her than what it became under
the direction of Huguet: but the downfall of the nave has been so
complete that it is only possible to make out that there must have been
a well-developed clerestory and a high vaulted central aisle. What makes
this destruction all the more regrettable is the fact that the church
was full of splendid tombs, especially that of the Holy Constable
himself: a magnificent piece of carving in alabaster sent from Flanders
by Dom Joao's daughter, Isabel, duchess of Flanders.[85]

After this catastrophe an attempt was made to rebuild the church, but
little was done, and it still remains a complete ruin, having been used
since the suppression of all monasteries in 1834 as an Archaeological
Museum where many tombs and other architectural fragments may still be
seen.

[Sidenote: Villar de Frades.]

Towards the end of King Joao's reign a man named Joao Vicente, noting
the corruption into which the religious orders were falling, determined
to do what he could by preaching and example to bring back a better
state of things. He first began his work in Lisbon, but was driven from
there by the bishop to find a refuge at Braga. There he so impressed the
archbishop that he was given the decayed and ruined monastery of Villar
de Frades in 1425. Soon he had gathered round him a considerable body of
followers, to whom he gave a set of rules and who, after receiving the
papal sanction, were known as the Canons Secular of St. John the
Evangelist or, popularly, Loyos, because their first settlement in
Lisbon was in a monastery formerly dedicated to St. Eloy. The church at
Villar, which is of considerable size, was probably long of building, as
the elliptical-headed west door with its naturalistic treelike posts has
details which did not become common till at least the very end of the
century. Inside the church consists of a nave of five bays, flanked with
chapels but not aisles, transepts which are really only enlarged
chapels, and a chancel like the nave but without chapels. The chief
feature of the inside is the very elaborate vaulting, which with the
number and intricacy of its ribs, is not at all unlike an English
Perpendicular vault, and indeed would need but little change to develop
into a fan vault. Here then there has been a considerable advance from
the imperfect vaulting of the central aisle at Batalha, where the
diagonal ribs had to be squeezed in wherever they could go, although
there are at Villar no