But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? – 1 Kings 8:27
The world watched with horror and sadness as Notre Dame, the iconic and beloved cathedral of Paris, suffered immense damage in a catastrophic fire on April 15, 2019. As a Catholic, a medieval historian, and a Francophile, I was heartbroken to watch this historic landmark engulfed in flames. Notre Dame represents both a sacred space and the life’s work of the hundreds of craftspeople who worked on it, drawing over 12 million visitors annually.
It’s difficult to pick just one aspect of what makes Notre Dame so majestic for me. Ever since I began studying the French language in junior high, which included many lessons on Francophone culture, I loved learning more about Notre Dame. When I turned 18, I was fortunate enough to visit my relatives in Paris, and first on my must-see list was a visit to the cathedral. As I sought to take it all in: the sculptures, gargoyles, relics, flying buttresses, and stained glass windows, I was overcome with a sense of awe. My neck craned to glimpse every detail of the medieval cathedral as my aunt and I slowly made our way through the interior. It was this first-hand encounter with Notre Dame that helped propel me to study the Middle Ages both in college and in graduate school.
When I tell people that I am a medieval historian, the most common response is, “Oh, you mean the Dark Ages?” My initial retort is to list some of the achievements of the Middle Ages that make the term “Dark Ages” a misnomer. But, if I’ve managed to pique their interest, I like to explain that the people of the Middle Ages were utterly fascinated with light and color. I often point examples of Gothic architecture, such as the stained glass windows of Notre Dame, as one of the crowning architectural achievements of the Middle Ages. The distinct pattern of this rose window, which was composed of thousands of pieces of delicately placed colored glass, became a defining aspect of later Gothic architecture. Although approximately eighty cathedrals and five hundred large churches were built in France concurrently with Notre Dame, she is singular among them in her sublime beauty.
Under the direction of Bishop Maurice de Sully, the construction of Notre Dame first began in 1163. It took over a thousand manual laborers nearly two centuries to complete the cathedral. It was during the thirteenth century that the famous flying buttresses were installed. These external braces, which not only supported the walls, but allowed them to higher and thinner, which enabled the installation of the stained-glass windows. Under the direction of King Louis IX, (who was later canonized as St. Louis) in 1260 the three rose windows were installed. This brought more light into the church, and drew worshiper’s eyes upward. It was also during this time that the original spire was erected (which, after enduring centuries of wind damage, was removed in the late eighteenth century). It was like a finger pointing toward heaven.
Not only is Notre Dame a testament of the many artistic and architectural developments of the period, the cathedral also bore witness to many other intellectual feats of the Middle Ages. The emergence of polyphonic (multipart) music stems from a group of composers who worked at the Notre Dame cathedral from approximately 1160 to 1250. The university at Paris, developed throughout the twelfth century, emerged from the famous cathedral school at Notre Dame. This, along with the universities at Oxford and Bologna, came to form the basis for what is now our modern university system.
Central to Notre Dame’s historical significance, since its earliest days, it has served as a place for prayer among the masses. Because of its many statues and stained glass windows depicting biblical figures, Notre Dame, like many medieval cathedrals, was known as a liber pauperam (“poor people’s book”). These images were meant to serve as religious instruction for those could not read. The Cathedral is also a celebration of the importance of the Virgin Mary to Catholic Christians. Not only is the Cathedral named after her, but there are 37 representations of her throughout the cathedral. Most notable is “The Portal of the Virgin,” where Mary is flanked by angels and saints. This particular Marian portal is often was referred to as super rosam rosida (“the rose of roses”), a name that emerged from twelfth-century poet Adam de Saint-Victor.
Since the Middle Ages, throngs of Catholic Christians have made pilgrimages to Notre Dame, praying to its patron saint, Mary, for divine intercession and protection. Most movingly on Monday, crowds in Paris began to sing “Ave Maria,” seemingly to honor the church and, for some, perhaps to seek Mary’s intercession to save her church.
The fire thankfully was extinguished. The damage is still being assessed, and proposals for its future are being considered. So, this is a good moment to recall moments in Notre Dame’s history when the building became the focal point of contentious debate about the use of a sacred space. During the French Wars of Religion (a period of unrest between Roman Catholics and Huguenots, who were Reformed/Calvinist Protestants, between 1562 and 1598), the Hugenots destroyed some of the Cathedral’s statues, declaring them idolatrous. Another violent set of assaults on Notre Dame took place during the French Revolution, when the cathedral represented, to many, the antithesis of the Enlightenment. It was looted and renamed the “Temple to the Goddess Reason.” Many of the statues of Mary were removed at this time and replaced by statues to the Goddess of Liberty. Thought to be statues of French kings, 28 statues of biblical kings were beheaded: their heads were only discovered in a 1977 excavation. On April 18, 1802, as part of an agreement between the Catholic Church and Napoleon Bonaparte, it was rededicated as a Catholic church. Napoleon later used it for his coronation as emperor in 1804.
Despite being given to the Catholic Church by Napoleon, Notre Dame remained half-ruined. Attempts at restoration remained stagnant until, in 1833, Victor Hugo used the cathedral as the backdrop for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He did this to inspire in people an affection for the decrepit, neglected edifice and, through a romantic idea of it, motivate the populace to refurbish what Hugo called “a vast symphony in stone.” Moved by Hugo’s thousand-page love letter to Notre Dame, a clamor arose to restore the cathedral to its former glory. The Commission on Historical Monuments was formed and in 1844, King Louis Philippe ordered the church to be restored, which included the re-glazing of the stained glass windows, the addition of a new organ, as well as the addition of the now-famous gargoyles. It was also during this restoration that the spire that fell on Monday was built.
In World War II, the stained glass windows of Notre Dame only sustained minor damage, mainly from stray bullets during the liberation of Paris in August 1944. As part of the celebration of Paris’s liberation, a special mass was held in Notre Dame, which was attended by Charles de Gaulle. In 1963, marking the 800th anniversary of the Cathedral, Notre Dame underwent a series of restorations which helped remove some of the accumulated dirt and grime, and ultimately emerging all the more beautiful.
Now, the cathedral lies gutted by natural disaster. It is, of course, not unique in this; natural disasters have ravaged some of the greatest sacred architectural feats. In 558, an earthquake caused the collapse of the dome of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), the cathedral in the Byzantine Empire’s capital city of Constantinople, (subsequently a mosque, and now a museum in modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Subsequently, Hagia Sophia survived a fire in 859 and as well as a second earthquake in 869. The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed 87 parish churches and St. Paul’s Cathedral, and an earthquake in 1997 destroyed one of the most famous frescoes of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake destroyed several Buddhist temples in Nepal, including two sites that dated from the 5th century. And on the same day as the fire at Notre Dame, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, also caught fire, though thankfully it only suffered minor damage. But it has been rebuilt multiple times, particularly following the damage wrought by massive earthquakes in 746 and 1033.
And this is not to mention the destruction of sacred sites regularly perpetrated by violence and war, from the shockingly regular attacks on African-American churches, mosques and synagogues in the US, to the wholesale destruction of ancient holy sites in Iraq and Syria by ISIS during the civil war.
But just because the destruction of sacred places is common does not make them less shocking. And just because they will be rebuilt does not make them less worthy of grief.
The tearful reactions around the world on that day in April point to how beloved Notre Dame is, as both a sacred site and a historical landmark. It’s difficult to put into words how much Notre Dame means to so many groups of people: Catholic Christians who flock to it as part of a sacred pilgrimage, scholars who appreciate its unparalleled place in history, tourists who are awestruck by its magnificence. Fourteenth-century French philosopher and theologian, Jean de Jandun, in his 1323 Tractus de laudibus Parisius (Treatise on the Praises of Paris), offers one of the best arguments for Notre Dame’s distinctive beauty and why so many of us grieved the destruction wrought by the fire,
“In fact, I believe that this church offers the carefully discerning such cause for admiration that its inspection can scarcely sate the soul… that most glorious church of the most glorious Virgin Mary, mother of God, deservedly shines out, like the sun among stars.”
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Lakini je, kweli Mungu ataishi duniani? Tazama, mbingu, na mbingu za mbingu, haziwezi kukushikilia; hata nyumba hii niliyoijenga! "Kutoka 1 Wafalme 8:27 ""Ulimwengu ulitazama kwa hofu na huzuni wakati Notre Dame, kanisa kuu la Paris, lilipopata uharibifu mkubwa katika moto mkubwa Aprili 15, 2019." Nikiwa Mkatoliki, mwanahistoria wa enzi za kati, na mfuasi wa lugha ya Kifaransa, nilivunjika moyo nilipoona mnara huo wa kihistoria ukiwaka moto. Notre Dame ni jengo takatifu na kazi ya maisha ya mamia ya mafundi ambao walifanya kazi juu yake, na huvutia zaidi ya wageni milioni 12 kila mwaka. Ni vigumu kuchagua kipengele kimoja tu cha kile kinachofanya Notre Dame iwe ya fahari sana kwangu. Tangu nilipokuwa na umri wa miaka kumi na mbili, nilianza kujifunza lugha ya Kifaransa na kujifunza lugha ya Kifaransa, na nilianza kujifunza lugha ya Kifaransa na Notre Dame. Nilipokuwa na umri wa miaka 18, nilipata nafasi ya kutembelea watu wa ukoo wangu huko Paris, na jambo la kwanza nililopaswa kufanya lilikuwa kutembelea kanisa kuu. Nilipokuwa nikijaribu kuona sanamu hizo zote: sanamu, minara ya maji, vitu vya kale, nguzo za ndege, na madirisha ya kioo, nilishangazwa sana. Shingo yangu ilinyooka ili kuona kila jambo la kanisa hilo kuu la enzi za kati huku mimi na shangazi yangu tukitembea polepole ndani yake. "Kutembelea Notre Dame kwa mara ya kwanza kulinisaidia kujifunza ""Enzi za Kati"" katika chuo kikuu na shule ya kuhitimu." "Wakati mimi kuwaambia watu kwamba mimi ni mwanahistoria wa enzi za kati, majibu ya kawaida ni, ""Oh, wewe maana Dark Ages?"" jibu langu la kwanza ni orodha ya baadhi ya mafanikio ya Enzi za Kati kwamba kufanya neno ""Dark Ages"" jina lisilofaa." Lakini, kama nimeweza kuamsha maslahi yao, ningependa kueleza kwamba watu wa Enzi za Kati walikuwa kabisa fascinated na mwanga na rangi. Kwa mfano, kuna mfano wa usanifu wa Gothic, kama vile madirisha ya Notre Dame, ambayo ni moja ya mafanikio ya usanifu wa enzi za kati. Mfano wa kioo cha rose, ambacho kilikuwa na maelfu ya vipande vya kioo chenye rangi, ulikuja kuwa sehemu muhimu ya usanifu wa baadaye wa Gothic. Ingawa kanisa kuu la Notre Dame lilijengwa katika Ufaransa wakati uleule, kanisa hilo lina sifa ya pekee kwa sababu ya uzuri wake. Maafisa wa kanisa la Notre Dame walianza kazi ya ujenzi mwaka 1163. Ilichukua zaidi ya wafanyakazi elfu moja kwa karibu karne mbili kukamilisha kanisa hilo kuu. Ilikuwa katika karne ya kumi na tatu kwamba nguzo maarufu za kuruka ziliwekwa. Vipande vya nje vilikuwa na nguvu ya kuunga mkono kuta, na pia viliruhusu kuta kuwa juu na nyembamba, na hivyo kuwezesha ufungaji wa madirisha ya glasi. Katika mwaka wa 1260 Mfalme Louis IX wa Ufaransa alianzisha madirisha matatu ya rose. Hilo lilileta nuru zaidi kanisani, na kuvutia macho ya waabudu kuelekea juu. Pia ilikuwa wakati huu kwamba mnara wa awali ulijengwa (ambayo, baada ya kuvumilia karne za uharibifu wa upepo, iliondolewa mwishoni mwa karne ya kumi na nane). Ilikuwa kama kidole kinachoelekeza mbinguni. Notre Dame ni mfano wa maendeleo mengi ya kisanii na usanifu wa wakati huo, na pia ni shahidi wa mafanikio mengine mengi ya kiakili ya Enzi za Kati. Muziki wa polifoni (muziki wenye sehemu nyingi) ulianzishwa na kikundi cha wanamuziki waliofanya kazi katika kanisa kuu la Notre Dame kuanzia mwaka wa 1160 hadi 1250. Chuo Kikuu cha Paris, kilichokua katika karne ya kumi na mbili, kilitokana na shule maarufu ya kanisa kuu la Notre Dame. Chuo hicho, pamoja na vyuo vikuu vya Oxford na Bologna, vilifanyiza msingi wa mfumo wetu wa kisasa wa vyuo vikuu. Katikati ya umuhimu wa kihistoria wa Notre Dame, tangu siku zake za mapema, imekuwa mahali pa sala kati ya watu wengi. Kwa sababu ya sanamu zake nyingi na madirisha ya kioo yenye rangi inayoonyesha watu wa Biblia, Notre Dame, kama makanisa mengi ya enzi za kati, ilijulikana kama liber pauperam (kitabu cha maskini). Picha hizo zilikuwa na kusudi la kuwafundisha watu wasioweza kusoma mambo ya kidini. Kanisa Kuu pia ni sherehe ya umuhimu wa Bikira Maria kwa Wakristo Wakatoliki. Kanisa kuu la Roma pia lina jina lake, na kuna picha 37 za mwanamke huyo katika kanisa hilo. Jambo la kutokeza zaidi ni <unk>Lango la Bikira,<unk> ambapo Maria anashirikiana na malaika na watakatifu. "Mara nyingi, mlango huu wa Mariamu unaitwa ""super rosam rosida"" ( ""Rusi ya Warusi ""), jina lililotokana na mshairi wa karne ya kumi na mbili Adam de Saint-Victor." Tangu enzi za kati, umati wa Wakristo Wakatoliki umefanya safari za kidini kwenda Notre Dame, wakisali kwa mtakatifu wake mlinzi, Maria, ili apate kuombwa msaada na ulinzi wa kimungu. "Wakati wa maadhimisho ya siku ya Jumapili, umati wa watu mjini Paris ulianza kuimba ""Ave Maria,"" kwa kuonekana kuiheshimu kanisa na kwa wengine, labda kutafuta maombezi ya Maria ili kuokoa kanisa lake." Kwa bahati nzuri moto huo ulizimwa. Uharibifu huo bado unachunguzwa, na mapendekezo ya wakati wake ujao yanafikiriwa. Kwa hivyo, hii ni wakati mzuri wa kukumbuka nyakati katika historia ya Notre Dame wakati jengo hilo lilipokuwa kitovu cha mjadala wenye utata juu ya matumizi ya nafasi takatifu. Wakati wa Vita vya Kidini vya Ufaransa (kipindi cha machafuko kati ya Wakatoliki wa Kiroma na Wahuguenoti, ambao walikuwa Waprotestanti wa Marekebisho ya Kidini kati ya 1562 na 1598), Wahuguenoti waliharibu baadhi ya sanamu za Kanisa Kuu, wakitangaza kuwa za ibada ya sanamu. Miongoni mwa matukio ya kikatili zaidi ya Notre Dame ni wakati wa mapinduzi ya Ufaransa, wakati kanisa hilo lilipokuwa likikabiliwa na mapinduzi ya Enlightenment. "Mungu alibadilisha jina la hekalu hilo kuwa ""Temple to the Goddess Reason"" na kuondoa sanamu za Maria na kuanzisha sanamu za mungu wa uhuru." "Kama mfano, katika miaka ya 1970 na 1980, sanamu 28 za wafalme wa Biblia zilikatwa vichwa, na vichwa vyao viligunduliwa tu wakati wa uchimbuaji wa mwaka wa 1977.""" Mnamo Aprili 18, 1802, kwa makubaliano kati ya Kanisa Katoliki na Napoleon Bonaparte, kanisa hilo lilitolewa tena kuwa kanisa Katoliki. Napoleon alitumia jina hilo wakati wa kutawazwa kwake mwaka wa 1804. Licha ya kupewa Kanisa Katoliki na Napoleon, Notre Dame ilibaki nusu-mwovu. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, kanisa hilo lilijengwa na Victor Hugo, ambaye alilitumia kama mandhari ya ""The Hunchback of Notre Dame"" mwaka wa 1833."" "Hiyo ilifanya hivyo ili kuwachochea watu kupenda jengo hilo lililokuwa limeharibika na kupuuzwa, na kupitia wazo lake la kimapenzi, kuwachochea watu kurekebisha kile ambacho Hugo alikiita ""safarina kubwa katika jiwe.""Alipotoshwa na barua ya upendo ya Hugo ya kurasa elfu moja kwa Notre Dame, kilikuwa na wito wa kurudisha kanisa kuu kwa utukufu wake wa zamani." Mwaka 1844 Mfalme Louis Philippe aliamuru kanisa hilo lilirekebishwe na kuunganishwa tena na glasi ya madirisha ya glasi, na pia kuongeza chombo kipya cha muziki. Pia ilikuwa wakati wa ukarabati huu kwamba mnara ulianguka Jumatatu ulijengwa. Katika Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia, madirisha ya Notre Dame yaliharibiwa kidogo tu, hasa kutokana na risasi zilizopotea wakati wa ukombozi wa Paris mnamo Agosti 1944. Kama sehemu ya sherehe ya ukombozi wa Paris, misa maalum ilifanyika katika Notre Dame, ambayo ilihudhuriwa na Charles de Gaulle. Mwaka 1963, wakati wa maadhimisho ya miaka 800 ya Kanisa Kuu, Notre Dame ilifanyiwa marekebisho kadhaa ambayo yalisaidia kuondoa uchafu na uchafu uliokusanywa, na hatimaye kuibuka kuwa nzuri zaidi. Sasa, kanisa hilo kuu limeharibiwa na msiba wa asili. Bila shaka, si jambo la pekee katika jambo hilo; misiba ya asili imeharibu baadhi ya majengo matakatifu makubwa zaidi ya usanifu-ujenzi. Mnamo 558 BK, tetemeko la ardhi lilisababisha kuanguka kwa Hagia Sophia, kanisa kuu katika mji mkuu wa Milki ya Byzantium, Constantinople, ambayo baadaye ilibadilishwa kuwa msikiti na sasa kuwa jumba la makumbusho huko Istanbul, Uturuki. Hagia Sophia ilikumbwa na moto mwaka wa 859 na tetemeko la ardhi mwaka wa 869. Moto mkubwa wa London mwaka 1666 uliharibu makanisa 87 ya parokia na Kanisa Kuu la St. Paul, na tetemeko la ardhi mwaka 1997 liliharibu moja ya michoro maarufu zaidi ya Kanisa la St. Francis ya Assisi. Tetemeko la ardhi la mwaka 2015 liliharibu mahekalu kadhaa ya Kibuddha nchini Nepal, ikiwa ni pamoja na maeneo mawili yaliyokuwa yametengenezwa karne ya tano. Siku ileile ya moto wa Notre Dame, msikiti wa Al-Aqsa, ulio katika eneo la tatu la Uislamu, ulichomwa moto, ingawa kwa bahati nzuri ulipata uharibifu mdogo. Jengo hilo lilijengwa upya mara kadhaa, hasa baada ya uharibifu uliosababishwa na matetemeko makubwa ya ardhi mwaka wa 746 na 1033. "Hii ni pamoja na uharibifu wa maeneo matakatifu unaofanywa mara kwa mara na vurugu na vita, kutoka kwa mashambulizi ya mara kwa mara ya kushangaza dhidi ya makanisa ya Waafrika-Wamarekani, misikiti na sinagogi nchini Marekani, hadi uharibifu mkubwa wa maeneo matakatifu ya kale nchini Iraq na Syria na ISIS wakati wa vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe. """ Lakini kwa sababu tu uharibifu wa mahali patakatifu ni wa kawaida haufanyi uwe usio wa kushangaza. Na kwa sababu tu watajengwa upya, haimaanishi kwamba hawatastahili kuombolezwa. Maonyesho ya machozi ya watu duniani kote siku hiyo ya Aprili yanaonyesha jinsi Notre Dame inavyopendwa, kama mahali patakatifu na alama ya kihistoria. Ni vigumu kueleza maana ya Notre Dame kwa makundi mengi ya watu: Wakristo Wakatoliki ambao wanamiminika huko kama sehemu ya ziara takatifu, wasomi ambao wanathamini nafasi yake isiyo na kifani katika historia, watalii ambao wanashangazwa na ukuu wake. "Mtaalamu wa dini na falsafa wa karne ya 14 Jean de Jondel, katika kitabu chake cha 1323 ""Tracte de laudibus Parisius"" (Treatise on the Praises of Paris), alitoa mojawapo ya hoja bora za uzuri wa Notre Dame na kwa nini wengi wetu tulihuzunika uharibifu uliosababishwa na moto huo: ""Kwa kweli, ninaamini kwamba kanisa hili linatoa sababu ya kuvutiwa na kugundua kwa uangalifu kwamba uchunguzi wake hauwezi kufurahisha roho... kwamba kanisa la Bikira Maria, mama wa Mungu, linaangaza kama jua kati ya nyota." 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