Carolingian Architecture
| Illustration of the Royal Hall and Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne | Cut-Away of the Palatine Chapel |
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Charlemagne also sought to revive the building techniques associated with the Roman Empire.
Aachen was Charlemagne’s Capital. Originally, it was the site of a hunting lodge that Charlemagne inherited. It was a locale also appreciated for its hot springs. Charlemagne turned it into a government center in 794. Prior to this time, his court had been itinerant, moving from locale to another.
One entered this government center into a large courtyard (indicated as the forecourt above). Charlemagne also commissioned a basilica -- But this was NOT a church. Is was an audience hall for the emperor where official state business was conducted. There was also a Royal chapel — the cappella palatina or the Palatine Chapel.
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Odo of Metz, Palatine Chapel, Aachen, 792-805, plan |
San Vitale, Plan |
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For his royal chapel, Charlemagne hired a Frankish architect whose name was Odo of Metz. It had a central dome supported by eight piers. It also had an ambulatory. Odo of Metz consciously emulated Justinian’s Church of San Vitale.
Charlemagne was particularly drawn to the buildings that he saw at Ravenna. He had materials, like porphyry, imported from Ravenna. In fact, he even had marble columns and panels removed from San Vitale and brought to Aachen for use in his own chapel!
| Odo of Metz, Palatine Chapel, Aachen, 792-805, interior view | San Vitale, Interior View |
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The interior of the Palatine Chapel recalls the richness, architectural complexity, and elaborate mosaic work of San Vitale. At the same time, the Carolingian translation is much heavier and more visually logical. It is constructed from stone. Charlemagne went to Rome seven times and each time brought back Byzantine workmen. The columns were stolen from Italy and incorporated into his own palace. There were also elaborate mosaics in the dome.
The Palatine Chapel at Aachen was where the king met the church — yet, it is a private chapel. There was also the notion of hierarchy inscribed in this chapel.
King would appear under an arch on the second floor of the Chapel seated on a marble throne. This throne was across from the altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the apse. Above the altar dedicated to Mary, on the second floor, was an altar dedicated to Christ. This was deliberate symbolism — Charlemagne and Christ were on the same level and therefore were represented as co-regents over the earthly realm. Likewise, the suggestion that Charlemagne and Christ as both selected by God was deliberate.
In building this complex, the Charlemagne was also thinking about the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem; these peoples thought of themselves as the biblical "Chosen People."
Charlemagne supported the church and not always in a self-serving way. He said that everybody should be baptized. He said that all bishops should know the Lord's Prayer. Under his leadership, there was not a strong separation between religion and politics.
Charlemagne died in 814, and in 1162, he became a saint. He is considered almost a patron saint of Germany, France, and Italy.
Plan of St. Gall, ca. 820
By the fifth century, there was so much confusion surrounding various monastery practices that rules were finally written down by a monk whom we know as St. Benedict. The Benedictine order was written in 529, stressing that monks live in a common, enclosure under the rule of an abbot. In a meeting in Aachen in 816 and 817, the Benedictine Order was adopted as the official monastic system of the Carolingian Empire.
This is a plan for a monastery which was executed on five sheets of vellum that were stitched together. It survives at the Abbey Library in the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland. A note survives with it, which reads:
I have sent you, Gozbert, my dearest son, this modest example of the disposition of the monastery, that you may dwell upon it in spirit . . . We drew it through the love of God out of fraternal affection, for you to study only.
We know that it was sent to Abbot Haito, who was a leading ecclesiastic figure at the Carolingian Court. The Abbott of St. Gaul around 820 was Gozbertus. So it was written *for* St. Gall, but *not at* St. Gall. The plan was probably by a Bishop Haito of Basil (who was the Abbott of Reichnau).
So what is the plan of St. Gall? It looks like a large scale blue print, although the scale is awkward and cumbersome. However, it was not used as a blueprint, and we’re really not sure what this was. Nothing is comparable to this until the Renaissance. It is a monastery plan for a monastery that was never built. The idea is abstract, with no sense of terrain, etc. More like a presentation proposal drawing. It presents a layout of monastic activities and it is annotated so that we can see what happens in certain places. It survived as a folded parchment; on the back was written the Life of St. Martin.
The Abbott was the father and the absolute dictator of the monastery. The residents of the monastery were all men (monks) and were isolated from the outside world. The monks met in church, but mostly were restricted to the monastic choir. If built, the St. Gall plan would have accommodated approximately 80 monks. Many parents gave their children to the monastery to be raised as the future monks. At the same time, the monastery was also a place where the local people (or laity) could come to serve God and become closer to God. They had access to the basilica, but not the cloister.
| Graphic Reproduction of the Plan of St. Gall with Labels | Also look in your book for: |
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Within the basilica, there were also many altars, each with relics (which will become extremely important in the Romanesque church, as will be discovered next week). This large church was designed to allow different masses to occur at the same time. People were encouraged to donate money for the masses. The altar in the apse covered the body of St. Paul. The main altar covered the body of St. Gaul. On the original plan, the wavy lines represent the underground and show that there was a tunnel that goes to the tomb of St. Gaul (in a monastery crypt). |
Model of St. Gall, ca. 820
Although the monastery of St. Gaul was never built, this model provides a sense of how it might have looked.