Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Weighing of souls

According to legend, the mortal remains of the apostle St James were taken to Galicia for burial, where they were lost. Eight hundred years later, a light led a shepherd, Pelagius the Hermit, who was guarding his flock at night, to the burial site. The shepherd reported his discovery to the bishop of Iria. The bishop declared that the remains were those of St James the Apostle and immediately informed King Alfonso II in Oviedo. In honour of Saint James, the cathedral was built on the spot where his remains were said to have been found. The legend, which includes numerous miraculous events, enabled the Catholic faithful to strengthen their stronghold in northern Spain during the Reconquista against the Moors, but also led to the growth and development of the city. This is the end if the Camino de Santiago. I arrived the first time in Santiago in 2010 and, like everyone who makes the journey on foot, was overwhelmed. Much has changed since then. Most of all, the deployment of a very unfriendly security force that leaves neither tourists nor pilgrims in peace - in a place where everyone should find peace. The Museo da Catedral has an extraordinary collection The "Weighing of souls", 15th entury

Payerne Priory (= Peterlingen), a former Cluniac monastery, was founded around 962 by Empress Adelheid as the burial place of her mother Queen Berta of Burgundy. It was annexed to the reform abbey of Cluny in 962 as one of the first daughter monasteries. It was richly endowed by the kings of Burgundy and the German emperors and had extensive landholdings In 1033, Conrad II was crowned King of Burgundy in Peterlingen. The priory was first directly managed by the abbots from Cluny, but starting in 1050 the local prior led the monastery with increasing independence. Saint Ulrich of Zell, was prior here in the later 11th century. He later founded two Cluniac monasteries in the Black Forest. In 1444, the antipope Felix V raised the priory to an abbey. This elevation brought no benefits to the monastery. The Reformation and the weakening of Savoy's power led to the dissolution of the monastery. After the Bernese conquest of Vaud, some of the buildings were demolished. The former abbey church of Notre Dame is an example of Cluniac architecture and an important Romanesque church building. The current construction was started in the 11th century by Abbot Odilo of Cluny on the site of the previous 10th-century church. Parts of the previous building, including the archaic capitals, were included in the new church. After the Reformation, the church was profaned and served in the 17th century as a bell foundry, in the 18th century as a granary, and later also as a prison and barracks. Since 1926 a careful restoration was carried out. Psychostasia /Weighing of souls Archangel Michael holds the scales. The scene is part of a depiction of the Last Judgment.

Duke Frederick II the One-Eyed (1090-1147) of Swabia built a hunting lodge on an island in the Moder. The settlement that grew around was the beginning of Haguenau. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa fortified the settlement and gave it town rights, important for further development, in 1154. On the site of the hunting lodge, he founded an imperial palace he regarded as his favorite residence. In this palace were preserved the "Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire", i.e. the jeweled imperial crown, scepter, imperial orb, and sword of Charlemagne. The Romanesque church building began under Duke Frederick II the One-Eyed of Swabia and replaced an older Romanesque chapel. In 1143 the Strasbourg bishop granted the construction of the church, which was completed in 1189. The architecture recalls the style of the Hirsau Abbey which influenced the Romanesque architecture of Swabia. A Gothic choir was added to the Romanesque nave, which remained unaffected except for the vaults that were inserted later. The choir was consecrated in 1283. The winged altar was created in the 19th century by adding two late Gothic paintings as wings to the centerpiece depicting the "Last Judgement". This is a work by Diebold Martin, a contemporary of Grünewald. The "Weighing of Souls" and the Mouth of Hell. The "Weighing of Souls" and the Hellmouth. It looks like the better-off Petrus is taking to heaven while the lower class enters hell.

Duke Frederick II the One-Eyed (1090-1147) of Swabia built a hunting lodge on an island in the Moder. The settlement that grew around was the beginning of Haguenau. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa fortified the settlement and gave it town rights, important for further development, in 1154. On the site of the hunting lodge, he founded an imperial palace he regarded as his favorite residence. In this palace were preserved the "Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire", i.e. the jeweled imperial crown, scepter, imperial orb, and sword of Charlemagne. The Romanesque church building began under Duke Frederick II the One-Eyed of Swabia and replaced an older Romanesque chapel. In 1143 the Strasbourg bishop granted the construction of the church, which was completed in 1189. The architecture recalls the style of the Hirsau Abbey which influenced the Romanesque architecture of Swabia. A Gothic choir was added to the Romanesque nave, which remained unaffected except for the vaults that were inserted later. The choir was consecrated in 1283. The winged altar was created in the 19th century by adding two late Gothic paintings as wings to the centerpiece depicting the "Last Judgement". This is a work by Diebold Martin, a contemporary of Grünewald.

Approaching the small, unimpressive village of Altenstadt the visitor will find a really impressing romanesque basilica. The church is way too big for the village. The original name of the village was "Scongoe". Founded on a hill over the river Lech, it controlled the old roman "highway" from Augsburg to Italy - and over the time got wealthy and proud. So they started to build this St.Michael-church between 1170 and 1220. Just after the church was completed, discussions started and the whole village moved (for strategic reasons) to a new place, just a few kilometres away and started the (still existing) "Schongau", naming the old place "Altenstadt" (= old town). As there were no people to care for the abandoned church, and over the many years (fortunately) no money, to change it into gothic, baroque or rococo style, purity has survived here. I have uploaded already many photos taken in Altenstadt during prior visits. So just a few "new" photos now. The murals are medieval, but not as old as the church. Here is a "Weighing of souls" and four saints.

The "Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges" was erected as a replacement for an 11th-century structure. The construction started probably in the last quarter of the 12th century, around the same time when the builders and bricklayers started in Chartres. The choir of the cathedral was in use by 1214, the nave was finished 1255. The cathedral was consecrated in 1324. The cathedral covers a surface of 5,900 m². The nave is 15 metres wide and 37 metres high, the inner aisle is 21.3 metres high. There are no transepts, but two aisles on either side forming a double ambulatory around the choir. The cathedral retains many of its original stained-glass windows, which dates from about 1215. This window depicts the "Last Judgement".

The church "San Carlo di Negrentino", originally dedicated to S. Ambrogio Vecchio, is located isolated facing a cliff that opens onto a vast panorama. A mule track led here from the Gotthard Pass over the Narapass to the Blenio Valley and to Bellinzona led past here near a deep gorge. The two-aisled church is first mentioned in writing in 1214, but goes back to an earlier time. It was created in two construction phases. The original Romanesque apse hall from the 11th century was probably extended in the 13th century in the south by a similar, but narrower room with a smaller apse. At that time the campanile was built on the north side of the building. The large fresco over the door depicts Archangel Michael and the "Weighing of the Souls".

Maria Gail is an important center of pilgrimage in Carinthia since centuries. It is locally claimed, that Langobardian missionaries may have founded Maria Gail within the 6th century. The church was mentioned the first time in 1136. The once massive Romanesque church got enlarged (in Gothic style) between 1400 and 1450. In 1478 the church got severely damaged by Turkish troops during the Ottoman incursions. It got rebuilt and re-consecrated in 1486. During a renovation in 1950 late Romanesque frescoes (13th.) were discovered under the plaster along the walls of the nave. Fixed onto the southern outer wall outise are some Romanesque scupltures, that probably originate from the preciding church, that got ruined by the Turkish troops. These two angels belonged once to a large "Last Judgement"-group. The right one blows the horn, while the left one is (smiling!) Archangel St. Michael, who holds the scale for the "Weighing of the Souls".

Oberwinterthur is since 1922 part of Winterthur. The parish church St. Arbogast is located on a "church hill", where in Roman times the settlement "Vitudurum" was established. Archeologists have excaveted much of the Roman "vicus", that had its center, where the church is now. It is proven, that already in the 1st century houses existed an a street was built. During the Alamanii invasions, the place got fortified. The date of the construction around 294 AD is documented by an inscription stone. At the same place the predecessor building of the St. Arbogast was erected in the 6th/7th century. The dedication to Saint Arbogast of Strassburg may link this church to Frankish king Dagobert I, the last of the Merovingians. The church of today was erected probably in the end of the 12th century. Here is the Romanesque nave. The frescoes were created in the early 14th century. Here is the "Weighing of souls".

A church is known in Mélas (now part of Le Teil), located at the Roman road connecting Lyon and Nîmes, since merovingien times. A noble lady named Fredegonde founded a nunnery in Mélas end of the 6th century, dedicated to Saint-Étienne and Saint Saturnin. Today´s church is younger. It consists out of three parts built in different times. The oldest part is an octogonal chapel, dated the the 9th/10th century (see previous uploads). Two of the three aisles were erected in the 12th/13th century. Here are some Romanesque capitals. This capital depicts the "Weighing of souls".

Erected by monks of a near Cistercian abbey in the 12th century, the church, as well as the (lost) "hopital" served the pilgrims, that walked the Via Francigena to Rome (and back home). It was modified over the centuries, but a renovation in the 1930 brought back the Romanesque structure, that it was originally. San Biagio has an extraordenary tympanum. Seen is the "Weighing of souls" (= Psichostasia). Saint Michael weighs the souls in a scale the good and bad deeds, while the devils intervenes, using trickery to make the scale fall on his side and take the soul to Hell. Small heads symbolize the souls. On the left side of the scale seems to be the soul of a monk (tonsur). The soul on the far right - is already on the way to eternal damnation. The Weighing of Souls can often be found in France cand Spain along the "caminos" to Santiago de Compostella, but is not that often in Italy. Sergio Stocchi ("Italia romanica"), attributes this work to the workshop of Benedetto Antelami and dates it to the end of the 12th century.

"Saint-Pierre d'Aulnay" is a church outside of Aulnay, in the center of an old graveyard. The setting has not changed for centuries. For the pilgrims of the 12th century this church was a major halt - and it still is for all the tourists... A predecessing church „Saint-Pierre-de-la-Tour“ had been here, that, when the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella got more and more popular, was obviously too small, as Aulnay was conveniently situated between Poitiers and Saintes on the Via Turonensis. A new, larger church was needed, so the place was handed over to the chapter of the cathedral in Poitiers. The canons then probably planned this church, that was erected from about 1130/1140 on. "Saint-Pierre d'Aulnay" (here seen from east) is a gem of the "style saintongeais". For Peter Strafford ("Romanesque Churches Of France") this is "one of the best examples of late Romanesque architecture in what used to be Aquitaine". Seen here is the "Weighing of souls". Archangel Michael holds the scale, while two evil devils try to pull down one side of it. I have uploaded many photos already taken during previous visits. So I will now add only a few.

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. The crossing tower collapsed in 1539, but got rebuilt, so that in 1567 the Cathedral was finally completed. The north transept portal, known as "Portada de la Coroneria", erected around 1240, is permanently locked since 1830. Over the centuries residents had entered the cathedral here and by using the opposite portal as an exit, had a nice short cut to the market. In the center of the tympanum is the Last Judgement (see previous upload). The way to hell (previous upload) leads to hell. A glimpse into the center of hell, where devils are busy to torture thé poor souls. I have the impression that the person on the very right is at stool, producing coins. I am not really sure about the coins actually. It remembers me on a fairy tale by the German Grimm Brothers "The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack".

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. The crossing tower collapsed in 1539, but got rebuilt, so that in 1567 the Cathedral was finally completed. The north transept portal, known as "Portada de la Coroneria", erected around 1240, is permanently locked since 1830. Over the centuries residents had entered the cathedral here and by using the opposite portal as an exit, had a nice short cut to the market. In the center of the tympanum is the Last Judgement (see previous upload). Here is a detail of the psychostasia. On the left stands Archangel Michael weighing the souls. To the right runs the road to hell, where devils are at work. A miser still has a large money bag around his neck. www.catedraldeburgos.es/

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. The crossing tower collapsed in 1539, but got rebuilt, so that in 1567 the Cathedral was finally completed. Seen here is the north transept portal, known as "Portada de la Coroneria", erected around 1240 and permanently locked since 1830. Over the centuries residents had entered the cathedral here and by using the opposite portal as an exit, had a nice short cut to the market. Flanking the doors are the 12 apostles. The Last Judgement is on the tympanum above. Christ seated on a throne between the Virgin and John the Evangelist, angels display the Instruments of the Passion (aka "Arma Christi"). Below is a psychostasia. Archangel Michael weighs the souls. Following the information given here Ferdinand III and Beatriz can be found on the left, on their way to Paradise. The road to hell (paved with good intentions) runs to the right. www.catedraldeburgos.es/

Little is known about St. Eutropius and nothing of this is certain. He may have been native Persian, a companion of the Three Marys, when they went ashore in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, or a native Greek, send to the Saintonge area by Pope Clement I, some centuries later. After having baptized Eustelle, the daughter of the local governor, he got martyred. Legends tell, that Eustelle got beheaded and so joined St. Eutropius in death. Gregor of Tour knows about pilgrimages to the tomb of St. Eutropius already within the 6th century. When later the pilgrimage to Santiago got popular and thousands of pilgrims walked the Via Turonensis each year, this place was a major halt on the "chemin". A larger church was needed. Cluny, a strong "sponsor" of the pilgrimage to Santiago, took over the small community of monks, that existed here since centuries, and sent 20 expert monks. They accepted the challenge. They started to built the large ambulatory crypt seen here in 1081. The dimensions of the crypt (35 meters long) make clear, what large numbers of pilgrims were expected. The monks did a great job, as already 15 years later Pope Urban II consecrated this crypt. The basilica-church got completed within the 12th century, but due to the tensions between England and France, Saintes lost its importance for the pilgrims. From 1271 on, the area west of the Charente (incl. St. Eutrope) was English, while the eastern side of Saintes (incl. the Abbaye aux Dames) was French. 1360 Saintes was English, 1404 it was French again. The church had been altered over the centuries. After the French Revolution a large part of the church got demolished, only the southern wall still is Romanesque. Some decades later, the rebuilding and reconstruction process started. Fortunately many of the marvellous carvings were saved and got reused. The gate at the the wooden stairs, leading to the gallery, was not locked. Though the stairs seemed pretty fragile for my weight, I climbed up. It was well worth the effort. Nobody was up there, just me and a dead pigeon. Most of the capitals were visible from here. There are some very elaborate works of art up on the capitals. Here is the psychostasia, the "Weighing of souls", seen on the previous upload, but, now more detailled. Within the 12th/13th century Saint-Eutrope was the most important church in the area, so the style seen here and the icons will have been very influential. The devil here is dotted with pimples, just like the devil seen on the psychostasia capital in Saujon (30kms west).

An early church has been on this outcrop, overlooking the mouth of the Gironde, since the 11th century. Owned by the abbey of Vaux (today "Vaux-sur-Mer", 24kms north) a new church was erected within the 12th century. Later the structure, built on a Latin-cross-floorplan, got enlarged and altered a couple of times. The facade seen here dates back to the early 18th century, when a renovation was undertaken thanks to the financial support of Louis XIV. Despite the many renovation and reconstructions, the Romanesque choir and the crossing, seen here, with the many capitals, were kept intact, as they got integrated into the "new" enlarged church. One of the capitals around the choir depicts a "psychostasia", the Weighing of souls (see previous upload). The capital now seen from the right side. The devil has already one soul behind him, to accompany him on his way back to hell.

An early church has been on this outcrop, overlooking the mouth of the Gironde, since the 11th century. Owned by the abbey of Vaux (today "Vaux-sur-Mer", 24kms north) a new church was erected within the 12th century. Later the structure, built on a Latin-cross-floorplan, got enlarged and altered a couple of times. The facade seen here dates back to the early 18th century, when a renovation was undertaken thanks to the financial support of Louis XIV. Despite the many renovation and reconstructions, the Romanesque choir and the crossing, seen here, with the many capitals, were kept intact, as they got integrated into the "new" enlarged church. One one of the capitals around the choir is this "psychostasia", the Weighing of souls. The style here is much simpler and rougher than at the psychostasia just seen in Saujon (only 18kms northeast). Actually I am sure, that this is a simplified "copy" of the carving in Saujon. In the back of the angel are two saved souls.