Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: creation of Eve

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 stone pulpit screen was erected between 1317 and 1325. The painted biblical scenes were added in the 17th century. Details. The creation of Eve - Noah's ark - Moses crossing the Red Sea.

East Meon was part of a Royal Manor belonging first to King Alfred the Great who left it in his will to his youngest son Æthelweard (c.880-922). The Domesday Book of 1086 shows that the Manor then belonged to William the Conqueror. There is uncertainty as to when building work on the church commenced, one source gives a date between 1130 and 1140,while the parish history gives 1080. The church was probably built on a site where there was a pre-existing Anglo-Saxon structure. The original church was in the shape of a cross, 110 feet long and 62 feet wide, and is easily identified by the Romanesque arches. The tower is of c. 1150, although the lead-covered broach spire is probably 1230, The decoration – scallops and zigzag – is similar to that found on Winchester Cathedral. I had already seen some baptismal fonts in England that resembled the "Tournai Fonts". This one, dated 1130/40 is a Tournai font. These fonts were made from blue black limestone during the 12th and early 13th centuries in and around the Belgian town of Tournai by local masons. The friezes on this font depict the creation of Adam and Eve, the temptation, the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden and Adam being shown how to dig and various animals, birds and dragons on the south and west faces. The creation of Eve

Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (now Lyon) was an important Roman city in Gaul. It was the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. The Christianization took place very early. In 177, the Christian community sent a letter naming 48 of their number who had been martyred. In 843 it was ceded to Lorraine and then passed to the Kingdom of Burgundy, whose dominion was entrusted to the Archbishop of Lyon by Frederick Barbarossa in 1157. In 1312 Philip the Fair incorporated Lyon into the kingdom of France. Lyon was the scene of an urban revolt in 1436 when Charles VII increased taxation. The uprising, mainly of small merchants, lasted a total of two months. During the reign of Louis XI. Four fairs were set up, attracting merchants from all over Europe, especially Italy. Lyon became an important center for the spice trade and, more importantly, the silk trade after François I granted the weaving rights, which until then had been an Italian monopoly. Florentine immigrants also made Lyon a financial center for banking and insurance. - It is often said that the most beautiful cities are located on rivers. Lyon is situated on two rivers, the Rhone and the Saone, which meet in the south of the city. - The Lyon Cathedral was begun in 1180 on the ruins of a 6th-century church and completed in 1476. In 1245, the church hosted the First Council of Lyon, where the Pope declared Emperor Frederick II deposed. In 1274, the Second Council of Lyon was held in the cathedral, mainly to discuss the union of the Catholic Church with the Greek Orthodox. On August 17, 1316, John XXII was elected pope in the cathedral. He was the second of the Avignon popes. In 1562 the church was devastated by Calvinist Huguenots. In 1600 the cathedral was the scene of the marriage between King Henry IV and Mary de Medici. The facade from the 14th and 15th centuries is influenced by the flamboyant Gothic style. Episodes from the Old and New Testaments are told in 300 picture panels. The creation of Eve Genesis 2:18-22 "The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (....) "But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib" (....)

Auxerre was a Gallo-Roman centre, then called Autissiodorum. Here the Via Agrippa crossed the Yonne river. It became the seat of a bishop already in the 3rd century. In the 5th century, it received a cathedral. Wine cultivations starting from the twelfth century made Auxerre a flourishing town. Auxerre suffered during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. In 1567 it was captured by the Huguenots, and many of the Catholic edifices were damaged. The Cathédrale Saint-Étienne is actually the 5th on the spot. The erection started in 1215 around the same time when the building of the cathedrals in Reims and Amiens started. The church was erected over a still existing crypt from the previous building (~ 1030). The choir was completed in 1235. The cathedral is known for the stained glass of the choir windows, created ~ 1250. At the same time, the construction of the facade began. Around 1300, construction started on the southern arm of the transept. The sculptured portal is dated to around 1320. The nave was built from around 1320–1350, but the Hundred Years' War slowed the work down and delayed the completion of the south aisle until 1378. The north transept and the towers had not begun at the beginning of the 15th century. In 1478, the nave was vaulted and in 1500 work on the north tower began and was completed after 43 years. The south tower was never completed. A detail from the western facade. The creation of Eve.

A Benedictian piory existed here since the 11th century. A large church for the convent was erected from the 12th century on. Of this church only the western facade survived. Though weathered and vandalized the facade still has many elements of the Romanesque church. When the church got rebuilt, after the naves had collapsed, in the 15th century large buttresses were needed, to stabilize the structure. During the French Revolution served as a Temple of Reason and was later used as a saltpeter factory, what means explosive gunpowder (sulfur + charcoal + saltpeter was produced here. Benet is a small town, west of Niort, in the Vendée, the deprtament where in 1793 the "War in the Vendée", an uprise against the young republic, was fought. The counterrevolutionary rebellion ended, when tens of thousands of civilians were massacred by the Republican army. A closer look onto Sainte-Eulalie´s facade. The elaborate archivolt around the central window makes clear, why this is known as a "bible de pierre", a bible from stone. Many biblical scenes can be found here. The carving style is delicate and reminds on works in the Charente (eg Fenioux). A detail of the archivolt. The creation of Eve. Genesis 2:21-22 "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." Again (see previous uploud) God is well dressed, beardless and somehow feminin.