Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-02-19
Interesting Study of Belfries and
Gothic Art in Medialyal Times =
in Europe.
Immense Towers and Steeples Which
We're Built Six Hundred
Years Ago.
Several Beautiful Specimens of These
Old City Belfries Still to be
Seen.

| AT the present m9nt America Is the
greatest splre and tower building country
Of the wOrld-the country where architec-
ure shows the strongest tendency to scale
| the heavens and throw the Tower of BabIe
into the shade. At present however, there
remain still few medieval lofty structures
which our American architects will find
bard to beat. The Campanile of Florence,
for Instance, which was begun in the four
! teenth century from the plans of Glotto, is
a very noble belfry. But the true origin
ators OF all towers and STARRY pointing
pyramids are the French architects of
/ the end of the twelfth century, who pre-
fected some wonderful square towers sur
mounted by octagonal spires, while with
the thirteenth century the spires attain
height and a richness of decoration that
have not been surpassed. Among the
most remarkable are those of the churches
of st. Pierre at Caen, Of st. Michael at
Bordeaux, which measures 10 metres in
! height, and of the Cathedral of Fribourg
In the Grand Duchy of Baden. The north
tower of the Cathedral of Antwerp is also
remarkable for its great height of 1913
metres, and for the boldness Of its con-
struction. The Cathedral of Antwerp was
begun in 1406 by a French master mason,
Pierre Aruel, but the north tower was not
finished until 1913. decomposition is by
no means pure, and its details are Dor
rowed from all the epochs of so-caied
Gothic architecture.
Other hne towers may be found in the
civil architecture of the middle ages, par
. tlcularly IN the town halls and municipal
| buildings with their belfries.
| 1t is curious to note that the movement
! which produced the independence of the
communes Of Western Europe began in
! the eleventh century, but did not COM
pletely triumph until later. Up to the
fourteenth century the communes had to
| struggle against the rights which they
| sought to exercise. And these suzerains.
as soon as they could take back the rights
which they had granted to the detriment
of their despotic feudal authority, exacted,
FIRST of all, the demolition of the town hail
and the belfry which were the symbols of
the independence of the commune This
fact explains why there are but few re.
mains of town halls anterior to the four
tenth century. The finest specimens of
medialval town halls are in Italy and Bel
GUM, such as, for instance, the town hail
and belfry of Ypres in Belgium begun in
1902 and finished in 1904 and the town
hall and beIfry Of Bruges, begun at the
| at the end Of the fourteenth. The belfry
| Of Bruges measures los metres In height
What was the use of these 5elfries?
The answer is simple. In the early days
of communal acknowledgements the signal
for the meetings of the citizens was given
| by ringing the bells which then existed
only in the towers of the churches. and,
therefore, could not be rung without the
authorization of the clergy. Hence fire.
quent conflicts, inasmuch as the regular
clergy were not in favor of the separatist
! movement of the communes. In order to
avoide trouble and discussion the citizens
hung their bells over the gates of the town,
and finally toward the end of the twelfth
| century they began to build beIfries. The
tower containing the town bells then be-
came the visible expression of communal
liberty. This belfry generally formed part
of the town hall, but it was often isolated
from the main building, in which case it
consisted In large square tower of sever
al stories. one of which contained the big
bells, while the top story was reserved for
the small bells of the clock chimes. On
the summit of the tower was the delling
OF the Waterman, who gave the signal
whenever he saw fire break out, and
warned the citizens of all dangers and
events that mis- ht interest them. The bells
were rung at sunrise and the curfew;
the chimes marked the hours ana their
divisions, while on high days and holidays
he big bell and the chimes joined base
and treble and made a joyous noise The
belfry tower generally contained prison,
council chamber for the aldermen,
imminent room, and an armory. In the
north of Europe the big bell of the befry
is still rung In case of fire.
In France several very interesting speci-
mems of these old city belfries remain. The
helfry of Calais, built during the 14Uh and
18th centuries is crowned with an octagon
spire The belfry Of Bethuue, which dates
from the 14th century, is a square tower,
hanked at three corners by a small hexa-
gonal and overhanging turrets, while the
tour h corner is hanked by turret of the
same shape, containing a spiral staircase,
| which communicates with the different
! stories and leans to battlemental terrace
or platform. Above this platform rises
an elegant pyramid crowned by the watch.
mau's tower. The towers of Auxerre,
have preserved their ancient bafries. The
belfries of Eyreux and Avignon date from
the 18th century At Bord aaux we find an
example of the old system of hanging the
bells over the gates of the town.
| All who have travelled in Europe and
visited the great cathedrals of England,
France and Germany, have contemplated
with wonderment the prodigious wealth of
sculptured ornament that adorns the ia
caaes or towers and roofs Statuary and
decorative d4.igns are to be found every-
where, from the foundations to the sum
NIT of the spire, and in spite of infinite
variety the inexhaustab.e abundance of the
details, these stupendous monuments re-
tain unity and harmon. of aspect that
cannot be surpassed. NJ. Corrover has
written a v-ry interesting chapter on
medieval sculpture applied to architect
ure, the only kind of sculpture which then
existed, for IN the middle ages all arts
were substr vient to architecture. The
architect traced the plans on the ground
and directed the building operations; he
also directed the stone hewers, the masons.
and the painters. and the makers of stain
! ed glass windows, and the illuminators.
In the middle ages statuary and orna-
mental sculpture were inseparab,e, because
! they we're executed by the sane artists,
subject to the same idea, namely, the
| study of nat Ire. In OBJ ence to the la Of
| incessant Transformation they abandoned
| the hieratic forms imposed by religious
traditions by giving to these same tradi-
| tions new expression. Roman iuspira-
| ton, even imitation of Roman statuary, is
certain in the first half of the thirteenth
century. The Cathedral of r ,ims. that
masterpiece of Catholic architecture,
shows us several examples of this inspira-
| fia, II, tho ctafups which odarp fbo