Angers Cathedral: Angers, heart of the Angevin Empire

cathedrals 4: Angers, heart of the Angevin Empire

for definitions and more details,
go to

cathedrals, an illustrated glossary

index
introduction
the cathedral of st. maurice
the tapestry of the apocalypse in the château [castle] at angers
background facts
floor plan
end note

The Angevin dynasty reached its height with Henry II. The dynasty had risen through ruthless expansion and strategic marriages, until it was the dominant power reaching from the British Isles to throughout the West of France. Angers was the centre of this powerful empire.

Saint Maurice’s Cathedral was built during the twelfth and thirteenth century at the centre of this rich empire, during the time that the innovations of gothic architecture were developing.

Angers is a modern town with a medieval quarter and a cathedral with some fine, early stained glass. The glass is interesting, in particular, because it is one of the earliest to have started on restoration in recent decades. Consequently, it has returned some of its most important windows to their former glory and red and blue brightness.

The cathedral of St Maurice

The cathedral was built in the 12th and 13th centuries.Its stained glass, mostly original, is well-restored. There are two rose windows and 36 others, the great majority of which are story windows.

There is a magnificent rose window in twenty-four sections. The twelve upper ones illustrate the signs of the zodiac, the lower ones show twelve Angers city elders. Christianism frequently absorbed older, non-christianist symbols, rituals and holidays to accomodate more recruits. Many such details are to be found in the byways of the gothic cathedrals.

A short walk away, and well worth a visit ...

The tapestry of the Apocalypse in the château [1] [castle] at Angers

In 1375, Louis I, the then Duke of Anjou and brother of Charles V, ordered the making of this enormous piece of weaving. This tapestry, made in six pieces, was 133 metres long by almost 6 metres high and was finished in 1382. Bequeathed to Angers cathedral in 1480, the tapestry was removed and then ‘lost’ during the French revolution. The tapestry was found years later, being used as horse blankets in the chateau stables. For this reason the tapestry now has some pieces missing and some damage, and is slightly smaller. (This last part of the tapestry’s history is now not mentioned in French tourist documentation - that only records, and vaunts, the very recent preservation methods and the tapestry’s display in a former dungeon.)

The tapestry is the oldest known surviving warp tapestry. (The Bayeux ‘Tapestry’ is not a tapestry; it was embroidered, not woven.) The images of the Anjou tapestry follow closely the text of the last book in the New Testament (Revelations), it shows the triumph of Christanism after various ordeals. What the visitor sees is the faded front. The back, often shown in tourist literature with the images reversed, was mostly protected by a lining during its travails and so has not faded to any great extent.

Background facts
Angers	approximate population : 152,500 average altitude/elevation : 25 m cathedral dimensions total length : 90.47 m nave length : 48 m nave width : 16.38 m nave height : 24.68 m

end note

The ‘Chinese hat’ above the letter ‘a’ in château indicates that originally this word was spelt with an ‘s’ after the ‘a’ - chasteau. As French pronounciation evolved, some sounds within words were dropped, as were some sounds at the end of words. The ‘Chinese hat’, technically called a circumflex, is also found over other vowels, for instance the ‘e’ in fenêtre. Fenêtre comes from the Latin for window: fenestrum.

cathedrals – introduction: reading stained glass
gothic cathedral and church construction
cathedrals, an illustrated glossary
Chartres - wonder of the world
Notre Dame de Paris, Paris
lantern towers of Normandy and elsewhere
history of ugly stained glass: Auch, Bazas, Dreux
Auch cathedral choir and stalls
Rouen and Monet
Dax and church iconography photographs, Dax
Bazas - iconography and architectural styles
Poitiers, neglected masterpiece photographs, Poitiers / photos 2
Angers, heart of the Angevin Empire photographs, Angers
Laon, the midst of the gothic transition, with added oxen photographs, Laon
Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Lyon
Notre Dame of Lausanne
Senlis - how a typical cathedral changes through the ages
Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges - the cathedral of the Pyrenees
Cathedrale Saint-Gatien at Tours