Question

explain why people wanted to visit Romanesque churches in the Middle Ages, what they hoped to see and what impact visiting these churches might have on them.

Answer 1

Romanesque is a title art historians invented to describe medieval art that appeared "Roman-like." Scholars noted that certain architectural elements of this period, principally barrel and groin vaults based on round arch, resembling those of ancient Roman architecture. In the Romanesque period, a sharp increase in trade encouraged the growth of towns and cities which went on to displace Feudalism. Separated by design from the busy secular life of Romanesque towns were the monasteries and their churches. During the 11th and 12th centuries, thousands of ecclesiastical buildings were remodeled or newly constructed. This immense building enterprise was in part a natural by product of the rise of independent cities and the prosperity they enjoyed. Pilgrims were important sources of funding for monasteries that possessed the relics of venerated saints. Traveling pilgrims fostered the growth of towns as well as monasteries.

The reemergence of monumental stone sculpture coincided with the introduction of stone vaulting in Romanesque churches. The earliest Romanesque sculptures appear in the timber roofed churches, the addition of stone vaults to basilican churches cannot explain the resurgence of stonecarving in the Romanesque period. The sculpture is an attempt to beautify the house of God and make it, a paradise. It also reflects the changing role of many churches in western Europe. The display of sculpture both inside and outside of the churches was means of impressing and educating a new and largely illiterate audience.

In Romanesque times, pilgrimage was the most conspicuous feature of public devotion, proclaiming the pilgrim's faith in the power of saints and their hope for their social favor. To achieve salvation, Christian pilgrims braved bad roads, and hostile wilderness infested with robbers who preyed on innocent travelers. They undertook such a long journey as an act of repentance or as a last resort in their search for a cure for some physical disability. The distance was a measure of the sincerity of their repentance. All pilgrimages finished in the most venerated Christian shrine in Western Europe, Saint James at Santiago de Compostela.