Saint-Benoît-du-Sault (; oc, Sent Benet de Saul) 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
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 ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
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 ...
.
It is a medieval village, perched in a curve on a rocky butte overlooking the Portefeuille River in the former
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
settled by a powerful
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
ic tribe, the
Bituriges The Gaulish name Bituriges, meaning 'kings of the world', can refer to:
* Bituriges Cubi, an ancient Gallic tribe dwelling around modern Bourges
* Bituriges Vivisci, an ancient Gallic tribe dwelling around modern Bordeaux
{{Disambiguation ...
, "Kings of the World" (summa penes imperii bituriges), powerful until their defeat against
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
at
Bourges
Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry.
History
The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...
(Avaricum), part of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
Aquitania
Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gallia ...
.
Two
dolmens
A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...
(Passebonneau and des Gorces) near to Saint-Benoît-du-Sault attest to the ancientness of human presence, if not of the Bituriges. Ten centuries later, in 974, some benedictine
monks
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...
of
Sacierges-Saint-Martin
Sacierges-Saint-Martin (Limousin: ''Chapsierjas'') is a commune in the Indre department in central France.
Geography
The commune is located in the parc naturel régional de la Brenne.
The river Abloux flows west through the northern part of t ...
took refuge on a granite spur, where they founded a priory: ''Salis'', future Saint-Benoît-du-Sault. From the 10th to the 17th century, the history of the
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...
and the new
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
is made up of resistance to the possessive desires of
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
neighbours, such as the Limoges and de Brosse family.
The town was surrounded by a double line of ramparts. The first, the most ancient, protected the priory, the church and the fort, the second established in the 15th century, encircled the commercial part.
Its maze of narrow cobbled streets remains popular with sightseers.
Population
Sights
Of architectural significance:
* Belfry.
* 14th-century portal.
* 14th-century Roman Priory. (
Monuments Historiques
''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...
)
* The
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
city in general.
* Castle of Brosse
Image:Saintbenoitdusault2.JPG, 14th-century portal
Image:Saintbenoitdusault3.JPG, Medieval town
Personalities
People associated with Saint-Benoît-du-Sault:
*
Hervé Faye
Hervé Auguste Étienne Albans Faye ( – ) was a French astronomer, born at Saint-Benoît-du-Sault (Indre) and educated at the École Polytechnique, which he left in 1834, before completing his course, to accept a position in the Paris Obse ...
(1814–1902), astronomer
*
François-Timoléon de Choisy
François Timoléon, abbé de Choisy (; 16 August 1644 – 2 October 1724) was a French cross-dresser, abbé, and author. He wrote numerous works on church history as well as travelogues, memoirs and fiction.
Biography
De Choisy was born in Pari ...
(1644–1724), priest and author
*
Herbert Southworth Herbert Rutledge Southworth (February 6, 1908 – October 30, 1999) was a writer, journalist and historian specializing in the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent Francoist State in Spain and whose work led the Francoist ministry of information to ...
(1908–1999), historian
See also
*
Communes of the Indre department
The following is a list of the 241 communes of the Indre department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Fleury abbay) 878-1050.