The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine Part 26

[Ill.u.s.tration: AIX-LA-CHAPELLE CATHEDRAL]

Later it was plundered by the Normans, and it suffered disastrous fires in 1146, 1234, 1236, and 1656, having in consequence undergone many material changes.

Its external features have been considerably added to, but the prototype of the round and octagonal churches, subsequently erected in Germany, is here visible to-day in all its comparative novelty.

The granite and porphyry columns which support the arches giving upon the interior of the octagon were once taken and carried to Paris, but fortunately they were returned and again put into position.

The choir of the church, as it now is, was not begun until 1353, and was finished in the century following. It is pure Gothic of the most approved variety, whereas the octagon church is as pure Romanesque; and the two components do not blend or mingle in the least.

In the roof of the octagon is a remarkable specimen of modern wall and roof decoration, which might better have been omitted.

There is a cloister leading from the northwest chapel which has recently been restored. It is a delightful retreat, and has the "stations of the cross" displayed upon its inner wall.

There are numerous rare and valuable relics in the cathedral; the chief of which is the flagstone, which, bearing the simple words, _Carolo Magno_, is supposed to cover the actual burial-place of Charlemagne.

Above this is a magnificent chandelier, reminiscent of another in the church at Hildesheim, the gift of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Eight chapels surround the octagon, and in the Chapel of the Holy Cross is a magnificent altar-piece consisting of a crucifix carved in wood.

Most of the kings and queens who were crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle presented articles of value to the sacristy. The most magnificent of these is a sarcophagus in Parian marble representing the Rape of Proserpine.

The marble chair on which Charlemagne was found sitting in his tomb, and upon which the German emperors were crowned, is yet to be seen.

The relics in the cathedral are divided into two cla.s.ses. In the first cla.s.s are those which are the most sacred; in the second cla.s.s are those of lesser importance. The latter are visible at all times; the former only once in seven years, when they are exposed for a fortnight.

The choir-stalls are set against the walls in a curious fas.h.i.+on, and there are chairs instead of the usual German benches for the congregation.

The appearance of this celebrated cathedral from the outside is most curious, since the erections and additions of later centuries have not been symmetrical.

There is a tall, modern spire which is not a beautiful addition, and the magnificent octagon has had a slate roof added, which likewise is a detraction.

St. Adelbert's was another ancient church of Aix-la-Chapelle, but it has given way to a modern edifice bearing the same name, though it is in good taste and most pleasing in its interior arrangement.

The Minoriten Kirche is a monkish foundation of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Its nave and aisles all come under one canopy vault, and its aisleless choir is squared off abruptly with an enormous carved and painted altar-piece of no great excellence.

It is pleasant to recall here that the council of Aix-la-Chapelle made laws, which Charlemagne himself encouraged, referring to the treatment of pilgrims by the hospices which were so generally established throughout Charlemagne's realm in Carlovingian times.

To the ordinary fine for murder there was added sixty _soldi_ more if the person killed were a pilgrim to or from a hospice. Any who denied food and shelter to a pilgrim was fined three _soldi_. These were the regulations put into effect through Charlemagne's dominions at the suggestion of Pepin II.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

XXVIII

LIeGE

The natural highway from Antwerp and Brussels to the Rhine lies through Liege and Aix-la-Chapelle, or Aachen, as the Germans call the latter.

Wordsworth, in his wonderful travel poem, wrote of the Meuse, which flows by Liege on its way to the Royal Ardennes, in a way which should induce many sated travellers to follow in his footsteps, and know something of the fascinating charm of this most fertile and perhaps the most picturesque of all the rivers of Europe.

"What lovelier home could gentle fancy choose?

In this the stream, whose cities, heights and plains, War's favourite playground, are with crimson stains Familiar, as the morn with pearly dews.

"How sweet the prospect of yon watery glade, With its gray locks cl.u.s.tering in pensive shade, That, shap'd like old monastic turrets, rise, From the smooth meadow ground serene and still."

As one journeys on to Liege, Roman influences have left many and visible remains.

Crossing the plain of Neervinden, one enters the province of the Liegeois, where the French were defeated by the Austrians in 1793, thus releasing Belgium from the Gallic yoke.

At Landen one recalls that it is the town of the inception of the family of Charlemagne which gave to France her second race of kings.

Liege has been called the Birmingham of Continental Europe. It might better be called one of the foremost industrial centres of the world, for such it is to-day.

It is beautifully placed in an amphitheatre-like valley, and its tall chimneys, its smoke, and its grind of wheels bespeak an activity and unrest of which the former ages knew not.

Formerly the Liegeois were a turbulent and truculent folk, if one is to believe history.

If, however, one does not care to go back to history, he might turn to the pages of "Quentin Durward" and read of the spirit of romance which once surrounded Liege and its people.

The famous "Legend of the Liegeois" recounts how a working blacksmith found an inexhaustible supply of coals for his forge through the aid of a gnomish old man.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL VIEW _of LIeGE_]

Previously the smith's fires had burned low, and only the old man's song inspired him to forage on the hillside, with the result that the future prosperity of the city grew up from the accessibility of this inexhaustible coal supply.

The old man's story ran thus:

"Wine's good in wintry weather.

Up the hillside near the heather, Go and gather the black earth, It shall give your fire birth.

Ill fares the hide when the buckler wants mending, Ill fares the plough when the coulter wants tending."

When Liege, through its prosperity, had grown to good proportions, its government was a.s.signed to a sort of prelate-proprietor.

These princely prelates were often but lads of eighteen or twenty, who became identified with the Church, frequently enough, simply because of the power it gave them.

The craftsmen and artisans of the city bought many rights from time to time from the bishops, and finally wrested the power from out of the hands of the Church, much as did the burghers of other cities from their feudal lords.

Then followed the struggle, which in Flanders raged perhaps more bitterly than elsewhere in Europe; the rising, where the many fought against the privileged few, and much riot and bloodshed was caused on all sides.

Then came first the burgher heroes of Liege, who, like their confreres in Ghent and Bruges, found in many instances the martyrdom of the patriot.

In the Place St. Lambert formerly stood--until 1801, when it was removed after having been damaged by a mob--the former cathedral of St. Lambert, which took its name from the first bishop of Liege. This ancient cathedral was of much grandeur and magnificence, attributes which the present cathedral of St. Paul decidedly lacks.

It was in this venerable cathedral of St. Lambert that Quentin Durward went to hear ma.s.s, as we learn from Scott's novel, and here also, after the famous siege of Liege by Louis XI. and Charles the Bold, the two princes themselves repaired for the same purpose. St. Lambert of Liege and the three Kings of Cologne were, it would appear, the chief patrons to whom Quentin and his early followers made their vows.