Le Mans Cathedral, France

Le Mans was the centre of the 11th Century struggles, between the Counts of Anjou and the Dukes of Normandy. In 1069, the Normans were expelled from the area. Bishop Vulgrin then started on the reconstruction of the Cathedral but it soon collapsed. His successor Arnaud, began to rebuild the Cathedral and had laid the foundations, before his death in 1081. Work was carried on sporadically, by different Bishops and monks, with the Cathedral being consecrated in 1093, and again in 1120 and 1158, after being heavily damaged by fire in 1134 and 1137.

An unusually dense forest of flying buttresses adorns the outside of the chancel. In this case each arm originates from the same upright brace at the cathedral end and engages with two outer braces.

This Cathedral is thought to have been built on the foundations of an old temple, next to the Roman walls. This church was extended but then fell to ruin in the 9th Century. It was then rebuilt by Bishop Francon but destroyed by the Normans when they invaded the area. In 1060, building work for a new Cathedral began and after a fire in 1134, it was consecrated in 1158. The oldest parts of the Cathedral today, date back to the 11th Century. The Nave dates from the 12th Century, the Choir to the 13th and the transepts to the 15th.  Like most Cathedrals, it is a conglomeration of medieval architecture.

The Chapel of the Virgin Mary, at Le Mans Cathedral, is one of the most amazing and unique pieces of medieval art to be found in all of France. This chapel’s ceiling was painted in the 14th Century and depicts forty-seven angels, which are remarkably preserved, in brightly painted colours. Twenty-four of these angels hold musical instruments. This is one of the best references we have for medieval musical instruments.

It is thought that Jean de Bruges may have been the creator of the angel ceiling in the Chapel of the Virgin Mary at Le Mans. Jean de Bruges, we do know, was the creator of the Apocalypse Tapestry in the Castle at Angers.

Le Mans Cathedral still retains a large amount of medieval stained glass from the 13th century. Possibly, second only to Chartres Cathedral in all of France. The stained glass windows in the Cathedral were restored in the 19th Century.

Church benefactors often paid for the creation of the stained glass for a church or Cathedral's windows. Clerics would then supply the master glazier with a program of work, by submitting requirements either in writing or in drawings, of what the stained glass in the window should look like. The glazier would then create his own sketches, which were submitted for the patron’s approval, before being redrawn in actual size to form the final template. These templates were known as cartoons, and glaziers often built up catalogues of such templates, which could be adapted for different consignments.  

In the 11th Century, Le Mans was the principal city of Maine and controlled by the Counts of Anjou. On June 17th 1128, Geoffrey V of Anjou married Matilda, the widowed Empress of the Holy Roman Empire and the daughter of Henry I of England. Matilda was 26 years of age and Geoffrey just 14 years old. The marriage was arranged by her father King Henry I, and would secure the southern border of Normandy, with the Count being in control of the lands of Maine, Touraine and Anjou. Their marriage took place in Le Mans Cathedral.

After just over a year of marriage, the couple separated and lived apart for the next two years, however Henry I insisted that they reconcile as Matilda was his only legitimate child, and his heir to the throne of England. By the autumn of 1129, Matilda was pregnant and on the 5th of March 1130, she gave birth to a son who was named Henry, after her father. The child was likely baptised in Le Mans Cathedral and he would grow to found the Plantagenet dynasty of England, and be crowned King Henry II.

Count Geoffrey of Anjou inherited Touraine, Maine and Anjou in 1129. He was the eldest son of Fulk V of Anjou and Ermengarde of Maine.   He was given the nickname Plantagenet, from the yellow sprig of Broom blossom that he would wear in his hat. Count Geoffrey died suddenly in 1151, after returning from a Royal Council meeting with a fever. He is buried in St Julien’s Cathedral, at Le Mans.