north of the cathedral. In the absence of precise documents, the style of the Templars
church, an octagonal central-plan structure, suggests that it was constructed ca. 1140–50.
While the entrance porch dates a little later, its tribune was added only in the 14th
century. Opening to the east of the central octagon is an altar area consisting of a groin-
vaulted straight bay and an apse. The central octagon is covered by a ribbed cupola.
The bishop’s chapel belongs to a tradition of twostoried chapels, reaching at least as
far back as the Caro-lingian chapel at Aix-la-Chapelle. The Laon chapel is built on a
square plan with a projecting eastern apse. The lower story is groin-vaulted, and its four
central supports are square piers with half-columns; the upper story is ribvaulted with a
taller center bay resting on four columns. Despite the mix of vaulting techniques, the
structure is homogeneous and was built in a single campaign shortly after 1150 by the
same builders working in the adjacent cathedral shop.
In the course of urban renewal in the area adjacent to the south side of the cathedral
façade, the remains of the early 13th-century hospital came to light, one of the few
surviving 13th-century hospitals known.
William W.Clark
[See also: GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE]
Bur, Michel, et al., eds. Histoire de Laon et du Laonnois. Toulouse: Privat, 1987.
Clark, William W. “Cistercian Influences on Premonstratensian Church Planning: Saint-Martin at
Laon.” In Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture. Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1984, Vol. 2, ed.
M.Lillich, pp. 161–88.
——. Laon Cathedral, Architecture (2), The Aesthetics of Space, Plan and Structure. London:
Miller, 1986.
——, and Richard King. Laon Cathedral, Architecture (1). London: Miller, 1983.
Fernie, Eric. “La fonction liturgique des piliers cantonnés dans la nef de la cathédrale de Laon.”
Bulletin monumental 145 (1987):257–66.
Lambert, Élie. “L’ancienne abbaye de Saint-Vincent de Laon.” Comptes-rendus de l’Académie des
Inscriptions et BellesLettres (1939): 124–38.
Saint-Denis, Alain. L’Hôtel-Dieu de Laon 1150–1300. Nancy: Presses Universitaires de Nancy,
1983.
LAPIDARY
. A treatise offering descriptions or allegorical interpretations of precious and
semiprecious stones. Medieval French lapidaries fall into two categories: those, deriving
ultimately from pagan tradition, which describe the appearance, formation, and properties
of stones, and those of the Christian tradition, which include allegorical interpretation.
Both traditions are represented by texts in prose and verse. A third type, describing the
powers of stones engraved with figures, usually astrological, is much less common.
French lapidaries of the first type are based on a Latin text traditionally attributed to
Marbode, who became bishop of Rennes in 1096; some posit as their source a treatise
compiled by a King Evax of Arabia. Lapidaries in this tradition list up to sixty stones.
The oldest surviving version dates from the early 12th century, making it one of the
earliest examples of French translation from the Latin. The entry for each stone includes
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 990