500-600 golden age of ireland

Starting to see monumental sculpture again with carved crosses.

High Cross of Muiredach, Monasterboice, Ireland 923

CHARLEMAGNE
Equestrian Portrait of Charlemagne
Metz, France, 9th C, bronze.
(Tabletop not monumental, but recovery from iconoclasm, hierarchy of scale, has a ball
of some sort to symbolize the world)
Charlemagne: defeated the muslims. "Saved Europe from the Muslims"
"renovatio imperii romani" : Renew the Roman Empire

Between 400 and 800 there was no idea of Europe and Charlemagne made a
conscious effort to develop this idea.
Christmas 800 was crowned holy roman emperor by the pope.
1000 years later Napolean does the same. Crowned his own wife empress.

Early middle ages:

Manuscripts are a dominant cultural form.

St. John
Coronation Gospels
Aachen
800-810

St. matthew
Coronation Gospels
Aachen
800-10
}regional style
(St. Matthew
Ebbo Gospels
Reims, France
816-835)

Palatine Chapel
Based on an improved San Vitale.
Beautiful archeways
Striped and patterned a lot like Islamic art (Polychrome arch)
Actually took columns from San Vitale. Plundered the interior for the Palatine chapel
Octagonal top part
Westwork: cylindrical towers at entrance make building loom larger
After Charlemagne: OTTONIAN EMPERORS
Followed the Roman revival, but they also were hip with the Byzantine jive.
Intermarried with byzantine princesses and shit.

Schematic system
Modular approach
alternate support system
clerestory
double-ended basillica
entrances on both sides

RECITATION:

Relics and Reliquaries

A. Relics are fucking weird

Basically they kept Saints' fingernails, tail bones, shit they touched, and everything else
weird about them then stuck them in a pretty box. Then they'd stick them in a church.
People would travel hundreds of miles by foot to see these various creepy parts of dead
people's bodies because it apparently made them better catholics.

Pilgrimage:
Santiago shells. Generally on what looks like a messenger bag.
Some people still hike the pilgrimages to this day.
Pilgrim books: like a pilgrimage passport so to speak

Early Christian Churches: Early Christian churches were more functional than
decorative. The space was more sprawling and had less 'detail'.

Romanesque Churches: Has started to take on more of a cross shape. Westwork has
been adopted. They're making things taller and wider so more people can come into the
church.
Radiating chapels: Reliquaries! With the creepy dead people parts.

Path of the pilgrims: They would follow something like a polygonal ambulatory. They
would move from left to right and walk around the church around the sides. There's a
set path for the pilgrims that leads them back to he radiating chapels to see the relics.
They also received donations when the pilgrims moved through the churches. A pretty
common theme in history, non?

Relic: The Arm of Mary magdalene. FKLFHWKJGHW ARE YOU KIDDING HOW
GROSS IS THIS SHIT? "It could be the arm of Mary Magdalene but.... it could be the
arm of someone else too and they were lying." As long as it's an arm, apparently.
The head of Saint/Pope Alexander II, 1145: JFC

1. relics act as a physical reminder of the saint so people can identify with their
importance.
2. The saint worked miracles through the body so the body remains holy.
3. Because miracles occur at sites with relics God clearly must approve of the
preservation and worship of them. (hello fabricated logic. Hello another recurring theme
in the Church)

Pilgrims would carry holy water or pendants of a particular saint or symbol that
had special meaning for them: Early team loyalty. (Go Pack!)

~*~*~*~Different sorts of relics~*~*~*~*~*~

Bodily relics:
Finger of Doubting St. Thomas - the man who had to poke Christ to see if he was real
when he came back to life (which I think is just prudent, really)

Speaking reliquaries:
House the part of the saint. (fingers, heads, arms, creepy shit, etc) They were openable.
So you could OPEN these reliquaries and take a quick peek at the chopped off body
parts.