Woodwoses

Under the Visigoths, Ávila was one of the most important cities in the kingdom due to its proximity to the capital Toledo. From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Ávila was Moorish. The situation in the contested borderland between the Muslim and Christian worlds prevented prosperity, which only began in the 15th century when the fighting moved further south. The city experienced its heyday in the 16th century. The plague, the expulsion of the Moriscos (baptized Moors), and the emigration of many people to America caused Ávila's gradual decline, from which the city has only slowly recovered since the 19th century. Today the population is around 60,000. The “Catedral de Ávila” was planned as a cathedral fortress. The choir is fully integrated into the aalls and its apse was one of the towers of the city wall. The building, a mix of Gothic and Romanesque styles, dates back to the 12th century and is considered one of the first Gothic cathedrals in Spain. The client was probably Alfonso VIII. The first draft comes from Master Girald Fruchel (+ 1192). The cathedral shows French influences and great resemblances to the Abbey Church of St Denis, Initially created in the choir with a double ambulatory. The nave was only completed in the 14th century. Over time it became clear that the proportions of the central nave and the low side aisles caused structural problems. In the 18th century, support arches were added and the crossing pillars were strengthened. This is a detail of a tomb A female woodwose and a large chained monkey hold a coat of arms.

The construction of the cathedral was ordered by King Ferdinand III of Castile and Mauricio, the Bishop of Burgos. Ferdinand had just married Barbarossa´s granddaughter Beatrice of Swabia (aka "Elisabeth of Swabia") and wanted a cathedral, reflecting his new role in the European power game. The former Romanesque cathedral got demolished and on July 20, 1221, the construction of the new Gothic started under the guidance of an unknown French architect. After nine years, the chevet was completed and the high altar was consecrated. Then the construction stopped for about 200 years. Attending the Council of Basel (aka "Council of Florence") in 1435 bishop (and diplomat) Alfonso de Cartagena saw the just completed, elegant towers of the Basel Minster. When he returned to Burgos he was accompanied by German architect Johannes von Köln (aka "Juan de Colonia"), who probably knew the blueprints of the towers, planned for the Cathedral of Cologne. Under his guidance the towers of the Cathedral were completed in open tracery. He was followed on the construction site by his son Simon de Colonia. Francisco de Colonia, Simon´s son, continued the work and created the Pellejería-Portal. This was a family business. Just below the "Presentation of Jesus at the Temple" (previous upload) is this freeze populated with a gang of wild men, all completely covered with hair. Note the green men in the background (between the pillars).

The construction of the cathedral was ordered by King Ferdinand III of Castile and Mauricio, the Bishop of Burgos. Ferdinand had just married Barbarossa´s granddaughter Beatrice of Swabia (aka "Elisabeth of Swabia") and wanted a cathedral, reflecting his new role in the European power game. The former Romanesque cathedral got demolished and on July 20, 1221, the construction of the new Gothic started under the guidance of an unknown French architect. After nine years, the chevet was completed and the high altar was consecrated. Then the construction stopped for about 200 years. Attending the Council of Basel (aka "Council of Florence") in 1435 bishop (and diplomat) Alfonso de Cartagena saw the just completed, elegant towers of the Basel Minster. When he returned to Burgos he was accompanied by German architect Johannes von Köln (aka "Juan de Colonia"), who probably knew the blueprints of the towers, planned for the Cathedral of Cologne. Under his guidance the towers of the Cathedral were completed in open tracery. He was followed on the construction site by his son Simon de Colonia. Francisco de Colonia, Simon´s son, continued the work and created the Pellejería-Portal. This was a family business. Danger lurks everywhere! Another hairy wild man climbing in the vines, growing between the pillars.

Trogir was founded by Greek colonists in the 3rd century BC. In Roman times this was an important harbour town. From the 9th century on Trogir was under Croatian rule and later part of the Byzantine empire. A diocese was established in the 11th century, in 1107 the Hungarian-Croatian King Coloman ("The Bookish", "Kálmán Könyves") granted the autonomy. Saracen troops conquered Trogir in 1123 and demolished most of it. From 1420 upto 1797 Trogir belonged to the Republic of Venice. For a short while it belonged to the Napoleonic kingdom of Italy, but upto 1918 Trogir was part of the Habsburg Empire. Trogir is more than 2000 years old. It grew under the influence of the ancient Greeks, the Romans, and the Venetians... Trogir's medieval core, surrounded by walls, comprises (about 10) churches, houses and palaces from the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Since 1997 the centre of Trogir is a "UNESCO World Heritage Site". The Cathedral of St. Lawrence was erected from 1213 on the foundations of cathedral destroyed by the Saracens in 1123. Most of the work was done in the 13th century. This cathedral is world wide known for Master Radovan´s portal. The portal was carved by the local architect and sculptor Master Radovan (and his workshop). It was completed and signed by Radovan in 1240. Here are the two sides of the portal. The door posts are decorated with reliefs and two carved columns with scenes of hunting and beasts. The sides of the columns, that flank the doors, are decorated with scenes of people and animals entangled by tendrils. Here is a hairy, horned wild man - and a small monkey in the right corner.

Slavic Obodrites lived in the area, where Wismar is now, until the end of the 12th century. The exact date of the city's foundation is not clear, it had civic rights already in 1229 when migrants from Holstein and Westphalia settled here. The "Lübsches Stadtrecht" (town law) was confirmed in 1266. In 1259 Wismar joined a defensive agreement with Lübeck and Rostock, in order to counter the numerous Baltic pirates. Subsequently, more cities would agree to cooperate as commerce and trade were increasingly coordinated and regulated. These policies would provide the basis for the development of the "Hanseatic League". By the 13th and 14th centuries, Wismar had grown into a flourishing Hanseatic trading hub. In 1632, during the Thirty Years' War, Sweden conquered the city, and the Swedish Crown received in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 after the end of the Thirty Years' War. Swedish rule over Wismar ended de facto in 1803 when Sweden pledged the city to the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin for 99 years. Formally, Wismar reverted to Germany in 1903 and Sweden waived its right to redeem the pledge. Wismar is a typical representative of the Hanseatic League with its city-wide Brick Gothic structures and gabled patrician houses and has alongside the historical old town of Stralsund been declared the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar". The Nicolaikirche (Church St. Nicholas) was built from 1381 until 1487 as a church for sailors and fishermen. St. Nicholas is a fine testaments to mediaeval brick architecture in northern Germany. In 1381, the city council commissioned the master mason Heinrich von Bremen to complete the choir. The consecration of the high altar is documented for 1403. Heinrich von Bremen continued to work until 1415. In 1434 work was carried out on the north aisle and later the south aisle. Under the direction of Peter Stolp and Hermann von Münster in 1459, the work was completed to such an extent that the church could be consecrated. From 1485 to 1487, Hans Mertens built the two upper storeys of the tower, and the spire was added in 1508. In December 1703, a storm destroyed the spire. Its parts smashed through the roof and the vaults of the nave. Many pieces of the interior furnishings were destroyed. Afterwards, the tower received a transverse gable roof and the nave a flat ceiling. The renovation of the furnishings lasted until the second half of the 18th century. It was not until 1867 that a vault was erected again. The air raids during the Second World War caused only minor damage to the church. After the Second World War, the Nikolaikirche was the least damaged of all the large churches in Wismar. Many works of art had been stored away and thus survived the war, but the churches lay in ruins and the important Marienkirche was later blown up. A close look at these carvings on the choir stalls. Below right (not as a rider and no halo) St. Martin (??) cutting his cloak. At his feet a very small beggar kneeling on prostheses. On the right, a large monkey trying to climb the tree. At the foot of the tree a small monkey and two birds. Above right on the tree on the left a goat and on the right a monkey or a woodwose with a club.

In the 8th century, Arab-Moorish armies advanced into the north of the Iberian Peninsula, but as early as the 10th century the area was temporarily reconquered by the Christians (Reconquista). In the late 11th century, Count Pedro Ansúrez made the largely depopulated city his residence, expanded it, and promoted its repopulation (repoblación), which is why he is often considered the actual founder of the city. The University of Valladolid was founded in 1241 by Alfonso VIII of Castille. It is one of the oldest universities in the world. In the 15th century, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Castile until Philip II moved the center of power to the newly built monastery residence Real Sitio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial near Madrid in 1561. In 1561 most of the city burned down but was rebuilt under Philip II. The Colegio de San Gregorio was formerly a university and now houses the “Museo Nacional de Escultura”. This building is one of the best examples of the architectural Gothic style known as Isabelline. The University of Valladolid was founded in the 13th century by Alfonso X ("the Wise"). This also meant that over time so-called "colegios" /colleges emerged alongside or in connection with the university. So this colegio was founded as a teaching institution. As a theological college for Dominican monks. With papal approval, work began in 1488. The construction of the college was probably completed in 1496. The college accommodated around 20 students at a time. The main facade is spectacular. By its stylistic features, it sets regarding the workshop of Gil de Siloé, a Flemish-origin artist, who was at that time in Burgos dealing with the royal sepulchers of the Miraflores Charterhouse. The portal´s door is guarded by a group of hairy wild men. These scaring guys are really woodwoses.

Under the Visigoths, Ávila was one of the most important cities in the kingdom due to its proximity to the capital Toledo. From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Ávila was Moorish. The situation in the contested borderland between the Muslim and Christian worlds prevented prosperity, which only began in the 15th century when the fighting moved further south. The city experienced its heyday in the 16th century. The plague, the expulsion of the Moriscos (baptized Moors), and the emigration of many people to America caused Ávila's gradual decline, from which the city has only slowly recovered since the 19th century. Today the population is around 60,000. The “Catedral de Ávila” was planned as a cathedral fortress. The choir is fully integrated into the aalls and its apse was one of the towers of the city wall. The building, a mix of Gothic and Romanesque styles, dates back to the 12th century and is considered one of the first Gothic cathedrals in Spain. The client was probably Alfonso VIII. The first draft comes from Master Girald Fruchel (+ 1192). The cathedral shows French influences and great resemblances to the Abbey Church of St Denis, Initially created in the choir with a double ambulatory. The nave was only completed in the 14th century. Over time it became clear that the proportions of the central nave and the low side aisles caused structural problems. In the 18th century, support arches were added and the crossing pillars were strengthened. Two armed woodwoses guard the entrance to the Cathedral

Winchester, today a town with a population of about 40.000, played an important role in the history of England. In the 10th and early 11th centuries, Winchester was the capital of England and before that the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex. The Romans already knew the place under the name "Venta Belgarum". In the middle of the 9th century, St Swithin was Bishop of Winchester. At the end of the 9th century, the city also became part of a number of fortifications along the south coast of England, built by Alfred the Great. Winchester remained the capital of Wessex and later England until after the Norman Conquest, when the Normans chose London as their capital in 1066. Jews lived in Winchester from at least 1148, and in the 13th century the Jewish community was one of the most important in England. There were a series of blood libel claims against the Jewish community in the 1220s and 1230s, which likely was the cause of the hanging of the community's leader, Abraham Pinch, in front of the synagogue. Simon de Montfort ransacked the Jewish quarter in 1264, and in 1290 all Jews were expelled from England. A pre-Norman cathedral was founded in 642 on a site immediately north of the present one. This building became known as the Old Minster. It became part of a monastic settlement in 971 and was demolished in 1093. Edward the Confessor was crowned in the Old Minster in 1043. The cathedral in its present form was built between 1079 and 1532 and is dedicated to numerous saints, in particular Swithun of Winchester. It has a very long and very wide nave, an early English transept, Norman transepts and a tower. With a total length of 170 metres, it is probably the longest medieval cathedral in Europe. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he began to install his own bishops in place of the Anglo-Saxon bishops. William installed his friend and relative Walkelin as the first Norman Bishop of Winchester in 1070, and nine years later Walkelin began the construction of a huge Norman cathedral. The new cathedral was consecrated with the completion of the east end in 1093, and the many tombs of Saxon kings moved from the Old Minster into the new cathedral. Then the demolition of the New and Old Minsters began, and quickly progressed, leaving virtually no remains. The outline of the Old Minster can still be seen today to the north of the present nave. The first alteration to Walkelin's cathedral was in 1202 when Bishop Godfrey de Luci started construction of a new Early English retrochoir, this resulted in the demolition of the Norman apse. In 1346, Bishop Edington had the Norman west front demolished and began building a new Perpendicular Gothic facade, featuring a huge west window, which still stands today. Edington also began renovation of the nave. Master mason William Wynford remodelled the massive Norman nave into a soaring Perpendicular Gothic masterpiece. Little green men in the choir stalls

The town and castle date back to the founding of the Norman noble family Lacy. Walter de Lacy was given land here by William the Conqueror for his participation in the Battle of Hastings. He and his descendants founded the town and equipped it with strong fortifications. Following the Norman tradition, a wooden motte was first erected on a mound of earth. The oldest surviving stone part of the castle is the inner courtyard, which was built between 1086 and 1094 by Walter de Lacy's son Roger de Lacy. The town was expanded by donations from the de Lacy family and was first mentioned in a document in 1138. In 1177, the town is said to have already had 1172 inhabitants. In 1306, the town and castle passed to the Mortimer family by inheritance. During the Wars of the Roses, Ludlow Castle was briefly the headquarters of the leaders of the House of York: the future Edward IV lost the Battle of Ludlow in 1459, which led to his flight abroad and the provisional victory of the House of Lancaster. A parish church was established in the late 11th century. It is situated atop the hill around which the medieval town developed. After its initial construction the church was expanded and rebuilt in 1199 to accommodate a growing town population. In the late Middle Ages considerable wealth accrued to the town based upon the wool trade. Correspondingly the church underwent several further additions in that era. The major works occurred between 1433 and 1471 with a virtual re-building of the nave, tower and chancel elements. Two scenes of the choir stalls. Above: A mermaid flanked by two fish. She holds a mirror in her hand and symbolises vanity Below: On the left the devil, on the right the mouth of hell. In the centre, two woodwoses, the devil's assistants. The one on the right is holding a bagpipe, the one on the left has a drunken sinner on his shoulder.