Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: bagpipe

The town's origins date back to the 7th century. The first known building was a church founded by John of Beverley (+ 721), the later canonized Bishop of York. Around 850, the monastery was dissolved by the invasion of the "Great Heathen Army" of Vikings, and the town became part of the new Kingdom of Jorvik. However, the veneration of John of Beverley ensured that the region's population grew steadily until the 10th century. The Archbishops of York encouraged the development of Beverley. The town, along with York, Ripon, and Southwell, became one of the most important Christian centers in England. After the Norman conquest of England, many pilgrims flocked to Beverley after hearing of the miracles performed by John of Beverley. Many people in the north of England rejected Norman rule. The Normans then ravaged the towns of Yorkshire. Beverley, however, was spared due to the sanctity of the place. Tradition attributes the refoundation of the monastery as a collegiate church of secular canons to King Æthelstan. The establishment of a significant minster and its privileges occurred gradually, but by the early 11th century, Bishop John's tomb had become an important pilgrimage center, as he was canonized in 1037, and his cult encouraged the growth of a town around the minster. A fire in 1188 seriously damaged the minster and the town. A complete rebuilding was required. During the construction, a new lantern tower over the eastern crossing designed to illuminate the shrine of St John was under construction, but it collapsed in 1219 necessitating a partial rebuild of the church. By 1260 the retrochoir, choir, chapter house, transepts, and crossing were complete. Overwhelmingly tall and spacious, and speaking to the increasing skills of the stonecarvers, this new work was radically different from the old Saxon and Norman structure it replaced. It was the product of the novel structural systems and artistic development that together define the Gothic style brought to England in the late 12th century. The choir stalls, where once the canons met to sing and pray. There are 68 misericords here. Carved in 1520, they are most probably the work of the Ripon School of Carvers A man with whip over cowering ape - A hunter with dogs attacking a bear - A bear dancing to a bagpipe played by an ape.

Melrose Abbey shares the fate of all the great abbeys in the border region between England and Scotland. Because of the many wars, they survive only as ruins. As early as the 6th century, there was an older abbey dedicated to St Aidan about two miles east of the current monastery. It was destroyed by Kenneth I of Scotland in 839. Melrose Abbey was built in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of the Scottish King David I. The monastery was a daughter foundation of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire from the filiation of the primary abbey of Clairvaux. The abbey became the mother church of the order in Scotland. Robert the Bruce chose it as the final resting place for his heart. A small town slowly grew up around the abbey, which was attacked by Edward II of England in 1322, destroying large parts of the abbey. It was rebuilt with the help of Robert the Bruce. In 1385, the abbey was burnt down by the army of Richard II of England when he forced the army of David II of Scotland back to Edinburgh. The abbey was rebuilt over a period of 100 years . In 1544, when English troops again swept through Scotland, the abbey was badly damaged and was never fully restored. This led to its decline as an inhabited monastery. In 1590, the last monk of Melrose Abbey died. The abbey buildings survived a final attack by Oliver Cromwell, who had them bombarded during the English Civil War. In 1610, part of the abbey was made the parish church for the village of Melrose until a new church was built in the centre of the town 200 years later. Bernhard von Clairvaux, probably the most influential abbot the Cistercians ever had, wanted Cistercian buildings to be characterised by simplicity and austerity. This was intended to promote spiritual concentration, which should not be distracted by external ornamentation. Melrose Abbey is one of the rare exceptions to this rule, as it even contains many artistic sculptures. clear This gifted pig plays the bagpipes!

Nairn developed from a fishing village at the mouth of the River Nairn into a spa town in the Victorian era. Due to its wide sandy beaches and favorable climate, Nairn is a popular holiday resort. Charlie Chaplin often spent his holidays in Nairn. Many great, fantastic ideas come from Great Britain. One of them is to beautify cities with creative needlework.

After the conquest of Britain under Emperor Claudius, the Romans founded the city of "Isca Dumnoniorum" on the site where a Celtic settlement already existed. Numerous sections of the Roman city wall have survived to this day. In the 7th century, the city fell to Wessex. An Anglo-Saxon monastery was built here around 680. In 876, the Danes attacked Exeter and occupied it briefly, but Alfred the Great was able to drive them out a year later and had the Roman city wall repaired. In 893, Alfred was able to hold the city against a Danish attack for a second time. In 1001, the Danes again failed to take control of Exeter. However, after the town came into the possession of Emma of Normandy in 1002 through her marriage to Æthelred the Unready as part of her dowry, Emma's steward allowed the Danes under Sven Forkbeard to enter Exeter and sack the city the following year. In 1050 the seat of the bishopric, formed in 1032 from the bishoprics of Cornwall and Crediton, was transferred to Exeter and Leofric became the first bishop of the bishopric of Exeter. In 1068 the town was besieged by Norman troops of William the Conqueror, to whom it had refused to swear allegiance, and surrendered after 18 days. The Norman ruler had the fortress of Rougemont built here. However, the Bishop of Exeter also acted as a landowner and feudal lord, as mentioned in the Domesday Book. In the early stages of the civil war that broke out after the death of Henry I, Baldwin de Redvers held Exeter for three months in 1136 against King Stephen, but then surrendered. Henry II granted Exeter its first charter. In the 13th century, Exeter developed into the most important city in the southwest of England. It exported tin and cloth, among other things. From 1295 onwards, it sent representatives to the English Parliament. Exeter had to survive several more sieges, for example in 1467 during the Wars of the Roses, in 1497 by the pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck and in 1549 by insurgents from Cornwall and Devon who rebelled against the religious reforms of Edward VI, while Exeter remained loyal to the king. During the English Civil War (1642-1649), Exeter was initially on the side of the supporters of Parliament, but was conquered by the Royalists in 1643 and held for King Charles I for almost three years. Construction of the cathedral began in 1112 in the Norman/Romanesque style. The outer walls of the nave and the two colossal square towers, which now serve as the transept, are still preserved from this building. The architect of the Romanesque predecessor had resorted to this unusual solution because the crossing towers, which had previously been built according to English tradition, had collapsed. The new Gothic building began in 1224. The Lady Chapel, a single-nave building with three bays, marked the beginning. Around 1280/90, the retrochoir and the nave followed in the dimensions of the Romanesque church. At about the same time (1270/1280), the chapter house was added to the south transept. The 14th century minstrels´ gallery has angels with musical instruments. A more detailed look. The second from left plays a bagpipe.

In 74 BC, the Roman city was founded by Pompejus on the site of a local settlement. The city served to secure the Pyrenees crossing from Roncesvalles. Pamplona was destroyed several times in the course of its history: 466 by the Visigoths, 542 by the Franks, 778 by Charlemagne, 924 by Abd ar-Rahman III and in 1521 during the Franco-Spanish War by troops of Francis I. Its location on the Way of St. James from France gave the capital of the Kingdom of Navarre a boom in the 11th century. With the division of Navarre, the city ultimately came to Spain. After the conquest of the country and its incorporation into Castile in 1512-1515, Pamplona became one of the outposts of the Spanish crown on the French border. Its mission for 300 years was to secure the border against a possible invasion from France. Fortifications and walls were a vital system of defense, but at the same time prevented the city from expanding. The museum is located in the old hospital “Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia de Pamplona” from the 16th century. However, only the facade with the main entrance and the former chapel remain of the hospital. Maestro de Olite, Annunciation to the Shepherds, wall painting, around 1330

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.

Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, is situated on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. It is only 80 kilometres south of Helsinki. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century Tallinn was known as Reval. The first recorded claim over the place was laid by Denmark after a raid in 1219 led by Valdemar II. In 1227, the Order of the Brothers of the Sword conquered Reval and three years later recruited 200 Westphalian and Lower Saxon merchants from Gotland, who settled below the castle and were granted freedom of customs and land. In 1238 Reval fell back to Denmark, Under renewed Danish rule, the city rapidly grew in size and economic importance. In 1248, the Danish king granted it the Lübische Stadtrecht (town charter). Due to the strategic location, its port became a significant trade hub, especially in the 14–16th centuries when Tallinn grew in importance as the northernmost member city of the Hanseatic League. The king of Denmark sold Reval along with other land possessions in northern Estonia to the Teutonic Knights in 1346. The "Niguliste kirik" (St. Nicholas Church) was founded and built around 1230–1275 by Westphalian merchants. In 1405–1420 the church obtained its current late Gothic appearance. In 1515 the tower was built higher and in late 17th century, it got a Baroque spire with airy galleries, which was raised higher stage by stage through several centuries. The tower is now 105 metres (344.5 ft) high. Saint Nicholas was the only church in Tallinn that remained untouched by iconoclasm brought by the Protestant Reformation in 1523. The church was converted to a Lutheran congregation in the 16th century. In 1944, the church was severely damaged by bombing. The resulting fire turned the church into ruins and destroyed most of its interior. Most art treasures survived thanks to their timely evacuation from the church. The renovation of the church started in 1953 and was completely finished in 1981. The church tower was again damaged by a fire in October 1982. The tower was burnt out. After a restoration the church was inaugurated in 1984 as a museum and concert hall. The icon Dance of Death / Danse macabre got popular under the impression of the Black Death. The first one may have been created in the abbey of La Chaise-Dieu (Auvergne) around 1410. Soon later similar murals were done in Paris (1424), Basel (1439) and Lübeck (1460). The "Lübecker Totentanz" is attributed to Bernt Notke. The frieze extended as a continuous picture wall over a length of almost 30 metres. The fragment of the Lübeck Dance of Death in Tallinn still shows 13 figures today. Researchers have long argued about its origin. Today, however, the consensus is that this is the fragment of a later (around 1500) replica made by Notke himself for Tallinn. In Lübeck, the Dance of Death was in such poor condition in 1701 that a copy was made. This was destroyed by fire caused by bombs during WWII.

With more than 200.000 inhabitants Rostock is the largest city in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Small Slavic settlements existed already in the 8th century. A settlement named Roztok was founded in the 11th century by Polabian Slavs. This town was burnt down by troops of the Danish king Valdemar I in 1161. Afterwards, the place was settled by German traders. After 1226 Rostock became the seat of the Lordship of Rostock. In the 1250s the city became a member of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century, it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the largest city in Mecklenburg. Ships for cruising the Baltic Sea were constructed in Rostock. Until the last Hansa Convention in 1669, Rostock took a leading role in the Baltic Sea behind Lübeck. - Marienkirche is a large Brick Gothic church. Built in the 13th century, it was enlarged and modified at the end of the 14th century into the present basilica. The first reference to a church on this site is in 1232, which is thought to be the predecessor of the current building. The triple-nave cross-shaped basilica is in Brick Gothic, a building style typical of the Hanseatic port cities. The huge tower with a baroque lantern at the top was not completed until the end of the 18th century. In 1419, the University of Rostock was founded, the oldest university in the Baltic Sea area. It was ceremoniously opened in the Marienkirche. The parish priest of the church, Nikolaus Türkow, was personally involved in the founding of the university and the church remained closely associated with it for a long time. Even today, the "professors' pews" indicate that St. Mary's Church had the function of a university and council church until the turn of the century around 1900. Valuable fabrics were part of the furnishings of large churches in the Middle Ages. Only a few have survived the test of time. A detail from the "Hochzeitstuch" (wedding cloth) embroidered in the first half of the 16th century. It is visible, that the work was not finished. Perhaps the wedding did never take place - maybe a tragic story!

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. The Krämeraltar (Krämer = merchant) originally stood in the Marienkirche. It was donated to the church around 1430 by the grocers, the merchants. Surrounded by a golden halo, Mary stands with the infant Jesus on a silver crescent moon. Accompanied by two angels making music, the little Christ plays on a bagpipe. First rimw I see this talent! Mary is flanked on one side by the dragon-slaying Archangel Michael (patron saint of shopkeepers) and St Maurice. On the right, the Adoration of the Magi

Notre-Dame, erected 1230 - 1251, is considered a jewel of 13th-century Gothic architecture in France. The planar western façade is quite unique - as it opens like a large screen to the spectator. The "screen" is 28,6 m high by 19,5 m wide. There are three levels. The lowest (here only party seen) has three arcades forming the entry into a porch. Above are two arcaded galleries, one above the other. On each of these two upper levels the arches rest on 17 columns. Emphasising the top and bottom of these galleries are three string courses consisting of 51 (not water-transporting) gargoyles. The original gargoyles were in place for only a short time. They were removed already around 1240, following a fatal accident. A usurer was killed on the church forecourt as he was about to get married: a stone figure representing a usurer became detached and fell on him. His colleagues organised the destruction of all gargoyles on the façade, except for one at the upper right corner that survived until the 1960s, when it was replaced. The gargoyles which today decorate the façade were made in 1880-1882, during the restoration of the church. Here are three of them.

The architecture of Notre Dame de l'Assomption, the parish church of Rouffach, about 20kms south of Colmar, is a mixture of romanesque and gothique style. The pretty huge building suffered heavy damage during the French Revolution. A musician is comfortably sitting on the top of a gothic spire, playing an instrument. First I saw the instrument as a bagpipe. Bagpipes have been very popular already in pre-medieval times. Here the thin blowpipe got lost over the time. Meanwhile - from the posture and the gesture of the hands - I think this is a kind of lute, having a very big belly. Anyway, the musician did not come alone to entertain the crowds in Rouffach. See his companion on the next photo.

I had met somebody, who had told me about a "forgotten" abbey near the hamlet Saint-Sigismond-de-Clermont. I finally found the "Château de la Tenaille", that obviously once had been an abbey. It was not only locked, the grounds were fenced as well. This was "private property" - and nobody was around I could ask for permission to enter. It seemed abandoned.... I - well - could find a little hole - sneaked in - and slowly approached the buildings. The facade of the former abbey church has the design that is so typical for Romanesque churches in the Saintonge. The portal is bricked up. Opposite the church were two large barns in better conditions. They were obviously still in use until some decades ago. Here is one of the gables. - Meanwhile I know, that this indeed was an abbey, founded in the early 12th century by Giraud de Sales, who was the founder of many convent in western France. The abbey was sold after the French Revolution. The church dates back to the 12th century, while most other buildings were completed within the 18th century. Here is a pdf with infos: file:///D:/_eigene_Dateien/Downloads/Abbaye%20de%20la%20Tenaille.pdf

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. There are wild men and mermaids, but surprisingly apes and monkeys are the most abundant species here. Twins frolic around over a long frieze (I cut out a large part). They are very noisy tambourine players, flanked by hares (see feet and ears of the right one), who play the bagpipe.

Legends tell, that Saint Vigor, Bishop of Bayeux, founded a convent here within the 6th century. In 1032 Robert I, Duke of Normandy, (aka "Robert the Magnificent", "Robert le Magnifique"), father of William the Conqueror, who became a pious man in his older age (and died during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem), sponsored the Benedictine abbey and so the erection of the abbey-church started the same year. The abbey was wealthy and important in medieval times, but declined like most other convents. It existed upto the French Revolution, when the last six monks were forced to leave. The abbey got sold and most of the conventual buildings got demolished. The church was in a bad state after an earthquake (!) in 1775. It got renovated within the 19th century, since then serves the parish. The younger, Gothic carvings are much more elegant, than the rough Romanesque. Here are two carvings, depicting musicians. A bagpiper to the left.