St Martin's Church (), also called St Martin's Cathedral (), is a church and former cathedral in the Belgian city of

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

. It was a cathedral and the seat of the former diocese of Ypres from 1561 to 1801, and is still commonly referred to as such. At tall, it is among the

tallest buildings in Belgium These are lists of the tallest structures in Belgium, sorted by type. Tallest skyscrapers The vast majority of Belgium's skyscrapers are located in multi-municipal entity of the Brussels-Capital Region, which includes the City of Brussels, Sain ...

History

Construction started on the church in 1230, and was finished in 1370. There had previously been a Romanesque church in the area, dating from the 10th or 11th century. The diocese was originally part of the

Diocese of Thérouanne In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

, which had been established in the 7th or 8th century. In 1553

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

besiege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...

d the city of Thérouanne, then a French enclave in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, in revenge for a defeat by the French at

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

. After he captured the city he razed it. In 1557, as a result of the war damage to its see, the diocese was abolished. This led to a reform of sees at the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

, and the bishopric of Thérouanne was split between the Diocese of Saint-Omer, the

diocese of Boulogne The former French Catholic diocese of Boulogne existed from 1567 to the French Revolution. It was created after the diocese of Thérouanne was suppressed because of war damage to the see; effectively this was a renaming. It belonged to the Ar ...

and the Diocese of Ypres. With this, Saint Martin's Church was elevated to cathedral status, as it became the see of the new diocese. In 1656 the secular and religious authorities of the then

Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...

destroyed the monument to Bishop

Cornelius Jansen Cornelius Jansen (; ; Latinized name Cornelius Jansenius; also Corneille Jansen; 28 October 1585 – 6 May 1638) was the Dutch Catholic bishop of Ypres in Flanders and the father of a theological movement known as Jansenism. Biography He ...

in St Martin's Cathedral – a symbolic act as part of the increasing persecution of Jansen's disciples, the

Jansenist Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain development ...

s. As noted by

Jonathan Israel Jonathan Irvine Israel (born 22 January 1946) is a British historian specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment, Spinoza's Philosophy and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historic ...

, "The Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness and Fall", Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1995,p. 653 many of the Ypres citizens were angry and distressed at this demolition. After the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between the First French Republic and the Holy See, signed by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace–Lorraine, ...

between

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

, Ypres was incorporated into the diocese of Ghent, and Saint Martin's lost its status as a cathedral. As with many former cathedrals (

proto-cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an epis ...

s), it is often still referred to as a cathedral by locals. It was heavily damaged during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Subsequently (1922–1930) the ruin was cleared and the church was entirely rebuilt following the original plans, although the tower was built with a higher spire than the original.

Tombs

, the father of the theological movement

Jansenism Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century Christian theology, theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in Kingdom of France, France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of Free will in theology, f ...

, was Bishop of Ypres from 1635 to 1638. He is buried in the cathedral. Count Robert III of Flanders, popularly known as ''The Lion of Flanders'', is also buried in the cathedral.

Gallery

File:Sint-Maartenskathedraal.jpg, The church at night File:Grafrobrecht.jpg, Tomb of Count Robert III of Flanders, popularly known as ''The Lion of Flanders'' File:Kathedraalieper.jpg, The interior of the church File:Ieper - Sint-Maartenskathedraal 3.jpg, The facade of the side of the church Joris Liebaert, Het Beleg van Ieper in 1383 (1657).jpg, ''Siege of Ypres'' PM 127353 B Ieper.jpg, ''Jesus and the Samaritan woman'' (Matthijs De Visch) PM 127339 B Ieper.jpg, ''Maria'' (Victor Boucquet) PM 127327 B Ieper.jpg, ''Adoration of the Magi'' PM 127345 B Ieper.jpg, ''Bearing of the Cross''

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1370 Churches completed in the 1370s 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings Gothic architecture in Belgium Buildings and structures in Ypres 1230 establishments in Europe Burial sites of the House of Dampierre

History

Tombs

Gallery

See also

References