of the Romanesque dition rect.

more

clearly here,

The Romanesque

spirituality,

which

is

capitals

deeply rooted in the

tunity to emerge in stone.

and dreamed beneath the

era.

I

could see the Celtic tra-

historically

are

soil

the

and

last

artistically cor-

flashings

and taking the

The Romanesque

slightest

vault,

said to be of Byzantine or at least Eastern origin,

of Celtic

which

is

oppor-

is

often

the symbolic,

constructed reconstitution of the “roof” of the Gallic nemeton

—

in

other words, the starry sky that can be seen from a sacred clearing in the middle of a forest as yet

Romanesque

untamed by human

sanctuary, solidly established

beings. Finally, the

on the ground, thickset

The

22

Sites

and massive, protected from mystery,

indiscretion by

all

the ideal meeting place for cosmic

is

and

telluric forces, the

World

core in which the invisible lights of the Other

vital

centrated. So

I

haunted Romanesque buildings and would

thoughts there.

I

felt

Gothic cathedral

like

vibrations;

I

I

my

collect

sensed images. So what could a

much more

had not yet found the entrance

subtle

and complex

at

to the labyrinth because the

“deceptive illusions” of which Pascal speaks forbade

what were

are con-

Chartres have to interest me?

But there was something

work.

obscurity and

its

me

access.

But

Among them were my prejucompromise, my distancing from

these deceptive illusions?

dices, of course,

my

refusal of

any

any kind of religious dogmatism. And especially there was that impassioned search for Morgana the Fay, the erotic image (and

how!) of the Goddess of the Beginnings, she the birth of the world by ejecting

from her

who had belly

presided over

humanity and

all

other living things, the Virgin of virgins, the unique yet multiple one,

demoness that haunted Chateaubriand, Isis-Venus-Astarte

the

toward

when

whom

all

Gerard de Nerval’s yearnings aspired

he spied, in the middle of his fog, sublimated beneath the fea-

tures of

Jenny Colon, the

present in every act of his first.”

Could

she

is

called in Brittany,

this

Morgana who I

it

fictitious Aurelia, life:

is

was hidden behind

which

discouraged of

me

I

forever spied but never attained?

moors

that led nowhere.

real time but instead the sense of

aspired without admitting

it

when

I

an

to myself, but

which

me

catch

every time an irregularity in the sky I

let

now I

suffered

experienced

have never been able to look over the railing of a bridge

or the slightest mountain precipice without distress.

only

the

Itron Varia as

through significant episodes of vertigo, similar to what I

it is still

the shameless veils of

some blinding glimmer. Furthermore,

as a child.

nevertheless

returns,

Our Lady Mary,

strayed along nameless shores, over

infinity to

who was

“The thirteenth

be that the image of

no longer had any concept of

sight

—especially

flying,

when

It

is

perhaps

soaring through a layer of clouds that sud-

denly breaks apart for a dive toward a sea constellated by waves,

The Entrance

that

manage

I

works

tion

to

in

overcome

two

this vertiginous feeling.

directions:

beneath a steeple and see

its

I

result

is

am

my

the same, for

return to the

bosom

my

falling

this sensa-

standing motionless feel the

I

hands so

on me.

In

same

as to not see

any event the

involves a sensation of being swallowed, a

it

same earth of which

of the earth, the

and perhaps from which

I

I

am

a part

should never have been born. This brings

my

up again the problem of

my

face in

what might be

falling or

am

I

And

spire vanishing in the sky,

unease, the same desire to hide

where

When

23

Labyrinth

to the

my ambiguous

birth, of

relationship

mother. Here, too, this “deceptive illusion” prevented

me

from gaining access to the statue of the Chartres Madonna, the

tri-

with

umphant image not and

child. It

from her,

of maternity, but of the love that unites mother

my

but

Mon

this deceptive illusion that

is

it

eyes

was

and

my

mind.

Mon

had

endeavored to dissipate

a bit of

Morgana

the Fay in

Morgana, one who had been bruised by

a purified

and was aware of the higher

reality

beyond appearances that one

should search for through the convulsive movements of

sleazy paradisiacal delights of the Vale of

tasmagoria that had prevented

from

my imprisonment.

me

No

and the

life.

Like

me from

the

Return by opening

my

Lancelot of the Lake, she had already helped to free

eyes to the inanity of certain settings

life

puerility of the

until that time

phan-

from emerging

She was also on a quest, and quite often our

we

paths strayed to different sides of the straight line sent in those large mysterious forests in

But the straight

the

same one that does not

line,

exist in the

an ideal and perfectly utopian

pre-

which the Castle of Wonders

beyond the shadow of

lay.

still felt

a doubt,

is

precisely

world of appearances.

It is

line,

invented by Euclid, that demol-

ished the other geometrical systems.

Who is right and who is wrong?

No

one and everyone,

from

it

seems, as no absolute truth can be

scientific reasoning,

Mon,

in

any

no matter how rigorous.

case, clearly grasped that

what was preventing

my

had not yet

set-

entrance into the labyrinth was the “quarrel” that tled

with

my

mother,

who

drawn

I

by then had been dead for a long time.

It

The

24

is

Sites

harmonious balance with

difficult to find a

can

be achieved with a being whose

it

could manifest

itself

shadow lurked near

only through resentment and silence? Despite

belief in the survival of the spirit

munication between those

who

dialogue proved to be quite

Cocteau’s

La Machine

and even

are

in the possibility of

and those

who

no

are

difficult. I recalled the

which Laius attempts

infernale in

com-

longer, this

scene from Jean to forewarn

He

Jocasta of the imminent arrival of their son, Oedipus. his

how me but

a living being;

focuses

all

energy on appearing in the mephitic vapors of a sewer, but each

And

time he speaks, his form vanishes. invisible forces; he has

everyone

no

he

finally,

is

constrained by

right to forestall Fate. Furthermore, not

capable of grasping the mysterious messages sent from

is

the Other World.

Mon

Nevertheless,

had taken

my peace

mother. According to her, to recover all,

I

of

had never been able to speak: “Mama,

One morning we

hard, very hard.

mother if

my

mind once and

for

me

needed to make a gesture toward her and utter the

I

words

as

with

a notion to reconcile

all

the

more

ridiculous photo

—adorned

of the

to say the

Mother

I

was

cemetery where

my

was both very moved and very

so because a photo of

words of

rose before

my

her tombstone.

love, but

me

I

— a vain and

sensations.

I

did not

was overwhelmed: The image

like a light that

could regenerate and bestow upon

mother

brought back some

It

some strange past

strange memories, or rather

manage

visited the

love you.” This

buried and remained there for a long time in meditation,

is

something should happen.

uneasy,

I

fateful

me

a

could engulf me, that

new

and open

vitality

my

eyes to the essential realities. Alas!

Why

did

I

house, a house that vers to ensure that cally,

death.

she

made

What

words of

The garden

my

would not

my

Mon my

inherit? Intentionally

proof of hatred.

Now this

that

show

grandparents’

mother had used some shrewd

certain that nothing

fine

love!

I

then decide to

would be

And

there

I

left

legal

maneu-

and systemati-

for

me

after her

was, trying to utter

house was abandoned and almost in ruins.

grandfather had cultivated with such love had

The Entrance

become still

a no-man’s land.

It

somebody ...

serving

was

a sad sight.

to the Labyrinth

25

that house

was

If at least

had been disinherited

I

for nothing, for

the simple satisfaction of a mother’s hatred for her son.

Following grew. it.

I

But

Mon

this painful experience,

could not have cared it

was

less

my

resentment and bitterness

about that house;

the principle of the thing that gave

my

understood

it

the image of the physical mother

— simply

had no need of

a symbolic value.

me

confusion. She then told

another image of maternity, and that perhaps

I

needed to get past

I

womb,

a

after all

reach the concept of the universal Mother, the Virgin Mary.

was

a Calvinist, prey herself to that

own

shaken by her

Lady

fundamental search for essence,

the exaltation of the universal love for beings

was

in this state

windy day

taking the highway,

Our

and things

that,

human action. of mind that we went to Chartres one wet and

end of winter.

at the

—to

Mon

tempests and discovering in the image of

normally, should be the engine of It

was

that there

all

We

left

from

Paris, but instead of

we wandered down winding

roads that brought

us into Chartres from an unusual direction, from the other side of the Eure River

—that

to say, the right bank, whereas the cathedral

is

stands on a rise on the

left

bank. This gave us a completely different

view of the sanctuary from the one that appears on postcards and other tourist items. before us, as

is

It

was not

the case

when

the

modern

city of Chartres

leaving the station or getting off the

highway toward clumps of houses and cement

town

we saw

buildings. Instead

of the past that spread in terraces up the

it

and

was

a small

was

reflected in the churning waters of the river.

car,

looking for a bridge to take us across the Eure and having no

luck.

Then, once

I

did

manage

to get across,

we

pefying dead ends. The streets kept shrinking

could

see, as

to learn us. It

if

was

if

under the

we were still

spell of a

magician

I

hill

was driving Mon’s

got lost

away

who

among

stu-

as far as the eye

sought to

test us

wove

before

capable of disentangling the skein he

the unattainable entrance to the labyrinth, this time

accompanied by gusts of wind that shook the den plots bordering the

river.

trees in the small gar-

The

26

I

Sites

don’t think

and more

respect.

I

recognized nothing,

going, although our goal, the cathedral, the moss-covered

like

cathedral

—

thought of other

mound

Our Lady

town of Ys,

And I

was constantly its

was

above

two uneven

spires

once

I

sits in

for

nec-

front of a

Rouen, sleeping

when

felt

was always

it

the square that

in

in search of lost

me

to mistake the

of Chartres for one of the last remnants of the

the sunken city that slumbers

a tempest

visible

which

cities in

would not have taken much more

of

know where I was

did not

in Puy-en-Velay, of course, but also in

flamboyant nightmares that

cities. It

difficulty

something out of a medieval dream

wander before finding

essary to

its

I

I

mocking us with

roofs,

tile

and frenzied architecture, by Victor Hugo.

more

ever entered an ancient city with

I

precisely

somewhere

what was raging

in the tempest.

outside.

eventually found a street that went up, but

it

twisted and

turned, narrowed considerably in spots, and detoured from the desired direction while lingering

on the

side of the

mound

dominated by a conglomeration of roofs and gardens. sation,

comparable to the one that we

when we

A

in places

strange sen-

according to the legends,

feel,

pass from one world to the next,

when we

stray

from the

world of humans to enter the world of heroes and gods, the world that the Irish call the sidh, the

world of the great megalithic

mounds.

Then

all

at once,

without warning,

chevet of the cathedral.

now

We

had

just a

at the level of the sanctuary,

wind from every

direction

it

before,

few yards to climb.

a large square

and pounded by the

the cathedral appeared to me, in

merely glimpsed

on

we emerged beneath

all its

We

it

were

whipped by

rain.

the

how

This was

majesty and mystery.

and knew that

the

I

had

was only now revealed

by virtue of that initiatory route we had taken through the narrow streets of a city, similar to

convulsive

We

movements of

both

felt

no

other,

in the

the earth.

the veritable materialization of the cathedral, a pro-

found and intense shock however

Mon

whose shadows disappear

had never seen Chartres

this

brief

and spontaneous

way. As for me,

I

it

was.

suddenly saw

The Entrance

something that

until then

I

had “pretended

to myself” never to have

seen. This impression of absolute discovery disconcerted

though a tornado had

just unfurled

my

over

me.

had suddenly opened over the world. Truth atmosphere was

far

from

displeasing,

It felt

as

head, fully manifested

by the wind spouts that enveloped us from everywhere, as

tive

27

to the Labyrinth

if

the sky

to say, this very distinc-

and we

felt

a

growing

desire to let the sacred expedition that brought us there carry us to

the center of the earth.

So

we

entered the cathedral by the southern portal and were

immediately plunged into a blue radiance. Yet the dark sky was casting

little light;

we had

own

Chartres possessed their

own

illumination, strong

enough on

of its

without needing sunlight, purely and simply an “inner sun,” or

a “black sun,” although

difference between the is

windows

to believe that the stained-glass

because

it is

I

have never been able to grasp what the

two expressions

hidden and reveals

is.

If

a “black sun” exists,

only in certain places under

itself

certain conditions that are hard to predict. In

on

that

this

damp

it

any

case,

I

can swear

winter day, the Chartres cathedral revealed an

impossibly beautiful “black sun” that had the

gift

of

making

irides-

cent the smallest particles of stone or the tiniest glimmers of glass that shone overhead.

And

then somewhere, surrounded by the lumi-

naries with flickering flames, the statue of

the darkness

on her

pillar, like

Our Tady loomed out

some ancient

deity that

humans had

raised for blessing by the last playboys of the Western world,

dared venture into a “historical I

monument”

downgraded sanctuary

museum? The answer was

that

eases

the

as

it is

who now,

rather than a temple of the Virgin.

actually asked myself this question:

or in a tion

this already

of

easy:

conscience of

churches would be empty

if

Where was

I

all

was

I

—

in a sanctuary

in both. It

is

a justifica-

our contemporaries. The

they were not the most appropriate

exhibit halls for displaying the artwork of the past or for playing

and

listening to music. This

gion,

is

a sign of the times. Art supplants reli-

and Christian sanctuaries are more often entered

pose of admiring than for praying. Where

is

the time

for the pur-

when

religion

— The

28

and

art

Sites

were so commingled that

without including the other?

It is

was impossible

it

some

true that

to

mention one

late-nineteenth-cen-

tury architecture in the style of Sacre-Coeur of Paris,

Our Lady

of

Fourviere in Lyon, or the basilica of Sainte-Anne d’Auray have

dug a moat between

definitively

umphalism,

and

art

by emphasizing

religion

tri-

and intimidation to the detriment of

self-sufficiency,

we

authentic faith and sincerity. Fortunately,

and some other sanctuaries

—to

have Chartres

still

remind us that nothing can be

divine or even sacred without being beautiful.

These thoughts that

I

mulled over

in silence in

no way affected

my

desire to enter the heart of

ary.

My intrusion here, not to mention my pilgrimage, corresponded time

I

considered to be the sanctu-

I

no way responded

to a deep need that in first

what

entered Chartres

was because

it

And I saw nothing. The second Our Lady the Virgin but rather in

was something time

search of

quest of

real

occasion, which

and

I

new

had

there in

sensations

image of a woman. This third

perfectly alive

would prove

that

was not

to be seen.

through the

The

to a vague curiosity.

to be the decisive test,

was

the true dis-

me access to the mysterious Black Madonna. And it was a woman who guided me, although she had never visited the sanctuary before, and showed me

covery of the entrance to the labyrinth that allowed

the entrance.

cated to

was

I

sure that

me and I would

gotten to look

for.

No

all

I

had

to

do was follow the path

be able to discover what

doubt

Mon

indi-

had perhaps

I

had that flame

for-

in her eyes that

does not burn but instead allows us to crawl slowly through under-

ground corridors hidden from the gaze of the to grasp the

woman,

world only through losing myself

but never just any

capable of helping in

living.

me

woman.

I

need

discover them.

It

signs,

I

have been able

in the eyes of a

and few

women

are

requires a strange alchemy

which our slow metamorphosis occurs through the scorch marks

we

receive

This

is

from

how

a beloved being I

needed to find the

wanted

finally exit.

.

.

managed

.

to enter the labyrinth.

But was finding

to do? Outside the

this exit

wind continued

something

to howl,

Now I

I

really

and the rain

The Entrance

to the

Labyrinth

29

squalls continued to batter the stone’s grimacing faces.

The

of security and the sensation of being sheltered from

the world’s

all

feeling

torments, the conviction that such a sanctuary could only be the

supreme refuge, guided expecting no response; cat

when

I

caressed

eyes and

my

prompted

questions.

I

was

simply wished for the stone to purr like a

my

gaze. This

is

how we

can

feel at ease

relentless rages the universe inspires to test us.

long remember that strange day. Time had stopped

will

I

I

with

it

and stop fearing the

my

engaging

in the

game

of chess

gladly played with

I

it

each time

I

decided to define the world. There were few visitors and finally

more

faithful kneeling

woman

beneath Our Lady of the

emerge from prayer, walk toward the

edly put her lips to the stone column.

snickering inside, as

was

pillar

is

my

watched

a

and devot-

could not refrain from

way

denied the woman’s

or her desire, through a perfectly natural gesture, to

sincerity,

attain the exalting promise that face.

statue,

I

wont, for the phallic symbolism of the

too obvious. But this in no

all

I

Pillar.

Our Lady

the Virgin wears

The human being needs the concrete

in

on her

order to reach the

ineffable.

In the crypt

around the Well of the Saints-Forts

I

could see that

strange opening toward the world of darkness not far from the statue of

Our Lady

of

Under Ground, that blaze of

causes to spring out of shadow.

I

in the original sanctuary, not the

lished

on

this

mound began their

need to

had

a strong

light that piety

impression of being

one the Druids

may have

estab-

but the one their successors on this sacred

site

building in the Carolingian age, no doubt aware of

fulfill

a mission, to

encourage love for the Virgin

who

welcomes and protects her children scattered throughout the world. For this purpose they had conceived an extravagant plan: to raise

would

above the ancient forest of the Carnutes a stone vessel that sail

eternally in the Beauce plain to bear witness to the

proposition that what

is

beautiful

is

good and what

is

good

is

nec-

essarily beautiful. I

knew

that this

was

the center, the absolute starting point for

!

The

30

Sites

this fantastic

explosion of stone and luminous glass.

wonderment

that seizes souls about

The

I

mused on

the

which Julien Gracq speaks:

colors have simultaneously, for the blues and the reds, rather

than the dry flame of carved gems, that of weakly sparkling cabo-

chons that yellows,

bring the gangue to mind, and for the browns and

still

some

succulence that raisins, the this city,

I

and others

violet hues I

a gilded green, a stimulating

never recall seeing before: flowing honey, plums,

transparency of ripe grapes.

It

seems that

would come through here each day can awaken and be sated

for color that

two separate

to satisfy

thing

the crypt of

was

magic of

Our Lady

of

fiat

3 .

light, that give

lux In this maternal

Under Ground,

knew

I

womb

that every-

climbed from the crypt, the rain had stopped

But the wind continued to gust with that violence of time, through the

seemed

under

possible.

When we dawn

an appetite

kinds, as different in nature as bread and wine

birth to color through the is

lived in

in this place alone,

There are kinds of darkness that give birth to

that

if I

built to

welcome

narrow

it

streets of

it

falling.

takes from the

an ancient town that

and sometimes put

embrasures of the doors and windows, or even

it

to sleep in the

in the

mystery of

enclosed gardens and high walls. The wind turned to the rhythm of the long breaths that could be earth, for the earth

vibrated, as

if

was

alive

felt

emerging confusedly from the

beneath our

feet.

And

the stones

ready to burst, to show us, no doubt, that henceforth

the entrance to the labyrinth

was open

to us so that

we might calmly

tread a path through the blue-tinged darkness of magnificence.

3. Julien

Gracq,

En

Lisant, en ecrivant (Paris: Corti, 1981).

The Vibrating Stones the mention of the

name

looms on the horizon behind

a

Chartres, the image of the cathedral

modest screen of

foliage

spreading plain. In most people’s minds, Chartres

and only

its

cathedral.

No

doubt we should

reaction the implicit recognition that

most the

town, and that

this

this

cathedral,

see in this

automatic

Notre-Dame

of Chartres

is

the

most gripping and

overlooks the fact that Chartres

is first

town holds other monuments, other churches.

does not acknowledge the fact that for centuries

a vast

is its

beautiful cathedral in France, or at least the

most complex. But

on

on the top and

sides

a It

men and women have lived there of this mound around which the

Eure River detours, between the houses with their subtly moss-worn tile

roofs, to flow north along that axis of the

the

wind

world that generates

Water

that breaks against the towers of the cathedral.

flows tranquilly through the town of Chartres. There

grows calm. Flame-bright flowers appear spring and

fall,

then there

is

when

the sun splashes

its

in the

is

a

wind

gardens in both

light against the walls.

stone, the eternal stone torn

from the earth and

into the sky not as a challenge but as an appeal to the infinite

ber of invisible worlds. Chartres into

making

city

a

And built

num-

town, with everything that goes

a town.

Certainly the

modern

is

that

modern neighborhoods resemble those

—the triumph of concrete, the squared-off 31

in

any

insipidity of

32

The

Sites

a rational

old

and so-called functional urbanization. But there

nestled

city,

over the summit

on the northeast

sides of the

is

also the

mound and

spilling

around the prodigious mass of the sanctuary.

itself

Seen from the square in front of the church, the town English in appearance. miliar country.

There

To

a native

it

can seem almost

The atmosphere of Chartres

is

like

most

is

somewhat an unfa-

distinctive.

nothing reminiscent of the area around the Parisian

is

metropolitan complex. Nothing serves as a reminder of the vast west that opens to the sea. There

south.

of course, nothing reminiscent of the

easy there to lose sight of where you are.

It is

Chartres, that to the time

is,

is all,

when

in a city

You

are in

with a long history that reaches back

the Gallic Carnutes built a fortress-sanctuary in the

middle of what was then a vast sacred

forest.

This forest has

now

disappeared, but the sanctuary, although not in the original clearing,

by homes where stone and

there, flanked

is still

cob and thatch. This

is

how we

good many

houses,

streets in

have replaced

can measure the perennial nature of

a place that does not escape transformation

A

tile

Chartres are

some of which have been

by the colors of time.

still

bordered by ancient

beautifully restored. Visitors can

see the corbeled gables, like those in the rue

du Cheval blanc

close

to the cathedral, or latticework

and brick constructions. The upper

town connects

which

by

stairs

strolling sive

to the lower city,

called

tertres,

on one of these

number

sits

on the banks of the Eure

and by narrow, winding

—the rue Chantault— we can

of doors and

windows from

see

— one

When

an impres-

different periods.

even a twelfth-century Romanesque house France

streets.

There

is

of the oldest in

—whose tympanum holds some curious carvings. Below here,

near the Massacre Bridge, stands

Our Lady

of the Breach Chapel,

which houses the ancient statue of the Virgin that once stood above the Drouaise Gate. In the rue des Ecuyers, a turret stair with sculpted half-timbers

stands just beneath the old castle. Berthe, preserves the

Eudes

I,

she

memory

who wed

of the

Its

name, Staircase of Queen

widow

of the count of Chartres,

the king of France, Robert

II.

In the rue de la

The Vibrating Stones

Poissonnerie

House,

and

built during the fifteenth century.

On

rated:

the consoles are an

snails

fairly

sow

one of the strangest homes

sits

on

a grapevine.

common

in the

The facade

Huve House

On its

the second story

tal

the depiction,

is

Who

Spins, with the

spindle and distaff. In the rue Noel-

It

was

built

the Place Jean Moulin, the Hotel de

with pedi-

around 1550 by the that

was beau-

Champrond

has a por-

doctor Claude Huve, a humanist and enthusiast of

On

richly deco-

offers a rich Renaissance facade

ments, columns, and caryatids.

tiful.

is

Salmon

enormous salmon, an Annunciation,

Middle Ages, of the Sow

here greatly hindered by

Bellay, the

in the city, the

all

with a basket-handle arch. In the rue de Grenets there

town

1792.

The neighborhood of

known

as Cloitre

the cathedral includes the canons’ quarter,

Notre-Dame (Our Lady’s

complex that was once sealed by nine

Cloister). This

portals, of

which two

is

a vast

survive,

including the one on the rue Saint-Yves facing the northern gate. it

we can

closed

it

a

an ancient Henry IV-style dwelling that became the

is

hall in

is

mansion, and near l’Etape-au-Vin, the Hotel

late-Gothic-style

Montescot

33

still

see the hinges

On

and those places where the chains that

were embedded. This quarter has a wealth of old homes, of

which the most

beautiful, those facing the

the thirteenth century.

Royal Portal, date from

They have admirably carved tympanums,

including arabesques of leaves and images of winged griffons and a battle scene. Farther south,

on the corner of the rue des Changes,

stands another carefully restored thirteenth-century house, which displays

tympanums decorated with

with leaves instead of

hair.

depictions of heads covered

These remnants provide a

ture of the wealth of the ancient Episcopal

The same could be Chartres.

Near

fairly

good

pic-

city.

said about the former bishops’ residence in

the north porch of the cathedral an eighteenth-century

grillwork gate gives access to the honor garden of the Episcopal palace, today the

Museum

of Fine Arts.

The facade

is

typical of the

Louis XIII era. But some sixteenth-century arcades of the ancient

commons

remain, beyond which, where the Orangery once stood,

The

34

Sites

extends a terrace that looks over the lower city and the Eure Valley.

From

here

impressive

we can

number

see that the old city of Chartres held

of churches.

Some

are

still

an

standing, but others

are either in ruins or have been redeployed to serve other than cul-

Church today

tural purposes. For example, the Saint-Martin-au-Val

serves as a chapel for the Saint-Brice retirement

home. In

spite of a

restoration job in dubious taste, the building has retained nal

Romanesque

unity,

its

origi-

with an exceptional opulence and a curiously

elevated choir. Four of the capitals sculpted in round point with

composition seem to have retained their

interlacing

Irish-style

authenticity.

But the crypt

beyond doubt the most

interesting

remnant

here.

south

side.

located beneath the choir and can be reached by

It is

A

is

its

fragment of the Gallo-Roman wall measured out in fishbone can

be clearly distinguished over the door.

was

It is

thought that

this crypt

rebuilt during the late tenth century, using materials taken

an older sanctuary

—curved

column

from

and monoliths, bases

shafts

adorned with cable molding, and capitals of various manufacture.

One

some

similarities

to certain capitals in the Jouarre Crypt (Seine-et-Marne),

whose con-

of these capitals, to the right of the altar, has

struction

is

a typical

example of pre-Roman

Irish style

onto the Continent. The very unusual capital next to

from the Merovingian

The two

capitals

it

transposed

could date

era.

on the western wall are quite

striking because

of their primitive appearance; they are also akin to Irish Celtic art.

This

is

important insofar as Saint-Martin-au-Val, or at

crypt, could well be a itself.

A Gallo-Roman

of the building, and

much

older sanctuary than

is

least its

the cathedral

cemetery once occupied the immediate side

amid the

first

Christian sepulchers an oratory

dedicated to Saint Martin de Tours was built, which was the origin of the monastery that until 1663 belonged to the

Abbey. During the entire Merovingian era the

Marmoutier

Irish

monks, including

famous Saint Colomban, contributed greatly

to reconverting a

country that had in large part abandoned Christianity. Juxtaposing

The Vibrating Stones

35

and archaeological observation with the tradition

this historical

concerning the Druids’ virgo paritura raises certain questions. By all

evidence there was a Celtic contribution to Chartres the exact

scope of which today,

is

unknown. And what of

the custom,

still

observed

which every new bishop of Chartres, before being

in

solemnly enthroned in his cathedral, spends the preceding night in a prayer vigil at Saint-Martin-au-Val?

an ancient

Could

this

initiation that early Christianity

be reminiscent of

borrowed from the

Druids?

The foundation and

it is

nearby

of Saint-Aignan

thought that originally castle of the

it

it

of a

also quite ancient,

counts of Chartres. But the current building

of

little

is

must have been located within the

dates from the sixteenth century.

robbed

Church

its

Some

recent renovations have

character, although

we can

still

see a four-

teenth-century portal recessed in the Renaissance facade, a flamboyantly styled crypt,

south

side,

which

sixteenth-century

catastrophes,

is

richly decorated

is

Saint Michel,

main entrance

those

depicting

Crowning of Our Lady,

from 1547 credited

subject

and dates from 1543. Several

windows have survived various

stained-glass

particularly

Funeral, and the glass

and the vault of the Saint-Michel Chapel on the

it

to the church

Dormition, the

as well as a curious stained

famous glassworker Jean Jouan;

to the

and

the

inspired both Raphael is

through a

which has been decorated with great

and

lateral door,

Diirer.

care.

icant eleventh-century remnants. Following the fire of

damage

in

the Eure

city, it

was

The

dated 1541,

Saint-Andre Church, a former collegiate church, contains

ravaged part of the

its

rebuilt,

but

signif-

1134 that

suffered considerable

it

both 1861 and 1944. The choir, which was built out over

on an arch that spanned the

river,

was destroyed. The

facade dates from the twelfth century and offers capitals in the purest

Romanesque

The height a

style,

of the nave

framework

is

with colorful figures and plant motifs.

most impressive.

A

tower once topped by

spire overlooks the enclosed area that

Cemetery of the Innocents.

On

was once

the

the north side, the Saint-Ignatius

The

36

Sites

Chapel presents a blend of Renaissance and Flamboyant architec1

Lower doors

ture.

and end floor

was

is

lead to stairways that go through the side aisles

from before the twelfth century, whose

in a crypt dating

almost

level

with the Eure River.

seems that

It

this

an ancient

originally built for the purpose of incorporating

water cult into the

new

Christian faith. This

is

church

not surprising

we

if

back to the Druidic traditions associated with the founding of

refer

the sanctuaries in Chartres.

But It

is

Church

the Saint-Pierre

that

is

most worthy of

interest.

one of the most remarkable monuments of Chartres and

many is

it is

respects can hold

own

its

in

in

comparison with the cathedral.

It

the ancient Benedictine abbey of Saint-Pere-en-Vallee. Fallen into

disuse during the tenth century,

it

was inhabited anew and

by the monks from the abbey of Saint-Benoit de Fleury, as Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire. But

its

origins

In the seventh century, Saint-Pere

lie in

Abbey

from Sainte Bathilde, wife of King Clovis abbey was

In the tenth century, the walls,

and

its

position in the valley

count and the bishop asked

abbey to construct bell

cant

its

own

to the abbey.

this time.

located outside the city

particularly vulnerable.

new

it

did,

The 1134

choir

with the ambulatory and chapels. At

deacon

who

The

for permission to allow the

and the church’s

fire

caused

The monk Hiduard, from 1151

directed the construction of a

a twenty-four-year-old

the Merovingian era.

II.

which

defenses,

now known

received a large donation

still

Hugh Capet

tower keep dates from

damage

was

restored

whose lower

this

time the

signifi-

to 1165,

story remains

tomb

of Gilduin,

died at Saint-Pere-en-Vallee

while on pilgrimage to Chartres, was discovered in the foundations. This odd figure came from

Rome, where he had obtained from

the

pope permission to turn down the post of archbishop of Dol-deBretagne, to which he had been elected against his wishes. At that

1.

[This refers to a specifically French-Flemish architectural style of the fifteenth

teenth centuries. Flamelike tracery style,

is

hence the flam(e)boyant name.

one of the

— Trans.]

and

six-

salient characteristics of this rather florid

The Vibrating Stones time the Breton church,

still

37

dependent on the metropolis

officially

of Tours, attempted, under the impetus of the Breton kings, to free itself

from foreign

and the

saintliness,

tutelage. Gilduin left behind a reputation for faithful again

crowded around

his

tomb

in

1165,

leaving offerings that allowed the grandiose reconstruction of the

abbey to proceed. Its

general appearance

is

Radiant Gothic. The nave was erected

in the first half of the thirteenth century,

and on the thick supports

of the choir an extraordinarily light stone armature

mitting the placement of a large

number

was

erected, per-

of windows. This

The

against a vast overall design that addresses the issue of light.

bays of

grisaille glass

ated stained-glass

dinary

harmony

symmetry. the

with color figures alternate with the histori-

windows

in the nave,

an extraor-

windows on apostles.

two of the important

for

the north are reserved for Saint

John the

Those of the south are dedicated to the

saints, respecting a scholarly hierarchy that

goes from

monks

bishops to popes. The Virgin and Christ are located in the

last

of the nave. Saint Gilduin, clad as a deacon, wards off with his a cross that

is

discreetly depicted running

border. Generally speaking, the

Church are among the most

windows

what

is

to

bay

hand

the length of the

is

now Saint-Pierre

They

are equal to

that they are less

known

less visited.

The cathedral crowns everything that

power and

of

down

beautiful in France.

those of the cathedral; their only “flaw”

and

fig-

with merely reversing the colors. The

ures, the artists being satisfied

and the

for

expression are reduced to their essentials;

same “cartoon” has even been used

Baptist

which allows

of tints and tones while avoiding even the slightest

Movement and

stained-glass

all

is

is

the

is

of Chartres and overshadows

spread about the surrounding area with

of enchantment. This

glass

mound

is

its

great

because this mass of vibrating stone

complete beneath a sky that often unleashes torrents,

the better to flood with light the hearts of the

take shelter in

its

all

men and women who

guardian shadow. Our Lady of Chartres, the

Virgin crowned with towers

—

as

once Cybele, mother of the gods,

The

38

Sites

was crowned is

—

in her perpetual labor of giving birth:

The cathedral

and maternal,

a sub-

most gripping when the

struc-

truly the exaltation of this image, both divine

lime arch that holds the world in gestation.

The appearance of the cathedral ture

is

approached from the lower

is

city

because of the sudden tran-

from narrowness and the horizontal to something that

sition

and challenges

the laws of gravity and balance. This

all

tery of the sacred:

It

transforms

Emerging from a bend

that

all

in the

is

rises

up

the mys-

touches.

it

street,

we

find ourselves just

beneath the Saint-Piat Chapel, which adjoins the building on the east side. This chapel

merely an

artificial

above a capitulary

was not part of

now

is

hall,

and

is

connected to the

staircase. This

no tombs

the Majestic Virgin

rest of the building

where the treasury of the

is

in the cathedral itself;

it is

dedicated to

and has therefore triumphed over death.

Saint-Piat Chapel, sitting

on the

spot for grasping the cathedral in

side,

all its

The apse develops an extraordinary fan of the choir

is

housed, and also where the bishops of Chartres are

buried. There are

The

it

extension achieved in the fourteenth century, just

by an elegant openwork cathedral

the original cathedral;

is

probably the ideal

architectural complexity. flying buttresses; because

skirted by a double ambulatory, each of these buttresses

is

has two spring points and altogether they extend toward the nave

kind of impenetrable

like a

forest.

Their shapes are reminiscent of

wheel quarters, braced as they are by small columns that bring to

mind

the spokes of a wheel.

from

a single monolithic block, base

greater stability.

It is

flight

still

in existence.

is

formed

and capital included, to ensure

generally agreed that these are the

pieces of a fairly bold style, oldest

Each of these small columns

and that these

first trial

flying buttresses are the

Added, no doubt soon

after, is

an upper

supported by the pedestals that had been intended for the pin-

nacles. This

is

the beginning of the Gothic style,

elements also remain. This the strong cascades

—the

is

why

the projecting buttresses suggest

lateral pressure of the

they channel so harmoniously.

and Romanesque

nave walls

—that

The Vibrating Stones

Romanesque technique

around the chevet. The

also visible

is

39

chapels in the apse have semicircular vaults and are themselves sup-

ported by the crypt. The three oldest chapels (dating from 1020)

were surrounded by a second wall around 1200, and new, narrower chapels were inserted between. As a result, the flying buttresses have

uneven openings. In

fact, all of this all

a particularly fortunate

whole

—a synthesis of rather odd elements

without the genius of the architects, could have been a grace-

and

less

dis-

hanging together somehow and forming

parate and the unequal,

that,

shows the triumph of the

heteroclite jumble. But here resides the miracle of Chartres:

Time has found no

grip

on the

deliberate will of

its

constructors to

build an eternal work.

This brings us to the south portal, a creation of the Gothic era.

Romanesque

build-

ing (of

which only the crypt and western portal remain), the

desire

was

make

Following the 1194

to

the

fire

new

that almost destroyed the

building even

Instead of having only one portal, as

Chartres that

was graced with two more

more is

and grandiose.

beautiful

the case in

many

worthy of the old one

that were

had survived, and these became the doors to the

Chartres cathedral

is

cathedrals,

unique in the world in that

it is

The

transepts.

the only one to

boast three portals of such importance. The south portal was inspired

by the principal facade of Laon, which had inspired the builders of

The

Amiens

been

just

is

nied by his apostles and the martyrs and those

It is

nity,

who

and

relieved the apostles

the symbolic depiction of the

on

the Christ

accompa-

commonly

called the

their evangelical mission.

Church on

leading humanity to the Last Judgment.

its

march toward

is

Heaven; to the right

is

Hell.

beneath Christ, and immediately below them

Judgment. Charity a blessing

num on

and

the

is

left

is

also present

on the

eter-

The tympanum of

middle porch shows Christ surrounded by angels. To the Christ’s right)

in turn

several years later.

central image of this southern portal

Confessors,

built,

the

left

(on

Mary and John

are

is

a depiction of the

portal: Christ here

is

giving

surrounded by statues of the apostles. The tympaporch depicts Christ above the martyrdom of Saint

The

40

Etienne.

Sites

The

statues are those of different martyrs, in particular

and Saint Denis.

Saint Laurent, Saint Clement, perhaps Saint Piat

may

But some

nephew from

be surprised to find Roland, Charlemagne’s

the chansons de geste.

The legend of Charlemagne

portrayed in the stained-glass windows, but tion in Chartres

much more

was

it

seems that the inten-

to give this heroic and, in the final analysis,

with the idea of the Crusades. Roland

army

—that

is

to say,

fighting single-handedly

is

Muslims

pagans

torical context of the time, but also

—

in the properly his-

relentlessly striving to

destroy the Christian message. In this sense Roland

ramparts of the Christian

faith,

and

the sacrifice of the greatest martyrs.

demonstrate that faith one’s

life

harmony

mythical than real hero a meaning quite in

against a Saracen

is

is

his glorious

The porch on

one of the

is

death

one with

is

the right seems to

defended not only by blood and sacrificing

but also by knowledge. This explains the presence on the

tympanum

of the Confessors around Christ,

who

above Saint

is

Martin the Evangelist and Saint Nicholas the “Resuscitator.” The porch therefore highlights the church fathers, such as Saint Sylvester, Saint

company

Ambrose, Saint Jerome, and Saint Gregory,

of local saints such as

The western facade est

is

the

Laumer

(or

Lomer) and

most famous and

familiar.

church square at the greatest distance. This

known Royal what

it is.

Portal, without

The

central figure

is

is

Avit.

side of the

the site of the well-

which Chartres would not be quite Christ in Majesty,

who

above the

is

men from

twelve apostles and surrounded by the twenty-four old

on which the twelve apos-

the Apocalypse. At either end of the lintel tles

are depicted stand statues of

Hebrew

scriptures, Eli

porch (again

the old-

It is

and also the one that can be seen from the other

in the

two

and Enoch.

at Christ’s right), the

inspired prophets

On

the

tympanum

Ascension of Jesus

from the

of the is

left

depicted

above angels and apostles. This representation of the Ascension

is

surrounded by a calendar that depicts the signs of the zodiac and the labors of each month.

The tympanum of

the porch

on the

dedicated to Christ’s childhood and includes the Virgin

right

Mother

is

pre-

The Vibrating Stones

41

senting the Child. Surrounding her are angels and the masters of

who

antiquity

The

taught the liberal

arts,

such as grammar and music.

capitals are dedicated to several episodes in Christ’s

the Last Supper

notably

life,

and the Pilgrims of Emmaus. The statue columns

Hebrew

depict great figures from the

Scriptures such as Moses,

David, Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba. This western facade shows hardly any architectural or unity.

It

was constructed during and

metrical. Three

two

spires.

several different eras

1194. But

in

it

does not matter.

harmonious beauty emanates from equivalent in medieval height. in

That on the

one go starting

art.

The two

right, called the

in

1145, and

also survived,

the addition of the level with

was taken

it

bell

Old

perfectly

which has no

towers are not the same

Bell

New

and

Tower, was constructed

Bell

Tower

fire.

Toward

to the north,

and the whole was completed with

its

to elevate the nave,

rose

window,

for this opportunity

which was already an impressive

The height was extended

to

above the ground, which means that a modern ten-story

feet

building

A sober

survived the 1194

height and held the record for the time.

115

asym-

to the building that

this complexity,

1200, work continued anew on the

whose base had

is

a half centuries separate the construction of the

The lower part of the porch belonged

was destroyed

and

artistic

would not touch

the top of the vault.

Above

the rose story

the Gallery of the Kings, consisting of an admirable parade of figures,

was

built after 1250.

The Old

ment. The spire

some 160

Tower

Bell

feet,

itself

is

remarkable

in

both concept and achieve-

holds a record for height, soaring straight up

unfettered by superfluous ornamentation. This spire

has the distinction of being hollow and not supported on any frame-

work. The walls gradually shrink the higher one carved in the shape of a scale and slightly a

way

bell

as to prevent rainwater

tower

easily

spills

notably at the time of the great

fire,

bells

Each stone

is

over the joint in such

from penetrating

supported the tons of

gets.

to the inside.

The

once housed there,

demonstrating the incompara-

ble stability that Viollet-le-Duc recognized

when

he declared that to

The

42

his

Sites

knowledge there was no other medieval construction

built as this spire.

At the base of the

similar in style to those of the

An odd

New

for the

completed

finally

by lightning.

noon.

Its

buttress.

1513 following

stone spire It

is

its

base

a delay

Romanesque,

is

caused by a

it

was

fire started

the highest in France after the cathe-

would take

modern

a

More complex than

stories to reach the top.

building of thirty-two the

Old

Bell

Tower,

it

an abundance of Flamboyant decoration, notably statues of

the apostles

But feature

accompanying a standing Christ on the west fagade. examine more closely the Royal

let’s is its

mix

of styles,

unity that emerges statuary

is still

sculpture.

The

which

when one

in

no way

Portal. Its strangest affects the

Romanesque but already foreshadows

cally in the twelfth century.

rhythm asserted

in the long

ues gives to

all this

elsewhere.

.

.

classic

The

Gothic

portal’s unity resides primarily in the desire of the

an image of the Kingdom of

.

profound

studies this incomparable group.

artists to illustrate the central figure of Christ in is

the Angel of the

offers a sundial oriented to

Tower, while

Bell

in

dral of Strasbourg.

offers

is

a large statue

representation of a donkey playing a hurdy-gurdy can be

found on the neighboring

As

tower stands

Royal Portal. This

named because he

Meridian, so

bell

as cleverly

God

as

it

Majesty.

The

result

was envisioned symboli-

According to

Villette,

“The

vertical

and motionless forms of the large

stat-

hedge of honor a nobility that has no equivalent

The geometrical decor of

the subject of the small

columns

is

the

columns

is

varied,

and

that of an exuberant fantasy.” 2

Also visible are precise references to classical antiquity that bring us to the history of Chartres

the School of Chartres

and the

fact that in the cathedral’s

was one of

the

most

shadow,

brilliant universities of

Europe from the eleventh to the thirteenth century. Thus there should be no surprise at finding

among

these statues the figure of

Aristotle, the great inspirer of Scholasticism, holding a writing desk

on

2.

his

Jean

knees and wearing a furrowed brow. This memorial recog-

Villette,

Chartres et sa cathedrale (Paris: Arthaud, 1979), 61-62.

The Vibrating Stones nizes the role of this late disciple of Plato as creator of a certain

43

form

of dialectic in which the Middle Ages gladly thought to recognize itself.

Similarly, Cicero represents rhetoric,

Ptolemy grammar, and

Pythagoras music, or rather the universal rhythm, what called the

We

is

sometimes

“music of the angels.”

must not overlook the

sents the Infant Jesus.

left

tympanum, where

the Virgin pre-

Here the presence of the philosophers and

thinkers of antiquity shows that the Virgin Mary, through her

maternal function,

also the

is

Throne of Wisdom, the word wisdom

designating in medieval terminology both knowledge and technical intelligence used in the service of

would

the

God and

humanity. But what

works of the mind be without the labors of every day?

the arch of the

left

tympanum

the signs of the zodiac alternate with

peasant occupations, reinfusing knowledge into ordinary never forgotten that humanity the balance of matter

and

is

incarnated, and that

exterior

it

is

the

all

life.

It is

reside in

spirit.

The north facade of Our Tady of Chartres renowned, yet

On

is

probably the

least

most meaningful part of the cathedral’s

and the most revealing of the cathedral’s constructors’

intentions. Traditionally, the north part of medieval churches

is

dedicated to a more secret, or at least a more discreet, teaching.

The north side of

in

is

many

at least

shadow and

cold,

which explains why, on the north

buildings, scenes are depicted that,

if

not infernal, are

connected with the Prince of Darkness. This

is

the case

with Notre-Dame in Paris, where the legend of the

who made

Theophilus,

a pact with the devil

cleric

and was eventually

saved by the intervention of the Virgin Mary, dominates the

ornamentation. Furthermore, following the traditional orientation, which

much

older

toward the left,

left

than Christianity, the observer

east

and the

rising sun.

is

is

always pointed

North, consequently,

the sinister side etymologically (in Latin, sinistra

is

to the

manu, “at the

hand”), which term subsequently became burdened with a very

vexing connotation. In ancient days, during services,

men were

The

44

Sites

arranged on the right and the

which automatically suggested

women on

the

left

facing the altar,

women, who

a lesser position for

were suspected of maintaining privileged relations with the

and were thus lowered left side

to the sinister side.

of the sanctuary

—when

it

was not

But paradoxically, the the chevet chapel

generally dedicated to Mary, the Virgin Mother, the

make

the

left side

The

desire

of the cathedral the privileged location conse-

crated to Mary, mother of God,

than

—was

woman who

crushes the head of the serpent or dragon of the depths. to

devil

was never made more manifest

in Chartres.

The north facade was begun but was finished

laid at the

gallery they

same time

same time

as the southern,

writes:

last. Villette

The porch was planned from were

at the

the very onset,

and

as those of the portals.

its

foundations

Deprived of the

should have crowned, the gables retain a sober

appearance. The towers, conceived during the course of the construction, are supported

abutment

piers that

—as

in the south, incidentally

had been prepared

—on

the

for the flying buttresses.

Here the buttresses are adorned with small

edifices

with pedi-

ments, in accordance with the part that connects to the abutment piers of the choir

ing statues that

and chevet. Finally there are the greatly protrud-

accompany

Equally worthy of note foot of the

New Bell Tower.

is

the very

It

with a face that has retained first

the rose. 3

was

its

buttress of the nave, there

handsome clock

built in

gilding is

1520

in

pavilion at the

Renaissance

style,

and polychromy. Beneath the

a well with a notch to allow the

buckets to be drawn up. The presence of this well cannot help but bring to is

mind

the Well of the Saints-Forts in the crypt. In any case,

food for thought that

ship of the Virgin

3. Villette,

in Chartres, as in

many

Mary was always connected

Chartres et sa cathedrale, 59.

it

other places, the worin

one way or another

The Vibrating Stones

with the presence of a well or fountain, a more or

45

unconscious

less

legacy of ancient traditions going far back before Christianity.

The north

panum

in the

portal

therefore consecrated to

Our

Lady.

The tym-

middle depicts the Crowning of the Virgin, and imme-

beneath

diately

is

representation

a

is

it

of the

death

and the

Assumption of Mary. The branches of a Tree of Jesse extend around it,

and higher up there are the historied depictions of the Creation.

The

left

tympanum

hood of

(to the Virgin’s right)

Christ, encircled

whole surmounted by a

by the parable of the Ten Virgins, the

series of sculptures giving concrete

both the active and the contemplative

Job as

its

cled by biblical figures such as

The

statue

Visitation

the

The

right

tympanum

Solomon, Tobias,

Esther,

has

encir-

and Judith,

a magnificent “calendar of the peasant.”

columns below concern the Annunciation and the

on the

Queen

life.

form to

above a Solomon’s Judgment, the whole

chief figure,

and topped with

dedicated to the child-

is

left;

Balaam, Solomon, the Architect of the Temple,

of Sheba, and the Sibyl on the right. In the middle a

superb grouping of Saint Anne and the Virgin surrounded by statues of Melchizedek, the priest king; Jeremiah, the prophet; Moses, the legislator;

David, the supreme king; Isaiah, the visionary; Jeremiah,

the “lucid one”;

John the

Baptist, the precursor;

the theoretical builder of the

Roman

and

finally Peter,

Church. This grouping

is

con-

with the story of the Creation and Original Sin to end with

sistent

new

the triumph of Mary, the

Eve,

who, by her acceptance of the

divine mission, contributes to the total redemption of suffering

and

laboring humanity.

But though the Virgin central

tympanum by

the

is

triumphant, as

Assumption and Crowning of Mary, her

triumph remains profoundly human. Mary she

is

subject to the

fully expressed in the

is

same laws

is

as all other

a

woman, and

humans, even

as such if

she

is

accorded such an exceptional place. The Royal Portal highlights the Virgin as Throne of

Wisdom, though Wisdom

the north portal, mainly

human wisdom

is

on the right-hand

is

equally present on

side.

a direct derivative of divine

The theme

is

that

wisdom. This

is

46

The

Sites

shown by drawn

young Queen of Sheba

the

King Solomon, inspired by the

to the wise

turns majestically to

sculpted If

on the

there

Jerusalem,

temple was a

monument

welcome

irresistibly

Spirit of

mad

God. He

who

Marcoulf,

is

pedestal, clearly illustrates his antithesis.

show not only

to

is

human

that the construction of such a

labor, but that

it

had been necessary to

erect a

allowing, under certain very precise conditions, the

establishment of a

Throughout the

privileged

between heaven and

link

earth.

Middle Ages, Solomon was regarded

entire

who knew

initiated architect

the

while the

her,

is

such emphasis on the rebuilding of the Temple of

is it

who

“pagan”),

(a

God’s

We know how

secrets.

shadow of this king has weighed on

as the

heavily

the brotherhoods of builders

before becoming the embodied symbol of both operative and con-

templative Freemasonry. This

is

why the

of the portal

left side

is

also

dedicated to the activities that flow from this divine wisdom: animal

husbandry and farming, music and industry. Depicted next to the doctor are the architect with his square, the painter with his palette, the philosopher,

and the alchemist.

The purpose of

traditional alchemy, of course,

form lead into gold but

not inspired by the

fire

the divine breath that

is

to trans-

to discover the great secrets of

common

remain hidden to

was not

mortals.

Commoners

of the alchemists.

They

the elemental cause

are those

life

who

that are

are not inspired by

and indispensable medi-

ator between primal matter, or original Chaos, and the philosopher’s stone,

which

is

the result of the slow crafting of this matter that

then purified and given the active

life

are

two

life

by the mind. The contemplative

sides of the

same

the south portal of the cathedral,

umphant image of

the angels under the eyes of It

and

the Virgin Mary, she

God and

would take days and days

This

reality. it

who

is

life

and

the lesson of

comes through the is

is

crowned

tri-

eternally by

humanity.

to grasp the great wealth of art

and

knowledge sculpted on the outer walls of the cathedral of Chartres. During the Middle Ages, every tiatory journey.

visit to a

sanctuary was a long

There was no expectation that

it

would be

ini-

possible

The Vibrating Stones to abruptly enter a church,

was

first

fall

to one’s knees,

and

start to pray. It

Our contemporaries who can

necessary to reach this stage.

casually enter a cathedral either to admire the masterpieces

it

houses

or to indulge in banal cultural practices seem to have forgotten

But a cathedral

like

Chartres does not allow

necessary that

easily. It is

imbued with the message ourselves in

we remain by

left

what could be

It is

dare to bury

—the

interior,

engraved and which cannot

is

deciphered the

first. its

western

traditional orientation of churches intends the choir to

be located on the east, supposedly because

toward Jerusalem. This explanation a coincidence that

is

is

is

it

was necessary

quite simplistic

valid only in Western

The eastern orientation it

we

thus appropriate to enter the cathedral through

The

portal.

to be entered so

called the “holy of holies”

we have

this.

long on the outside to become

where the second part of the message be deciphered until

itself

builders before

its

47

and

to turn rests

on

Europe and North Africa.

clearly pre-Christian; the Celts practiced

themselves, facing the rising sun. This

was how

the four funda-

mental directions were defined and their meanings were derived: In front life;

was

life;

to the right, or the south,

was “nonbeing,” immobility, hell of

on the

I’ifern

Armorican Breton tradition

light. In the its

movement

of

yen

or “sinister” side. Here

left

—

in other

words, the frozen

—characterized by the absence of

Christian viewpoint, the merit of such an orientation

reinforcement of the theme of the Resurrection. The light

dies in the

west but

lowing a stay the

light, the

and behind, the west, was death and disappearance into the

night. This left only the north,

was

was

dawn,

is

perpetually reborn in the east. Tife, then, fol-

in a transitory

like Christ

Other World, reappears

on the morning of the

of us can hope to be reborn as Jesus was,

in

triumph

at

third day. Because each

we must make

bolic gesture of entering the divine sanctuary

the sym-

from the west and

turning around to the east, therefore benefiting from the material

and

spiritual light that

back of the

choir.

emanates from behind the

Thus death

In Chartres, everything

is

is

altar,

from the

vanquished.

constructed to permit this symbolic

The

48

Sites

advance inside the cathedral. There are which, as in

ing the sanctuary. But there like the

the baptismal fonts,

Christian sanctuaries, are located near the western

all

entrance, signifying that baptism

up

first

is

is

the absolute initiation for enter-

enormous space

also the

that opens

mirror of the Other World mentioned in the scriptures.

The nave, which bears allows visitors to

sail

a close resemblance to a capsized vessel,

within

it.

The nave of Chartres

most impressive because of the colors the

light

is

one of the

produces as

it

comes

through the countless stained-glass windows. In fact, there

we can

that inspires respect.

Is it

feel

something beyond measure, something

the spiritual aura of the

technique that causes this sensation?

we should not overlook

but

which bear responsibility to a

1020

for

its

the constraints of

for the entire effect.

or the builders’

one or the

1194

other,

architecture,

The cathedral was

to use the crypt dating

heir

from

foundations, which explains the exceptional width of the

nave,

some

Dame

in Paris).

is,

definitely

It is

Romanesque design and was obliged

site

(compared to only

fifty feet

The nave of Chartres

is

thirty-eight feet in Notre-

the largest of this type

—that

flanked by flying buttresses. Thanks to these, the architect was

able to eliminate the galleries that were formerly needed to balance the pressures of the high vaults. Galleries, beautiful as they

always block some of the

light.

They

may

be,

are replaced here by a kind of

triforium that serves as a circulation gallery, which furthermore

allows the aisles to be greater in height, which in turn considerably

expands the surface available for the windows: “Henceforth the

problem of the this

light

is

resolved,” says Villette, “and, starting

from

experiment, the entire history of Gothic architecture will consist

of the preeminence of

The drama of

the edifice stems

tural features of the

with

its

empty spaces over

full

spaces.” 4

from how the massive

architec-

lower part of the construction are combined

higher masses.

The forms shooting skyward grow

lighter as

they ascend, but toward the ground the foundational courses are

4. Villette,

Chartres et sa cathedrale, 60.

The Vibrating Stones exceptionally heavy and thick.

The

49

pillars are alternately cylindrical

and octagonal, which both breaks the monotony and

distributes the

weight more evenly, partially on weaker but highly elegant supports

and

A

partially

choir that

on blocks of

a density that can withstand

the largest in

is

all

any weight.

France and flanked by a double

ambulatory naturally extends the nave. The sixteenth-century con-

and restorer Jean de

struction of the choir enclosure by the architect

Beauce in Flamboyant

XV’s

reign) of the

style

and the

end of Louis

installation (at the

monumental group

of the Assumption sculpted by

Bridan above the high altar have somewhat amended the original building plan. But the wide scope of the choir almost supports this sculpted group, which

with medieval

is

neither in the best of taste nor in

style.

The transept of Chartres, along with most important

in France.

entire length of the

the architect

harmony

It

the one in Laon,

measures almost 212

feet,

church of Saint-Germain-des-Pres

was not obliged

to respect the

is

also the

which

in Paris.

Romanesque

the

is

Here

blueprint

or to use the crypt and generally allowed his construction to run

over the original building on install aisles,

which are

He took

all sides.

relatively rare.

somewhat reduced, however,

in

The width

two

crosses, light

lateral rosace

it is,

this to

of the transept

comparison with that of the

pal axis, the nave of the choir. But such as sizes the

advantage of

this transept

is

princi-

empha-

windows, which, seen from the transept

form an amazing display of colors that

is

intensified

by the

added through the western rose window located farther away.

Everywhere we look on

this crossing,

we

see only discrete or blind-

ing rays of pure color, gushing lines of force rocketing toward the sky.

And when we

transfer our gaze to the floor,

it is

to see

how

it

too has been as intensely worked as the rest of the construction.

The

floor inside the cathedral

is

composed of paving stones

that

have not been changed since the beginning of the thirteenth century. It is

slightly sloped to

at a time ary.

The

when

allow for easier washing, an important feature

pilgrims were

flagstone surface

still

is

allowed to

camp

inside the sanctu-

uniform rather than interrupted by

The

50

Sites

tombstones as

tomb the

Our Lady

in

not a single

is

of Chartres, but both surprising and intriguing

famous labyrinth located almost

At times

There

in the majority of cathedrals.

this labyrinth

is

at the very center of the nave.

can be found obscured by chairs and benches,

motivated perhaps by the numerous studies written about

its

meaning.

Chartres was not the sole example of this symbolic, and obviously initiatory, decoration; there were labyrinths on the floors of

various cathedrals and churches, but

preserved in

its

entirety. It

is

it is

the only one that has been

the flat depiction of a labyrinth forty

feet in

diameter that creates a “path” some nine hundred feet in

length.

Sometimes

is

it

Way, because the

called the Jerusalem

grims could not travel east until they had symbolically

pil-

fulfilled their

pilgrimage here. The official explanation provided by the clergy

simultaneously simple, logical, and reassuring: that reminds the faithful that paradise

road

full

lies at

It is

is

a representation

the end of a difficult

of snares. But this explanation appears simplistic, to say

myth of

the least, and contradicts the very

There can be no doubt that

the labyrinth.

this labyrinth

was intended

for pil-

make

grims who, having entered by the western door, prepared to precise circuit inside the cathedral.

It

familiarize themselves with the site

way

a

was

initially a

and

especially to discover the

for

them

to

path closest to the spiritual reality of which they had come in search.

But the theme of the labyrinth inherited from trated by the

Minoan

and the Minotaur,

would have us

is

earliest antiquity, illus-

legend of Minos, Pasiphae, Ariadne, Theseus,

much more complex and ambiguous than some

believe. Certainly,

on

a psychological level

considered the wanderings and gropings of the search of the light

—that

is

the soul’s it

it.

can be

human mind

in

to say, of a truth that can always be seen

sketched against the horizon but which escapes our grasp

attempt to possess

it

Certainly,

wandering during

on

a religious level

it is

when we

the image of

terrestrial existence, or as a depiction of

as prey to temptation, blindness,

should one day or another find sented by the triumphant Christ.

its

and lack of knowledge, which

way

to the divine Light repre-

The Vibrating Stones

But the story of Theseus going to

kill

Minotaur

the

51

in the heart

of the labyrinth and then finding the exit thanks to the thread given

him by Ariadne

fails to

convey that finding the

was

that finding the entrance

important goal

— especially

exit

was one goal but

considering

the

that

Heraclitus, in corroborating the legend, says the exit

same opening

as the entrance

by virtue of the

And

climb are also those that descend.

Now who

would Ariadne be

then,

of

exactly the

who

first to

guides

find the

not one of the archaic

if

Cretan depictions of the Mother Goddess? ship,

is

Ariadne

is

it

dialectic

fact that the paths that

Theseus not only to rediscover the exit but also entrance.

more

quite another, perhaps even

there

Is

some

relation-

however unconscious, between the presence of

this

labyrinth in a sanctuary dedicated to the worship of Mary, mother of God, and the strange palace of Knossos, in

which

Pasiphae and Ariadne incontestably evoke the

fertility cults

figures like

con-

nected to the Goddess of the Beginnings? The labyrinth of Crete was

not only a “prison” for the Minotaur; only ones

who

Ages

in the

It

was

also a “temple.”

who had some

could enter were those

edge of the path to travel.

it

seems that

it

was

the

The

kind of knowl-

same

in the

Middle

majority of the large sanctuaries, Chartres in particular,

where each sculpture, every architectural element, each stained-glass image presents teric

all

the characteristics of a double language, the exo-

within the grasp of everyone and the esoteric reserved to a few.

Without going further tion,

it

in

what

should be emphasized that

the overall plan of the cathedral.

given their

is

its

place and

way

its

It

development,

purely and simply an observa-

this labyrinth

is

not negligible. Before making all

Chartres should experience this labyrinth,

to both sight as they

owy

from the

integrated into

therefore has a role to play that,

to the heart of this sanctuary,

trate, the better to profit

is

artistic

pilgrims and visitors to first

and

to learn to concen-

spiritual riches offered

and awareness, then to allow themselves

meander through the cathedral (which

than the labyrinth

and

itself),

where the heart of the sanctuary

is

is

to be guided

much more

shad-

finally to recognize exactly

located. This

is

not necessarily the

The

52

Sites

geometric center of the structure or the perspective from the high Pilgrims can note in any case that

where the supreme feminine

side

is

Mary, the incontestable mistress of

One

this

which

is

millennium-old sanctuary.

Our Lady

of Chartres, at least

obviously the famous statue of

level, is quite

the Pillar,

the sinister

left,

exalted, in this instance the Virgin

of the essential elements of

on the ground

Lady of

paths lead to the

all

altar.

Our

placed not far from the transept in the

outermost part of the double ambulatory to the

left

of the choir.

Furthermore, the Virgin of the Assumption that clutters the high altar indicates

with an eloquent gesture of her hand the appropriate

which

direction to take to the heart of the sanctuary,

Our Lady

chance, above the place where the chapel of

Ground

is

located in the crypt

— along with quite work

that archaeologists, although at

unearth

—

in the very entrails of

some

for

what formed

is,

as

of

if

by

Under

few other things

a

time, are hesitant to

the original

nemeton

of the Druids in the land of the Carnutes. It is

Pillar

on

only relatively recently that the statue of

was placed

in this spot.

As her name

a pillar that seems to reveal

sumptuous garb, which

is

Chartres

is

The

the

telluric forces that

fire

brought into the West, but

and the ravages of the Virgin

Mary

is

said to have

offered to the sanctuary by Charles the

authenticity of this relic

ment of Chartres

elevated

a Virgin with Child, clad in

veil that the

a

worn and which had been Bald.

is

is

of the

appropriate given that one of the treasures

—which escaped Revolution — piece of a of

indicates, she

and symbolize the

spring from under the ground. She

Our Lady

it

is

suspect, as

is

the

way

it

was

contributed to the prodigious develop-

as a site of pilgrimage, so

it is

right for

Our Lady

of the Pillar to be attired so richly. She should also be crowned, as the

whole monument

who

after her sleep

is,

to the glory of the triumphant Virgin, she

and her Assumption was crowned Queen of the

Angels. Particularly remarkable, and enigmatic in

Our Lady

of the Pillar

is

a Black

many

respects,

Madonna.

This statue raises certain issues.

It is

colors have almost totally disappeared;

a it

polychrome work whose currently

shows only the

The Vibrating Stones

dark

pear.

it is

of

tint of the

what

It

wood. Some say the wood

is

walnut; others declare

does not matter; the statue clearly

are called Black Virgins or Black

sented sitting, holding Jesus on her

ahead and holds a pear

left

holding the globe of the world in his

the category

falls in

Madonnas. Mary

knee. She

left

hand,

repre-

is

looking straight

is

hand, while the child,

in her right

53

who

is

making the gesture

is

of benediction with his right.

What

is

often

unremarked

atively speaking. Certainly is

irresistibly evocative

compositional

by

of thirteenth-century Virgins. But

that

was created

it

Concurring testimonies specify that

named Wastin

not very old,

is

des Feugerets,

who

it

carved on

in

was donated by

died in 1521.

Thus

some

had replaced an older

fairly

it

donated “in the month of

invalidates

its

May

But there

is

and

no proof that

Madonna. Comparative

canon

a

explicitly

had been

1220, by Pierre de Bordeaux,

this ancient statue

character as a Black

to cover statues with paint

in cap-

mysterious circumstances, the statue

Archdeacon of Vendome.” That

way

the

can be dated

“in gilded vermeil” that

figure

it

all

it

Renaissance.

the

from the sixteenth century. But these same testimonies state that following

rel-

general appearance and attitude

its

details, as well as the inscription

indicate

letters,

ital

that the statue

is

was

Madonna.

It

gilded in

no

was common

gilding. this first statue

studies

on the

was

in fact a

Black

different representations of

on the cathedral’s windows can give only an

the Virgin with Child

idea of the general appearance of the statue of 1220. According to

Mary was

Delaporte,

ahead; with her

left

“seated,

the head erect,

looking straight

hand she held the Infant Jesus on her

left

knee;

with the other hand she raised an object that was either a scepter or 5 a fruit.”

Pillar

5.

Y.

was

It

would seem

a kind of

Our Lady

copy or adaptation of the 1220

Delaporte, Les Trois

Houvet, 1965), 42. This

that the current statue of

is

Notre-Dame de a small but

la

statue.

of the

But

we

cathedrale de Chartres (Chartres: E.

thoroughly documented study on the problems

posed by the statue, with references and citations concerning the origin and successive relocations of the statues of

Our Lady

of Chartres.

54

The

Sites

do not know whether the statue of 1220 was carved or

if it

was

Vendome.

any

case,

Our Lady

is

of the Pillar and the Virgin

Chartrian tradition

preceding her that

Madonna. The no

it

was destroyed during

Revolution

the

of

Under Ground

— although

now housed

remain, as well as the recent statue

Madonna

Thanks

know

that

two imitations

in the crypt (prob-

ably at the very spot that once held the original statue)

Black

Black

the

as

identifies

Our Lady

mysterious

less

same era

donated by the archdeacon of

a very ancient statue

In

in that

—

is

not the

of Chartres.

and even some engravings, we

to these descriptions

the original placement of the Black

Madonna: She was

fas-

tened to the rood screen that closed the choir, on a stone column to the

left

of

its

“Around

entrance.

her,

copper columns supported

crossbeams of the same metal on which lamps were hung.” But the

rood screen was demolished cate the statue.

in

1763, and

new home was on

Its

it

was necessary

to relo-

the northwest pillar of the

square of the transept, facing the nave, but

this

was only

until

1791.

There was a curious desire on the part of the Church to restore worship of

Our Lady

ble crypt.

The

Ground took egated

of

statues

given to the Black

Under Ground

now

inaccessi-

Madonna and

the latter

was

rel-

where. In any case, no further attention was

Madonna, and

that

in the

were thus exchanged; Our Lady of Under

the place of the Black

who knows

was banned

Under Ground, who was

it

was burned by

in the cathedral,

was

the statue of

revolutionaries

Our Lady

of

when worship

which had become the Temple of

Reason during the Revolution. After 1795, when worship had been reauthorized, the Black

placed in

its

Madonna was removed from

current location, on a pillar that

columns of the former rood

from vandalism, under

most venerated of cathedral, as

is

clear

this enclosure that

The

all

is

its

is

obscurity and

only one of the

And this Black Madonna, spared name of Our Lady of the Pillar, is the screen.

representations of the Virgin in the Chartres

from the abundant candles permanently

now

lit

in

a veritable chapel.

interior of the cathedral

is

not lacking for statues. In

this

The Vibrating Stones regard the perimeter of the choir

is

furnished as best as

could be. Begun in 1514 in the Flamboyant of the choir enclosure required

many

style, the

years before

possibly

it

construction

was

it

55

finally fin-

ished in 1529 in the purest Renaissance style. But the sculptures

were

far

from being completed. According

have been

set since

work began,

to a plan that seems to

principal scenes

from the

life

of

Christ and the Virgin were sculpted on the choir’s perimeter. This

lengthy construction lasted until almost the end of the ancien regime. Thus,

it is

erly speaking,

nor

not the work of a single sculptor or school propof a single style.

is it

could easily have turned

It

out as a bizarre assemblage of heteroclite compositions, but an

amazing continuity

oped

in a space of

exists in these forty scenes that

more than 250 square

feet.

characteristic of the styles of different eras,

may

although some

ment

feel that its

that nevertheless

presence

manages

is

have been devel-

The ornamentation, is

particularly rich,

monu-

regrettable in a

to retain the specific nature of

Radiant Gothic.

The now vanished rood screen belonged erected during the time of Saint Louis.

columns, and

it

it

had been

It

was held up by

tribune

consisted of seven vaulted bays that offered arcades

topped by gables on the nave

1763 because

Its

to this style.

side. It

was wantonly destroyed

obstructed the view. The sculptures that adorned

in it

were mutilated and buried on the spot, where they were found when the renovation in

work was undertaken. They

the Saint-Piat Chapel,

Notable among them

handsome

is

are currently

on display

which extends the cathedral’s chevet.

a very remarkable Nativity

Sleep of the Magi, in

which the sages

their feet resting against the stable wall

lie

and

side

a

no

less

by side with

from which horses are

emerging, already harnessed for their departure.

The

Saint-Piat

Chapel houses the cathedral’s treasury, including

everything that was saved from the former building and everything that excavations

and restoration work have recovered. This

the remnants of the in a reliquary

famous Tunic of the Virgin

but in a “monstrance.” The

veil

are

on

is

where

display, not

was donated

to the

The

56

Sites

sanctuary by Charles the Bald around the year 876. The

mark

the origin of Chartres as a pilgrimage site

tion to

Our Lady

son for

its

much

of Chartres began

seems that devo-

(it

but

earlier),

did not

gift

it

was

the rea-

success as such throughout the rest of Europe.

When

French queens were pregnant, the Chartres chapter house gave them a shirt that facilitate

had touched the reliquary containing the

an easy pregnancy. Also notable

most diverse

collection of objects, are a

cloth cut to

fit

the former statue of

The building glass

itself

in this treasury,

among

the

sumptuous sixteenth-century

Madonna and

cloak donated for the Black

Virgin’s veil to

a small piece of

Our Lady

damask

Under Ground.

of

dates from the fourteenth century, with stained

from the same era that

not lacking in interest. These windows

is

can hardly compete with the stained-glass windows of the cathedral itself,

however, which are so extraordinary and of such consummate

craftsmanship that they have come to eclipse thirteenth-century stained glass that can

The

art of

making stained

glass

still

and

the twelfth-

all

be seen in France.

was born

in

France around the

tenth century. Various testimonies confirm that

“windows with

ored glass and subjects” existed at that time

Reims and

Other documents

specify,

It

was

a

in Dijon.

with respect to the Abbey of Fleury (Saint-

Benoit-sur-Loire), that a lead setting different pieces.

in

col-

was used

to hold together the

phenomenal invention that allowed great

flexibility in the crafting of subject matter, for until that time, glass

panes were mounted on wooden frames or even, the chronicler Gregory of Tours,

rated beforehand. In ter

Muslim

on flagstones

we

that

lands, glass panes

armatures reinforced with plant

if

are to believe

had been perfo-

were affixed to

plas-

fiber.

The new process spread beyond France

quite quickly,

and

at the

end of the eleventh century the monastery of Monte-Cassino was noted for possessing stained-glass windows consisting of panes that

were assembled with the help of pieces of

lead, the panel thus

formed being affixed to an iron armature. Stained

come within

the reach of the cathedral builders.

glass, then,

Romanesque

had

archi-

tecture lent itself poorly to this technique, however, because the

The Vibrating Stones

was open

thickness of the walls considerably reduced the space that to the light. Conversely, once Gothic architecture

become both

walls had tainly

come

to invest

stained-glass

nate

is

more thought

cer-

to using the spaces of light,

and

windows

stained-glass

was perfected and

compact, the time had

less

windows became customary. This

number of

which

and

lighter

57

explains the inordi-

in a cathedral like Chartres,

centered on the play of light and shadow. All the

of the Chartres cathedral added together equal

windows

more than 6,500

square feet of surface space, a considerable area.

from the same

era.

Some

of the former building, destroyed in 1194.

The

largest

The windows

are not

all

are remnants

number

from the thirteenth century, when the existing cathedral was Others are of

later

we must

provenance. Obviously

are

built.

also take into

account the different restorations that have been undertaken since the art of stained-glass

windows, which was

virtually

abandoned

during the classical period, began to inspire unusual interest on both artistic all,

and

when

religious planes, not to

mention the mystical one. After

entering the cathedral of Chartres, the visitor

not only by the architectural breadth of the

site,

is

gripped

but also by the

strange lights emanating from the windows, especially the blue tones.

The “blue of Chartres”

and the stained

defined, though,

same studio

utilizing the

borhood of raw

The

light;

glass of

same methods.

But stained glass takes on

almost

famous.

is

its full

now

after centuries.

The

Only some of the

whole

is

not very precisely

Bourges came from the

Villette observes:

value only

if it is

given a neigh-

the cathedral of Chartres, alone or

—with Sainte-Chapelle of Paris—

tinted glass as a

It

retains

all

fulfills

the best conditions.

the potency of

its

lead settings strongly emphasize the colors.

flesh tones

have turned brown. Atmospheric

agents have attacked the outer face of the stained glass ness of

more

which

varies

colors even

from two to

six millimeters

—the thick-

—which adds even

quality to the effects of refraction that were obtained formerly

The

58

Sites

by a variety of “defects” achieved through blowing. The stained glass

windows

that are striated, buckled,

and riddled with bubbles

are the richest. 6

In fact, everything here obeys a master plan, as well as a perfect

knowledge of the variations of outside

light.

day, whatever the atmospheric conditions

or black cloud

—

all is

different tonalities.

lows,

and reach

organized to maintain a contrast

While

their

maximum

intensity. It

oldest stained-glass

windows

three

1194

is

on

this that the

windows

we

windows

is

(the central

icate nature of the

these three

it is

legendary

and wholly admirable compositions. To and resurrection of Jesus

an amazing Tree of one

is

more than

Jesse.

life

of Jesus.

The height of

thirty-three feet

tall),

these

the del-

drawing, and the perfection of the assemblage

windows

a group without peer in the entire world,

and probably the most beautiful example of the that

life

around 1150 and survived the

see the Easter mystery, the death

the right there

make

to

are those of the western por-

Christ. In the middle are the principal episodes of the

On

stir

yel-

thanks to the narthex tribune that protected them from the

fire

left

and

the

rests.

that were created

flames. These are venerable the

among

direct sunlight ignites the reds

reputation of “Chartres blue”

tal,

full sunlight, dull gray,

during the shadows of twilight that the blues

it is

The

—

Whatever the time of

art of stained glass

possible to see.

Tangibly belonging to this same era, but surrounded by more recent elements, the stained-glass la Belle Verriere,

window known

as

Notre-Dame de

which occupies the second window of the southern

ambulatory, thus acting as a counterweight to the statue of

Lady of the

Pillar, is

also

one of the masterworks of the cathedral.

This depiction of the Virgin the Black

Madonna. The

is

almost as venerated as

is

the statue of

Virgin Mother, wearing luminous blue

robes, stands out against a magnificent red background. Emile

6. Villette,

Our

Chartres et sa cathedrale, 83.

Male

The Vibrating Stones said of this Virgin that

dow

He

in existence.”

it

was “the most

also viewed

it

beautiful stained-glass win-

as reminiscent of the depiction

of the ancient mother goddesses of the Celtic tradition.

on

seated

straight

head

is

a throne looking straight ahead,

and her

encircled by a blue halo bordered with pearls

a rich crown.

on her

ting

Her hands

lap. Jesus

are resting

Mary

is

with her back quite

on a footstool covered by

feet resting

59

on the Infant

a carpet.

Her

and topped by

who

Jesus,

is sit-

also facing forward, clad in an uncolored

is

robe and a blackish brown cloak, his head surrounded by a cross-

shaped halo.

open book

He

in his left.

the dove of the

tom

of the

giving a blessing with his right

is

Above them

and the

first

from the beak of

at the Virgin’s halo.

window, two episodes of the

life

At the bot-

of Jesus are depicted, his

miracle at the wedding in Cana.

This Blue Virgin has generated

much

discussion. Certain details

composition, the blue alone, the archaic nature of

of

its

all

combine

it

three rays pour

Holy Ghost and end

three temptations

hand and holds an

to give

it

of stained glass that escaped the pletion of the renovation?

fire

We know

and was

was

from an 1137

stained glass.

charter of

It is

a ritual

lit

is

lamp before

her,

be a piece

com-

text that during

window

the object of specific devotion.

customary to maintain a

it

reinstalled after

that time, the cathedral did contain a stained-glass

odd because such

design,

an obvious impression of great age. But could

be the representation of an even older model? Could

ing the Virgin that

its

which

It

depict-

was then

itself is

rather

usually reserved for statues or icons, not

quite probable that this Virgin mentioned by the

1134 was the Blue

Virgin, for she has for centuries

enjoyed a popular enthusiasm that has never ebbed and

is

still

denoted by a wall blackened by the flames of the candles burned

in

her honor. In any event, she formed part of the glasswork of the original

Romanesque

at least eighteen

cathedral,

which

is

known

to have possessed

windows, three of which date to the

latter years of

the eleventh century.

A

large

number

of the other

windows

date from the twelfth cen-

tury and were installed during the construction of the current

The

60

Sites

Radiant Gothic cathedral. This

whose rose

size

the case with the rose

is

windows,

and subject matter make such a huge impression. The

window

of the western facade

and has Christ

in its center

is

devoted to the Last Judgment

—a standard for beauty.

A

triumphant

window

Christ of the Apocalypse occupies the center of the rose

Around him crowd

the southern portal.

large

men

the eighty old

of

of the

Apocalypse as well as the angels and the four companions. The

meaning

is

and eternal union

quite clear, involving the mystical

the end of time between

been freed from

sin

God and

have

finally

to their glorious status.

Below

God’s creatures,

and transcended

who

after

are five stained-glass images that set the stage for this victory. In the

middle

is

who made

the one

transcendence possible:

Queen and Mother. Around

as

her, in a

Mary

depicted

very charged symbolism,

range the prophet Jeremiah carrying the Evangelist Luke, Isaiah carrying Matthew, Ezekiel carrying John, and Daniel carrying

Also visible toward the bottom Pierre de

Dreux,

heiress to the

The

known

duchy of

large rose

to the Virgin. She

she

mistress of

all

who had

married the

Brittany, Alix de Thouars.

of the north faqade

represented as

receiving the gifts of the

Wisdom,

the coat of arms of the donor,

is

as Pierre Mauclerc,

window is

Mark.

who knows

is

obviously devoted

Queen and Mother

Holy Ghost. Here she

is

in the center,

the

Throne of

the mysterious designs of God. She

knowledge and

all

is

the

bounty, bounty and knowledge not

being viewed as separate in the Marian tradition. There are angels all

around

her,

and lower down are

Christ’s ancestors, the kings of

Judah, and the minor prophets of the

Hebrew

scriptures.

The

five

lower stained-glass windows emphasize yet further the Throne of

Wisdom aspect. The middle window is dedicated to Saint Anne, who is holding Mary on her knees. This was intended to show, without even referring to the idea of the Immaculate Conception (which

would not become dogma Virgin

was predestined

sion she a

would

fulfill.

until the nineteenth century), that the

at birth to a certain extent for the divine mis-

Below

this

window

is

reminder that the donor was Blanche de

the French coat of arms, Castille, the

mother of

The Vibrating Stones

Saint Louis.

To

the

left,

61

one window depicts Melchizedek above the

enemy king Nebuchadnezzar, and another window shows David above Saul. To the right

whom

the wise king

is

the face of Saint Louis has

most

and builder Solomon

been given) above

likely

Jeroboam, and Aaron above the pharaoh of Egypt. This subtle relations

existing

(to

is

how

between the Hebrew people and

the

their

neighbors were suggested, relations Christianity inevitably inherited.

The

description. Everything can be

the

windows defy

richness and variety of the other stained-glass

found here, from the noblest scene to

most banal, even the most informal, episode. Bustling through

them

are kings

and queens and princes wearing

magnificent silken robes; bishops, priests, and

richly

monks

embroidered

in distinctively

colored liturgical clothing; and mail-clad knights engaged in battles.

And from

all this,

which could be baroque with

its

wealth of

detail,

emerge peasants wearing coarse homespun, heads covered with

hoods to keep out the wind

as they

engage in the works of the

field,

or else working shirtless to bring in the harvest under a burning sun.

Artisans hold the tools of their trade.

Some

sculpt stone

and some

carve wood; others weave in their workshops. Fishmongers beneath

colored parasols, along with bakers and butchers, offer customers their wares.

A

great pride.

shoemaker

Drapers and

furriers display their

merchandise with

blacksmith shoes a horse caged in a

laces boots,

and

wooden

frame, a

a vintner trims his vines.

This reminds us that a good number of stained-glass windows

were offered by the selves

and

faithful,

depicted in them.

It

their

also

donors enjoyed seeing them-

allows us to leaf through an

admirable book of documentary images of daily century.

How many

have been used to But

this

compared

times these stained-glass

illustrate literary tales

on

extraordinary book of images

to a

comic

strip

evocations of everyday

life in

the thirteenth

windows

life

in the

—which

of Chartres

Middle Ages!

could even be

—contains many elements besides these

life.

Legends are teeming there, both those

pulled from the Golden Legend, meaning the legendary lives of the saints,

and from traditions that were viewed

as profane

and even

The

62

Sites

The

diabolic.

more than he

devil is

is

not absent from the windows of Chartres, no

from the exterior

The same holds

sculptures.

for the majority of medieval religious buildings, as

deemed necessary

to present the

that they might crystallize

them

get rid of

enemy

upon him

all their evil

impulses, thus to

This diabolical image

in a veritable exorcism.

who

in the

serene

is

of benevolence, the devil with his horned head and animal-

like face is putting forth his

that he

par-

is

“weighing of souls”

western rose window. Facing a radiant Saint Michael, full

had been

if it

to the view of the faithful so

ticularly terrifying in the depiction of the

and

true

obvious counterweight, and

clear

it is

attempting to seduce the Archangel of Light. In another

is

medallion a laughing and very carnivalesque

devil,

armed with

pitchfork and an expression that can only be labeled sadistic,

pushing before him a group of

terrified

damned

a is

souls.

Elsewhere another very serious but nonetheless horrible devil clutches the throat of a sick person as

window

if

is

connected with the numerous sculpted scenes

cathedral’s exterior, mainly

portal and in

fires

on the arches of

which the

cumbed

devil

where the jaws of this portal,

of hell. All

on the

visible

gape on the south

such as those notable groups

can be seen dragging a

to temptation, a courtesan,

hell

in the

on the

of Sainte Marguerite de Cortone, he has taken

appearance of a dragon with a head as red as the this

And

to strangle him.

and

woman who

a miser. In the

has suc-

window

of

Saint John, a devil takes possession of the soul of a dying person,

which resembles a

As

tiny

human

for the depiction of hell

folk imagery, with

body. itself, it is fully

monstrous demons

pleasure from torturing the damned.

Nicholas a devil

tries to

within the realm of

who seem

On

the

to take

window

dedicated to the same saint, this same devil

company

down as

of Saint

who

drag to the bottom of the sea a child

has fallen from the boat carrying him on a pilgrimage.

window

enormous

of magicians preparing a mysterious elixir

is

On

another

found

meant

in the

to

burn

the church dedicated to Saint Nicholas. Sometimes he appears

an imp whispering ambiguous suggestions

in people’s ears.

For

The Vibrating Stones

example, he

burn

shown

is

alive the fifty

suggesting to

Emperor Maxence

that he

inspiring

hovers

Maxence

near the

He

condemn Pantaleon

to

shoulder

left

of the

the

Church with Thomas

to be executed.

king Henry

English

reproaches a king,

who

is

lying

on

a

also

is

Plantagenet as the monarch discusses the respective rights of

power and

first

Alexandrian doctors converted by the preaching

of Saint Catherine and then decapitate the saint herself.

shown

63

He II

civil

Elsewhere he

Becket.

a bed, for not having

burned the

ship that carried the relics of Saint Etienne to Constantinople.

imagery

Diabolic Chartres.

It

was not

particularly

is

it

It

was

had

exorcised

it

cathedral

was

How would

it

shadow

The

depictions of the face of the

was present everywhere,

One

that

of the roles played by the

to provide exorcism for the largest

number

of people.

be possible to envision Chartres as a temple of the

impulses of the stained-glass

tri-

practicing this kind of necessary ritual for

the profound purification evil

in

of every believer, and that in order to be

to be actually seen.

umphant Virgin without and

many

to assert again that evil

lurked in the

effective

solely out of a taste for colorful subject matter

that the artists provided so

Enemy.

abundant and

and “reduction to nothing” of the dark

human

windows

being? of Chartres also reveal

many

hagio-

graphic as well as simply historic or epic legends. Particularly surprising are the

numerous depictions of the legendary

Roland. In the lower

circle

of the

beautiful

history of

stained

glass

of

Charlemagne, the king of the Franks commands the construction of a church in

honor of Saint Jacques of Pampelune. Farther up

is

the

flowering of the spears carried by those going to die at Roncevaux,

and next

to

it is

an overall view of the battle

the battle between

itself.

Roland and the pagan Ferragut

In the lozenge, is

depicted.

We

can also see Charlemagne’s return to France, Roland blowing a horn, and Roland attempting to break his sword, Durandal. All this is

obviously an illustration of The Song of Roland, a text that was

enormously popular during the twelfth and thirteenth

On

the south porch, the statue of

centuries.

Roland himself, the pedestal

The

64

Sites

of which carries a strange scene, extends these depictions of the leg-

end of Roland. In the center idol.

To

while

its left is

On

a

column supporting

crowned king holding

a

lifting his right

the ground.

is

hand toward the

idol

a

a grimacing

sword (now broken)

and bending

a knee to

the other side, a knight in a coat of mail kneels

extends his right

arm toward

the idol. This

is

and

clearly the episode of

Ganelon’s betrayal. Roland’s “stepfather” swears an oath to the

pagan king Marsilla king swears to

kill

to deliver the hero into his power, while the

him, an evident attempt to establish a parallel

between Ganelon’s betrayal and that of Judas

Iscariot.

In medieval imagery, as well as in the traditions, a kind of martyr

who

Roland became

saved Christianity from the threat of the

Saracens.

A

in

The windows of Chartres accord Roland

Italy.

similar

example can be seen

at the cathedral of

a

Verona,

distinctive

importance, while oddly alluding to the allegedly irregular nature of the hero’s birth. In fact, the stained-glass

window

dominated by the Mass of Saint

legendary episode in which

Gilles, a

of Charlemagne

Charlemagne does not have the courage to confess incest he has

committed with

birth of Roland.

ing of

The death of Roland

cathedral

— on

a

Mass

a grave sin, the

his sister Gisele that has resulted in the

Charlemagne thus take on

the motif of the

is

a

in

Roncevaux and

the suffer-

redemptive value. In any case,

of Saint Gilles reappears three times in the

window,

in a painted

mural

in the crypt,

and

in a

sculpture on the south portal. In emphasizing the sin that presided

over the birth of Roland, there appears to have been an intent to

show

who

the spiritual journey of the hero,

the Chronicle of the Pseudo-Turpin,

a

became, according to

“martyr of Christ”

at the

time of his death. Moreover, this was the time of the Crusades, and

Pope Alexander

who went

II

had

in

1063 promised remission of

sins for all

to Spain to fight the Saracens.

There are many other historicized

tales

the

in

windows

of

Chartres whose subjects are as likely to have been pulled from folk

hagiography as from the is

Bible.

The parable

placed parallel to the story of

Adam

of the

and Eve,

as

Good Samaritan if

to establish a

The Vibrating Stones

wounded man who

connection between the assistance

received charitable

and the cursed human race that was redeemed by the love

One could

of Jesus Christ. ture novel that

is

the

life

just as easily

follow the veritable adven-

of Saint Eustache, the story of Joseph with

ups and downs, the caravan of the aged Jacob on the road to

all its

Egypt, the episodes of Noah’s

and the

windows

stained-glass

Thomas

interest,

and

century cathedral, even

from

predecessor.

its if

of Saint Lubin, not to

life

a Becket.

would

of Chartres

week. All are worthy of All these religious

against the backdrop of the Flood,

life

from the

delightful images

tion the sober tragedy of

find,

65

and

all

artistic riches

The reading of

require

week upon

menthe

all

patient

are exceptionally beautiful.

form part of the

thirteenth-

the building inherited a few remnants

if

beneath the current sanctuary where

It is

we

not the archaic edifice, then the most evocative and moving

remains of what was once there upon the sacred

mound

of Chartres:

the crypt that set the conditions for the definitive construction of the

monument and This crypt,

the broad lines of

named

ship only in the

its

after Saint Fulbert

morning and

—which

is

complex.

It

raises issues that

open

—

extremely

is

have never been resolved or whose

olution has been actively avoided.

immense horseshoe, two

The

crypt’s general design

galleries

is

world

after that of Saint Peter’s Basilica in

Canterbury Cathedral, but

from 1120

to

it

offers

its

res-

that

connected by a curved cor-

ridor beneath the chevet of the cathedral. Saint Fulbert’s crypt largest in the

wor-

for

accessible to visitors only at certain

and then under the watchful eye of a guide

times,

of an

architecture.

own

peculiarities.

1130 under the direction of

Fulbert,

is

the

Rome and It

was

built

bishop of

Chartres, following the burning and destruction of the ancient

Carolingian cathedral, built after 858, of which nothing currently

remains but the crypt of Saint Fubin, on a hardly explored) just beneath the

was

to

make

Romanesque

it

into an

cathedral

what remained of

site

level yet

of the high

altar.

lower (and

The

intention

underground sanctuary above which the

was

built.

But to do

this, the builders

the Carolingian cathedral’s walls.

used

The crypt of

The

66

Sites

Saint Fulbert

hence

was the

its

wraps around the cathedral that was destroyed by

horseshoe shape.

fire,

follows that the Carolingian cathedral

It

situated exactly at the actual level of the crypt,

which was then

ground floor on the top of the mound. This in no

way

Lubin crypt, which

resolves the questions surrounding the Saint at a

is

lower

as the Carolingian sanctuary or

level.

a

is it

Was

it

remnant of

ument? From the composition of the walls

Gallo-Roman older.

that

substrata),

it

built at the

(a

lower mon-

a yet

blend of stones and

seems that the Saint Lubin crypt

Furthermore, before 858 another church existed on

had long served

as a cathedral church.

The baptismal

fonts were in

the assumption that

it

is

this site

life

of the cathe-

southern gallery, which leads to

was necessary

entering the upper level. This

demanded

its

even

is

But the crypt of Saint

Fulbert played a very important role in the religious dral.

same time

to go through the crypt before

reminiscent of the ancient initiation

of the catechumens, in which they

had

to trace a spiritual

and sometimes material journey before being accepted into the mysteries of the Eucharistic celebration.

Most important, in the crypt it

on the north

was subsequently

that sank a

the strange Well of the Saints-Forts

little

side.

filled in

An

is

located

object of veneration for centuries,

by the clergy to avoid displays of piety

too deeply into paganism, and was later restored.

This extremely ancient well was located outside the Carolingian cathedral,

and of course outside the original building on

Chartrian tradition

is

ship that surrounds

it.

it

was

not very clear about

this well

and the wor-

According to the chronicle of the

in this well that the

this site.

monk

Paul,

bodies of two Christian victims of

Danish pirates were cast by Norsemen during the 858

siege of

Chartres, hence the veneration that surrounds this

its

of Saints-Forts (strong saints). All this

is

site

and

name

subject to caution, because

the old Chronicle of Chartres recounts that during Saint Peter’s time, Saints Altin

and Eodald,

whom

life-

he sent to Gaul with Saints

Savinien and Potentien (more specifically charged with spreading the Gospel through the land of Sens,

where the

religious metropolis

The Vibrating Stones

67

was), had discovered a church already founded in Chartres that

needed only

their consecration.

wrath of the including his

and

slain

But

in

doing

this they incurred the

Roman governor Quirinus, persecutor of Christians, own daughter Modeste. He ordered the missionaries

their corpses tossed in a well located close to the local

church.

There

no way

is

to sort out this confusion in the accounts, espe-

because the medieval clergy spared no effort to connect the

cially

founding of a diocese, or even a famous parish, to the apostolic it

was thought

that such a connection provided absolute proof of the

authenticity of the foundation. But Altin the later chronicles, leaving only the

These two saints have their the chapel of

who wrote

Our Lady

of

own

and Eodald vanish from

names of Savinien and Potentien.

chapels not far from the well and

Under Ground. The chronicler Rouillard,

during the time of Henri IV, even reported that behind

the Virgin’s altar “there

was needed ing place”

was

a small hiding place.” This

for imagination to begin embroidering.

was made

was

all

that

The “small

hid-

and Potentien and,

into the prison of Savinien

according to the Old Chronicle, Altin and Eodald were able to In fact, this

famous hiding place

is

merely a

rediscovered during excavations in 1976.

might be about the well and

its

as

the

closet,

it

And whatever

has solidly retained

flee.

which was the truth

very likely ancient origin

nection with pre-Christian cults), tion

era;

its

(in

con-

reputa-

Well of the Saints-Forts, thereby emphasizing the

connection between Savinien and Potentien, whose chapels, dating

from the eleventh century, reserved for

Our Lady

of

still

open onto the

one

crypt, like the

Under Ground. At the beginning of the

thirteenth century, four other chapels were added, characterized by their

rudimentary ogival vaults and larger windows.

During the course of the efforts,

is

and excavation

murals were discovered that had been concealed beneath

several layers of coatings.

that

different renovation

One,

in the

strangely reminiscent of the

from the Saint-Savinien Chapel

is

southern gallery,

famed Bayeux

is

tapestry.

a fresco

Not

a depiction of the Virgin.

far

The

The

68

Sites

characteristics of this painting date

its

creation to around the end of

the twelfth century:

The Virgin and Child

display the frontal posture that characterizes

Romanesque

the Majestic Virgins of the

crowned but with

a flat

and flowerless diadem.

tures bear a serious expression.

of a child,

it is

Romanesque tures.

artists, this face

left

hand

Our Lady

duction.

The Virgin

.

Christ’s face

is

is

Her

is

facial fea-

no longer that

Wisdom;

for

to possess adult fea-

is

7 .

fairly similar to that of the ancient

Under Ground, but

of

Byzantine depictions. type,

.

probably holding a scepter

it is

definitely not a repro-

seated on a throne, the upper portion of

which extends quite high, revealing the

Wisdom

.

of eternal

would have had

is

This type of representation statue of

.

.

The Virgin

blessing with an expansive gesture of his right

is

hand, whereas his

.

God made man

the face of

The Child

period.

painting’s kinship with

incontestably a Virgin of the Throne of

It is

which conforms to the general

signification of the

Chartres sanctuary. But the discovery of frescoes in the crypt of Saint Fulbert gives the impression that in the tion the cultural displays extended

on both

Romanesque construcwith the crypt

levels,

then playing a very important role, not only through but also by the link

what had been are just it

what

established with the past, for

the original sanctuary.

galleries of the current crypt,

might remain beneath

cated to Saint Lubin.

would be

The

What remain

it

decoration

was

closer to

to be determined

sanctuary was, what there

this original

between the two

still

it

its

and

may

be

left

especially

of

what

this level, in addition to the crypt dedi-

Our understanding

of this whole

complex

facilitated greatly thereby.

Saint Fulbert crypt

is

remarkably interesting for

its

use in

worshipping the famous Our Lady of Under Ground. Currently, there

7.

is

a statue that goes

by

this

name

Notre-Dames de Chartres 26 (March 1976): 20.

in

one of the chapels of the

The Vibrating Stones

crypt, but this ously,

what

is

not the ancient statue, which, as mentioned previ-

was destroyed during it

looked

well as to the

like

the Revolution. Nevertheless,

we know

thanks to numerous drawings and engravings, as

two copies

that are currently housed in the Carmelite

Order of Chartres. One of these copies, which original,

69

was carved from oak

smaller than the

is

was

in the seventeenth century. It

oddly covered with black paint, no doubt from a desire to establish

and the Black Madonna who

a parallel

between

the

The second and more

Pillar.

it

elegant copy

is

Our Lady

is

a “transposition,” in

early-eighteenth-century style, of the ancient representation of

Lady. The

anonymous

sculptor did take

upon himself

it

of

Our

to alter any-

thing that appeared too crude or barbaric to him, but overall this

work can provide in the crypt

a fairly exact idea of the appearance of the statue

worshipped for so many centuries.

The crypt does hold

work by

a statue of

Our Lady

the Parisian sculptor Fontenelle that

September 15, 1857. The

artist

had access

cerning the original statue, but he First, the original statue

to

8

of

Under Ground,

was put

all

the

made something

in place

a

on

documents con-

entirely different.

was no more than 31.5 inches

(80 cm).

tall

The new one measures 36.2 inches (92 cm), not counting

the base.

Next, the face of the Virgin, instead of being majestic, even without its

archaic features,

is

truly sweet

and

characterless. Finally, the

embellishments of the chair and the gilding of the essarily in the best taste. This lends supports to

archaeologist Paul

It is

Durand

regrettable that the artist

most

irritating

is

what

not nec-

the Chartrian

said even as early as 1869:

who

form with scrupulous exactitude still

risers are

executed this work did not con-

to the original sculpture.

the mediocrity of this sculpture.

What

When

one

is is

accustomed to the serious and elevated nature of the ancient works, one cannot look without bitterness at

8.

These two copies housed

public.

at the

all

these figures

Carmelite Order of Chartres are not on view to the

The

70

Sites

depicted with these contrived and insignificant physiognomies that

bad

the

And

this

taste of

our day

accumulating

is

in

our churches

9 .

unfortunate Paul Durand did not even have the leisure of

contemplating the horrors to be found in the sanctuaries of Lourdes

and Fourviere!

Whatever the case may in her place, to

Our Lady

be,

of

it

was a

on the pedestal of the

with the dative Virgini pariturae, informs those pilgrims and

statue,

tourists

who

find their

Of course,

way

here of this Druidic tradition.

the former statue

the Druids worshipped;

it

dates

was

definitely not the

same one that

no further back than the twelfth cen-

Moreover, the tradition that maintains the Druids would have

foreseen the Virgin

Mary appeared

only in the fourteenth century

and without mentioning the Druids by name. They were such only in the Chronicle of Rouillard, the a

contemporary of Henri

a “Virgin

IV.

The

title

identified as

character of which

story of a statue dedicated to

about to give birth” that would have foreshadowed Mary,

mother of

Jesus,

Chartrian clergy,

is

merely a fable invented after the fact by the

who wished

to establish the great antiquity of the

worship and pilgrimage of Our Lady of Chartres. But

this fable

have an origin; there was no lack of faces of mother goddesses Celtic Druidic tradition.

It is

the inhabitants of the region

and channel

Our Lady

this tradition,

does

in the

probable that during the Middle Ages,

had

a vague recollection of the Druids’

worship of some mother goddess.

to

there,

Mary, that the Druids worshipped

virgo paritura. Furthermore, an inscription

was

is

remind us of the tradition according to which

here, long before the birth of

tury.

Under Ground

It

was

necessary, then, to revive

which was managed successfully thanks

of Under Ground. This gave everyone an easy conscience.

But we should not underestimate the profound value of the presence of

Our Lady

of Under

Ground

Well of the Saints-Forts, inside

9.

this

in the

immediate proximity of the

somewhat enigmatic crypt

at a site

Paul Durand, Archaeological Society of Eure-et-Loir, Proces-Verbaux 4: 235.

The Vibrating Stones that could well be the telluric center of the cathedral.

certainly not

It is

by chance that a statue of the Virgin was situated here throughout site’s

Nor would

entire history.

Black

Madonna was

above

all,

this

be by chance that the statue of a

placed on an upper

on

level,

a pillar, which,

symbolizes the world’s axis and which, on a practical scale,

connects in some

And

it

71

way

Our Lady

the cellar of

below with the one above.

the sanctuary

of Chartres

systematically explored. There has been

is

from having been

far

much

about a cave

talk

located far beneath the crypt of Saint Fulbert, even farther

down

than the crypt of Saint Lubin. The opinions of archaeologists and

on

researchers diverge

found does not mean that cave

this

is

accepted,

The

this point.

what

it

does not

is it?

It

exist.

Surely

the Celtic priests officiated only in the

top of the mounds.

fact that

it

it

But

if

was not

open

has not yet been the existence of

a Druidic grotto;

air in clearings

could have been a Gallo-Roman

or on the

cellar,

because

once Gaul had been Romanized, the Celts began building temples,

which they had never done previously. Given the succession of gions and civilizations,

it

could also certainly have been a dolmen or

covered alley dating from Neolithic times, which

from 2000 to 4000 on in

Numerous

B.C.E.

megalithic

their interior supports depictions of a

Armorican Brittany and

rich in

monuments

reli-

Ireland.

is

to say

anywhere

monuments

reveal

goddess mother, 10 mainly

The region of Chartres was once

of this kind, and there

still

exists,

not far from

here in the Eure Valley at Change-Saint-Piat, a covered alley that includes a representation of

shaped idol

in

which

it

is

what archaeologists not

Goddess of the Beginnings. So know. But is

it

just

what

is

recognize the ancient it

exactly?

We

do not

cannot be by chance that the worship of the Virgin

so magnified at Chartres

Carnute people

may have

10. See Jean Markale, 11.

difficult to

bud- or pot-

call a

The etymology

Carnac

of the

et

name

Mary

on the sacred mound from which the

taken their name, and the city as well. 11

Pygmalion, 1987).

Venigme de I’Atlantide

(Paris:

of the Carnutes

disputed, but

is still

it

derived from a pre-Indo-European word, car or cam, meaning “sacred

may have been mound.”

72

The

Sites

Whatever the truth may be concerning by the Saint Fulbert crypt, there currently dral dedicated to the in her

triumph and

all

exists in Chartres a cathe-

delicate

human world is

who is presented Wisdom on a place

worship of the Virgin Mary,

in her role as the

Throne of

that has been since time unrecorded a sacred

where the

these problems posed

site,

one of those places

exchanges between the divine world and the

are achieved. Furthermore, this cathedral of Chartres

one of the most beautiful and most complete monuments

bequeathed us by the medieval past. sidered the very

If

the Virgin

Mary can

be con-

embodiment of perfection and completeness, then

the cathedral of Chartres

is

the

symbol of

pleteness inscribed eternally in stone.

this perfection

and com-

Chartres over the Course of History

hartres

owes

its

name

who,

to the Gallic people of the Carnutes,

during the time of the Gallic War, occupied a vast territory consisting of the Beauce, Orleanais, and Blesois. the

Dreux

which separated

Forest,

It

was bordered on

the north by

from the domain of the Aulerci

it

Eburovices; on the east by the Rambouillet Massif, which separated

from the

Parisii;

now vanished

on the southeast, beyond Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire, by

forests that separated

it

from the Senones; on the south,

beyond the Loire and encompassing the Sologne, by the Cher which separated Massif and the

it

from the

first hills

Bituriges;

and on the

east

was considered

of the Maine, which separated

great sanctuary

During

where

this

all

1.

1 .

The name Adour was

was incorporated

the Druids of

and

it

it

from the

this

Carnute

was home

to the

Gaul would gather once a

year.

time Chartres was called Autricum, which means

“ford on the Eure,” the

European Altura

the center of Gaul,

River,

by the Vibraye

Turones and the Aulerci Cenomani. According to Caesar, territory

it

river’s earlier

name having been

the pre-Indo-

Caesar makes no mention of Autricum, and the

also derived

from

into Gallic as dubro,

this term. It

should

mean “running water” and

which can be recognized

in

Dore and Dordogne

(deep water), and then became dour (the Vannetais deur) in Armorican Brittany.

73

The

74

Sites

name does not appear

until the

second century

Geography, then on the famous Peutinger Table third century, in

which

it

B.C.E., in 2

,

Ptolemy’s

created during the

can be seen that the town

is

connected on

Mans

one side to Dreux and the Seine estuary and on the other to

and the Aquitaine. During the time of the Gallic wars, Autricum not supposed to have played a major

however, which

now

is

role.

Cenabum

(or

Genabum),

Orleans (or Gien; opinions vary), seems to

have been the most important center of the Carnutes, which cal given

more

its

logi-

is

position on the banks of a large river that allowed for

intensive sailing than did the Eure.

Everything indicates that tary center of the Carnutes,

Cenabum was

Gauls,

furthermore,

and

the political

mili-

which reinforces the hypothesis that

Among

the

southern zones influenced

by

Autricum was a sanctuary rather than outside

the

a fortified town.

Mediterranean urbanism, there were never actually towns and in the sense that those his

is

terms are understood today.

Commentaries, speaks of Gallic towns, he

fortresses that

were occupied only

and gatherings, or

When

cities

Caesar, in

actually referring to

is

war or

in times of

fortress sanctuaries (such as Alesia).

for

But

markets this

does

not imply that the Carnutes had no other important centers. While

place-names of Gallic origin are rare there

is

a wealth of

Dreux (from Chateaudun

duno have

its

perimeter, as

Beauce region

shown by

(“castle-castle”;

names

the

the French chateau and the Gallic

same meaning), Vendome (literally

(a superlative

meaning “the

“the wolves”; see the Breton bleizh ), the

(“river of beavers,” like the Parisian Bievre),

(“bridge over the Sauldre”), not to mention the

(Novientum, “new

most of the waters

village”),

mainly

[The Peutinger Table

in the

and

Salbris

numerous Nogents

Eure Valley, to which

in this region flow.

The importance and extent of

2.

the

itself,

the Durocassi, a subject people of the Carnutes),

very white”), Blois

Beuvron

them along

in the

is

the medieval

rich source of information.

— Trans.]

the Carnutes should not obscure

copy of a

Roman map.

Historians find

it

to be a

,

Chartres over the Course of History

the fact that this valley

was inhabited long before

Celts. In the vicinity of Chartres,

mainly

in the

75

the arrival of the

Eure Valley, numer-

ous dolmens have been found, evidence that the megalith builders

between 4000 and 2000

settled this area

These settlements

B.c.E.

must have existed throughout the Bronze Age. But valleys carved

by

rivers

were inhabited. The

it is

likely that all

should have been

rest

an immense forest that can hardly be imagined today, and of which only fragments remain on the perimeters. All traditions, including Caesar’s historical testimony, agree that the land of the Carnutes

was

a huge forest.

This

name

is

where the problem of the name Beauce comes

incontestably comes from a Gallic term that

in the

form of

Belsa,

and

it is

for the “clue” tral

about

into Latin

a vast clearing sur-

which provides ample

forests,

this site

The

claimed that belsa meant “clearing.”

The Beauce around Chartres would have been rounded by impenetrable

moved

in.

justification

dropped by Caesar about the great cen-

we know

sanctuary of Gaul, because

that Druidic worship

was

celebrated in the nemeton, meaning a clearing in the middle of the

Chartres would then have occupied the

forest.

kind of sacred geography, and

it

midway

point in this

could well have been an omphalos

a symbolic center of the world. But belsa also contains the

which

the generic root of the

is

names of

term bel

the Celtic deity of light,

Belenos (the Shining One) and Belisama (the Very Shining One),

who was

Beli in

Welsh mythology.

We

could then consider the

Beauce as the “clearing” or “sanctuary” (which amounts to the

same thing

for the Gauls) of Bel or Belenos. This epithet

most often

designated Lugh, the Master of All the Arts, the god not assigned any

one function. Caesar, that he

was

mology of tuary

is

who

identified

the

most honored of

Belsa,

we should bow

in the sacred forest of the

No

Gallic deities.

to the evidence.

Whatever the

The

ety-

idea of sanc-

connected to the idea of the clearing, and there can be no

clearing or sanctuary unless there

back

Lugh with Mercury, indicated

is

a forest.

Thus we

find ourselves

Carnutes mentioned by Caesar.

decisive archaeological traces of the Celtic period have been

76

The

found is

in

Sites

Chartres or

its

surrounding area. All that can be established

Roman

that long before the

Autricum, was

if

occupation, the

site

of Chartres,

not a town at least a fortress sanctuary of the

Carnutes. Data brought to light in the nineteenth century but dis-

puted today, however, might offer some Autricum’s exact

role.

They concern

new

elements concerning

traces of significant

ground

undulation that followed the contours of the city of Chartres from northeast to southeast for visible

more than

a mile

and which was

still

quite

during the nineteenth century before the growth of Chartres’s

urban area:

This ground displacement, definitely achieved by

appeared

like a ditch

feet apart. It

from the rue de Fresnaye to the borders of the visible,

could be followed

hospital.

Today

it is

except at a place called the Citadelle, immedi-

where

ately to the south of the rue de Rechevres,

most abrupt

means,

bordered by slopes whose parallel crests

appear to have been more than 125

no longer

artificial

at the time

it

was mapped.

this

work was

3

Nineteenth-century archaeologists viewed the undulation as

remnants of a

Roman camp, which

is

impossible given the surface

area involved. According to Joly,

The examination of

this

map shows

both directions to meet the Eure

that this

in the

work could extend

in

north at a point called the

Barre-des-Pres (denoting an ancient defense work) and to the south

by following the rue de Reverdy, which gives street in the sector of Saint-Martin-en-Val.

described an arc of

more than 25

It

way

to an ancient

would thereby have

miles containing a space of

than 250 hectares. 4

3.

Roger

4. Ibid.,

Joly, Histoire

9-10.

de Chartres (Roanne, France: Horvath, 1982).

more

Chartres over the Course of History

This

is

77

both significant and intriguing. Never was

this construc-

when

Chartres was

tion mentioned in ancient times, but in 1438,

threatened by the English,

it

was

said that “the trenches of Nicochet,

Mautrou, and Saint Lubin” were repaired. These three names

desig-

nate the places where the circumvallation in question cuts the roads

from Mans and Chateaudun and the ancient way known

as the

Countesses Road. It

was

an encircling wall that had

clearly, then,

and which the French

fronted by English troops. But fortification it

so

it

and not the actual

would have been impossible Could

far.

this

make

tried to

fallen into disuse

operative again

when

con-

could have been only an advance

city defenses; given the population,

to defend a perimeter that extended

circumvallation really have been a defensive mili-

tary construction? Joly speculates,

In the light of theories recently

vations

formed based on numerous obser-

made throughout Western Europe,

couldn’t this be seen as

one of those proto-historical enceintes whose role seems to have been more symbolic than defensive and would therefore denote the antiquity

and importance of the

site

of Chartres? Only an archae-

ological excavation, a particularly delicate endeavor, this

But

would allow

hypothesis to be verified. 5

a very attractive hypothesis, especially with respect to the

it is

great Druidic sanctuary of the land of the Carnutes. Wouldn’t this site

have had a sacred enclosure wall?

Once became

a

the

Roman

conquest was ensured, Autricum gradually

Gallo-Roman town and took on

tants. In three centuries the settlement

the

name

of

its

inhabi-

developed on a surface that

hardly varied until the eve of the Second World War. archaeological testimonies are not lacking.

And

for this,

The most important rem-

nants were found on the borders of the cathedral, whose crypt

5. Joly,

Histoire de Chartres, 11.

The

78

Sites

reveals clearly

Roman

structures. Saint-Andre

of a theater or amphitheater

site

the topography of the quarter.

Church

rises

on the

whose curved remains influenced

And

the remains of significant con-

on the Faubourg Saint-Brice have been unearthed near the

struction

spot where the roads out of Blois and Orleans join in order to cross Eure.

the

The study of Roman roads has

further

shown

that

Chartres was an important crossroads; privileged relations had

been established with Orleans and

Blois, but there

were also roads

toward Rouen by way of Dreux and toward the Armorican peninby way of Le Mans, as well as toward Cotentin (and Mont-

sula

Saint-Michel) by

way

of

Mortagne and Domfront. Relations with

however, did not seem at

Paris,

all

ensured, at least directly.

Chartres during the empire was subordinate to Lyon (Lugdunum),

but by the intermediary of Sens, the capital of the Gallic Senones,

which during the Christian era would be the metropolitan archbishopric on

whom the

bishopric of Chartres depended. In the mid-

dle of the third century, Chartres

second

had the reputation of being the

Fourth Lyonnais

city of the

[the

Fourth District of the

Lyonnais province], after Sens. But a period of decline began around 270, prompted,

by the

and

first

German

entire quarters

invasions.

The

it

seems,

city suffered great destruction,

appear to have been abandoned. Only the sum-

mit of the plateau, for strategic reasons, and the banks of the Eure, for

economic reasons, maintained

their activity.

At the same time,

Christianity began invading the empire, considerably influencing lifestyles

and behaviors.

Local hagiography pushes Christianity to apostolic times, tury.

The Chartrian

back Chartres’s conversion to

toward the middle of the

clergy deliberately

promoted

this

first

belief,

doubt better to incorporate what remained of ancient pagan tions that

were particularly

vital

and

spiritually

cen-

no

tradi-

prominent. The

medieval clergy saw no hiatus between Druidism and Christianity; the transition occurred as a matter of course at the time the evangelical

message arrived to confirm historically what Celtic myths

Chartres over the Course of History

had been teaching over the long

79

theme of

centuries, starting with the

We know now for certain that all this A legend never exists without a hidden

the Virgin about to give birth. is

only legend. But pay heed:

The Chartrian

reality.

we

clergy, as

shall see,

were not

totally in

error in asserting a continuity between the Christianity they

and

Druidism they imagined through oral

a

knew

traditions, not all of

which were necessarily dubious. Certainly, as in all the other

most

likely small

communities of

creet, clandestine existence.

the

West

and more or

Bear in mind that Christianity began in

grouping of small

as a

less

Roman Gaul, there were Christians who maintained a dis-

towns of

sects

more or

less

outside the law

persecuted by imperial authority. But

we have

to

wait for the year 340 for Chartres to be endowed with a bishop, in the

person of Aventin. Before there,

much

in private

this, there

less a cathedral. It

homes, mainly

was no reason

to have a church

can be presumed that Christians met

in the

suburb where stands Saint-Martin-

au-Val, one of the places housing the sepulchers of the

first

bishops;

or even in the Saint-Cheron quarter, the supposed residence of a

mythical Saint Cheron. (The

name

caraunus, meaning a sacred pagan

is

derived from the term sanctus

mound, which was subsequently

mistaken for a proper name.) Greatly revered throughout the Beauce, Saint Cheron, like Saint George and Saint Christopher ther of

whom

exists,

Roman Catholic who beseeched him.

according to the contemporary

Church), performed numerous miracles for those

Thus, starting with Aventin, the Church had an in Chartres. It in

(nei-

may have

official existence

dated from the edict of Constantine,

313 gave Christians the

who

right to worship, but only that right.

Christianity then coexisted with other religions, including matriar-

chal religion (the worship of Cybele

more or

less

blended with that

of Mithra). Soon, however, the edict of Theodosius suppressed these

other religions and instituted Christianity as the empire’s one gion, at

which point Chartres became an

active center of a

reli-

campaign

to convert the countryside, in conjunction with the preaching of

Saint Martin de Tours.

The

80

As

in

Sites

many

other towns, there were different sanctuaries inde-

pendent of one another

in Chartres,

bishop’s authority, forming different intentional or

what

but they were united under the

chance excavations performed during urban

construction have revealed an impressive

number

of

now

churches. West of the current cathedral square there

Sainte-Meme Chapel, which tuary in the

is

the

first

in

And

to store grain for a long time.

was older than

vanished

was even

a

believed to have been the oldest sanc-

was demolished

city. It

The

called a cathedral group.

is

1790

it is

after

having been used

possible that Saint-Aignan

cathedral edifice, but

we can do

all

is

hypothesize about this until some intensive excavations have been

made beneath Chartres It

was not

the former Carolingian cathedral.

itself

was not

until the

customary to name of such

names

initially

second half of the sixth century that

certainly

Lady. This

intention to

is

it

became

a sanctuary after a saint. Nevertheless, the use

became fashionable

of the dedication of the cathedral

Our

dedicated to the Virgin Alary.

is

early on.

September

8,

The

feast

day

the Nativity of

quite revealing of the Chartres community’s

highlight the Virgin about to give

and

birth,

it

explains the subsequent diffusion of the legend of the virgo paritura.

Was

this

based on a desire to ensure the Chartrian church a

certain preeminence in the devotion to Alary?

Or was

it

instead

seeking to incorporate the worship that a mother goddess had received for centuries on this site?

The question remains open.

Starting with the reign of Julian the Apostate, however,

Gaul

began receiving large infusions of Germanic immigrants, both as federated communities that lived under their

which meant they were given

The town

became the residence of

486, Chartres, one of the

tion,

was made part of

the

Chartres, Saint Solennus,

towns under

new kingdom was one of

them

Alains. Chartres,

a prefect of the

last

letes,

to

of Allaines, for example,

was created near Orleans and populated by

in

laws and as

a special status that obliged

contribute to regional defense.

while,

own

Teuton

Roman

of Clovis.

letes.

mean-

Then

administra-

The bishop of

the three clerics chosen by

Chartres over the Course of History

him

the king of the Franks to instruct

81

in the faith of Christ.

Following the death of Clovis, his sons fought bitterly over the succession of power, and Chartres changed masters often for close to a century. In the year 600, Thierry, son of Childebert, lay siege to

the

city.

Chroniclers have recorded

by ruse, but the bishop, through

how he

captured Bishop Bethaire

his strength of character,

earned the

respect of his opponent and therefore obtained the safety of the

city.

This shows the importance of the Chartrian church from both a political

and

a religious perspective.

reunify the Frankish

made At

When

kingdom following

Clothaire

managed

II

to

the death of Thierry, he

Bethaire his chaplain. this time, efforts

were begun to found numerous

ecclesiasti-

cal establishments, particularly Saint-Martin-au-Val, Saint-Cheron,

Saint-Maurice Abbey, and Saint-Pierre-en-Vallee Abbey, which benefited

from the generosity of Queen Bathilde, wife of Clovis

well as the priory of Saint-Lubin-des-Vignes.

It

and Magdalene of Saint-John were

at this

same

time.

as

can also be presumed

that parish churches such as Saint-Michel, Saint-Saturnin, Faith,

II,

Holy

built outside the city walls

At the close of the Merovingian

era, Chartres

was

both a powerful fortress and a kind of “holy city” in which religious life

was considerably evolved. In 743,

Hunald of Aquitaine,

Carloman and

in revolt against

Pippin the Short, son of Charles Martel, burned

down

Chartres

“without sparing the church consecrated to the Mother of God,” as declared in the Annales de Metz.

It

was perhaps

in reparations that

Pippin the Short donated part of the Forest of Yvelines to the

church of Chartres,

became

king.

a

donation confirmed

the cities of Neustria, its

768 when Pippin

According to the chronicle of the

Chartres was then “a city of

beauty of

in

buildings,

many

renowned

monk

Paul,

inhabitants and the richest of for the height of

and the culture of the

its

fine arts.”

all

walls, the

But the son

of Charlemagne, contesting the succession of power, very nearly

destroyed

it.

Finally, Chartres

was

allotted to Charles the Bald.

But

at this

The

82

Sites

time of the Carolingian Renaissance, another peril was looming on

Normans. When

the horizon: the

the Beauce

was

directly threat-

ened, Bishop Helie received the mission to reinforce the troops he

was already charged with maintaining on

permanent

a

Nevertheless, the Norsemen, after ravaging the Perche, to take possession of Chartres

basis.

managed

on June 12, 858, under the leader-

ship of their chieftain, Hasting.

The

city

was

pillaged

and burned

and part of the populace massacred. Bishop Frotbold was mur-

when

dered in his church, or perhaps thrown in the Eure River

caught trying to

According to the chronicle of the

flee.

monk

Paul,

the survivors, after gathering the scorched remains of the victims,

down

once again cast them cathedral

a well that tradition says

was

inside the

and which was called from then on the Lieu-Fort

[“strong place”] because “the merits of their ashes produced

many

miracles.” This seems to have been the origin of the Well of the Saints-Fort,

which was actually located outside the Carolingian

cathedral. In

any case, nine years

Bald

after Hasting’s strike, Charles the

convened a general tribunal

in

867

to determine

what measures

to

take against Salaiin, king of Brittany. In 876 he solemnly offered

Chartres the precious allegedly given to

The

known

relic

which was

Charlemagne by the emperor of Constantinople. 6

was entrusted

treasure

as the Virgin’s Tunic,

to Bishop Gislebert,

who,

as imperial

notary for thirty years, was an intimate of Charles the Bald.

It

was

under these circumstances that Gislebert undertook the restoration of the cathedral, and

named 6.

According to

Joly,

“Two

appraisals,

that the embroidered cloth

1927

was

Histoire de Chartres, 220). This

to the “relics” that

many

a

one performed

at the time of the

in

Marian

Muslim work from

tells

us

1793 following the vandalism festivals,

have concluded

the eighth or ninth century”

what degree of importance we should attach

were miraculously rediscovered during the Middle Ages. With

all

the

pieces of the “True Cross” that are spread throughout the world, a several-story

dwelling could be tibias

the crypt

Saint-Lubin.

of the reliquary, the other in

(

was probably he who worked out

it

and several

built, as

it

could with the

skulls each).

relics

of certain saints (which include three

Chartres over the Course of History

83

In the spring of 911, the Viking chieftain Rollon laid siege to

Chartres with a large army equipped with siege machines. This was

not a campaign for plunder but an actual war. Rollon sought to put

an end to a hub of resistance that threatened

his

communication and

supply lines on his expeditions toward the Loire. Defense of the city

was again ensured by The

resistance held

its

on

bishop, a certain Gaucelin or Ganselme.

for several months, allowing the reinforce-

ments to arrive that had been requested from Francia, Burgundy,

and even to

mount

a sortie.

To

same

year,

year, 911, the

inspire his troops, he

displayed as a standard. of the

same

Poitiers. In July of that

bishop decided

had the

Virgin’s Tunic

The Normans were routed. But

at the

end

Rollon married Gisele, daughter of the king of

France, Charles the Simple, and with the signing of the Saint-Clair-

sur-Epte

obtained

treaty

the

territories

that

would become

Normandy. This shows

how

important the battle of Chartres was

course of French history.

None

failed to attribute the

tory to the presence of the venerable

about such an event, but

it

relic.

There

is

Frankish vic-

nothing novel

further fueled the fervor of the

cult in Chartres, as well as the devotion to the holy relic.

than ever Chartres was the

city of the Virgin

who

in the

Marian

Now more

protected her chil-

dren, the Christians. Politics and religion were closely aligned in the exercise of a worship

inherited

people.

from the

whose

earliest antiquity,

The consequences of

incalculable.

It

origins appeared to be spontaneous,

and

clearly

founded among the

the Christian victory at Chartres are

changed the destiny of France and of Europe.

Henceforth the Norsemen, converted to Christ, would become the

most

faithful supporters of a

triumphant Christianity.

This failed to prevent one of Rollon’s descendants, Richard of

Normandy, from sacking and burning

a large portion of the city of

Chartres in 962. The situation at this time was rather muddled. For

one thing, the count of Chartres, known as Thibaud the Deceiver,

was

a

somewhat

Yes, there

restless

and bizarre individual.

were counts of Chartres. The

institution of the office

84

The

Sites

dates from the time of Charlemagne. Originally, the count (from the

Latin comitem, “companion”)

was

a faithful ally of the king or

name one

emperor, appointed to administer in his his empire. In Chartres itself there this institution until

named

is

of the territories of

no evidence of the existence of

806, at which time there

mention of a count

is

Gunfridas. Only after 877 did the office of the count become

hereditary.

The documents concerning

contradictory.

They

this period are

confused and

claim, for example, that Hasting himself

would

have been count of Chartres, but there was confusion among viduals sharing the

The

fact

is

same name,

all

indi-

of Danish origin.

that in 886, Eudes, count of

Dunois (Chateaudun),

made by

the Danes,

then besieging Paris, to pillage the Chartres countryside.

Was Eudes

vigorously and successfully opposed an attempt

also count of Chartres?

declares that

power over

it

the

Another document, the

was Bishop Hardouin, city,

who

to establish a separation is

true that

would

Vieille

sole holder of Gallo-Frankish

first instituted

the role of count as a

between the temporal and the

Charlemagne had

mind

in

Chronique,

jointly administer the territory

that the count

way

spiritual. It

and bishop

under their charge, thereby

implementing the old Indo-European rule symbolized by the Indian mythological duo Mithra-Varuna and in Celtic society by the Druidking pair (of which the Arthur-Merlin pairing personification). But this Vieille

is

the romanticized

Chronique also claims that even

before the birth of the Virgin, the prince of the city and territory of

Chartres had given these two to the Virgin and Jesus, and because of that the bishops of the city and

its

would have

originally been the counts

and lords

land. All this, of course, belongs to the tradition

of the virgo paritura and should not be given any credibility.

Thibaud the Deceiver

He was

however.

left his

mark on

the earldom of Chartres,

the son of a viscount of Tours,

who was

vassal of the Robertians in their struggle against the

dynasty.

Thibaud owned

authority,

a

tower

in Chartres as a

Carolmgian

symbol of

which extended over not only the Chartrian

also that of Dunois, Blesois, Tours,

a loyal

his

territory but

and Saumur, with several

fiefs

Chartres over the Course of History

He was

scattered along the borders.

who

85

a figure of boundless ambition

vainly attempted to establish his

power

turned against Richard of Normandy. The

in Brittany

with the help of

latter,

Danish pagans, made Thibaud pay dearly for

and then

this,

and the inhabi-

tants of Chartres suffered the consequences in 962. These

were so

extensive that, as the chronicle said, “not even a dog could be heard

barking in the earldom.” Thibaud the Deceiver died around 9 77.

His youngest son, Eudes, succeeded him, followed by his son

Thibaud,

who

Eudes

already count of Blois, Tours, and Chateaudun.

II,

died on pilgrimage, leaving the earldom to his brother

This did nothing to solve the problems that had arisen. In the

mother of Eudes and Thibaud had wed

Robert the Pious, son of consanguinity.

Hugh

Queen Berthe

fact,

second marriage, to

in a

Capet, and had been repudiated for

retired to live near her sons but

man-

aged to inspire them with a certain amount of bitterness. Seeking to avenge his mother, Eudes

Melun. Then

his wife,

II

attacked the royal domain and captured

Mahaut,

sister

of the duke of

Normandy, died

before leaving a child, and he refused to return Dreux, which

her dowry. Richard of

and

assisted

Normandy, supported by Robert

was

the Pious

by the Danes, attacked Eudes’s domains. But the Danes

ravaged the royal property as well as the lands of the count of Chartres. to retain

A compromise was Dreux

if

Eudes would be able

clearly necessary.

he returned Melun. Definitely quite impatient, he

also attacked the count of Anjou, Foulques Nerra, but he

was

defeated and lost Saumur. By the play of inheritances, however,

Eudes came into possession of the powerful earldom of Champagne in

1019.

From then on

he lived in Troyes and

left

the city of Chartres

in the care of his viscount, Gilduin.

At

this

time the bishop was Fulbert,

who had

Gerbert d’Aurillac, the pope in the year 1000, tor in Reims. Fulbert

teacher;

was

been a student of

when he was

a remarkable scholar

many compared him

to Socrates.

Under

and his

a

a doc-

famous

aegis the

schools of Chartres became famous and went on to play a signifi-

cant role in the diffusion of scholastic philosophy for at least two

The

86

Sites

centuries, until the founding of the University of Paris in

brought about their decline.

was during

directed the reconstruction,

which resulted

was Fulbert

it

in the building of

and the Romanesque cathedral. Thanks to the friendly

the crypt feelings

Fulbert’s episcopacy that

was burned down, and

the Carolingian cathedral

who

It

1215

and

had inspired throughout Europe, Fulbert

interest he

obtained significant funds for the reconstruction from a number of

monarchs, including the king of France, Robert; the king of England, Canut; the duke of Aquitaine, William IV; and the duke of

Normandy, Richard; not

to

mention the counts of Chartres and

Champagne. The new cathedral was almost completed of Fulbert’s death in 1028, but another tion,

which did not take place

that Fulbert, through his

an organizer,

until

wisdom,

1037. But

delayed it is

his influence,

an undying memory

left

fire

its

consecra-

beyond question

and

in Chartres

at the time

his talents as

and

its

cathedral

sanctuary. Fulbert’s successors, such as Bernard de Chartres

Yves (who died

and Gilbert de

1117 and was known

four years,

1180, a

retary of

who

Porree,

la

But the most

lectuals.

in

in

was John of

Salisbury,

who occupied who was born

brilliant theoretician, a great mystic,

Thomas

King Henry

II.

a Becket,

Why

though England

who was

his brother

as Saint Yves de Chartres),

died in 1141, were

illustrious,

and

all

eminent

intel-

the seat for only in

1110 and died

and the

faithful sec-

assassinated on the orders of

was Chartres given an “English” bishop (even

in that era,

was more French than

under the tutelage of the Plantagenets,

English), especially given that prelates of

French origin often held British Episcopal seats? It

has been claimed that during his youth, John of Salisbury had

finished

some of

his studies in

France and had spent three years in

Chartres, retaining afterward very pleasant memories of that time.

When

he arrived on the Continent, he went to the school where

Pierre Abelard taught in Paris dialectics.

But Abelard, as

and there learned the rudiments of

we know, was

of Salisbury changed disciplines, learning

forced into exile, and John

grammar from Guillaume

—

,

Chartres over the Course of History

de Conches, a true philologist.

Conches taught

is

possible that Guillaume de

where John of Salisbury would have

in Chartres,

met him and benefited from

It

his teachings.

Whatever the truth of the

John of Salisbury acquired an extensive and

matter,

87

multidisci-

plinary education, becoming a fourteenth-century humanist

who

He

lived

was very much ahead

among

the high

of his time.

and mighty of

He was

never a teacher.

world, such as the pope, the

this

kings of England, and the archbishops of Canterbury. This

was

first

Thomas

servant, then secretary, to

a Becket.

is

He

how he traveled

widely and wrote several books, including the Historia Pontificalis; the Metalogicon, in

which he touched on the problem of

and most important, the famous Policraticus

a political treatise of

and audacity not previously achieved.

a range

John of Salisbury did not conceive of philosophy learning, but rather as ulative

dialectics;

wisdom and

a discipline of

life.

as abstract

Purely spec-

problems seemed a waste of time and energy to him; he pre-

maxim “Know thyself.” He was

ferred the Delphic in the sense that

he sought to describe

relation to a divine plan in

losophy for him was “love of God” and to

“The measure prescribed of charity

is

that

man

of

wisdom

material structures in

real,

which he firmly

a

believed.

know

it is

The

true phi-

the divine plan:

necessary to love

God

with a love beyond measure.” John of Salisbury was certainly friends with Bernard de Clairvaux,

and

his

works

give off a certain

monastic aroma. To define his works with a single expression,

might say that they

reflect

an

intellectual asceticism.

we

The views he

lays out in his Policraticus, however, are quite amazing; although

they smack of the purest orthodoxy, they are nonetheless innovative.

The on the his

Policraticus

is

institutions of the early

own

conclusions.

It is

of thought from which to original sources

but

is

an extensive, theologically based meditation

Middle Ages, from which John draws

independent from the Continental schools

Thomism would

later arise,

and

is

a return

—the Bible and the works of the Church fathers

also a resurgence of

what

the Celtic Christian Church, a

church that was heavily influenced by Druidism, was saying and

The

88

Sites -

thinking at the time. entirely

It is

approach to the

a feudal

normal given the time

in

which

was

it

written.

and

the relationship that should exist between a ruler

should involve not merely an oath that

commitment on

topic,

which

is

John defines

his subjects.

It

a formality but also a total

is

the parts of both parties.

John of

Salisbury’s prefer-

ence was for a form of government similar to that of the Hebrews

under the leadership of the Judges, before the throne of

Israel

was

established.

His basic postulate

The

scendental law.

any people

who

need of a king.

the existence of

is

first

logical

some

consequence of

follow this law and submit to

It

may

prior, higher, tran-

this postulate its

is

that

demands have no

be surprising to find here the same mentality

that inspired the libertarian theories of the end of the nineteenth century, but this

is

indeed the case.

It

also explains this philosophy’s

kinship with Rousseau’s Social Contract, for John of Salisbury also asserted that

human

if

beings are fundamentally good, they cannot

help but obey the higher law: “The the best guide in

patriarchs followed nature,

They were succeeded by

life.

ning with Moses,

first

who

a line of leaders begin-

followed the Law, then by Judges,

the people through the authority of the Law.

more

recent of

them were

the Lord, they

whom

had

kings,

were wicked”

this rule

priests. In the end,

some of

whom

(Policraticus). If

And we

who

ruled

see that the

because of the wrath of

were good but most of

we understand him

correctly,

by the throne was a punishment. This agrees with Saint

Augustine’s thought (De Civitate Dei, XIX, 15) that “the just of earlier ages were

more

like

men

shepherds of their flocks than kings of

men.”

John of Salisbury that there

another:

7.

is

no need

“Men

is

not too far from Diderot

for the subordination of

will only find

See Jean Markale,

Background” 1994), 59-64.

in

asserts

one human being to

harmony and connection with each

Le Christianisme primitif

also an analysis of the theories of

when he

et ses survivances populaires.

John of Salisbury

in the chapter

“The

There

is

Political

Jean Markale, King of the Celts (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions,

Chartres over the Course of History

other

if

89

they group or have been grouped together under the dispas-

And

sionate reasoning of divine law.

It is

group by

a

undoubtedly not by chance that John of Salisbury

became the bishop of Chartres. the Virgin as the

form

better to

by the authority of a government”

oneself, than to be organized (Policraticus).

it is

Is

not Chartres the glorification of

Throne of Wisdom,

the absolute keeper of knowl-

edge of the divine law?

But existed.

he

all

this

was mere

John had to define the

The king

is

an

is

the

Universitas, the organized is

fully serving his fellow servants (of

God

the

inter-

upon himself

which means

as his

that he heads:

“The

duty by

faith-

fulfills his

or the Law), in other

those called his subjects” (Policraticus IV,

is

own; they are those of

community

the servant of the Lord, but he

common

the

officer,

to act, but his actions are never his

role

and foremost,

head”). As such he

“first

bears the “public persona” and must look

the servant of the people.

prince

remains that kings

fact

community and minister of

representative of the

He

The

role of the king. First

only the princeps (Latin for the

is

est.

theory.

But

7).

how

words

should the

king be chosen?

John of Salisbury

work (from

rejects the

notion of hereditary power, and his

already intimates the Thomist prescription a

God through

the people),

Deo

per populum

which assumes the acceptance,

not selection, of the king by his people. “Whereas public offices be passed

down

It is

a

down

accorded to the individual

knowledge of the Law”

in the

who

same way

as a matter of right.

has in him the

spirit

is

longer obeys his duties, he becomes a “tyrant”

remove the crown from the

king’s

is

con-

compelled to respect

because they represent a force higher than his own.

the order

of God, and

(Policraticus V, 6). Thus, the king

fronted with a series of obligations that he

may

government of

to the heir of the current holder, the

the people does not pass

if

— so

And it is

if

he no

“better to

head than allow him to destroy

and the best part of the community

at his

good pleasure”

(Policraticus VII, 30).

Popes certainly always reserved for themselves the right to

The

90

Sites

depose kings, but in the thought of John of Salisbury, even revolution as

and tyrannicide can be

it is

to kill a

legitimate: “It

sworn enemy”

is

as legal to kill a tyrant

(Folicraticus VIII, 20). But tyranni-

cide should not be considered an act of private vengeance;

of

act

collective

responsibility.

Salisbury’s attitude following lessly

Thomas

explains John

easily

He

a Becket’s murder.

memory

him

as a

Thomas

all

he

to Chartres itself, pre-

model not only of holiness but

insofar as the archbishop

of

of the holy archbishop of Canterbury.

introduced the worship of Saint

senting

an

cease-

denounced the “tyranny” of Henry Plantagenet and did

could to magnify the

He

This

it is

had stood up against

also of civic duty,

all

the abuses of the

English king.

The wisdom, honesty, and

insight of

John of Salisbury make him

one of the most appealing figures of the twelfth century, and Chartres’s

homage

of the Virgin Mary:

was nothing without can

still

to

honor that he was chosen bishop. This, more than any

previous act, gave

womb

it is

to the It

Holy Ghost descended

was acknowledgment

love, love

the cathedral

is filled

if

wisdom

Who

was nothing without wisdom.

honestly claim that this was the

Chartres gleamed with a light

that

into the

all its

Dark Ages?

own. There

is

In

any case,

good reason that

with depictions of philosophers and inspired

prophets.

Accordingly, the city of Chartres enjoyed considerable growth

during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, as

and renown of its counts

as for the

much

supremacy of

its

for the

schools.

power

Toward

1060, the upper city was encircled by an imposing fortified enceinte that

on

its

most vulnerable

Percheronne Gate.

On

the Evriere Gate, as

its

side could be passed

through only

the rim of the plateau facing north

name

at the

and

east,

indicates, gave access to the river, the

Cendreuse Gate, and the Foucher-Nivelon postern, which was protected by the Count’s Tower. Beneath the cathedral there at

were also

one time a gate called Saint-Jean-de-la-Vallee and, on the right

bank of the Eure, the Morard and Aimbard Gates,

as well as the

Tireveau postern. The defense of the city seems to have been quite

Chartres over the Course of History

91

well organized. In addition, a prodigious expansion of Church properties also

ing richer

took place

at this time. All the different

and expanding. Of course,

as

was

abbeys were grow-

true everywhere that

monastic establishments were located during the Middle Ages, there

were a large number of vineyards, especially on the sun-drenched hillsides of

The

Champhol and Saint-Cheron and around

surface area of vineyards sometimes reached as

Saint-Lubin.

much

as four

hectares for a single landholder, a considerable figure that attests to the

demand

for wine, both for

Inside the

and working,

city, it

worship and for everyday drinking.

numerous merchants and

artisans

were established

seems, under the best possible conditions. Large fairs

took place, namely during the four Marian

feast days: the Nativity,

the Annunciation, the Purification, and the Assumption.

Some mer-

chants enjoyed special privileges and the protection of the cathedral enceinte,

which would

ble city inside a city,

it

was

“sworn” of Notre-Dame this juridical status,

Cloister

which

would seek refuge

comed them

gladly;

the chapter house, there

powers. The

also increased the prestige of the chapter.

in the

and

civil

were by and large beneficiaries of

Certainly, in the case of a conflict or quarrel, the ter

A verita-

so happens that ecclesiastical

It

demanding than that of the

less

Cloister.

escaped the count’s jurisdiction and was under

the authority of the bishop alone.

authority

Notre-Dame

later be called

if

sworn of the chap-

homes of the canons, but

these latter wel-

the count’s officers forced their

was always recourse

to

way

into

excommunication to

persuade the representatives of the count’s power to back

off.

It

would sometimes happen, however,

that quarrels of this nature

degenerated into battles, even all-out

sieges.

always easy, even during

this

period

seemed to be able to get along for It

fire

was

in the

midst of

when

Cohabitation was not

Church and the

the

state

better or for worse.

this highly

prosperous time that the great

of 1194 broke out on June 10, lasting into the morning of June 11.

Fulbert’s cathedral

crypts, icles

was heavily damaged. Only

and the recently

built

of the time describe

the Royal Portal, the

West Towers were spared. The chron-

how

the populace

fell

into deep despair

The

92

upon

Sites

seeing their magnificent sanctuary in a state of almost total

destruction and believing that the precious relic of the Tunic of

Mary had been

lost to the flames.

The

day

third

after the fire the

pope’s legate, Cardinal Melchior of Pisa, gathered everyone in front of the ruins of the cathedral and exhorted the people to

At

effort to rebuild the sanctuary.

appeared, carrying with

the intact

it

this

moment

very

relic.

The

where they waited out the

inside the crypt,

legate immediately proclaimed this a sign

clerics

fire

make

every

a procession

had brought

it

underground. The

from Mary

to build a

church that would be even more magnificent than the old one. This wish was carried out. With delirious enthusiasm, the local

men

gathered in the quarries of Bercheres-les-Pierres, some six miles

away, to help extract blocks of stone, then transport them on carts to the worksite that

had sprung up

flooded in from

over

all

in the heart of the city.

Donations

—from the various barons of the kingdom,

the king of France, Philip Augustus, and then Louis VIII.

Richard the Lion Heart, although a prisoner the priests of his

Among

the

domains

in

Even

Germany, authorized

to gather offerings to send to Chartres.

generous donors were Blanche de

Mauclerc, and Alix of Brittany; the king of

Castille,

and the count of Champagne, Thibaud VI, whose the stained glass in the choir. In

Castille,

Pierre

Ferdinand

gift

III;

was some of

1220 the cathedral that we know

today was virtually completed. But the

festival of the

dedication did

not take place until 1260.

As an earldom, however, Chartres was enjoying independence.

In

its

final

days of

1234 Thibaud of Champagne, the trouvere

[troubadour] prince, ceded his right to sovereignty to the king of France. By inheritance the earldom

came

into the possession of

Jeanne de Chatillin, wife of the third son of Saint Louis, Pierre de France.

Upon becoming

a

widow, she sold

all

her rights to her

brother-in-law, Philip the Bold, in 1286. Seven years later Philip the Fair gave the

but

was

when for

earldom of Chartres to

the latter’s son, Philip,

all

intents

his brother

Charles of Valois,

became king of France, the earldom

and purposes part of the royal domain.

,

Chartres over the Course of History

The Hundred

Years’

War

93

destroyed the splendor of Chartres.

The Beauce was located on

a very strategic

site:

guarded the

It

approaches to Paris from the west and sat on the road leading from

Normandy

to the

banks of the Toire.

was even

It

most

the

direct

route connecting the English territories on the Channel to those in

would bring

the southwest. This position

great suffering to the

entire Chartrian region.

In 1358, Chartres large

was

practically blockaded for six

company bivouacked

famous Anglo-French Poitiers,

which

was signed

in

in a small

end the war of succession

in

in Brittany,

hamlet right outside the gates of Chartres,

company

of archers

was

established in service

of the king of France and under the direct orders of the vidame

had

a

1360, the

8,

John the Good

treaty ratifying the defeat of

also strove to

Bretigny. In 1367, a

On May

Epernon.

months by

originally been the leader of the bishop’s

men

who

at arms. It

was

again in Chartres, in 1392, that King Charles VI gathered an army to invade Brittany. forest of

word

Mans.

During

In

he went

this expedition,

mad

while in the

1409 the cathedral was the theater

in this instance!) for the reconciliation

(a perfect

between the duke of

Orleans, Louis, and the duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless.

This was a false peace, however, and the following year between the

The notables of Chartres had 1417 they surrendered

to

civil

war broke out again

Armagnacs and

the Burgundians.

sided with the duke of Orleans, but in

the

Burgundian leader Helion de

Jacqueville. Then, following the treaty of Troyes in 1420, the city of

Chartres recognized the king of England as heir to the crown of France. But the dauphin Charles, after a futile attempt to gain possession of Chartres,

finally

recovered

it

thanks to Dunois, the

Bastard of Orleans. The Chartres economy, which had suffered greatly

from

all

the wars,

was rapidly restored

help of Charles VII and Louis XI,

both a strategic

site

and

a

who saw

to health with the

in this

Beauce center

commercial crossroads of the utmost

importance.

A

charter

was granted Chartres

in

1296, but

this

was not

the

The

94

basis for

Sites

its

becoming

a

commune. To

the contrary, everything

was

put into place for municipal administration to originate solely from royal authority. Nothing could be done without the assent of the bailiff,

representative of the count, then the king. In

nor was installed the bailiff.

who performed

the

same

1562

a gover-

duties concurrently with

The former earldom of Chartres, which had been con-

nected to the crown for two centuries, was elevated into a duchy and given to Hercule d’Este, duke of Ferrara, son of Lucrezia Borgia and

husband of the second daughter of Louis XII and Anne of Renee of France

(in fact, heiress

of Brittany). But the

Brittany,

title

was an

domain were

honorific at best, because the revenues from this

mediocre. In any event, the duke and duchess of Chartres never lived in this

Beauce

This was the beginning of the decline of the

city.

wealthy bourgeois class composed of merchants and artisans. The bourgeoisie found

its

way

to the vocations of the robe

and the

eral professions but did

not ignore literature and the fine

old Chartrian mentality

was not dead, and

ory of the time

from

when

fresh

was

The

arts.

the

mem-

the cathedral schools attracted intellectuals

over Europe.

all

New

sources of turmoil

made

their presence felt, this time over

religious issues. In 1523, a heretic

was burned

having overturned a statue of the Virgin

was then

Marot

still

lib-

the formidable Louis Guillard,

in prison for

having written

alive in Chartres for

in the cathedral.

who

— and

The bishop

held the poet Clement

published

—poems

that

were hardly orthodox. The Reformation made considerable head-

way

in the

Chartrian bourgeois milieu, but despite everything, the

population remained divided into two camps, Protestant,

although Rouen and

Protestants.

Conde

8.

[Louis

eral.

I

was

de Bourbon, prince of

Orleans were held

and was captured

at

and

by the

fighting in the nearby countryside but

Conde (1530-1569), was

a Protestant leader

Although he enjoyed the favor of the regent, Catherine de Medici, he had

port in the French court.

in

8

Catholic

He took command

Dreux (1562). Following

1567 against the Catholics and was

of the Huguenots in the his release in

Wars

and genlittle

sup-

of Religion

1563, he again took up arms

killed at the battle of Jarnac.

— Trans.)

Chartres over the Course of History

failed to capture Chartres.

He

95

ultimately collided with the duke of

Guise near Dreux and was captured.

A

fragile

peace was established during which Catherine de

Medici and Charles IX stayed

endeavoring to reach a

in Chartres,

compromise with Conde, who was being held

Abbey

at that time in the

of Saint-Pere. But the Huguenots regained the upper

hand

in

1567, and during the following year Conde laid siege to the city

with a massive force. The to

lift

fered

from

was not

taken, and

Conde was forced

suburbs and surrounding settlements had suf-

his siege, but the

greatly

city

this

action.

The Abbey of Saint-John,

the

Cordeliers Convent, and the Hospital of the Six-Vingt aveugles had

been destroyed. All the outlying areas of Chartres had been put to the torch, by both Catholics

and Protestants. This did not prevent the

Catholics from claiming victory against the heretics, a victory they attributed to the intercession of the city’s guardian, the Virgin Mary.

This did not end the troubles; Chartres was similar privations

and

battles against the royal troops

its

who was

heir to the throne of France. In 1588,

throne.

whom

Henry of

under threat to

Henry

still

III

and against

the sole legitimate

met

in Chartres

with

he rightly suspected of having designs on the

Valois, seething with rage,

had been compelled

invite the Chartrians to declare their

support for the

duke of Guise and the league. But stricken by the news of the sination of the

[the

to accept the rule of a Protestant king

Henri of Bourbon, the nonbeliever

Henry of Guise,

to suffer

from the disorder sparked by the League

Holy League, which refused

— Translator]

doomed

assas-

duke of Guise on order of the king, the Chartrians

declared themselves body and soul for the duke of Mayenne, the

new

leader of the league.

The year 1590 saw permanent

battlefield.

Mayenne’s army

the Chartres countryside transformed into a

Henry of Navarre besieged Dreux and fought

at Ivry, while league troops

then lost and recaptured Courville and

Illiers.

took Nogent-le-Roi, But on February 10,

1591, Biron, commander of the Navarre troops, laid siege to Chartres. There

was

a long series of skirmishes, various maneuvers,

The

96

Sites

and heavy destruction. Henry of Navarre joined Biron on the and personally organized the lated,

siege.

On

April 10, Chartres capitu-

and the royal army took occupation of the

Henri of Navarre made

and was welcomed clergy,

who

led

ing. Instead,

him

his

city nine

solemn entrance into the

at Saint Michael’s

field

city

days

later.

on April 20

Gate by the residents and the

to the cathedral. But he did not enter the build-

he attended a Calvinist sermon the next day, while

40,000 people followed a procession to Saint-Pere to give thanks for the restoration of peace.

The

was taxed 36,000 ecus

city

put up resistance to the king of France. But soon, to calm

Navarrais pardoned those

the

spirits,

who were most compromised and made

efforts to ensure that the city’s inhabitants did

from the

for having

not suffer too greatly

situation.

Chartres then became a kind of capital of a torn French kingdom in

which the legitimate king was

subjects. Visits

from the

July 25, 1593,

one

greatest leaders followed

and negotiations were pursued more or

Henry of Navarre and

conquer the hearts of

striving to

less

his

after the other,

openly, especially between

representatives of the Catholic Church.

On

Henry renounced Calvinism, and on February 25,

1594, he was crowned king of France in the cathedral of Chartres by

Bishop Nicolas de Thou, because Reims was

in the

still

hands of the

Holy League and thus unavailable. The coronation and the vow taken by Henry IV to support the Catholic religion would open the gates of

the

him

three

weeks

later.

The

This does not

mean

that

all

Paris to

Edict

of Nantes,

Catholics was delicate.

civil

war was

disorder

cohabitation

came

finally over.

to an end. Despite

between Protestants and

The Huguenots made

several attempts to

take possession of Chartres, but the vast majority of the city

remained Catholic. In 1607, Henry of Savoy inherited the duchy of Chartres from his mother, but in 1623 he sold in gold to

brother,

King Louis

XIII.

The king gave

it

it

for

250,000 ecus

as prerogative to his

Gaston of Orleans. Of course, Gaston’s rebellion would

have serious repercussions on Chartres and

its

region. This

was

equally true at the time of the Fronde, in which the same Gaston

Chartres over the Course of History

97

played a leading role. 9 In 1651, extensive rioting took place in Chartres. This

was followed by an attempt by an army supporting

army abandoned

the Fronde to capture the city; the after being paid

but Chartres

plans only

its

an indemnity of 16,000 pounds. Peace was restored,

fell

hands of a central authority and could no

into the

longer claim any municipal freedom. Gaston of Orleans died in

1660, leaving no male

heir,

and the duchy of Chartres reverted to

the throne. But Louis

XIV

placed

Philip,

and

it

Although

remained civil

in the

in the

it

hands of

his brother

Orleans lineage until the Revolution.

autonomy was

practically nonexistent in Chartres

during the final years of the ancien regime, this was not true of the

Church, which continued to evolve, even authorities.

The

if it

led to conflicts with civil

chief concern of the Chartres bishops

the faithful of the diocese

was defending

from both poverty and ignorance, thereby

renewing the old tradition of the medieval schools of the Daughters of Providence was established tion of preventing

members cating

in

1643 with the

women from turning to

poor

city.

The

chief inten-

prostitution. In 1692,

of the Daughters of Saint Paul devoted themselves to edu-

women and

large seminary

training

was

them

installed

household

in their

on the

Madeleine du Grand-Beaulieu. But

1695, the diocese of Chartres,

heir to the ancient city of the Carnutes, lost a large part of after the creation of the

new

1659, a

of the ancient hospice of the

site

in

duties. In

its

territory

diocese of Blois.

During the eighteenth century, the population of Chartres dwindled.

From 20,000

the population

had

inhabitants at the end of the sixteenth century, fallen to 15,000, then to

13,000 due to the

attraction of the nearby capital as well as in response to the decline

of economic activity.

The

great property owners were the monasteries

and the bishopric, and

their holdings consisted of large green spaces

inside the city walls.

The Place des

9.

[The Fronde (1648-1653) was a

civil

war

(1653-59). Fronde means “sling” and refers to

dows (belonging to

Halles,

in

France that led to war with Spain

how

to supporters of Cardinal Mazarin).

impose limitations on the king’s authority.

where an important

Parisian

The

— Trans).

mobs threw

stones at win-

revolt originated in an attempt

The

98

market

Sites

in grains

was

was

located,

the center of interurban activity.

There were eleven parishes, seven of which were inside the

Now

walls.

within a

more than

Notre-Dame

ever,

poor thatched cottages. Even the

no longer had

privileged families,

it

a city

city.

The suburbs meanwhile re-formed

The

formed

Cloister

drab villages of

as small,

leisure classes, outside of a

mansions

fine

when

often said that “the Beauce gentleman his breeches

among

the different parishes,

perfect

had weathered every storm.

part,

symbol of

this

profoundly Catholic

on September 11, 1788, the

that

known

as the Franchise

first

took place

Beauvais, an association that

in

bed

The Revolution unfolded

wealthier. It

Yet

clear that

it

The

remained the

was

also here

meeting of the Masonic Lodge

modest house on the rue de

in a

would

city.

was

it

more numerous and

those of the upper city were its

would remain

and

were being mended.” Although the populace was

unevenly distributed

cathedral, for

few

at their disposal.

nobility of the Beauce did not have a reputation for wealth,

was

city

last until

1840.

in Chartres just as

it

did elsewhere in

France, although with fewer exactions and less disorder than in

some other

cities.

There were some pillaging, some brawls, some

reversals of fortune,

and some executions, but the biggest

lay in the acquisition of fresh supplies

unemployment, and brigandage sinister

and

in the

difficulties

high cost of living,

(particularly the misdeeds of the

Orgeres Band).

Chartres emerged from the tempest considerably impoverished. Its

religious

Church and

movements had meanwhile Saint- Aignan

suffered a sad fate. Saint-Foy

Church were sold

to a private citizen

who

sought to demolish them. But the owner wanted to turn Saint-Aignan into a performance

site,

which allowed

it

to escape destruction.

Eventually the Saint-Foy would become a theater. Saint-Saturnien

was demolished, and to the

memory

the space

was used

to create a square dedicated

of the heroes of Chartres, such as General Marceau.

The churches of Saint-Maurice, Saint-Michel, Saint-Bartholomew, Saint-Cheron, and Saint-Brice were demolished, and residential

Chartres over the Course of History

housing was built on their former Saint-Martin-le-Viandier, a square

Upon

sites.

was created

99

the destruction of in the space

had

it

occupied. Saint-Hilaire served to house the local chapter of the Folk Society before

it

too was demolished. But Saint-Andre was turned

into storage for fodder

and was spared despite various degradations.

The Carmelite Convent,

Abbey was turned

prison. Saint-Pere saltpeter,

as well as that of the Jacobins,

became

a

into a plant for manufacturing

and the convent buildings were turned to other

uses. Saint-

Martin-au-Val was converted into a hospice, and the Episcopal palace served as a prefecture until 1821.

The cathedral

itself

barely escaped demolition:

the congestion caused by the handling

It

was deemed

and transport of the

that

building’s

materials through the city

would cause more problems than

The municipal

were content with removing the lead from

the covers

This

is

and

how

authorities grilles

of the chapels to

the magnificent cathedral

these dark times

—

if

make

we

into bullets

benefits.

and

picks.

today emerged from

see

not unscathed, at least generally protected.

During the consulate and the empire, but also during the restoration, Chartres fell into the

who had

hands of one of the families

acquired wealth and influence through the purchase of national properties, the Billard de Saint-Laumer family.

of the bourgeois class,

who

They were members

turned everything to

its

profit

and did

not hesitate to swear loyalty to every regime, empire or royal, it

was not

a foreign occupation, as

was

the case in 1814.

when

The

dis-

ruptions of the traditional hierarchy caused by the Revolution had benefited

some but not

the majority of the Chartres population.

Generally speaking, the time of the empire was a period of stagnation for Chartres. The local tanning and textile industries hardly developed. Certainly Chartres remained one of the most active

wheat markets

in the

Beauce, but that was

all.

There was no longer

any dynamism and no opening to the Industrial Revolution, which

had

just breasted the horizon.

emphasized the

mayor

anticlerical

The change

of regime in

components of municipal

of Chartres, Adolphe Chasles,

was

the

1830 only life.

The

nephew of the former

The

100

Sites

cure of the cathedral. in his convictions.

He was an

Once

Orleans supporter but quite modest

from Eure-et-Loir, he presided

elected deputy

over the inauguration ceremony of the chapel for the Aligre Asylum in Leves,

which replaced the Sainte-Marie de Josaphat Abbey, which

had been bought and demolished by

from which they had elected, Chasles

On

had

grandfather and father and

his

And

realized a substantial profit.

yet to be

to run a resolutely anticlerical campaign.

the other side, the

Church was

getting

its

head back up. The

Concordat of 1802 had attached the Eure-et-Loir Departement to the diocese of Versailles, created specifically for this purpose

occasion.

The government had then decided

divided into

two

that Chartres

on

this

would be

and the ancient Saint-Pere

parishes, the cathedral

Abbey, renamed Saint-Pierre, which would be ample for the needs of a populace that

was slowly becoming

de-Christianized.

tion of the Episcopal seat of Chartres

was decided

in

not take effect until 1821. In this year, Monsignor de

The

restora-

1817 but did

Latil, a

former

chaplain of the earldom of Artois, became bishop of Chartres and strove to reorganize the local clergy, often with regrettable displays of

open

much

clumsiness and

bias.

His successor, Claudel de Montals, a

man

of the ancien regime

but of clearly Gallican tendencies, held this position for thirty years, but he spent his time fighting against the religious

life

all

sides

of his diocese. In 1833 he

a serious riot sparked

by

II

was even confronted by

his refusal to authorize a priest,

Ledru, in Leves, to celebrate the ioners wanted. Vatican

without any benefit to

was

Mass

still

far

Abbe

in French, as all his parish-

from the horizon, and the

bishop barely had time to take refuge in the cathedral while his bishopric

was plundered by

the populace. In 1836, a fire destroyed the

timbered framework of the cathedral, which was called the Forest.

The framework was to

custom but

10.

The

first

rebuilt in iron,

which

is

quite contrary not only

also to the energetic value of the sanctuary. 10

churches built by the Celts contained no nails or iron

the property of diverting so-called telluric currents.

fittings, as iron

has

Chartres over the Course of History

Academic quarrels began poisoning

was already appearing

that

life

and the

in Chartres,

would eventually expand

101

into the

line

moat

separating the proponents of the so-called school of the devil from

Good

those of the so-called school of the

continued to

city

market. April

9,

live

— or

Lord. During this time the

at least to survive

1848, saw the

first

The mayor-elect, confirmed by

—thanks

elections

the

to

by universal suffrage.

Remond,

Charles

prefect,

declared as a Republican, just like the future Cardinal Pius, resented the bishop at the planting of the that

same

who

rep-

Freedom Tree on April 11

year.

The Second Empire,

despite a fairly strong opposition to the

plebiscite, inspired the local legitimist or rally. It

grain

its

was only

in

Orleans bourgeoisie to

1865 that the Republicans managed

force to the Chartres city hall.

That

prosperous during

A theater was

this period.

by a hospital several years

later.

said, Chartres did

built in

for Paris

exposition that provided a veritable place; even the

become more

1861, followed

Old-fashioned houses were razed,

and an urbanization scheme along the broad

Haussmann had planned

to return in

emperor paid a

lines of

was implemented.

panorama

visit.

what Baron In

1869 an

of local activity took

The head

of the foundry,

Alexandre Brault, and Mayor Billard de Saint-Laumer

(of the

same

family mentioned earlier) were awarded medals of the Legion of Pionor.

A

traditional tannery continued to persevere, while printing

and window-making

industries took

on new

life.

Meanwhile, the

vineyards continued to be quite prosperous, curiously enough, until the phylloxera epidemic in 1881.

During the Franco-Prussian War

1870, the Prussians occupied

in

March

The

begin-

nings of the Third Republic passed without causing too

many

the

city,

where they would remain

clashes, but

until

18, 1871.

soon the academic quarrel would rekindle the hothead-

edness of the different parties. At

first

there

was

a

semblance of bal-

ance between the lay schools and the confessional schools, but the Jules Ferry laws [which

long time to be applied.

mandated public education

A

state school for girls

— Trans.) took a

was opened

in

1880

The

102

Sites

on the rue Sainte-Meme

to

ers training college, but

it

remove some of the load from the teach-

would not be

until

1891 that the Saint-

Andre and Saint-Ferdinand schools would become state-run institutions.

Debate was endless on the transformation of the college [private secondary school] into a lycee [high school], and the

would not be inaugurated

much

until

lycee

1887. Discussion continued for

of this time over the opening of a secondary college for

young

This college would be established in 1885 in the former teach-

girls.

ers training school. Saint-Pere

itary barracks.

Abbey, meanwhile, had become a mil-

Water conveyance had become

train station

was

rebuilt

on the

site

a

major concern, and

in

1906. The central

of the former

Notre-Dame ceme-

an ozonization process was applied starting

tery.

new

Various urbanization construction projects were implemented.

But Chartres continued to stagnate under the influence of a smug conservatism that only a few newspapers, such as La Depecbe,

founded

in

however,

1899 by Georges Fessard, managed the

Chartres

area

Freemason, and somewhat

to disturb. Eventually,

would become

radical-socialist,

anticlerical.

But the approach of World

War

I

in

1914 brought about the

establishment of a military presence in Chartres, which was aided by a popular desire to avenge the former defeats suffered at the

of the Germans.

The garrison consisted

hands

of a cavalry regiment, an

infantry battalion, a squadron of train crews, and an artillery regi-

ment. Above

all,

a large drill

to Nogent-le-Phaye

ground between the roads to Sours and

was reserved

for testing airplanes. This

would

be the origin of the Chartres Air Base.

Spared during the

back into

its

First

World War,

torpor between 1918 and 1939. Chartres was no longer

anything but a small provincial

diminished

the Beauceron capital sank

activity.

city,

a farm-product

The animal auctions were

market of

in a state of collapse.

Sheep were no longer being raised on the plains. Meanwhile, the rich

Beauce landowners were gradually abandoning the countryside to

move

into the city,

which sparked the construction of new apart-

Chartres over the Course of History

ment buildings and houses. Neglected be

The

repopulated.

Mans

Paris-Le

line

train

was

station

electrified,

103

sections of the city began to

was modernized when

the

which coincided with the disap-

pearance of the old Ouest-Etat network and the creation of the S.N.C.F. [Societe Nationale des

—

road system

in

branch

and shunting

lines

France

became

capacity, line

Fer, the state-run rail-

The Chartres

Trans.].

new

construction began on a

Chemins de

It

was around

this

with

quite important,

its

and

from Montparnasse that would

pass through Fimours and Gallardon. This line pleted.

station,

was never com-

time that rumors of war began to alarm

the local leaders. Precautionary measures were planned for the populace, primarily because of the nearby air base.

One

of the most

important safeguards was the removal of the stained glass from the cathedral.

We owe

our

ability to

admire these windows today to

these precautions.

The Second World War was bombed

left its

several times by the

mark on

Germans

Fortunately, the cathedral suffered very despite the

was

suffered

in

little

from these

and 18, 1944,

ture Chartres

a handful of resistance fighters

American troops could

arrive

which

The primary

in the Aviation Quarter, then

June 1940,

and contain German

perils,

station,

at that time.

again between September 1943 and August 1944. 17,

it

as well as the Americans.

burdensome presence of the neighboring

was an important communication hub

damage

the city of Chartres;

On

August 16,

managed

to cap-

efforts to retake the city until

and bring a successful conclusion to

the battle for freedom.

Chartres has

grown nonstop

since the

task immediately following the Fiberation that

was

26,000 inhabitants

in

industrial society

The population, which was

1946, rose to more than 42,000 in 1951.

neighborhoods were

first

to rebuild everything

had been destroyed, but the requirements of

shattered the traditional city limits.

city

end of the war. The

laid out, first in Bel-Air

and

in

New

Rechevres,

then in Beaulieu, Saint-Cheron, and Puits-Drouet, and finally in the

Madeleine. Three

new

parishes were added: Saint-Jean-Baptiste de

The

104

Sites

Rechevres, Saint-Paul de Beaulieu, and the Madeleine. Urban prob-

lems of Chartres were those of

automobile

had

traffic

all

old

to be regularized,

An

zones had to be laid out.

Renovation was needed,

cities.

and commercial and trade

industrial zone that

grouped together

nonpolluting industries (perfumeries, electronics, printing, and small

mechanics) was accordingly established in the south along the Paris-

Rennes highway. But Chartres offered few

real prospects,

inhabitants, taking advantage of the rail connections

roads, most often found effect that the old

employment

Beauceron

and

in the Parisian region,

has become a kind of

city

and the direct

with the

bedroom

community. Chartres has lost none of

its artistic

After 1964, in the context of the

(and

made

official in

and

touristic value,

Malraux Law,

1971) to protect the old

which

tion of sixty-four hectares,

The

the space inside the walls.

have participated jointly

is

city. It

was created

concerns a sec-

equivalent to three fourths of

state, the region,

in the

a plan

however.

and the commune

renovation of the old dwellings as

well as the enhancement of the environment. In this regard, the

work undertaken has been crowned with hand has restored

success,

and

a very sure

the old quarters. Furthermore, the old artistic pro-

fessions such as stained-glass

making have been restored

In fact, the International Stained Glass Center

is

to honor.

located in the old

wheat-storage buildings in the medieval neighborhood of Loens.

The center was inaugurated

in

1980, and since that time has spread

the prestige of this medieval French art far

The choice of Chartres logical.

and wide.

for this international center

The cathedral incontestably

is

perfectly

constitutes the richest collection

of twelfth- and thirteenth-century stained glass in existence, and these

windows

intact.

are, for the

They have

most

part, although carefully restored,

traveled through the centuries without having

been deformed or destroyed by wars, revolutions, or even the negative effects of sites

bad weather. Chartres

chosen for inclusion

published by

UNESCO

in the first

in

figures

among

the fifty-seven

World Cultural Heritage

1980. This

is

a

list,

marvelous honor for

Chartres over the Course of History

105

Chartres. Art lovers, tourists, historians of the Middle Ages, musi-

and music lovers drawn by the renovation of the Great

cians,

Organs,

all

join with the

in the crypt, near the

Our Lady Black

of

crowds of pilgrims

to meditate

Well of the Saints-Forts, before the statue of

Under Ground, or

Madonna on

who come

her

pillar.

in the cathedral itself, in front of the

More than

ever,

beauty and faith are

indissolubly linked in Chartres for the greatest exaltation of the spirit.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres,

beacon

in the center of

remains what

it

an immutable

storms that emerge from every direction,

once was and what

Throne of Wisdom.

like

it

was ever intended

to be: the

PART

2

The Virgin's Great Shadow

The Mother of God ^In

431 the Council of Ephesus

proclaimed as

definitively

Christian doctrine the concept of Theotokos, meaning “mother” or rather “genetrix” of

God, applied

figure of

of the Gospels, she

who

this date,

numerous controversies swirled

Mary among

the various Christian theoreti-

gave birth to Jesus. Before

around the

Mary

to

now known as the church fathers. It is obvious that the incarnation of God cannot be accepted without reference to a physical

cians

domain, pre-Christian religious traditions have always

birth. In this

vacillated

between incarnation properly speaking and epiphany

theophany), meaning the manifestation of a higher being in

form by

his

own power

in

(or

human

pure and simple materialization.

a

Accordingly, in the Iliad and in the Odyssey, divine figures appear to

humans

in

an almost natural fashion, although

disguises better to test those they

want

to guide or provoke. Athena,

Aphrodite, and Circe are personified deities to speak, to invisible

meet

at a

world once

The same holds of

it.

bend

at times they use

in the road,

but

their intervention has

whom who

it is

disappear into the

been achieved.

true in Celtic tradition, at least

The gods take part on

normal, so

certain occasions in the

what we know life

of

humans

and bear the exact same appearance (with the addition of characteristics indicative

of their higher status, even sometimes in the form

of a physical handicap), and they disappear once their mission has 108

—

,

The Mother of God

been accomplished. But what

Germans

as well

—

is

is

involved here

much more

109

— as with the ancient

the concretization of a functional

aspect of a single deity rather than the strict “materialization” of a personified divine being.

Hindu thought introduces another notion, The avatar

is

not a materialization but rather a veritable embodi-

ment. Given the doctrine of reincarnation,

gods

that of the avatar.

may from

normal to think that

it is

time to time incarnate under different identities

while retaining their divine quality, concealed beneath the natural

human appearance

they have donned. This

what

is

is

known

in reli-

gious history as a hypostasis which means the temporarily inferior status of a superior sacred being. In Indian logic the avatar does not

pose a problem.

Many Hindus

are ready to accept the divinity of

why

Jesus as the hypostasis of a higher being, and

But the mentality

slightly different in the

is

not Jehovah?

Middle East con-

cerning the Mithraic religion. Mithra, an ancient god inherited from Iran

— and

in the final analysis India

being, but his birth

dered by the earth

is

—truly incarnated as a human

irregular because he

—that

is

was mysteriously engen-

to say, the original

which matches the ancient Greek theogonies

in

Mother Goddess which Gaia couples

with Ouranos to give birth to the race of gods. But taking into account, on the one hand, that Mithra’s birth

December 25, and, on

was celebrated on

the other, that the Mithraic religion experi-

enced significant growth during the

first

centuries of the Christian

even threatening to supplant Christianity, certain questions

era, arise.

Human

beings have always held the concept of an incarnated

or manifested god, even

if

only to allow them to communicate and

establish a dialogue with a higher being that ter of all,

the creator

this

it is

infinite

and absolute.

point Christianity offers something completely different

and completely new. Jesus can certainly be considered but he cannot be considered an avatar.

one

—that

and mas-

but which remains inaccessible, unnamable, and incom-

prehensible because

On

is

is

He

is

a hypostasis,

the envoy, the anointed

to say the Christ, the only son of a Father

God

of which

— The Virgin's Great Shadow

110

he

only an integral emanation embodied in humanity. Jesus

is

not

is

who abandons the invisible world to incarnate as an avatar on earth. He is still in the invisible world, but he is also in the visia deity

ble

world through the process of

his

complete humanity. This

is

his full

no doubt the

human

notion appeared in the history of

makes

and

notion poses more problems than

it

first

time that such a

thought, and

Christianity profoundly original. But

by

total incarnation,

it is

it

is

what

obvious that such a

seems to resolve

if

we

stick to a

historicizing explanation of the facts.

Historicizing has

ing the

prompted the sharpest controversies concern-

“mystery of the Incarnation”

and the concept of the

Theotokos. The Christian message, of Hebrew (and even Aramaic) origin, traveled

heart of the

sage by the

Roman

through the Hellenistic world before reaching the

Roman world. The incorporation of Roman mentality was not without

—

established:

It is

in contrast to the philosophical

historicizing

demanded

the concrete before

strength of ancient

Rome on

all

.

The Roman

Greek mind-— created history

everywhere, even where there was no basis for

itary,

consequence. The

mentality had one characteristic that, while not widely

known, has been firmly

mind

the Christian mes-

else.

it.

The Roman mind was

the

on the

mil-

This, moreover,

the political plane as well as

economic, and juridical planes.

But as Georges Dumezil has shown, while the Indians and Celts

thought mythically, the

Romans were

as anything other than history that

and is

incapable of grasping myths

had been actually experienced

arbitrarily situated at a definite time.

that of Horatius

Codes (Horatius

The most famous example

the One-Eyed),

who, according

to Titus Levy, defended the Sublician Bridge against attack by the

Etruscans. Horatius heroic

Roman

was

patriot. In fact, his tale

myth of Odin-Wotan, same was

the one-eyed

was an

Tyr, the

less

than the Germanic

one-armed god

existing story

from the

god of Germanic mythology. The

true of another “historical” hero,

was nothing more or god

therefore presented as a historical figure, a

who was

Mucius Scaevola, who

—and Indo-European

not afraid to swear a false oath

The Mother of God

and thereby

lose his

three Curiatii,

arm

in order to save his

who became

so hard to see in

them

community. As for the

famous thanks to

so

the multiple-headed

111

Corneille,

it is

Hydra of Lerne

not

that the

no-less-renowned Hercules-Heracles fought against.

There are numerous other examples, the so-called historical king

Numa

Pompilius,

cussions with the goddess Egeria (from

concerning

in particular

who had

whose name

secret dis-

the term egerie

[“oracle”] derives); she whispered wise counsel into his ear so that

he could enact laws to govern his people, enabling him, like Moses,

was beyond challenge by human

to give the laws a divine value that institutions, a

procedure that has been

much used

to give legitimacy

to government.

That

Romans

said, the historicizing mentality of the

influenced

the interpretation, even the drafting, of the scriptures,

Roman Church was imposed gious edifice of the West.

were victims of ing

if

the

this

same

Romans had

the

as the cornerstone of the entire reli-

How

can

we know whether

historicizing process?

treated

It

institution with a hierarchy

when

and rough

the Gospels

would be

pagan mythologies

Christian religious texts. Starting from

human

when

surpris-

differently

from

Church became

the

drafts of

a

dogmas, the

Christian message necessarily became a page of world history.

The

historical existence of Jesus, his divine mission, his nature as

both

God and man were

accepted in a pinch, but

explain his incarnation in one

way

accorded the mother of Jesus,

who

was

Hence

was made

to be

could not be just anyone, for she

quently, the event

tion of avatars in It

seems that

was

certainly

an exceptional human, especially given that

explicit that Jesus

was

the only son,

and

would never be repeated, unlike

Hindu

it

that, conse-

the materializa-

belief.

at the very

mother of Jesus had only

beginning of Christianity the image of relative importance.

The

little

attention

paid her by the Evangelists, aside from Luke, bears witness to

As

to

the importance

the receptacle of the Divine. Thus, although she

human, she had

the

or another.

was necessary

it

this.

for Saint Paul, the true founder of the Christian religion, the

The Virgin's Great Shadow

112

question of

Mary

circles that the

barely interested him.

It

was

essentially in Gnostic

concept of the Theotokos was developed. Gnostic

which flourished throughout the eastern Mediterranean

sects,

region, sought to establish a connection between the

most ancient

mystico-philosophical traditions and the message of the Gospels.

This connection

more often

as

sometimes presented as a vague syncretism, but

is

an attempt to create a thorough synthesis.

the rediscovery of an image that

from folk memory,

was

quite difficult to uproot,

from the

at least

allowed

It

unconscious

collective

if

not

—the

image of a primordial female deity worshipped throughout the

And

entire East but particularly in Ephesus.

Theotokos was

the concept of the

first

it is

not by chance that

proclaimed at Ephesus, for

Ephesus was from the time of greatest antiquity the central and essential sanctuary of all the

To

worship given to the Mother Goddess.

the various Gnostic theoreticians, the image of the universal

Mother Goddess, under whatever name was used capable of crystallizing

to invoke her,

the impulses of the

all

human

supreme wisdom. The Holy Ghost was then considered representing the ignate the

Mother of

Holy

the

Holy Ghost was neutral

Trinity.

being to

symbol

a

The word used

Greek but feminine

in

was

in

to des-

Hebrew

and Aramaic. The Gnostics soon replaced the neutral Greek pneuma (literally

was used

“breath”) with the feminine sopbia (wisdom), a term that for both masculine

and feminine

in the texts of that time,

but which clearly designated the female aspect and nature of the deity.

in Constantinople.

lute

name

This explains the famous

The sopbia

mold of everything

which

Of of the

all

is

for the Basilica of Saint Sophia

the divine creative breath

and abso-

that exists, the essential breath through

must pass before acquiring form.

course, Saint Sophia

Good News

is

a

is

a

name

name, and

is

in the

of

same way

little

as

Our Lady

consequence on any

plane other than that of popular liturgy. But the Gnostics did not

understand

it

in quite the

same way

as did

Orthodox

Christians. For

them, not only was Sophia the real mother of Jesus Christ, but she also

was

the

Mother Goddess

that every believer

had

to

worship

— The Mother of God

God

equally with

the Father

113

and Jesus the Son. The Trinity was

therefore expressed this way: God-Father, Jesus-Son,

and Mary-

Mother. The sole problem was to reconcile

demonstra-

tion (perfectly logical insofar as

two parents and

this brilliant

proclaimed a divine family with

it

Gospel of Luke, where

a child) with the

it

clearly

appeared that the Holy Ghost was the genitor of Jesus and could not in

any way be considered a feminine element. But certain theoreti-

cians found their

way around

kind of androgynous entity

by making Mary-Holy Ghost a

this

who

temporarily

split in

two

to

fulfill

her procreative mission.

Furthermore, that

it

was not

this contradiction

—however

prompted the indignation of the church

more

the fact that

footing with

God

was much on equal

the Father, whereas according to the Gospels

Mary was

the divinity of Mary,

assume that she

it

led to the concept of a female deity

it

their historicizing nature,

To accept

fathers;

essential

herself

was

it

only a

and

human chosen by God.

would have been necessary

a female hypostasis of

antifeminist nature of Judeo-Christianity, this

to

God. Given the

was properly

inad-

missible and, given the absence of any references, canonical or otherwise, absolutely unthinkable. This

was how Epiphany, one

of

who lived between 315 and 403, unequivocally condemned all those who would be tempted to offer Mary her own worship: “The body of Mary is holy, but it is not

those distinguished church fathers,

divine; she

is

a virgin

and deserving of high honors, but she should

not be an object of worship for us.”

It

was

in this protest that

Mary’s virginity began to be magnified, although we have no clear idea of

what

specific

meaning Epiphany and

his

contemporaries

attached to the term virgin. That was a different problem. first essential

to demonstrate that

woman, even

if

father, Saint

Milan who had such

“Mary was

Temple. That

is

a

woman and

was

only a

she could be acknowledged as a saint.

Another church

declared,

Mary was

It

a

the

why we

strong

Ambrose, the famous bishop of influence

on Saint Augustine,

Temple of God and not the God of the

should worship only

Him whose

presence

The Virgin's Great Shadow

114

gives

to the Temple.” This involves, as does every other theolog-

life

commentary, an assertion that

ical

based on nothing.

is

It

accepted as an article of faith but not as a demonstration.

beyond appearances, however, the assertion If

Mary

is

is

given that Jesus-God took form in Mary,

it

.

is it

we

If

laden with ambiguity.

means

sidered to be a container Because Jesus-God

contents ?

that

would

Mary

is

con-

in this case be

correct to consider the container as inferior to the

we would

follow Saint Ambrose’s reasoning,

cally be led to claim that the perfect (Jesus-God)

imperfect (Mary-woman). tion

we go

Temple of God, which no one dreamed of contesting,

the

the contents ,

If

can be

We

was born from

an open door to the worst

the

might suspect that such an observa-

had emerged from very heterodox horizons, and

was hardly compatible with

logi-

the original assertion.

any event,

heresies. In

It

it

in

any case

was

it

therefore

inspired a long

process of theological speculation concerning Mary, mother of God,

which would not

until the nineteenth century lead to the

tion of the

dogma

lesser

as

equal larity

evil,

—

prevented

it

words

in other

among

of Immaculate Conception. This

the

Mary from

a “goddess”

human

proclama-

was

finally a

being considered God’s

—while recognizing her singu-

race.

The Gnostics would not have been

satisfied

with the Immaculate

Conception of Mary. Furthermore, the Gnostics expressed themselves not in theological terms, but rather in philosophical ones that

amassed together mystical elements, mythological mological speculations. Their idea was to

make

in the

What

pagan

they found

pagan traditions was the universal worship of the

Great Goddess with tions, but in

and cos-

the so-called

traditions coincide with Judeo-Christian teachings.

most readily

fables,

many

faces,

many names, and

multiple func-

any event the Goddess of the Beginnings, she

Genesis barely dared evoke with

its

whom

primordial “waters” over which

the mysterious “Elohim” breathed.

This

initial

linkage led to other meetings.

contributions to Gnostic thought were

first

The Judeo-Christian

the image of the heav-

enly Jerusalem, an image symbolizing future humanity, then the

The Mother of God

assembly

115

of participants in the heavenly Jerusalem. This was,

itself

words, the Ecclesia, the Church (“assembly,” etymologi-

in other

cally speaking). Jesus himself alluded to this celestial Jerusalem,

and

he always spoke in terms that stressed the femininity of the assem-

and the name and

bly of the elect. Saint Paul repeated the image

defined

it

as “our

mother”

—the origin of the well-known expres-

sion “our holy mother the Church.” She

head of the serpent (and

to trample the

medieval statuary); she

whom is communicated new Adam

new Eve who comes

the

is

depicted doing so in

is

the true mother of the living, through

is

to us the spiritual

life

of Christ, himself the

.

It

from

can easily be seen that Mary, mother of Jesus, this speculation.

The Church has come

as the fiancee (the Shulamite

is

entirely absent

to be considered

more

from the Song of Solomon, she who

is

“black but beautiful”) than the bride of Christ, somewhat similarly to

how

bride of Jehovah.

Mass

was considered

the Israelite nation

And

if

correctly, the priest

faithful!),

we understand (when he

Jewish thought as the

the ritual of the Catholic

officiated with his

cration of the host and the

principle,

Communion

nuptials between this assembly

and Jesus

is

the

prompts, by the conse-

that follows, the veritable

who

Christ,

has descended

altar.

But

this

is all

very abstract and stems from a thorough knowl-

edge of the question of the relationship between ple.

back to the

symbol and sublimation of the assembly that

Church and therefore the female

on the

in

We

can then understand

mother of

Christ, but also

And

if

Mary

is

to the material figure of

mother of all humanity

the

God’s peo-

the concept of the assembly bride

was slowly amalgamated

of Christ

Gospels.

why

God and

mother of

all

,

if

we

Mary,

believe the

humanity, a perfectly com-

prehensible bistoricized figure and tangibly attainable, she acquires

by virtue of

this all the characteristics that

versal Great Goddess,

But

it

figure of

was not

Mary

mother of

the Gnostics

into the

all

once devolved on the uni-

gods and

all

who prompted

human

beings.

the irruption of the

orthodox theology. Oddly enough,

it

was an

The Virgin's Great Shadow

116

authentic heresy Arius,

sible.

known

who was

Arianism that was

as

founder of

this doctrine

Alexandria was a crucible

priest (the city of

in large part respon-

and an Alexandrian

in

which Western and

Eastern influences melted together), refused to recognize the divine nature of Jesus and regarded him as simply an inspired prophet.

Based on

this negation,

Holy Ghost

in the

he had no choice but to refuse the role of the

conception of Jesus and consequently came to

deny absolutely Mary’s

role

and

distinctiveness, thereby also reject-

ing every female element in Christian doctrine of the time. It

so happens that Arius collided violently, through long theo-

logical

discussions,

with Saint Athanasus,

Alexandria in 328, on it

was not

this

who was

bishop of

question of the Incarnation. (At this time

yet a practice to burn heretics!) In reaction to Arius

his negation of

Mary’s role

(the female principle), Saint

and

Athanasus

found himself obliged not only to defend the incarnation of Jesus-

God

inside of

as well. this

According to him,

Word

race,

Mary, but to amplify both her role and if

Mary was

its

uniqueness

not the mother of the Word,

could not be consubstantial (bomousios) with the

human

and consequently the Redemption would be meaningless.

Therefore,

had

it

to be accepted that

Mary was

Christ, with all the consequences that involved,

of Jesus

was

to be demonstrated in

Mary emerged from

this

the fusion of the divine

tandem with

the true if

mother of

the divine nature

his

human

nature.

chain of reasoning as the crucible in which

and the human was

realized in perfect, albeit

mysterious, fashion.

This was the concept that prevailed. In 533 a decree by the

Byzantine emperor Justinian declared quite explicitly that Jesus was “consubstantial with the Father as regards his divinity and consubstantial

with us as regards his humanity.” Accordingly he acts as

mediator between

God and

humanity, for he enables

God

to speak

human words and humans to address the incommunicable God with human words that at times go beyond their strict sense. But here we fall right back into the same problem: What earthly woman, with

afflicted

with

all

the stains of humanity, could be

worthy of being

,

The Mother of God the

Temple of God? This

What weak and

raises another,

imperfect earthly

almost metaphysical

woman would

117

issue:

be capable of with-

standing such a hierogamous union with the Perfect One?

Sacred unions between a mortal and a god or goddess are familiar to us

from the so-called pagan

traditions.

Such unions generally

engender heroes such as Hercules and Aeneas, but they are often dangerous for the of Aeneas,

men

women

or

involved in them. Anchises, the father

became lame following

his

More

union with Venus.

often

than not a curse befalls the individual with the audacity to share,

if

only for a moment, the power of the gods.

it

It is

also notable that

never involves any kind of degeneration for the god or goddess. In

extreme cases, the physical defects and decay that

may

mortal are not signs of degeneration; they are marks

left

who

henceforth singles out this

The comparisons

human

that can be

from

individual

drawn between

concepts and pagan traditions are in no

way

befall the

by the god

his peers.

certain Christian

shocking, and in any

event are never by chance. In the case of physical defects that follow

human

contact with a god, the same belief can be found

among Jews

and Christians. The example of Moses, who can glimpse Jehovah only through the burning bush, regard. Another

is

the hero

is

Galahad looking into the Holy Grail and

dying from the transcendental vision said (Exodus 33:20), still

involves the

imperfect, that the

and

it is

human

fraught with meaning in this

it

produces. As Moses himself

“None can look upon

the

Lord and

same relationship between the

being

is

and the

perfect

only at the end of a slow initiation

(life

live.” It

on

earth)

capable of withstanding the vision of an

absolute and infinite God.

These same comparisons have even greater significance with respect to Mary, lished

mother of God, when they have been

by examining pagan

beliefs

early Christianity throughout the

solidly estab-

and worship that coexisted with

Roman

Empire. The worship of

Mithra and the symbolic value of the Phrygian god,

like his esoteric

meaning inherited from the remote Indo-European

past,

emerge

from the same mold of thought that presided over the creation of the

The Virgin's Great Shadow

118

Christian religion, to such an extent that Mithra barely failed to sup-

among

plant Jesus, at least in the second century C.E., particularly the

Roman

Latin

legions

—who

—that occupied vast

on the limes d tudes:

The

On

this

included every ethnic group but the territories

on the borders of the empire,

point archaeology has provided us with

Mithra was transported

cult of

two

the Christian message. But these

in the

certi-

same baggage

similar religious concepts

as

were

not alone. They faced strong competition from another system that

had originated This ation

is

in Asia

Minor, the worship of Cybele.

where everything becomes

of the

Marian

cult

—not

descended from the Cybele despite a basic parallelism,

that

condemnation of the Christian

the

Marian

directly

cult

but rather that both systems,

cult,

were

decisive concerning the cre-

relentless antagonists.

sect

by

Roman

While the

authorities

was due

to the fact that the Christians, by refusing to sacrifice to the gods of

Rome, placed themselves

outside the law, the worst enemies of the

Christians were the devotees of Cybele, tunity to cast oil

on the

ple will suffice: In cities,

fire

Roman

never missed an oppor-

during their persecution.

A simple

exam-

Gaul, persecutions were ferocious in two

Vienne and Lyon, the two

tration of Christians

who

cities that

had the highest concen-

and worshippers of Cybele. Both systems were

sharing the same terrain.

The

religion of Cybele

at a time

when Roman

loss of prestige.

No

had invaded Rome and

vast territories

was experiencing

ancestor worship

one seriously believed

its

in the official

a great

Roman

reli-

gion any longer; most important, nobody accepted the agnosticism of such a religion, which did not preach the survival of the soul after death.

It

and the

has been too often forgotten that the classical Greek religion official

Roman

religion

were only formal

conciliate the gods in order to allow as best they could.

1.

The same was

humans

rituals

to lead a transitory

true of the

— Trans.]

life

Hebrews, moreover,

[The limes were fortified walls along the contested borders of the

prevent incursions by small bands of raiders.

intended to

Roman Empire

to

The Mother of God

119

before the introduction of Eastern doctrines; even during the time of Jesus,

some Jews refused

Roman

Greek and

the fact that

Pythagoras.

human

It

it

known on

be

countless occasions

barbaric and puerile were

it

speaks volumes about the depth of this agnosticism satisfied the natural

tendency found throughout the

had therefore become a simple

glue that

bonded the members of But for those

ethnicity.

not for

presented certain similarities with the teachings of

race to connect with a transcendent reality. Official

religion

was

it

no way

in

let it

would have deemed

that they

it

authors took offense at the Druidic doctrine

They

asserting immortality.

that

to accept the immortality of the soul.

Roman

patriotic ritual, a kind of

a civitas, citizens sharing the

who went beyond

same

the agnostic attitude,

it

clearly necessary to look elsewhere for doctrines that could sat-

This was the case with the mystery religions

isfy their yearnings.

such as Orphism and the Eleusinian type, then the

Isiac type,

and

Mithra and Cybele, which immediately preceded

finally the cults of

but extended the Christian message that had the advantage of offering a historicized version of the survival of the soul after death.

Like Mithraism, the cult of Cybele was propagated out of Asia

Minor, notably Phrygia. This region was a veritable matrix of gions and played

Church. Wasn’t

own

its

in

it

part in the crafting of the Christian

Phrygia that the

first

around John and Paul, found refuge? Wasn’t the

“evangelization”

actual

reli-

of the

it

Christians, gathered

here that they began

world of those called the

Gentiles? But in this land of violent contrasts, the disciples of Jesus

They were exposed

did not find peace.

to the zealots of

other religions, principally the sectarians of the this

instance

Prostitute

—

by towers

the

(a

Mother Goddess,

famous Cybele, often depicted

in other

words, she

who

gives herself to

symbol of might), mother of

all

numerous

as all

the

in

Great

—crowned

the gods, seated in

great triumph atop the monster she tames, an image that will

become

the Virgin crushing the serpent, or even the

Lady with

the

unicorn, soothing the bellicose ardor of this fantasy creature by

allowing

it

to rest

its

head against her

breast. Cybele, heiress of the

The Virgin's Great Shadow

120

Mother Goddess,

primitive

is

none other than the reborn

face of the

ancient Greek Artemis, the Babylonian Ishtar, the Solar Goddess of the ancient Scythians. She

is

the outcome, in a refined Hellenic milieu,

of a slow maturation of the concept of the female deity of origins.

So

dawn

just

who

is

this

mysterious figure

who emerged from

of time? Cybele, as she appeared in the

Christian era,

was

prehistoric times.

the realistic

still

It is

she

who

is

depicted, in surprising fashion, in

from southern France

statuettes

Paleolithic era, and, in the abstract or at least

schematic form, in the great Western megalithic

found

in Brittany

Cybele

war and

and Ireland that date from the Neolithic period.

who

fertility,

mal. She

monuments mainly

derived from the Neolithic goddess of

is

is

centuries of the

laden with a substratum that goes back to

form of the steatopygic

from the

that date

first

the

is

life

the origin of every creature,

and death, of

human

or ani-

most

the material representation of creative energy, the

popular expression of the generative principle that transmutes and transforms the world

—what some philosophers

a tinge of atheistic materialism, the

will later call,

Natura naturans, “Nature

with

in the

process of becoming nature,” reflective of the permanent creation at

work throughout

the world that transforms primal matter into the

philosopher’s stone, the imperfect into the perfect.

Of

course, missionaries spread throughout the empire to

tell

the

history of the goddess, a tale enriched by the details necessary to the

Roman

mentality of the essential

Mother of Gods. The myth shows Cybele and initiatory,

of the

Mary

but also

creator

outline

of the

unknown and energy of

the

Mater Deum, the

us not only the parallel between

this outline,

which can be labeled

responds to a fundamental need on the part of the peoples

Roman Empire

The

how

myth of

is

during that specific era.

as follows:

universe,

The primordial goddess, who

is

not the

has been given the mission from the

mysterious divine creator entity to implement the

this universe

and ensure

its

harmony. She

demiurge. But dark and adversarial powers (the

is

therefore a

Enemy

in

the

Hebraic tradition under whatever name he bears, or the Giants of

The Mother of God

121

the Germano-Scandinavian tradition) relentlessly oppose the universe,

and the

terrestrial

entire

work

is

compromised (theme of

The

the Fall).

world would have been annihilated were

it

not for the

intervention of another god, son of the goddess but also of the

unknown

god, whose mission

annually renewing the

The

initial

world by

to restore balance to the

is

action of the creator.

effects of the god-son’s role are limited to the length of the

yearly cycle, a solar year to be precise, for the origin of this at the level of a feminine solar deity

who

holds

myth

is

set

warmth and radiance

but needs another god, in this instance the moon, to reflect them onto the world. In one sense, the

Mother holds

the potentiality,

Son, charged with this potentiality, implements ries

out her orders. This

this role,

is

why

was both son and

it

as the

die,

the

in the

domain of

all

of nature.

Son constitutes the

essential basis of this matriarchal religious system.

quite real

car-

At the end of the

then be reborn with

The annual passion and renaissance of sumptuously commemorated

who

the Son, in order to clearly indicate

lover of the Mother.

annual cycle he would have to

one

and the

These events are

the story, but they are

on the material plane: the death of nature on the threshold

of winter and

its

rebirth in spring.

The same

idea

is

present in the

tiatory outline of Eleusis concerning the goddess Demeter-Ceres,

voyaged to the netherworld

in

search

of her

Persephone, held prisoner by Hades-Pluto.

theme of the quest

for the Grail; the

It

is

daughter,

ini-

who

Kore-

also the original

wounded and impotent

Fisher

who already has a daughter, has become sterile in waiting for one who will come and rediscover the Grail. Mythological out-

King, the

lines of the

There all is

is

same nature a

refer to the

are not lacking in Celtic tradition.

wide variety of mythical narratives about Cybele, but

same basic assumptions. The son, who

is

called Attis,

associated with a tree: the cedar in the East and the pine in the

West.

He

dies at the

end of a tragedy equivalent to the Christian

Passion. After several days of mourning, his mother-lover reani-

mates him and marries him creation benefits.

in a

bloody hierogamy from which

all

122

The Virgin's Great Shadow But

soon followed by

in Phrygia,

all

other countries subject to

the worship of Cybele, the tragedy in

which

strange, fanatical coloration that has

its

Christian thought. During the festivals

commemorating

Attis died

took on a

equivalents in medieval

the Phrygian priests, going their predecessors one better

this event,

and proba-

bly under the influence of hallucinogenic substances, surrendered to

which some,

frenzied dances in

in the grip of a mystical delirium,

intentionally castrated themselves to fully identify with the bloodied

son of their goddess. Christianity.

On

Some memories

the one hand, there

is

remain within

of this

phenomenon

the mysterious

that causes the stigmata of Jesus Christ to appear

on the bodies of

certain individuals while they are in a state of mystical trance.

the other, there

is

the celibacy and chastity required for

Catholic priests. This chastity

is

obviously,

On

monks and

on a symbolic

level,

an

exact replica of the castration of the priests of Cybele. In the beginning, the matriarchal religion, with in

cruel rites

its

still

compliance with nature, appeared more as a cosmogonical than a

The performance of

theological practice.

helped nature function for fine herds

better,

and good

the annual rites primarily

with a material profit

harvests. But

little

by

in

mind: the hope

little this

primitive nat-

uralism became charged by a series of metaphysical considerations on the

meaning of

and the

life

and humankind’s

The

different mystery religions are clear.

Attis illustrate the death

a

fate.

model and example

influences of Eleusis

While the mysteries of

and resurrection of a god-son, he had become

for

all

humanity. Through Attis, through his

personal evolution as well as through the help of his divine mother,

human

beings had hope of being reborn to a higher state after death.

Death was no longer an ending but instead a passage. The very notion of the “departed” indicates a passage toward an “elsewhere,” going

beyond the world of

The

visible realities to attain a

religion of Cybele therefore

became

suprahuman world.

a religion of salvation, capa-

ble of transferring the benefit of the resurrection, previously reserved

for Attis, to

all

human

beings, even foreigners. This important point

explains the stunning success of the

new

system.

The Mother of God

Probably sometime during the second century

C.E.,

123

the worship of

Cybele was enriched with a heterogeneous element, tauroboly, or sacrifice

of the bull, that formerly belonged to Mithraism (as well as to

ancient Western religious rituals that have

behind only a few

left

traces ). 2 Symbolically, the death of the god-son responds to that of the

The

sun-bull.

blood of the

humans

part is

practice that consists of having the faithful receive the

bull,

an act equivalent to baptism by water, displays the

how, when the matriarchal

ralistic

human

take from the god, followed by religion

was completely

attachments and had abandoned

poses, the sacrifice of the bull

Once

initiatory value.

resurrection. This

its

freed of

natu-

its

transitory material pur-

and the baptism by blood took on an

from the trench

the initiate emerged

in

which he

had received the blood, he was, according to the accepted expression, in

aeternum renatus, “reborn for

the analogies between these practices that there

may not

human

systems offered only a happy

liturgy.

is

no need

to extend

—not

and those of Christianity

be reciprocal influences, but they are both a response

to the anguished pleas of

The

There

eternity.”

sacrifice of the bull

life is

beings, while the traditional religious

that

was

limited in duration.

thus closely connected to matriarchal

But the sectarians of Cybele added something to

not enough to spread the blood of the bull on the faithful;

customary to tear off the

testicles of the

animal. These

It

it.

it

was

became

would be

solemnly carried with the horns into the temple of the goddess and placed beneath a commemorative tion of relics, so

with

2.

common

The

practice of the adora-

in Christianity, also has

some connections

this rite.

For example, according to Pliny the Elder, the harvesting of mistletoe, a famous

ual but one that rifice

is

generally presented in an incomplete form,

from the Ulster Cycle, bull,

was followed by

rit-

the sac-

of a bull, which clearly indicates that the Druids practiced tauro-bolium. This has

been confirmed by numerous

to

altar.

which

mind

in

Irish stories

from the early Middle Ages, notably those

which implacable wars are waged

will finally be killed during the battles.

a pastoral kind of civilization

prosperity of the entire herd.

of bullfighting.

The

where the

for possession of a divine

Furthermore,

bull sacrifice

is

this entire cycle brings

essential to ensure the

idea of bull sacrifice can also be seen in the practice

The Virgin's Great Shadow

124

Moreover, to ensure the triumph of Cybele had the

brilliant idea of associating

and the emperor. In the emperor was

their religion, the priests of

Rome Roman

with the cult of

religion, the

dead

(ceremony of the apotheosis) and then wor-

deified

shipped in the same

Roman

official

it

way

as the other gods. Far

practice, the priests of Cybele

from scorning

went further and presented

this

their god-

dess as the protector of the emperor, thereby incorporating the his-

with the god-son, something that the Latin mentality

torical figure

did not find objectionable. Soon, the goddess adopted the

name

Cybele Augustus, and the priests obtained an important place in the municipal cult of the emperor. This speaks volumes about the significance of the bull-sacrifice

ceremony. In the year 160 an that time,

was

Anthony was it

offered for the

a devotee of the

was conceivable

Roman

precisely

would become

the

as “savior” of the world, the regen-

and the model of

which was

of Gods, and during this time

Empire, making the emperor the son of

dition. This strengthened the

origin,

Mother

He was promoted

erator of nature,

up to

“emperor’s salvation.” Emperor

that the worship of Cybele

religion of the entire

the goddess.

official bull sacrifice, the first

life,

like Attis in

concept of a

what

mythological tra-

human mediator

of divine

the Christian message revealed in

an entirely different context. Here again we find a response to a pro-

found request from people haunted by the idea of a salvation that could be both collective and individual. All this largely spills over the cal speculation. This

was denoted by

new

narrow framework of metaphysi-

religious attitude

permeated daily

a precise solar-based calendar that

life

and

gave a privileged

position to spring, the season of renewal, and hence the resurrection.

The

Believers

great matriarchal festivals began

were expected to observe

marked by absolute sexual

place.

A

March 21 tree

was

Ides of

one-week period of mourning

dawn on

the day of the spring

or 22, the Procession of the Pine

cut

March.

abstinence. Something of this remains in

the Christian Lent. Then, before

equinox,

a

on the

down by

would take

the priests, the dendropbores (leaf

The Mother of God

and adorned with

bearers),

was carved on one of

tion of Attis

ized

its

branches.

mummy;

a depic-

The

symbol-

tree

prepared for the funeral ceremony.

himself,

Attis

strips of cloth like a

125

Once

prepared, the tree was led in procession to the temple of Cybele,

where

it

was

erected.

It

remained exposed for three days and two

guarded by worshippers

nights,

and

real dirges

The

who

expressed their despair in fune-

plaintive songs.

Festival of

Blood took place on March 24. The most exalted

of the faithful slashed their shoulders and arms to water the pine

with their blood and thus share in the god’s passion. The pine was

down

then taken

into a cellar of the temple,

and

a long vigil

began

during which the faithful achieved their purification. (Something of this survives in

Masonic

rites, in

particular the sojourn that neo-

On

morning

phytes

make

light of

dawn, when the rays of the sun began penetrating the depths

in the

Tomb.)

of the sanctuary, 3 the

on

a parade

the following

young god

bed arranged

resuscitated

was seen

in the first

stretched out

at the feet of Cybele’s statue.

One

of the

faithful played this highly desired role.

This was the opening of the day of Hilaria, that of universal

The images of Cybele and

drawn by four

a cart

cross, the

The

solstice sunrise of

certain megalithic

first

summer

monuments

youngest 4.

The

if

cymbalists,

players,

New

Grange tumulus

in France).

would

in Ireland,

These monuments were

strike the

some Christian churches, where

someone had sought

in

singers,

Stonehenge

built in

such a

in

way

back of the central chamber. There the sun, passing through the stained

moment

of the day. This

to “harness” the solar energy in

its

purest and

state.

pastoral staff can be seen again

for the cross (already visible as a it

up

procession followed

glass, strikes the altar stone or this or that statue at a given

takes place as

set

or winter played a significant role in connection with

(the

ray of the rising sun

are equivalents in

An amazing

and tambourine

England, Dissignac-Saint-Nazaire that the

were

horses; they carried the pastoral staff of the

symbol of command. 4

consisting of flute

3.

Attis (in Phrygian bonnet)

joy.

would become

monastery.

among

the priests and

monks

symbol of power and command

of Christianity.

As

in megalithic carvings),

the distinctive sign of the Christian bishop and the abbot of a

The Virgin’s Great Shadow

126

torchbearers, and priests and priestesses clad in white and in

crowned

gold surrounding the high priest, the Archigalle, in his purple pal-

The procession made

its

way through

stopping at the temples of

all

the other gods, demonstrating that

lium.

Cybele and Attis were superior to them

the streets of the

—

logically

city,

enough, as

Cybele was the Mater Deum. The day ended with luxurious banquets at which alcoholic beverages flowed in great torrents, which certainly

had an

effect

on the

orgiastic behavior of the participants

throughout the following night. 5

These

feasts

their length

and

form the apex of the matriarchal their solemnity.

But the secret part of the worship

of Cybele should not be forgotten. initiation

The “mysteries,” meaning

the

ceremonies reserved for neophytes, took place on March

The neophytes underwent

28.

liturgy in both

tests

about which we have

information but that included sacrifices and a period of nence. Sacrificial blood

may have been

spilled over the

phytes as some sort of baptism. They

communal meal

them

may have

little

strict absti-

young neo-

partaken of a

to the divine family, as

was

practiced in Eleusis with the sharing of bread and wine. There

may

that admitted

have been a mystical marriage of the new the

Gods (and human

initiate to the

beings) in the nuptial

Mother

of

chamber of Cybele,

a

cave reached by following a long, winding path. 6 In any event, dur-

5.

The

festivals of

Carnivale share this same concern of celebrating the renewal of

through great displays of joy and orgiastic aspects

all

life

the vital impulses of the individual. But once their

have been stripped away, the matriarchal processions can be recognized

quite easily in the Christian processions that travel

from

“altar of repose” to “altar of

repose” and from chapel to chapel at the time of Holy Saturday as well as on Corpus Christi. 6.

The mystical marriage of

a sexual nature) in

there

was

numerous pagan

in the

equivalents (even

Mother Goddess.

unknown woman embodying

noble sense of the word. But the mystical marriage

ture of Christianity, once in the reports of

many

cults of the universal

the union of the believer with an

Great Prostitute,

found

the neophyte to Cybele has

it

has been emptied

— theoretically— of

all

is

In

some of Babylon

Ishtar, the

also a fea-

sexuality, as

can be

Bernard de Clairvaux and other illustrious saints of their sub-

lime relations with the Virgin Mary.

The Mother of God ing the course of these ceremonies, the neophyte

was

identify with Attis. This

127

would formally

the guarantee that the neophyte

would

share in Attis’s resurrection.

The extraordinary evolution of

the Cybele cult

and the integra-

tion of the Mithraic bull sacrifice took place in a material frame-

work adapted honor of

to imperial

Roman

and her son-lover Tammuz; those honoring

Ishtar

Aphrodite and Adonis, as well as the mysterious Artemis

vowed

priest-lover,

retains

civilization: the ancient rites in

numerous

Isis

and

Osiris;

and even those of

and Hippolytus, her no

less

mysterious

to chastity. Racine’s tragedy about this last pair

features of

original story. But the cult

its

was

obviously an expression of a mythological outline, a metaphysical

human thought through

structure representing the evolution of

the

ages.

The

primitive

was

Beginnings,

divided into as in the a

dyad it

first

the

Great Goddess of the

represented alone. Before femininity became

with condemnation and suspicion, she was sometimes

tainted

and

Mother Goddess,

two feminine

figures,

viewed as mother and daughter,

myth of Demeter and Kore. The dyad of an

elder goddess

younger goddess symbolized the renewal of the former. This is

common

to Greek,

can also be found

in

Roman, and Etruscan mythologies, but

Japan with the goddess Amaterasu,

often accompanied by her double. Because Amaterasu deity, the

dyad involves the image of the

setting

is

who

is

a solar

sun (Amaterasu her-

prolonged by the rising sun.

self)

Once

the transition

from the

original matriarchy to patriarchy

occurred, the daughter became a son; the myths became those of

and

Osiris,

Cybele and

Venus and Adonis, Attis.

Ishtar

These myths are

and Tammuz, and

identical, involving,

Isis

finally

according to

Przyluski, a “descent into hell that suggests death followed by a resurrection,

and

a

dyad formed by two

deities of different age.

But

whereas Demeter and Kore are two goddesses, Astarte and Adonis are of different sexes.

dyad

We

have therefore moved past the female

to the two-sex couple.

It is

the application of the principle

The Virgin's Great Shadow

128

that fertility requires the union of both sexes.”" Previously, fertility

was

domain of

believed to be the exclusive

Thus, there

must be taken

is

a constant in the

into account

and

reborn,

is

centuries of Christianity that

first

when we examine

Mary: the widespread image of tragically

making

of humanity. This image of the

a female deity

God, who was portrayed during

after

almost total

the

savior son dies

Roman Empire

is

The

testifies to this.

surrounded by male apos-

place for

women,

of

mysterious

elimination

Magdalene and what the Gospels

God-Son

the figure of Jesus, son of

his life as

left little

the

whole

collective unconscious.

The Christian message emphasized

This androcratic message

whose

Mother Goddess and

success of the worship of Cybele in the

tles.

the role of the Virgin

possible the resurrection of the

an archetype, a property of the

clearly

the female. 8

the

group of

call the

especially

Mary Holy Women. A

reading of the canonical Gospels, however, leaves no doubt as to the

importance of the female element Jesus.

Most

crucial of

all,

group of those following

in the

God had

the son of

woman’s womb. Whoever she may have been,

to be born

this

woman

mation

with the picture of her furnished by the rare

in these

Church had

same canonical

to find a solution to the

of Jesus, and

One way

texts.

a

acquired

considerable importance in the eyes of the faithful and had

common

from

little

in

bits of infor-

or another, the

problem raised by the mother

did exactly that at the Council of Ephesus in 431,

it

when Mary was

declared Theotokos,

Mother

of God.

This decree, perhaps one of the most important in the religious life

of the West,

a very concrete

was immediately extended

and

practical way.

It

into popular

worship

in

answered an unconscious desire

of the faithful haunted by the image of the Mater

Deum. As Lederer

explains:

7. J. Przyluski, 8.

The

La Grande Deesse

(Paris: Payot,

reversal of the matriarchal tendency,

of the Celts (Rochester,

aware of

his

own

1950), 163.

which

I

Vt.: Inner Traditions, 1986),

role in procreation.

in

Women

the male

became

have analyzed at length occurred

when

The Mother of God

make

Alleged portraits of the Virgin began to

One is

by Empress Eudoxia

Pulcheria,

icon

their appearance.

of them, the Hodegetria attributed to Saint Luke,

said,

who had

was given

the point that the

army

the Infant Jesus

her,

it

on

as once

Cybele. 9 At the beginning of the

churches to

to

C.E.

sent,

it

her sister-in-law

of intense adoration for centuries, to

carried

campaign against the enemy,

icate

438

was

placed in the church of Constantinople. The

it

own brand

its

in

129

a chariot

was done with

fifth century,

and during the

became one of

when going on

a

the effigy as

people began to ded-

sixth century,

Madonnas with

the favorite subjects of Christian

iconography. The symbolic colors are the same as those used for icons of the goddess; even the accoutrements

wears a crown of

upon

the

stars

and

moon; and she

is

seem

familiar:

Mary

a star-covered cloak; her feet are placed

strangely reminiscent of the effigies of

Aphrodite. She sometimes carries an ear of wheat, like the Virgin of Epis (Spica Virgo), or to Ishtar, treading

is

upon

accompanied by the dove that was dear

had

the serpent that

until this time

been

invariably associated with representations of the goddess; her his-

tory teems with legend that had once been those of Ishtar or Juno. 10

This

is

how

the high figure of the Virgin Mary,

was

thus mother of God,

One

thing

is

certain:

injected into Christian devotion.

You cannot speak

members do not understand. The

it

to a people in a language

internal structure of the collective

unconscious needs concrete images, and

them when

mother of Jesus and

it

seems necessary to supply

wants them, although sometimes the original mean-

have been changed. De Smet, a Belgian Catholic

ings

priest,

observes:

9.

According to the tenth-century document Annales Cambriae, the fabled King Arthur,

who

is

Badon

based on a historical figure of

c.

500

C.E.,

won

the three-day battle of

against the Saxons because he had an effigy of the Virgin

Mary

carried in front

of his troops. 10.

W.

Lederer,

Gynophobia ou ,

la

peur des femmes

(Paris: Payot,

Mount

1970).

The Virgin's Great Shadow

130

Although guided from the very

on

tion typifies

own

its

interior of Christianity, this devo-

three currents: Jewish (the daughter of

Zion), early Christian (Our

Mother

the Church),

and pagan

(the

goddess). In fact, the nostalgia for the feminine deity and the adoration of maternity is

impossible to extirpate

the

human

Conforming

completely.

it

heart and against dogma, the cult of the

eventually prevailed.

became the

.

.

.

The Artemis of

“great, glorious,

the

But

most noble of

this

human

the

all

Isis

the goddess of

law of

the Ephesians thereby

the

fills

fertility,

love,

most

Horus

returns with

known

those history has

in

and beauty,

11 .

concerns the folk image of the goddess, which lurks in

subconscious and whose functions, on a primary and

concrete level, are above

The problem

all

it.

Jesus, as

only Son born once and for

all,

with Tammuz, Adonis, or

and

sexuality, reproduction,

the church fathers faced

while going beyond

cal

to the

it

Mother of God

religion of nature

glaring gap in the religion of salvation.

Mary becomes

heart that

and sublime Mother of God.” The

most beautiful flower from the

her arms.

human

so deeply rooted in the

is

God

was accepting

fertility.

this

image

incarnate and especially as the

could not, however, be fully identi-

Attis. In

following up a Greek philos-

ophy, Christianity had taken on the task of spreading the idea of transcendence. Also, the necessary but ambiguous image of the goddess

had

“All that

to be refined,

Mary

if

not rendered sublime, as de Smet explains:

could not reuse from the dark and destructive figure

of the goddess, principally her sexual worship, the church fathers, the Councils, theologians,

appearance of a

and preachers then took by giving

living, spiritual

being

who opposed

God: Satan .” 12 Hence the emphasis placed on ing the very

common

11. A. de Smet,

La Grande Deesse nest pas morte

12. Ibid., 178.

it

the

the Virgin and

reutilizing

and extend-

representation of the Virgin crushing the head

(Paris, 1983).

The Mother of of the snake or the dragon.

Hence

the emphasis placed

and the foolish

ble of the wise virgins

with

virgins,

God

131

on the para-

all

the associa-

tions triggered by such a fundamental opposition. Hence, even, the

curious relationship in astrology between the sign of Virgo and the sign of Scorpio, the Virgin assuming an ambivalent

meaning (pure

Virgo and Virgo-Scorpio), which shows the difficulty in considering the Great Goddess of the Beginnings in anything but her totality.

A ible

form of dualism

developing.

is

with the Mother of

God

is

What

cast into the

sulfurous appearance of the Enemy. Giving

of a horned or monstrous deity enables a

appears to be incompat-

shadows, taking on the

him

him

the disturbing guise

to act as a kind of

foil,

mediating object intended to externalize and concentrate the base

impulses of the subconscious. Once those have been extracted from the subconscious

and

objectified, they

dangerous. But this dark side

is

become

less virulent

and

not thereby annihilated. In

less

fact,

it

returns in force, although quite marginalized. Przyluski observes:

The witchcraft beliefs

and

trials

of the Middle Ages reveal a curious set of

practices, or

Christian elements.

pagan remembrances combining with

The witches’ Sabbath took place

places under the invocation of Diana role of the

god of sun and

ual: there

is

moon, and

light.

The Sabbath

the orgy that brings

it

to a close

Lucifer,

Here the dualism

a tangible connection

night.

and

who

is

in deserted

played the

astral

and

between Diana, witches, the

recalls the ancient mysteries, is

sex-

and

related to the ancient ceremonies

13 of the cult of the Great Mother.

In this

way

the path

dental goddess.

13. Ibid., 167.

was

cleared to

make Mary

the great transcen-

Worship of the Virgin

O

ne of the essential characteristics of Christianity, at least in

Catholic and Orthodox formulations, given by the faithful to figures ileged place in a

who It is

incontestably the worship

are not divine but

presumed hierarchy

particularly the Virgin Mary.

is

its

—generally the

also the chief

occupy a

saints,

priv-

but most

bone of contention

between Catholics and Protestants when they seek,

in a laudable

display of ecumenism, to restore their original unity. It is

indeed difficult to reconcile the two extreme positions, one

seeking to maintain direct contact between the created and the divine creator without the help of any intermediary, not even the

pastor (Calvinism and Lutherism), the other defending the role that

some intermediaries can play between the priests in earthly

life,

On

are responsible for their acts before

waste praying or entreating figures

obligatory mediators cates of a sort ers

find

who

and who,

being and God:

the one hand,

if

human

beings

God alone and have no time who have been declared to

an arbitrary and relative fashion.

same individuals should

human

the saints (those privileged by Divinity) in

the world of supernatural realities.

saints in

the

On

to

be

the other hand, these

on the long road that leads to God

serve as examples, intercessors, or advo-

need be, are capable of showing the seek-

which way to go. This debate

is

more metaphysical than 132

theological; the question

—

,

Worship of the Virgin

is

whether

it is

selves or only

possible for

human

who

benefited from transcendental experience.

have already presumably

The

conflict,

distorted at the outset. Because Protestants are

than Catholics (asserting that the

God by them-

beings to grasp

through intermediaries

human

133

moreover,

is

more Augustinian

being can be saved only by

the intervention of supernatural grace), they refuse this aid, whereas

Catholics expect

it

and intentionally

to say, exercises of piety

—

in other

solicit

is

we must

scope

of

find our-

more current expression,

is

from resolved. Rather than attempting

far

a solu-

confine our analysis to a better understanding of the

the

Throughout

We

is

in very soft focus.

The problem tion,

through works that

words, worship.

selves completely fogged in; or to use a

everything

it

between

difference

and

Catholic

Protestant.

denomina-

Christianity, including all the Protestant

tions, salvation

and transcendence are envisioned through the exer-

worship: the most bare-bones possible for Protestants, the

cise of

most sumptuous

Roman

for the

Orthodox, and the most traditional for

Catholics. In whatever form, this worship

is, if

not an essen-

condition, at least an important one in the transcendental rela-

tial

tionship that the creature maintains creator.

Worship

lishing a rapport

worlds.

is

the

most

practical

and

common means

and dialogue between the

visible

are just the abstract

juggling concepts.

its

beliefs as truths.

brilliant intellectuals cut off

satisfy

from

invisible

to prop

Otherwise the

words of metaphysicians who spend

Mere concepts

for estab-

and the

The human mind needs concrete elements

convictions and to confirm

some

— or should maintain—with the up

its

beliefs

their lives

no one, except perhaps

daily

life

who

eventually find

themselves spinning in circles within the higher spheres of speculation.

Worship thus presents actions

as

an action

— or

a

series

of

— intended to establish a durable and permanent relationship

between the It is

itself

the

invisible

and the

embodiment of an

visible, the perfect

and the imperfect.

abstract thought not only in

which are very important, although not exclusively so

words

— but also

in

behavior: in other words, in a series of actions of a religious or

,

The Virgin's Great Shadow

134

magical nature. Despite the prohibitions of horrified

and

magic

religion overlap, especially in the Christian faith. But the border

between magic and religion to a prudent reservation:

a delicate topic, so

is

Magic

of

sists

knowing

it is

better to stick

consists of appealing to supernatu-

powers and compelling them

ral

priests,

obey

to

the designs of supernatural

with them. Amen. But what to say of

whereas religion con-

us,

this

powers and complying

command

magical

of the

Catholic priest that compels Jesus Christ to appear on the altar in

form of bread and wine?

the

Why

bother to

make something simple when you can make

complicated? The witticism

human mind.

nature of the

supports

whenever

it

tions, the

is

based on observation of the twisted

wants to deny the supernatural, but

It

finds the opportunity.

it

it

Under these condi-

worship of any religion appears to be a desperate attempt

to recover the lost primordial unity (no one

hence the symbolic value of original

makes up

tiplicity that

practices (as

same primitive and absolute

at the

dawn

of time, the

was

allow

is

to restore

lost,

humankind

state that characterized

humans

objective of any religion’s worship

first

give back to the creature

—to

it

through the mul-

sin) scattered

Mircea Eliade has shown well)

some way

knows how

the world. Just as the purpose of shamanic

to the

in

it

opening,

its

its

availability

,

its

is

“virginity”

by substitute methods, to contrive

it,

to

return to the alleged original purity, in other words paradise, and

its

all

the confused notions attached to this concept of paradise.

So worship ally

guarantees

aware of

all

its

effectiveness.

substitution. Religion gener-

obliges

human

become

weakness, but also, as Pascal said, their are great until

this.

it is

For them, salvation if

we have

passed

is

earned through

they gather to celebrate what they call

mainly to achieve “communion” among themselves,

not to establish a magical bond with God. This criticize

beings to

the stages of “smallness.” Hardly any but the Protestants

and not by works, and

“worship,”

It

we cannot know that we

have seriously doubted faith

means of

primarily a

their nature, their

greatness for

through

is

Catholics for

what

is

why

Protestants

the former perceive to be crazy supersti-

Worship of the Virgin

and

tions

to

veritable idolatry.

Ecumenism

be expected tomorrow, even

remains sincere. The nates

among

a ritual that

all

spirit of the

in its full realization

135

is

not

the desire for understanding

if

Reformation, which

still

was

the various Protestant denominations,

had become burdened by too many

predomito purify

heteroclite, even

clearly ridiculous, elements.

At the end of the Middle Ages, works had prevailed over and often appeared void of rule

— any

may

all

attempt to change

meaning. is

Now— and this

is

faith

a general

triggered by a radicalization that

not have been anticipated. The abandonment of the ceremonies

and worship of the approach. But

it

by the Protestants formed part of

saints

no way

in

ship of the saints as

it

wor-

invalidates the justification for the

was presented

in the early

this

Middle Ages.

Early Christianity was concerned primarily with maintaining the

memory

of the earthly presence of Jesus during fraternal assemblies.

Ecclesia

means “assembly” and nothing

else. It

God

the assembly convenes in this place or that;

where, and the message tradition.

One

human

spread by

is

often cited example

is

the

does not matter is

if

present every-

voices testifying to the

Roman

catacombs, where

Christians gathered to hide from prying eyes rather than to escape persecution.

They

felt

a need to be apart

from the world, to be

in a

zone of silence and meditation, so as to establish contact with the Divine more

easily.

But

this

allowed a revival of the idea of a

privi-

leged location, a sanctuary despite the instinctive Christian mistrust ,

of “temples” inhabited by It

what they

called false gods.

appears that since the earliest prehistoric times, humans have

continuously displayed their belief that certain capability than others to reunite heaven

and

sites

have a better

earth, offering better

conditions for the subtle and delicate exchanges that take place

between the

visible

and the

invisible.

The

clearing in the middle of the forest,

is

Gallic nemeton, the sacred

one example. But

in the

Mediterranean world, the “sacred groves,” the caves, the summits of

hills

and mountains, the

islands,

these sites, were propitious for

all

and then the buildings erected on kinds of theophanies (the visible

The Virgin’s Great Shadow

136

manifestations of a deity), as well as for inspiring the

human

being’s

passion for the divine.

And

despite the early Christians’ desire to break this habit,

notably through the contention that

God

is

present everywhere, they

did not escape the tendency to favor certain spots. Because they had

and placed

asserted the historical existence of Jesus Christ cific

it

in a spe-

country, they could not underestimate the exemplary value and

“holiness” of towns like Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem, for

they were naturally and obligatorily charged with imprints from the

Furthermore,

presence.

divine

by extension,

who

those

all

approached Christ, particularly the apostles, adopted the sacred charge of their teacher and became “saints” themselves. The places

where they

lived

and

traveled, the places

where they were martyred

or buried, obviously benefited from this mystical, not to say magical, aura.

Finally, the first martyrs,

than deny Christ and

who

meaning those who chose

loudly declared their association with the

“mystical body” of Jesus, and later the figures lives, in

to die rather

who

exemplary

led

turn became keepers of this aura, which, of course,

would

be transferred to the places where they had lived or spent time or

were buried. The worship of

saints

stemmed from

a desire to pre-

serve not relics in the strict sense of the term, but rather the physical

remnants

(bodies,

clothing,

(mystical aura) of Jesus Christ

him and

all

those

who had

objects)

and

all

or

remnants

spiritual

who had approached union with him. What

those

confessed their

has touched the divine becomes almost divine

itself,

or at least that

seems to be the assumption. This explains the origin of most of Christianity’s great sanctuaries,

given,

and

especially the

which most often concerned the

saints

and the Virgin Mary.

But the problem appears more complex than

normal and natural the Virgin

and the

they were founded dealing with a

for Christians to saints,

it

that.

While

it

is

found sanctuaries dedicated to

seems neither normal nor natural that

—especially

number

names they were

of rivals

by a young Christianity that was

—

in the sanctuaries of a

paganism

Worship of the Virgin

many

that clung tenaciously to

137

cultures. Nor, in a later period (fol-

lowing Theodosius’s edict making Christianity the sole religion of the empire), were these

same sanctuaries assiduously frequented by

the people before their conversion.

There were two possible solutions. The

first

consisted of simply

destroying the pagan edifices by laying a kind of ban on their installation; the

But the

second involved substituting the

first

solution

was most

places considered sacred

new worship

for the old.

often found to be impractical.

had always been so considered, and

it

The was

next to impossible to desanctify their value through the blackening of their reputation, most particularly by placing

patronage of diabolic powers. Thus

it

them under the

was eventually

the second

solution that prevailed, starting with the imperial territory and

spreading into the newly Christianized countries.

There are

many famous

or significant examples.

sanctuary of Mont-Saint-Michel

Mithraic temple that was consecrated

tuary

to

itself

the

is

located on the

situated

on the

“shining god,”

site

The Christian

site

of a former

of a Gallic sanc-

Belenos

1 .

In

Carnac

(Morbihan), the church dedicated to Saint Kornely replaced a sanctuary of the Gallic horned god Cernunnos built over

Langon

nificent

Notre-Dame

in Paris

was

an ancient pagan temple dedicated to a mother goddess. In

(Ille-et-Vilaine), the existing

patron saint of nursing mothers) ing the

2 .

Roman

era in

Gallo-Roman

from the waves),

after

is

the very building constructed dur-

honor of Venus fresco

chapel of Sainte-Agatha (the

(as

demonstrated by the mag-

showing the naked Venus emerging

having been a sanctuary dedicated to a myste-

rious “Saint” Vener or Venerand.

With respect

to

Our Lady

Chartres, the local clerical tradition loudly asserts that this

site

once

housed a sanctuary where the Druids honored a virgo paritura. list

1.

of similar cases

For more on

(Paris: 2.

A

to compile.

et I’enigme

du dragon

et I’enigme d’Atlantide (Paris:

Pygmalion,

Jean Markale, Le Mont-Saint-Michel

Pygmalion, 1987).

For more on

1987).

this, see

would be too long

of

this, see

Jean Markale, Carnac

,

The Virgin's Great Shadow

138

These substitutions, whatever the circumstances that inspired

may

them, whatever dates test.

be attributed to them, are difficult to con-

from the

Christianity inherited not only places of worship

gions that preceded fraternal

Communion,

the

was practiced during

the

but also cultural practices.

it

sharing of bread and wine,

reli-

Eleusinian mysteries and during the ceremonies worshipping Cybele.

This

is

but one element

ishes the strength it

did not

and

others,

which

in

no way dimin-

new

essential symbolic value of the

But

cult.

occur smoothly, especially because worship of the

all

Virgin and the saints

majority of

among many

whom

illiterate

needed images to support

imperative of religion

number. To do

was required of an

is

to

make

this, Christianity

human mind, which cannot

itself

had

way

to find a

The

to satisfy the

problem and transcend

isolate a

in the

their devotion.

understood by the greatest

This

out recourse to concrete intermediaries.

appeared immediately

populace, the

it

concrete

form of images, mainly

with-

quality

statues, that

were supposed to represent the hallowed deity or pious individuals. Such an attitude has often been considered idolatrous. easy charge to make, so

by

idolatry. Is

it

or the image?

it is

important to understand what

the magical belief that the If

so,

would

is

is

an

meant

present in the statue

the actual presence of Christ in the

Eucharist belong in this category?

“medium” intended

god

It is

Is

it

only a symbolic object, a

to facilitate meditation

and

prayer, that has been

charged with an entirely moral significance? Polytheism has often

been derided because of the ambiguity of the term idol which means simply “image.” Polytheism belief in

the

deities are

its

who

is

one, indivisible, and

unknow-

absolute existence. Only Calvinist Protestantism has

rejected this attitude across the

figure,

identity; in reality,

merely concrete representations of the social

functions imputed to a deity

rilege.

accordingly understood to involve

numerous gods, each with an individual

numerous

able in

is

board as superstition and even

Islam takes a more subtle position: While banning the it

sac-

human

accepts the symbolic decoration of geometrical motifs.

for Druidism, before

it

was contaminated by

the Mediterranean

As

reli-

Worship of the Virgin

gions,

all

testimonies concur that though

imprisoning deities in animal or

human

139

rejected the idea of

it

form,

authorized

it

not

if

encouraged the famous simulacra that Caesar mentions with regard to the Gallic Mercury,

stone or

wooden

There

which were simple, nonfigurative blocks of

pillars.

one additional element

is

centuries of Christianity,

During the

in this debate.

first

and even long afterward, pagan images

became Christian images because of an analogy of form or function.

The medieval depiction broad

of the horned devil, for example, borrows

its

from Gallo-Roman representations of Cernunnos. The

lines

sculpted pairs of Cybele and Attis, Venus and Adonis were easily

transformed into Virgin and Child. Depictions of Demeter and Kore

were

easily

confused with groupings of Anne and Mary. As for the

countless matronae statues, the Gallic child

on her knee, they were easy

Mother Goddess holding

a

to pass off as the Virgin with the

Infant Jesus.

Furthermore,

in ancient times the discovery of a statue

was

always surrounded by miraculous elements that suggested divine intervention. These marvelous elements are of

The

first

two

kinds.

concerns the discovery of a statue thanks to the inter-

vention of an animal, usually a bovine. The scenario

A

steer continually

else stops at the

kneeling

can also tree.

wanders away to browse

same furrow

down when be a cow or

at the

it

to

budge but It

always moos at the foot of the same

who

witness

it.

find beneath the sod or furrow, or in the tree, a generally

shapeless or

Mary. As

same place or

move forward.

These actions excite the curiosity of the people

They then

quite specific:

in the field, refusing to

the farmer tries to get bull that

is

worn

statue that

someone

declares to be the Virgin

Saillens notes:

Such legends invariably remind us that we once worshipped

who was

with

cow

bull,

and the horned god Cernunnos.

horns, Cybele,

Isis

associated with the Mithraic

spontaneously born several times, but

It is it

true that a

myth can be

also true that the bovine,

140

The Virgin's Great Shadow mythologies where

in the

worship.

It

it

figures,

always connected with Earth

is

held this role even as early as Neolithic times.

tradition can be maintained without

it

Now

a

being necessarily under-

stood any longer. Bullfights are one proof, as are the processions of fatted cows

3 .

The second kind of miraculous discovery It is

is

that of the “return.”

widespread throughout Europe. According to

The image having been discovered habitable

if

place where

who

it

it

This

it

it

to the parish, but the next

The

it

and well-known sanctuaries

never

to the local

morning it

it is

back

with cross

4 .

number

of

more or

less

important

—mainly dedicated to the Virgin. And,

of course, whatever reality there

may

be to the marvelous events sur-

rounding the finding of the magical image, the image sarily miraculous,

is

proves necessary to build a chapel

was found

the origin of a large

who

returns to the

priest goes in search of

flees again. It

exactly where

is

it

was found. The peasant then turns

carries

and banner, but it

deserted, even unin-

back home. During the night

in its original location.

for

some

not outright inaccessible spot, the finder,

a priest, brings

priest,

in

Saillens:

and cases can always be

itself is

neces-

cited of miraculous

who came to see how many of these

healings or the granting of simple wishes to those it

on pious pilgrimage. But on further

“miraculous”

reflection,

images were only pagan representations, mainly

mother goddesses, abandoned or buried

at the

whim

of circum-

stance and rediscovered most often out of the desire to maintain the

connection between the ancient beliefs and the new? People are not

fond of absolute innovations and always need to connect with an ancient tradition; this bears testimony to permanence and thus con-

veys a certain sense of security.

3. E. Saillens,

4. Ibid., 58.

Nos

Vierges noires (Paris: Universelles, 1945), 57.

Worship of the Virgin

It

141

goes without saying that these “finds” and the recourse to

images, even those that conformed to official Christianity, were not

always totally accepted by the sacerdotal leadership. For a long time

between town and country, the

there

was antagonism on

latter

considered inhabited by pagani with their nostalgia for pre-

this point

Christian cults. In fact, in most of the regions subject to

save on

trol,

its

the northern

and western areas of Great

many

Britain), the Christian reli-

itself essentially in

reasons for

the

this, in particular the

towns and

and the municipal nature of urban

Gallo-Roman towns were still

vital

still

life .

5

was

it

from the south

But the outskirts of the

virgin ground,

because

cities.

revelation of the

evangelical message through the agency of merchants

paganism was

con-

northwesternmost borders (Armorican Brittany and

gion spread and established

There are

Roman

and the aftermath of

integrated into rural

life itself

(whose conservative tendencies are well known). Furthermore, as a temporal organization, the

Church had borrowed administration. This

is

all

Roman

Catholic

the machinery of the imperial

why, following the disappearance of

Roman Roman

power, only the Church was able to present a consistent, even mono-

appearance

lithic

ing with

it

barbarians

them

ital

(the alliance of Clovis

who had

into the

Rome was

Germanic “barbarians” then work-

in face of the

with the bishops against the other

converted to Arianism), and finally integrating

Gallo-Roman context. But

the capital of Christendom, as

this it

was

possible because

had once been the cap-

of the temporal empire, and because Christianity had

become

urbanized. In spite of missions like that of Saint-Martin de Tours,

5.

The domain

that remained purely Celtic

would be found urbanization; the

from

Rome

—or

Because

it

rural,

and no large settlements

there before the Viking invasions. Celtic society traditionally avoided

phenomenon from Lyon,

of nonurbanization occurred in the zones farthest

capital of the

another form of Christianity evolved Celtic.

was primarily

had no urban

vestiges of Druidism. For

in these

traits,

it

Roman same

Gauls. In tandem, oddly enough,

regions, one that

was permeated by

may

be classified as

ancestral traditions, notably

more, see Jean Markale, he Christianisme celtique

vivances populaires (Paris: Imago, 1984).

away

et ses sur-

The Virgin's Great Shadow

142

rural areas

were

left

to their

own

between former

subtle mergers

devices; they

were where the most

and the new practices were

rituals

accomplished.

—most

particularly

marked by

the archaic

Under pressure from the masses, however the Eastern populations that were deeply cults of the

Mother Goddess and various

following physical death

deities

who were

—the papacy had to resign

itself

reborn

to accept-

ing worship of images as symbolic representations of the divine or sacred. Because

it

was thought

rather than see

it

maintained clandestinely or in some marginal

people

hope of

all, it

Christ. it

to the

same

who

in the flesh).

tuted exemplary support for the is

and altered

new

through

it

his

The worship of images evil therefore consti-

religion’s diffusion,

working

called the substitution of worships.

But the new converts

in the

intellectualized, long

ration of

the old

will allow us,

formerly untainted by any sense of idolatry as

more

in

retained the metaphysical meaning that gave

example, to claim resurrection

what

Church hierarchy

zeal in favor of the Virgin

The new message overlay

strength (a Savior has been born

gently to effect

and chan-

Cybele and Attis in good faith and

their salvation displayed the

certain details, but

better to incorporate

was no inconvenience

who had honored

Mary and Jesus

its

to root out this ancestral behavior

it

fashion. After if

was impossible

belief,

from popular nel

it

towns, whose religious fervor was

remained

hostile not only to all incorpo-

pagan images, but even to the use of purely Christian

images, which were reputed to be dangerous because they were too evocative of a past that

still

clung tenaciously to

life

in the

mind. In

the year 835, a council convened in Paris by Charlemagne’s son Louis the Pious reprimanded

Pope Adrian

for

recommending the worship

of images. Like Charlemagne, Louis the Pious had to deal with the

resurgence of paganism; both were responsible for edicts banning the worship of stones, springs, and trees, a clear indication of a

return in strength of pre-Christian practices. Charlemagne ordered the destruction of a large

mens

number

of sacred stones, menhirs, and dol-

scattered across his territory.

They had begun

to cause offense

Worship of the Virgin

to the official

worship of the Church, of which the emperor was the

chief propagator

and zealous defender. The Council of

prevail against the pontifical decisions,

accept in turn, for good or

We

143

and the French clergy had

to

the extension of worship to images.

ill,

can be quite certain that

Paris did not

were a large number

at that time there

of “finds” of statues buried in the ground or hidden in trees, which

people hastened to recognize as representations of the Virgin Mary. This completely natural confusion has been a constant occurrence even into the present day,

when

it is

possible to scientifically

date archaeological finds with precision. In his

work

Sainte Vierge en Afrique, Father Delattre provided tic

examples of

A

this confusion.

statue representing a

woman

not doubt for an instant that

two

characteris-

holding a child on her knees. it

la

Maltese native had brought him a

was

a Virgin

showed him

his archaeologist friends

Quite de

it

and Child

He

until

did

one of

was an Isis-Horus group

from the Alexandrian period. At the home of another native of Malta

neighborhood,

in a working-class

had noticed

a perpetually illuminated

this

lamp

same Father Delattre

in front of a statuette.

This he instantly recognized as a Carthaginian Tanit of the third century B.C.E. and thought

it

wise to alert the owner to

the gentleman responded, “It doesn’t matter,

church,

it is

I

its

had

But

identity. it

blessed at

completely Christian now”!

This speaks volumes about the permanence of images and worship,

and especially about the serenity with which

lations

make

should

we

the transition

from one

religion to another.

think of this opinion of Gregory of Tours

century), in a letter addressed to eral Christians

who

the official orthodoxy

not really the best

pagan survivals

in

popu-

And what

(in

the sixth

Queen Brunehaut, concerning

sev-

“raced to churches and yet continued, abomi-

nation, to give worship to

is

different

reduced to the rank of the demonic, which

is

way the

Pyrenees native by the

demons”? Everything not recognized by

to get rid of these alternative beliefs, as the

form of witchcraft show

name

of Vigilance,

who

decisively.

died in 410,

A

was

indignant at the sight of the faithful worshipping images in the Holy

The Virgin's Great Shadow

144

Land, where he had gone on pilgrimage.

lodged a complaint with

make him

Even

inside

Church there could be disagreement on the worship of the

saints

Saint Jerome,

the

who

He

and the Virgin Overly

tried vainly to

in particular.

realistic

in the Pharsalia

morphic representations

much more

adds so

however,

representation,

power of images. The sacred needs Lucan wrote

see reason.

lessens

sacred

the

surrounded by mystery, as

to be

concerning the absence of anthropo-

in the sacred clearings of the Druids: “It

to the terrors of not

knowing

the gods

whom

one should dread.” This idea was shared by numerous church fathers,

and

it

was only under popular pressure

that they resigned

themselves to representations of the Virgin and the saints and then

encouraged their worship. This

Roman

Catholicism and Greek Orthodox, claims to be within the

grasp of everyone (although tuals certain notions that if

the It

because Christianity, at least

is

it is

Church has always

was

it

reserves for theologians

difficult

intellec-

not to classify as esoteric, even

officially refused to

a matter, then, of using

and

admit

it).

images to spread ideas, because

the images were better able than theological analyses or homilies to

help the primarily uneducated masses understand the finer points of the Christian religion. In this sense, the cathedral the

Middle Ages, and

its

was

the

Book

of

simple language requires no translation.

Sometimes, however, images do require commentaries and interpretations; even

though they never

being no longer understood social

lose their original power, they risk

when

mentalities adapt to changing

and cultural contexts.

It is

within these complex and problematic circumstances that

the history and significance of the Virgin stood. Three essential dates

mark

Mary

cult should be under-

off the historical journey: 431, the

Council of Ephesus and the definition of the Theotokos; 1854, the

proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception; 1950, the proclamation of the certain that erations,

dogma

of the Assumption. But

it

is

quite

between these defining events there were many consid-

much

trial

and

error,

and many

hesitations.

Worship of the Virgin

The

church fathers, both Greek and Roman, never directly

first

confronted the problem of race.

The notion of

writings.

145

To

Mary and

human

her uniqueness in the

the Immaculate Conception never arises in their

the contrary, while recognizing the holiness of the

“woman” Mary,

they strove to reduce her by making her the ser-

vant of the Lord, a very convenient subordinate position that

Mary had merely obey God, we should take

avoids the fundamental ontological question.

obeyed God; and, as

Mary

as

all

creatures should

an example of obedience, submission, and humility

in

order to comply, under the best possible conditions, with the mys-

God has drawn for us and the universe. It is for we should honor Mary, mother of God, and accord

terious plan that this

reason that

her justified worship.

Two

ideas were emphasized.

Mary’s purity

mony fectly

The

was

first

(the issue of virginity will

come

that of the Virgin

later), in

obvious har-

with the gynophobic tendencies of early Christianity understandable attitude, for

—a per-

needed to overcome the

it

Mother

eroticism of certain Eastern forms of worship given to the

Goddess.

If

Mary

could be confused with Ishtar and her successive

substitutes in the popular mind, then

sary to amputate from this

Ishtar

It

nated within the

womb

emphasized by the base

was all

was unacceptable

characterized her.

Mary was

new

it

the sexual elements that

that

of a promiscuous

text, the

quite obviously neces-

God

could have incar-

woman, and

this

was

Gospel of Luke, which stressed that

betrothed to Joseph after she found herself pregnant;

Joseph’s doubts and anger in this regard are quite revealing.

The position

of the church fathers

was thus

perfectly clear: For

one to accept that “Mary had been covered by the shadow of

God”

—

in other

that she be all

more or

words, the Holy Ghost

—

it

was absolutely necessary

removed from the retinue of the goddesses of less erotic

and

all

more or

less

antiquity,

suspected of numerous

copulations (which was logical, given that they were primarily tility deities).

his prayers,

“You and Your mother,”

“You alone

said Saint

Ephraim

in

fer-

one of

are totally beautiful in every respect; for in

146

The Virgin's Great Shadow

You,

O

Lord, there

mother.” This

is

is

no

stain,

and there

no pollution

is

in

Your

only one prayer and a gratuitous assertion, but

it is

perfectly consistent with the principle that the incarnation of Jesus-

God

is

a unique event in the history of the world. Jesus-God, even

if

he was born in strange and exceptional conditions, could not share the birth of the other gods of pletely set apart

from the

pagan

antiquity, for he

had

to be

com-

earlier tradition.

Therefore, the image of the Virgin Mary, mother of God,

is

attached indelibly to the idea of6 purity, which leads to another

notion

—that of

And

chastity.

if

the Virgin

Mary

is

the

model

for

humanity, her chastity becomes exemplary and must be encouraged.

Hence

pronounced by

the sexual prohibitions

official Christianity,

hence the chastity demanded of priests insofar as they to laypeople,

who must

perpetuate the

creation of other elects for

Virgin

Mary and

new; the

—to

race

in contrast

and share

in the

—have chosen to serve God and the

thereby identify with their model. This

priests of

of chastity

God

human

—

Cybele castrated themselves

identify with the

god

nothing

— an extreme form and the

Attis,

is

priests of

Diana-Artemis observed celibacy and chastity because they were the theoretical husbands-sons of the goddess, tolerated any failing

The purity of

on

their part

the Virgin

fusion between her and

6.

Racine grasped

this

Mary was

necessary to avoid any con-

some Eastern goddess. The outcome, on

what

virginity,

without any

completely in his play Phedre with the character of Hippolyte. is

why

he so arrogantly

refuses the advances of his stepmother. But (and here Racine innovates

Euripides’ tragedy) Hippolyte her,

is

in love

with Aricie

thereby breaking the

vow

he became a priest of Diana-Artemis. This of

Neptune

—

the

that corresponded to" in terms of the defi-

This individual was sworn to the worship of Diana, and this

posed to marry

never have

.

one hand, was the assertion of her physical clear idea as to just

who would

in reality, negative forces

is

(a

Racinian creation) and

of chastity that

why

on

his is

model,

even

dis-

was imposed on him when

he perishes, victim of the vengeance

unleashed by Diana-Artemis to punish him for

his transgression. 7.

I

have examined at length the possible meanings of the word virgin

ditions, particularly the

Hebrew,

in

Jean Markale,

Women

in the different tra-

of the Celts (Rochester,

Vt.:

Worship of the Virgin

147

on the other hand, was an incitement

nition of the Theotokos; and,

to the chastity of the faithful, priests mainly, through the completely

understandable identification of the priest with the deity

and thus moral plane, there was the prohibition

social

cast

the guilt associated with sexual relations outside marriage

ered merely a stopgap measure

— and the

antifeminism that

is

on

sex,

—considsince

has led to an

sin. All this

idea that prevailed in the creation of the

worship of the Virgin was the

parallel

drawn between

the image of

Eve, an Eve

who

purified or preserved (the subtle distinction between these

two

Mary and

the image of Eve.

Mary became

mony

new

the

who would

terms had not yet been reached) and

woman

will save the world.” This

tion of continuity along with transcendence.

who

is

the

redeemed

permits, through her consensual and exemplary maternity,

had already been born of Cybele

was drowning not

in perdition (this

in sterility, the preface to

myth

in the

the solemn asser-

is

Mary

the redemption of the world by the Son. There Attis

restore the har-

“A woman doomed

of the world disturbed by original sin:

the world, a

Eve

the

sometimes tinged with fanaticism.

The second important

was

On

women, who

exile of

Eve have been held responsible for human

8 .

nothing

to regenerate a

word

is

new

here;

world that

typically Christian) but

death and destruction. The same was true

of Demeter and Kore, in which a “young girl” kid-

napped by Hades-Pluto was the mination.

is

symbol of annual

naturalistic

The pagan myth featured

ger-

notion of a cyclical

the

regeneration in rhythm with the cosmos. In the Christian myth, history

is

inscribed in a linear fashion. In this sense, Christianity can

claim to be outside time and space because

Inner Traditions, 1987), 127-33. Virgin

is

a strong, free,

mediator between

human 8.

race

— and

and

proposes an abstract

Most important, beyond any

available

God and humans is

it

woman, which

fits in

— always attentive to

incapable of ignoring anyone

who

physical qualities, the

with the idea of

all

Mary

as a

her children, to the entire

turns to her in need.

This was accentuated from the eleventh to twelfth century

in the theoretical

and

lit-

erary discussions on courtly love, in which the Lady, the secular image of the Virgin

Mary, was invested with

a certain portion of the

miraculous aura. For more on

Jean Markale, Courtly Love (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2000).

this, see

The Virgin’s Great Shadow

148

drama

version of the cosmic

on both a planetary and

that plays

a

constellational scale.

And

all

—that

of this has been bistoricized

or less artificially in a time that

memory is

Christian teaching or texts into

this

if

presumed

from which

a privileged event

impossible to say

is

real, allegedly to fix in

future history will flow.

a function of the translation of

if it is

more

It

mental system belongs to the original

Aramaic

Greek and then into Latin. One academic theory assumes

that the original Christian message,

the Jews,

all

to say, placed

is

who

was adapted

rejected

it,

which was incomprehensible

no longer needs

to

show proof because

to it

to the Greco-Latin philosophy, by the Socratic schools

in particular. This

would explain

mental myth, whereas

this

myth,

the historicization of the funda-

like all

myths, would be integrated

into another mentality entirely differently, as exemplified by the British-Irish version ;

Christianity

Roman

On

is,

it

was not

for nothing that this so-called Celtic

was attacked and annihilated by

ideology.

question

9

Of

course, this

is

only an academic theory. The

as noted, impossible to resolve.

this linear scale,

two fundamental events oppose each

Listen again to Saint Ephraim:

and Eve, were equal

“Two

in all respects.

innocents, both simple,

But

later,

cause of our death, the other the cause of our

De came faces of

Cbristi, said nearly the

one

the keepers of the

reality; neither

like the purest

same

thing.

the one

other.

Mary

became the

life.” Tertullian, in his

Eve and

Mary

could exist without the other.

are It

two

seems

dualism. Indeed, these are almost the words of Pascal

when

he declares that thanks to Christ, humankind’s greatness

in its

redemption. Pascal appears to be saying that without the

lies

redemption, humans would be insignificant beings with no metaphysical breadth, satisfied with just being and not becoming. But Christ,

God made human,

allows humanity to cross over the stage

of passivity to reach the stage of action: a formidable privilege, and

one that gives Mary

9.

See Jean Markale,

all

her meaning and her fullness.

Le Cbristianisme

celtique (Paris: Imago, 1984).

The redemp-

— Worship of the Virgin tion cannot be spoken of without referring to the one

possible

who made

it

—Mary.

This

what

is

the church fathers grasped

much importance tions,

149

to the

especially

Theotokos.

If

its

Eve

is

Marian

and

images,

this

to assess all the consequences that stem

meaning of

life

on earth

in

terms of

While Eve and Mary are two the negative aspect

and Mary

tional distinction

marked by

moment

is

is

one

sides of

human,

the

is

it is

easy

with regard to the

usefulness

its

Mary

beings,”

this

of the

definition

also a

from

manifesta-

and purpose.

reality,

Eve appears as

as the positive aspect. This opposi-

them

the attitude of each of

at the

of the fundamental choice (which implies from the outset

the existence of free will). Eve the fruit

the

human

God

they accorded so

all its visible

finally

the “mother of

“mother of God.” But given that

and

cult

when

was under

a prohibition:

Do

not eat

from the Tree of Knowledge. The demand was therefore

already negative. She responded to the temptations of the serpent

who is not Satan at all but rather the of human beings, with their defects, acts positively

personification of the free will curiosity,

and questions

—and

toward the serpent but negatively toward God and

God’s prohibition.

It

remains to be seen

if

this prohibition

was not

a snare (“Lead us not into temptation,” says explicitly the Lord’s

Prayer, the primordial prayer of

but in the

wrong

Was Eve free

sense,

and that

all

Christianity). Free will

disharmony

led to

worked,

in the world.

responsible for this disharmony? Yes, because she

was

—not because the divine plan foresaw that humanity had to sink

into

disharmony before being redeemed by another woman, the

Virgin of virgins,

first

creature and perpetual guardian of the “infer-

nal marshes.” In one sense, Eve

was necessary so

help save humanity, in the same

himself

(in

because he

myth, because the

made

it

way

reality

Mary

could

that Judas Iscariot justifies

was something

else entirely)

possible for the execution of Jesus to occur. In

the world of relativities, there are always

tory sides, because without these sible to perceive.

that

What

gives

two

Mary

two generally contradic-

sides, reality

her greatness

would be imposis

the “pettiness”

The Virgin's Great Shadow

150

who saw

of Eve,

them

things only in the short term rather than foreseeing

in their timeless extent.

So

it

was necessary

oppose Mary to Eve, hence the

to

classic rep-

resentation of the Virgin crushing underfoot the head of the serpent

or the dragon of the depths. Without the serpent she crushes,

Mary

would have no power, no meaning, and no grandeur. The same true of Saint Michael,

who would

have no equivalent 10

dragon

figure in a perpetual struggle against the

is

he did not

if

Antagonisms,

.

even mythological ones, are always revealing of a concrete reality that,

by virtue of

tion. This

is

its

materiality, escapes the nonexistence of perfec-

more than obvious;

it is

God, would be nothing without God’s Gabriel’s request

Ghost-

— she

answered the request

woman.

am

the archangel

the servant of the Lord.”

Thus she

was not

a negative

But

positively.

prohibition, as in Eden;

it

After

was all,

this request

a positive request addressed to the

Mary

from

this

longer possible for

notion of a

Mary

essary to strip her of

all

new

would not have occurred.

Eve, or an anti- Eve,

to be an ordinary

woman.

First

Then, to accentuate her fundamental

to blacken

the

purity,

a

it

was no

was

nec-

from the

model of

was necessary

it

Eve by giving her the aspects customarily bestowed on

mother goddesses, who were

cruel, bloodthirsty,

yet played a maternal role, as did Eve for the entire parallel

it

the dubious colorations inherited

pagan worship of the Mother Goddess and turn her into purity.

And

could have answered no.

the redemption, humankind’s grandeur, Starting

To

action.

—the voice of God and manifestation of the Holy

answered, “I

free will of a

Mary, mother of

a golden rule.

drawn between Eve and Mary was

erotic

human

race.

and

The

crucial both for coun-

tering the rhetoric of paganism’s maternal deities

ing the unique nature of the Virgin Mary.

and

and

Mary was

for highlight-

the one

mother

whom

of a single

God and

a single humanity, the

hoped was

fraternal

and the one from which the Cathars asserted

that the

10. See

J.

humanity

world would be saved only when the

Markale, Le Mont-Saint-Micbel

et

last soul

Venigme du dragon.

Jesus

found salva-

— ,

Worship of the Virgin tion. Instead of being

Mary

the Virgin

would hold But

an epiphenomenon

in the Christian doctrine,

occupies a primordial place: Without her, nothing

together.

was

this

all grist

for the mill of theological discussion. For

these sometimes arduous notions to be understood, they

presented in a simplified form placed in the context of the that

is

151

had

to be

dogma

to say, in the context of incomprehensible verities that every

member blindly.

of the faithful obligatorily believes and, in fact, believes

was

It

therefore essential to graft the wording of the

onto customs, practices, and

feelings, those relating to

dogma

maternity

being the most widespread and the most accessible to the greatest

number

of people. And, of course, ritual provided an opportunity to

give greater precision to certain phrases of the

Starting in the seventh century in the a feast

was

instituted to celebrate the

dogma.

Greek churches of the East,

Conception of Saint Anne, or

the passive conception of Mary. This feast soon

moved

into south-

ern Italy and into Great Britain as the Conceptio Beatae Virginis.

But

this

could not have happened were

whom the

ure about

it

not for the agency of a

fig-

Gospels say nothing, the mother of Mary, Saint

Anne. The Protoevangelion of James, which was rejected as apocryphal by the Nicean Council, recounts her story with an extraordi-

nary wealth of

The

detail.

reference to the mysterious Saint

nothing more or she

whom

all

less

beyond

important. She

peoples honored under different names, and

But

it

in strength

was

less

who was

The East and Far East Beginnings. In India she

is

Rome

because

it

was impossible

to get

perilous to transform her into the

mother of the Virgin Mary than

be found again in

is

from the image of Mary to avoid any confu-

had returned

her.

is

than the image of the original Mother Goddess

definitively separated

sion. She

Anne

into the Virgin

Mary

are very familiar with the

herself.

Goddess of the

Annapurna, Anna the Provider. She can under the name Anna Parenna. But

in

between she had traveled through the Middle East under different names, such as Danae and Tanit, and she gave her name to the

Don

The Virgin's Great Shadow

152

On

and Danube Rivers. far

western

side, she

the other end of the ancient world,

the Irish

is

Dana, mother of the Gaelic gods, the

Tuatha de Danann. She can also be recognized

Don, where she

is

in Gallic tradition as

mother of the principal gods, and

also the

Armorican Breton tradition

name Anaon,

in the

Anne

who is

into the fea-

of the Protoevangelion, but Celtified to a certain

was presented

extent, for she

in

the “Departed,”

meaning “the people of Ana.” This Ana soon dissolved tures of

on the

woman

appearance of a Breton

in the

married the Jew Joachim and, after the death of her husband,

supposed to have returned to die

The

Anne

figure of Saint

in her

own

land.

both simple and complex. The

is

woman who man of consider-

Protoevangelion describes her as a virtuous elderly

bemoans her

sterility.

Her husband, Joachim,

able wealth (which invalidates

is

a

the scenarios in

all

poor and Joseph a humble carpenter!

which Jesus was

—-these stories are just right for

bringing tears to the eyes of the simple folk). But Joachim earned the

scorn of the twelve Tribes of Israel for having no child.

He

requested the Lord to perform a miracle. For her part,

Anne

therefore

did the

same:

About

went down

the ninth hour she

there she

saw

a laurel,

and

sat

all-powerful Lord, saying:

grant

my

prayer, as

Thou

give her a son, Isaac.

beneath

O God

Woe

Because

and

I

I

is

me!

And

Who

its

womb

made

begot me?

of Sarah, and didst

a lamentation in herself,

And what womb produced me?

in the

presence of the sons of Israel,

have been reproached, and they have mocked

Woe

me and

gazing towards the heaven, she saw a

have become a curse

temple of the Lord.

And

shade, and prayed to the

of our fathers, bless

didst bless the

sparrow’s nest in the laurel, and saying:

to the garden to walk.

is

me! to what can

I

me

out of the

be compared?

I

am

not like the fowls of the heaven, because even the fowls of the

heaven are I

fruitful before

be compared?

I

am

Thee,

O

Lord.

Woe

is

me! to what can

not like the beasts of the earth, because even

the beasts of the earth are fruitful before Thee,

O

Lord.

Woe

is

Worship of the Virgin

me! to what can

be compared?

I

am

I

not

like these waters,

because even these waters are fruitful before Thee,

me! to what can

is

be compared?

I

because even the earth bringeth forth seth Thee,

Note

O

am

I

its

153

O

Lord.

Woe

not like this earth,

fruits in season,

and

bles-

Lord. 11

the essentially

pagan invocation

At

to the elements.

an angel of the Lord stands before her and

this point

tells her:

Anne, Anne, the Lord hath heard thy prayer, and thou shalt con-

and

ceive,

the world.

and thy seed

shall bring forth;

And Anne

responded: By the

if I

beget either male or female,

my

God; and

This was

it

shall be in

I

spoken of

in all

my

God,

as a gift to the

Lord

shall be life

will bring

His holy service

how Anne and Joachim became

of the Lord

it

all

the days of

parents of a

its life.

little girl

they

named Mary. Day by day old, her

stand,

grew stronger; and when she was

the child

mother

set

six

months

her on the ground to see whether she could

and she walked seven

steps then returned to the

bosom

of

her mother; and she snatched her up, saying: By the

life

my

bring thee into

God, thou

shalt not

the temple of the Lord.

and suffered nothing

walk on

And

she

common

this earth until

made

This was

how

she

her.

a sanctuary in her

bedroom

or unclean to pass through

she called for the daughters of the

and they entertained

I

of the Lord

Hebrews

it.

And

that were undefiled,

12

who would become

the Virgin

Mary was born

and then grew up undefiled.

11. Protoevangelion

Crepon

in

12. Ibid.

of James, chaps. 2-4,

Les Evangiles apocryphes

6, trans.

(Paris: Retz,

Emile Amann, quoted by Pierre

1983), 30-32.

The Virgin's Great Shadow

154

whose

This

is

the origin of the tradition concerning Saint Anne,

worship

is

so important in certain Celtic countries, particularly

Armorican peninsula of

the

devotion to Mary.

It is

Brittany,

where

almost exceeds the

it

somewhat amusing

also

on

to note that this

worship and the basic devotion to Saint Amne draw

their origins

not from canonical texts, but from so-called apocryphal texts that

were rejected

by the

as such

Roman

official

Catholic Church.

It is

an example of the lack of consistency that characterizes Christian doctrine

and

when we make an

refer to the

look beyond the usual sermon

effort to

fundamental

The Protoevangelion allowed

texts.

worship of Saint Anne to be implemented, consequently permitting the emphasis it

is

on the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary, so

an important element for explaining the Marian

conception of

Mary

in

Anne’s

womb

Mother Goddess) was accepted,

it

cult. If the

(again, identical to the ancient

could allow more mystical

interpretations.

Accordingly, at the beginning of the twelfth century, the Saxon

monks

Eadbert, disciple of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, and Osbert

de Clare, both influenced by Celtic monachism, declared themselves partisans of a (passive) immaculate conception (in other words,

exempted from

original sin) of the Virgin

which was well ahead of

its

time and heavily influenced by Celtic

concepts inherited from the Druidism that cal milieus of

Mary. This position,

still

lingered in the cleri-

Great Britain, was fought by the keepers of

Roman

orthodoxy on the Continent, particularly by Saint Bernard de Clairvaux. Bernard,

who some

in

mockery of

maintain was the “last Druid in the West,” but the

reality

stubbornly

who was above

all

temporal and spiritual master of twelfth-century Europe,

addressed a harsh warning to the faithful of Lyon, a feast of the

who had

initiated

Conception of Mary. Tie fulminated against

“unjustified innovation” (probably because

ryphal text) and developed the theory that sanctified in her mother’s

womb,

it

this

was from an apoc-

Mary had

indeed been

but after her conception.

No

one

could say that Saint Bernard was a denigrator of Mary, however; he

Worship of the Virgin

155

contributed greatly to the development of the worship given to

Our

Lady! Nevertheless, he refused to

an exception to

common

make Mary

who was

into a person

humanity. Under the formidable influence

who

followed

him, such as Saint Bonaventure, Albert the Great, and

Thomas

of Bernard de Clairvaux, the majority of theologians

Aquinas, unambiguously pronounced against recognition of any kind of immaculate conception of Mary. It

was another theologian and

dared oppose the

heir to the Celtic tradition

official doctrine.

who

John Duns Scotus, who died

in

1308, taught that animation should precede sanctification not in time, but only in the natural order.

notion of pre-redemption.

mother

his

solely

It

He

introduced the entirely

was conceivable

that Christ

its

redeemed

through mercy. The Franciscan Order adopted

Scotus’s theory, thereby violently opposing the

and displayed

new

will to

matic element of the

make

Roman

Dominican Order,

the Immaculate Conception a dog-

Church.

But the discussion between the different tendencies of the Church

was

just getting

of Basel in ception,

under way. The thirty-sixth session of the Council

1439 stood openly

and Pope Sixtus

IV,

who

in favor of the

ruled from 1471 to 1484, encour-

aged the celebration of the feast

without

sin.”

Immaculate Con-

in

honor of Mary “conceived

Everything was called into question again, however,

by the Reformation. Luther and Zwingle recognized

Mary

as

an

exceptional individual, even going so far as to assert her virginity after the birth of Jesus. But Calvin categorically rejected

worshipping the Virgin

at

the

any idea of

same time that he denied her

Immaculate Conception. This prompted a reaction from the Council of Trent; without asserting anything, that

it

was

satisfied

with repeating

no creature could be considered exempt from

adding that “God had no intention to include

original sin,

in this decree the

benevolent and immaculate Virgin Mary.” This led to the proposal that

Mary

be given special status

among

all

creatures without

going any further than recognizing her absolute purity. In 1567,

— The Virgin's Great Shadow

156

Pope Pius

V

condemned

no one other than Christ was exempt from death and tribulations of

Mary were

the assertion that the Virgin fate as

All this

Mary

maintained that

original sin

and that the

the penalty for either her actual

sins or that original sin. Officially, the

same

who

the theologian Baius,

Church

left

the door

open

for

could not have been subject to the

most of humanity.

was brought

to an end

on December

8,

1854, by the

solemn proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of

Mary by Pope

Pius IX, following consultations with the entire

episcopacy. In fact, this decision, which

of faith,

was only

made

the assertion a matter

the official recognition of

what had long been

believed by the great majority of Catholics, which they expressed

naively or clumsily in their worship of Mary. Without asking themselves felt

thorny metaphysical or theological questions, the faithful had

a confused need for the

Mother

of

God

to be an absolutely

uncommon

individual.

would have

constituted a return to paganism and the archaic defini-

Unable to make her into a goddess, which

tion of the primordial female deity, they arranged for her to be a

human human

“full of grace”

who had

earned the right to transcend her

condition by agreeing to be the “receptacle” of God. This

was an “apotheosis”

to a certain extent in the strict

— and pagan

sense of the word.

But the apotheosis could not be complete

Mary’s death was resolved. From the guise of a privileged being

contradiction

Adam Mary

was

created.

who was exempted from If

certain extent,

theologians.

if

the

original sin, a

the consequence of original sin for

to be relieved of this original sin beliefs

problem of

moment Mary took on

and Eve was the punishment of death,

Here again folk

until the

and

still

how was

the Virgin

be subject to death?

and cultural practices had evaded

to a

not at least outstripped, the problem posed by the

Throughout

the

Middle Ages, numerous legends had

swirled about the Virgin, which, without declaring that

Mary was

immortal, presented her as clad in a glorious body similar to that of the resurrected Jesus, a figure

who had

the ability to appear in flesh

,

Worship of the Virgin

157

and blood each time her intervention was necessary to render aid to one of the

anguish or want. Themes

faithful in

like that of the

Miracle of the Theophile, in which the Virgin retrieves a pact with the devil that the cleric

Dame, the

in

Lady

had signed, and that of the Juggler of Notre-

which Mary plays

poor poet a role similar to that of

for a

concerning popular con-

in courtly love, are valuable clues

victions about the

Mother of God. She was not only always

a virgin,

not only of immaculate conception, but also outside time endowed

with a “permanence” both on earth and

heaven.

in

This idea can be seen in the performance of her worship. is

Mary

invoked not only by reference to the suffering she endured as a

mother

sented a perpetual maternity. She

allows transcendence. She

is,

inherited

the one

is

who

is life.

from the dawn of time, and

This

is

a

fundamental idea

clear that

it is

who

regenerates,

Resurrection and the

like her son, the

She cannot die because she

Life.

because she repre-

at the foot of the cross, but especially

it is

superim-

posed over the concept of the Great Goddess of the Beginnings.

show Mary holding

Accordingly, certain Breton Calvary scenes

dead son on her knees quite in the

same posture

come down below

give

cross, but not in

as in the classic Pieta. Jesus’

the Virgin’s knees, as

Mary had him new life.

nify that

from the

after the descent

the artists

if

in

body does not wanted

to sig-

body within her own

reintegrated her son’s

There are sanctuaries

her

which Mary

is

worshipped

as

to

tri-

umphant, omitting any reference to death, not only her own but also that of

John,

all

her sons, for Christ on the cross had given her as a son

who

symbolized the

Chartres. This sanctuary

is

to the triumphant Mother.

of ancient times, there

is

human

race.

This

is

the case with

dedicated not to the mater dolorosa but

And

this

no tomb

is

why, contrary to the customs

in the cathedral

of Chartres not ,

even the tomb of a bishop or saint that would have shared his ter

lus-

with the cathedral.

But

all this

quite distinct

emanates, on the one hand, from folk religion (often

from the

official religion)

and, on the other, from

The Virgin's Great Shadow

158

marginal

—even

“esoteric”

were no innocents) that dogmatic

— speculations

(the

cathedral

builders

and sometimes strongly shook the

stirred

edifice of a religion solidly established in

sociocultural

its

framework. These kinds of cultural practices and speculations did not

fail

to

provoke theologians. The main goal was to find a consensus that could satisfy everyone while not deviating from the essential outline.

Mary

is

not a

deity, she

sort of materia

is

only the

first

One

creature of the

Deity, a

prima that the presence of the Holy Ghost trans-

formed. The transformation

metamorphosis

similar to the

is

in the

Magister or Great Work, of alchemy, the series of operations starting ;

from a primal shapeless matter that has been chosen and leged,

which eventually leads

privi-

is

to the creation of the philosopher’s

stone, the transcendence not only of matter but of the spirit as well.

The

with medieval alchemy are broader

parallels

philosophers

—which

is

how

described, in veiled terms, the in

Work

Virgin’s body,

dawn

The

consisted of rediscovering the light buried within

raw

philosopher’s stone

alchemical interpretation,

the

In

it.

since the

if

the

implicitly contained within the primal matter

is

of the work, then Jesus-God

—who

philosopher’s stone in

splendor and potency

all its

is,

on

a theological plane, the

held himself inside the body of Mary. This

is

—

is

intrinsically

sufficient justification

Immaculate Conception: Mary as Theotokos has existed

since the creation. She

which the Light

will

is

the container she

emanate, she is

ous object whose contents are divine force,

of gradal

is

is

is

unknown and

that the Grail,

“receptacle”),

and thereby acquires

is

the primal matter from

the Vessel in

some way

in

which amounts

necessarily something absolute

The problem

is

,

substantiation will occur, she

some

— often

of time.

matter and exalting

for the

labeled

“Holy Matter” of the

which the Light had been hidden

Great

were

alchemists

The

still.

to the

which the

tran-

the Grail, the mysteri-

(the

same

blood of Christ or thing), but

which

is

perfect.

which

is

a container (the

permeated by the quality of

a sacred nature

itself.

Even

if

there

its is

meaning contents

no longer

Worship of the Virgin

anything in the Grail, the object that the

problem of the Virgin

or divine nature as the Grail.

Mary, other

A

as a corporeal being,

human

beings. In a

is

similar terms

itself is divine. It is in

posed

Then we was not

she

if

is

given the same sacred

are clearly obliged to claim that

same

able to undergo the

was nonetheless God, underwent

own

despite her unique nature, have escaped the

Mary who

Mary

who

is

who

son,

common

his mother,

fate?

achieved the Redemption,

it

But

was

it

was Jesus

only participated in this redemption, she was not

pivot. In the matriarchal

Cybele

die?

death, and in painful and igno-

minious circumstances besides. So why, then, would

himself.

fate as

word, did Mary, mother of Jesus Christ,

hasty response could be as follows: yes, as her

not the Virgin

159

myth,

in the

same way,

it is

Attis

its

and not

both the model and the artisan of the regeneration.

But to be precise, Cybele no more dies than does

Ishtar,

Artemis, or

These images of the permanence and timelessness of the Divine

Isis.

Mother

lingered for so long in the collective unconscious that they

eventually became indelibly

embedded

there.

sary to find a theological solution that

It

would

was

therefore neces-

satisfy

popular faith

while avoiding a return in strength of the archaic pagan representation.

It

was

a delicate operation that

was not performed without

controversy and was only fully achieved in 1950 other words

The

—

in the

proclamation of the

vides the slightest bit of information

Luke,

Gospel writers did not

of the Assumption.

on the “end” of Mary. More-

who expounded at length on the Virgin, the have much to say about her. She appears only

twice in the course of the active

Cana, then

dogma

belatedly, in

not a single canonical text pro-

difficulty lies in the fact that

over, except for

— quite

at the Crucifixion.

life

of Jesus,

first at

the

John added the famous

wedding

in

detail con-

cerning the “universal Mother” in an episode that leaves the impression that the apostle prayed with his teacher’s mother. This conjecture. Acts

tells

us hardly anything more.

tradition has thrived in the

the “death” of

Mary

in

Church

since

its

And

earliest

is

pure

yet a tenacious

days concerning

Ephesus, where she found herself in the com-

pany of Saint John and where, of course, the location of the house

The Virgin's Great Shadow

160

where she

lived has

been found. The

city of

antiquity, the veritable capital of the

Artemis.

It

Ephesus was, throughout

Mother Goddess,

therefore logical for tradition to place Mary’s house

was

here, as well as for

Ephesus to serve as the location for the council

Mary mother

that proclaimed

Mary was

possibility that

of God. This does not invalidate the

actually in Ephesus, but

on

universal scope the worship of the Virgin took

The

particularly

tradition does have

some noncanonical

does explain the

it

after Ephesus.

scriptural support.

It

involves an apocryphal text (one officially rejected by the Church)

known

as Transitus Mariae.

It is

the sole text to present a story of the

One Greek and two

death and Assumption of the Virgin Mary. recastings of this text

were known, the oldest most

likely being the

Of

course, the late

Greek, which went back to the fourth century.

means only

date of this text

made the

that

had been passed down

that

Latin

it

set

orally.

down

in writing

an older story

The same observation could be

of the so-called canonical Gospels, or for most of the books of

Hebrew

from any

any mythological story whatsoever

scriptures, or for

traditions whatsoever

13

.

Transitus Mariae

was not

There

is

no reason to think that the

the reflection of an authentic reality. In any

case, these three early versions gave rise to

particular to a very interesting

Book on

Mother of God, which was

Virgin,

numerous reworkings,

the Passing of the Very

attributed

—

falsely

—to

in

Holy

a certain

Melito, bishop of Sardes in Lydia, at the end of the second century.

The Book on in

the Passing

which Jesus entrusts

that hour the holy

13.

There

is

emphasizes the evangelical episode

mother to the apostle John: “And from

mother of God remained

no question that the

of earlier oral tales. Ireland.

his

first

Iliad

The same holds

and the Odyssey are revisions or transcriptions

true for

all

the

These were oral traditions transcribed by

seventh century. This in no fications,

some very

prompted by the

way

specially entrusted to

pagan mythological epics of ancient

Irish Christian

reduces their value; at most

legitimate misunderstandings,

it

monks

starting in the

might mean some modi-

and sometimes intentional changes

desire to bring archaic Druidic thought in line with Christian thought.

Should the Finnish Kalevala, a nineteenth-century transcription of oral stories going

back to the most archaic periods of Finnish

What

qualifies as

civilization, be

regarded as apocryphal?

apocryphal and what does not remains a very delicate matter.

Worship of the Virgin

the care of John, as long as she dwelled in this

apostles

had drawn

lots to

life.

161

And when

the

determine the region where they would

preach, she settled in the house of her parents near

There are no other references to

home Mary’s

this

Mount

family

Olive.”

owned

in

Jerusalem. Other traditions mention Ephesus, where John seems to

have gone to spread the Christian teachings.

Then

Book on

the

the Passing,

mute

as to

Mary’s

activities,

sud-

denly leaps to “the twenty-second year after Jesus Christ, having

vanquished death, ascended up to heaven.”

Mary and announces

that her death

cally that she will be “carried

up

requests a favor of the angel: that

back together around

her.

Mary preaching

in

all

and

specifi-

her son’s disciples be brought

“And

“All the apostles will

Christ.” lo

Ephesus on the Lord’s day,

a great earthquake,

more

heaven with her body.” Mary

to

The angel responds:

then prepares herself.

angel appears to

close at hand,

is

power of Jesus

be brought here by the

An

a cloud raised

while the blessed John was at the third hour, there

him up out of

was

the sight of

all

and brought him before the door of the house where was the Virgin Mary.” The Virgin

rejoices at the

him what

had announced and displays her concern about

the angel

coming of John. She explains

to

the attitude of the Jews. “I have overheard the Jews holding counsel

who

and

said: Let us

impostor dies and

we

await the day on which the mother of will

this

burn her body.” She then asks John to

keep watch over her funeral services and to hold before her coffin the

palm given her by

the angel.

“Suddenly, by the order of God,

by

a

all

the spotless were carried off

cloud from those places where they preached the word of

and they were placed before the house where Mary begins.

“On

the third day, sleep overcame

none could remain awake, save the

who were

the

all

lived.”

my

vigil

those in the house, and

apostles,

and the three

virgins

companions of the Eioly Virgin.” Jesus appears

midst of a crowd of angels and speaks to his mother:

by

The

God

“When

in the I,

sent

Father for the salvation of the world, was hanging on the

cross, the prince of darkness

approached me; but when he was

The Virgin’s Great Shadow

162

unable to find any trace of his heart in me, he went away beaten and

trampled underfoot. Such

dance with the

saw him

I

common law

as

you

human

of the

him

will see

race, to

which you have

complied by dying, but he cannot harm you because there in

you that

Then

is

him, and

in

the Virgin

ples to bear the

body of

and to

the East”

down and

lies

lay

it

his

in a

new tomb. A

any

filth.

.

.

.

The

the flower of the

was

It

face of the blessed lily,

and

a great

his disci-

right of the city

toward

description then follows of

Mary’s body, which “shone so brightly that it.

commands

dies. Jesus

mother “to the

bounty that one could touch

naught

is

with you to protect you.”

will be

I

in accor-

was only by God’s

it

and absent of

perfectly pure

Mary, Mother of God, was

like

odor of marvelous sweetness arose

from her body, which had no comparable sweetness anywhere.”

The Jewish

funeral procession

is

then organized. Along the route, a

priest, full of fury, tries to

He

wither into husks.

overturn the coffin. His arms

beseeches the apostle Peter to heal him. Peter

addresses the Lord with a heartfelt prayer. begins

to

Lord.

the

praise

The

Jehoshaphat and place the coffin

anew and The

asks the apostles

apostles answer: “It

just as

apostles

in a

new

would appear

to

Jesus

commands

raise the stone.

is

cured and

the

Valley

to

do

for his mother.

your servants right that in glory,

you

will raise

of joy into heaven.”

the archangel Gabriel to carry the soul of

And

of

sepulcher. Jesus appears

you have vanquished death and reign full

priest

reach

what they want him

up the body of Mary and take her

and

The

Jesus says, “Arise,

my

beloved

who

Mary have

not suffered corruption from contact with man, you will not suffer the destruction of your

body

gives thanks to her son. his apostles,

and

And

in the

in the

tomb.” The Virgin stands up and

he speaks words of encouragement to

middle of a cloud he ascends “back to

heaven, and the angels accompanied him bearing the blessed Mary,

Mother of God,

14. Livre

to the paradise of

du passage de

la tres

God .”

14

Sainte Vierge, chapters 3-18, trans. Brunet, vol. 23 of

Ency dope die theologique of Migne (Amort:

Collet and Vermot, 1856).

Worship of the Virgin

This

The

is

the lone narrative concerning the

details are specific.

just like Jesus himself.

her body

The Virgin died

But

this

like

163

Assumption of Mary.

any other human being,

death was temporary, and

it

was with

—which escaped decomposition—that Mary was “carried words

into heaven,” in other

and

into the timeless

aspatial

world

promised by the scriptures, the place where mind and body harmo-

and

nize once

a

and where contradictions cease to be perceived

all

Mary’s Assumption, on a philosophical plane,

as such. tion,

for

“fulfillment.”

such an event really occurred,

If

become exemplary and would mean

that every

human

a perfec-

is

it

would

being, under

certain circumstances, could attain total transcendence. Certainly

the Christian doctrine teaches that Jesus, a

same transcendence, but Jesus

the

Mary

is

woman, even

merely a

if

is

both

man-god, accomplished

God and man, whereas

she has a unique nature.

importance of the image of the Virgin Mary: She regenerator, the one take.

It is

a

the

way

a maternal image, of course,

vast majority of

new

who shows

human

is

some way

the

that all her children should

and one that speaks to the image

beings. But this maternal

birth, the definitive birth in a

in

Hence the

attests to a

world that excludes the

transitory,

world that does not know the ephemeral. These philosophical

most of the

notions, although they are beyond the comprehension of faithful,

do explain the importance of the Marian

Over the course of the

first

was nothing unique about

the

cult.

three centuries of Christianity, there

Marian

nected to the worship of Jesus himself.

cult; It

it

was intimately con-

was only

starting with the

fourth century, probably under the influence of the so-called apoc-

ryphal tradition, that the ship

inklings of independent

Marian wor-

began taking shape. As an example, the hymns of Saint

Ephraim

(d.

373

C.E.)

to his mother. Saint

on the

Christian to

named

come

birth of Jesus are really songs of praise

Gregory of Naziane,

firmed the worship given

Mary

first

Justine

Mary

in this

who, facing

who

died in 390, con-

time by his story of a young a rapist, begs

“the Virgin

help the threatened virgin.” Epiphany testified to the

existence of the Collyridian sect,

whose members tended

to

worship

164

The Virgin's Great Shadow

Mary

idolatrously,

position of the

and took the opportunity to

Roman

assert the official

Church: “Mary should be honored. But the

and the Floly Ghost should be adored, whereas no

Father, the Son,

one should adore Mary.”

It

was

this position

defended by Cyril of

Alexandria during the Council of Ephesus that became the definition of the Theotokos.

other

women and

Following

Mary

is

only a

woman, but

promised the highest

this

recognition

destiny.

of the

Numerous

mission

specific

Theotokos, the Marian cult developed rapidly West.

blessed above all

sanctuaries, chapels, churches,

in

both East and

and cathedrals were

Next

erected in her honor, and calendar feasts were instituted. Purification

honor of

and the Annunciation, which were

Christ,

new

of the

to the

originally feasts in

celebrations appeared, that of the Nativity

(with the idea of the Immaculate Conception in the background)

and of the Transfer of Mary (which would become the Feast of the Assumption). Finally,

officially,

became the celebration most

in line

Pope Pius XII on November But

it

was

the

1,

Assumption with the

dogma proclaimed by

1950.

especially during the twelfth, thirteenth,

teenth centuries that the worship of the Virgin reached least

August 15

feast of

and fourheight, at

its

with respect to the Christian West, as seen by the number of

feast days; the construction of buildings consecrated to

abundance of sermons,

tales,

and legends; and even,

context, the importance of plays titled Miracles of

The Reformation of

Mary; the

in a theatrical

Our Lady.

the sixteenth century modified this

somewhat. Certainly Futher did not abandon the Marian

swarm

cult, quite

the contrary. While criticizing certain idolatrous aspects of the worship of the Virgin (and not entirely in the

wrong during

this

time at

the end of the Middle Ages), Futher confirmed the traditional belief in the divine maternity, the perpetual virginity of

Mary, the

specific

nature of her conception, and her power to intercede. Zwingle, too, retained the

Marian

faith,

beseech the Mother of God,

not a

but refused to accept that any could

who was

a simple creature of

deity. Calvin, in contrast, refused

God and

her across the board and

— Worship of the Virgin

condemned any form of worship no way prevented the Marian sixteenth

Mary

of

cult as

and seventeenth centuries

165

as pure idolatry. This in

such from developing over the

in rural areas, especially

on the

occasion of the discovery of an ancient lost or buried statue, or even

miraculous phenomena such as the appearance of a white Lady to a

young peasant

girl,

generally poor and uneducated.

Examples of this

nature are countless both in France and throughout the rest of

Europe.

imbued with the

In the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment,

Marian worship

as

and obscurantist. But the revolutionary ceremonies

in

of rationalism and skepticism, dismissed

spirit

superstitious

honor of the Goddess Reason were a rebirth of the ancient

Mother Goddess

—

and heavily

albeit intellectualized

cults of the

filtered

—and

subconsciously extended the processions and numerous feasts of

Our

Lady. Statues of the Virgin were undoubtedly destroyed, but at the

same time new ones were inherited

sculpted, decked out with bizarre

from a distorted antiquity and

same feminine

entity,

even

if

she

in reality representing the

was reduced

to the rank of allegory.

During the course of the nineteenth century, the era of materialism,” the Marian cult took on

names

new

life,

“scientific

mainly as a conse-

quence of the impressive abundance of “apparitions” of the Virgin

Mary

in

remote or anonymous backwaters

—not,

as

one might

expect, in places consecrated to the Virgin since early antiquity that were then transformed into meccas of devotion

The

locations include the

Chapelle de

la

and pilgrimage.

Medaille miraculeuse

(Chapel of the Miraculous Medallion) on the rue du Bac in Paris, not far from where Chateaubriand breathed his the

Maine region on

Pontmain,

last;

in

the Brittany frontier; La Salette, in the Alps;

and, of course, the most famous of

all

the

Mary

sanctuaries,

Lourdes.

Whatever the profound is

reality

may

be of these “apparitions,”

it

impossible to deny that something happened at these stated loca-

tions,

and under certain circumstances. The events

in

question have

been gone over with a fine-tooth comb, are supported by numerous

The Virgin's Great Shadow

166

and have had vast consequences on the behavior of

testimonies, Christians.

They can be

interpreted according to each individual’s

“phenomena”

conscience and knowledge, but the fact remains that

occurred, and they inspired a formidable renewal of worship of the

They should therefore be considered natural extensions of

Virgin.

Mother of God

ancestral worship of the

and famous

Rocamadour, Le Puy, and Chartres. Didn’t Luke the

as

Mary

Evangelist record that 2:27), “Henceforth,

What were rebirth?

On

all

said after the Annunciation

generations will call

me

the reasons for this worship,

the surface

it

seems that

Our Lady was more important to,

in sanctuaries as ancient

God

worship of

blessed”?

and

especially for

in Catholicism,

God

for the faithful to

God, because God by nature

is

its

devotion to

than, or at least of equal importance

himself. All the religions of the

offered hypostases of

(Luke

world have

worship

beyond understanding,

in place of

ineffable,

and

unknowable. Humans can communicate with the Christian God only through the humanized image of Jesus Christ. Jesus, however,

was not only and almost

a

but also God, and he often appeared too remote

inaccessible. Piety, to be fully expressed, requires

intermediary prayers,

man

who

who

an

can understand humans and transmit their

can relay and decipher the message from on high.

Christian saints served as such intermediaries.

who was the most saintly, the most “divine,” if not the Virgin Mary, who had the honor of carrying God within her body? Without making Mary into a divine hypostasis, without turning But

even further to

archaic

reminiscences

Beginnings, from the Christian viewpoint

Hence ill

the success of the

fortunes,

Marian

cult,

was always reborn from

the Magnificat, Luther notes:

its

of the

Mary

Goddess of the

plays a starring role.

which, against ashes. In his

ill

winds and

commentary on

“The blessed Virgin Mary speaks

after

having had a personal experience in which the Holy Ghost illuminated and instructed her.” Then, surrendering to a kind of mysticophilosophical delirium, Luther imagines the message

“She learns that

God

is

a

Lord whose

sole

concern

is

Mary

received:

raising

what

is

Worship of the Virgin low, lowering

what

remaking what

is

The message essential. It

is

what

is

made and

broken.” that

Mary

learned and revealed to humanity it

we can

eternal

Becoming. This

realize that

movement

—

in

a

God

is

concerns the

through the permanent divine creation. By the

of this message,

pagan

high, in short breaking

the purest ontological metaphysics;

entire universe

instead

is

167

light

not immobility but

is

word, that

God

is

perpetual

moreover, what the Druids asserted in so-called

is,

Celtic times

when, according to

tradition, they

worshipped

on the mound that today supports the admirable cathedral of Our

Lady of Chartres,

a mysterious statue of a

paritura, a “Virgin about to give birth,”

foreshadowing of

Mary

perpetual creation of blessed

less

mysterious virgo

which perhaps was not

a

but purely and simply the depiction of the

God

among women.

no

in the uterus of the

Woman who

is

most

The Black Madonna ^In

Chartres there

one thing

no lack of images of the

is

common: They

in

are

majestic

all

and

Virgin,

Madonnas,

all

have

giving the

strong impression that the church wished only the triumphant

God and

aspect of Mary, mother of

(by virtue of her acceptance of the tuary.

But

it

Holy Ghost),

And

to

visible in this sanc-

seems that the different images of the Virgin each have

a particular role to play in devotion,

meaning

keeper of universal knowledge

which the

and consequently

a particular

and emblems contribute.

different postures

while local tradition maintains that the oldest image

Lady of Under Ground Revolution), the Pillar,

it

clearly emphasizes that the

and only

The current

(at least the statue

she,

is

statue of

a Black

just

Under Ground, dates back only

Our

destroyed during the

one named Our Lady of

Madonna.

Our Lady

bay of the north ambulatory,

is

of the

Pillar,

standing in the

first

above the figure of Our Lady of

to the early sixteenth century.

The

Chartres historian Sebastien Rouillard wrote in his Farthenie, published in 1609:

Above

the rood loft

on the southern

side

is

above a round column of very hard stone,

Our

a tall throne is

on which,

placed the image of

Lady. The late master Vastin de Fugerets, canon of said church

during his

life

some hundred years or so ago, had 168

said

image

,

The Black Madonna erected in order that

it

would be

169

worship-

freely displayed to the

pers without disturbing the divine service of the choir. But the

throngs were so constant and their devotion so great, that the

column became

stone

Catholics.

An

in a reliquary

The high

altar

is

on

details

Canon

quite large; there are

no

balusters, only

Above

some cop-

the altar there

only one facing to the reredos, and above that a gilded silver

image of the Holy Virgin. There

is

which

about a foot and a half

is

foot

its

and

a

golden crucifix that

is

a

copper rod behind, on top of in size.

At

another copper rod that sticks out about a foot or a foot

is

a half in front of the altar,

and the holy ciborium hangs from

end. (Voyages liturgiques de France, 226)

its

This

is

obviously not the same statue as

Our Lady

Furthermore, Canon Estienne informs us that vermeil”

month

of

is

three feet high

May

Vendome,

and that

1220 by Monsieur

a priest

and honest

of the benevolent

can glean a

it

of the

scholar,

was donated “during

who had

ordered an image

silver angels that are

what

through other documents and drawings.

this statue

Mary

the

archdeacon

Notre-Dame de Chartres

fairly specific idea of

Pillar.

this Virgin “in gilded

Pierre de Bordeaux,

Mary with two

the high altar” (Cartulaire de

We

Estienne in 1682

this point:

per columns and angels above the sanctuary.

made

Holy Tunic,

account written around 1700 by a Rouen native, Lebrun

and provides some useful

of

these devout

and displayed on the high

des Marettes, corroborates a testimony of

is

all

this statue illustrated the Virgin’s

which was piously kept altar.

from being kissed by

Folio 134, V)

(I,

probable that

It is

pitted

is

III,

above 162).

looked

like

depicted sitting

with her head erect and looking straight ahead, holding the Infant Jesus on her the

left

knee and

lifting

an object

in her right

documents show, the devotion inspired by

the peace of the choir,

hand. But as

this statue disturbed

and the clergy of the sixteenth century strove

The Virgin’s Great Shadow

170

to direct that devotion onto another object. This

Our Lady

of the

which was placed

Pillar,

The documents

screen.

like the earlier one,

tell

its

with the erection of a

definitely dealing

the origin of

rood

right in front of the

us that this image

which explains

was

was intended

to look

we

archaic features. So

new

are

statue at the beginning

of the sixteenth century and not simply the relocation of the older one. But

why

is

this depiction of the Virgin black?

emphasized the

In fact the description of the older statue

“gilded vermeil.” basic features still

not

And

as this statue

— of the

known

an imitation

older one, this raises

Our Lady

if

is

of the Pillar

is

—

at least in its

some questions.

It is

carved from pear or

unknown whether the “gilded vermeil” was painted on later. Some ecclesiastics currently deny that this statue is a Black Madonna, claiming her dark color is merely accidental

walnut.

also

It is

still

due to the color of the wood. That

is

easy enough to say. In any

event, Chartres tradition has clearly spoken for centuries about a

Black Madonna, and this

is

obviously not the sole example of a

on which the Virgin and Child are thus depicted,

statue

carved from dark

wood

either

or covered by a coating that emphasizes

the black color.

There

is

of the Pillar

simply no reason to doubt that the statue of is

what

Madonna, even less

is

if it is

commonly known a sixteenth-century

faithful replica of

known

is

Our Lady

as a Black Virgin or Black

work,

as

it is

the

an ancient statue about which

all

more or that

is

outside appearance. Just before the Revolution, the

its

Chartres doctor Marie Saint-Ursin had seen this sixteenth-century statue

and kept

a description of

it

had been destroyed. According black

wooden

dle of

which

No

1.

figure, clad in rags

a child’s

one knows, but

under the

and tawdry 1

jewels,

What was

any case, no doubt

Societe Archeologique d’Eure-et-Loir, ms. 43 (7),

Library of Chartres.

impression that

to him, this Virgin

head emerged .”

in

false

is

it

was “a small from the mid-

this statue

he saw?

possible concerning the

fol.

213, 5 and 214, Municipal

The Black Madonna

Madonna

existence of a Black

which exact statue represented

171

Chartres cathedral, no matter

in the her.

There are many Black Madonnas throughout Western Europe. These objects of worship and even pilgrimage have been a source of

much

were made of

their origins. If a

list

this category, the

number would be

in

and

fascination, both for their black color

humble

for the mystery of

the statues

all

others are of fairly recent provenance.

statuettes in

Some can

staggering.

rural chapels, others in cathedrals.

and

Some

be found

are ancient

and

Some have been destroyed

but piously replaced by copies or imitations.

Some

are regarded as

miraculous, others are simply worshipped out of tradition.

Some

have been discovered through circumstances bordering on the miraculous or the most wondrous happenstance; others have always

been there, or at each

site

least are

claimed to have always been there.

where a Black Madonna can be found, ancient legends

rounding the presence of a sacred fountain, a sacred ing spring the

awaken

shadows of the

the

Mother Goddess.

it is

a

is

sur-

worship of

deep and subtle con-

and the

lived in folk settings

ollections of religions preceding Christianity. is

at

tree, or a heal-

past, including the

seems that there

It

nection between Christianity as

image

And

And

the

rec-

dominant

always the tranquil, reassuring, or triumphant image of the

Divine Mother. In the

Ain region,

in

Bourg-en-Bresse, there

is

a statue of

Our

Lady of Bourg around thirty-one inches high that was discovered a tree. Analysis of the statue

In the Allier region, in size

Moulms,

it

there

dating from the eleventh century.

century and in the

same

and even a

is

now housed

third,

Marseille, also statue.

The one

was

is It

a thirteenth-century

a Black

But there

in the cathedral.

Our Lady

known in

Madonna

was mounted

kept in the museum, called

city,

The Bouches-du-Rhone has

is

showed

the

as the

work.

of the same

in the fifteenth is

Our Lady

of Coulandon, at the

in

another one of Vouroux,

Grand Seminary.

famous Our Lady of the Guard of Brown. She

Aix-en-Provence

known

is

as

a thirteenth-century

Our Lady

equally famous. In Murat, in the Cantal region,

of the Seds

Our Lady

of the

The Virgin's Great Shadow

172

Olive Trees

Nord,

is

a fourteenth-century

was burned during

replaced an older statue that

Two

Black

the Dordogne.

One

Chartres.

is

Madonna

the Revolution except for

and

its

head,

sometimes connected with the one

found

statues can be

at Saint-Front

is

at Saint-Estienne

is

statue. In the Cotes-du-

Guingamp, the seventeenth-century Our Lady of Good

in

Aid, which

other

wooden

carries

and

is

in

in Perigueux, in

called the Black, the

an inscription reading Virgo

Paritura.

which

In Toulouse,

is

Our Lady

century bust of

in

Haut-Garonne, there

Tourzy, a stone statue that

now

a statuette,

was most

likely sculpted

be seen in Sargues. This heavily painted the thirteenth century. In the Loiret

selves.

This

more ancient one discovered bull that

Known

we

wooden

find the

wooden

Madonna can

itself,

as Saint

stone statue a

statue dates

from

famous Our Lady of

Our Lady

Mary

little

statue that replaced a

in the thirteenth century

always stopped at the place where

In Orleans

before the

which the kings of France would prostrate them-

a sixteenth-century

is

of

held in a private collection, that seems to

have been a copy of Our Lady of Puy. Another Black

Clery, in front of

as

Upper Loire region (Craponne-sur-Arzon)

eleventh century. In the

was

who is also known Pacaudiere), we find Our Lady

of the Gilt-Head,

the Black One. In the Loire (La

there

a nineteenth-

is

it

because of a

had been buried.

of the Miracles can

still

be seen.

the Egyptian because of her color, she

is

a

over three feet in height that dates from the six-

teenth century. In Villeneuve-sur-Lot (in the Lot-et-Garonne region),

Our Lady

of Jubilation

housed

is

constructed so that half of

town of Josselin, original of

the

it sits

in a strange chapel that has

been

over the Lot River. In the Morbihan

famous Our Lady of the Roncier, the destroyed

which has been replaced by

fervent worship. This

is

a typical

a copy,

example of

is still

the object of

a statue

found

in a

bush, removed to a church or chapel, and then found back in the

same bush the next

day. In Sainte-Anne

statue, allegedly of Saint

d’Auray

Anne and discovered by

during the seventeenth century, was a Black

it

seems that the

the pious Nicolazic

Madonna

of the purest

The Black Madonna

173

and repainted by the Capuchins of

tradition, before being recarved

Auray. The statue was later destroyed during the French Revolution. In the northern city of Dunkirk, a fifteenth-century

Dunes was discovered

the

in the

as

Our Lady

Our Lady

wood

World War

II,

to

in

1823)

this statue

Our Lady

Our Lady

carried in procession through almost

to the establishment of a cult devoted

of Boulogne. In the

Puy-de-Dome

rich in statues of this type, the very beautiful

a

wooden

statue dating

Ferrand

in the is

a

immediate

wooden

region,

which

Our Lady

is

quite

of Orcival

from the twelfth century. Her worship

connected to the presence of water, and there

dolmen

of the Angels

an object of major worship. After

is

was

whole of France, leading

the

of the Roads, also

of the Wells. In Boulogne-sur-Mer in the Pas-

de-Calais region, the famous statue of

(remade in

of

sands of the shore. The oratory in

Valenciennes (dating from 765) houses

known

Our Lady

vicinity.

Our Lady

is is

both a cave and a

is

of the Port in Clermont-

eighteenth-century replacement of an older

statue, discovered in a well according to tradition.

In the Pyrenees-Orientales, also

known

Cuxa Abbey

as

we

Our Lady

find

Maureneta, which was once

before being

moved

of the Pesebre,

in the Saint-Michel of

to Corneilla.

And

in the curious

church of Villefrance-de-Confluent, a seventeenth-century statue of

Our Lady

of Life can be found.

houses the seventeenth-century

The Fourviere

wooden

statue

Fourviere. In Pringy (in Seine-et-Marne) a statue a tree next to a fountain. In the Vaucluse ilar

statue carved

Basilica of

of

Lyon

Our Lady

was discovered

town of Barroux

is

of in

a sim-

from cedar that bears the rather obvious name the

Brown One. The two most famous Black Madonnas outside of Chartres are incontestably those of

Rocamadour and

the one in

Puy-en-Velay.

In both these places devotion to the Virgin has been indicated since

time immemorial. These are Marian sanctuaries of primary importance whose roots go back, beyond

all

shadow

of a doubt, long

before the introduction of Christianity into Gaul.

Rocamadour,

in the

Quercy region

(Lot), a

well-known

tourist

The Virgin's Great Shadow

174

It

was

the ancient Vallis Tenebros,

the “dark valley,” a sheer drop of

650

feet that

destination,

quite exceptional.

is

suddenly opens

in

the limestone plateau, with a fortified castle at the edge of the abyss, a

bouquet of churches and chapels on the

ther below, a medieval village. River,

which may mean

At the bottom of the

tree.

valley, the

forest.

Alzon

and turns

“river of the Aulnes,” twists

through what was once a dense

and

side of the rock, and, far-

Here we have water, rock,

These are the customary companions of the Marian cult

(this is true also

one of the most famous Plantagenet

went

II

The pilgrimage

of Lourdes).

in the

to

Rocamadour was

Middle Ages. This

to publicly atone,

on

his

is

where Henry

knees before his entire

army, for the murder of Canterbury archbishop

Thomas

a Becket.

name Rocamadour were

built

throughout Europe as extensions of that devotion originating

in the

Numerous Dark

Armorican

Valley. In

Our Lady

for

bearing

chapels

of

the

Brittany, for example, there

Rocamadour

that

was

on

built

is

a chapel

a kind of natural

dike that extends into the sea at Camaret-sur-Mer.

The Black Madonna of Rocamadour

is

a Majestic Virgin

from the

end of the twelfth century that has been crudely carved and blackened, then partially covered with silver plate. in

a

on

a hollowed-out block

maintains that the publican Zaccheus

Tradition

reliquary.

It sits

brought a statuette carved by the Evangelist Saint Luke to the limestone plateau of Quercy. This the sanctuary

is

something

body was found Mary. For

fairly

is

obviously pure fiction; the origin of

else entirely. In

1166

a perfectly preserved

at the entrance of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin

obscure reasons, the people there regarded this body

as the remains of a mysterious Saint

named. The “saint” was buried

Amadour,

whom this

place

in front of the altar to the Virgin

another legend spread, according to which of Saint Veronica, the one

for

who wiped

Amadour was

Christ’s face

climbing Golgotha. But during the fifteenth century,

the

when

is

and

husband he was

Amadour was

incorporated into the publican Zaccheus, which was a convenient

way

to get the

in the official

two

traditions to coincide.

Roman

Amadour

does not appear

calendar, nor does Veronica or Zaccheus.

The Black Madonna

175

Recent research has found evidence that the hermitage of

Rocamadour

A

bell

existed long before the discovery of the “saint’s” body.

can be seen in Rocamadour that dates before the eighth cen-

tury and

is

said to be miraculous.

It

originally dedicated uniquely to the Virgin

fane legend

tells

mother-goddess

was

so happens that the chapel

Mary. And a local pro-

how human sacrifices were once made to a black known as Sulevia or Soulivia. This black mother-

goddess’s sanctuary

was located

in a cave, the

same cavern where

Zaccheus hid the statuette allegedly carved by Saint Luke. This

is

the

realm of Gallo-Roman religion. The Sulevias were goddesses of uncultivated land, which accords perfectly with the nature of the

Rocamadour The Alzon,

terrain.

village of Alysses, a little farther

is

tinues to

said to have been

roam

known

who

con-

as the Lady’s

incontestably a funerary goddess, a “black

and has more than one connection with the Black

Madonna, whether

Roman

is

the banks of the

founded by a mysterious Lady

the night, mainly in the place

Combe. This Lady queen,”

away on

it

involves the goddess Sulevia or

who

or Celtic deity

some other

both protector of the dead and

is

guardian of the sacred waters. Once upon a time, peasants during times of drought

would come

They would mount

to

Rocamadour

in search of water.

a procession, led by the clergy, to the

many

Ouysse

prayers, one of the priests

would plunge

the base of the processional cross into the spring,

and everyone

Springs. Following

would return home with

the

hope that the rain would soon

return.

Similar rituals requesting rain exist in other regions, Brittany especially.

The Marian

cult

cannot be viewed apart from the ancient

worship of the waters. The same

is

true for Lourdes, as in

all

the

chapels dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In the immediate vicinity of these sanctuaries,

if

not inside the sanctuary

itself,

there

is

always a

well or a spring, or sometimes a simple pond, or often a washing

place that serves as a

Puy-en-Velay

is

swimming

also

pool.

one of the most frequented tourist

sites in

France. But mingling with the crowds of tourists are pilgrims following

,

The Virgin's Great Shadow

176

was

age-old customs. Le Puy

an important center of pilgrim-

in fact

age in the Middle Ages, not only because of the

Mary worship

that

developed there early on but also because the town was an impor-

on the route

tant stop

which ran

to Saint-James of Compostella,

toward Nimes and Saint-Gilles-du-Gard on the one hand, and on

was part of

the other

Regordane Route mentioned

the

chan-

in the

sons de geste one of the rare roads to cross the Central Massif from

north to south and connect the Mediterranean basin with the Loire Valley.

Roman

Le Puy was never a

Romans

ment. The

town, but rather a Gallic

established themselves

settle-

on the Plain by Ruessium.

This has since become Saint-Paulien, and

it is

where they brought

their deities.

In Puy,

whose name was Anicium

at that time, the Gallic

ship survived a long time without any

Anicium

itself offers

as

of the Celtic

Don

in

Gaul and

shadow

ure the

sits,

Mont-Anis. Both

The name

refer to the

Mother Goddess Ana or Anna, who was known as

Dana

in Ireland.

of the Brittany Saint

Furthermore, behind

Anne can be

as that of the Black Annis, or Black Annie,

of Yorkshire.

imprint.

food for thought, as does the name of the butte

on which the current cathedral

name

Roman

wor-

The Black Madonna

some connection with

who

this fig-

discerned, as well

haunts the folklore

of Puy-en-Velay certainly has

this figure inherited

from the purest

Celtic

tradition.

The

site

of Puy-en-Velay

built in terraces

Anis. slope.

quite extraordinary.

The old town

is

up the southern slope of an ancient volcano, Mont-

The cathedral and

Toward

is

cloister are located

the west,

a

particularly

about halfway up the

barren volcanic dike

crowned by the Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe Chapel, one of the

is

oldest

sanctuaries in the region. Before the introduction of Christianity, a

temple dedicated to a goddess sat at the foot of

promontory. Whether haps even that Anis

it

who

was Cybele, Diana, or inspired the

At the very top of Mont-Anis

is

very ugly but majestic statue of

name

of the

Aiguilhe

a Gallic deity, persite, is

the Corneille Rock,

Our Lady

this

not known.

crowned by

of France.

the

The Black Madonna

It

seems that the placement of Puy Cathedral

Romanesque

construction)

was determined by

(a

177

magnificent

the presence not of a

spring or well nearby but rather of a volcanic rock

known

phonolite, which

This phono-

lite

is

no doubt

slab,

not so extraordinary in

dolmen

a

pagan sanctuary. This high

recut

altar,

and

is

table,

this region.

as a

had been previously used

in a

probably the same stone that serves as the

blessed. Until the seventeenth century, a “fever

stone” lay in front of the altar to Mary. Pilgrims seeking a cure for

would

their illnesses

Friday night.

It is

try to sleep

not clear

why

one night on the stone, particularly

would have removed

the clergy

same custom seems

stone, especially given that the

Chartres before the destruction of the

this

to have existed in

Romanesque

cathedral.

Taking the Eastern influences on the architecture of the Puy cathedral into consideration,

devotion to the Virgin

some have

Mary was

offered the theory that the

inspired by cults from the Middle

East. This provides a practical explanation for the color of the Black

Madonnas. Mary would simply be

the copy of a bronze-skinned

Eastern deity such as Artemis, Cybele, or

name

the very

But

Isis.

this conflicts

with

of the town, Anicium, which refers to a Celtic deity.

Furthermore, archaeologists have found no trace of any Eastern

worship taking place on the Puy

site.

It

is

more

Christianity here directly succeeded a Druidic cult,

was

a

smooth

transition.

in Saint-Paulien.

the

2 .

was only

It

bishop of Vellaves to settle in

left

a

it

settled

converted to Christianity,

is

after the sixth or seventh century that the

Ruessium, which was

community

But Anicium was

Paulien

this region

still

that

danger of declining, in other

had remained prosperous.

associated paganism. In the legal documents

a very hypothetical saint.

Roman name:

in

Anicium (which took on the name of Podium,

words Puy),

2.

and no doubt

The Romans avoided Anicium and

At the time

that

Episcopal seat must have been in Ruessium, thus Saint-

first

Paulien

likely

Ruessium, a Gallic name, made way for a Gallo-

Pauliniacus (territory of Paulinius), which evolved into Polignac, the

of a famous noble family of the region.

name

The Virgin’s Great Shadow

178

from that

words Sancta Maria often accompanied the name

era, the

of Anicium or Podium. Very few towns then bore this

which

title,

was

suggests a very distinctive fervor in honor of the Virgin that

probably quite ancient that maintained

way to

which was

also

Puy during the year 46 or 47.

in

assert the antiquity of the

what

Marian

the Chartres clergy did

much more

of the mountains.

It

was

a very

town,

claiming that the

we

find the

same

ancient worship.

any event, Le Puy was not some remote

In

cult in this

when

Chartres a virgo paritura. Here

in

need to base a cult on a

tion

Furthermore, a legend had spread

Mary had appeared

This was a

Druids honored

in origin.

village in the

middle

important crossroads and relay

sta-

on the Route Regordane. The Etain road always passed through and

there,

3 a very close alliance united the Vellaves people to the

Phoceens of Marseille. Puy

the meeting place of

is

from Lyon goes on from there

two roads; one

Rodez and Toulouse (Route

to

Nationale 88) and a road from Limagne goes on toward Ales and

Nimes

(the via

Regordane). Le Puy was an important communica-

tions center extending

toward

different horizons,

the relationship with Marseille

The frequent

visits

was always

and

in

any event,

4 a beneficial one.

of people from the Mediterranean region

could have inspired the imitation by local

artists

of statuettes of

Greek manufacture, which would explain the “blackness” of these kinds of Virgins. But there existed in Puy.

an

either

Isis

The

statue

is

no proof that

worshipped during these early times was

brought there through the intermediary of the

Phoceens or a Gallic mother goddess. this far

there

a matriarchal cult ever

west and remote as

would have been

it

was

It is

unthinkable, in a country

in the early

a statue of the Virgin

defined by the Council of Ephesus. Mystery

3. Vellavi, in Gallic, is a

word meaning

“the best.”

still

Middle Ages, that

Mary

as she

was

lurks

around

this

The name Velay

derives

from

this

word. The Vellaves were subjects of the Arvernes. 4.

For a long time, Velay was part of Languedoc. The Vellave dialect,

dialect,

is

currently Languedocian and not north Occitan.

like the

Auvergnat

The Black Madonna statue, for the (a

piece of

one that was burned during the Revolution

which was

fitted into the

new

statue)

was not

in

179

1794

necessarily

the ancient one spoken of in connection with the date 225. There are

descriptions of the statue burned in 1794,

and even a copy discov-

ered in Capronne-sur-Arzon. But the characteristics of this Black

Madonna

has been said that no statue ever enjoyed greater renown.

It

statue it

leave a great deal to the imagination.

was

was more

visited,

as mysterious as

more examined, and more it

praised. In fact,

was famous. Kings and popes made

grimages to Le Puy to pray before

it.

earned the nickname “Romee” there. 5

No pil-

Joan of Arc’s mother even

And

of course a flood of leg-

ends has spread from this “podium” charged with history and enig-

mas.

One

of these legends

stained-glass in

Lourdes.

window

It tells

in his castle of

is

depicted (what a coincidence!) on a

of the chapel connected to the medieval castle

how Charlemagne

besieged the pagan king Mirat

Mirambel. The bishop of Le Puy, present with the

army, managed to convince Mirat to dedicate his castle to the Holy Virgin.

Given that Mirat had only been trying to save

accepted baptism, and Mirambel became

Lordum

—

face, he

in other

words,

Lourdes.

The image from Le Puy-en-Velay had

several replicas in France

and Spain. Le Puy was also connected to

Italian pilgrimage sites.

Every year, but especially during Jubilee years

Annunciation coincides with dition of

Good

Gallo-Roman Lyon by

Friday

—those

in

which the

—Le Puy resumed the

calling the neighboring

attend religious feasts, games, poetry competitions, a

tra-

populace to

fair,

and tour-

naments. This was a reminiscence of the Concilia Galliarum, held in

Lugdunum, which

itself

was based on

the Celtic tradition,

strated in Ireland, of four great feasts of the year.

(November

1),

demon-

That of Samhain

during which the entire populace gathered, was the

most important.

5.

The designation “Romee” was given

equivalent location.

to those

who made

a pilgrimage to

Rome

or any

The Virgin's Great Shadow

180

Historically,

Virgin

Mary was

assumed that during the ninth century, the

is

it

the patron saint of Le Puy-en-Velay,

worship was given to a statue whose origin speculations. In 1630, Father after Clovis, sites.

one of

Odo

his successors

and

specific

lent itself to countless

de Gissey recounted

how

shortly

undertook a journey to the holy

Before leaving, he would have passed through Le Puy. Having

spent three years in Jerusalem, he had become a friend of the sultan,

who

him

allegedly offered

sulted the sultan’s favorite,

who

pointed out a black image crafted

by the prophet Jeremiah. Once the king obtained

would have stored the Black

it

Madonna

in

The king con-

his pick of his treasure.

Le Puy. Therefore, given

of Le Puy

would be

this statuette,

role in the story,

its

a fairly ancient Oriental

representation of Phoenician origin. But the testimony of Gissey, published in

1620 and revised by him

examination, especially

when compared

he

in

Odo

de

1644, deserves

to a description

made

in

1778 by Faujas de Saint-Fond, inspector of mines and friend of

who was interested in the extinct volcanoes of Velay and Vivarais. He wanted to understand the method of working hard stone (volcanic rock), which led him to examine the Puy statue. He was very familiar with Odo de Gissey’s testimony and cited it frequently in his own analyses. In any case, he is quite explicit on one Buffon,

point: “It

we have The strikes

is

in

incontestably the most ancient statue of the Virgin that

our French churches.”

statue

it

is

located in a poorly

from behind, on

kind of small canopy.

a fairly high

From neck

lit

area in which the light

marble pedestal beneath

to feet the statue

is

swaddled

a

in a

cloak of gilded cloth, whose conical form displays “the most barbaric taste.” This cloak

is

overloaded with reliquaries, several of

which are augmented with diamonds. “The Infant Jesus,” writes Faujas,

“who from

plays his

little

afar appears pasted to his mother’s stomach, dis-

head through an opening of the cloak; slippers of

gold cloth can be seen on the statue’s feet.” Having obtained permission from the canons of the cathedral to give the statue a detailed

examination, Faujas had her brought

down from

the pedestal.

He

The Black Madonna

took off her robe and saw a statue about thirty inches

.

.

made from

.

cedar, certainly quite old, probably

block, weighing about twenty-five pounds. She

is

modern

from head fully

and

construction.

to feet in

The

bands of very

solidly glued to the

mummies. The

entire statue

is

in the

wrapped;

this

been very care-

manner of Egyptian mother and the

no

the reason

is

think to

I

completely wrapped

cloths are applied to the faces of the

child; the feet are also

single

seated in the style

fine cloth that has

wood

in height

from a

of certain Egyptian deities, on a detached armchair that

be of

181

trace of

any

toes can be seen; similar bands cover the hands, but the fingers have

been emphasized; they are extremely ugly and of the poorest design.

The

face of the

like

ebony: “The face of the mother

mother and the child are both black and polished

shape that goes against

all

is

an extremely elongated oval

the rules of drawing.

of a disproportionate length and width, and Its

mouth By

all

is

small,

and

evidence, this

could label “barbaric.”

work.

Odo

chin

is

.

.

The nose

it

also

shockingly twisted.

shrunken and round.”

was an eighteenth-century work

Now

is

would be described

as

that

no one

an “archaic”

de Gissey said that the eyes had an intolerable sparkle.

Faujas clarified

mon

its

is

.

this;

glass; these

they are “two hemispherical pieces of very com-

two

pieces are concave

the other; the convex side

is

on one

and convex on

side

on the outside and imitates the globe of

the eye, whereas the concave part, being applied to an interior surface painted with the colors of the eye, imitates the iris.” This gives

the figure “a haggard and at the inspires surprise

and even

... a kind of very

terror.”

common

same time astonished

There are no ears or

air that

hair,

but

black cloth that completely covers the

top and back of the head and entirely hides the ears. Beneath this top wrapping, a second can be seen formed from selvedges of black silk,

and

finally a third in

bound and

tightly

homespun; the

wrapped around

entire thing

the head. ...

I

is

closely

should not

The Virgin's Great Shadow

182

when

forget to mention that

pings

I

just described,

from the

This

is

felt in

I

about the

cylindrical relief,

start of the

Was

my

fingers beneath the

size of a little finger, that

It

wrap-

the area of the neck a kind of semi-

neck to the nape, where

a significant detail.

of necklace.

passing

extended

disappeared.

it

seems the statue

may have had

a kind

a torque of the Celtic kind? In this case, the

it

hypothesis would have to be that this was a Gallic mother goddess. In

any event, notes Faujas,

uncovered and inten-

“this singularity, seen

shed light on the essential quality of

sively studied, could

which may well not always have been an image intended the

mother of God." The doubt surrounding

this statue’s

this figure,

to represent

provenance

could not be any more clearly expressed. The drapery

wood. The

sculpted in the

cloths are covered in a layer of white

gouache on which has been painted “thick and tate those of the

crudely

is

solid colors that imi-

Egyptian mummies.” Faujas noted several carved

symbols that could have been writing and small Greek crosses on the child’s

robe “which

may

not be Christian symbols, for the Isaic Table 6

and the obelisk with hieroglyphs It is

was

in

in

Rome

have similar crosses.”

true that at the end of the eighteenth century, Egyptian style

vogue and, probably under the influence of Freemasonry and

the Rosicrucians, the ancient religion of

rediscovered.

Madonna

Faujas

de

and Osiris was being

Saint-Fond concluded that the

of Le Puy-en-Velay

depicted with

Isis

was nothing more or

Horus “that had been transformed

which did no harm totally responsible.”

interpretation.

to the religion because

But something

“The head, which

is

else

less

than an

6.

large

and

[The Isaic Table, also

flat.”

known

good intention was

caused him to doubt

thin, tapered,

Italy,

it is

this

and has an enorfaces,

This led him to a second hypothesis: The

as the

by thirty inches and decorated with Cardinal Bembo, of

Isis

into the Virgin,

mously long nose, does not share the character of Egyptian

which are

Black

Bembine Table,

silver

is

and emerald

a bronze tablet

inlay.

Once

measuring

fifty

in the possession of

covered with hieroglyphs and occult symbols.

— Trans.]

The Black Madonna

183

Madonna came from Lebanon and would have been imported by Adhemar de Monteil, bishop of Le Puy, one of the leaders of the

Black

Crusade and legate of Pope Urban

First

Adhemar de Monteil never

Unfortunately,

II

in

the

Holy Land.

returned to France; he

died in Antioch in 1098.

An made

earlier hypothesis of this nature

on

Saint Louis,

a tradition that

from Egypt, the donor of

his return

Odo

strange statue. But on this point

was based on

this

de Gissey, though not reject-

ing the tradition, displayed great skepticism. Father

Odo

de Gissey,

a good, educated Jesuit, could hardly conceive that a statuette could

have been carved by the ardent iconoclast and prophet Jeremiah,

man

“the

image.” Thus, Saint

was not

who most heartily attacked the cult of the Louis may have brought back this statue, but it

world

in the

ancient.

The notion

that Saint Louis

was

the

donor of the Virgin of Le

Puy, however, smacks into one serious problem: In 1095,

Raymond

IV of Toulouse had offered the cathedral of Le Puy an important

sum

of

money

exchange for which “they would keep a candle

in

and

brightly burning, day

long as he lived.”

We

night, before the

have to believe that 150 years before the com-

was already

ing of Saint Louis to Le Puy, there

image of the Virgin of Toulouse,

who

image of the Virgin as

sufficient

renown

in the Vellave city

an

for the powerful count of

did not lack for famous sanctuaries in his

own

domains, to have sought her protection.

One problem remains work

that

came from

Gallo-Roman

era?

insoluble:

Was

was

the East or

The hypothesis

it

this

image a pre-Christian

crafted

on

site

during the

of a statue carved in cedar does

not hold up. Noting scratches that seemed to have been clumsily repaired over the entire image, Faujas de Saint-Fond voiced the

opinion that these were the result of scrapings by rosaries and other objects used to touch the statue,

and that the black paint had to be

periodically restored in the places that the statue to

make

it

was not

black.

where

it

was

missing. This

originally black , but every effort

means

was made

The Virgin's Great Shadow

184

Furthermore, one peculiarity both Faujas and

Odo

de Gissey

pointed out was that the Virgin’s hands were white. Another detail

somewhat mysterious

supplied by Faujas concerns a

purpose the inspector of mines did not understand.

No

tion of a small reliquary. this specific feature. It

is

cavity

was

It

whose

the loca-

other image in this category contains

explained, says Saillens, “by the excep-

tional nature of the site of Le Puy.

No

other French pilgrimage

has processions that are as frequent and as long, nor such

was

tainous terrain. This statue

a cult statue (because

it

was

site

mouna reli-

quary), but also a processional statue.” 7

But

probable that

it is

this statue

was not

the sole representation

of the Virgin in the cathedral of Le Puy. There must have been

another one, the depiction of which appeared on a medal of 1182. the

It is

same

confused, and no one concerns.

we found

situation

When

is

sure

in Chartres;

which one

the Black Virgin

two

this particular description

was burned on June

eight other statues, the heat of the pyre caused

the surprise of those in attendance, out the “relic” in this statue. This work, statue in compliance with

statues have been

fell

it

8,

1794, with

to explode,

and to

a rolled-up parchment,

seemed, was a reliquary

it

Church standards, an

assertion reinforced

by the distinguishing feature of her white hands. But what we do not

know

is if

the statue that

was burned was

the

been the object of constant worship from the It is

held

same one that had

earliest

Middle Ages.

reasonable to assume that the cathedral of Le Puy-en-Velay

two representations of

wood and

a

Madonna

in stone.

on the 1182 medal and tion of a seal

the Virgin, an ancient Majestic one in

in

held a scepter in his

Nos

tells

is

left

was

its tip

white, as she appeared

O do

de Gissey’s descrip-

us that she looked entirely dif-

was seated and “held

a scepter with a fleur-de-lis at

the image that

latter

accordance with

from 1263, which

ferent then: She

7. E. Saillens,

The

the child in her right

in her left

arm and

hand. The child also

hand. But the figure on the seal today depicts

presently

on the

altar.”

Vierges noires (Paris: Payot, 1945), 91.

The Black Madonna

Could

be the object brought back from Egypt by Saint Louis?

this

some

Surely not, but the fleurs-de-lis imply the king played

Did some kind of substitution of

the affair.

to eliminate

traces of

all

wanted

We

do know that the statue described by

de Gissey and Faujas de Saint-Fond, and thus the same one that

was burned

in

1794, had been intentionally blackened

an easy step to considering

and

the original archaic, cial

when

an object they sensed had emerged from the

purest kind of paganism?

it is

role in

statues take place

the clergy, alarmed at the display of superstitious practices,

Odo

185

this

.

From

there,

image a compromise between

definitely very pagan,

image and the

offi-

Majestic version confirmed in 1182 and 1263.

The debate over

the Black

Madonnas

is

not close to being

resolved. Taking into account the ambiguity of the texts

we

diversity of the artistic evidence,

removal and substitution of

find almost everywhere the

statues, adaptations of their images,

the existence of outright fakes. oldest Black

and the

By

Madonnas Egyptian

this reckoning,

statues of Isis

we can

and

see in the

and Horus, repre-

sentations of Cybele and Attis, and Gallic mother goddesses, with

no

theoretical contradictions or

those ies.

who

erected or installed

any affront to the good

them

in

faith of

medieval Christian sanctuar-

Traditions resist time and religious substitutions, because they

represent something profound that cannot be threatened by styles or

dogmatic in

subtleties.

The Black Madonnas, although

quite Christian

appearance, have their origin in ancient Mother Goddess

whatever name they might individually be known. This

Another

reality

is

that quite often the Black

ened intentionally, as thing

specific.

if

someone wished

is

cults,

by

a reality.

Madonnas were

dark-

the color to signify some-

These purposely blackened Madonnas

exist

in

Chartres and in Le Puy-en-Velay and their meaning clearly appears insoluble.

Why would

the Virgin

Mary

be given this black color?

And why

only in certain cases?

There are multiple theories. One suggestion

Mary had

a

is

that the Virgin

sunburned complexion, appropriate for a Semite, and

The Virgin's Great Shadow

186

that the

custom of depicting her

came from Luke and

the Hodegetria, the mythical portrait attributed to Saint

said to have been sent

law Pulcheria,

same

these his

who

placed

Bible,

like the

burned by the sun. The

fact

this

is

in

Rome

mere

sister-in-

church of Constantinople. Along

Van den Steen (1556-1637) declared

and almost black skin

Luke worshipped

by Empress Eudoxia to her

in the

it

lines, the Jesuit

Commentaries on the

But

as black or simply dark-skinned

is

“The Blessed Virgin Mary had Egyptians and Palestinians

in

a dark

who

are

proven by the portrait painted by Saint

at the Basilica of

fiction.

We

Santa Maria Maggiore.”

should remember that Saint

Mary

Augustine insisted the alleged portraits of the Virgin

exist-

ing in his time were too different from one another to be authen-

He goes on to say, “Furthermore, we know not what face the Virgin Mary wore.” This did not prevent Saint Epiphany in the fourth century from asserting that Mary had

tic

(De

Trinitate, VIII, 6, 7).

skin the “color of wheat, blonde hair, and pupils the tone of ripe olive.”

A

blonde with black eyes?

Why

not? Marie-Bernarde

(Bernadette) Soubirous described the apparition of the Virgin in the grotto at Lourdes as white and blonde.

suntanned skin of the Virgin Mary

in this

What happened

to the

heap of visions and var-

ious interpretations?

A second hypothesis contends that the prototypes of the European Black

Madonnas were executed by

artists

who were

themselves dark-

skinned and simply reproduced their ethnicity in their artwork. not? But Crusaders brought back Black

Madonnas,

Why

as Saint Louis

brought the Puy image from Egypt; and the Black Virgins of France

were worshipped long before the time of the Crusades. In

must assume that the

first

less

who were

commingled with Madonnas by very

ignorant of archaeology. This hypothesis

does not hold up, however, because

been

listed

A third statues

all

the Black

and described bear obvious Christian hypothesis

is

we

depictions of the Black Virgins were Eastern

mother goddesses more or zealous Christians

this case

even more simplistic.

Madonnas

that have

characteristics.

It is

merely that some

were carved from black wood or sculpted

in

dark-colored

I

Fop:

An

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ancient engraving depicting the cathedral of Chartres

bottom: The cathedral seen from the Eure River

The south fagade

Top: The cathedrals Royal Portal

Opposite page: Frontispiece from Rouillard’s Parthenie depicting the virgo paritura

worshipped by the Druids

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m

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