supreme life symbol:

Spengler borrows this from Goethean science. Goethe discerned a hidden relationship of parts that explains how one form can transform into another form while being part of an underlying archetypal form (his Ur-phenomena).  It is a statement, pattern of behaviour, or prototype (model) which other statements, patterns of behaviour, and objects copy or emulate.

see page 174, and passim

 

Hellenes:

meaning Greeks

 

Chartres cathedral (ten thousand figures & reliefs): * see EndNote<A>

Gothic & Romanesque cathedral, built 1194 to 1220 ; noted for its architectural innovations, sculptural programme & stained glass.  Associated with the Virgin Mary (the cathedral treasury houses the veil of the Virgin) & was a pilgrimage destination.  It contains an immense amount of sculpture, particularly figure sculpture, ranging from large column statues to miniatures.  The purpose of the sculptures was to preach & instruct, they depict scenes and figures from the Old & New Testaments.  Some of these works were made for an earlier (mid-12th century) cathedral, in particular the Portail royal.  Work for this was begun 1136 and with all its sculpture installed by 1141.  Most of the carving follows the exceptionally high standard typical of this period and exercised a strong influence on the subsequent development of gothic portal design.

 

Dante:

See Chapter I page 14, 20, Chapter II page 81, 85, Chapter III page 111, Chapter IV page 142, Chapter VI page 183, Chapter VII page 229

 

sacrament (Contrition, Confession)

see Chapter IV page 131 and Chapter VII page 248.

 

Joachim of Floris (3 world stages):

see Chapter I, page 19

 

Apulian cell:

reference to Apulia, a region in S Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto to the south.  Spengler refers to it in conjunction with Joachim of Fiore, who lived & worked in this south eastern region of Italy.

 

Reims, Amiens and Paris (sculptural programmes): see EndNote<B>

The exteriors & interiors of French Gothic cathedrals were lavishly ornamented with sculpture & decoration on religious themes, designed for the great majority of parishioners who could not read. They were described as "Books for the poor."  Originally all of the sculpture on the facades was painted and gilded.  Each feature of the Cathedral had a symbolic meaning. The main portals at Notre Dame de Paris, for instance, represented the entrance to paradise, with the last judgement depicted on the tympanum over the doors, showing Christ surrounded by the apostles, and by the signs of the zodiac, representing the movements of the heavens. The columns below the tympanum are in the form of statues of saints, literally reprinting them as "the pillars of the church."

 

Royal Tombs of St. Denis: * see EndNote<C>

large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris; Abbot Suger in the 12th century rebuilt portions of the abbey church using innovative structural& decorative features, thereby creating the first truly Gothic building; its choir, completed in 1144, uses for the first time all of the elements of Gothic architecture; its 13th-century nave is the prototype for the Rayonnant Gothic style, an architectural model for many medieval cathedrals & abbeys in N France, Germany, England & elsewhere.  It was also a place of pilgrimage & the burial place of the French Kings.  From the 6th century onwards (starting with Hugues Capet), the necropolis of French monarchs, most of the kings & queens of France buried here (42 kings, 32 queens, 63 princes and princesses) thru the 18th century.