![Saint-Martial_sur_plan_de_Limoges](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Saint-Martial_sur_plan_de_Limoges.jpg)
The Abbey of Saint Martial (french: Abbaye Saint-Martial, Limoges;
Limousin
Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
: ''Abadiá de Sent Marçau de Limòtges'') was a monastery in
Limoges
Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...
,
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 ...
, founded in 848 and dissolved in 1791.
The buildings were razed at the beginning of the 19th century. The only remaining part is the 10th-century
crypt
A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.
Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...
, which was rediscovered in 1960, and which contains the tomb of
Saint Martial
Saint Martial (3rd century), called "the Apostle of the Gauls" or "the Apostle of Aquitaine", was the first bishop of Limoges. His feast day is 30 June.
Life
There is no accurate information as to the origin, dates of birth and death, or the acts ...
, the first
bishop of Limoges
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Limoges (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lemovicensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Limoges'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is ...
, and also that of Saint
Valerie of Limoges
Valerie may refer to:
People
*Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie
*Valerie (given name), a feminine given name
Songs
*"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash''
*"Valerie", a 1982 son ...
, another, possibly legendary, early
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
.
Origins
The origins of the abbey lie in the graveyard outside the original Roman settlement of Augustoritum. This is the site of the Place de la République, at the commercial heart of modern Limoges. The cemetery was the reputed burial place of early Christian martyrs, including Saint Martial, the first bishop of Limoges. This evolved into a place of pilgrimage in
Merovingian
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 ...
times. By the 6th century, according to
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...
, there was a funerary chapel above Saint Martial's tomb, in the care of a small community of clerics, who were recognised as a congregation of canons in the reign of the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
ruler,
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
(814-840). This community 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 ...
abbey in 848, under
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...
. A
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
above the tomb of Saint Martial dates from approximately this time, and is set in hard cement from an earlier period, indicating that the shrine was already well-established and of some antiquity by the time the abbey was founded.
History
The abbey grew in importance and elaboration, alongside the "City of the Castle". This was a major commercial centre, under the patronage of the abbot, and outside the boundaries and control of the Cathedral City, dominated by the bishop. The body of Saint Martial was, at some time in the late 9th century, taken from its sarcophagus and placed for a time in a golden shrine in the great new church which was built over the spot. Here it was a magnet for pilgrims on the
Way of St. James
The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...
, benefiting from the wider pilgrim traffic throughout Western Europe.
The abbey reached the peak of its importance in the century following its take-over by
Cluny Abbey
Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter.
The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...
in 1065, when it was famed for its literature and music. However, the shrine was stolen by
Henry II of England
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...
, who was also the Duke of Aquitaine. Turmoil in the land was interpreted as the saint's response to the disturbance of his bones. The body was reburied and an altar placed above it.
The disturbances of the 12th century were followed by a period of rebuilding and a century of renewed prosperity. However, they had been only a foretaste of the destruction and disruption of 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, ...
. The
Limousin
Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
was not spared in the dynastic and religious conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries. The abbey went through a protracted decline and it never recovered the greatness of its heyday.
There was considerable rebuilding and repair in the early 18th century. However, in 1791, 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 ...
, the abbey community was dissolved, and in the following year the sacking and demolition of the building began. By 1807 this was complete. The area was levelled and turned into a new public space, the Place de la République. Portions of the relics of the martyrs, allegedly saved by faithful Catholic citizens of Limoges, were rehoused in the nearby
church of St. Michel des Lions
The church of Saint Michel des Lions (french: église Saint-Michel-des-Lions; Limousin oc, egleisa de Sent Micheu daus Lions) is one of the main churches in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France. It derives its name from the two Gallo-Roman stone lions t ...
. The twin Castle and Cathedral cities were at last unified into a single municipality under
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
governance.
Excavations were carried out from 1960, on the initiative of the city council, in the hope of uncovering the remains of the abbey and the shrine of Saint Martial. By 1962, the crypt containing the tombs of Saints Martial and Valerie had been rediscovered. Excavations were then pushed further to the east, revealing more church buildings belonging to the abbey. From 1966, the crypt with the surrounding area was consolidated and opened to the public, the whole being covered with a large concrete slab. Today, it is entered down a flight of steps from the Place de la République above. Admission is free.
Excavations started again in July 2015 to carry out detailed studies of the remains before revamping of the Place de la Republique.
Music
The abbey was the center of several important developments in
medieval music
Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and followed by the Renaissance ...
, including liturgical chant,
early polyphony and troubadours' songs. The first chant manuscripts show revisions of the early 11th century, when Roger de Chabannes introduced his nephew
Adémar as cantor and scriptor of notation. A significant body of
plainchant
Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. ...
and
tonaries for its modal classification had been written at the scriptorium of this Abbey (among them Pa
909
__NOTOC__
Year 909 ( CMIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Britain
* King Edward the Elder and his sister, Princess Æthelflæd of Mercia, raid Danish ...
,
1120,
1121,
1132,
1240). Adémar de Chabannes composed not only sequences and prosulae, but also music for a festal octave for the Patron St Martial. He engaged in vain for the recognition of St Martial as an apostle, which was the only condition to celebrate the patron a whole week long.
[See James Grier (]2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
). Among the earliest
sequences
In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called t ...
composed there is the ''
Swan Sequence'' from c.850 (Pa
1139
Year 1139 ( MCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By area Asia
* July 8 or August 21 – Jin–Song Wars – Battle of Yancheng: Song Dynasty general Yue ...
). The
St. Martial school of music and its library contributed and collected an almost complete repertoire of West Frankish
tropes and
sequences
In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called t ...
, as well as the so-called Aquitanian
polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
(Pa
1139
Year 1139 ( MCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By area Asia
* July 8 or August 21 – Jin–Song Wars – Battle of Yancheng: Song Dynasty general Yue ...
,
3549,
3719), because cantors of the region had been most inventive in quite original compositions, dealing with all kinds of troped poetry, and two part settings between
discant
A descant, discant, or is any of several different things in music, depending on the period in question; etymologically, the word means a voice (''cantus'') above or removed from others. The Harvard Dictionary of Music states:
A descant is a ...
and
florid organum.
It is a famous site for 12th century sacred and secular church music. Some of the earliest
troubadour
A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...
lyrics with their accompanying melodies were extant in manuscripts at St. Martial's, now preserved at the
Bibliothèque Nationale
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
.
Gallery
Image:Limoges Crypt 01 St Martial Sarcophagus.jpg, Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
of Saint Martial
Saint Martial (3rd century), called "the Apostle of the Gauls" or "the Apostle of Aquitaine", was the first bishop of Limoges. His feast day is 30 June.
Life
There is no accurate information as to the origin, dates of birth and death, or the acts ...
, focus of the medieval cult, in the crypt beneath the modern Place de la République.
Image:Limoges Crypt 06 St Martial Mosaic.jpg, Mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
depicting birds drinking from a cup, symbol of eternal life, above the sarcophagus of Saint Martial.
Image:Limoges Crypt 02 Cupboard of the Arm.jpg, Cupboard of the Arm, a medieval reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...
in the crypt.
Image:Limoges Crypt 03 Tomb of St Valerie.jpg, Tomb of Saint Valerie of Limoges
Valerie may refer to:
People
*Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie
*Valerie (given name), a feminine given name
Songs
*"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash''
*"Valerie", a 1982 son ...
, an associate of Saint Martial.
Image:Limoges Crypt 04 Chapel of St Benedict.jpg, Chapel of Saint Benedict
Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...
, part of the crypt complex, and dating mostly from the 13th century.
Image:Limoges_Crypt_05_St_Peter_of_the_Sepulchre.jpg, Choir of Saint Peter of the Sepulchre, the original church at the shrine, rebuilt in the 10th century and much modified in later centuries.
References
Studies
*
*
*
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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* This article is based mainly on the English-language version of the guide to the excavated site, available free to visitors.
{{Authority control
Limoges, Abbey of Saint-Martial
9th-century establishments in France
1791 disestablishments in France
Limoges, Abbey of Saint-Martial
Ruins in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Churches in Haute-Vienne
Buildings and structures in Limoges
Tourist attractions in Haute-Vienne
Religious buildings and structures completed in 848