Medieval hares and rabbits

Wilfred the Hairy (aka Guifré el Pilós), whom we just "met" as the founder of the nearby monastery in Sant Joan de les Abadesses, where his daughter Emma of Barcelona was the first abbess, founded the Monastery of Santa Maria in Ripoll in 879. Here his son Radulf de Barcelona was abbot. This was not only Wilfred´s family business, he was very successful in the political power game of that time. The first church was consecrated in 888, but as the monastery grew it was "reconsecrated" in 935, 977, and 1032. When Oliba de Besalú, as well a descendent of Wilfred, was abbot here (1008 - 1046), this was a cultural center. More than 250 books were on the shelves of the monastery´s library. The decline started within the 15th century. In 1428 it was severely damaged by an earthquake, the restoration was done in Gothic style. The church got ruined during the first Carlist War, the library burnt down, and the last monks had left. In 1847 part of the cloister and soon after, the abbot´s palace got demolished. The Bishop of Vic organized the rebuilding so that the church got consecrated again in 1893. The church of today is vastly a product of the reconstruction of the 19th century, but it may be "near" to the romanesque structure. The famous portal of the church, which of course got damaged, but survived the times is 11,60m wide and 7,25m high. It has lots of scenes, not only from the bible. I was so impressed and overwhelmed, that, when I returned to the hotel during the siesta-hours, I immediately booked a second night. I knew that this structure would grab me for many hours. I have to say a special "GRACIAS" to the helpful lady at the ticket counter. Of course, I will not upload all photos I took in Ripoll... Over the centuries, the carvings weathered - and got vandalized. The result can be seen in the more detailed shots. The death of the hare.

The Iberians and the Romans have been here, Visigoths made their way to Solsona in the fifth century and, three centuries later, the Saracens settled here for about 70 years, until it came under the rule of the Franks. A monastery dedicated to Santa Maria was established in 1070 with connections to the Counts of Urgell. In the 13th century is evidence of a weekly market. The town was completely encircled by a wall (up to 16 m high) which had 21 towers. The Black Death of 1348 caused a depopulation of the region. A pre-Romanesque church existed here in 977. The first Romanesque church was consecrated in 1070. Preserved from this church are the three apses, seen on the previous upload, and the bell tower, here seen from the cloister. The present church is Gothic and was begun in the late 13th century. It was completed in the 17th century, so lot of barroque elements can be found. Upto 1593 this was a College church, from there on a Cathedral housing bishop's see, as Pope Clement VIII (on request of Philip II, created the new Diocese of Solsona. The Bishops of Solsona of course needed a comfortable place to live and work, so a neoclassical episcopal palace was added to the former monastery within the 18th century - and now houses the Diocean Museum. Objects inside museums are mostly well protected - but miss the "locus", they were produced for and where they had been for centuries. Sometimes these places just do not exist any longer and the objects are really saved. But placed inside a museum, the objects are not part of an "ensemble", what is a pity. From the "Museu Diocesà de Solsona" Three fighting men - and a hare. It looks like two bandits ambush a hunter. The left bandit holds the hunter by the hair - and tries to stab him, while the hunter defends himself with a lance. The hunter stll holds the large hare, but the second bandit has his hand already on the hare´s ears.

Until the 9th century the area around Kilpeck was within the Welsh kingdom of Ergyng. After the Norman conquest it became part of Herefordshire. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Kilpeck was given by William the Conqueror to William Fitz Norman de la Mare. The clan de la Mare is one of the oldest in Normandy and is descended from Ragnvald Eysteinsson, earl of Møre and Romsdal. The village of Kilpeck is renowned for its small but outstanding Norman/Romanesque) St Mary and St David's Church. The church was built around 1140. In 1143 it was given to the Abbey of Gloucester. It may have replaced an earlier Saxon church at the same site, and the oval raised form of the churchyard is typical of even older Celtic foundations. When the church was built, the area around Kilpeck was relatively prosperous and strategically important. The economic decline of the area after the 14th century may have helped preserve features which would have been removed elsewhere. However, it is unclear why the carvings were not defaced by Puritans in the 17th century. The carvings in the local red sandstone are remarkable for their number and their fine state of preservation. The carvings are all original and in their original positions. They have been attributed to a Herefordshire School of stonemasons, probably local but who may have been instructed by master masons recruited in France by Oliver de Merlimond. He was steward to the Lord of Wigmore, Hugh Mortimer, who went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and, on his return, built a church with similar Romanesque carvings at Shobdon, 30 miles north of Kilpeck. Hugh de Kilpeck, a relative of Earl Mortimer, employed the same builders here. There are a very large number of corbels. Some are quite peculiar. A hunting dog and a hare (Disney should pay roayties for this), a gentleman who has unfortunately lost part of his jaw and a beast with a beak and arms devouring a sinner.

The remains of a Roman fort occupy a site near the town centre. A church existed already in 627 AD. The Domesday Book records Ilkley as being in the possession of William de Percy. The land was acquired by the Middelton family of Myddelton Lodge, from about a century after the time of William the Conqueror. The church is built on the site of the Roman fort, two Roman altars have been discovered built into the tower. Three 8th-century Anglo-Saxon stone crosses, now incomplete, used to be in the churchyard but are now inside. The earliest part of the church is the 13th century south doorway. The nave of the church dates back to the 14th century while the tower is of 15th century construction. The church was extended and restored in the 19th century. These three Anglo-Saxon crosses, which stood in the churchyard of All Saints' Church, were moved inwards to prevent erosion. The smallest cross (left) probably dates from the 8th century and the other two from the first half of the 9th century. The head of the large cross dates from the same period, but did not belong to it. It was found in the River Wharfe in 1884. A detail of the small cross on the right. Hares? Dog?