On June 11, 1144, King Louis VII of France and Queen Eleanor led dozens of bishops and abbots in procession to the newly renovated church of the ancient Abbey of Saint-Denis. Their numbers were dwarfed by hundreds of clergymen and monks—and a much vaster congregation. After three years of construction, the church was ready for consecration.
Located near Paris, the original monastery was among the oldest and most important in France. St. Denis was an early Christian martyr who had been killed in the vicinity and was a patron saint of France. Strong links existed between the monastery and the French royal family. Both the saint and France’s kings were buried in the abbey.
But the monarchy’s devotion to Catholicism was just one of the things that the church of Saint-Denis symbolized. The rebuilding of the abbey coincided with an intensification of religious practice throughout France and with the growing strength of the royal government over quasi-independent and sometimes lawlessly violent nobles. The rebuilding of a magnificent new church demonstrated the monks’ spiritual commitment while signaling the monarchy’s wealth and power.
Redesigning an Era
At Saint-Denis, Suger carefully combined architectural elements from the styles of different French regions to create a dramatically new one—Gothic. The use of pointed arches, typical of Burgundy’s architecture, allowed for higher ceilings. Norman architecture (Romanesque) generally used rib vaulting: crisscrossing arches that support the weight of a ceiling, concentrating it and transferring pressure to a smaller number of stress points. The ribs also reduce the total weight of a ceiling, allowing most of it to be made of thin stone. With fewer and smaller columns needed for support, larger windows were able to be used.
By combining ribbed vaulting and pointed arches, Suger revolutionized the interior structure of buildings, creating an aesthetic that appeared to soar higher while letting in more light. Opening up the interior space allowed for a brighter and more colorful atmosphere.
Light and color were central to Suger’s conception. They also stand at the center of an important architectural debate: Was Gothic an evolution of Romanesque or Romanesque’s antithesis? In fact, it was a bit of both. The shapes used by Gothic architecture did indeed take those of Romanesque and Burgundy architecture as their foundation. But the way they combined elements of regional Romanesque traditions with the vibrant use of color seen in the architecture of the Mediterranean region created an “anti-Romanesque” aesthetic. (Despite its name, Romanesque architecture was only partially influenced by Roman tradition.)
A Serendipitous Scholar
Born into a family of humble status, Suger became an oblate of the Abbey of Saint-Denis at the age of 10. Oblates were preteens entrusted to the care of Benedictine monasteries. Once in their teens, they would be given the opportunity to choose between taking monastic vows or returning to ordinary life. Until then, they were in preliminary preparation to become monks.
For financially struggling parents, it was an appealing choice. As oblates, their children would be assured all the essentials of life: greater security than many had in an agrarian economy and educational opportunities otherwise beyond their reach.
Monastery and cathedral schools were Europe’s centers of learning. Monks and canons (cathedral clergy) dominated advanced scholarship. They hand-copied books in an age before the printing press. They ran and taught in the most important schools, laying the foundation for the first universities. Kings and nobles as well as popes and bishops also frequently chose monks and canons as legal, political, and religious advisers and officials.
The Abbot, the Architect, and the Historian
The sheer breadth of Suger’s accomplishments testifies to a rare individual. He was the greatest historian of his generation. As a statesman, he improved the administration of justice, advanced agriculture and commerce, rallied his country against invasion, and brought rebellious and tumultuous nobles under control. As abbot, he reinvigorated the life of his monks. His allies and admirers included St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who was one of the greatest monks, thinkers, and preachers in Catholic history. During the First Lateran Council (a meeting of senior Catholic clergy from throughout the world), Suger became a confidante of Pope Callistus II.
As an architect, Suger had his most lasting influence. The Abbey of Saint-Denis soon set the standard that inspired most of the great cathedrals and churches of medieval France and England. Suger’s written account of its construction became a leading influence on medieval architectural theory. The Notre Dame Cathedral brought to perfection what the Abbey of Saint-Denis had brilliantly begun.
Damaged by the French Revolution, the abbey was later restored during the 19th-century Gothic Revival. By now, it has survived for almost nine centuries—little altered from Suger’s own day. In 1966, it joined the ranks of the cathedrals it so strongly influenced when Pope Paul VI created the new Diocese of St. Denis, a fitting tribute to one of history’s most important architectural masterpieces.
