Lautenbach - Collégiale Saint Gangolph

Manegold of Lautenbach, a celebrity of his time, lived here in the 11th. century. During the Investiture Controversy, Manegold sided strongly with Pope Gregory VII. Emperor Henry IV was so annoyed about this, that he sent an army to Lautenbach, to destroy the monastery and churches. That ended the monastery 1084. About 50 years later Augustinian Canons settled here - and rebuilt the church, reusing a lot of old material. Many changes took place in and around the building (now the parish church) over the time, but the ground floor of the westwork seen here, seems still unchanged.


Having seen the delicate structure of the narthex with slim pillars -and fine capitals, the friezes (left and right of the entrance) are kind of shocking. The naiv style of these carvings differs totally from the others. These carvings may have been part of the church destroyed 1086 - and be reused here.
I am not really sure about the theme, I will follow Robert Will´s interpretation (from "Alsace romane", Éditions Zodiaque), though in some details I doubt that. He sees the whole frieze under the theme of adultery.

This is the fourth (and last) third "frame" of the left frieze.

This "frame" is very cryptic. From left a man, on his knees on the back of a foul-legged animal, trying to open it´s snout. The snake, that bit into the clothing if the raging husband, runs diagonal from the left top corner, crossing over a smaller person laying on the ground. Over this person, between the husband head and the tail of the snake is a huge area, that seems to be a cloud.

Robert Will sees the body of a child (under the snake) and the naked seducer riding the beast and opening the it´s snout. The three "frames" before seemed so structured compared to this chaotic one. Maybe this is about an emotional rage, but - maybe it means something totally different.

Robert Will has some doubts as well, but he connects the theme of "adultery" to the vita of St. Gangolph, authored by Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim around 960. She wrote, that St. Gangolph was cheated by his wife - and after that got killed by her seducer, who according to Hrotsvitha, was a priest.