Reims Cathedral: Gothic Coronation Church of French Kings

Reims Cathedral, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Reims in north-eastern France, was begun on 6 May 1211, a year after fire destroyed the earlier church. Built in the High Gothic style, famed for its more than 2,300 statues including the Smiling Angel, it was the place where most kings of France were crowned for six centuries, which gave it a unique role in French history.

Background: the coronation city

Reims was an important Roman and early medieval city. According to tradition, Bishop Remigius (Saint Remi) baptised Clovis, king of the Franks, there around the year 500; the exact date is uncertain, with estimates ranging from about 496 to 508. Later legend added that a dove brought a phial of holy oil, the Holy Ampulla, for the ceremony, and this oil was used to anoint later kings.

The archbishops of Reims claimed the right to crown the king. Louis the Pious was crowned there by Pope Stephen IV in 816, and from Henry I in 1027 onward almost every Capetian king was consecrated at Reims. The ceremony, called the sacre, made the cathedral the symbolic heart of the monarchy.

The fire of 1210 and the new cathedral

On 6 May 1210 a fire destroyed much of the older cathedral, which dated mainly from the Carolingian period with later additions. Exactly one year later, on 6 May 1211, Archbishop Aubry de Humbert laid the first stone of a new church.

The builders followed the latest ideas of Gothic architecture developed at Saint-Denis, Chartres and Notre-Dame de Paris. The names of four master masons were recorded in a labyrinth set into the nave floor: Jean d’Orbais, Jean-le-Loup, Gaucher de Reims and Bernard de Soissons. The labyrinth was destroyed in 1779, but drawings of it survive.

Construction was interrupted by quarrels between the archbishop and the townspeople over taxes, including a revolt in the 1230s. Even so, the choir was in use by 1241. The nave and most of the west facade followed in the mid and late 13th century. The two west towers rose in the 15th century; the tall spires planned for them were never built. A fire in 1481 damaged the roof.

Architecture and sculpture

Reims is seen as one of the purest examples of High Gothic design. It is nearly 150 metres long, and its vaults rise about 38 metres above the floor. Flying buttresses carry the weight of the roof outwards, allowing the walls to be filled with large windows.

Reims was among the first buildings to use bar tracery, in which thin stone bars divide windows into patterns; the idea was quickly copied across Europe. The building is unusually unified in style for a church built over many decades.

Its sculpture is especially famous. The west facade is covered with figures, and the inner west wall is lined with niches holding statues, an unusual feature. On the left portal of the west facade stands the Smiling Angel, carved around the middle of the 13th century, whose relaxed smile has become a symbol of the city. Other sculptures show kings, saints, prophets and scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary.

How a Gothic cathedral was built

Building a cathedral of this size required enormous resources. Funds came from the archbishop and the cathedral chapter, from gifts and indulgences, and from collections organised across the diocese, sometimes with relics carried on tour to raise money. Disputes over these demands helped trigger the townspeople’s revolt of the 1230s, during which the clergy briefly fled the city.

Stone was quarried locally and hauled to the site, where masons shaped blocks using templates drawn by the master builder. Workers raised them with wooden cranes powered by treadwheels. The work usually started at the east end, so that the choir and altar could be used for services while the rest of the building was still under construction. The masons of Reims standardised many of their stone elements, which helped the work proceed efficiently and gave the cathedral its consistent appearance.

Key people

• Archbishop Aubry de Humbert (died 1218) launched the rebuilding in 1211.
• Jean d’Orbais, probably the first master mason, is traditionally credited with the design of the choir and the overall plan.
• Bernard de Soissons, a later master, worked on the west end and the rose window, according to the lost labyrinth inscription.
• Charles VII was crowned here in 1429, a turning point in the Hundred Years’ War.
• Henri Deneux (1874-1969), chief architect of the post-1918 restoration.

Coronations

From Louis VIII in 1223 onwards, French kings were crowned in the new cathedral, even while it was still being built. About 25 coronations took place in the Gothic building. The ceremony included anointing with oil from the Holy Ampulla, the handing over of the regalia and the king’s oath.

The most famous coronation came on 17 July 1429, when Charles VII was crowned during the Hundred Years’ War after Joan of Arc led his army through enemy territory to Reims. Joan stood near the altar with her banner during the ceremony. The coronation strengthened Charles’s claim against the English-backed Henry VI, who was crowned king of France not at Reims but at Notre-Dame de Paris in 1431, a weakness in the eyes of many French subjects.

After the ceremonies, the new king traditionally received guests at the nearby Palace of Tau, the archbishops’ residence, which now houses the cathedral treasury and original statues removed from the facade.

There were a few exceptions. Henry IV was crowned at Chartres in 1594 because Reims was held by his opponents, and Napoleon crowned himself emperor at Notre-Dame de Paris in 1804. The last coronation at Reims was that of Charles X on 29 May 1825.

Revolution, war and restoration

During the French Revolution the cathedral was damaged and the Holy Ampulla was smashed in 1793, though fragments were said to have been saved.

The greatest destruction came in the First World War. German artillery shelled Reims from September 1914, and on 19 September a fire started in scaffolding and spread to the roof, destroying the timber framework and damaging many statues. The Smiling Angel lost its head. Images of the burning cathedral became a powerful symbol in Allied propaganda.

Restoration, led by the architect Henri Deneux and supported by donations including large gifts from the Rockefeller family, lasted for decades. Deneux replaced the timber roof frame with prefabricated reinforced-concrete elements. The cathedral reopened in 1938. In 1962 French President Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer attended a mass of reconciliation there. Stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall were installed in 1974.

By the numbers

Timeline

• c. 496-508: Traditional period of the baptism of Clovis at Reims.
• 1210, 6 May: Fire destroys the earlier cathedral.
• 1211, 6 May: The first stone of the Gothic cathedral is laid.
• 1241: The choir is in use by this date.
• 1429, 17 July: Charles VII is crowned with Joan of Arc present.
• 1825, 29 May: Charles X, the last king crowned at Reims.
• 1914, 19 September: Shelling and fire devastate the cathedral.
• 1938: The restored cathedral reopens.

Why it matters

Reims Cathedral is both a masterpiece of Gothic architecture and a monument to the French monarchy. Its fate in 1914 and its rebuilding turned it into a symbol of cultural loss, recovery and Franco-German reconciliation, and since 1991 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.