Show ATOR NORMAN X AN CHURCHES SEVERAL SPECIMENS OF EARLY NOR MAN LIAN Cst castle les Clur churches ches and tombs unlit bj by william the conqueror and HI lite wife wire they today cure Exa ol 01 simple Gra graeub Orano cur eur in it was to hold hi hit own against them and lo 10 keep his rebellious subjects in order that william built tho the gleat castle at caen william Willian iwas was not a legitimate wn ind and had no legit legitimate linaLe chalm lalm to tho the throne lie ile was not even highborn liis liborn at least on his mothers side aad and on oil his fathers side he j was the son of a murderer yet he p roved to be one of the most able rulers of his time me and not only governed with great access success the duchy of normandy but conquered and administered all england from william the conqueror we ve have the look and the feudal system which constitute the foundation ot of 0 our u r english aristocracy how the aristocratic aristocrat la idea can call hare have sprung out ot of w gnarls cratic an origin Is one of those anomalies which plentifully characterize our social institutions the castle of citan I 1 like ike the tower ot of lon lon don though commenced by william the conqueror was not finished by him it nas was n as henry I 1 of england who ubo completed this fortress when after some lighting fighting he firmly united the duchy of Norma normandy Tidy to the throne of I 1 england ng land the town of caen thus hi us fortified has been fought for attacked and pillaged on many omu occasions ions in 1316 it was pillaged by edward III of england and again in 1417 by henry V the french led by the brave bunols took the town back in and then the duke of somerset with english s soldiers idlers 0 who had token taken refuge lu in the castle had to capitulate after the wars between the Hug english libit and the french ceased the protestant protestants and the catholics fought for possession of the town and it was taken by the protestants in 1 and not given up till the peace of amboise Amb km oiso bolso during the great revolution caen was a center of the party and it was from caen that charlotte corday started tor for paris parts to assassinate sas sinate marat in spile spite of all these broils ware wars and troubles trouble 3 the two churches built the one by william the conqueror the other by matilda atilda Nf his wife remain still as magnificent ent specimens of the early norman architecture st Est lenue or the mens abbey Is a most impressive structure its twin octagon towers were built in 1064 two years before the conquest of england one is d 4 at the extreme simplicity of outline ine when contemplating the church and these tvr two towers yet the great seve severity r ity of the 0 line imparts a li majestic aa jestic appearance pe arance A sense of force and grandeur is engendered within the building is so somewhat m spoiled by more recent additions A large gothic chapel was added in the fourteenth century and though beautiful in itself it clashes with the norman style of the earlier part of the edifice in front of the high altar a marble slab indic indicates at ates e the spot where william the conqueror was buried SOS SW years ago at the opposite end of the town trinity church or the ladies Ladie abbey will be visited with even more interest it was in the year of 0 the conquest in 1066 that matilda the wife of the conqueror commenced to build this church the church has suffered less from the outrages of time and has been very perfectly restored yet the spires on the two square towers were pulled dowa tor for reasons la in ino 1360 by du Gues clin who was then fighting against charles the bad a prince who claimed the throne of burgundy and was one of the most perfidious men of his time what with charles the simple robert the devil william the bastard and charles the bad wo we do not geta get a very good idea of the monarchical principle however buoen matilda it if we may believe the epitaph on her tombstone gives a better example this will be found immediately behind the grand altar of the trinity curch the following aro are the words she loved piety she consoled the V poor and poor herself found herself only rich so as to distribute her tier wealth among the indigent it is in consequence of this conduct that on nov 1 after 6 in the morning slie went to enjoy eternal life the church she built and where her remains etui slumber is not eo so vast e nor D imposing ns as that which th the e tomb of her royal consort the but is more puro pure in stylo style and m much no it more e elo to geall here mere undisturbed wo we may M ay the early norman oyle of architecture there is it Is true chapel a e 1 ot of the transition epoch to the right of the nave but has to be entered to be seen it stands well back androes and does not mar the general effect there la is something mysterious and owe awe inspiring about this norman style of architecture tec ture it take takes us back into tho the dark ages there is en an absence of ornamentation a simplicity 0 of design desiga combined with a rade strength which is imposing majestic and yet clearly shows that the refinements of life lite were not yet developed the stones speak with the voice of history one understands better the nor norman man period from viewing these norman buildings then when from these eleventh century churches wo proceed to view st pierre built in ahe thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we wo grasp at once blice the glories of gothic art around us in the streets thero there are also many beautiful private houses and mansions built in the thirteenth ther the fourteenth I 1 and the fifteenth centuries and well preserved we get some idea of the picturesque aspect ot of a medieval ival city and sigh for those thos 8 happy times when artisans were artiste artists w when hen the tha workman knew every department of his lis trade when there was no subdivision of labor when there ires was little or no machinery chesi workmen became masters in their turn when shoddy was unk unknown nowa when time was of no great value when years could be devoted over one piece of work and when the most beautiful the most artistic all dings the world possesses were raised which with all the machinery ind and all the wealth of the nineteenth cen tury wo we cannot imitate or reproduce philadelphia telegraph an enil engrish iss gentleman barri named a burt had a i queer experience in a german town on applying plying ip tor for his letters atthe at the local ice he be received a large packet ot of lett letters ors addressed to a couple of barong to who had been xen staying in the place and whose title cf bart wae was misread for the name of 0 bun burt exchange I 1 0 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 v 1 I 1 I 1 j I 1 |