Before we go down beneath the choir and explore the newly uncovered crypt, it is worth making two general observations. One concerns the plan of the crypt, and the other the quality of the architecture - a likely source of mistakes.

THE PLAN

The crypt (SEE ILLUSTRATION) is built on the plan of a miniature church: it has a nave and two aisles, all of which end to the east in a small apse. As a whole the plan is rather squat, wider than it is longer: 14.5m by 13m.
The nave appears two and half times wider than each of the aisles (2.8m compared to 6.1m) and longer (6.5m as opposed to 10m). But the three apsidioles are nevertheless of identical dimensions and all three are the same width as the aisles. The walls of the nave finish at an angle, joining back on to
the narrow opening of the axial apsidiole.

In the centre of the nave there are four columns which mark out the largest area of the crypt: a 3m long and 2.5m wide central rectangle. The outer walls of the nave are thicker (1.5m) than those of the aisles (1m); on the west side, the pilastered wall is as thick as 2m in some places as it was designed to bear one side of the tower which stood atop the transept square; on the other hand, the walls of the apsidioles (extremely robust in themselves) could be narrowed down to 0.8m. This structure, embedded at least as far as the edge of the vaults, was designed to serve as the foundations for the whole of the church's raised choir.

Unlike its descendant - the Gothic church - the Romanesque collegiate church was built over three storeys rather than on one level. The nave stood at 1.6m below the present level. This can be seen from the mesh-covered shafts in the north aisle, where the bases of the elevated walls are visible. The transept, however, stood at its current level: visible in the two shafts are the foundations. An axial flight of stairs ran between the Romanesque nave and transept. A second axial staircase of a similar height led to the choir, supported by the crypt. The interior layout of the sanctuary was therefore radically different from what visitors see today.

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

The appearence of this very old architecture could suggest a rudimentary and clumsy construction. This would be a mistake. It is an architecture with very different objectives than those of late romanesque art.

It is an architecture which served different purposes than those of later Romanesque art. Undoubtedly the materials are very simple. The stone construction is in no way of dressed stone; this is absent everywhere except four central points. The walls are covered in a thick plasterwork of mortar that is only whitewashed. The corners and uprights are never dead straight, nor at right angles nor plumb line;
the groins are always amortised. The detailed finishing of the architecture, such as the narrow, low benches that irregularly follow many of the walls, and even some sides of pillars, apparently disdain any strict attention to symmetry.

In this architecture, the hand of the builder can be seen everywhere; it is an architecture that scorns the simple meticulousness that can be easily achieved with the help of a few simple accessories, although not without creating a sense of stiffness and austerity. Here we should forget our criteria for finish that overly tend to become confused with quality criteria. We are dealing here nonetheless with architecture in the fullest sense of the term, far removed from a crude, elementary construction with no spatial perceptions. The devices for support and the plans effectively create a "hollow sculpture" in which the effects of volumes, the breaks and perspectives are accentuated by the colour of the materials: the central ferruginous quarter columns with small grainy crystals contrast with their entire surroundings of vertical walls painted with whitewash, and the floor itself, when it was created, formed a single plane of sparse, levelled, barely reddish concrete. In this architecture, it is the levelled, rather than smoothed surface which plays the dominant role.

It should be noted that consequently, this flat whiteness attracted the graffiti on the walls: it is scarcely found on the columns, even though their stone is quite soft.

VISITING THE CRYPT

Descending beneath the present choir, one first sees straight ahead the original access to the crypt or rather one of the two symmetrical accesses from the Romanesque transept, thus from a level similar to the current one.

The lowest step of the stairway can still be seen, along with the section of the north wall of the crypt, with a low, very irregular bench running characteristically along it.

These elements are in fact positioned in a break in the anchoring of the foundation of the tall Gothic columns. This anchoring lined this north wall on the inside and covers the side over almost the entire length. A similar process was used for the south side. Thus the crypt was reduced to a single nave, but it always remained in use. The cult of saint Gudula was to continue.

In around 1225, we are at the very beginning of the construction of the current choir. On the opposite side, the access did not remain open for as long and was to be walled up, whereas the passage that we see here continued to exist for some time still, until it was finally simply filled in (as it is between two new columns) and spanned by the stone arch that can still be seen.

 

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE SURFACE ?

The old Romanesque choir, first removed of its side chapels - which made way for new columns - was in turn destroyed. It is undoubtedly still "fitted" under the vaults of the present choir, whereas under its exposed floor, the central vaults of its crypt were removed to the required level; the same happened to the walls, pillars and columns. Finally, the lower half of the crypt was filled with earth taken from the foundation trenches opened on the periphery, i.e. in the cemetery that surrounded the Romanesque church: a fair number of scattered human bones were found in the ballast.

The discrepancy in the Gothic anchoring was simply filled in at that time and, as it was between two new columns, it was possible to just simply vault the roof that can still be seen now.

To take an overview of the site, we shall now stand between the four central columns.

Before us is the location of the axial apsidiole, destroyed when the crypt was filled in for three quarters of a century by the creation of the funerary vault of the Duke of Brabant, John II (who died in 1312).
To the left and right, the powerful Gothic foundations, in roughly hewn local sandy limestone, reveal an irregular series of successive recesses in the stonework.

Behind us, the west wall contains a series of niches and pilasters that correspond to the central pillars and columns. The base of the niches have been fitted with small benches, some of which were damaged when the crypt was abandoned. The original floor also suffered at around this time. It was not maintained for a long period even before it was sealed off. As such however, it provides us with a great deal of information on the circulation of the faithful. The passage areas are indicated by repairs made especially using irregular paving stones - not to be confused with the small anchoring stones of the foundation that connected the pillars with the columns.

TAKING A LOOK AT THESE SUPPORTS

First the four columns, made of ferruginous sandstone from some fifty kilometres north-east of Brussels; it was possible to make monolithic shafts with this type of stone (one of them has however been formed from two large drums). These shafts stood on separate, square, moulded bases. Next, there were two square pillars with a pilaster on each side. These pillars are the same thickness as the supporting walls. Finally we have to imagine the vaults with the series of rounded arches that rested on the capitals (lost) of the columns and on the pilasters. The variations in distance between the supports - crucial for the general effect - were visually accentuated by the segmentation of the vaults.

The north side deserves a closer look, even if most of it is covered by the Gothic anchoring; towards the apsidiole we find the only murals in the crypt. This is an example of art which is very rare in our region. We can see here the very slender, curvilinear graphics of two draped figures, standing facing us and half their natural size. Unfortunately the area around their heads has been damaged. They are holding a book. These must be two apostles. These graphics are lightly polychromed with soft colours.

MOVING TOWARDS THE EAST

We are entering a smaller area. Continuous expanses of wall, bordered almost everywhere by benches.
A narrow opening towards the apsidiole replaced by the rectangular plan vault. Around the centre of the space where we are, the surface of the floor - protected by duckboards - is still very well preserved, vaguely circular, of about one square metre. We can imagine that the reliquary was displayed here: that is, as close as possible to the bay opening out onto the altar that was in the destroyed axial apsidiole.

 

Before looking at this far end of the crypt, let us turn to the two surfaces of wall located on either side,
to the north and to the south.

They are covered with an exceptional concentration of graffiti (SEE ILLUSTRATION), all very finely engraved, scratching the successive layers of limewashing and often reaching the plaster of the wall. The subject of this graffiti is quite varied: geometric designs (with little apparent symbolism) or highly symbolic (mainly cruciform), animal figures (often huge running dogs) or - less frequently - human figures. Here we can also read a great many inscriptions of all sizes, particularly people's names - apparently all men - which at that time were all Christian names; many are archaic and will soon become obsolete; added to them are several laconic invocations in Latin. There are no appeals to the great divine figures nor to the church's Saint. Are they signs of passage? wishes? thanksgiving? At all events, the concentration near to the choir can scarcely
be a coincidence.

Through their abundance and chronological coherence, these graffiti open an unexpected door on mentalities at that time, very indirectly accessible through traditional documentary sources. All ages had their types of graffiti with their own subjects, in correlation with the specific function of the site and using specific technical means.

Here we are in the presence of a remarkably significant collection.
• To the north on the left:
- A large, horned devil is sticking out its tongue (body in the form of an hourglass).
- Several times: Balderic, Heriman, Reingot.
- A small man brandishes a sword (towards a quadruped, but of another drawing).
• To the south:
- Albert.
- Huge dogs running here and there but all of the same style, the same scale and turned towards the left.
- PATER FECIT
- PAX
• On the pilaster:
- The only date found, inscribed in large letters: MCXXXI (1131).

The central apse now only remains in the form of traces visible on either side of the funerary vault that replaced it. Its semicircular wall ran approximately across the middle of the rectangular chamber. The initial sections can still be seen to the left and right, crossed by the 14th century stone walls. A threshold precedes the bay whose arch has been lost, but which rested on the pilasters whose bases have been conserved.

The inside of the vault itself measures 2.60m long by 1.54m wide. A series of metallic traverses were intended to support the coffins. John (who died in 1312) had this vault constructed for himself and his wife, Marguerite of York. The cruciform symbols painted in red on the far wall date back to the creation of the vault, unlike the inscriptions. It can be seen that the Dukes of Brabant spread out their graves and in no way wished to form a funerary crypt, unlike the French monarchs for example in Saint-Denis. The father of John II, John I, has his vault in the Franciscan church in Brussels, in rue de la Bourse (Site Museum).

In the choir of the Gothic collegiate, the entry to the grave was guarded by a sculpted lion bearing the arms of Brabant. The original, which was destroyed during the religious wars, was replaced, at the beginning of the 17th century, by a new sculpture that currently stands to the left at the back of the choir.

Later on, other deceased were brought down to the vault, particularly in the 15th century, at the time of Philip the Good. These included, in 1432, Antoine, their son, who died at the age of two; in 1446 Catherine de Valois, fiancée of Charles the Bold; in 1452 his illegitimate son, Corneille. In 1480, under Maximilian, bishop of Cambrai, John of Burgundy was even taken there. The calligraphic inscriptions in Gothic lettering date from the time of Philip the Good that refer to John II, his wife and Antoine. Of these tombs, only a small box remains in which the last few remains were collected, in 1834.

The most remarkable tomb is nevertheless that of the Archduke Ernest of Austria, governor of the southern Low Countries for only one year, who died unexpectedly in 1595. His brother, the Archduke Albert, succeeded him. The mortal remains of Ernest of Austria should have been taken back to Vienna to be placed in the crypt of the Capuchins. They were finally brought here in 1600, in a lead sarcophagus protected by a thick wooden chest.

During the excavations (SEE ILLUSTRATION), this is where several remarkable items were found: his large, ceremonial sword entirely decorated on the hilt and the scabbard, a small crucifix engraved with his coat of arms, his pearl-embroidered hat and a golden chalice (SEE ILLUSTRATION) containing, as the engraved inscription specifies, the Archduke's heart. It was at around this time that a beautiful cenotaph was created, depicting Ernest laid to rest; it is currently placed at the back of the choir opposite the Brabant lion.

Use of the vault was last made in 1834 when the first son of Leopold I died, aged only a few months. The coffin of the little prince, who would have become King of the Belgians, was moved, in 1993,
to the funerary crypt of Notre-Dame de Laeken.