Fortress-churches of Languedoc
Subtitle: architecture, religion, and conflict in the High Middle Ages
By: Sheila Bonde.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 270
Subjects: Fortress-churches -- France -- Languedoc; Church architecture -- France -- Languedoc; Heresies, Christian -- France -- Languedoc -- History -- Middle Ages, 600-1500; Architecture, Gothic -- France -- Languedoc; Church history -- Middle Ages, 600-1500; Albigenses
Description: Fortress-Churches of Languedoc traces the changing relationship between military and religious realms as expressed in the architecture of medieval Europe. The scholarship of medieval architecture has traditionally imposed a division between military and ecclesiastical structures. Often, however, medieval churches were provided with fortified enclosures, crenellations, iron-barred doors, and other elements of defense.

In her study of fortress-churches, Sheila Bonde focuses on three twelfth-century monuments located in southern France - Maguelone, Agde, and Saint-Pons-de-Thomiere, which are among the earliest examples of the type. She provides new surveyed plans of these structures, as well as a reexamination of their documentation, which is here presented both in the original Latin and in new English translations.

Fortress-Churches of Languedoc also explores the larger context of fortification and authority in twelfth-century Languedoc and examines the dynamics of architectural exchange and innovation in the Mediterranean at a moment of critical historical importance.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-257) and index.