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 commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, central France. It is situated southeast of Tours by road, on the left bank of the river Indre. History Loches (the Roman ''Leucae'') grew up around a monastery founded about 500 by St ...

'') is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...

department in central

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 ...

History

A great abbey church named ''Belli Locus'' dedicated to the Holy Sepulchre was founded in the early 11th century by

Fulk Nerra Fulk III, the Black ( 987–1040; fro, Foulque Nerra), 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, along with abbeys throughout the Lo ...

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

, 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 was eclipsed by the patrician John Crescentius. Sergius IV may have called for the expulsion of Mu ...

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 of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

Saints Chrysanthus and Daria Saints Chrysanthus and Daria (3rd century – 283.AD) are 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 (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

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

Archbishop of Tours The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tours (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Turonensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Tours'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd cent ...

by himself sending a

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

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, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

y. Here,

Henry III of France Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 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 ...

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 Alençon's support of the Protestant army besieging Paris that spring. Th ...

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

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

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-les-Loches on the March 1, 1957.

Population

The inhabitants are known as ''Bellilociens''.

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 (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. 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 wi ...

of Viantais, the lord of Bridoré. The nuns that lived there were the "Sisters of the order of

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

, 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 largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

brought about by 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 ...

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 (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked 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 administ ...

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 series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

, 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 Vie ...

(

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of F ...

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 r ...

), 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. Today, the town preserves a superb architectural heritage and many buildings of great interest.

History

Population

Sights

Outside the town

See also