The Cathedrals of Northern FranceMansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
History
The Cathedrals of Northern France
Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
Cathedrals -- France; France -- Description and travel
The two chief attractions are the cathedral and the castle, both
"historical monuments." The latter, as before noted, is the ideal
military stronghold of our early imagination; and if age, magnitude, and
the general air of good preservation, count for anything, it must be one
of the most impressive monuments of its class still to be seen.
Originally its wall, now minus battlements, fronted close upon the
river. It is surrounded by a dry yawning _fosse_, formerly a moat, and
possesses no less than seventeen enormous and perfectly formed towers,
each perhaps eighty feet in height, banded near the top in white and
black stripes. Hardly more than a circling wall to-day, it has stood
well the test of time since it was erected by Philip Augustus and
completed under St. Louis in 1180. Little remains of the Renaissance
portion originally occupied by the Counts of Anjou. Its charm lies
rather in its exterior, the interior confines resembling more a
lumber-yard than anything else,--not worth spending one's time upon,
under the present facilities which are offered for its inspection. One
small structure within the walls is notable as being that in which King
Rene was born. It is recorded that Wellington received a part of his
military education in Angers. If so, it is probable that he studied this
military defence with some care and minuteness. To us, at least, who
have not been educated with respect to military fortification, it seems
to fill all demands that are likely to be made upon a building of its
class. Doubtless it could have been besieged successfully, and even
battered through to the extent of allowing the outside foe to enter, but
it would probably have been at a fearful cost, and it is possible that
the attempt would be given up before any surrender took place. Such
would appear to an outsider to be the lines on which these magnificent
works of feudal times were built.
One should not speak slightingly of the Cathedral of St. Maurice, though
it comes upon one who journeys from the north, as a thing apart from
anything he has met before; so much so that he is hardly likely to be
able to judge it dispassionately until he has turned his impressions of
it many times over in his mind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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