Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: chain mail

There are two products, this small town, near Riom is pretty famous for. There are the black stones from Volvic, used all over the Auvergne. The gothic cathedral in Clermont-Ferrand is built from the black stones, coming from Volvic. The younger product is the "Volvic" mineral water. Zillions of plastic bottles, filled with Volvic-water leave this place every week or month. Long time before Danone (Evian, Badoit, La Salvetat....) entered the stage in Volvic, this place was owned by St. Priest (aka Priest de Clermont, aka Saint Praejectus), bishop of Clermont. St. Priest was stabbed to death here in 676 and immediately was venerated as a martyr. His sucessor Avitor founded an abbey here, that later was depending from Mozac (1169). The capitals in St. Priest do not have the wonderful, sleek elegance of the carvings seen in the former abbey church in Mozac (5kms east) or Notre-Dame-Du-Port in Clermont-Ferrand (15kms south), but they use the same "icons", that are so typical all over the Auvergne: sirens, griffons, eagles.. Four men around a capital, standing like protecting something, what is behind the "palisade" behind them. In the center is a soldier, wearing a chain mail and holding a spear to the left and a shield to the right. The person to the left has his hand on that spear, while on the right side holds a book. I found in Bernard Craplet´s "Auvergne romane", that these men stand for the four cardinal virtues, as above that fence could be read "sapientia", "iustitia", "fortitudo" and "temperantia". I can read here FORTITUDO, so this is connected to the soldier. The right person with the book may stand for "sapientia". The left person holds a scale in his right hand (not be seen), so he may stand for ""iustitia".

The cloister of Saint-Trophime forms a rectangle 28m x 25m. The eastern and northern sides were built in romanesque style 1160 - 1180. Shortly after that all constructions came to halt, due to an economic decline of Arles. New orders like the Trinitarians and the Knights Templar had settled in Arles - and caused competition. It took more than a century to restart the building process, so the southern and western sides were built erected during the 14th and 15th century in gothic style. Here a capital, depicting the "Massacre of the Innocents". Three large soldiers, wearing chain mails, obeying Herod´s order. Matthew 2:16 "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi."

Prache´s "Ile de France Romane". Anne Prache mentions, that in the hamlet of Mervilliers is a former church with a remarkable tympanum. In found a large farm in Mervilliers, entered and tried to find anybody to ask. But there was nobody at home. This was private property and I did feel uneasy, walking around, knocking on doors and shouting "Allo" and "Coucou"...... I finally found a small wooden garden gate. I pushed it open, entered, turned around - and there was the tympanum (previous upload). Here is a closer look on the tympanum´s left side. A knight in full armour makes a donation to Saint George (only George´s hand can be seen), while his squire on the left holds the knight´s horse. Some see this as the infeudation of a knight, what I doubt. The artistic style is not really elegant, but a bit rough. Note the oversized heads and hands. Here is a French website about the tympanum: jfbradu.free.fr/mervilliers/index-mervilliers.htm

The Iglesia de Santiago stands surrounded by macchia at the end of a dust road about a kilometer southeast of Agüero. This isolated place is probably why it is named as well "Ermita de Santiago". It is a very strange structure and I did not have much information about. At one time within the 12th century somebody had started to build a pretty large basilica (- in the middle of nowhere). Obviously money was not an issue, as gifted sculptors and experienced builders left their marks here. Then - some decades later, the building process stopped, the church was never completed. No wonder, that the artist/workshop known as "Master of San Juan de la Peña" is even better known under the name of "Master of Agüero". I had seen his works in San Juan de la Peña and Sangüesa, but what he created here are real masterpieces. Here are the four capitals of the portal´s right side. To the left are two lions tearing a ram to pieces. Next is a female dancer, flanked by two musicians. The third capital depicts a flautist and another very flexible dancer. To the very right are two gesticulating men (one standing, one seated) obviously discussing. Then there two fighting warriors in chain mails. From this pov only one warrior can be seen.

Sos del Rey Católico is a quaint, historic town with a population of just over 600. Founded as "Sos" by Sancho I of Pamplona during the Reconquista in the early 10th century, the town changed its name to Sos del Rey Católico, after Ferdinand II of Aragon (aka "el Católico") was born here in 1452. The town is built on a mountaintop. You enter it by foot through the medieval gates, as the old walls, that surround the town still exist. The building of the "Iglesia de San Esteban" (= Saint Steven) started already mid of the 11th century, financed by Estefania de Foix, young widow of Garcia Sanchez III of Pamplona. The church got enlarged and altered over the next centuries many times. A narthex with gothic vaults was added within the 16th century to protect this Romanesque portal from the 12th century against the weather, but it did not protect against the vandalism of the following centuries. Compared to the Luxuria just seen, this carving is in a still good condition. A mother protecting her child on the left, a damaged soldier, wearing a chain mail, on the right. This scene may reflect the "Massacre of the Innocents".