Religious Narrative Form Of The Chartres Cathedral In France

Religious art as a narrative form was highly important due to the fact that most people during Medieval Europe did not know how to read or write. It is difficult to say the percentage of people who were illiterate due to the disagreement in the simple definition of literacy, which according to Cambridge Dictionaries online, is defined as: “the ability to read and write” or “ knowledge of a particular subject or a particular type of knowledge”. However, scholars have separated literacy into two categories: functional and scholarly. Functional literacy is a person learning to write their name so that they may sign documents, but not knowing what the shapes of the letters mean. This serves the main purpose of carrying out simple every day tasks

It is also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres, a medieval-inspired architectural monument.The original cathedral was destroyed in a fire in 1134 and its renovations began more than ten years later, in 1145. The church was actually rebuilt multiple times due to constant fires, which only partially destroyed its structure.Thus, different parts of the church were from different eras depending on where the fires took place. However, the very first fire was intentionally set by the Duke of Aquitaine when it was first built. There have been a total of four reconstructions of the original 4th century church. The latest reconstruction of the church took roughly thirty years and was finally completed in 1235 but was only consecrated in 1260. With the help of the Pope’s legate, minor work focused on emphasizing Gothic art within the church was carried out. Throughout the years, there were many additions, improvements and changes to the church’s structure, but otherwise, the cathedral remained

To put into perspective the issue of illiteracy in France particularly, where Chartres Cathedral is located, “At the end of the 1500s, in the French city of Languedoc, almost all merchants were literate. Yet, in the same city, only two-thirds of all artisans, one-tenth of all farmers, and one in a hundred laborers could sign their names.”(Sons). Since they could not afford an education, this is how they learned religion: through imagery. The colors, lines and symbols chosen in stained glass windows all had a meaning and helped the viewer understand the concept behind the image. For example, people of high authority would be depicted in larger size than those around them and holy persons were depicted with a golden halo above their heads. Also, some of the characters in the Bible were depicted as something else, a symbol, rather than a person. The Holy Spirit was often depicted as a flame or a white dove, while Jesus could be a lamb or a