Beaulieu-lès-Loches (, literally ''Beaulieu

near NEAR or Near may refer to: People * Thomas J. Near, US evolutionary ichthyologist * Near, a developer who created the higan emulator Science, mathematics, technology, biology, and medicine * National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR), a form ...

Loches Loches (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is situated southeast of Tours by road, on the left bank of the river Indre (river), Indre. History Loch ...

'') is a commune in the

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.department in central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

A great abbey church named ''Belli Locus'' dedicated to the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Some ...

was founded in the early 11th century by

Fulk Nerra Fulk III, the Black ( 970–1040; ) was an early Count of Anjou celebrated as one of the first great builders of medieval castles. It is estimated Fulk constructed approximately 100 castles as well as abbeys throughout the Loire Valley in what is ...

Count of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by King Charles the Bald, Charles the Bald of West Francia in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the t ...

, who is buried in the chancel. In 1011

Pope Sergius IV Pope Sergius IV (died 12 May 1012) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 31 July 1009 to his death. His temporal power (papal), temporal power was eclipsed by the patrician John Crescentius. Sergius IV may have calle ...

donated some

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

Saints Chrysanthus and Daria Saints Chrysanthus and Daria (3rd century – 283 AD) were saints of the Early Christian period. Their names appear in the ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'', an early martyrs list, and a church in their honour was built over their reputed grave in ...

and Fulk himself a piece of the Holy Sepulchre he stole from his visit to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

to the abbey. The pope settled a dispute over the abbey's consecration with the

Archbishop of Tours The Archdiocese of Tours (; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd century, while the formal erection of the diocese dates from the 5th century. The ecclesiastical pro ...

by himself sending a

legate Legate may refer to: People * Bartholomew Legate (1575–1611), English martyr * Julie Anne Legate (born 1972), Canadian linguistics professor * William LeGate (born 1994), American entrepreneur Political and religious offices *Legatus, a hig ...

to consecrate it. Around the abbey, a town developed, with a charter of rights for a market and fairs. A mint was permitted at the abbey. Beaulieu was once the seat of a

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

y. Here,

Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...

signed the

Edict of Beaulieu The Edict of Beaulieu (also known at the time as the Peace of Monsieur) was promulgated from Beaulieu-lès-Loches on 6 May 1576 by Henry III of France, who was pressured by François, Duke of Anjou, Alençon's support of the Protestant army besieg ...

in 1576 to put an end to the fifth war of religion, granting

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

better rights. Soon after, the sixth war of religion started. Beaulieu had, in the past, a more successful economical life than that of its near neighbours in Loches, until the 19th century. The town declined after that and now is considered no more than a suburb of Loches. As evidence of the decline, from the demographic standpoint, the decrease from 1750 inhabitants (in 1769) to 1720 (in 1999) occurred over a period when the total French population has more than doubled. Beaulieu was renamed Beaulieu-lès-Loches on 1 March 1957.

Population

The inhabitants are known as ''Bellilociens'' in French.

Sights

Three churches were built in the town: Saint Laurent, St. Pierre and St André. Today, only Saint Laurent stands, dating from the fifteenth century and comprising the chancel and one transept of the abbey of the Holy Sepulchre. Of the abbey, the Romanesque nave is in ruins, but of the two towers one survives intact; it is square, crowned with an octagonal steeple of stone, and is one of the finest extant monuments of Romanesque architecture. Only vestigial traces remain of the other two churches. There once existed an aristocratic neighbourhood, the House of the Templars and the house of the "Salt Attic" being most notable buildings. Of the abbey’s minor buildings, the Prior’s house and some convent buildings (where the Town Hall is now located) still exist, as well as the cloisters and gardens surrounding the abbey. The Convent of the Viantaises, now all but gone, was founded in 1643 by Catherine-Angélique and Rénée-Thérèse of Boursault, daughters of the

Marquis A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wido ...

of Viantais, the lord of

Bridoré Bridoré () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France. The co ...

. The nuns that lived there were the "Sisters of the order of

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, Daughters of the mother of God" and they came from the grandest families in the region. Isolated from the world by a five-meters-high wall, the convent was situated in a poorly drained marshy area, harmful to the health of the nuns, several of whom died early, of various fevers. This convent was dissolved in 1791, following the opposition of the nuns to the reorganization of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

brought about by the French Revolution.

Outside the town

The remains of the chapel of a leper colony (La Madeleine), built in the 12th century, is still visible outside the walls of the town. You can see the canal of Beaulieu, built on the orders of the monks, to drain the waters of the

Indre Indre (); is a department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administrative region of Cent ...

and facilitate the construction of mills. Some walls are still visible but the gateways were destroyed at the end of the 18th century because they interfered with timber transportation. One other notable building, the Chevaleau tower, dates back to the 12th century, a small keep on the route de

. During the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a c ...

, the town was besieged, sacked and generally used and abused by the troops besieging the fortress of

. After this difficult period, the town of Beaulieu never really recovered. Despite the return of the kings to

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...

(

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious () or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a ''de facto'' end of the English claims to ...

having lived in

) and the re-installation of some noble families in the town (for example, the house of

Agnès Sorel Agnès Sorel (; 1422 – 9 February 1450), known by the sobriquet ''Dame de beauté'' (Lady of Beauty), was a favourite and chief mistress of King Charles VII of France, by whom she bore four daughters. She is considered the first officially ...

), the position did not improve. The Wars of Religion saw a return to more disturbances in the town, which eventually put itself gently to sleep.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieulesloches Communes of Indre-et-Loire