Louis the Pious (814-840)
Second Issue - after 818-9
(for a larger version click here)
A Visitor's Guide to Carolingian
France
V: Aquitaine, Perigord and Neighbors
Home page (and contact info) Carolingian
coins Visitor's Guide Home Page
(7.2)
Astier: Eglise St. Martin
The church is 9th to 12th century. The 9th
century part is the octagonal tower at one end. The design was inspired
by Charlemagne's church in Aachen. The church stands along outside the
village and the key is available at a neighboring farm. The loggia
structure is of uncertain purpose. One suggestion is that it was
defensive, another was that it was able to hold a fire to light a
pilgrim route. There are three windows in the church and they may have
been tied to the solstice. The tower is not integrated into the later
construction and the on site guide says this is unique in France. The
nave is 12th century and of poorer quality stone, whereas the the 9th
century ceiling is a stone cupola. The church has nice acoustics.
**
**
The interior has been renovated in a way that does
not preserve the original feel of the church. Astier is about 25 - 30
miles NNW of Bergerac. Don't confuse it with St. Astier.
Civaux
**
The church of St. Gervais et St. Protais
in Civaux has a rounded 4th C apse and interior 10th C vaulting, subsequently
covered. The tower dates from the 12th C. The most interesting feature
is not so much the church as the necropolis right outside the church, with
tombs going back to the 2nd C. This next photo is of the area to the left
of the car pictured behind the church. The sarcophagus with the sign is
Merovingian.
In fact, the great interest of Civaux
is its Merovingian necropolis, located several blocks from the church.
The original necropolis covered 7 acres and had over 15,000 graves. Today
the area is much smaller, with a fence made of sarcophagi lids surrounding
the cemetery. The picture to the left includs the ruins of an old, but
post Carolingian chapel. The cemetery includes contemporary graves and
is open to visitors. It is fascinating.
**
Civaux is about 20 Km SE of Poitiers.
It is right next to a nuclear generating facility, making for an interesting
juxtaposition between the very old and very modern.
Creysse
The church
is described in the regional Michelin Green Guide as 'pre-Romanesque'
but on site it is described as 12th century. The reconciliation is that
while the church is largely 12th century, it was built to incorporate
an earlier pre-Romanesque chapel. The church is unusual in that it has
a double apse. I think the left apse is the earlier one (based on
architectural detail - see the arch for example). The church is on a
hill of a small medieval village with a lot of charm. There is a
restaurant with garden at the base of the hill, next to the river.
Creysse is located east of Les Eyzies.
Fenioux
**
The church goes back to the 9th C.
for the walls of the nave. It is particularly known for the bases of the
pillars of the nave. The interior picture above shows the partial pillars
and the pictures below show the decorative pillar bases. This church also
suffered from "une restoration trop radicale" at the end of the 19th C.
(Cote de Atlantique 82, 10th edition)
**
Fenioux is a very small community,
actually a hamlet, N of Bordeaux, N of Saintes, 8 km S of St. Jean d'Angely.
It is just E of the A10.
Ligue and
the abbey of St. Martin
**
The abbey of St. Martin is both
promising but frustrating. This is largely a pre Carolingian site. The
crypt above right dates from the 7th C, as do the floor tiles to the left.
Unfortunately, these were not available to visit in the fall 2005. The
crypt is apparently dangerous and undergoing renovation, with an open date
in 2006. There was not much to see. Outside one of the current buildings
is a foundation of the early church.
The abbey has an interesting history.
Martin, who became the famous St. Martin of Tours, was stationed here in
the 4th C. He ultimately became bishops of Tours and died at Candes, at
the confluence of the Vienne and the Loire, in 397. Shortly after his death
a monument was built to him at Ligue. At the end of the 7th C. a church
was built in memory of St. Martin, the site having become a pilgrimage
destination. This was also a monastery.
However, the monastery drops out
of the historical record during the Carolingian age, from 700 until about
1000. It was not included in Louis the Pious' list of monasteries of 817.
Its history is uncertain, although I have seen suggestions that it was
destroyed by the Saracen invasion of 732, led by Abd. er Rahman, before
he was subsequently defeated by Charles Martel at Moussais north of Poitiers.
The monastery was resurrected during
the reign of Hugh Capet by Aumode, wife of William the Great, comte de
Poitou. This is a working abbey today, with a very modern (20th C) church.
Today the abbey is known for it enamel art.
The abbey is 8 km S of Poitiers
on small roads. It is between the N10 and D741.
Limoges
Eudes (887-898)
(for a larger version of this coin, click here)
AR denier, 22mm, 1.72gr. Obv: +GRATIA
D-I REX, central monogram. Rev: +LIMOVICAS CIVIS, central cross, reversed
'S' in CIVIS. Limoges mint
in Aquitaine. R1697; MG 1332; Dep 14
B1, 511 (1122 examples); MEC 974; not in Bel; Nouchy E24.
The drawing to the left is of the church of St. Martial, as
it looked in the middle ages. It is necessary to rely on a drawing since
today there is no above ground remnant of the church. The crypt, however,
has survived, and is currently under the Place de la Republique in the
heart of Limoges. The crypt was rediscovered, with the remains of St. Martial
and Ste. Valerie, when the site was excavated to build an underground parking
garage in the 1970s. It is entered by a very unpresupposing staircase on
one side of the Place.
St. Martial was a contemporary of
Gregory of Tours and they traveled together in the 3rd C. By the 6th C.
he was buried in Limoges and this became a pilgrimage site. There ultimately
came to be built three adjacent churches in the vicinity, with the initial
basilica St. Pierre du Sepulcre dating from the 6th C. This is evident
in the foundation imprints seen below. To the left, under the text, is
the church of St. Martial. To the right are the foundations of the churches
of St. Benoit and St. Pierre. If I follow this correctly, St. Pierre came
to be built over the original burial site of St. Martial. All are visitable
today.
In 848 Charles the Bald granted
permission to the abbots here to follow the rule of St. Benoit. Charles'
son (Charles the Infant) was crowned king of Aquitaine here in 855.
The church burnt in the mid 10th C and was rebuilt in 952. The relics of
St. Martial were moved at the end of the 10th century, and returned after
people came to believe that a series of disasters in the region were caused
by an angry St. Martial. The picture on the left below shows the tomb of
St. Martial that dates from this period. The mosaics are distinctive. The
picture to the right is a probable 12th C tomb in the St. Beniot/St. Pierre
part of the crypt.
In the 11th C the abbey came under
Cluniac rule and at the end of the century the church was rebuilt again,
after another fire. Jumping ahead, Richard the Lion Hearted was declared
duc of Aquitaine at St. Martial. The abbey flourished in the 12th C. but
declined after the 100 Years War. It became a secular building in the 16th
C. and was finally sold to a demolition firm in 1791. All signs of
the abbey were gone by 1806 and the crypts were forgotten.
**
Limoges is about 400 km S of Paris
on the A20.
Melle and Its Carolingian
Mines
Pippin II (840-52)
(for a larger version of this coin, click
here)
AR denier,
21mm, 1.61gr. Obv: +PIPINVS REX EQ, central cross in solid circle. Rev:
+METVLLO, central Pippin monogram P-IN-S-R. Mint is Melle. R1872, MG 606
as Pippin I or II; Dep 9F1, 615 (33 examples), "les tres grande majorite
des monnaies de Pippin II fut frappe entre 845-848 ... Melle fut un atelier
tres important." This coin is conservative in design, following Charlemagne's
lead with the ruler's name on the obverse and a personal monogram on the
reverse. MEC 814. Prou 689.
Melle
is the site of the silver mines that were the metal source for
many Carolingian coins. It is possible to visit the galleries and see demonstrations
of early minting techniques. Melle was a wonderfully prolific mint during
the Carolingian era, and equally problematic in the attribution of much
of its output. For example, it is very difficult to separate the Melle
coins of Charles the Bald and Charlemagne, to the chagrin of many collectors.
You can visit the mines
of Melle web site. This image of medieval coin making is from the mine
web site.
Today you enter the mines by newer
shafts that have been cut into the cliff face. In Carolingian times, the
mines were accessed via vertical shafts. These older shafts still exist.
In winter pictures with snow on the ground, you can see the shaft locations
because the warmer air from the mines melts the snow around the shafts.
The mines themselves are hollowed out by the mining operation. The mining
process started by building a fire against the mine wall and letting it
burn for several days. The heat fractured the rock, which was then chiseled
out with picks. The rock was then washed and crushed. The ore of interest
included silver embedded in lead. This heavier ore separated from other
mining output in the washing due to its differential weight. It was then
further treated to separate the silver from the lead. The top photo shows
the modern entrances to the mines. The next shows some of the mine's
This photo, from a museum publication,
shows what current archeologists think would be the size of a typical fire.
This approach naturally came to put a stress on local wood resources.
**
The mines themselves are very old.
They were started back in the 5th century as a source of galena, an
ore that combines lead and silver. The Merovingians used the mines primarily
for their lead. Melle was taxed and paid in lead, which ended up on the
roof of the abbey of St. Denis in Paris. Melle was taxed 8000 lbs of lead
every two years. The mines are extensive. The map shows a hard to read
scale of 5 meters. The exterior photo above is the lower part of the map,
what looks like a bay facing left. The mines ran their course during the
Carolingian era and were essentially abandoned in the 9th C. The Melle
mint mark moved to Poitiers and silver came from another source. Visitors
have the opportunity to take hammer to a lead planchet and strike their
own denier. This gives a clearer insight as to how there came to be weak
and off centered strikes. This is a 'must see' visit for numismatists with
a Carolingian interest.
Melle is about 55 km SSE of Poitiers
on the D950. If you found St. Jean d'Angely, it is to the NW also on the
D950.
Abbey de Nouaillé-Maupertuis
The abbey is in an attractive valley.
The site has a twofold interest. It played a role in the Battle
of Poitiers in the Hundred Years War, known locally as the Battle
of Nouaillé. Secondly, and for our purpose, the church has a 9th
C tomb of St. Junien. This was a pilgrimage site. I think while this
is a 9th C shrine, the body is elsewhere, perhaps in the church of St.
Junien in a town by the same name. This church dates from the 11th to 15th
centuries. The interior vaulting is 12th C. The shrine is behind the altar.
**
The abbey is about 7 miles southeast
of Poitiers.
Poitiers: Baptistery of St. Jean
*
The Baptistery of St. Jean dates
from the 4th C. The building has undergone modification over time. The
schematic above, on the left, is the original design. The original baptistery
still exists, making this one of, if not the oldest, religious buildings
in France. The narthex dates from the 10th C. The top photo is of
the back of the building. The semi-circular shape chapel is a 19th C renovation.
The photo to the right of the interior shows the entrance and is consistent
with the right image on the schematic. The interior of the Baptistery is
interesting in terms of the detail of the carving on the capitals, and
the actual baptistery font. There is a Merovingian museum with ancient
sarcophagi, including an unusual his and hers example. Poitiers is 355
km generally S of Paris on the A10.
Figeac:
Hotel de la Monnaies has (I think) a collection of ancient, including Carolingian
coins. (Perigord 106, 13th edition, undated). Figeac looks like an attractive
medieval city. This image is the restored Hotel de la Monnaies. The city
web site is Figeac.
Figeac is in the Dordogne which is an attractive area to visit regardless
of the tenuous Carolingian connection. There are a number of Cro Magnan
caves in the area. It is SE of Rocomadour, the medieval pilgrimage city.
It is ENE of Cahors (which itself is E of Bordeaux). Figeac is about 575
km from Paris.
Belcastel
**
**
Belcastel is one of the Beautiful Villages
in France. It is located on the Aveyron River. The castle is perched above
the village. The first construction on the hill were chapels in the 9th
and 10th centuries. By the 11th century the territory had come under the
control of the counts of Rouergue who started fortifying the site. The
first mention of a fortification is in 1040. This fortification was built
over the initial Carolingian chapels. The chateau was continually built
on over the centuries, but the foundation chapels remained. They were variously
used as for dungeons or storage, and over the centuries became filled in
with dirt and rubble. In 1974 Fernand Pouillon bought the ruined chateau
and undertook a major restoration, resulting in the buildings we see today.
As part of the restoration, he excavated the Carolingian chapels.
The picture top right shows the
approach to the chapels. It a fairly steep downhill grade, and the chapels
are off to the left. The second set of pictures shows these Carolingian
era vaults, now a part of the castle's foundations. The last picture is
a remnant of a fresco found on the wall of the lower vault.
Belcastel is worth the visit. There
is an attractive hotel and (in 2009) a Michelin star restaurant here. There
are also rooms available in the castle.
**
