A White Garment of Churches
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11 - 16 August 2008 |
"It befell throughout almost all the world, but especially in Italy and Gaul, that the fabrics of churches were rebuilt ....... every nation in Christendom rivalled with the other, which should worship in the seemliest buildings. So it was as though the very world had shaken itself and cast off her old age and was clothing herself everywhere in a white garment of churches." Raoul Glaber c1000
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As Europe gradually shook itself down into countries and provinces we would recognise today, it began to find its feet in building religious architecture to the glory of God. Romanesque and then Gothic art and architecture found its expression in the great 'books in stone' that remain as monuments to often anonymous artists. Who were these people and how did they live?
Staggering in dimension and achievement, the great Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals remain. This Middle Ages history tour in France studies their structure and the signs and symbols so familiar to Medieval man, whilst examining the lives of the people themselves, whether leaders or workers. With historian Imogen Corrigan we look at the pressures in their lives from heresies to disease, and examine who influenced the leaders and thinkers of the day. This tour offers an introduction to the history of the Middle Ages, mainly of the 12th - 15th centuries, and will cover subjects as diverse as the reality of Medieval etiquette and witch-persecutions, to the social, artistic and psychological effects of the Black Death, to pilgrimage, cults of saints and how to read Medieval art and much more!
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Itinerary
| Day 1 |
(Monday): Depart Victoria Coach Station London 0845. Dover-Calais ferry. Drive to Compiègne for introductory lecture, dinner and overnight.
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| Day 2 |
Introductory visit to the cathedral of Sts Gervase and Protase, Soissons. Lunch break in the Medieval hill town of Laon where life-sized statues of oxen can be spotted amongst the cathedral towers. We visit the cathedral of Notre Dame, Rheims, looking especially at one of Europe's greatest Last Judgement tympani. Own dinner and overnight in Rheims.
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| Day 3 |
To Troyes, where we have a chance to explore this beautiful Medieval city and take a lunch break before driving to Auxerre. In this picturesque city we shall see the C11th - C13th frescos in the Romanesque crypt of the Gothic cathedral of St-Etienne. Dinner and overnight Auxerre.
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| Day 4 |
We travel south to Vézelay to visit the wonderful basilica of Ste Madeleine where we will be able to study the famous capital carvings and enjoy the stunning Romanesque nave and Gothic choir. A lunch break will be taken in Vézelay before settling down for the drive to Chartres where you are free to explore and choose your restaurant for dinner. Overnight in Chartres.
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| Day 5 |
We have all morning to explore Chartres, specifically focussing on the Royal and North Portals of the cathedral of Notre Dame. There will, of course, be time to see the stained glass for which the city is justifiably famous. After a lunch break we will drive to Beauvais for dinner and overnight.
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| Day 6 |
Visit the towering cathedral of St-Pierre, Beauvais. Lunch break in Amiens after an examination of the exquisite carvings on the façade of Notre Dame cathedral. Calais-Dover ferry. Arrive approx. 1845 Dover and 2030 London.
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