Medieval France. An Encyclopedia

(Darren Dugan) #1

Patault, Anne-Marie. Hommes et femmes de corps en Champagne méridionale a la fin du moyen
âge. Annales de l’Est 58 (1978).
Portegoie, Paulette, ed. L’ancien coutumier de Champagne (XIIIe siècle). Poitiers: Oudin, 1956.


CHAMPEAUX


. The legendary founding of the church at Champeaux (Seine-et-Marne) was as a
Benedictine monastery in the 7th century, although nothing remains to confirm the story.
By 1065, the monks had been replaced by canons, and by 1124 at the latest Saint-Martin
at Champeaux belonged to the bishop of Paris. This association explains why the church
has close architectural ties to Notre-Dame at each of its three phases of construction.
Parisian associations are least visible in the transept, which dates to ca. 1160, although
the capitals do relate to examples from Paris. The three-story nave at Champeaux, based
directly on the nave of Notre-Dame, was probably begun ca. 1180. The alternating single
and double columns reflect the six-part vaults; the original second story had a tracery
oculus—the round outer frame is still visible—that must have resembled the design of the
third story of the cathedral elevation. Exterior flying buttresses appear in every other bay
of the nave at Champeaux, making them among the earliest to be based on the Paris nave
design. The deep chevet of Champeaux was built in the early 13th century and again
reveals close ties to Paris, although less obviously to Notre-Dame. Saint-Martin at
Champeaux is an important example of the impact of Parisian cathedral design on
properties outside the city.
William W.Clark
[See also: PARIS]
Bonno, A. “La collégiale royale de Saint-Martin de Champeaux.” Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire
et d’Archéologie de Provins 3 (1898–99):55–150.
Gusman, P. “L’église collégiale de Champeaux.” Gazette des beaux-arts ser. 3, 26 (1901):154–61.
Jacquet, M. The Nave Capitals of the Collegial of Saint-Martin of Champeaux. Diss. Courtauld
Institute, 1978.
Messelet, Jean. “Le collégiale Saint-Martin de Champeaux.” Bulletin monumental 84 (1925):253–
82.


CHANCELLOR


. The most important of the king’s household officers, the chancellor was responsible for
the preparation, publication, and preservation of royal documents. The title, cancellarius,
derived from scribes who sat behind a screen (cancelli) in Roman lawcourts, but the
office in its medieval form originated with Charlemagne. Then, most literate men were
clerics, and the king’s chapel provided the personnel. Ecclesiastics administered the
office until the 14th century. Second only to the constable in prestige, the chancellor


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