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89-607: The walled city of Avaricum, the capital of the Gallic tribe of the Bituriges , was conquered by Julius Caesar in 54 B.C. and became the capital of the Gallo-Roman province of Aquitaine . Christianity was brought by Saint Ursinus of Bourges in about 300 A.D.; He is considered the first Bishop. A "magnificent" church building is mentioned by Gregory of Tours in the 6th century. In the 9th century, Raoul de Turenne reconstructed

178-399: A patent . The idea was to require an inventor to disclose his invention in exchange for monopoly rights to the patent. The description is called a patent "specification". The first patent specification was submitted by the inventor Abel Foullon for Usaige & Description de l'holmetre (a type of rangefinder ). Publication was delayed until after the patent expired in 1561. Henry II

267-571: A Gallic revolt in the territory of the Bituriges in 51 BC. Their submission to Rome was reportedly quick, and they asked Caesar to intervene against their neighbours the Carnutes only a few weeks later. A passage from Livy , summa imperii penes Biturges ('all the power in the hands of the Bituriges'), has become the motto of the city of Bourges . Henry II of France Henry II (French: Henri II ; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559)

356-673: A cerebral abscess and the infection that he got through sepsis probably travelled to his brain. He was buried in a cadaver tomb in Saint Denis Basilica . Henry's death played a significant role in the decline of jousting as a sport, particularly in France. As Henry lay dying, Queen Catherine limited access to his bedside and denied Diane de Poitiers permission to see him, even though he repeatedly asked for her. Following his death, Catherine sent Diane into exile, where she lived in comfort on her own properties until her death. It

445-416: A checkerboard pattern, and a new main altar designed by Louis Vassé, formally consecrated in 1767. The cathedral is ringed with chapels constructed over the centuries, inserted into the spaces between the buttresses on the flanks, and radiating in a half-circle around the chevet. There are five chapels in the apse, six lining the disambulatory, or outer aisle on the east end, six on the south side, and four on

534-572: A claimant to the throne of England . Henry had Mary sign secret documents, illegal in Scottish law, that would ensure Valois rule in Scotland even if Mary died without leaving a child by Francis. As it happened, Francis died without issue a year and half after his father, ending the French claim to Scotland. Henry II introduced the concept of publishing the description of an invention in the form of

623-419: A design which admits considerably more light than one finds in more conventional double-aisled buildings like Notre-Dame. This design, with its distinctive triangular cross-section, was subsequently copied at Toledo Cathedral and in the choir at Le Mans . The nave, between the west end and the choir, where ordinary worshippers were seated, occupied the majority of the interior. The choir, the area reserved for

712-481: A large bay, the Grand Housteau. A tall wooden spire was added to the cathedral, and the walls were strengthened with additional arched buttresses. Between 1406 and 1491, eleven new chapels were built along the flanks of the cathedral between the buttresses. These were lavishly decorated in the more ornate late Gothic style, somewhat out of harmony with the classical High Gothic of the earlier structure. In 1424

801-437: A member of the ruling family of Florence , on 28 October 1533, when they were both fourteen years old. The wedding was officiated by Pope Clement VII , himself a Medici . At this time, Henry's brother Francis was alive and there was little prospect of Henry coming to the throne. The following year, he became romantically involved with a thirty-five-year-old widow, Diane de Poitiers . Henry and Diane had always been very close:

890-626: A patrilineal great-grandfather, and their marriage strengthened the family's claim to the throne. Henry's father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and held prisoner in Spain . To obtain his release, it was agreed that Henry and his older brother Francis be sent to Spain in his place. They remained in captivity for over four years. Henry married Catherine de' Medici ,

979-402: A pointed gable with a small rose blind rose window. Because of the stability problems, the new front and the towers were reinforced by massive buttresses. The old spire was removed in 1539 and replaced by a new one in 1543–44. In 1549 a fire in the beams of the roof of the north collateral aisles damaged the windows below, and also destroyed the organ. This time King Henry II of France paid for

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1068-524: A rose window etched on the stone floor, where they could be consulted by cathedral builders. In the 18th century, it was used for a time as a studio by the painter François Boucher . The south tower originally contained the belfry and the great bells of the cathedral. These were removed following the Revolution and melted down for their bronze. As a result, the tower was called "Le Sourde" ("the deaf") or "Le Muette" ("The silent"). The central portion of

1157-589: A single piece of marble by Germain Pilon , the sculptor to Catherine de' Medici , survives. Henry was succeeded by his sickly fifteen-year-old son, Francis II . Francis was married to sixteen-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots , who had been his childhood friend and fiancée since her arrival at the French court when she was five. Francis II died in December 1560, and Mary returned to Scotland in August 1561. Francis II

1246-405: A surface of 6,200 square metres (7,400 sq yd). The cathedral's nave is 41 metres (135 ft) wide by 37 metres (121 ft) high; its arcade is 20 metres (66 ft) high; the inner aisle is 21.3 metres (70 ft) and the outer aisle is 8.6 metres (28 ft) high. The interior is 118 metres (387 ft) long from the west front to the chevet. Sexpartite vaults are used to span

1335-400: A time to allow worship until the new choir was finished in about 1214. Then work began on the five vessels, or aisles of the new nave. The cathedral was complete enough by 1225 to be able to host a large council condemning the heresy of Catharism . Major work on the nave was finished by 1235, with the installation of the rood screen , which separated the choir from the nave. The next step was

1424-402: Is a porch and portal on the south side which originally was used only by the clergy. It contains vestiges of the older Romanesque church, particularly six column-statues which date to about 1150–60, which were put in place under the porch in the 13th century as a reminder of the long history of the cathedral. Traces of paint show that the sculptures were once brightly colored. Some of the sculpture

1513-439: Is composed of a central column, two of which are attached to the slender colonettes which spread out at the top and connect to the rib vaults. The first two pillars of the first crossing at the west are of particularly large size. each with twenty-one colonettes. The successive pillars to the west alternate between the thicker "strong" pillars with five colonettes and "weak" pillars" with four, depending upon their position supporting

1602-408: Is inscribed with the heart and letter J emblem of the family of Jacques Coeur , prominent Bourges merchants and major donors to the cathedral. Their tombs are inside the cathedral. The north side, facing the city, has a similar plan. Many of the spaces between the buttresses have been filled with chapels. There is porch midway along the north side for access by the ordinary members of the parish. Like

1691-450: Is one of the major art works in the chapel. It was made between 1391 and 1397 and is an important work of medieval sculpture, made between 1422 and 1428 by the sculptor Jean de Cambrai. The ensemble of sculpture includes the marble tomb of the Duke, with his symbolic animal, a bear chained and muzzled, at his feet. Nearby are statues of the Duke and Jeanne of Boulogne, both remakes attributed to

1780-540: Is topped with an openwork gable and is divided in the center by a richly ornamented spire. The archivolts above the portal depict angels, many of whom are shown playing musical instruments. The lower arcade contain a collection of sixty four bas-relief sculptures depicting examples of divine intervention drawn from commentaries on the Bible in the Talmud . They were carved in the thirteenth century and their unique iconography

1869-500: The Château d'Anet ; father and son were reconciled in 1545. He succeeded his father on his 28th birthday and was crowned King of France on 25 July 1547 at Reims Cathedral . Henry's reign was marked by the persecution of Protestants, mainly Calvinists known as Huguenots . Henry II severely punished them, particularly the ministers, for example by burning at the stake or cutting off their tongues for uttering heresies . Henry II

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1958-541: The French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants , and an eventual end to the House of Valois as France's ruling dynasty. Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye , near Paris, the son of King Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany , daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany . Francis and Claude were second cousins ; both had Louis I, Duke of Orléans , as

2047-820: The Iron Age and the Roman period . They had a homonym tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci , in the Bordelais region, which could indicate a common origin, although there is no direct evidence of this. They are mentioned as Bituriges by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), Bitoúriges oi̔ Kou͂boi (Βιτούριγες οἱ Κοῦβοι) and Koúbois Bitoúrixi (Κούβοις Βιτούριξι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), Bituriges ... qui Cubi appellantur by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as Bitoúriges oi̔ Kou͂boi (Βιτούριγες οἱ Κοῦβοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD). The Gaulish ethnonym Biturīges means 'kings of

2136-950: The Italian Wars against the Habsburgs and tried to suppress the Reformation , even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign. Under the April 1559 Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis which ended the Italian Wars, France renounced its claims in Italy, but gained certain other territories, including the Pale of Calais and the Three Bishoprics . These acquisitions strengthened French borders while

2225-554: The Spanish Netherlands . However, in April 1559 lack of money and increasing domestic religious tensions led Henry to agree the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis . The Peace was signed between Henry and Elizabeth I of England on 2 April and between Henry and Philip of Spain on 3 April 1559 at Le Cateau-Cambrésis . Under its terms, France restored Piedmont and Savoy to Emmanuel Philibert, but retained Saluzzo , Calais and

2314-467: The 1998 film Ever After , the Prince Charming figure, portrayed by Dougray Scott , shares his name with the historical monarch. In the 2013 CW series Reign , he is played by Alan van Sprang . In the premiere of The Serpent Queen (2022), a young Henri (Alex Heath) is shown meeting and marrying Catherine De Medici, performing consummation of the marriage, jousting, and snuggling in

2403-519: The Arverni in their fight against Caesar, and suffered great losses in the siege of their oppidum named Noviodunum , followed by their chief town Avaricum in 52 BC, the only oppidum in their territory spared by the scorched-earth tactics of Vercingetorix . They also took part in the defence of Alesia during the siege of the oppidum by the Romans. After the defeat of Vercingetorix, Rome had to suppress

2492-481: The Biblical account of Mary. Some of the sculpture on this porch was defaced in the French Wars of Religion . Over the north doorway is a round window without glass decorated with sculptures of heads of mythical beasts. The roof over the north portal suffered from a fire in 1559 and was replaced by an iron roof. The entire portal is lavishly decorated with elaborate vegetal and geometric sculpture. The sacristy of

2581-613: The Bituriges'), are named after the Gallic tribe. Their chief town during the pre-Roman era was the oppidum of Avaricum Biturigum (modern Bourges ). Their dwelled west of the Aedui , south of the Carnutes and Cenomani , north of the Pictones , Lemovices and Arverni , and east of the Turones . According to a legend recounted by Livy , the Bituriges ruled over all of Gaul ca. 600 BC. Faced with overpopulation in their homeland,

2670-600: The Biturigian king Ambigatus sent his sister's sons Bellovesus and Segovesus in search of new territories to settle. Segovesus headed towards the Hercynian Forest , while Bellovesus is said to have led the Gallic invasion of northern Italy . While Tarquinius Priscus reigned at Rome, the Celts, who make up one of the three divisions of Gaul, were under the domination of the Bituriges, and this tribe supplied

2759-458: The Celtic nation with a king. Ambigatus was then the man, and his talents, together with his own and the general good fortune, had brought him great distinction; for Gaul under his sway grew so rich in corn and so populous, that it seemed hardly possible to govern so great a multitude. Many Greek ceramics and amphoras imported from Massalia , as well as local productions of fine art pottery dated to

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2848-652: The Early-Christian basilica of St Peter's in Rome or in Notre Dame de Paris . The double aisles continue without interruption beyond the position of the screen (now largely destroyed though a few fragments are preserved in the crypt ) to form a double ambulatory around the choir . The inner aisle has a higher vault than the outer one, while both the central nave and the inner aisle have similar three-part elevations with arcade, triforium and clerestory windows;

2937-466: The Middle Ages, the choir was used exclusively by the clergy and was separated from the nave by a decorated rood screen or ornamental barrier. Portions of the old screen are displayed in the crypt. A decorative Neo-Gothic wrought-iron screen, installed in 1855, now surrounds the choir. The pillars of the choir are slightly thinner than those of the nave, but they blend harmoniously with the rest of

3026-626: The Three Bishoprics. The agreement was reinforced by a marriage between Henry's sister Margaret and Emmanuel Philibert, while his daughter Elisabeth of Valois became Philip's third wife. Henry raised the young Mary, Queen of Scots , at his court, hoping to establish a dynastic claim to the Kingdom of Scotland by her marriage to Dauphin Francis on 24 April 1558. Their son would have been King of France and King of Scotland, and also

3115-471: The abdication of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in January 1556 and division of his empire between Spain and Austria provided them with greater flexibility in foreign policy. Nostradamus also served King Henry as physician and astrologer. In June 1559, Henry was injured in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the treaty, and died ten days later after his surgeon, Ambroise Paré , was unable to cure

3204-543: The abdication of Charles V in 1556, the Habsburg empire was split between his son Philip II of Spain and brother Emperor Ferdinand I . The focus of Henry's conflict with the Habsburgs shifted to Flanders , where Philip, in conjunction with Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy , defeated the French at St Quentin . England's entry into the war later that year led to the French capture of Calais , and French armies plundered

3293-519: The architecture is painted, gilded and decorated. The Chapel of Saint Anne, on the south side of the disambulatory, was donated by one of the wealthy members of the Chapter, Pierre Tullier. The stained glass depicted the family of the donor being presented to the Saint. It was made by the master glassmaker Jean Lécuyer in 1532. The most poignant chapel is that of Jacques Coeur, one of the major donors to

3382-402: The building of the wooden framework for the roof, over the vaulted ceiling. This lasted from 1140 to 1155, and required the wood from nine hundred oak trees. The roofing continued until 1259, when a fire caused serious damage. Construction of the south tower was halted, probably out of caution, and work also stopped on the north tower. Work on the facade continued in 1314 with the construction of

3471-568: The cathedral was declared an historic monument. In 1992, the cathedral was added to the list of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO . In 1994–95, the rood screen of the lower church was restored, and the astronomical clock was put back into working order. The old stained glass windows were cleaned and protected by additional layers of glass. The murals in the chapel of St. John the Baptist were restored. The façade or west front,

3560-460: The cathedral was furnished with a technological novelty, the Bourges astronomical clock , still functional after many repairs. The long-troubled north tower was finally finished, but its foundations were still faulty. It collapsed on December 31, 1506. To raise funds for its reconstruction, Archbishop Guillaume de Cambrai offered dispensations to eat butter during Lent in exchange for contributions to

3649-421: The cathedral, next to the porch, also juts out from the north side. It was donated by the merchant Jacques Coeur . The Chevet is the French term for the exterior of the apse , the east end of the cathedral, with its ring of radiating chapels. The chevet of Bourges is different from the other High Gothic cathedrals, since the lower aisles have different elevations, and the chevet rises upwards in three steps, with

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3738-532: The cathedral. It is located on the outer disambulatory on the north side, and was built in 1448 to contain Coeur's tomb. The remarkable window, one of the finest works of 15th-century stained glass, was made in 1453. It depicts the Archangel Gabriel informing Mary that she would be the mother of Christ. In the same year the window was made, Jacques Coeur was arrested for misappropriation of funds. The family

3827-576: The cathedral. These include busts of the Duke Jean de Berry, whose tomb in the lower church, and that of his wife Jeanne be Boulogne, were made by Jean de Cambrai in about 1403 They were moved to the cathedral from the Sainte-Chapelle chapel in Bourges in 1757. The heads and hands were smashed during the Revolution, but were restored in 19th century. The lower church was constructed first atop

3916-495: The chapel by André Beauneveu . In the 19th century, the cathedral was returned to the Catholic Church and underwent a long restoration from 1829 until 1847. The new architects made numerous modifications and additions which sometimes had a questionable historic basis. The buttresses and arches were decorated with pinnacles and new balustrades which may not have previously existed. In 1862, under Emperor Louis Napoleon ,

4005-481: The city. A document from the Bishop, Henry de Sully, indicated the total reconstruction of the cathedral in 1195. The first work involved building a lower church in a space six metres deep where the old ramparts had been. This structure, with a double disambulatory, was finished in about 1200. It served as the base for the next portion, the chevet or east end, which was finished in about 1206. The work then preceded toward

4094-420: The clergy, occupied the four traverses before the east end. The east end, or apse, gave access to a hemicycle of five radiating chapels. Bourges Cathedral is noted for its immense and unified interior space; there is no interruption in the interior between the west front and the chevet on the east. The pillars of the arcade are 21 metres high, more than half of the 37 metres of height up to the vaults. Each pillar

4183-558: The continuation of his father's Franco-Ottoman alliance allowed him to invade the Rhineland while a Franco-Ottoman fleet defended southern France. Although an attempted 1553 invasion of Tuscany ended with defeat at Marciano , in return for his support in the Second Schmalkaldic War , Henry occupied the Three Bishoprics of Toul , Verdun and Metz , acquisitions secured with victory at Renty in 1554. After

4272-455: The extirpation of domestic heresy. The Italian War of 1551–1559 began when Henry declared war on Holy Roman Emperor Charles V with the intent of recapturing Italy and ensuring French, rather than Habsburg, domination of European affairs. Persecution of Protestants at home did not prevent him from becoming allied with German Protestant princes at the Treaty of Chambord in 1552. Simultaneously,

4361-520: The interior. At the top level, the high windows with their circular oculi are fit into the peaks of the arches, adding to the sensation of uninterrupted height. The upper choir ends with a curving hemicycle of windows. The choir was substantially remodelled in the 18th century to conform with new doctrines from the Vatican, calling for richer Baroque decoration. These changes included new carved choir stalls made by René-Michel Slodtz , marble pavement in

4450-465: The life of St Ursinus , a local saint and the first bishop of the diocese. The scenes are read from bottom to top and from right to left. They include a depiction of Ursinus consecrating the cathedral (center) and the baptism of the Roman senator Leocadus and his son Ludre (top). The trumeau statue depicting St. Ursinus was made by Caudron in 1845 after the original was destroyed. The original tympana of

4539-416: The lower aisles to support the upper walls. and which make possible the large upper windows. They are given additional weight by heavy pinnacles. Small chapels were constructed between a number of the buttresses in later centuries, but in those bays without chapels, the walls of the old Romanesque cathedral are still visible. Unlike most other High Gothic cathedrals, Bourges does not have a transept, but there

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4628-400: The main entrance to the cathedral, is on a particularly grand scale when compared with other cathedrals of the period; it has five portals accessing the central aisle and four side aisles, more than Notre-Dame de Paris or any other cathedral of the period. The sculpture on the central portal illustrates scenes from Last Judgement . At the top of the tympanum , Christ divides the damned from

4717-524: The meaning 'world' probably emerged from the notion of 'living world, place of the livings', since the Proto-Celtic stem * bitu- derives from Proto-Indo-European * gʷiH-tu -, meaning 'life' (cf. Lat. vīta 'life', OCS žiti 'to live'). The city of Bourges , attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Biturigum (' civitas of the Bituriges', Bituricas in 844, Bituris in 1182), and the region of Berry , attested in 860 as pagus Biturigus (' pagus of

4806-431: The nave. The height of the nave from the floor to the vaults is 37.15 metres (121.9 ft) compared with 33 metres (108 ft) at Notre Dame de Paris , 42 metres (138 ft) at Amiens Cathedral , and 48 metres (157 ft) at Beauvais Cathedral . Bourges Cathedral is notable for the simplicity of its plan, which did without transepts but which adopted the double-aisled design found in earlier churches such as

4895-476: The north portals were destroyed when the north tower collapsed in 1506 and were redone in the sixteenth century in a somewhat different style. The tympanum to the near-left portal shows scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary . The lower portion of this portal, up to the trumeau date to the sixteenth century. The far left tympanum is dedicated to William of Donjeon , and depicts scenes from his life. The portal

4984-485: The north side. Some contain tombs, and they generally honour specific donors or saints. One of the most lavish chapels, The Chapel of St. John the Baptist, was constructed between 1467 and 1479 in the disambulatory of the north side. It was funded by Jean de Breuil, archdeacon of the cathedral and a counsellor of the Parliament of Paris. It contains a rich assortment of murals and very fine 15th century stained glass. All

5073-404: The old ramparts to level a steep slope of six metres and to serve as a foundation for the chevet and the last first traverse of the upper church. It was completed in about 1200. Its arched ceiling is supported by massive pillars and seven arcades, and a wall three metres thick pierced with lancet windows. At one time it apparently served as the master builder's office; the plans of the rose window on

5162-488: The older building. Between 1013 and 1030 a new and larger cathedral was constructed by the Bishop Gauzelin. Like the earlier churches, it was built against the city wall, and vestiges of it can be found under the present cathedral. In about 1100, King Philip I of France added Bourges and its province to his growing kingdom. In 1145 his son Louis VII of France presented his new wife Eleanor of Aquitaine , and she

5251-485: The repairs. The French Wars of Religion caused more serious damage. A Protestant army led by Gabriel de Lorges, the Count of Montmorency, seized the city by surprise on 27 May 1562. They pillaged the cathedral treasury, overturned statues and smashed some of the bas-relief sculpture. De Lorges was preparing to blow up the cathedral when he was dissuaded by others who wanted to convert it into a Protestant church. A new organ

5340-469: The rood screen are displayed today in the crypt. Many of the stained glass windows were replaced with white grisaille glass to provide more light. A new choir screen composed of nine wrought iron grills was put in place in 1760. and a new altar of white marble was installed 1767. The choir also received new carved choir stalls and a new marble floor. During the French Revolution, the cathedral

5429-524: The sale, importation or printing of any unapproved book. It was during the reign of Henry II that Huguenot attempts at establishing a colony in Brazil were made, with the short-lived formation of France Antarctique . In June 1559, with war against the Habsburgs concluded, Henri established in letters patent his desire to task much of the Gendarmerie that had been involved in the foreign wars with

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5518-486: The saved. Their respective fates are vividly illustrated below. The original sculptures were badly damaged in the sixteenth century during the Wars of Religion. Parts of the tympanum were restored by Théophile Caudron in the nineteenth century. The portal to the near right of the center depicts the life of Saint Stephen , the patron saint of the cathedral. The sculptures on the portal above the far-right door depict scenes from

5607-400: The sculptor Jean Cox in about 1710. The tomb originally featured a collection of forty sculpted mourners, made of marble and alabaster. These have now been largely scattered to different museums. Bituriges Cubi The Bituriges Cubi ( Gaulish : Biturīges Cubi ) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in a territory corresponding to the later province of Berry , which is named after them, during

5696-540: The second part of the 6th century BC were found on the site Bourges, which, according to historian Venceslas Kruta , gives archeological credit to the essence of the tradition reported by Livy evoking the power of the people of the region well before his own time. In the 1st century BC, the Bituriges Cubi were client of the Aedui as part of their confederation headed. During the Gallic Wars, they supported

5785-403: The shorter of the two and unfinished, had insufficient foundations and was unstable from the beginning. It was eventually reinforced in 1314 with a massive buttress on its flank. This buttress, besides supporting the tower, contained a stairway and the small prison operated by the cathedral chapter. The upper room of the buttress was used as the office of the architect, and has plans of the bays and

5874-413: The south and north doors (occupying the spaces normally reserved for transept portals). Their profuse ornamentation is reminiscent of Burgundian work. The north tower is the only one finished and is the taller of the two. It was given an elaborate Flamboyant Gothic decoration including a profusion of ornamental pinnacles and crockets , as well as copies of 13th-century statues installed in the niches. At

5963-594: The south porch, the portals of the north porch are decorated with column statues and other sculptures dating back to the Romanesque cathedral. The column statues apparently represent the Queen of Sheba and a Sibyl , while the sculpture in arches above the portals represent a Virgin and child. Miniature architectural scenes have images of the Biblical Magi , an Annunciation and a Visitation scene, illustrating

6052-509: The throne. When his elder brother Francis died in 1536 after a game of tennis, Henry became heir apparent to the throne. His attachment to Diane caused a breach with his father in 1544; the royal mistress Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly persuaded Francis that Henry and Diane were conspiring on behalf of the Constable Montmorency , who had been banished from court in 1540. Francis banished Diane from court. Henry also withdrew to

6141-435: The top is a lantern crowned by a large bronze pelican. The original 16th-century pelican statue is kept inside the cathedral. This tower contains the six bells of the cathedral, which replaced those melted down during the Revolution. They date to the 19th and 20th century. The largest is the bourdon, Guillaume-Etienne of Gros Guillaume, 2.13 metres long in diameter and weighing 6.08 tons. It was cast in 1841–42. The south tower,

6230-545: The tower fund. The tower was repaired between 1508 and 1524, and thereafter was nicknamed the Butter Tower. After the 1506 tower collapse, the upper central portion of the west front, above the central portals, known as the Grand Housteau, was reconstructed in the Flamboyant Gothic style. The rebuilt front featured a group of six large lancet windows and two oculi beneath an immense rose window, surmounted by

6319-472: The upper walls supported by six converging buttresses that leap over the lower levels. with separate arches supporting the lower and upper walls. The verticality is enhanced further by the pointed roofs of the radiating chapels, the double pinnacles on each buttress, and the pinnacles around the balustrade of the roof. Each bay of the high walls is decorated with twin lancet windows and a small six-lobe rose window, framed in blind arches. Bourges Cathedral covers

6408-416: The vaults overhead. The central vessel of the nave has three levels; the very high arcade on the ground level; the triforium, a narrow arcade, above it; and, at the top, the upper bays, largely filled with windows. Each of the six-part rib vaults covers two traverses. The walls of the collateral aisles are not as tall, though they also have windows in each bay, and rib vaults supported by slender columns. In

6497-439: The west front above the portals and between the towers is known as the Grand Housteau. It is later than the rest of the west front, rebuilt in the 16th century in the Flamboyant Gothic style, following the collapse of the north tower. The exceptional height of the Grand Housteau and its rose window announces the great height of the nave behind it. The north and south walls are lined with the flying buttresses which reach up over

6586-497: The west pignon are etched onto the floor. scratched onto the floor. Today it has a collection of stained glass made between 1391 and 1397 which formerly was installed in the windows of the Sainte-Chapelle chapel constructed by John, Duke of Berry , which was destroyed in 1757. The Duke was an important art collector of the era; among the works he commissioned was the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry . The tomb itself

6675-410: The west, from the apse to the choir. The cathedral was begun at about the same time as Chartres Cathedral , but the basic plan was very different. Whereas at Chartres and other High Gothic cathedrals the two collateral aisles were the same height as the nave, at Bourges the collateral aisles were of different heights, rising in steps from the outside aisle to the centre. The old nave was preserved for

6764-477: The world', or possibly 'perpetual kings'. It derives from the stem bitu- ('world', perhaps also 'perpetual'; cf. OIr. bith 'world, life, age', bith - 'eternally', Old Welsh bid , OBret. bit 'world') attached to riges ('kings'; sing. rix ). Whether the meaning 'perpetual' was already associated with bitu - in ancient Celtic languages or appeared later in Old Irish remains uncertain. In any case,

6853-406: The wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery , the captain of his Scottish Guard . Though he died early, the succession appeared secure, for he left four young sons – as well as a widow ( Catherine de' Medici ) to lead a capable regency during their minority. Three of those sons lived long enough to become king; but their ineffectual reigns, and the unpopularity of Catherine's regency, helped to spark

6942-548: The young lady had fondly embraced Henry on the day he, as a seven-year-old child, set off to captivity in Spain, and the bond had been renewed after his return to France. At the tournament to honour his father's new bride, Eleanor , in 1531, Henry and Francis dressed as chevaliers, and Henry wore Diane's colors. Extremely confident, mature and intelligent, Diane left Catherine powerless to intervene. She did, however, insist that Henry sleep with Catherine in order to produce heirs to

7031-423: Was King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany , he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis in 1536. As a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his father's policies in matters of art, war, and religion. He persevered in

7120-468: Was an avid hunter and a participant in jousts and tournaments. On 30 June 1559, a tournament was held near Place des Vosges to celebrate the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis with his longtime enemies, the Habsburgs of Austria, and to celebrate the marriage of his daughter Elisabeth of Valois to King Philip II of Spain . During a jousting match, King Henry, wearing the colours of his mistress Diane de Poitiers ,

7209-467: Was forced to sell his residence and his burial rights in the chapel to another wealthy noble, Charles de L'Aubespine. Aubespine commissioned the architect François Mansart to design the tomb for the new owner. Pieces of sculpture from that tomb are presented in the chapel. Fine examples of 15th-century sculpture are found in the Chapel of Notre-Dame La Blanche, in the centre of the apse at the east end of

7298-557: Was formally crowned Queen of France in the old Gothic cathedral in Bourges. Beginning in about 1150 the Archbishop Pierre de La Châtre enlarged the old cathedral by adding two new collateral aisles, one on either side, each with two Romanesque portals, and also planned the reconstruction of the west front. Under a new archbishop, Henri de Sully, a more ambitious building program began. In 1181–82 King Philip Augustus II authorised construction over parts of old ramparts overlooking

7387-426: Was installed in the cathedral in 1667, portions of which still are in use. The fleche of the cathedral, rebuilt four times, was finally removed in 1745. In the 18th century, the entire cathedral underwent a more serious transformation, to conform with new doctrines instituted by the Vatican. The Gothic altar from 1526 and the elaborate sculpted stone rood screen of the choir from the 13th century were removed. Portions of

7476-583: Was made a Knight of the Garter by Edward VI, King of England , in April 1551. By 19 July, after some lengthy haggling concerning the dowry, a betrothal was made between his daughter, Elisabeth and Edward. The Edict of Châteaubriant (27 June 1551) called upon the civil and ecclesiastical courts to detect and punish all heretics and placed severe restrictions on Huguenots, including the loss of one-third of their property to informers, and confiscations. The Edict also strictly regulated publications by prohibiting

7565-417: Was possibly designed by a member of Bourges's large Jewish community. The spandrels between these niches feature an extended Genesis cycle which would originally have told the story from the beginning of Creation to God's Covenant with Noah . The spandrels were defaced in 1562. Romanesque carved portals from about 1160–70, probably intended for the façade of the earlier cathedral, have been reused on

7654-433: Was succeeded by his ten-year-old brother Charles IX . His mother, Catherine de Medici , acted as regent . Catherine de' Medici bore ten of Henry's children: Henry II also had three illegitimate children: Henri or Henry has had four notable portrayals onscreen: He was played by a young Roger Moore in the 1956 film Diane , opposite Lana Turner in the title role and Marisa Pavan as Catherine de Medici . In

7743-573: Was the practice to enclose the heart of the king in an urn. The Monument to the Heart of Henry II is in the collection of the Louvre , but was originally in the Chapel of Orleans beneath a pyramid. The original bronze urn holding the king's heart was destroyed during the French Revolution and a replica was made in the 19th century. The marble sculpture of the Three Graces holding the urn, executed from

7832-558: Was transformed for a time into a Temple of Reason . Many of the reliquaries and other precious objects in the treasury were melted down for their gold, while ten of the twelve church bells were melted down to be reforged into cannon. Following the destruction of much of the Ducal Palace and its chapel during the revolution, the tomb effigy of Duke Jean de Berry was relocated to the cathedral's crypt, along with some stained glass panels showing standing prophets, which were designed for

7921-454: Was wounded in the eye by a fragment of the splintered lance of Gabriel Montgomery , captain of the King's Scottish Guard . Despite the efforts of royal surgeons Ambroise Paré and Andreas Vesalius , the court doctors ultimately "advocated a wait-and-see strategy"; as a result, the king's untreated eye and brain damage led to his death by sepsis on 10 July 1559. His autopsy found that he had

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