Nitasha Gill

Professor Andrade

English 2322

11 October 2007

Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres: Medieval Age Personified?

“…Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses—especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else” (Leonardo DaVinci).

As one’s senses capture the wisdom hidden in these words, one cannot help thinking how aptly they describe the relationship between architecture, art, and literature—all three are intertwined and represent the era in which they co-exist. Ezra pound said that literature does not exist in a vacuum. It indeed, like architecture, is a reflection of the beliefs, faith, ideas, and conflicts of a society. The fact that literature and architecture are interconnected and encapsulate the culture of their time period does not come out more starkly than when we compare the cathedrals of Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres to the knights of the medieval ages—as depicted in the romances of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur. Mont-Saint-Michel—dedicated to the head of the heavenly militia, St. Michel—reflects the primitive warrior and revengeful instinct of the medieval knights whereas Chartres—dedicated to the Virgin Mary, with her ideals of humility, righteousness, mercy, compassion, and redemption—depicts the knights’ desire to emulate Christian values.

Dedicated to the archangel St. Michael, Mont-Saint Michel is an epitome of the knights’ warrior instincts and their love for militarism, revenge and the sword. Referring to the ideals reflected by the cathedral, Henry Adams in his book Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres writes, “The Archangel stands for Church and State, and both [sic] militant. He is the conqueror of Satan, the mightiest of all created spirits…” (1). He further explains the spirit of the cathedral by writing, “Church and State, Soul and Body, God and Man, are all one at Mont-Saint-Michel, and the business of all is to fight…or to stand guard for each other….Our church on the Mount is ambitious, restless, striving for effect…” (8). Sir Gawain and the knights of Morte Darthur reflect this spirit of the cathedral. Just like the Archangel is God’s warrior and protector against Satan, Gawain is King Arthur’s warrior and the protector of his kingdom against the Green Knight. He protects the King by accepting the Green Knight’s challenge and putting his own life at stake. Similarly, the knights in Morte Darthur fulfill their knightly duty to the king and his court by killing and warring to defend their kingdom against traitors like Lancelot and Mordred.

Further, the knights in these romances embody the cathedral’s spirit of militarism and revenge. Their primitive urge for revenge comes to the surface when the knights of Morte Darthur including Lancelot, Gawain, and Mordred resort to warfare to avenge their insults and hurt. Motivated by jealousy and revenge, Sir Agravain, Mordred, and twelve other knights try to avenge Lancelot’s treachery by attempting to kill him in the queen’s chamber. However, Lancelot avenges this incident and the king’s condemning of the queen to the fire by rescuing her and slaying “…all that bore arms and withstood [him]” (Malory 445). Gawain, too, for all his virtues and Christian values, cannot control his desire to avenge his brothers’ deaths. Though he is initially against the idea of fighting with Lancelot, he changes his mind when he learns of his brothers’ deaths. Arthur is referring to this feeling of vengeance in Gawain when he tells the rest of the knights, “…I am sure that when Sir Gawain knoweth hereof that Sir Gareth is slain, I shall never have rest of him till I have destroyed Sir Lancelot’s kin and himself both…” (446). Gawain’s desire to avenge his brothers’ deaths is clear when he says, “…I require you, my lord and king, dress you unto the wars, for wit you well, I will be revenged upon Sir Lancelot;…for the death of my brother Sir Gareth…I shall slay him…” (447). Another instance of revenge and militarism in Morte Darthur is King Arthur’s war against his own son, Mordred, in order to take revenge for his treacherous seizing of the kingdom. Thus, it is evident that “perched on the extreme point of this abrupt rock, the Church Militant with its aspirant Archangel…[that] seems to threaten heaven itself…,” is representative of the militaristic and warrior instincts in the Arthurian knights (Adams 8).

On the other end of the spectrum stands the Chartres cathedral. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the cathedral embodies the ideals of humility, sacrifice, chastity, compassion, mercy, and redemption of sin. Referring to the feminine spirit of the cathedral, Henry Adams writes, “The figures [at Chartres] are full of feeling, and saturated with worship…what is most [important]… is the feminine side which they proclaim….The court of Mary is feminine, and its charms are Grace and Love” (Adams 74-81). Referring to the gentility and compassion embodied in the Queen of heaven and her cathedral, Henry Adams further writes, “…Our Lady of Chartres was known to be peculiarly gracious and gentle…[and] her church was clearly intended to show only this side of her nature….You can see it in the grave and gracious face of the Christ…in the array of long figures that line the entrance,…in the expression of the Virgin herself….” Furthermore, “Among all the imagery…there is no hint of fear, punishment, or damnation….At Chartres Christ is identified with His Mother, the spirit of love and grace…the artists seem...to have gone out of their way…to avoid a suggestion of suffering” (70-71).

Needless to say, this piece of architecture like its counterpart, Mont-Saint-Michel, reflects the character traits of Sir Gawain and the knights of Morte Darthur. Like the humility reflected in the spirit of the Chartres cathedral, Sir Gawain is humble. This humility is evident when he is pleading with King Arthur to let him accept the Green Knight’s challenge. He says, “I am the weakest,…and of wit feeblest/ And the loss of my life would be least of any/ That I have you for uncle is my only praise/ My body, but for your blood, is barren of worth” (Sir Gawain 354-57). Moreover, Gawain encapsulates the Christian virtues of sacrifice and chastity. By accepting the Green Knight’s challenge and agreeing to die in place of King Arthur, Gawain is sacrificing his life for the good of the Kingdom. His sacrifice is evident when he says, “I beseech, before all here/ That this melee be mine…./…the loss of my life would be least of any;…/And for that this folly befits not a king,...it ought to be mine” (340-41; 355-59). Gawain’s devotion to his chastity comes to the forefront when, despite the various efforts undertaken by the host’s wife to tempt him, he manages to retain his virginity.

In addition to humility, chastity, and sacrifice, the knights of these stories possess a redeeming character which further reflects the spirit of Chartres. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain redeems his sin of cowardice and covetousness by gracefully accepting his follies in front of the court and by ensuring that the courtiers learn from his failings and humiliation. Similarly, the knights of Morte Darthur redeem their sins by showing penitence for their wrongdoings and taking actions to atone them. Referring to their repentance, Robert L. Kelly says, “War and its aftermath evoke various kinds of penitential responses: Gawain is shriven as he is dying from a wound…Bedivere commits himself to the hermitage in response to a plea by Arthur… [to] pray for [his] soule” (113). Before dying from his wounds, Gawain redeems his sin by writing to Sir Lancelot to come to King Arthur’s aide against Mordred. He further redeems his sin by coming in King Arthur’s dream and warning him of his death. He says, “Thus much hath given me leave God, for to warn you of your death…God hath sent me to you of his special grace to give you warning…And proffer you largely” (Malory 448). The other knights—Lancelot, Sir Bedivere, and seven of Lancelot’s fellow knights—atone their sins by spending the rest of their lives in a chapel as hermits. For the remission of his sins, Sir Lancelot walks from Glastonbury to the convent of Amesbury and back to fetch Queen Guinevere and bury her by King Arthur’s side. Repenting his actions he says, “…when I remember me how by my defaute and mine orgule…that they were both laid full low…this remembered of their kindness and mine unkindness, sank so to mine heart that I might not sustain myself” (454). Thus, the knights of Morte Darthur eventually embrace the ideals of Chartres, and as Robert L. Kelly says, “Their belief in personal salvation…is intimately bound up with belief in the existence of purgatory and the efficacy of vicarious remission of sin through intercessory prayers and other spiritual exercises” (115).

The stark differences in the ideals and the spirit of the two cathedrals represent the dilemma faced by the medieval knights who find themselves torn between the masculinity of Mont-Saint-Michel and the feminity of Chartres. These cathedrals and Romances are reminiscent of a fragile medieval civilization which, having lost its culture to the Germanic tribes, must grope in the dark and endure many a fall before finding a firm footing. The conflicting desire of the knights to emulate the teachings of their religion and at the same time fulfill their duty to the court, represents the dilemma that civilizations still face today across the globe. One only has to look around at the numerous wars that are being fought in the name of religion, race, and nationality to be aware of this continuing dilemma that plagues the world. The question is no longer limited to an emerging civilization, but affects the entire world: Will we learn to resolve these conflicts and find a firm footing, or are we destined to keep oscillating between Mont-Saint Michel and Chartres?

Works Cited

Adams, Henry. Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1904.

Kelly, Robert L. "Penitence as a Remedy for War in Malory's 'Tale of the Death of Arthur'." Studies in Philology 91.2 (1994): 111-35. Academic Search Complete. Collin County Community College. 9 Oct. 2007 <http://library.ccccd.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9407114312&site=ehost-live>.