A Carolingian Church Underneath the Domplein in Utrecht

Stam, Esmee (2023) A Carolingian Church Underneath the Domplein in Utrecht. Master thesis, M Religion and Cultural Heritage.

Text 2023-2024-RCH--E.-Stam-Ma-thesis.pdf Restricted to Repository staff only Download (5MB)

Abstract

Despite the fame of the Domplein in Utrecht, it remains debated just how many predecessors of the Gothic cathedral were once built. Until now, the next known successor of the first St Martin’s Church built by the Northumbrian missionary Willibrord was thought to have been built in the beginning of the tenth century by Bishop Balderic (918-975). However, archaeological research recently conducted by the Heritage Department of the City of Utrecht, soon to be published, provides new evidence for the construction of a church in the late eighth or early ninth century. This thesis studies this possibility by comparing archaeological and written sources, in order to find out how they enrich or contradict each other. In the first chapter of the thesis, the limited number of contemporary textual sources is analysed. While there is no textual evidence for the construction of a new St Martin’s Church, sources such as vitae and letters provide us with clues about when and why a new Carolingian St Martin’s Church could have been built. The second chapter focuses on the material evidence and argues that a new St Martin’s Church was built between 750 and 850, of which a trail was found during archaeological excavations. The third chapter studies the floorplan that can be reconstructed from this archaeological trail. It is stated that the edifice had a width of circa 15 meters, was three-aisled and had a westwork. This thesis argues that indeed a Carolingian successor to Willibrord’s St Martin’s Church was built between circa 800 and 857, possibly during the episcopacy of Bishop Frederick (ca. 815-838), probably as a means to reflect the newly acquired status of St Martin’s Church as cathedral of a secured diocese.

Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisors (RUG):	Supervisor E-mail Tutor organization Tutor email Irving, A.J.M. Faculteit GGW, Christendom en Ideeengeschiedenis A.J.M.Irving@rug.nl
Degree programme:	M Religion and Cultural Heritage
Academic year:	2023-2024
Date of delivery:	03 Feb 2026 11:14
Last modified:	03 Feb 2026 11:14
URI:	https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/802

Actions (requires login)

View Item