Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: sword

There has been a church here since Saxon times and the base of the tower is Saxon. On the west wall is a blocked off Saxon doorway with a later oval window at the top. The battlemented top is later and probably late 12th century. The nave is Saxon/Norman although the clerestory and side aisles were added later. The chancel was rebuilt in the 19th century. 10th century Saxon/Viking crosses are displayed in the north aisle. This is the "Middleton Cross". A warrior with a pointed helmet, sword, axe, spear

The abbey was founded at the end of the 7th century by monks from the abbey Saint-Hilaire de Poitiers. In the early years only a small convent existed, dependent from the abbey in Poitiers, just 15kms away. Since 830, when the remains of Saint Junien de Poitou (once befriended with Queen Radegunde) were transferred to the convent, it is known as "Abbaye Saint-Junien". At that time a church was built, equipped with a crypt, to receive the relics. In the 11th century, under the protection of the Counts of Poitou, the abbey prospered and restorations were undertaken. In the 12th century, the vaulted nave was completed and the belltower got erected. During the 100 Years´ War, it was necessary to fortify the abbey. Walls and ditches surrounded the complex in the 14th century. After a century of prosperity, when again buildings got added, the Wars of Religion started and during the siege of Poitiers in 1569, the Protestant army of Gaspard II de Coligny pillaged and burned the abbey. When the troops left choir and cloister were gone, while the nave was relatively spared. The restoration of the damage took a century. In 1734 the abbey only had seven monks, in 1790, when the Revolution had taken over there were only four. The abbey was sold in 1792, the church since then serves the parish. Today large parts are privately owned. All along the nave are some very unusual carvings. May the artistic style be not that surprising, the themes and icons are very specific. It is obviously a fight. The long-haired person in the centre attacks a monk (hood), who has grabbed him by the hair, with a sword. With the other hand, he holds the horn of the man on the left. Then there is a fourth person (head) above the scene, who holds something in his hand. Any ideas?

The island of Corsica is one of the 18 regions of France. It was colonized the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Romans. After the Roman empire collapsed, Corsica got invaded by the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. For a short while the island belonged to the Byzantine Empire, then the Franks granted the island to the Pope, in the early 11th century Pisa and Genoa together freed the island from the threat of Arab invasion. The island came under the influence of the Republic of Pisa, later it belonged to Genua for centuries. In 1755 after a long fight for independence from Genoa the independent Corsican Republic was proclaimed, but in 1769, when the island was conquered by France. As the areas near the coast over centuries have been threatened by attacks and raids of pirates many old hamlets and dwellings are wide inland, high in the mountains. So most of the old churches are in the mountains and some of them are hard to find. The ruins of Santa Maria di Riscamone are located at the end of a long and winding dirt road. Archeologists could find the remains of a Roman dwellings up here. A first small church may have been erected on the site of the Roman settlement in the 5th centuryt. It got enlarged and remoldeled over the centuries but the ruins of the former parish church, that still exist date to the 12th century. According to Geneviève Moracchini-Mazel, late director of "Cahiers Corsica" and author of "Corse Romane", the reliefs at the church are 12th century. This one may depicts weapons connected to medieval jurisdication.

A Roman settlement, named "Aeminium" existed here. When the neighbouring town "Conimbriga" got conquered and destroyed by the Suebes in 468, the survivors moved to "Aeminium" - and renamed it. The Visigoths under King Wittiza named the town "Eminio" later. In 714 the town was conquered by Muslim troops, who changed the name again. Coimbra was finally recaptured in 1064 by King Fernando de Castilla y León. Coimbra became the second capital of the Kingdom of Portugal (after Guimarãesin) 1139, a status that moved to Lisbon in 1256. The University of Coimbra, founded by Denis of Portugal (aka "Dom Dinis") in 1290, is one of the oldest in Europe. Coimbra hosts the "Machado de Castro National Museum", named after Machado de Castro, a Portuguese sculptor of the late 18th century. It has a wide, very interesting collection. Here are some examples. This knight depicts Domingos Joanes as proven by his military accoutrements – helmet, chain-mail, sword, footwear with spurs, and his heraldic device emblazoned on the shield which he bears. The sculpture is attributed to "Master Pero", a sculptor who moved to Portugal probably from Aragon and worked here from about 1325 to 1345. www.museumachadocastro.gov.pt/en-GB/2%20museu/ContentList...

Mosteiro de Vilar de Frades (aka Mosteiro de São Salvador) is located east of Barcelos. A convent may have existed here already in the second half of the 6th century. After the Reconquista the monastery was refounded and rebuilt here and in 1059 Benedictine monks lived here. During the reign of Sancho I of Portugal (1185-1211) a Romanesque church was erected of which some parts still exist. Around 1400 the monastery was given up, but revitalized from 1425 by Mestre João Vicente. The monastery got enlarged and existed upto 1834. Today the buildings house a home for disabled people and sheltered workshops. The portal of the Romanesque church is now "integrated" into the church´s facade. The portal was taken down and rebuilt in the early 19th century. So this may not the original state. There are three archivolts with some interesting (and enigmatic) carvings. Above a bishop or abbot (crozier, mitra) is a knight on horseback with sword and shield. Horses were much smaller at that time, than they are today. But for sure - not that short.

On the hill, neighbouring to the former "Abbazia di San Galgano" just seen, is the "Eremo di Montesiepi", erected over San Galgano´s tomb. Legends tell, that the knight Galgano Guidotti (later "San Galgano") had visions. In one vision he arrived accompanied by archangel Michael on top of the Monte Siepi, where he met Jesus and the twelve Apostles. Galgano Guidotti decided to live a pious life as a hermit and planted his sword in the ground, from where nobody could remove it. The handle of this sword can actually still be seen inside the rotunda. It is said, that many people have tried to steal the sword. There is even a mummified hand of a thief that tried to remove the sword. A few years after Galgano Guidotti had died in 1181, he got canonized. A pilgrimage started soon after - and the construction of the rotunda started. Here is the round dome of the rotunda. Pretty mesmerizing.

On the hill, neighbouring to the former "Abbazia di San Galgano" just seen, is the "Eremo di Montesiepi", erected over San Galgano´s tomb. Legends tell, that the knight Galgano Guidotti (later "San Galgano") had visions. In one vision he arrived accompanied by archangel Michael on top of the Monte Siepi, where he met Jesus and the twelve Apostles. Galgano Guidotti decided to live a pious life as a hermit and planted his sword in the ground, from where nobody could remove it. The handle of this sword can actually still be seen inside the rotunda. It is said, that many people have tried to steal the sword. There is even a mummified hand of a thief that tried to remove the sword. A few years after Galgano Guidotti had died in 1181, he got canonized. A pilgrimage started soon after - and the construction of the rotunda started.

"Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul" is not mentioned in any written document before the 13th century. Most historians agree, that the church was built not earlier than in the first half of the 12th century. About a century later, the Romanesque transept and choir got demolished - and replaced by the large Gothic structure, seen here. The tower was erected within the 13th century. The church was added to the list of "monuments historique" already in 1862, but the restoration process started end of the 19th century. The church was added to the list of "monuments historique" already in 1862, but the restoration process started end of the 19th century. Of course a church like this needs perpetual care. The walls of the nave are well conserved. They are decorated between the corbels with very unusual reliefs. These carvings were well protected under the roof and are not weathered. Some of them are fantastic and very mysterious. A bearded man, holding a very long sword. Very "abstract". The artistic styles of the reliefs and the corbels differ clearly.

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 corbels under the tympanum (see previous upload). They flank the wooden door and are easy to be seen by anybody entering the church. These two fierce, devouring lions are a warning. On the left a fully dressed warrior is caught. He is still fighting with a sword and a long club. One of his legs is already in the beasts mouth. One the right an obviously nude lady. Both of her legs are in the beasts mouth - and it looks like she waves farewell to the shocked onlookers.

Fenioux, a small village with a population of less than 200, has this wonderful parish church "Notre-Dame de l’Assomption". Once the church was dedicated to "Saint-Savinien" and "Saint Pierre". It was built in the 12th century, about the same time, when Aulnay (27kms northeast) was under construction. The church was erected over a Carolingian oratory from the 9th century, of which some parts were integrated into the new building - and so still exist around the choir. The large, western facade, with its five archivolts is breathtaking. Though vandalized during the Wars of Religion and the French Revolution, when many sculptures here lost their heads, this is still extraordenary. There are five semicircular archivolts. The second archivolt has the virtues defeating the vices. Here a vice gets killed by a virtue´s sword, The body of the vice is pierced by the blade. The carving style is very expressive for a Romanesque work, even for a carving done in the last quarter of the 12th century. The skinny, long haired vice is depicted in the death-struggle.