The Priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs was an influential
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
established in what is now the city of
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 ...
, France. Its surviving buildings are considered treasures of
Medieval architecture
Medieval architecture is architecture common in the Middle Ages, and includes religious, civil, and military buildings. Styles include pre-Romanesque, Romanesque, and Gothic. While most of the surviving medieval architecture is to be seen in c ...
in the city.
History
Foundations
The oldest known structure on the site was a
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
dedicated to St.
Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...
, founded during the
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
, which appears in a text of 710. At a date which remains unknown, a community of monks became established there around the chapel. The
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 ...
they founded was pillaged and destroyed by
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
invaders during the late 10th century.
In 1060, King
Henry I of France chose to rebuild the complex of the former abbey, intending it then to be a
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 ...
of
canons regular
Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...
. At that era, it still remained outside the walls of the city, thus its designation as ''des champs'' (in the fields). In 1079 the priory was given to St.
Hugh of Cluny and became a
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 ...
community, which developed into one of the major houses of the
Congregation of Cluny, The priory soon gained major landholdings throughout the region, becoming second in importance only to the Royal
Abbey of St-Denis
The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, a northern ...
.
The priory church was completed in 1135, having a choir section with a double
ambulatory, topped by a simple ribbed arch. The
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
was completed during the 13th century, as was the
refectory of the priory. The later two are attributed to
Pierre de Montreuil
Pierre de Montreuil (died 17 March 1267) was a French architect. The name formerly given to him by architectural historians, Peter of Montereau (in French, Pierre de Montereau), is a misnomer. It was based on his tombstone inscription ''Musterolo ...
. These are the only surviving portions of the monastic complex today.
The priory maintained a major presence in the religious and social life of Paris. It became the site of the last officially sanctioned
trial by combat in France in 1386, when both the king and the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
of Paris authorized such a contest between the knights
Jean de Carrouges
Sir Jean de Carrouges IV (c. 1330s – 25 September 1396) was a French knight who governed estates in Normandy as a vassal of Count Pierre d'Alençon and who served under Admiral Jean de Vienne in several campaigns against the Kingdom of Engl ...
and
Jacques Le Gris, when the former charged the latter with raping his wife.
Decline
Over time, the priory fell subject to the system of
commendatory abbots and became the property of a number of titular priors. The famous
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...
can be counted among their number.
The priory was
suppressed in 1790 under the new laws of 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 buildings were used as a prison. The monastic walls and dormitories were soon torn down.
Legacy
The surviving structures of the priory became the home of the
Museum of Arts and Crafts, which opened there in 1802. The original
Foucault Pendulum
The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. A long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circular a ...
was housed there from 1855 until it was irreparably damaged in 2010.
[Peter's Paris]
See also
*
French Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture appeared in France at the end of the 10th century, with the development of feudal society and the rise and spread of monastic orders, particularly the Benedictines, which built many important abbeys and monasteries in th ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Martin des Champs Priory
7th-century establishments in Francia
900s disestablishments
1060 establishments in Europe
1060s establishments in France
1790 disestablishments in France
Cluniac monasteries in France
Augustinian monasteries in France
Monasteries destroyed during the French Revolution
Christian monasteries established in the 11th century
Christian monasteries in Paris