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The Eleventh-Century Nave of the Cathedral of Coutances: A New Reconstruction

Although the eleventh-century Cathedral of Coutances was one of the largest churches of Romanesque Normandy, its actual form has up till now eluded us. This study aims partially to fill this gap by proposing a new reconstruction of the nave based on a reevaluation of the available literary and archaeological evidence. It has always been assumed that the large arches at gallery level in the central vessel are Romanesque, yielding a nave with large tribune openings of the type of St. Etienne at Caen or St. Albans, with a wall passage at clerestory level. I have determined that this masonry is not eleventh-, but rather thirteenth-century, dating from a rebuilding of the central vessel of the nave after 1209. With the redating of this masonry in mind, a new reconstruction becomes possible. I propose that the nave was built between 1030 and 1048. Only the outer gallery walls survive from this period, and they are the basis for my reconstruction. The central vessel can be established as being much lower, without passages and without wall articulation. The general proportions are reminiscent of Bernay, and the overall configuration of the nave must have resembled Bernay, its contemporary. With Bernay, the eleventh-century nave of Coutances was a last representative of the late Carolingian tradition of Normandy. With its low proportions, lack of articulation, and absence of wall passages, it forms an essential background for the brilliant achievements of the next generations in Normandy, at Mont St. Michel, Jumièges, and Caen.