A VISIT TO RHEIMS
(pp. [28] to [120])
THE CATHEDRAL (pp. [28] to [60])
FIRST ITINERARY (pp. [61] to [94])
The Archi-episcopal Palace, Museum, Church of St. Jacques, Promenades, Town Hall, Place Royale, Musicians' House, Mars Gate, Faubourg Cérès, Church of St. André, Palais-de-Justice, etc.
SECOND ITINERARY (pp. [95] to [120])
The Lycée, Abbey of St. Pierre-les-Dames, Rue Barbâtre, Church of St. Maurice, Church of St. Remi, Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, etc.
GERMAN PRISONERS CLEARING A STREET (OCT., 1918)
The Cathedral
The Cathedral of Rheims, which Charles VIII. declared to be "pre-eminent among all the churches of the kingdom," and which a local poet in the reign of Louis XIII. extolled above the seven wonders of the world, is one of the most beautiful Gothic churches extant.
Few edifices combine such grandeur, simplicity and grace; still fewer, its characteristic unity and symmetry.
The work of at least four architects, the building operations extended over two centuries, yet it has retained rare unity both of plan and style. The whole is so harmonious as to give the impression of being the effort of a single master-mind.
Historical Account
The Cathedral stands on the site of former churches, successively erected between the 5th and 13th centuries. On the night of May 6, 1210, a terrible fire destroyed the then existing edifice, together with a portion of the city.
THE CATHEDRAL BEFORE THE WAR
Exactly one year later, Archbishop Aubri de Humbert laid the first stone of a new edifice, which was destined to become the Cathedral of to-day.
Begun in 1211, the building went on without pause for twenty years, after which, there was a slackening, followed by a vigorous resumption in 1299. Another pause occurred during the Hundred Years' War. The Cathedral, less the tower spires provided for in the plans, was finished in 1428. The spires were not yet built when the great fire of July 24th, 1481, entirely destroyed the roof of the Cathedral, further deferring their construction, which was subsequently abandoned.
The funds for this colossal work were furnished partly by the clergy and the people, partly by Papal Indulgences granted to donors, and by collections in Christian lands, especially in the ecclesiastical province of Rheims. The wonderful plans of the Cathedral were long believed to be the work of Robert de Coucy, whereas the original ones were in fact drawn by Jean d'Orbais, who began their execution between 1211 and 1231. His work was continued with wonderful fidelity by Jean-le-Loup, from 1231-1247; by Gaucher of Rheims in 1247-1255, Bernard of Soissons from 1255 to 1290, Robert de Coucy until 1311, and afterwards by Maître Colard, Gilles le Maçon, Jean de Dijon and Colard de Givry in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries.
THE CATHEDRAL AFTER THE FIRE OF SEPT. 19, 1914
In the 17th and 18th centuries only repairs rendered necessary by the wear of the stone were effected. In the 19th century, beginning in 1845, important restorations, principally by Viollet-le-Duc, were carried out with regularity.
The Cathedral's approximate measurements are 480 feet long (it is the longest church in France), and 160 feet wide at the intersection of the transept. The vaulting, less lofty than that at Beauvais (156 feet) and Amiens (143 feet), is 123 feet in height. The towers are six in number (as in the cathedral at Laon), of which the four situated at the extremities of the transept have never had more than one storey. The principal towers are about 266 feet in height, or about 60 feet higher than those of Nôtre-Dame in Paris.
The plan of the Cathedral is in shape a Latin cross, with radiating chapels. It is built entirely of stone from the neighbourhood of Rheims. Forty pillars support the vaults, which are further sustained by fifty buttresses. Three great doorways and eight secondary doors give access to the interior, which is lighted by a hundred windows and rose-windows; 2,303 figures of all sizes decorate the exterior and interior.
THE CATHEDRAL PHOTOGRAPHED FROM AEROPLANE IN 1916
The Cathedral During the War
In revenging themselves on Rheims for their disappointments and failures, the Germans seem to have been particularly determined to destroy the building which is at once one of the most precious artistic treasures of France and one of the most ancient evidences of her history. In 1814 the then Allies bombarded Rheims but respected the Cathedral. It is true that there were Germans who found fault with this respectful forbearance. One of them, Johann Joseph Goëres, author of a voluminous work entitled "Christian Mysticism," dared to write in April, 1814: "Destroy, reduce to ashes, this Rheims basilica, where Chlodoric was consecrated, and where was born that empire of the Franks, those turncoat brothers of the noble Germans; burn the Cathedral." In the course of the recent war the Germans followed the vindictive advice of Goëres, although, less frank than he, they did not dare, in face of the indignation of Christendom and of the whole world, boast of their vandalism.
THE PIERCED VAULTING AND TOWERS OF THE CATHEDRAL IN 1919
By way of excuse they alleged sometimes errors in firing, sometimes that the French had established a battery of artillery near the Cathedral and an observation-post in one of the towers (a projector was installed on the Cathedral, on September 13, 1914, i.e. the day that the French re-entered Rheims, and it remained there only one night).
On November 9, 1914, General Rouquerol declared to the French Government, who had demanded an enquiry, that the nearest battery to the Cathedral was at that time more than 1,200 yards away; that on the day (September 19) the Cathedral was set on fire by the German shells, the nearest French batteries were still quite close to the spot occupied by the above-mentioned battery, whose position the French Premier verified personally. The General concluded that the German artillery could not have made an error of 1,200 yards in firing, but that they had deliberately aimed at the Cathedral.
The Cathedral, though terribly shattered, is still standing. The description of the edifice (pp. [33] to [60]) gives particulars of the damage and destructions which occurred principally in September, 1914, April, 1917, and July, 1918.
On September 19, 1914, incendiary shells set fire to various portions of the building. The roof was burnt, but the vaulting escaped injury. The tambours of the side doors and the statues on the latter were destroyed by the flames. The 18th century stalls, consecration carpet of Charles X. and archi-episcopal throne were likewise burnt. The great rose-window of the western façade, together with several other stained-glass windows, were destroyed, as were also the "Angel" steeple and its caryatids above the chevet. The northern tower was seriously injured by the burning of the scaffolding around it (see photo, p. [9]). The statues were eaten into by the flames and subsequently crumbled away, some of them being irrecoverably lost.
In 1915 and 1916 the Cathedral was struck a hundred times, but it was during the bombardments of April 15, 19 and 24, 1917, that it suffered most. For seven consecutive hours, at the rate of twelve per hour, the Germans fired 12-in., 14-in. and 15-in. shells on the edifice, causing terrible havoc, especially to the south-western side.
During the terrible bombardments of April, 1918, the Cathedral did not suffer—for once the Germans seemed to have decided to spare it; but, unfortunately, the truce did not last. In the following months the bombardment began again, and the ravages increased, especially in the two towers and the vaulting. However, both vaulting and towers, in spite of their injuries, have not been irreparably damaged in their vital parts, and are capable of restoration.
That the damage is not more serious is due to the protective measures taken by the Cathedral architect and by the Department of Historical Monuments. As early as 1915, the doorways of the western façade were protected with beams and sand-bags (see photo, p. [25]), while the Treasure was removed and placed in safety, together with the paintings and tapestries.
In 1916 and following years masonry protections were placed around some of the more valuable statues. The fallen fragments of carvings and sculpture were carefully collected, with a view to future restoration. In this way the débris of the head of the beautiful statue of the "Visitation" Group, known as the "Smile of Rheims," on the left-hand side of the central doorway of the western façade, were saved.
At the beginning of 1918, it was found possible to save the remains of the stained-glass of the windows, and other glass-work still intact—amongst which was some of the finest in the nave. The salvage was difficult, for scaffolding would have furnished the Germans with an excuse for further bombardments. Recourse was had to a small body of Paris firemen and two glaziers who, in foggy weather, and before daybreak, climbed up to the iron framework of the windows and accomplished their work at great heights with remarkable courage and skill.
