The Romanesque Cathedral of St. Mary at Lincoln and the Image of Reform

Construction of the cathedral at Lincoln began during the tenure of Bishop Remigius in 1072. From the ducal abbey-palace compound at Fecamp, Remigius participated in the Conquest of England, and became King William's first episcopal appointment. With Canterbury Cathedral, Lincoln represents the beginning of an era of construction which in the number and scale of its buildings has few parallels in European history. Despite the importance of the subject, no full monograph exists. I offer a description of archaeological evidence and a reconstruction, supported by measured drawings and other visual documentation. My primary subject is the church of the eleventh century, though I include also description of twelfth-century alterations. To assist an understanding of Lincoln Cathedral, I discuss city topography, and the symbiotic relationship of cathedral to castle. Further, I sketch an architectural context, including the church of Saint-Etienne in Caen, with consideration also of Lincoln's relationship to Cluny II and Bernay. Lincoln's western entrance structure merits special attention. I describe it in relation to the Carolingian westwerk, Charlemagne's palace chapel at Aachen, and the notion of romanitas as transmitted through Carolingian sources to the eleventh century. With reference to studies by Jean Bony, Robert Branner, and Pierre Heliot on the relationship of the English Romanesque to the emerging Gothic style in France, I argue that the Lincoln facade was a royal portal decades before the development of the portail royal at Saint-Denis and Chartres. This leads to an investigation into the iconography of medieval architecture. I begin with an examination of the methods of Richard Krautheimer and Otto von Simson. I describe next the Christian idea of reform, with reference to research of Gerhart Ladner and Giles Constable, as a culturally pervasive force. Regarding the symbolism of architecture, the idea allows insight, as it weaves together various significations, change and time, the obvious as well as the obscure references that a building might make. Thus architecture gave shape to the idea of reform.