The Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is a Catholic parish church located in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter of Paris. It was originally the church of a Benedictine abbey founded in 558 by Childebert I, the son of Clovis, King of the Franks. The abbey was destroyed by the Vikings, rebuilt, and renamed in the 8th century for Saint Germain, a 6th century bishop. It was rebuilt with elements in the new Gothic style in the 11th century, and was given the earliest flying buttresses in the Ile de France in the 12th century. It is considered the oldest existing church in Paris."Americans Are Banding Together to Save the Oldest Church in Paris", "Architectural Digest", March 2, 2018
Originally located outside the walls of medieval Paris, in the fields and meadows of the Left Bank, known as "les Prés", the church was the center of an important abbey complex, famous for its scholarship and its production of illuminated manuscripts, and was the burial place of Germain, and also of Childebert and other rulers of the Merovingian Dynasty.Andrew Ayers (2004), The Architecture of Paris, pp. 125–126. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges. .Dumoulin (2007), p 114 Most of the Abbey, except for the chapel and the Bishop's palace, was destroyed during the French Revolution. The chapel was subsequently restored and became the parish church.
History
Origins
A Roman temple was located close to the site of the church, and a Roman road, parallel to the Seine, passed by the site, built well above the river to avoid flooding.Histoire du Pré-aux-Clercs, sur ruevisconti.com.
The abbey was founded in the 6th century by Childebert I (ruled 511–558), the son of Clovis I, the first King of the Franks.Histoire de l'abbaye, site officiel. It was built especially to display two important relics acquired by Childebert during the siege of Zaragoza in Spain; a fragment of the True Cross and a fragment of the tunic of the martyr Saint Vincent. The first abbot was Droctovaeus, a pupil of the Bishop Saint Germain.
The abbey was formally dedicated in 558, the same year that Childebert died. His tomb was placed within the church and the Abbey became the first necropolis for the tombs of the early Kings of France, before this function was transferred to the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The basilica and the monastery were first dedicated to the Holy Cross and to Saint Vincent, then, in about 754, to Saint Germain of Paris, a noted bishop of Paris whose tomb was placed in the church in 576.Dumoulin, Aline, "Églises de Paris" (2010), p. 112 The tombs were later removed, and no medieval tombs remain in the church.
The church and monastery were destroyed twice by the Vikings during their invasions at the end of the 9th century. The abbey church was rebuilt by the Abbé Morard at the 10th century, and the rest of the monastery by the end of the 13th century. The first four levels of the bell tower, the nave and the transept date from this period. A number of carved column capitals and vestiges of frescoes from this period are also found in the church.
The abbey was used by French monarchs to host visiting kings, such as King Edward I of England in 1286 who used it as a base whilst visiting Philip IV of France in the LouvreTNA E101/351/23 ““Thome Lengleys, pro passagio regis, videlicet in .ix. batillis, de abbacia Sancti Germani usque ad curiam regis Francie et Lovre, per .iiij. vices, die martis .iiijt. die junii computato, videlicet pro batillo portante regem: .xij. d. parisiensium qualibet vice, et pro quolibet alio vj. d. par., et pro passagio regine per idem tempus: xxx. s. par., qui valent in sterlingis: .viij. s. vij. d.” Or “Thomas Langley, for the passage of the king, namely in nine boats, from the Abbey of Saint Germain to the court of the King of France and the Louvre.”
Under royal patronage the Abbey became one of the most important centers of scholarship in Europe. In the Eleventh century it housed an important scriptorium which produced scholarly manuscripts which were distributed throughout Europe. It remained a center of spiritual, intellectual and artistic activity until the end of the 18th century.Dumoulin, Aline, "Églises de Paris" (2010), p. 112website (in French)
The Gothic Church Beginning in the 12th century, the church was updated with elements of the new style of Gothic architecture. The present choir of the church was built in the middle of the 12th century. The newly rebuilt church was consecrated by Pope Alexander III on 21 April 1163, The flying buttresses, the first in the Ile-de-France, were added at the end of the 12th century.Dumoulin (2007), p 114 The other buildings of the monastery were gradually rebuilt during the 13th century. These included a new Abbey church by architect Pierre de Montreuil inspired by the newly built Saint Chapelle. This new "Lady Chapel" was demolished in 1802, shortly after the end of the French Revolution, though vestiges remain in the small park on Rue de l'Abbaye next to the entrance to the Church.
The abbey church's west end tower was pierced by a portal, completed in the twelfth century, which collapsed in 1604 and was replaced in 1606 by the present classicising portal, by Marcel Le Roy.Philippe Plagnieux, "Le portail du XIIe siècle de Saint-Germain-des-Prés à Paris: état de la question et nouvelles recherches" Gesta 28.1 (1989, pp. 21–29) p. 22 Its choir, with its apsidal east end, provides an early example of flying buttresses.
The Wall of Philip II Augustus built during the reign of Philip II of France (1200–1214) did not encompass the abbey, leaving the residents to fend for themselves. This also had the effect of splitting the Abbey's holdings into two. A new refectory was built for the monastery by Pierre de Montreuil between 1239 and 1244.Recorded in his obituary notice in the obituarium of the abbey (Anne Prache, "Pierre de Montreuil", vol. 24, pp. 774–775, in The Dictionary of Art, 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove, 1996, reprinted with minor corrections in 1998. .).
In 1621, a new order of Benedictine Monks, the Congregation of Saint Maur, was founded at Saint-Germain. They were particularly devoted to research and scholarship, They trained monks to collect and study texts on varied subjects and produced very fine illuminated manuscripts, which circulated throughout Europe, and made Paris one of the leading academic centres of the continent.Dumoulin, Aline, "Églises de Paris" (2010), p. 112
Until the late 17th century, the Abbey owned most of the land in the Left Bank west of the current Boulevard Saint-Michel and had administrative autonomy in it, most clearly for the part outside the walls of Paris. Louis-César de Bourbon, son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, was an abbot here. The tomb of philosopher René Descartes is located in one of the church's side chapels.
The abbey during the Revolution (see also: September Massacres)
In September 1792, during the French Revolution, a group of about one hundred priests, who refused to sign a declaration of loyalty to the new Revolutionary government, were being held in the Abbey prison, along with aristocrats who had been arrested by the Jacobins, and Swiss Guards who had survived an earlier massacre. In September 1792, news arrived in Paris that a Prussian army was marching toward the city. On September 2 The Revolutionary leader Georges Danton gave a speech to his assembled followers on the Champ de Mars, declaring "We ask that anyone refusing to give personal service or to furnish arms shall be punished with death."
Danton's followers moved immediately to the prison of the Abbey to carry out Danton's proposal. Between September 2 and September 6, the prisoners were rapidly tried; they were asked why they had been arrested, and then quickly sentenced. Those sentenced to death included twenty-two priests, a number of Swiss guards who had survived an earlier massacre at the Tuileries Palace, as well as a number of women, including the Princesse de Lamballe. The prisoners sentenced to death were taken outside one by one, where they were killed by a crowd armed with swords, pikes and axes. Of the Swiss Guard prisoners 135 were killed, 27 were transferred, 86 were set free, and 22 had uncertain fates.Leborgne, Dominique, Saint-Germain-des-Prés et son faubourg, p. 40, Éditions Parigramme, Paris, 2005,
During the rest of the Revolutionary period, The abbey and the church were closed, and the buildings were used for storage and manufacturing gunpowder and arms. Part of the church was turned into a workshop for refining niter, an ingredient of gunpowder. It exploded accidentally, causing serious damage to the church and other abbey buildings.
With the end of the Revolution, The Catholic Church was officially re-established on 31 May 1795, and the ruined building again became a church. In 1802 The Council of Civil Buildings debated whether to simply sell and then demolish the building, which was badly damaged by the saltpetre leaking down into the foundations. Finally, due to the building's long history, they decided to preserve the building, though they declared that the architecture "offers nothing particularly interesting regarding art." The only buildings remaining intact were the church and the palace of the Bishops, next to it. These were formally returned to the church in on 29 April 1803.Congrês Archéologique de France, Published 1 January 1920 Full text in BnF Gallica The Chapel of the Virgin Mary, more seriously damaged, was demolished, though some of the stained glass windows were saved. Some flamboyant arches from the Virgin Chapel can be seen today in the small park next to the church.
After the Revolution, historical excavations resumed. Alexandre Lenoir discovered two Merovingian tombs under the main altar in 1799. These were moved to the Cluny Museum. Other art works were restored to the church, while the Louvre received the marble columns of the altar in 1704. The paintings which had been moved to Versailles, were restored to the church. Other works recovered included the marble statue of the Virgin given to the Louvre by Queen Jeanne d'Evreux."Église Saint-Germain des Prés", Congrês Archéologique de France, Published 1 January 1920 Text cited in BnF Gallica
The saltpetre stored in the church during the Revolution had badly damaged the pilings on the north side, and the nave itself could not be used. The Council of Buildings considered simply demolishing the building, but the inspector-general, Mazois, insisted that the choir could be saved and the nave restored. In the summer of 1822 the upper levels of the towers on the north and south sides of the church, largely in ruins, were demolished down to the roof line, leaving the church with a single tower. The chapels of the disambulatory and the six flying buttresses of the apse were rebuilt in 1823."Église Saint-Germain des Prés", Congrês Archéologique de France, Published 1 January 1920 Text cited in BnF Gallica
Restoration and redecoration