Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: harpist

Hexham is a town, that developed around a monastery. Etheldreda, Queen of Northumbria, made a grant of lands to St Wilfrid, Bishop of York, in 674. The abbey was constructed almost entirely of material salvaged from nearby Roman ruins. In the year 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson the Dane, one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army, ravaged the whole area. Hexham Church was plundered and burnt to the ground. About 1050, Eilaf, treasurer of Durham, was instructed to rebuild Hexham Church, which then lay in utter ruin. His son Eilaf II completed the work. In Norman times, the Benedictine abbey was replaced by an Augustinian priory. The current church largely dates from 1170–1250, built in the Early English style of architecture. It is possible that Wilfrid had this solid block of sandstone fashioned into a seat when he first founded the monastery in 674. It is likely Wilfrid took inspiration from stools he encountered on his journeys through France and Rome. The carvings are old, but the top row, depicting saints, seems younger, while the sculptures below are very secular. Bottom row left side: a bagpiper, a fox preaching to birds, a harpist, a person with three faces. Trintity? Triglav, the god the Salvs worshipped?

Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Cornadore erected on the Mont-Cornadore over the tomb of Saint Nectaire, a scholar of missionary Saint Austremonius of Clermont, the first bishop of the Auvergne. Not much is known of the very early days here. 800 years after the death of Saint Nectaire, monks from the abbey La Chaise-Dieu settled and founding a priory here , after an estate was ceded to the abbey by William VII of Auvergne, called "The Young" (his uncle was "William the Old"). This must have taken place before 1169. Two Papal bulls deal with the properties of La Chaise-Dieu, the second one from 1178 lists Saint-Nectaire. It is not known, who built this church, nor who funded the construction. Maybe William VII or the abbey La Chaise-Dieu or mysterious Ranulfo, whose name can be seen on one of the capitals? The historians only agree, that this church was erected within the second half of the 12th century in a short period of time. Badly damaged during the French Revolution, the church got restaurated during the 19th century. This work is still disputed for not being "faithful" to the original, as some arcades (mainly outside) were added at that time. Most of capitals in the nave are not bible-related, like the pillarheads on the choir. A goat-rider meeting an animal playing the harp. I have seen both "icons" already before but never together on one capital. Mostly the harpist is a donkey, but here it is not. Donkeys have a different head (with long ears), no wooly hair - and different hoofs. This even-toed animal could well be a giant sheep.

On the ruins of a older basilica begann, just next to the Baptistère Saint-Jean the construction of large Cathédrale Saint-Pierre in 1162. The building, the new the seat of the Archbishop of Poitiers, was greatly funded by Henry II of England (aka "Henri II Plantagenêt") and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The construction started as usual in the east and was completed with the western facade end of the 13th century. The cathedral is best known for the wonderful stained glass windows. The three windows around the choir date back to the 12th century and may be the oldest in France. But of course, there are lots of carvings as well. Here is a monkey, playing the harp. That is what I thought, when I took the photo, but meanwhile i know, that the musician is a dog.

Saint-Aulais-la-Chapelle, a village with a population of not even 300, hosts three Romanesque churches! One of these is Saint-Jaques in the tiny Hamlet of Conzac. Erected within the 12th century as a Cluniac priory church when pilgrims took a break here on their way to Santiago de Compostella. They still had about 1000 kms to walk from here. The priory and the church got severely damaged during the Wars of Religions. The church, once built on the blueprint of a Latin Cross, lost one arm of the transept, the facade and a large part of the nave. The nave got rebuilt, but now is shorter, that it was once. The Romanesque apse survived the times, so the corbels are still "in situ". Here is an atlas and a harp-player, who (open mouth!) may be as well a vocalist.

The parish church in Brux dates back to the 12th century. It has a stone slab roof and some remarkable corbels. One of them is this little harpist.

Robert of Arbrissel (aka "Robert d'Arbrissel") was a restless itinerant preacher and is still well remembered as the founder of the famous Abbey of Fontevrault. In 1106 he founded a priory here, dependend from the Abbey of Fontevrault. Nuns and patres lived together in one community, just like in Fontevrault. The priory must have had a nice cloister, as Lencloître, the name of the village, derives from the word cloître". Like most monasteries around, the priory got looted and burnt down during the Wars of Religions, but monastic life continued upto the French Revolution, when the last nuns left - and the remaining buildings were sold as national property. The church of the priory survived the times and since 1805 serves as a parish church. The interior has some great carvings. One of them depicts an old harpist.

Maillezais, a small town with a population of less than 1000, is known for it´s old monastery, founded in the very swampy "Marais Poitevin" in 989. It developed well, when the land around got reclaimed. Later even was a bishop´s see was here. Only some ruins are left of the former Gothic cathedral, as it was burned down by Huguenots during the Wars of Religion and sold as a quarry to local entrepreneurs after the French Revolution. Saint Nicolas, the parish church had a better fate, though vandalized and severely damaged during the Wars of Religion as well, it did not get ruined like the cathedral. The western facade is built in the "style saintonge" with the flanking blind arches. Capitals and corbels decorate the walls of the nave and the apse. Many corbels are renovated, sometimes even missing parts have been replaced. Here is a duo, that must have sucessfully toured around western France in the 12th century, as the musician playing the vielle and his collegue, the harpist, can be found under the roofs of many churches.

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. The ape, just seen n the previous upload, is a very gifted, but (judging from his facial expression) not really happy harpist.