Twin monuments
Cité épiscopale d’Albi
The Episcopal city is organised around the fortress-palace and the Cathedral. These twin monuments correspond to the standard twin spiritual and secular powers.
However, at Albi we see the two side by side, a vivid demonstration of the monopoly of powers detained by the Bishop.
The Bishops’ power over the town was contested by the officers of the king and by Albi’s bourgeoisie, an unequalled manifestation of power was necessary to defend Epsicopal power.
At the same time a rejection of the French, and therefore royal, style of military architecture, led the Bishop to build for himself, his people, his court, his prisons and the prisons of the inquisition, a building of exceptional style, taking regional traditions to new heights.
