Abbot Suger
Suger [ syʒe ] (* 1081, † January 13, 1151 in Saint- Denis, near Paris) was a French prelate and statesman.
Life
Suger was born around the year 1081. As the birthplace different possibilities are called, among other things Chennevières -lès -Louvres. His family was probably part of the minores milites, a form of low nobility. Even the age of ten he came as Oblat in the Abbey of Saint -Denis near Paris. Sugar went on to Saint- Denis has school to which to 1092 and later King Louis VI. went. In 1106 he was sent as an envoy of the monastery to the Pope and his superior entrusted the talented young man and later with diplomatic missions that could kick him in connection to the royal court, to the Pope and to the great princely courts of France. 1118 and 1121 he came as an envoy of the king to Rome. During a stay in Rome in 1122, he was elected abbot of the monastery of Saint- Denis. He soon made himself successfully to reform the monastery and to rehabilitate. In 1124 it was to thank his skill that the princes of France banded together with the king against a German -British invasion. During the visit of Pope Innocent II in Cluny in 1131 he was speaker of the king and of the whole episcopate.
1137 Suger could begin with the construction of the abbey church, which had been 639 grave lay the Frankish / French kings (chorus consecration in 1144 ). In 1147 he recruited, together with Bernard of Clairvaux for the Second Crusade, in which he even - in spite of his weak constitution - even wanted to participate. When Louis VII then set off for a crusade, Suger was elected regent. He fulfilled this task with flying colors. Since that time, he was also named " Father of the Nation " because he placed his whole work in the service of the French monarchy. Given the still very narrow power base of the king it seemed crucially on its intellectual prestige - as Vicar of Christ - to increase.
Under Louis VI. and Louis VII had Suger significant impact on the political system. He reorganized the finances, improved the judicial system, promoted agriculture, trade and industry and favored the cities.
Highly honored Suger died on January 13, 1151 in his monastery. He was buried in the grave, serving as a place of the French kings basilica of the monastery. In the sack of the Royal Tombs of Saint- Denis during the French revolution his grave was opened and looted on October 22, 1793, his remains were buried in a mass grave outside the church.
Performance
However, his most important work is the Abbey Church of Saint- Denis, at the planning he was instrumental. (Received - as he had planned it - are only the foundation of the choir and the west bay of the facade and the tower approach. ) Elements (eg Laon ) architecture known were the Norman and Burgundian already ( rib vault and pointed arch, Services ) were detected for the first time in this building in a context that allowed a merger and by clearing the rooms. By removing many time as deemed necessary retaining walls he could use in architectural history large windows for interior design for the first time. Thus, the construction was far more light-filled than the churches of his time. In addition, construction was simple and graceful as Romanesque buildings. This is considered as acquiring a new building style: Gothic.
A long time it was considered certain that Suger the harmony of Augustine and the light - metaphysics of the Pseudo-Dionysius were spiritual foundation of his church building as a kind of - this commentary by John Scotus Eriugena and Hugh of St. Victor. After his presentation, the church should be the harmony of God's creation and the enlightenment of the faithful. An implementation of these ideas could be seen in the architectural forms of the choir of the abbey church, which emphasizes creating a light-filled space ( Otto von Simson ). According to current knowledge, it is uncertain whether Suger read these writings and therefore the construction of St.- Denis, a special, philosophical ( Platonic ) concept is based. The topos of divine light is to be found rather, for example, in the Bible again ( John 8:12, and more. ).
Under Suger was St. Denis the central place of the intellectual and political forces of the rising monarchy, the focal point of the national idea of France, so the starting point of the style is a new connection between the Church and the French monarchy: the Gothic cathedral.
His work as the creator of the new monastery church he founded and described in Libellus de consecratione ecclesiae Sancti Dionysii and De rebus in administrationem sua gestis. Other typefaces from his hand are Vita Ludovici VI. and Ordinatio.
Editions of his writings
- Oeuvres completes. Edited by A. Lecoy de la Marche. Paris, 1867. Reprint Hildesheim and New York 1979. ISBN 3-487-06862-1.
- Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church of St. -Denis and is Art Treasures. Edited, Translated and Annotated by Erwin Panofsky ( 1946). Second Edition by Gerda Panofsky - Soergel. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979 ( xix, 285 p, 31 Abb.tafeln ) - ISBN 0-691-00314-9
- Oeuvre. 2 vols. Edited by Françoise Gaspari. Paris 1996 /2001. ISBN 2-251-34048-3 ISBN 2-251-34052-1 and.
- Selected writings. Edited by Andreas Speer. 2nd edition. Darmstadt 2005. ISBN 3-534-18494-7.