Matamoro

...... a cavalier is riding over somebody on the ground. This may depict the "Matamoro", what is Saint Jaques in his role of slaughtering the muslims in Spain, leading the "Reconquista". The "Matamoro" was a very popular figure in spanish...

Notre-Dame de Surgères was erected in the center of a large castle in the 12th century. The fortification, founded in the 9th century as a motte, when the area was raided by the Vikings, then guarded the border of the historical province of Aunis once. When the church was built a small town had developed around the defence already. Later a small priory and a "hopital" existed, as this was a halt on the Via Turonensis. The pilgrims had a lot to gape here, the facade is stunning 23 meters wide. Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry II of England in 1152, so the area changed hands and was ruled by the House of Plantagenet. During the Hundred Years' War Surgères experienced a long period of decline. Louis XI´s troops conquered the town in 1472 and the fortifications got destructed. During that time Notre Dame lost the tower and large parts of the nave, but not the facade! Six blind arches once flanked the door, five arches above them on "the second floor". There are more than 100 capitals and corbels all over the facade. This seems to be a medieval encyclopedia. There are two large equestrian statues. Here is the right one, in a pose, typical for the Saintonge. A person is under the hoof of the horse. Only the upper part of the horseman´s head is lost, so it is visible, the rider had a beard. It is widely believed, that the statue depicts Constantine the Great, trampling down Roman heathenism. In Southern France (eg. Oloron St. Marie) and Northen Spain similar statues are seen as Saint Jaques ("Matamoro"), fighting the muslims on the Hispanic peninsula and so supporting the reconquista. Here - for me - the horseman looks a bit like St. Martin of Tours, offering half of his cloak to the person below. Martin was very popular in medieval times and the shrine of St. Martin in Tours was part of the Via Turonensis.

Saint-Pierre was the church of one of the largest Augustinian abbeys in the Poitou, that was founded in 991 by Audéarde, the wife of viscount Herbert I of Thouars. The monastery was on one of the "chemins" of the Via Turonensis, so when the number of pilgrims increased, the Canons Regular of St. Augustine had this large church erected in two construction phases from the 12th century on. The western facade and the narthex are the youngest parts of the structure. When the era of the pilgrimage ended, the abbey declined and impoverished during the Hundred Years' War. Most conventual buildings were destroyed in the Wars of Religion. The abbey church now serves the parish. The very damaged horseman, probably vandalized during the French Revolution. Horsemen can often be found in the Poitou-Charente (eg. Melle, Benet, Surgères, Parthenay). It is widely believed that these equestrian sculptures depict Constantine the Great trampling down heathenism. In Southern France and Spain, St. James/St. Jaques is often seen in that pose, supporting the reconquista as "matamoro".

"Santa María la Real" is one of the highlights for all people following the "Camino Aragonés" - since about 800 years. The facade is impressing it may take hours, to find out the many details. I stayed an extra day, when I had reached the town, just to see the shadows movig over the carvings. A church did exist here already in 1131 next to the bridge crossing the river Aragon. It was transferred by Alfonso I to the "Knights Hospitaller" (aka "Order of Saint John", later "Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta"). The apse is the oldest part of the structure and probably dates back to that time. The nave and the breathtaking Southern Portal of Santa María la Real were created late 12th/13th century. I have uploaded a "total overview" earlier and will now focus on some details. The horseman trampling down a victim has many "cousins" France and can often be seen along the old chemins and caminos. In the Poitou, the rider is seen as Constantine the Great , while in Aquitaine, the character is seen as St. Jaques is seen as "matamoro".

A "villa Tauriaca" was given to the Bishop of Le Mans already in 585 by some Alderic. At that time probably a chapel existed here. The portal seen today dates to the 12th. century - and it is unusual, as it does have tympana in the flanking arches. Modifications were made, when the church got fortified in the 16th century, but meanwhile the portal is pretty much back to the original state. It is claimed, that some of the carvings may be older than the church and may have been part of the earlier (merovingien?) church. A very weathered equestrian is in the center of the left tympanum. Such statues are not very common. Further north are a few (Surgères, Melle, Parthenay-le-Vieux, Airvault), where under the hoof of horese is a small person. It is widely believed, that the statues depict Constantine the Great, trampling down Roman heathenism. In Southern France (eg. Oloron St. Marie) and Northen Spain similar statues are seen as Saint Jaques ("Matamoro"), fighting the muslims on the Hispanic peninsula and so supporting the reconquista

Seville was a Roman "colonia" since 45BC. The important city got looted by the Vandals in 428 and developed into a Bishopric seat under Visigothic rule. After the Moors had defeated the Visigoths in the Battle of Guadalete, the conquered Seville and made it the capital of a province. Normans devastated Seville in 844 but Seville got rebuilt and flourished under the different Moorish dynasties. In 1248 Seville was conquered by the troops of Ferdinand III of Castile. The emigration of hundredthousands of Moors to Northern Africa led to a decrease of economics in the whole area. Seville recovered in the 16th and 17th century, when it became the hub of Spanish maritime trade. During this period, the port of Seville had a monopoly on overseas trade. Vespucci and Magellan planned and started their voyages here. The Cathedral "Catedral de Santa María de la Sede" was erected between 1401 and 1519 on the remains of the Great Mosque of Seville, built in the 12th century. With about 11,520m² this is the third-largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church. The Cathedral in Cologne covers about 7,900m². The Great Mosque of Seville was dedicated in 1172 and completed 1198. It was a rectangular building 113m x 135m inculding a minaret ("La Giralda") and a courtyard. After the conquest the mosque was converted into the city's cathedral. The orientation was changed and it got divided into chapels by new walls. In 1401 it was decided to build a new cathedral and replace the mosque, that had served as a cathedral. In 1551, 5 years after construction ended, the crossing lantern ("cimborrio"), collapsed and was rebuilt. It collapsed again in 1888, and work continued until 1903. The cathedral of today is 115m long and 76 m wide. There are five naves, the vaultig over the central one is 42m high. Saint Jacques (Santiago) riding down a Moorish warrior is known as "Matamoro".

Córdoba shares its history with so many cities in Southern Spain. It was Carthaginian and Roman (from 260BC on), later it belonged to the Byzantine Empire for two decade, got looted by the Vandals, before Visigoths conquered it in 572. In 711 it was taken by the by the Umayyad army and became a provincial capital. At that time a Christian church erected by the Visigoths was on the site, it was divided and shared by Muslims and Christians. The sharing agreement lasted until 784, when the Christian half was purchased by the Emir Abd al-Rahman I, who then demolished the church and started to build the grand mosque of Córdoba on its ground. This narrative goes back to the tenth-century historian al-Razi. The work of building the Mezquita employed thousands of artisans and labourers. After the first completion it underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd al-Rahman II ordered a new minaret, Al-Hakam II enlarged the building and enriched the Mihrab. The Mezquita reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and courtyard. It covers an area of more than 23.000 m². The Mezquita still is one of the largest sacred buildings on earth. In the 10th century it was in the center of Cordoba, that with a population of upto 500.000, at that time it was one of the largest cities in the known world. After in 1236 Córdoba was captured from the Moors, the Christians initially left the architecture Mezquita undisturbed. They just consecrated it, dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and used it as a place of Christian worship. Later small chapels were inserted and the the minaret was converted into a the bell tower of the cathedral. The most significant alteration was the building of a Renaissance cathedral in a cruciform layout right in the center of the former mosque. The insertion was constructed by permission of Charles V, King of Castile and Aragon. The legend tells, that upon seeing it completed, he remarked, "You have built here what you or anyone might have built anywhere else, but you have destroyed what was unique in the world." Santiago (Saint Jaques) in his role as "Matamoro".

A Celtic castle existed here, from which resistance against the Romans originated. The city was nevertheless taken. Afterward, it began to be built as a Roman city and became an important Roman military base. In the second half of the 5th century, Segovia became part of the Visigoth Empire. From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Segovia was under Moorish possession. In 1085 Alfonso VI conquered the city. From the 13th to the 15th century it was a royal residence. The predecessor of the Catedral de Segovia (aka "Santa Iglesia Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción y de San Frutos de Segovia" was a church that began around 1140 when Segovia was repopulated under Alfonso VII. This church was destroyed during a popular uprising in Castile in 1520. In 1525 the cathedral chapter decided to build a new building. The foundation stone was laid in 1525. In 1558 the building was completed up to the transept and was consecrated as a cathedral. It was erected in a late Gothic style, outdated elsewhere in Europe. In 1614 the large spire was destroyed by lightning. It was made of mahogany imported from America and covered with fire-gilded lead. The cathedral ceilings were also damaged by the fire. During a restoration around 1620, the tower was given its current shape, reduced by 12 m in height. The cathedral was finally consecrated in 1768. It is 105 m long and 50 m wide. The central nave is 33 m high. The tower measures 88 m. The baroque altar of the "Santiago Chapel" was created by Pedro de Bolduque in 1595. St. Jaques as "matamoro" is on top, while the legendary translation of the body from Pradon to Santiago is on the bottom.

The monastery was founded in 1200 by King Alfonso IX of León and King Berenguela of Castile by donating a place to the Cistercian Order for the construction of a monastery there. It was erected next to the pre-Romanesque church of San Salvador de Valdediós (see prev uploads). The construction of the church began in 1218 under the direction of the master Gualterius, possibly of Frankish origin, and was completed around 1225. The monastery became an important and well-endowed abbey. After a decline the monastery joined the Cistercian congregation in 1515. During the War of Independence, the monastery had to be abandoned from 1808 to 1812. It was dissolved in 1835, but some monks remained in the monastery, the last of whom died in 1862. Matamoro, St. James killing the Moors and so leading the Rconquista, is a very common icon on the peninsula.