2) 305.4% 2 Q & babel-hathitrust.org oO CATALONIA Tr is in journeying from Perpignan to Barcelona that one comes first on the special Catalan style which distinguishes the buildings of this district of Spain: Gerona, chief in grandeur both natural and architectural, Lérida, even in its present decay, Manresa, Tarragona, Barcelona, are magnificent examples of the main fea- tures of this style, while smaller and older churches, such as San Pablo and San Pedro at Barcelona, those e Tarassa near Manresa, and that of Elne beanie erpignan, enable the student to appreciate its de- velopment and to realize its persistent and distinctive characters. Nothing could be more delightful or instructive to the ecclesiological student than such a trip as could be made in a couple of weeks, or better, in three or four weeks—Spanish travelling is not rapid—from the French border by way of Perpignan and Figueras to Gerona and Barcelona, whence a delightful visit can be made by sea to Malorca to see the noble Cathedral of Palma, which certainly should not be missed, and thence to Tarragona, Tortosa and Reus, taking Lérida and Manresa on the way home; for in so doing he will make acquaintance with a group of churches that are, as Street acknowledges, among the most important medieval buildings to be seen in any part of Europe. They afford remarkable evidence, moreover, of the vigour of the people in the age in which they were built ; for apart from Tarragona, whose building began in the . twel century, and Lérida, whose date is a little later, they are all of very nearly the same date—the end of the 179 3 Google Il O <3:05 mv v 2) t Q & babel-hathitrust.org oO 180 THE CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN Herteenth oud the fourteenth centuries. In other parts ©! in the great churches of this period —Br 5 Toledo, 1 Leon—had no very special or local character; nothing which showed them to be real developments in advance of anything that had been done before or elsewhere. In Catalonia, on the other hand, we find the vigour and inventiveness, which mark this people in so stron, degree, turned to the solving of an architect roblem which, though it had occupied the native architects in other parts of Spain, was only here developed to its final accomplishment. It was a problem, moreover, that was of the highest importance yn Spain, whose builders were primarily occupied with the needs of the worshippers. This was the building ofa church in which an enormous congregation could be in front of one altar and within sight and hearing of the service. The efforts of the other kingdoms of Spain, and also of all other western countries in this direction, sink into insignificance when compared with the noble Catalan churches—with Gerona and Barcelona, with Palma and theColegiata at Manresa,and Santa Maria del Pino. No vaulted building of such width as Gerona, for instance, had been attempted since Constantine built his great basilica. Street states that the nave of this church would hold some two thousand three hundred worshippers. Speaking of these churches, the same eminent authority writes: “ Their internal effect is magnificent in the extreme; and if, in their present state, their external effect is not so fine, it must be remembered, first of all, that they have all been much mutilated, and, in the next place, that their architects had evidently mastered the first great necessity in church-building—the successful treatment of the interior.” Street does not seem, however, fully to have com- wehended the practical reasons which occupied the Patalan builders, for, as we have noticed in an earlier chapter, he condemns the Spanish placing of the choir, which arose from the same occupation with the needs Google Google il O <3:06 \.aYv vx @ + ——e vv Google : Et CATALONIA 18r F) t of the congregation as contradistinguished from the liturgical wants of the clergy. Moreover, he implies that the central placing of the choir is of comparatively recent date, an opinion that would be impossible had he had a wider acquaintance with the old Spanish churches. The want of personal and accurate know- ledge of the beginnings of Spanish architecture ex- plains the curious insistence on “French borrowing,” of which I have spoken so often. It is an error that is even more deplorable in Catalonia than elsewhere in Spain. Fergusson states that the Catalan churches are evidently copied from such churches as those of Albi and Toulouse. This is absurd. In their own land, in the city of Barcelona alone, the Catalan builders had the models ready from which they developed the great cathedrals. Before making our examination of these noble churches, it may be well to pause for a moment on the history of the province, as also on the Catalan character, which offers many points of interest. The principality of Catalonia forms part of the kingdom of mn, and extends along the Mediterranean from the Pyrenees to the Ebro. It is by nature broken, mountainous and sterile, but the stubborn industry of the inhabitants has forced it into splendid fertility. Its history dates back to very ancient times. Dur- ing the Roman occupation of Spain, Hispania Tarra- conensis was the centre of the possessions of the Iberians. They, as was noticed in the opening chapter, were a race of Berber affinity, who, now hidden among the hills of Morocco and Algeria, are generally believed to have a better claim than any other people to represent the primitive European race. They constitute an ad- mirable human material, and one that is peculiarly adapted to independent development. This under- lying stock was modified by many admixtures of other peoples. In the veins of the modern Catalan the old ian blood mingles with that of the Phcenicians, Carthaginians and Greeks, who colonized all Mediter- Google il O <2) 3:06 \.aYv vx Q & babel-hathitrust.org oO coe i 182 THE CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN ranean Spain, and also, at a later date, with that of Goths, Arabs and Gauls. There is one fact that stands out in the history of the Catalans: they have never willingly, or for long, -bowed their heads to any conqueror. e occupation of the country by the Visigoths was a temporary incident, although it is probably to them that the district owes its nam taulania. In 713 the pro- vince fell into the hands of the Moors. ese, in turn, were compelled to abandon it, when for a time Cata- lonia formed pat as a feudal condado or county, of the Frankish . cingdom, under the name of the Spanish Manche. Wi el Velloso (the shaggy), its governor under Charles the Bald, raised the standard of revolt in the ‘xo 874, and established the independent Condado de Barcelona. The independence of the country lasted from p ihe math to the twelfth cent im This was the iod of the test prosperity, and power 0: Potalonia, “rhe ‘people hed akready established the reputation which they still hold, of being among the boldest and most ski mariners of Europe; and we find them compiling the first code of maritime laws in the western world. They established free municipal institutions and an enlightened political order, receiv- ing from Count Ramén Berenguer I., who ruled the province from 1035-1076, an admirable code of laws— the celebrated C. digo de los Usatjes de Cataluaa. Their power in this period was very great. Barcelona, which was now the capital, rivalled oa and Venice as one of the three great trading cities of the Mediterranean. It carried on the greater part of the trade of Spain, with Italy, France and the East. The people were singular! free, powerful and warlite TV; with. y the marriage, in 1149, of Berenguer 5 Petronila, daughter and heiress of Ramere II. el Monje, Catalonia was united with Aragon, and on the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1469, both these countries were incorporated with Castile. Catalonia, however, received a liberal constitution and many special privi- Google il O <