Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Angers another stronghold of Huguenot gospel

Angers was a stronghold of the Huguenots

At a convent within sight of the cathedral the Edict of Nantes was drafted and edited, later to be signed by Henri IV at Nantes (Cheryl spotted the plaque on the building where it was drafted). The castle is unique in its stone work, with dark stone layers alternating with lighter stone work; it also has multiple round large towers connected by shorter wall sections. Inside is the largest tapestry in the world, a vast exploration of the Apocalypse from Revelations. 

Narrow winding medieval streets bring you from the castle past the convent and to the XI century cathedral, again the earlier part of what must have been a cloister on the south side uses the darker stones like the castle. Inside the ribbed vaulting is wide and unadorned and there is no ambulatory, so it feels sort of cramped. It feels very popish, a black robed cleric praying to an image of Mary in the chapel in the north transept, and the rose window in the south transept enacts the apocalypse. 

Nearby is Saumur, local duke a faithful supporter of the Huguenot cause who gave up his castle in 1593 to be the first seminary for training Protestant pastors. Sadly, this seminary also produced Moises Amyraut, who would attempt to modify Reformed theology after Dordt into Amyraldianism, four point Calvinism, hypothetical universalism. But this all happens decades after the setting of my Huguenot historical fiction, set when the theology was more complete and faithful to Reformation gospel.


2 comments: