Saint-Germer-de-Fly Abbey is a former

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

located in the village of

Saint-Germer-de-Fly Saint-Germer-de-Fly () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is distinguished by the remains of its former abbey, including the current parish church, dating from the 12th century. See also * Communes of the Oise departme ...

, in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

in the

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...

département of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Only the late Romanesque-early

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church remains, now the village parish church. It is regarded as one of the earliest manifestations of the Gothic style in France. A Gothic chapel added in the mid-13th century is noted as a smaller-scale reinterpretation of the

Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle (; en, Holy Chapel) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France. Co ...

of Paris.

History

The abbey was originally built in the 7th century by Saint Germer, its founder and first abbot, as a Benedictine abbey. It was destroyed twice during the invasions of the Normans in the 9th and early 10th centuries, and re-founded as a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

abbey in the 12th century by the

Bishop of Beauvais The Diocese of Beauvais, Noyon, and Senlis ( la, Dioecesis Bellovacensis, Noviomensis et Silvanectensis; french: Diocèse de Beauvais, Noyon et Senlis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The di ...

. The

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

of Saint Germer were moved from

Beauvais Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Peter of Beauvais (french: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Beauvais) is a Roman Catholic church in the northern town of Beauvais, Oise, France. It is the seat of the Bishop of Beauvais, Noyon and Senlis. The cathedral is in t ...

to the abbey in 1132. In the decade of 1130 the abbey built a basilica church in an advanced Romasque style that permitted an unusual amount of light into the interior of the church. The visual lightness of the construction at Saint-Germer-de-Fly was unprecedented and presaged the later Gothic style, with its emphasis on light and lightness. About 1260, Pierre de Wessencourt, the 25th abbot, built the Marian Chapel at the

chevet In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

of the abbey church, which closely resembled the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, built a few years earlier. It is connected to the main church by a narrow passage, and is composed of three vaults with stained glass window-walls. While less lofty than the Sainte-Chapelle, and without its original painted interior, the stonework is more decorated and detailed than the Sainte-Chapelle. It was used as a funerary chapel. The abbey suffered greatly during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

, losing its western front and six vaults. In 1414 the troops of the

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...

destroyed the towers and one bay of the nave. The present west front was rebuilt in the 16th century. In 1644 the abbey was transferred to the reformed Benedictine

Congregation of St. Maur The Congregation of St. Maur, often known as the Maurists, were a congregation of French Benedictines, established in 1621, and known for their high level of scholarship. The congregation and its members were named after Saint Maurus (died 565), ...

, who continued the rebuilding. Like all other monasteries of France, Saint-Germer-de-Fly was confiscated as State property during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and the abbey buildings were destroyed. After the Revolution, the surviving church became the town's parish church. The northern transept, weakened by the removal of tributary structures, was rebuilt in 1808.

Description

The abbey forms a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

, terminating at the head in a semicircle. The façade is quite plain, in contrast with the rest of the church. The ''Sainte-Chapelle'' is a delicate work of

Rayonnant In French Gothic architecture, Rayonnant () is the period from about the mid-13th century to mid-14th century. It was characterized by a shift away from the High Gothic search for increasingly large size toward more spatial unity, refined decora ...

Gothic architecture. Image:Triforium.eglise.Saint.Germer.png, Triforium of Saint-Germer, drawn by Viollet-le-Duc Image:Transition entre styles.JPG, Transition between styles at the connection between the abbey church and the chapel Image:St Germer de Fly - north aisle looking west.jpg, North aisle looking west

Notes

References

Romanes.com: Photographs of Saint-Germer-de-Fly

Deed of 11 May 1248 of the ordinary of Beauvais regarding the sale of land to the abbey
(

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

text and translation into French) * Kimpel, Dieter, 1990: ''L'architecture gothique en France 1130-1270''. Paris: Flammarion.

External links

Photos of Sainte Chapelle en Saint-Germer-de-Fly
. {{Authority control Benedictine monasteries in France Cistercian monasteries in France Christian monasteries established in the 9th century Monasteries destroyed during the French Revolution Churches in Oise Chapels in France Gothic architecture in France