Fécamp et l’architecture en Normandie

In this paper I have tried to place the abbey church of Fecamp in the broad context of romanesque and gothic architecture in Normandy and, where relevant, England. As a necessary prelude to doing so, I briefly survey the complex sequence of building campaigns, and the evidence for their dating, most...

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Main Author: Lindy Grant
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: OpenEdition 2003-02-01
Series:Tabularia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/tabularia/1802
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author Lindy Grant
author_facet Lindy Grant
author_sort Lindy Grant
collection DOAJ
description In this paper I have tried to place the abbey church of Fecamp in the broad context of romanesque and gothic architecture in Normandy and, where relevant, England. As a necessary prelude to doing so, I briefly survey the complex sequence of building campaigns, and the evidence for their dating, most of which is already well-established. At all stages, the architecture has a distinctly conservative, even deliberately archaic quality, as if there is always a strong awareness of the past, the past of the Norman dukes, the past of the abbey, and the past of the abbey church itself. Nevertheless, the architects and masons were often very eclectic, so that the building plays a very important role in the introduction of new French gothic ideas and forms into the Norman repertoire. The abbey church, especially the fabric built between 1168 and 1219, proved very influential within the duchy, not only within the immediate area, but also, perhaps more surprisingly, in Lower Normandy. It is interesting to note that, while in Capetian France, after 1160, the direction of gothic architecture was set by the great cathedrals, in Normandy that role was taken by Fecamp and St Étienne at Caen, both venerable Benedictine abbeys with close links with the ducal house.
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spelling doaj-art-0349114f4d90445eb2eb487e217bfd4e2025-08-20T02:54:14ZengOpenEditionTabularia1630-73642003-02-0110.4000/tabularia.1802Fécamp et l’architecture en NormandieLindy GrantIn this paper I have tried to place the abbey church of Fecamp in the broad context of romanesque and gothic architecture in Normandy and, where relevant, England. As a necessary prelude to doing so, I briefly survey the complex sequence of building campaigns, and the evidence for their dating, most of which is already well-established. At all stages, the architecture has a distinctly conservative, even deliberately archaic quality, as if there is always a strong awareness of the past, the past of the Norman dukes, the past of the abbey, and the past of the abbey church itself. Nevertheless, the architects and masons were often very eclectic, so that the building plays a very important role in the introduction of new French gothic ideas and forms into the Norman repertoire. The abbey church, especially the fabric built between 1168 and 1219, proved very influential within the duchy, not only within the immediate area, but also, perhaps more surprisingly, in Lower Normandy. It is interesting to note that, while in Capetian France, after 1160, the direction of gothic architecture was set by the great cathedrals, in Normandy that role was taken by Fecamp and St Étienne at Caen, both venerable Benedictine abbeys with close links with the ducal house.https://journals.openedition.org/tabularia/1802relicsNormandyburialarchitectureabbey churchBenedictine
spellingShingle Lindy Grant
Fécamp et l’architecture en Normandie
Tabularia
relics
Normandy
burial
architecture
abbey church
Benedictine
title Fécamp et l’architecture en Normandie
title_full Fécamp et l’architecture en Normandie
title_fullStr Fécamp et l’architecture en Normandie
title_full_unstemmed Fécamp et l’architecture en Normandie
title_short Fécamp et l’architecture en Normandie
title_sort fecamp et l architecture en normandie
topic relics
Normandy
burial
architecture
abbey church
Benedictine
url https://journals.openedition.org/tabularia/1802
work_keys_str_mv AT lindygrant fecampetlarchitectureennormandie