New book by Norman Beaupré - Cajetan the Stargazer
Press release: July 16, 2012
Published local author, Norman Beaupré, has just launched his 17th
book, a novel dealing with the building of medieval cathedrals. It’s
essentially the story of a man called Cajetan who grows up to be a builder of
cathedrals having followed the steps from apprentice to journeyman to master
architect. He is called Cajetan the Stargazer after his grandfather who was a
master sculptor since both he and Cajetan are dreamers with a creative spirit.
Cajetan begins his journey as an apprentice in Reims, France then goes on to
England to pursue his trade until he is sent to Flanders where he earns the
full rank of master architect. Unfortunately, the cathedral he is working on
collapses and he must find his own path in cathedral building. He finds it in Évreux,
France where he builds his very own cathedral as a master architect. He wants
to call it Sainte Marie de la Belle Étoile/Holy Mary of the Beautiful Star.
Prior to his going to Évreux, Cajetan undertakes a
pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella in western Spain where pilgrims went to seek
spiritual strength and guidance under the protection of the apostle Saint James
who is believed to be buried there. This
pilgrimage is well known and made by many even to this day. The novel also touches
upon Cajetan’s sister, Marie Dieudonnée, who becomes the abbess of the
famous Fontevraud Abbey in the Loire Valley where Eleanor of Aquitaine spent
her last years and is buried in its crypt.
Their brother, Abélard François, pursues the path of actor on the
medieval stage, and the novel thus explores medieval theater as well as poetry
written and sung by troubadours. The novel gives the reader an open window on
the creative arts and literature of the Middle Ages while concentrating on the
building of Gothic cathedrals.
Norman Beaupré relied on his copious notes on the Gothic while he
was attending a summer seminar on Gothic architecture in the Île-de-France led
by Professor Stephen Murray of Columbia University in 1989. Beaupré’s
research paper for the National Endowment for the Humanities that sponsored the
summer seminar was based on the Green Man in Gothic architecture. He uses some
of the findings on the Green Man in his novel. That and much research went into
the construction of a highly-readable novel called Cajetan the Stargazer based on history and architecture of the late
13th and early 14th Centuries in Europe.
For more information on Norman Beaupré, visit his website at http://www.nrbeaupre.com/