d’Anjou. He returned to England to quell a baronial rebellion, leaving the situation in
Normandy unsettled.
Stephen continued to play an indirect role in French politics through a marriage
alliance in 1140 between his son, Eustache, and Louis VII’s sister, Constance. This
alliance fell into abeyance when Geoffroi d’Anjou, who had married Henry I’s daughter
Matilda, brought Normandy under his control in 1144 and won Louis’s support through
the cession of Gisors and the Norman Vexin. When he returned from crusading in 1149,
Louis, alarmed by Geoffroi’s power, revived the alliance with Stephen. Louis and
Eustache, with limited success, campaigned against the Angevins in the summer of 1151
and again in 1152 after the marriage of Geoffroi and Matilda’s son Henry, count of Anjou
and duke of Normandy, to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Stephen’s indirect role in French politics
ended with the failure of these campaigns, Eustache’s death in August 1153, and the
negotiated settlement with Henry, who would succeed Stephen as Henry II.
Heather J.Tanner
[See also: HENRY II; MATILDA]
Davis, Ralph H.C. King Stephen, 1135–54. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.
Warren, Wilfred L. Henry II. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
STRASBOURG
. Because of its location on the Rhine River at the border between French and German
lands, Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) has since Roman times been a crossroads; its very name
means “city of roads.” While the resulting multicultural influences enriched its artistic
heritage, the ravages of numerous wars have damaged many of Strasbourg’s medieval
monuments.
The best-preserved and best-restored medieval edifice is the cathedral of Notre-Dame.
This church illustrates a progressive stylistic shift from Ottonian Romanesque to French
Gothic. Its plan and proportions follow those of a Romanesque church begun on this site
in 1015. Rebuilding in the choir and transept ca. 1200 continues Romanesque features,
such as the apse opening directly to the transept, an elongated crypt, and an octagonal
tower over the crossing. Some of the Romanesque stained-glass windows are reemployed
in the glazing program of the transept.
French Gothic architecture and sculpture began to predominate at Strasbourg ca. 1200.
A new atelier, possibly from Chartres, vaulted the south transept and was responsible for
sculpture of the Last Judgment pillar inside and portal sculpture, including tympana of
the Death and Coronation of the Virgin and pillar statues representing Church,
Synagogue, and Solomon outside the south transept. These sculptures are masterpieces of
the damp-fold, expressive style developed in the transepts of Chartres cathedral.
From ca. 1240–75, the nave was rebuilt in the Rayonnant style of Parisian Gothic
architecture. The nave of seven bays with single aisles has a three-story elevation with
glazed triforium. The stained glass from the mid-13th to mid-14th century features
standing saints in the clerestory, Christ’s genealogy in the triforium, seated emperors in
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