Chertsey Abbey floor tiles: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin

Most of the pavement tiles from Chertsey Abbey (Surrey) were discovered in 1852, even though the medieval building was demolished for building material. The glazed earthenware tiles from this floor mosaic had been removed from their original location and stored in a disorganized way in a garden. They remained there until Manwaring Schurlock took an interest in them. He attempted to reconstruct them and published a catalogue in 1885. Dating from the middle of the thirteenth century, they are now part of the British Museum collection.

Amongst the tiles are roundels with historiated scenes based on the stories of Tristan and Richard the Lionheart.

Two roundels, consisting of four quarter tiles, have been reassembled and identified as the battle between Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen Sultan Saladin. After they had been restored, the two roundels were incorporated back into a mosaic of decorative tiles from the Chertsey Abbey pavement, but without any certainty as to their original layout[1].

The roundel on the left represents cavalier wearing chainmail and heaume, charging with a lance. The leopards of England on his shield and the crown on his heaume clearly indicate that the lancer is Richard the Lionheart (reigned 1189–1199). Richard went on the Third Crusade with Philip II of France. Their main opponent was Saladin, who had captured the city of Jerusalem from the Franks in 1187, thus provoking a new Crusade. Richard, who was preoccupied with the political situation in England, eventually had to make a truce with his enemy in 1192, and ceded the inland Syrian and Palestinian territory to Saladin. Historically, Saladin did not die at Richard's hands—only in legend did he slay the great Sultan.

In the roundel on the right, a cavalier dressed in a tunic and turban has been knocked of his horse by the lance running through his body. His clothing and his sword, which has a wide bevelled blade and is like a scimitar, identifies him as an Eastern warrior. His large eyes show contrition and are wide open on his tormented face, and blood can be seen spilling from his mouth.

Even though the left-hand quarter of this roundel has not been recovered, two elements of the composition emphasize the negative nature of this Muslim cavalier. Firstly, he’s holding his sabre in his left hand, which is very unusual, as there were very few left-handed soldiers and they were generally regarded as negative in western medieval representations—an old tradition echoed in the Scriptures[2].

Furthermore, the Moor’s horse is collapsing under him and thus recalls the mount in  l’allégorie de l’Orgueil (Allegory of Pride), which is depicted in cycles showing the triumph of Virtue over Vice on many doors of Gothic cathedrals. One representation of the theme, which is in fact quite similar in style, can be found in Villard de Honnecourt’s manuscript (f. 3v). The same detail appears on a quarter section of the stained glass roundel showing Charlemagne battling the Saracens in Chartres Cathedral[3]. It represents the paladins in pursuit of the Saracens: an infidel, whose horse is collapsing under him, is being killed by a Christian with a lance. The desire to show Saladin’s horse stumbling under him, like the allegorical horse of Pride, emphasizes the temerity of the Sultan who dared to confront Richard the Lionheart. In contrast, the king of England’s horse seems to be almost flying over the rough ground dotted with plants.

The battle’s iconography is similar to other legendary battles between Christians and Infidels, such as the battle between Roland and the giant Ferragut[4].

[2] See, Histoire des gauchers, by P.M. Bertrand, Paris, 2001, particularly p. 19 and s.

[3] The stained glass is located in the small northeast chapel of the ambulatory in Chartres Cathedral and is no. 23 on the plan drawn up by the Corpus Vitrearum (international organization of stained glass historians).

[4] This battle is represented in various places: on a capital from the second half of the twelfth century in the Palace of the kings of Navarre in Estella, Spain, and on the previously mentioned (see preceding note) stained glass roundel, dating from the beginning of the thirteenth century, showing Charlemagne battling the Saracens in Chartres Cathedral.