Plantagenêts. During the Hundred Years’ War, Bordeaux was the capital of Guyenne and
served as an important staging center for English troops. Edward the Black Prince set up
his court and headquarters in the city. Only in 1453, with the Treaty of Bordeaux that
marked the end of the Hundred Years’ War, did the city again come under French
domination. Today the port city of Bordeaux is rich in 18th-century architecture.
Nevertheless, the spires of its medieval bell towers and churches recall the city’s first
golden age, in the 14th century, as well as its earlier importance on the pilgrimage route
to Compostela.
Cathédrale Saint-André. Despite the Gothic superstructure (ensemble primarily 13th-
c., with later revaulting), the broad single nave of seven bays is more closely related to
regional Romanesque, parts of which remain, and contrasts with the northern Gothic
format of the lofty choir and transept (blind triforium, large windows, classic ambulatory
with five radiating chapels). The west wall retains important 11th-century architectural
elements; the major sculptured portals are the two transept portals (14th-c.) and the
celebrated mid-13th-century “Royal Portal.” Four statues of the same era adorn the
beautifully proportioned chevet. Within the cathedral are 14th-century alabaster statues of
“Notre-Dame de la Nef’ and St. Martial. Fragments from the 14th-century cloister
(destroyed 1865), as well as fifty-five 12th-century capitals from the cathedral complex,
are in the Musée d’Aquitaine. The freestanding bell tower, to the southeast of the
cathedral, is attributed to Archbishop Pey (Pierre) Berland (begun ca. 1440; present spire
is 19th-c.).
Saint-Seurin. All that survives of the Romanesque collegiate church are the crypt
(subsequent modifications), vestiges of 1 1th-century walls, and the western tower porch
(important early capitals) partially hidden behind the 19th-century neo-Romanesque
façade. The present structure is essentially Gothic: rectangular choir of two bays covered
with rib vaults (late 12th-c.); nave of five bays (first bay contemporary with the choir;
subsequent bays 13th- and 14th-c.); sculptured south portal (13th-c.) within a
Renaissance porch. The original proportions and simplicity have been altered by the
infilling of the nave, reworking of supports, and addition of chapels. Notable are the
episcopal throne, the wooden stalls of the canons (both 15th-c.), a beautiful alabaster
Virgin and Child (14th-c.), and two alabaster retables.
Sainte-Croix. The former Benedictine abbey church has undergone modifications. The
basic format was determined by the 11th-century construction (wide nave and side aisles,
extended transept, timber roof). Twelfth-century campaigns include the transformation of
the chevet and transept (principal apse, two transept apsidioles), considerable
modification of nave supports and crossing (important series of capitals, the finest of
Languedocian influence), and the richly sculptured façade with its impressive south
tower. The whole was vaulted in the late 12th and 13th centuries (Gothic capitals), the
north transept reconstructed, and the side-aisle windows remade; subsequent changes
include the high windows of the nave and Burguet’s reworking of the apse.
The most dramatic modification is Abadie’s 19th-century “restoration” of the west
façade. Most of the present sculpture is his, as is the north tower. Intact, for the most part,
is the projecting central block, suggestive of a triumphal arch, framed by bundles of
decorated columns. Both architectural format and decoration are inspired by the
Saintonge. A number of the voussoirs are original, including some of the Elders of the
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