Notre Dame: La France au coeur.

I am chiefly home-based at present having lost a lot of my energy in a rather cavalier fashion! While I await its return, I am happily engaged in rescuing the beloved terrace from its winter woes. My youngest was here a few days ago and she valiantly swept and tidied to set the tone and now, a little early perhaps, May being the optimum time for spring planting, I have been re-potting and planting a few choice plants, at a leisurely pace, stopping often to admire the chimneys, steeples and roof- scapes which make up my privileged view. In fact, et in Arcadia ego, really!

 Et in Arcadia ego.
Nicholas Poussin 1594-1665
First version; Chatsworth House

By that I mean that I feel myself to be in Paradise in this lovely spot though Arcadia, in Greek mythology, signified a wilderness in which the god, Pan, resided with nymphs and dryads. It is also the famous title of a painting by Poussin [1594-1665], a leading French Baroque painter, of a pastoral scene of shepherds examining a gravestone! The first version he painted is in Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, a much-loved venue when I lived locally. The second, quite different, version is in the Louvre. Arcadia, in fact, came to symbolise the pure, rural, innocent, idyllic life far from the city, so my use of it to try to describe my feelings of contentment here is taking a liberty to say the least. My terrace views are of brick and stone; steeples and chimneys; towers and roof ridges; churches and gables. But Arcadia, in its meaning of ‘ideal; perfect’ it is to me!

But, more important than musings on my little patch of delight, is to join the world-wide chorus of horrified dismay and desolation at the Notre Dame tragedy; the frighteningly swift collapse of the slender pointed

\Viollet-Le-Duc's Fleche collapses

ninnineteenth century steeple and the near-total despoliation of the interior [saved by the almost superhuman, timely efforts of the Parisian firefighters] all pierced the hearts of the world. This hugely symbolic cathedral, an integral part of the French patrimony and the embodiment of the French finest national values, has come also to represent the deepest emotions and cultural attachments of almost the entire planet. We all love the sculptures, the fabulous Rose Window, the carvings, the grotesques, the treasures and memorials; the historical associations, but most of all the iconic building itself represents, not only beauty and inventiveness in stone and form, but simply the best, the most beautiful, that humans can create. The utter sadness and helplessness of the horrified spectators worldwide, was literally painful and deep.

Knights Templars burned at the stake.

A friend alerted me to a wonderful glossy magazine produced by Le Figaro, on sale here over Easter. It is entitled, Notre-Dame: La France au coeur. It is sub-titled: Les Grands Heures D’Une Cathedrale; L’Effroi et L’Esperance. One euro from each copy sold will go to the reconstruction fund for Notre Dame. It contains heart-breaking photographs of the fire and degradation but also articles and beautiful reproductions of paintings commemorating many, many important ceremonies staged in Notre Dame over the centuries. The list of 12 notable events over  the centuries includes the first stone of the future cathedral laid in Spring 1163 by the Pope, Alexandre 111; the dissolution of the Knights Templar with many foot soldiers burned at the stake before the cathedral on the 19^th March,1314; 22^nd March 1594, the triumphant welcome to Paris of Henri 1V after five years of warfare to secure his kingdom; a feast of Liberty for the sans-culottes of revolutionary Paris in the re-named Temple of the Goddess Reason on 10^th November 1793; the Grande Parade de Napoleon on 2^nd December 1804; the 31^st May 1864 ceremony to celebrate the complete Neo-Gothic restoration of Notre Dame including the building of the elegant spire in 1859, all under the stewardship of Viollet-Le-Duc; and finally the thanksgiving for the Liberation of Paris on 26^th August 1944 with De Gaulle in triumphant charge. What a panoply! What continuity! 

 Notre Dame during the celebration of
the Liberation of Paris August 1944

The Rose Window in happier times.

 And, dramatically ablaze in April 2019.

Brexit Blues

Anna Soubry, M.P. beset by Brexiteers

Oh dear, my second Brexit blog of the year; I am beginning to feel the pressure!

“The undefined being negotiated by the unprepared in order to get the unspecified for the uniformed.”

A friend passed on the above, artfully-crafted definition of Brexit months ago and, embarrassingly, it has become evermore correct. Oh the agony and shame of watching and hearing the daily disaster that is Brexit lurching in Parliament, from one befuddled non-decision to the next. Parliamentarians are being blamed and heavily criticised but in truth, they are simply reflecting the division and chaos in the country. The divisiveness, and the heat and fury of the whole topic, are truly distressing to behold. Contrary to the dark picture painted by the tabloids and the Telegraph, Donald Tusk has behaved amazingly well, fair and restrained at all times. Definitely there must be a special place in Heaven reserved for him!!

I was vastly entertained today when I saw several clips on my Ipad BBC News of people of all ages and different nationalities, delightedly imitating John Bercow’s constantly-repeated bellows for ‘Order, order!’ and his peremptory but familiar booming shouts of ‘Unlock!’, ‘Ayes to the right; Noes to the left’. Plus many tributes to his wardrobe of beautiful but colourful ties. Apparently, unknown perhaps to many Brits, dear John has unwittingly become an international, if minor, Brexit star. This will be to

the utter bewilderment and irritation of his party, the Conservatives, who apparently, loathe him to a man, or woman! I am well content, as a long-time admirer of this vain, sometimes pompous, often courageous man who has done many Good Things for the running of Parliament. My favourite Good Thing is the closure of one of the many bars in the Houses of Parliament, replacing it with a creche, to the horror and despair of many of the older Members.

 Don't mention the war.

Yesterday I caught a glimpse of De Standaard, a national daily, with a full page article on Brexit entitled Fawlty Towers and with one of the sub-headings reading, “Don’t mention the war.” Delightful, and written with what the Brits might label, a British sense of humour. Then to the BBC News on my Ipad and Dear Nigel [‘no more Mr Nice Guy’] frothing at the mouth as he stirred up an audience to ever greater anti-E.U. passion and anti-Westminster fury, launching yet another anti-E.U. party entitled, unsurprisingly, Brexit. As they say, one couldn’t make it up!! I now can’t remember why he stopped leading UKIP but it, too, is now The Enemy. Nigel becomes truly alive when he can publicly harangue An Enemy and now he has three: UKIP, Parliament and the E.U.. Unfortunately, he looks thinner; obviously match-fit. Oh dear. I do enjoy recalling that he has tried seven times, unsuccessfully, to enter Parliament. Some voters, apparently, are immune to his divisive and hostile charms!

 Nigel Farage.

Juan Luis Vives 1492-1540

The Juan Luis Vives' statue alongside the canal

near the Bonifacius Bridge.

I have often seen the small, unassuming bust of Juan Luis Vives on the canal bank close to the Bonifacius Bridge and idly wondered who he was. Although the spot is picturesque, and even historic situated as it is, in the heart of Brugge, nevertheless it is a little out-of-the way and helps to keep the statue and the man, somewhat incognito to the general public.

I am presently reading The Life of Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd, echoing the period of the super biography of Thomas Cromwell which I mentioned in my last blog. Ackroyd is a prize-winning biographer and an authority on the history of London. His More autobiography is predictably superb and reading it, I was astonished to come across the name of Vives whom More had met in Bruges during some diplomatic negotiations on Henry's behalf in 1520. More came to admire Vives for his ideas, productivity and resourcefulness. The connection was strengthened during the next five years when Vives composed a number of treatises on subjects such as good government and the education of women, areas in which More was very interested. More was instrumental in having translated and published the Vives' treatise on the education of Christian women. He was also involved in Wolsey's appointment of Vives to a readership in the newly-established Cardinal's College in Oxford in 1520.

Thomas More

It was undoubtedly through More's influence that Vives joined the little group of pious scholars around Queen Catherine whom he impressed so much that she entrusted the education of her daughter, Mary Tudor, to him.

Erasmus

 Vives’ friendship with Erasmus, another admirer, and his proximity for a while to More and the royal family is demonstrated in a letter from Vives to Erasmus. He alluded to the admiration of Henry and Catherine for Erasmus’s work, De Libero Aribitrio. He wrote, “non dubito,” they will discuss your new book “cum Moro.” The extent of the friendship which had developed between Vives and Catherine can be judged by the fact that in the Autumn of 1527, and again in the following year, Vives returned to the Queen’s side to support and counsel her during her long travail over the King's ‘grete mater’ when Henry was seeking reasons, backed by theology, to annul his marriage to her, the widow of his older brother.

Catherine of Aragon

First wife of Henry v111

After publicly supporting the validity of Queen Catherine’s royal marriage, and thus forfeiting Henry’s favour, Vives was briefly imprisoned and then he prudently withdrew from Oxford, returning to Bruges where he spent the rest of his life. He thought and wrote much on the psyche and psychology, philosophy, medicine, the education of women and state treatment of the poor and destitute. His beliefs on the soul, insight into early medical practice, and perspective on emotions, memory and learning earned him the title of ‘father’ of modern psychology. In education, Vives achieved renown through such works as De Ratione Studii Pueriis, On the Right Method of Instruction For Children, published in 1523. He advocated the principal of induction from personal enquiry and experience which Erasmus had recommended for the study of Scripture and languages. Vives’ approach to education is astonishingly modern. His ideas were influential and advanced, though he is barely remembered today, However, the Vives University College was created in 2013 with the merger of the Katholieke Hogeschool Zuid-West-Vlaanderen[KATHO] and the Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende [KHBO]. And thus the name Vives, lives on. He 

died in 1540 aged only 47 and was buried in the Cathedral of Sint Donaas.

 Vives University College Library, Brugge Campus

Juan Luis Vives who left his native Spain after his father

had been burned at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition.

Shrines and Relics

Basilica of the Holy Blood, Brugge

Since living in Brugge, on the occasions on which I have visited the Basilica of the Holy Blood in the Burg, I have never failed to marvel at the numerous tourists, usually from Roman Catholic countries of course, who truly and visibly venerate the holy relic. I do not understand it at all though there is no doubting the sincerity and awe exhibited. I always notice how immune the British are to this worship and assume, correctly, that it is a manifestation of the Protestant state religion in Britain and its

The phial of a drop of Jesus's blood

brought back to Brugge by Crusader

Derrick of Alsace in 1150.

The Basilica was built to house this

holy relic.

current post-Protestant atheistic/agnostic culture. What I didn’t know was that this immunity dates directly from the often murderous actions and relentless propaganda of Thomas Cromwell in the 1530s as he sought to suppress monasteries and other religious houses for Henry V111.

Though I knew that it was the extended convolutions of politics and religion in the reign of Henry V111, interacting with his unstable, narcissistic and mercurial temperament which caused the messy split with the all-powerful Pope and the Roman Church, ushering in the creation and growth of what eventually became the Church of England with the King as its virtual Pope, I hadn't known the details nor really understood the life and death aspects of this period. It was a fearful time.

Diarmaid MacCulloch

Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford.

However, as I am at home most of the time at present, I have settled down to reading a large tome: Thomas Cromwell: A Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch. Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford.  As a biography, it is magisterial; unimaginably detailed, the result of sustained and scholarly research and written in crystal clear prose with often unexpected flashes of humour and wry comment. I have enjoyed it enormously in spite of sometimes anxiously trying to recall the place of some of the characters in the chorus who, en passant, inject drama or deception into the discourse. My memory hasn’t been quite up to carrying in my head, this cavalcade of characters involved in the almost decade-long drama of Thomas Cromwell’s service [1532-1540] as Chief Minister to Henry V111.

However, this isn’t a detailed review of this marvellous book; it is to note the realisation of what happened during the years when monasteries and friaries were being suppressed by Cromwell and Henry. Particularly in the case of friaries [always synonymous, wrongly, in my mind with

Greyfriars, Canterbury, founded in 1224, one of 60 Franciscan 

friaries closed between 1534 and 1538 during what became

known as the British Reformation..

monasteries] Cromwell sustained an uninterrupted campaign of vilification to discredit the friars and their friaries, and to destroy the hugely popular Pilgrimages to shrines and relics. Underpinning that was a publicity campaign to inform ordinary people of their now-legal right to read and own an English Bible. 1539 saw the printing of The Great Bible, a fully official Bible in English, overseen by Miles Coverdale but produced, through sheer determination and flexible diplomacy, by Cromwell. It became his Bible, his magnificent achievement, his triumph. This important product was then distributed to all the Churches in Britain, available for all to view.

Canterbury Cathedral today.

The lit candle signifies the spot where Becket's shrine stood.

Monks withdrew from the outside community to pursue the contemplative life within their self-contained, self-supporting landed estates which they owned. Friars were more closely bound to Rome, were not allowed to own land or property and in their true poverty, were reliant on begging from the laity. In return, friars earned high esteem by preaching, hearing confessions and reciting masses for the dead. They tended to be well-educated and intellectually alert, admired by the outside communities, on whom they were reliant and supported by the aristocracy, a weakness exploited by Cromwell in his determination to rid the country of the old religious practices, an important one of which was the veneration extended to holy relics and shrines. Cromwell managed, by often brutal methods, to accomplish, in a relatively short time, the disappearance of friars and the mediaeval relic/shrine-worship. Even the hugely-revered shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral was sacked and removed as was the shrine to St Swithin in Winchester Cathedral.

Thomas Cromwell

whose evangelical zeal seemed to grow with his

increasing power.

And thus began five hundred years of disinterest in, or perhaps disapproval of, the power of holy relics and shrines an attitude common today among the British: an interesting example of the irresistible effect of historical events on present day attitudes.  

Henry V111

particularly interested in transferring the considerable wealth of monasteries and the fewer riches of friaries to the Royal coffers.
Destroying the supposed magic of Processions to worship
shrines and relics encouraged focus on the
new religion.

Gerasa

My last day spent travelling to and from Jerash plus a five hour exploration of the site felt almost the best day of the week. We were just a relaxed two wandering under a peerless blue sky and very warm sun. The route was virtually on a level and I was able to resist the diversionary temptation of inviting steps promising ever more delectable views. We entered through the Triumphal Gate of Hadrian at the South end of the ancient site of Gerasa and began to discover the amazingly-preserved Roman city garlanded annually in Spring, by swathes of wild flowers..

The town was developed by the Romans in the first century B.C. though it had been colonised previously by Alexander the Great and archaeological remains from the period 2500-2,700 B.C. testify to the existence of settlements there in the Bronze and Iron ages. But, in spite of a mixture of stylistic periods for individual remains, the city conforms overall to a typical Roman urban plan, chiefly designed in the first century A.D. following its capture by Pompey’s army in about 63 B.C. That said, the Nabataeans,[major trading partners] and especially their capital, Petra, exerted a huge influence on both civil and religious architecture in Jerash. 

In the first century A.D. Gerasa enjoyed peace and prosperity. There was great building activity as trade with Syria and the Nabataeans flourished bur peak popularity for Jerash occurred in the third century A.D.  when it was granted the status of a colony by Emperor Caracalla in 217 A.D. Citizens were free, enjoying equal rights with Romans including a tax-free privileged civic life. But a series of wars, economic, religious and political disputes served to damage the city while, following the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 324 A.D, some problems were resolved, the ancient pagan temples became neglected and many fine Roman buildings were pillaged for stone to build at least fourteen Byzantine churches. Nonetheless, fine mosaic pavements, marble architecture and classic decoration show the continuing wealth of Jerash until 636 A.D. when the rapid diffusion of Islam brought Mohammedanism to the city. At least one mosque was built in Gerasa and there are the remains of 8th century Islamic buildings with beautiful

Part of the Cardo, the 800 metre long Colonnaded

 Street, a main thoroughfare along which the most

important buildings were arranged.
The drains beneath the Cardo formed the central
canal of an elaborate sewage system and many
stone manhole covers are still in place.
Ruts caused by the metal wheels of chariots
are still visible on the Cardo.

geometric mosaic floors.

Ancient and profitable trade routes were broken amid increasingly widespread pillaging by Roman armies and gradually, inexorably, the city's prosperity was stifled and it shrank to a quarter of its size. A major earthquake in 747 A.D. reduced much of Gerasa to ruins and by the twelfth century the city was uninhabited. The Governor of Damascus took the opportunity to convert the abandoned Temple of Artemis into a Crusader castle though this was eventually lost to Baldwin 1, the Crusader King of Jerusalem. The site remained chiefly abandoned until 1806 when Ulrich Seezen re-discovered it. Later in the nineteenth century Jordanian families began to colonise Gerasa which could still boast the essentials for successful settlement: fertile land, a strategic position and the presence of water. Circa 1878 Circassians also took refuge there during a period of Ottoman suppression, planting gardens amidst the ruins and building new dwellings. The modern city of Jerash has flourished in the last one hundred and forty years and is now one of the marvels of Jordanian inheritance. Acknowledging this importance is the recent elevation of Jerash to the status of capital of the Jerash Department.

:

An intricately-sculpted Corinthian capital resting on other remains of

former glory

The exquisite Oval Forum set between the Temple of Zeus and the Cardo. It boasts an impressive array of

Ionic columns, measures about 90 metres in length and 80 in width. It is paved with heavy stones laid

to follow the elliptical curves of the colonnades and beneath the heavy paving stones still lie ceramic water pipes.

The Nymphaeum, the most richly decorated building in

Gerasa and a public fountain, arranged on two storeys,

with an elaborate decorative scheme.

It is, in effect, a semi-circular recess with 7 semi-circular

niches to contain statues of water nymphs and other divinities.

My visit to Jerash has elevated my existing admiration of Rome and its art and architecture to the level of hero worship! To behold the remains of Gerasa is to witness a stunning combination of art, architecture and landscape.

The South Theatre, an important centre for entertainments 

and festivals. Also used to receive visiting artists,

celebrities and popular heroes.

Petra Plus

View of the Monastery after a further 20 minute

scramble up a steep climb.

En route to the Monastery, Petra

View from the top of the 800+ steps

up to the Monastery plateau.

“The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,

which Man deemed old two thousand years ago,

Match me such marvel save in Eastern time,

a rose-red city half as old as time.”

Petra by John William Burgon

This poem won Oxford University’s prestigious Newdigate Prize for Poetry in 1845. The last couplet has become among the most famous in poetry. Interestingly, Burgon had never seen Petra.

 [Many thanks to Bernard Fuller for this reference]

Above is a simple map of the long walk through the Petra site showing various points of interest. Allegedly it takes about two hours to walk from the Visitors' Centre to the foot of the Monastery climb though this probably applies to the younger, fitter traveller. Then there is the estimated one hour climb to the top, or realistically, two hours for the elderly intrepid.

Water storage tank, one of many in

Petra and Little Petra.

Water channel carved in the rock face above,
and parallel with, the Siq walkway.

I haven't mentioned one incredibly impressive aspect of Petra; its highly sophisticated irrigation system which involved a widespread catchment, channelling and storage of any rainwater which fell. Overall this region has always been short of water; in addition to the near-drought conditions in much of the year, Petra is subject to flash floods during sudden, occasional high intensity rainfall. And the Nabataeans devised a wondrous system to harvest this occasional bounty. Innumerable water tanks/cisterns were cut out of the mountain sides with channels carved alongside pathways to carry the precious liquid to its designated storage areas. There is also an 88 metre tunnel cut through the rock leading to a dam as part of this sophisticated irrigation system.

The tomb facades draw upon a rich array of Hellenistic and Near Eastern architecture reflecting the diverse and different cultures with which the Nabataeans traded and interacted. Many of the tombs contain niches or small chambers for burials cut into the stone walls. No human remains have ever been found in any of the tombs and the exact funerary practices of the Nabataeans remain unknown. It is quite possible that not all of these structures were tombs; some may have been temples or banqueting palaces for celebration.

Obelisk Tomb with the Triclinium below.

A Triclinium was a banqueting hall.

Part of the Street of Facades

a row of monumental Nabatean tombs carved in the Southern

cliff face beyond the Treasury.

And finally, a tribute to the lovely, handsome Bedouin who have lived and worked in Petra since time immemorial. They are such an honourable people with a highly organised social structure centred on very strong family ties which demonstrate a huge respect for the elderly and a treasuring of children. Beyond the family comes the all-important tribe which commands total loyalty. Their constant open and generous welcome to all visitors accompanied by endless offers of glasses of sugary tea and seats in the shade for the weary, embellish the whole Petran experience enormously for the traveller.

Another distinctive aspect of Nabatean life was
the ceremonial way in which the dead were treated. Tombs were cut into the rock, often high above ground level and niches were cut presumably for statuary. There is a large number of these tombs but no artefacts or human remains have ever been found within them. The tombs' facades draw upon a rich heritage of Greek and Near Eastern architecture perhaps echoing the various diverse and distinctive cultures with which the Nabateans came into contact in their widespread trading activities.

Street of Facades:

a series of monumental Nabatean tombs