t church and the richest foundation in the whole country, to have
done with the other churches which though contemporary with Alcobaca
are not the work of French but of native workmen, or at least of such as
had not gone further than to Galicia for their models.

[Sidenote: Se, Lisbon.]

The same year that saw the fall of Santarem saw also the more important
capture of Lisbon. Taken by the Moors in 714, it had long been their
capital, and although thrice captured by the Christians had always been
recovered. In this enterprise Affonso Henriques was helped by a body of
Crusaders, mostly English, who sailing from Dartmouth were persuaded by
the bishop of Oporto to begin their Holy War in Portugal, and when
Lisbon fell, one of them, Gilbert of Hastings, was rewarded by being
made its first bishop. Of the cathedral, begun three years later, in
1150, little but the plan of the nave and transept has survived. Much
injured by an earthquake in 1344, the whole choir was rebuilt on a
French model by Affonso IV. only to be again destroyed in 1755. The
original plan must have been very like that of Braga, an aisleless
transept, a nave and aisles of six bays, and two square towers beyond
with a porch between. The two towers are now very plain with large
belfry windows near the top, but there are traces here and there of old
built-up round-headed openings which show that the walls at least are
really old. The outer arch of the porch has been rebuilt since the
earthquake, but the original door remains inside, with a carved
hood-mould, rich abacus, and four orders of mouldings enriched with
small balls in their hollows. The eight plain shafts stand on unusually
high pedestals and have rather long capitals, some carved with flat
acanthus leaves and some with small figures of men and animals.

Like that of the cathedral of Coimbra, which was being built about the
same time, the inside is clearly founded on the great cathedral of
Santiago, itself a copy of S. Sernin at Toulouse, and quite uninfluenced
by the French design of Alcobaca. The piers are square with a half-shaft
on each face, the arches are round, and the aisles covered with plain
unribbed fourpart vaulting, while the main aisle is roofed with a round
barrel. Instead of the large open gallery, which at Santiago allows the
quadrant vault supporting the central barrel to be seen, there is here a
low blind arcade of small round arches. Unfortunately, when restored
after the disas