Honnencourt: The French
Cathedrals Game Created by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
You
do not have to travel to France to learn about some of that country’s major
contributions to world art and architecture, particularly for its Gothic cathedrals.
This
Honnencourt: The French Cathedrals Game will prepare you for savvy armchair and
in-country travel in France. Many of the
characteristics and symbols of French Gothic architecture can be found in other
countries as well such a England and Northern Spain.
Level 1 – Background
Information
Read
about the Gothic style in these art history books:
Gothic Architecture and
Scholasticism by
Erwin Panofsky
The Art of the West: Gothic by Henri Focillon
Les Cathédrales de
France by
Auguste Rodin
Rodin’s
book is a philosophical reflection on the Gothic cathedrals of France not
really art history. It is available in
French only at the time of this writing.
Le Carnet de Vuillard
de Honnencourt
Honnencourt
was the architect for several cathedrals in Northern France. These notebooks contain geometric drawings of
labyrinths, flowers, people, and circular shapes for chapels.
You
can look for these designs in almost all Gothic cathedrals and buildings when
you view these places online or in person.
Level 2 – The Gothic
Pointed Arch Game
The
most characteristic feature of the Gothic architectural style is the pointed
arch.
Using
a pointed arch allowed the cathedrals to be taller with more wall space, which
opened up to the walls to have stained glass windows.
This
pointed arch was made possible by flying buttresses, stone supports that held
up cathedral walls. Some of the most
famous flying buttresses are those of Nôtre Dame Cathedral (opposite the
entrance to the cathedral and outside) and at Chartres Cathedral.
The
way that these pointed arches are able to stand up is that each side of the
arch presses against the other, so that neither side can fall down.
Most
bridges are able to stand using this same principle that equal pressure applied
by two sides against each other will hold up the bridge. (The middle of a bridge is usually higher
than the two sides for this reason.)
To
test this principle, have the game players of equal height stand 2 ½ feet
apart. Ask them to hold their palms out
towards each other. Then, ask them to
lean towards each other and touch their palms together.
The
players will see that they are able to stand together in that position, but
would fall down, if they were standing in that angle alone.
Players
can look up bridges around the world as an extension to this game before moving
to the next level.
Examples
of bridges you might want to look up include:
The
Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco)
The
Mackinac Island Bridge (Upper Michigan)
The
Detroit-Windsor Bridge (Between Canada and Detroit – Michigan)
Level 3 – Differences
Between Romanesque and Gothic Art and Architecture
Romanesque
art, found mostly in Southwestern France, is characterized by rectangular
buildings with simple, half-circular roofs.
This
rectangular building and semi-circular roof is based on the basilicas of
Rome. When the Christian religion was
officially adopted in Rome, the first services were held in basilicas (market
places – prior to this secret Christian services were held in the catacombs).
Architectural
art styles often change when new, wealthy patrons displace one another. Southwestern France (where most of the
Romanesque churches are located) lost much of its political importance and tax
collecting and tithe collecting powers when the Albigensian Crusade crushed the
Count of Toulouse, the towns of Languedoc, and the Cathar heretics through the
Inquisition held at Carcassonne.
When
the Northern French economically placed the Southern French back in tax and
tithe collecting coffers, they monitored them and made sure the Cathars did not
become dominant again. The Cathars took
money away from the French crown and church.
The
Romanesque churches of Southwestern France are beautiful with their sculptures
that swirl around pillars and ornate foliage that makes you feel as if you have
entered an earthly paradise when you enter them. Many are pilgrimage sites in their own right
and also sit along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella.
Pilgrimages
brought in money in the form of donations and through paying for lodging and
food in abbeys along the pilgrimage route to Compostella.
The
churches in Northern France also wanted more pilgrimage money. The churches here were starting points for
the pilgrimage route to Compostella or points along the way with no lodging
possibilities.
These
Northern churches did have saints’ relics, but they needed to “upgrade” in
modern parlance to offer something better than the Romanesque churches.
The
Northern churches were limited in size by the basilica architectural plan and
the semi-circular roof. If you make the
roof too wide to accommodate larger crowds in a basilica, it will fall, if
there are no flying buttresses to hold up the wall.
The
Abbot Suger at the Basilica of Saint Denis outside Paris was the priest, who
was trying to raise money for Paris, and accommodate larger crowds of pilgrims
and religious tourists, who wanted to see the “bigger and better” churches of
Paris and Northern France.
Abbot
Suger’s solution to create a bigger and better church was to design wall
supports, called flying buttresses, which allowed taller church walls for
stained glass windows and a taller pointed roof. These were the selling points for his
newfangled Basilica, which brought in cash for Paris.
The
Basilica at Saint-Denis is considered the first manifestation of the Gothic
style in France. It is a pilgrimage site
as the burial site for the Kings of France.
Level 4 – Gothic Art
and Architecture Basic Definitions
Look
up the following word definitions with photos associated with them online.
Write
a definition of the word in your own words.
Write
out a pronunciation of the word that you understand.
Basic
Gothic Words:
Aisle
Altar
Ambulatory
Apse
Arch
Baptismal
Font
Baptistery
Barrel
vault
Campanile
Cinqfoil
Clerestory
Choir
Cloister
Colonnade
Column
Crypt
Dome
Fleur-de-lys
Keystone
Flying
buttress
Lintel
Mausoleum
Niche
Ogive
Pediment
Pilaster
Narthex
Façade
Quatrefoil
Refectory
Rib
vault
Scriptorium
Spire
Trefoil
Trumeau
Basilica
Cathedral
Abbey
Monastery
Dome
Level 5 – Use Nôtre
Dame Cathedral in Paris or Chartres Cathedral in Chartres (France) as examples
for this exercise
Look
up their websites and see if you can find examples of the Gothic art word
definitions in Level 4.
Notredamedeparis.fr
Cathedrale-chartres.org
Level 6 – 10 Gothic
Cathedrals that are most Representative of the Style
There
are many Gothic cathedrals in France, but I picked what I think are the most
representative of the Gothic style. Most
of the cathedrals have websites that are really online art exhibits:
Basilica
Saint Denis
Saint-denis-basilique.fr
Nôtre
Dame de Paris
Notredamedeparis.fr
Chartres
Cathedral
Cathedrale-chartres.org
Amiens
Cathedral
Cathedrale-amiens.fr
Sainte
Chapelle
Sainte-chapelle.fr
Metz
Cathedral
Cathedrale-metz.fr
Senlis
Cathedral
Paroissesaintrieul.org
Rouen
Cathedral
Cathedrale-rouen.net
Strasbourg
Cathedral
Cathedrale-strasbourg.fr
Rheims
Cathedral
Cathedrale-reims.com
Level 7 – Hagiographies
(Religious Biographies)
Look
up the religious biography or hagiography for the following saints’ names that
appear in the cathedrals above:
Saint
Denis
Saint
Jacques
Sainte
Marie
Write
up a paragraph in French about the saint.
Level 8 – Gothic Church
Interior Space Design
Look
at the blueprints for the 10 cathedrals and write down what is similar about
them.
Level 9 – Read the
Following Books on Cathedral History
Nôtre Dame de Paris: A
History by
Richard Winston
Chartres: The Making of
a Miracle by
Colin Ward
Guides des Vitraux de
Chartres by
Jean Villette
Level 10 – How does
Gothic Architecture Support the Saying of the Mass
To
find out information about he Catholic Mass, priests’ sacramental clothing, and
the liturgical year, check out the website below:
United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Usccb.org
Look
under the tab “Prayer and Worship.”
What
parts of the interior architecture support saying mass for the priests and
participating in it by parishioners.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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