The Sainte-Chapelle is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, built by King Louis IX, Saint Louis, who also led both the seventh and eigth crusades {The Palais de la Cité was the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France).
Construction began sometime after 1238 and the chapel was consecrated on 26 April 1248. The Sainte-Chapelle is considered among the highest achievements of the Rayonnant period of Gothic architecture. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion relics, including Christ's Crown of Thorns - one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom, later hosted in the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral until the 2019 fire, which it survived.
Along with the Conciergerie, the Sainte-Chapelle is one of the earliest surviving buildings of the Capetian royal palace on the Île de la Cité. Although damaged during the French Revolution, it still has one of the most extensive 13th-century stained glass collections anywhere in the world. The two levels of the chapel, equal in size, had entirely different purposes. The upper level, where the sacred relics were kept was reserved exclusively for the royal family and their guests. The lower level was used by the courtiers, servants, and soldiers of the palace.
The upper level, built to house Louis IX's collection of relics of Christ, which included the crown of thorns, the Image of Edessa and some thirty other items. Louis purchased his Passion relics from Baldwin II, the Latin emperor at Constantinople, for the sum of 135,000 livres, though this money was actually paid to the Venetians, to whom the relics had been pawned. The relics arrived in Paris in August 1239, carried from Venice by two Dominican friars. Upon arrival, King Louis hosted a week-long celebratory reception for the relics. For the final stage of their journey they were carried by the King himself, barefoot and dressed as a penitent, a scene depicted in the Relics of the Passion window on the south side of the chapel. In 1246, fragments of the True Cross and the Holy Lance were added to Louis' collection, along with other relics. The chapel was consecrated on 26 April 1248 and Louis' relics were moved to their new home with great ceremony. Shortly afterwards, the King departed on the Seventh Crusade, in which he was captured and later ransomed and released.
Louis IX (25 April 1214 - 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the death of his father Louis VIII. His mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled the kingdom as regent until he reached maturity, and then remained his valued adviser until her death.
As an adult, Louis IX faced recurring conflicts with some of his realm's most powerful nobles, such as Hugh X of Lusignan and Peter of Dreux. Simultaneously, Henry III of England attempted to restore the Angevin continental possessions, but was promptly routed at the Battle of Taillebourg. Louis annexed several provinces, notably parts of Aquitaine, Maine and Provence.
Louis IX enjoyed immense prestige throughout Christendom and was one of the most notable European monarchs of the Middle Ages. His reign is remembered as a medieval golden age in which the Kingdom of France reached an economic as well as political peak. His fellow European rulers esteemed him highly for his skill at arms, the power and unmatched wealth of his kingdom, but also for his reputation for fairness and moral integrity; he was often asked to arbitrate their disputes.
He was a reformer and developed a process of French royal justice in which the king was the supreme judge to whom anyone could in theory appeal for the amendment of a judgment. He banned trials by ordeal, tried to end the scourge of private wars, and introduced the presumption of innocence to criminal procedures.
Honoring a vow he had made while praying for recovery during a serious illness, Louis IX led the ill-fated Seventh Crusade and Eighth Crusade against the Muslim dynasties that ruled North Africa, Egypt and the Holy Land in the 13th century. He was captured in the first and ransomed, and he died from dysentery during the latter.
Admired through the centuries have regarded Louis IX as the ideal Christian ruler. He was a splendid knight whose kindness and engaging manner made him popular, though contemporaries occasionally rebuked him as a "monk king".
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Videography:
Sacred Stone (dream sequence; wiki commons etc)
Editing:
Sacred Stone
Camera:
Sony FDR-AX700 4K Camcorder
16 сен 2024
