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THE ABBEY CHURCH OF LESSAY (MANCHE) AND ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE IN NORTH-EAST ENGLAND

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2014

Malcolm Thurlby
Malcolm Thurlby*
Affiliation:
2 Cooper Court, Brantford, Ontario N3T 6G2, Canada. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The date of the Romanesque fabric of the abbey church of Lessay (Manche, France) has been much debated by architectural historians. Was the eastern arm of the church completed by the time of the burial of Eudes de Capel in the choir on 3 August 1098? Or do features such as the high rib vault and scalloped capitals preclude a date in the late eleventh century? This paper argues that the choir was completed by 1098, and that the master mason of Lessay was acquainted with architectural developments in north-east England in the 1080s and early 1090s, especially those at York Minster, St Mary's Abbey, York, and allied churches.

Résumé

La date de la fabrique romane de l'église de l'abbaye de Lessay (Manche, France) a été longuement débattue par les historiens spécialisés dans l'architecture. La partie orientale de l'église a-t-elle été achevée lors de l'enterrement d'Eudes de Capel dans le chœur le 3 août 1098? Ou bien, les éléments comme la croisée d'ogives et les chapiteaux festonnés excluent-ils une date située à la fin du XIe siècle? Cet article avance que le chœur aurait été achevé vers 1098 et que le maître-maçon de Lessay connaissait les nouveautés architecturales du Nord-est de l'Angleterre dans les années 1080 et au début des années 1090, notamment à la cathédrale de York, à l'abbaye Sainte-Marie de York et aux églises alliées.

Zusammenfassung

Über das Datum der romanischen Bausubstanz der Abteikirche von Lessay (Manche, Frankreich) ist von den Architekturhistorikern schon viel diskutiert worden. War der östliche Flügel der Kirche zum Zeitpunkt der Beisetzung von Eudes de Capel im Chorraum am 3. August 1098 bereits fertiggestellt? Oder schließen das Kreuzrippengewölbe und die bogenförmigen Verzierungen der Kapitelle eine Datierung ins späte 11. Jahrhundert aus? Diese Abhandlung argumentiert, dass der Chorraum bis 1098 bereits fertiggestellt war und dass der Maurermeister von Lessay mit den architektonischen Entwicklungen im Nordosten Englands in den Jahren von 1080 bis nach 1090, vor allem an York Minster, St. Mary's Abbey in York und den damit verbundenen Kirchen, vertraut war.

Type
Papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 94 , September 2014 , pp. 71 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2014 

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