Early Gothic Architecture - the Conciergerie
My passion for traveling is not a secret, and for me Paris is like first love. From an incredible amount of Paris's attractions, I like the most Gothic Architecture, especially Early, High, and Rayonnant Gothic. I'll pick up one example of each of these glorious periods and share with you some deep history, pictures, and my love for Paris Gothic Architecture.
I want to start with the Early Gothic - the Conciergerie.
It is a precious subject because after a couple of fires, later additions, and restoration work, very little was preserved from the initial glory of Middle Age. Actually only the Hall of the Gentlemen-at-Arms from the Conciergerie and the Sainte-Chapelle still have 100% of Middle Age look.
This example gives you the elements of what we call "Early Gothic ".
For "High Gothic" I chose Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, and I create a separate lens for it.
For "Rayonnant Gothic"> I chose Sainte-Chapelle, the palatine chapel in the courtyard of the royal palace on the "Ile de la Cite", the possession of Louis IX, and I create a separate lens for it.
I want to start with the Early Gothic - the Conciergerie.
It is a precious subject because after a couple of fires, later additions, and restoration work, very little was preserved from the initial glory of Middle Age. Actually only the Hall of the Gentlemen-at-Arms from the Conciergerie and the Sainte-Chapelle still have 100% of Middle Age look.
This example gives you the elements of what we call "Early Gothic ".
For "High Gothic" I chose Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, and I create a separate lens for it.
For "Rayonnant Gothic"> I chose Sainte-Chapelle, the palatine chapel in the courtyard of the royal palace on the "Ile de la Cite", the possession of Louis IX, and I create a separate lens for it.
WYSIWYG For Early Gothic Architecture
- Gothic Style in Europe, Elements, Periods
- What is the Conciergery?
- The Jurisdiction of the Concierge
- The Conciergerie, a Prison with rich History
- The Conciergerie VIDEO
- Gothic Architecture books from Amazon
- Gothic Architecture Blogs
- Amanda Jordan's VIDEO Gothic Architecture
- My Other Gothic Architecture Lenses
- Vote on my Gothic Architecture lenses
- Blogs French Gothic Architecture Conciergerie
- Other Beautiful Cathedrals in Europe
- More About me
- Enjoy My Lens? Take Action now!
- If you love those glimpses of history, drop me a note
Gothic Style in Europe, Elements, Periods.
Gothic is a style of architecture that flourished in Europe from the mid-12th century to the end of the 15th century.
The term "Gothic", comes from a term given to the style of Renaissance Schlor, Giorgi Vasari, who wrongly associated the form to the Gothics, Germanic invaders who helped lead to the downfall of the Roman Empire.
Gothic is characterized by:
Gothic architecture originated in Normandy and Burgundy in the 12th century. It was essentially the style of the Catholic countries of Europe, and attained its highest excellence in France and England.
It was used for non-religious buildings as well as for cathedrals, churches, and monasteries.
Gothic architecture in France may be divided into four periods:
This is the lens dedicated to Early Gothic Architecture.
The term "Gothic", comes from a term given to the style of Renaissance Schlor, Giorgi Vasari, who wrongly associated the form to the Gothics, Germanic invaders who helped lead to the downfall of the Roman Empire.
Gothic is characterized by:
- The vertical lines of tall pillars and spires
- Greater height in interior spaces
- The pointed arch
- Rib vaulting
- The flying buttress
Gothic architecture originated in Normandy and Burgundy in the 12th century. It was essentially the style of the Catholic countries of Europe, and attained its highest excellence in France and England.
It was used for non-religious buildings as well as for cathedrals, churches, and monasteries.
Gothic architecture in France may be divided into four periods:
- Early Gothic
- High Gothic
- Rayonnet Gothic
- Late or Flamboyant Gothic.
This is the lens dedicated to Early Gothic Architecture.
What is the Conciergery?
"La Conciergerie" in French
The Conciergery is former royal Palace and Prison in Paris, located on the west of the "Ile de la Cite" It is part of a big complex known as Palais de Justice, which is still used today for judicial purposes. And the Conciergerie and Saint-Chapelle are all that remains of the first palace built in Paris by the kings of France.
From the 10th - 14th century, the Ile de la Cite was the seat of the medieval Kings of France:
During the Middle Ages, so called "service to the Prince" began to be quite separate from " service to the State". And for the first time:
This was a remarkable moment in history of France and the functionality of the Conciergerie reflected that change.
From the 10th - 14th century, the Ile de la Cite was the seat of the medieval Kings of France:
- Under Louis IX and Philippe IV what was known as the Merovingian Palace was extended, heavily fortified, and the towered façade was created on the river side
- Louis IX added the beautiful Sainte-Chapelle (I'll talk later about it)
- The Hall of the Guards, also called The Hall of Gentlemen-at-Arms was added, the largest on Europe at that time: 209 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 28 feet high, in meters: 64 x 27 x 8.5 m (see next Picture)
- The Valois kings continued to improve the palace around 1300, but in 1358 the royal family abandoned the palace and move to Louvre.
During the Middle Ages, so called "service to the Prince" began to be quite separate from " service to the State". And for the first time:
- Domestic duties were carried out by the royal household
- Administrative and legal matters were dealt with by Chancellor and Privy Council
This was a remarkable moment in history of France and the functionality of the Conciergerie reflected that change.
The Jurisdiction of the Concierge
This is a different angle of the Hall of Gentlemen-at-Arms. It was hard to take an ensemble picture with the equipment I had, so I did a lot of pictures from different angles.The king attracted a lot of people to the Ile de la Cite, they showed a certain tendency to independence, and they functioned very well in his absence.
Like usual, among government officers, one suddenly acquired enormous power. He was the palace intendant, so-called Concierge, and when the King abandoned the palace, he gradually and tenaciously increased the Concierge's power.
The Privy Council acted as a "Parliament", they called themselves "Grand Chamber", and they heard cases relating to religion, politics, and administrative.
A process of splitting duties was the next step:
- The Chamber of Enquiries examined all cases
- The Chamber of Requests watched over finals appeals
- The Chamber of Accounts controlled the State's finances
- The Court of Assistance examined tax problems
The consequence of this diversification - at the beginning of the 15th century the Prison which was part of the Conciergerie as well, covered more square feet then ever before.
In the next picture you can see a section of prisoner's corridor that was used as an infirmary.
And in this picture you can see a portion on the Girondins' Chapel where the women prisoners attended the religious service behind the iron railings in the balcony. To continue the path of history, on the night of 6th/7th March 1618, a fire broke out in the attics above the Great Hall.
It was considered a criminal act aimed at destroying the evidence required for the trial of Henri IV's murderer, the evidence was indeed reduced to ashes.
The Great Hall, the Clerk of the Court's office, the Chamber of Enquiries, and The Chamber of Requests were destroyed.
A beautiful restoring work was done by the architect of Queen Mary of Medici - S. de Brosse, and this time the Great Hall got a stone-vaulted roof.
Other fires:
- In 1630 a fire broke out in the Saint-Chapelle
- In 1737 the roofing timber of the Court of Accounts was destroyed on other fire
- In 1776 a huge fire destroyed: the Grand Chamber, the Grate Hall again, and all other buildings except Saint-Chapelle
At this point a major restoration was done be a group of 3 fine Architects: Couture, Desmaison, and Antoine. The prison was so badly damaged, Antoine was the architect which completely redesign that part and in the proses he made the Prison more functional, but the new one didn't look like 14th century at all.
The Conciergerie, a Prison with rich History
The Conciergerie is a Palace that had housed a prison for a very long time, and after the King had left the Palace, the number of cells was increased, and a lot of famous or very dangerous prisoners were locked up in the Conciergerie.
Examples:
- E. de Marigny (chamberlain and financier to Philip the Fair)
- Comte de Montgomery, he killed Henri II, and Catherine de Medici's had him sentenced to death and beheaded in 1574
- I lot of people caught on religious conflicts
- Marquess of Brinvilliers imprisoned for poisoning her father and her 2 brothers and so on
French Revolution used the Conciergerie as a place of punishment for its enemies, even for those suspected of being so.
The most outrageous case was a Queen of France, in 2nd Aug. 1793 Marie Antoinette was a prisoner in Conciergerie, in Sep an attempt to help her escape failed. At that point she was sentenced and on 16th Oct. 1793, after a long and convoluted debate, it was over.
The Conciergerie had an unpleasant reputation before it became internationally famous as the "antechamber to the guillotine" during, the bloodiest phase of the French Revolution called "the Reign of Terror". And the Conciergerie was associated forever with its hardest punishment - the guillotine.
The most famous prisoners was Queen Marie Antoinette, General de Beauharnais, the poet André Chénier, Charlotte Corday, Madame du Barry and the Girondins, who were condemned by Georges Danton, who was in turn condemned by Robespierre.
In July 1794, an injured Robespierre made his own way to the scaffold.
In 1820, Louvel Who had murdered Louis XVIII's nephew, was imprisoned and he was beheaded as well.
Even after the last restoration in the 19th century, the Conciergerie continued to be used as a prison for high-value prisoners - most notably the future Napoleon III. And Marie Antoinette's cell was converted into a chapel dedicated to her memory.
This picture show you the alter in the Girondins' Chapel, below the painting of the Crucifixion, is a door leading straight into Marie-Antoinette's cell.
The Conciergerie was decommissioned in 1914 and was opened to the public as a national historical monument.
It is today a popular tourist attraction, although only a relatively small part of the building is open to public access - much of it is still used for the Paris law courts.
It will come soon the second part of this subject in a different lens.
The Conciergerie VIDEO
The Conciergerie is still part of the larger complex known as the Palais de Justice.
By the beginning of 15th century the prison in Conciergerie was a well known place, but became famous during the French Revolution when hundreds of prisoners were taken from La Conciergerie to be executed on the Guillotine.
By the beginning of 15th century the prison in Conciergerie was a well known place, but became famous during the French Revolution when hundreds of prisoners were taken from La Conciergerie to be executed on the Guillotine.
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Gothic Architecture books from Amazon
Gothic Architecture Blogs
If you are interested about Gothic Architecture in general you can follow the following Google Blogs
- Emma Alvarez Blog: The Awesome Flamboyant Gothic Architecture
- The style of Flamboyant Gothic is from XIV and XV centuries. Everything similar did after that is inspired in this style. I am also a fan of Gaudi, and as an Spanish I'm very proud of this artist. I wrote an article about him, ...
- Visiting churches on the occasion of Christmas
- Its design is based on the Gothic architecture and similar to the architecture of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris: square towers, an elaborate altar and colourful stained glass windows. Unlike the many churches in the Southern provinces ...
- Gothic Architecture: 16 Imposing Photos | Light Stalking
- Gothic architecture was built to be imposing ? a job it largely succeeds at. When you combine the natural imposing nature of Gothic architecture with various.
- Style...A Work In Progress: "The principle of the Gothic ...
- The R in question...to thrust the paranoia regarding this Chanel cardigan to the back of my mind and enjoy its Gothic-y Victorian splendor as a piece of clothing, not a work of art. No matter what misfortune befalls it when I'm wearing ...
Amanda Jordan's VIDEO Gothic Architecture.
There is the best way to end this lens with a beautiful Video by Amanda and listed Bach organ music (re minor).
Enjoy the beautiful Gothic arches and the Bach music.
Enjoy the beautiful Gothic arches and the Bach music.
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Vote on my Gothic Architecture lenses
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Blogs French Gothic Architecture Conciergerie
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- Mon métier de conciergerie privée DEMOCRATISEE consiste à effectuer toutes les tâches quotidiennes que vous n'avez pas le temps de faire, ne pouvez pas fai.
- Conciergerie - Paris Palace and Prison | Instant World Booking ...
- About the Conciergerie, Paris Palace and prison Residence of the Kings of France In the 6th century, Clovis, the first French king, established his royal residence on the Ile-de-laCite.
- Man. Hat In.: La Conciergerie, Paris. Not a Place to Be.
- La Conciergerie, Paris. Not a Place to Be. Today we went to the Conciergerie on the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the Seine where Notre Dame is. The Conciergerie is a medieval palace that became a prison. ...
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More About me.
If you really want to know more about me, you can read my Lensography on Squidoo
And one of my Blogs.
More pictures from Paris:
And one of my Blogs.
More pictures from Paris:
- A rainy day in Paris - Eiffel Tower
- The Pyramid, which is the Louvre Museum entrance
- La Defense
- Arc de Triomphe
- Notre Dame Cathedral
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- CoolFoto CoolFoto Nov 7, 2009 @ 5:11 pm
- I have been to Paris twice. Would love to go again,
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- lynic141257 lynic141257 Sep 27, 2009 @ 10:26 am
- I have never been to Paris but after Reading your very Enjoyable Lens I would love to go and see The Conciergerie. 5*
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- AndyPo AndyPo Aug 12, 2009 @ 3:49 am
- Excellent. I love gothic architecture and Paris. I usually go to Paris at least once a year.
- Reply
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- Stéphane Stéphane Aug 4, 2009 @ 3:39 am
- Thanks for visiting my blog, and I'm happy to discover yours. If you want, for gothic arcitecture, I'm actually speaking about the St Hubert Chapel, in the royal castle of Amboise
http://stephane0369.over-blog.com/
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- Michey Michey Jul 29, 2009 @ 10:39 am | in reply to Heather426
- Thanks, Paris is so rich in history, it is hard to show all the values.
I created 3 lenses about the Gothic architecture, one about Orsay Museum. And 2 about Versailles Palace.
regards
michey
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- Heather426 Heather426 Jul 28, 2009 @ 10:57 pm
- I love Paris, and European Architecture in general. It was nice to remember some of them through your lens. 5*
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- flipflopnana flipflopnana Jul 27, 2009 @ 10:03 am
- Fascinating! Loved your images of some great architecture!
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- OhMe OhMe Jul 26, 2009 @ 4:52 pm
- The addition of your Table of Contents really looks nice. Great job!
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- Michey Michey Jul 26, 2009 @ 3:29 pm | in reply to grannysage
- Thanks, so much. Actually I have a series of 3 about Paris Gothic Architecture, this is the first one.
regards
Michey
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- grannysage grannysage Jul 26, 2009 @ 3:20 pm
- Oh this was so much fun. I had to brush up on my French pronunciations though. I really enjoyed looking at the Colleges for Harry Potter fans. That would make a great lens all of its own. 5*
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- sittonbull sittonbull Jul 16, 2009 @ 7:10 pm
- Time to revisit this great lens and admire the architecture of Paris and Europe for the treasures that they are!
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- CCGAL CCGAL Jun 27, 2009 @ 2:53 am
- Beautiful! Much enjoyment on my part.
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- tdove tdove Jun 3, 2009 @ 8:41 am
- Thanks for joining G Rated Lense Factory!
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- Michey Michey May 20, 2009 @ 5:57 pm | in reply to Momtothezoo
- Thanks a lot, I have other 2 lenses with Paris, you can send them to your daughter as well.
regards
Michey
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- Momtothezoo Momtothezoo May 20, 2009 @ 5:50 pm
- Michey, this is beautiful. My daughter has always wanted to go to Paris. I am forwarded this link to her...she will love it!
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- Momtothezoo Momtothezoo May 20, 2009 @ 5:50 pm
- Michey, this is beautiful. My daughter has always wanted to go to Paris. I am forwarded this link to her...she will love it!
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- Michey Michey May 9, 2009 @ 8:31 am | in reply to lollyj
- Thanks Lollyj,
I have a love affair with the arts in general, I like Architecture, photography, classic, jazz, and country music (if you read my lensography you know that I played organ when I was a kid), also poetry, good books.
Travel is a habit of my generation but nowadays with the internet is easier to inform ourselves, and with technology, you by a Kindle and read books at an affordable price the rest of your life, one kindle book is cheaper then a Starbucks coffee.
regards
michey
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- lollyj lollyj May 9, 2009 @ 6:34 am
- I've never been outside the continental US but have traveled to Paris and other places that fascinate me through books and internet. Your lenses are wonderful!! 5-fave-lensroll to Beck's Love Lessons lens.
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment on my poetry lens.
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- Webcodes Webcodes May 5, 2009 @ 3:14 pm
- Really enjoyed the read on this gothic architecture lens. Thank you for lensrolling my Spain lens. 5* .
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- Joan4 Joan4 May 4, 2009 @ 8:37 pm
- As always, fascinating! You are educating me! And I appreciate it! What a lovely city!
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- aj2008 aj2008 May 4, 2009 @ 8:51 am
- I have been to Paris and walked along the very narrow balcony between the two towers of Notre Dame - for someone who does not like heights it was rather scary! Could not quite get the courage up to go up the Eiffel Tower!
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- OhMe OhMe May 2, 2009 @ 3:52 pm
- I have never been to Paris but can certainly see why you like to go. Beautiful.
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- GrowWear GrowWear May 2, 2009 @ 1:29 am
- Love architecture of just about any kind. Love your images!
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- stargazer00 stargazer00 May 1, 2009 @ 11:52 pm
- Beautiful and fascinating!
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by Michey
 This is Michey, an Internet marketer, Digital Product writer, Web 2.0 enthusiast.
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