No other religion attributes such importance to a female figure

The Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, whose partial destruction by fire and restoration have transfixed the whole world, is dedicated, as its name suggests, to Mary, mother of Jesus Christ.

Around half of all French cathedrals (170 in all) also bear the name Notre-Dame, and nearly half of all churches in France and the rest of the Catholic world are also named after the Virgin Mary, under different names.

The Virgin is also the most frequently depicted figure in Western art. That's how important she is to the Catholic religion. It is enough to make God the Father and his Son jealous, to say nothing of the Holy Spirit!

No other religion attributes such importance to a female figure. This pre-eminence, dating back to the early Middle Ages, is still reflected in French culture and the Western civilization, which France largely helped develop.

We can't understand the place of women in Western society, which is more free than in any other society, without addressing the religious fervor that surrounded the figure of Mary in the Age of Cathedrals (11th-13th centuries).

André Larané, with contributions from Claudia Peiró (Buenos Aires)

www.herodote.net