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FRENCH
ROMANESQUE

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Factors influencing
Architecture
• Geographical: France is centrally located with 4
rivers connecting the Mediterranean with the
Atlantic.
South romanesque - richly decorated church facades
& the use of roman architectural features.
North Romanesque- 2 flanking towers in the west
facade & the rib and panel vaulting over the nave
that later evolved into the gothic vaulting.
• Geological:
North- Normandy - fine grained Caen stone
South- volcanic pumice & tufa stone which were
light in weight was abundant and were used as
panels in the ribbed vaulting.

• Climatic:
N. France: cold, temperate , steep pitched roofs to through off the snow
S. France: sub-tropical . the door & window openings decrease in size. the roof
almost flat.
• Religious: Religious zeal led to more people opting for monastic life & hence large
monasteries were built
909AD- Clunaic Order, 1098 AD- Cistercian Order.
• Social: 6th - 11th C, France existed as a series of small states & therefore feudal
landlords became very powerful and they were attached to the local religious
order.
• Historical: King Pepin unified France & his son Charlemagne became the Emperor.

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Architectural Character:

• massive thick walls, round arches, sturdy piers, groin vaults, tall towers
& decorative arcading.
• Regular symmetrical plans & clearly defined forms give it an overall
appearance of simplicity.
• The walls are massive in its thickness with small openings . They are
often double shells filled with rubble.
• The piers that support arches are either square or rectangular in plan
and have a horizontal molding at the springing of the arch.
• Columns were built of stone cylinders called drums.
• The foliated Corinthian capital was used as it was round at the bottom
where it sits on a circular column & square at the top, where it supports
the arch.
• Alteration of piers of different forms is typical of the french romanesque
style.

• Ribbed vaults were employed, where the transverse & diagonal ribs are
structural members and the spaces between them could be filled up
with lighter non structural material.
• Because the romanesque arches are always semicircular, the structural
problem in the ribbed vault is that the diagonal span is always larger &
therefore higher than the transverse span.
• In france, the solution was to stilt the transverse ribs or depress the
diagonal ribs so that the center line of the vault was horizontal.
• Towers are an important feature & in the french romanesque 2 large
square towers were commonly used in abbey churches. The extensive
sculptural scheme that adorns the entrance portal is also a
characteristic feature.
• Murals on the interior of vaults and domes are also typical of this style.
The apsidal ends have a chancel surrounded by an ambulatory.

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Vaulting in the nave of Saint Philibert, 10th and 11th century, Tournus, France Church of the Apostles, Cologne

Fontenay Abbey & the Medieval Cistercian Order – Brewminate An artist’s rendering of the plan of the Monastery of St. Gal

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Abbaye aux hommes, Caen

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Abbaye aux dames, Caen

St. Cluny Abbey

What exactly is an abbey?
A grouping of buildings that
constitutes the housing and other
necessary buildings for a society of
Christian monks or nuns who were
all living under a specific religious
rule (the rule regulated their lives,
specifying behavior and the
organization of the monastery). In
the case of Cluny, the rule the
monks lived under was that of
Saint Benedict of Nursia, who had,
in the 6th century, advocated a life
divided between prayer, rest,
study, and work.

The largest church in Christendom

The abbey of Cluny III (located in Southern Burgundy, France) started modestly enough—the
first church being a relatively simple barn like structure. However, Cluny quickly grew to be
home to the largest church in Christendom—a title it would hold for over 200 years.

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Cluny III
Cluny had a series of strong abbots, and Hugh
of Semur was one of that line. He waited until
he had been in that position for 40 years
before beginning construction on the
monumental project that would be Cluny III. It
is thought he was intent on observing the
latest trends—seeing what worked and what
didn’t—before embarking on this great
building project. Cluny III seems to have been
built with the idea of plucking the best
attributes from what had been created before
and synthesizing them into a grandiose
structure worthy of the prestigious order. It
was not completed until 1130 (Hugh the Great
died in 1109,) and when it was complete it
stood as the largest in Europe—with five aisles
(rivalling Old Saint Peter’s in Rome).

The Abbey of Cluny differed in three ways from other Benedictine houses and
confederations:
•organisational structure;
•prohibition on holding land by feudal service; and
•emphasis on the liturgy as its main form of work.

The consecration of the main altar of Cluny III by Pope Urban II in 1095, in the
presence of abbot St Hugh

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CLUNY ABBEY III

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the Eau Bénite bell tower and the Surviving Transept, Cluny Abbey
Clock tower (remains of the Saint- (Cluny III), 12th-century, Saône-et-
Pierre-et-Saint-Paul abbey church), Loire, Burgundy, France

Bust of King David from the chapel of Jean de Bourbon, an abbot of

Cluny Abbey who commissioned the chapel as his burial spot. However it
was never used as such.

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Choir Capital, early 12th century, Third Plainsong

Tone (photo: Holly Hayes)

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Archaeological excavations
More than 2,200 silver deniers and oboles (coins)—mostly minted by the Abbey of Cluny
and probably dating to the first half of the 12th century—in a cloth bag, traces of which
remain on some of the coins
A tanned hide bundle, found among the silver coins, fastened with a knot, and enclosing 21
Islamic gold dinars struck between 1121 and 1131 in Spain and Morocco, under the reign of
Ali ibn Yusuf (1106–1143), who belonged to the Berber Almoravid dynasty.
A gold signet ring with a red intaglio depicting the bust of a god and an inscription possibly
dating the ring back to the first half of the 12th century
A folded sheet of gold foil weighing 24g and stored in a case
A small circular object made of gold

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inside of Farinier (Gothic building): room topped by a

portal of the Jean de Bourbon chapel
wooden roof structure and home to capitals of the abbey
church

Benedictine abbey: Gothic windows of the

facade of the Gélase pope

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