The Saint-Martin de Luché Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Luché-Pringé, in the French department of Sarthe, Pays de la Loire region.

Built in the 11th century by the monks of the Saint-Aubin Abbey in Angers on the foundations of an ancient sanctuary probably dedicated to Saint Apollonia, the church underwent numerous transformations over the centuries. Its remarkably well-preserved choir, completed in 1225, is a fine example of the Anjou Gothic style, with its "Plantagenet" vaults. Enlarged in the 16th century by the addition of a transept, the church was partially destroyed in 1921 following a devastating fire. The nave, badly damaged, was only partly rebuilt, giving way to a forecourt that facilitates access to the building from the western façade.

Listed as a historical monument since 1913, the church in Luché boasts a rich collection of statues in wood, stone and terracotta, some of which come from the nearby church of Notre-Dame de Pringé, as well as a set of stained glass windows created by François Fialeix in the late 19th century. Most of these items have also been classified as historic monuments.

History

From its origins to the 13th century

In the Actus pontificum Cenomannis, Luché is listed among the seventeen parishes founded by Saint Liboire, Bishop of Le Mans, in the 4th century,(fr) Adrien de Monchy, L'église de Luché et son clocher original, in .Triger 1924, p. 214 making it one of the oldest parishes in Maine.Une paroisse très ancienne, p. 2. The location of the site is certainly linked to the presence of a ford to cross the Loir at this point. No trace remains of this first sanctuary, probably dedicated to Saint Apolline, apart from the name of the square adjoining the church to the south, and its well which is fed by a spring originating beneath the building's choir.

The Luché church is mentioned again almost seven centuries later in the cartulary of Saint-Aubin d'Angers. In 1057, Raoul V, viscount of Maine, and his wife Emmeline de Montreveau, lady of Le Lude, donated the building to the monks of Saint-Aubin for the symbolic sum of five sols, with the obligation of founding a priory there under the patronage of Saint Martin.(fr) Pierre Schilte, Châteaux et gentilhommières du Pays fléchois, Cholet, Farré, 1991, 223 p., "La maison priorale de Luché", p. 113-116. Work began immediately on the construction of a new church. The two buildings were erected side by side, so that the church at the time had no western façade, as this entrance was reserved for the canons.

The priory soon prospered through a series of acquisitions and donations, notably from Adélaïde, sister of Seigneur Geoffroy de Sablé, and Gérard d'Athée, advisor to John Lackland, King of England.Triger 1921, p. 215. On several occasions during the 12th century, possession of the priory of Luché was confirmed to the monks of Saint-Aubin by Popes Paschal II and Eugene III, as well as by various bishops of Le Mans.

Construction of the choir and bell tower bases was completed in 1225.

Modern period

Construction of a new transept began in the 14th century, but was delayed by the Hundred Years' War.Quatre siècles d'architecture gothique, p. 4. The adjoining priory was demolished in 1474, before being rebuilt.L'ancien prieuré, p. 9. The project was not completed until the dawn of the 16th century,Le Lude en vallée du Loir, p. 85. under the impetus of generous donors including Geoffroy II de Chemens and his wife Marthe de Baïf, sister of Jean-Antoine de Baïf, poet of the Pléiade. The keystones of the transept arms were built between 1506 and 1538.

During the same 16th century, major restoration work was carried out on the nave and the upper part of the bell tower, thanks to the considerable resources of successive commendatory prior, including François Disque, King's Counselor at the Parlement of Paris, Chancellor to Queen Dowager Eleanor of Austria and Archdeacon of Laval.Triger 1921, p. 216. In 1538, the church received a new bell adorned with three fleurs-de-lis, the figures of the Virgin Mary and St. Michael, and inscribed with the names of its donors, the lords of Venevelles.Triger 1921, p. 217.(fr) Adrien de Monchy et Pierre Delareux, Treize cloches pour cinq clochers, in Autrefois chez nous, p. 249-254.

In 1557, the priory was taken over by a Protestant convert, Titus Disque, who had some of its furnishings destroyed. His two successors were supported by the lords of Venevelles, who were also Protestant.(fr) Norbert Dufourcq, Nobles et paysans aux confins de l'Anjou et du Maine: La seigneurie de Venevelles, Paris, Picard, 1988, 214 p. (), p. 54. In 1604, the church and priory of Luché were included in the endowment made by King Henri IV to the Jesuits charged with establishing the Collège Henri-IV de La Flèche. The Jesuits set up a school in Luché.Triger 1921, p. 218.

Revolution and the 19th century On August 1, 1796, the church was sold as national property to three villagers who wished to save it from destruction: Pierre-François Lépine, farmer of the métairie de la Brosse, his wife Marie-Gervaise Robineau, and René Martin, blacksmith. In 1809 and again in 1810, the owners made two promises to donate the church to the commune in order to return it to worship, subject to the concession of two pews. These promises were approved by two imperial decrees, the first signed on January 20, 1811, at the Tuileries Palace, the second on September 21, 1812, in Moscow, while the final deed was signed by a Luchois notary, Maître Frémond, on October 30, 1813.

At the end of the 19th century, work began on the church under the impetus of Abbé Détis, parish priest of Luché. In particular, the choir was restored in 1876.Triger 1921, p. 219. In the same year, stained-glass windows were installed by François Fialeix, a master glassmaker from Sarthe.

The building was listed as a historic monument on July 22, 1913.(fr) "Église" archive, record no. PA00109782, Mérimée database, French Ministry of Culture

Church fire in 1921 and reconstruction

At 11 p.m. on June 27, 1921, lightning struck the bell tower, which immediately burst into flames. Father Fouque, assisted by several local residents and the commune's mayor, Henri Bourdin, sheltered several statues, as well as the priestly vestments and most of the liturgical objects. The fire quickly spread to the rest of the building, starting with the nave frame. First aid was organized around the Luché firefighters, who had only a hand pump supplied by a human chain carrying buckets of water, while awaiting reinforcements from the companies of La Flèche and Le Lude, as well as a platoon from the Prytanée national militaire, during the night.(fr) Jacqueline Bardet, "Celui-là n'est pas tombé loin", in Autrefois chez nous, p. 203-208.

The fire, which was not contained until 5 a.m., caused extensive damage: the nave and bell tower were completely destroyed, the bells, partly melted, broke in their fall, and numerous items of furniture were damaged, as was a neighboring house. Only the choir vault was preserved. At 1 p.m. on the same day, another fire broke out in the rubble, but was quickly brought under control.

In the first few weeks after the disaster, masses were celebrated in a temporary chapel set up in the porch of the presbytery opposite the church. Reconstruction of the building took more than eight years, partly due to financing difficulties, and partly due to the shortage of labor and materials after World War I. Despite various subsidies and the generosity of parishioners, the commune of Luché-Pringé had to take out a loan of 44,000 francs from Crédit Foncier de France.(fr) Jacqueline Bardet, L'église de Luché reconstruite, mais amputée, in Autrefois chez nous, p. 209-212.

Firstly, the church was made watertight by the installation of tarpaulins supplied by Mutuelles du Mans. The carpentry and roofing work was then entrusted to a Luchois contractor, Constant Gouglet, and then, when he died in January 1923, to one of his workers, Constant Houdayer. In the spring of 1923, restoration work began on the bell tower, under the direction of Émile Demas, a mason from Le Mans who specialized in sculpture and stone-cutting. During the excavation of the nave, bones and an entire sarcophagus were discovered. Given the magnitude of the task, it was decided that the last bay of the nave would not be rebuilt, leaving a low-walled forecourt in its place.

On September 8, 1929, the restored church was consecrated by Monsignor Norbert Rousseau, bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay and a native of Luché.

From the end of World War II to the 21st century

The church underwent further renovations after the war. Its furnishings were enrich ed by the purchase of new statues, as in 1950: a Virgin of the Annunciation carved from a cedar trunk in the park of Château de Gallerande by Sarthe sculptor Raymond Dubois, thanks to funds collected from parishioners.Un musée de la sculpture, p. 5-7. Similarly, in the second half of the 20th century, several statues from the nearby church of Notre-Dame de Pringé were moved to the church of Saint-Martin de Luché to protect them from theft.(fr) Le charme romantique de la petite église romane de Pringé, in Autrefois chez nous, p. 231-236.

In 1966, two bells from Algerian parishes were installed in the bell tower, bringing the total number of bells in the church to three. In 1996, Dom Le Méhauté, a monk from the Saint-Pierre de Solesmes abbey, built a new high altar, reusing stones from the previous one, in neo-Gothic style, donated by Abbé Détis in 1877.(fr) Anetta Palonka-Cohin, "Maître-autel" [archive], in patrimoine.paysdelaloire.fr, Service du patrimoine de la région Pays de la Loire, 2008 (accessed September 18th, 2021). In 2001, the stained glass windows in the nave were replaced by abstract stained glass created by the Sarthe workshop Vitrail France.Les maîtres-verriers sarthois, du xixe au xxe siècles, p. 8-9.

The building is used by the parish of La Flèche-Bazouges-sur-le-Loir-Luché-Pringé-Malicorne-St-Germain-du-Val, part of the Le Mans diocese.(fr) "Présentation de l'ensemble paroissial sur le site du diocèse du Mans" archive, in sarthecatholique.fr (accessed on September 18th, 2021).

Description

Architecture

The Luché church before the fire

The original layout of Saint-Martin's church is atypical in that it does not follow the classic Latin cross plan: it takes the form of a large rectangle some 40 meters long and 19 meters wide. As the west façade adjoins the priory garden, the portal is cut into the south wall of the nave.

At the time, the nave consisted of three vessels bounded by two rows of square pillars, the asymmetry of which testifies to construction in several stages rather than according to a well-defined plan.Triger 1921, p. 225. The nave's north aisle is divided into two parts, corresponding to the two outer pediments, by a quarter-circle transverse arch resting on one of the nave's large arcades.

The southern aisle, of more advanced construction, is divided into four sections by transverse arches resting on the half-columns of the nave pillars and on colonnettes resting on the outer wall. Each of these four sections then corresponds to the four external pediments, bounded by double eaves.Triger 1921, p. 226.

The choir, testimony to Anjou's Gothic style The choir and nave form two distinct sections. The dimensions of the flat choir, completed in 1225, are exceptional compared to the rest of the building: it is a rectangle approximately 11 meters long and 14 meters wide. These dimensions can be explained by the fact that this was originally the church of a priory: as the choir was then exclusively reserved for monks, it had to be able to accommodate them all. For the same reason, the high altar must have been placed under the bell tower, in the center of the building, rather than leaning against the chevet.