199. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. FORTIFIED BRIDGE CONNECTING THE LOWER CHURCH WITH THE ABBEY
The Bridge of Orthez has strong affinities with that of Cahors. It must date from about the same period, and there is every reason to suppose it was defended, not only by the central tower, but by têtes de pont, one of which at least must have been destroyed to make way for the railroad from Bayonne to Pau.
Bridges were of great importance in the Middle Ages, both as public highways and military outworks. At certain points, notably at the confluence of two rivers, they were strongly reinforced by very considerable defences, as at Sens, Montereau, etc.
At Paris, Orleans, Rouen, Nantes, and a large number of other towns traversed by rivers, bridges were not only important as military defences, but of great interest as architecture.
Mont St. Michel shall furnish us with our last example, a bridge of the fifteenth century. Though it spans no stream, it is none the less remarkable. In the details of this bridge—its embattled platform uniting the lower church to the abbey, its machicolated parapet guarding the inner passages—we recognise an art consummate as that which stirs our enthusiasm in the vast proportions and perfect execution of the splendid choir, the whole proclaiming the versatile genius of those great builders who welded into one noble monument a triad of masterpieces—religious, monastic, and military.