Bravo, Chris, for getting medieval stained glass into the picture. But you're a hundred years out in your dating of the Good Samaritan window at Chartres, which was made in the early 13th century, c.1205-15. And if the window was donated by prostitutes, congratulations - you are the first to have suggested it! It wouldn't however, have been a guild of prostitutes, since guilds were civic institutions, and Chartres didn't have a civic charter until the end of the 13th century. Coincidentally, around the end of the 12th century or beginning of the 13th, the prostitutes of Paris offered a stained glass window for the cathedral of your fair city, but the bishop at the time, Maurice de Sully I believe, turned them down. This was right around the time that the monastery of Saint-Antoine-des-Champs was founded, just outside the walls of Paris (just east of the Bastille on the present-day rue Saint-Antoine), by the popular preacher, Foulque de Neuilly, as a refuge for repentant prostitutes. Obviously, it didn't work.
Ig! Forgot you'd be there, looking over my shoulder. Thank you! OK, item by item. First, yes, early 13th century, not 12th. That was a slip (which I've been making since grade school): the windows, I'm told, are thought to date from 1205-40. But you say that my pic depicts part of the Parable of the Good Samaritaine, located in the south aisle, and not the Prodigal Son, told in the north transept? Damn! Well, I'm not alone in making this mistake - the image I used is splashed all over the infernal internet as a depiction the PS Parable. Nor am I alone, or the first, to suggest that it was donated by prostitutes. Madeline H. Caviness in "Reviews of Les Vitraux Légendaires de Chartres: Des Récits en Images in Speculum, (October 1990) writes: "lengthy discussion of the political relationship between the bishop and lay corporations of donors culminates with the argument that the prostitutes must have given the Prodigal Son window, the only one of the group that no longer has images of its donors." And on the Cathedral's own website (https://web.archive.org/web/20110419152055/http://www.cathedrale-chartres.fr/ktd/vitraux/vitrail_parabole_fils_prodigue/index.htm): "Aucun donateur n’a signé ce vitrail. On a cru voir parfois ici un don des courtisanes, ce qui expliquerait le nombre de scènes qui leur sont consacrées (onze médaillons sur trente que comprend la verrière), cette présence étant sans commune mesure avec leur rôle dans la parabole. Ce développement inhabituel pourrait s’expliquer par la lutte que mena, quelques années avant l’élaboration de ce vitrail, le chancelier Pierre de Roissy contre la luxure et la prostitution, très répandues alors, principalement en milieu urbain." ("No donor signed this stained glass window. It has sometimes been thought that this window was donated by courtesans, which would explain the number of scenes devoted to them (eleven medallions out of thirty in the window), which is out of all proportion to their role in the parable. This unusual development could be explained by the struggle of Chancellor Peter of Roissy against lust and prostitution, which were widespread at the time, especially in urban areas, a few years before this stained glass window was made."). So there. "Guild" was wrong -- careless shorthand for a trade organization or group. Anyway, thanks, I'll fix everything asap. You wouldn't have a shot of one of the Prodigal Son sections by chance, would you? And HNY!
Mea culpa, Chris! Obviously, I make slips, too. You are perfectly right that it is the Prodigal Son window, and I never meant to question that - just mixed up the parable windows at Chartres. And I was wrong, as well, that you were the first to attribute the donation of said window to prostitutes. But despite the endorsement of Madeline Caviness, a distinguished scholar whom I greatly respect, it is at the very least a highly contentious claim, particularly considering the documented refusal of such a donation in Paris. If the Chartres prostitutes had donated the window, they would not only have been having themselves portrayed in a highly unfavourable light, but they would have been paying for negative advertising that would have actually undermined their very profession. You are certainly right that the issue was on the mind of Pierre de Roissy, who was, in fact, a disciple of the same Foulque de Neuilly who founded St Antoine in Paris. Once again, thanks for a stimulating dip into the Middle Ages.
wonderful evocation of the neighbourhood...I can picture it all so clearly, especially thanks to your writing. happy birthday to you, (thinking of Kevin's too) Happy New Year to you and love to the gang.
Great juicy read and I took my time. ♥️♥️♥️
Bravo, Chris, for getting medieval stained glass into the picture. But you're a hundred years out in your dating of the Good Samaritan window at Chartres, which was made in the early 13th century, c.1205-15. And if the window was donated by prostitutes, congratulations - you are the first to have suggested it! It wouldn't however, have been a guild of prostitutes, since guilds were civic institutions, and Chartres didn't have a civic charter until the end of the 13th century. Coincidentally, around the end of the 12th century or beginning of the 13th, the prostitutes of Paris offered a stained glass window for the cathedral of your fair city, but the bishop at the time, Maurice de Sully I believe, turned them down. This was right around the time that the monastery of Saint-Antoine-des-Champs was founded, just outside the walls of Paris (just east of the Bastille on the present-day rue Saint-Antoine), by the popular preacher, Foulque de Neuilly, as a refuge for repentant prostitutes. Obviously, it didn't work.
Your correspondent in Winnipeg,
Ig
Ig! Forgot you'd be there, looking over my shoulder. Thank you! OK, item by item. First, yes, early 13th century, not 12th. That was a slip (which I've been making since grade school): the windows, I'm told, are thought to date from 1205-40. But you say that my pic depicts part of the Parable of the Good Samaritaine, located in the south aisle, and not the Prodigal Son, told in the north transept? Damn! Well, I'm not alone in making this mistake - the image I used is splashed all over the infernal internet as a depiction the PS Parable. Nor am I alone, or the first, to suggest that it was donated by prostitutes. Madeline H. Caviness in "Reviews of Les Vitraux Légendaires de Chartres: Des Récits en Images in Speculum, (October 1990) writes: "lengthy discussion of the political relationship between the bishop and lay corporations of donors culminates with the argument that the prostitutes must have given the Prodigal Son window, the only one of the group that no longer has images of its donors." And on the Cathedral's own website (https://web.archive.org/web/20110419152055/http://www.cathedrale-chartres.fr/ktd/vitraux/vitrail_parabole_fils_prodigue/index.htm): "Aucun donateur n’a signé ce vitrail. On a cru voir parfois ici un don des courtisanes, ce qui expliquerait le nombre de scènes qui leur sont consacrées (onze médaillons sur trente que comprend la verrière), cette présence étant sans commune mesure avec leur rôle dans la parabole. Ce développement inhabituel pourrait s’expliquer par la lutte que mena, quelques années avant l’élaboration de ce vitrail, le chancelier Pierre de Roissy contre la luxure et la prostitution, très répandues alors, principalement en milieu urbain." ("No donor signed this stained glass window. It has sometimes been thought that this window was donated by courtesans, which would explain the number of scenes devoted to them (eleven medallions out of thirty in the window), which is out of all proportion to their role in the parable. This unusual development could be explained by the struggle of Chancellor Peter of Roissy against lust and prostitution, which were widespread at the time, especially in urban areas, a few years before this stained glass window was made."). So there. "Guild" was wrong -- careless shorthand for a trade organization or group. Anyway, thanks, I'll fix everything asap. You wouldn't have a shot of one of the Prodigal Son sections by chance, would you? And HNY!
Mea culpa, Chris! Obviously, I make slips, too. You are perfectly right that it is the Prodigal Son window, and I never meant to question that - just mixed up the parable windows at Chartres. And I was wrong, as well, that you were the first to attribute the donation of said window to prostitutes. But despite the endorsement of Madeline Caviness, a distinguished scholar whom I greatly respect, it is at the very least a highly contentious claim, particularly considering the documented refusal of such a donation in Paris. If the Chartres prostitutes had donated the window, they would not only have been having themselves portrayed in a highly unfavourable light, but they would have been paying for negative advertising that would have actually undermined their very profession. You are certainly right that the issue was on the mind of Pierre de Roissy, who was, in fact, a disciple of the same Foulque de Neuilly who founded St Antoine in Paris. Once again, thanks for a stimulating dip into the Middle Ages.
wonderful evocation of the neighbourhood...I can picture it all so clearly, especially thanks to your writing. happy birthday to you, (thinking of Kevin's too) Happy New Year to you and love to the gang.
Thank you MPB and HNY to you and all. When you coming this way next?
sooner than later I hope! sometime this spring--xx
Interesting and thought-provoking as always, thanks Chris. And Happy Birthday.
Thank you Tee! Happy New Year!
Another vivid piece.
Many Happy Returns.And now the peace and quiet of deep winter.
Thanks H. Happy New Year!
Another eclectic gem to brighten a grey minus ten Montreal day...thanks much!
Ha! Happy New Year. JS! And about late January... still on?
Ah, I guess you didn't receive my previous email about that. I'll forward it now to the Christopher Mooney address....