Saint-Laon Church, Thouars

Saint-Laon Church, Thouars
Saint-Laon Church seen from the southeast.
Interactive map of Saint-Laon Church, Thouars
LocationDeux-Sèvres, Thouars
Coordinates46°58′33″N 0°13′01″W / 46.97583°N 0.21694°W / 46.97583; -0.21694
TypeChurch
Dedicated toCatholic Church
Heritage statusListed as a historic monument (1988)

The Saint-Laon Church is a Catholic church in Thouars, Deux-Sèvres France. Originally serving as the abbey church of the Abbey of Saint-Laon, founded in the early 11th century, it has been listed as a historic monument since 1988.

History

The church is located in the northeastern part of the Deux-Sèvres department, in the town center of Thouars, with its northeastern side adjoining the town hall.[1]

The Abbey of Saint-Laon was founded in 1021[2][3][4] by Achard, lord of Saint-Laon-sur-Dive in Vienne. It was a small community, initially comprising four canons.[5] A relic, the mummified arm of Saint Laon (Laud of Coutances),[6] was placed in its abbey church,[7] the Church of Saint-Laon. The church was originally dedicated to both Our Lady and Saint Laon. It was first attached to the diocese of Poitiers, under the episcopates of Isembert I, Isembert II, and Peter II (Bishop of Poitiers), until 1096.[4]

A deed dated March 7, 1096, records the donation of the Abbey of Saint-Laon to a Benedictine abbey in Saumur. This led to a conflict with the canons, who in 1107 opted for autonomy and adopted the Augustinian rule.[6][4] The abbey prospered[5] through donations from the viscounts of Thouars, and the number of canons rose to twelve.[8]

Shortly before she died in 1445, Margaret of Scotland commissioned the construction of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, adjoining the church choir, where she wished to be buried.[9] She was interred there in 1479, after an initial burial in Châlons-en-Champagne. In the 15th century, after nearly three centuries without major works,[4] the building underwent significant modifications aimed at harmonization, preserving only the original bell tower and the southern gable.[7] The visible wooden framework was replaced with stone vaults, additional openings were created, and a spire was added.[10]

However, the functioning of the abbey gradually declined. The monks abandoned communal life, lived in individual houses, and adopted customs described as "little compatible with their ecclesiastical state." In 1569, the abbey was pillaged by Protestants.[4] In 1667, the canons of the Congregation of France (the Génovéfains) took control of the abbey, restored discipline,[5][4] undertook interior works, and replaced the furnishings.[11]

On December 10, 1711, a hurricane caused significant damage to the church (impacting even in Paris[12] and Reims[13]), including the collapse of the bell tower spire,[14] which resulted in one death.[3] Additional storms in 1817 and 1847 further damaged the structure.[11] During the French Revolution, the Abbey of Saint-Laon was dissolved, and the church was converted into a parish church. The remaining convent buildings were either destroyed or repurposed, later serving as a school and subsequently as the town hall.[4]

In 1840, the bell tower was designated a historic monument and subsequently restored in the 1860s. Restorations carried out without authorization between 1863 and 1877 led to the loss of the church's landmark classification in 1879, although the bell tower retained its status. The building was added to the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments on October 22, 1926, and was classified on February 3, 1988, with the new decree revoking the earlier listing.[7][4] Further restoration work was undertaken in the mid-1990s.[8]

Architecture

The current church consists of three vaulted bays, with a fourth bay opening onto the three bays of the choir.[8] Its architectural style reflects multiple construction periods, spanning from the 11th to the 15th century. The building incorporates various materials, including tuffeau, ironstone, and marble, which assist in dating its different sections.[4]

The bell tower, dating from the 12th century, is an example of Romanesque art in Poitou.[4] At the time of its construction, the church consisted of a single nave with an unknown chevet. The structure was later extensively remodeled,[5] and only a few elements of the original church remain, mainly in the nave and the west façade.[8]The roof frame was initially exposed, before barrel vaults were constructed above the nave. These were partially replaced during the Gothic period by ribbed vaults and other Gothic-style vaults in specific sections of the church.[10]

  • Nave.
  • Baroque altarpiece.
  • Entombment in the chapel of Margaret of Scotland.
  • Detail of the Entombment.
  • Vault of Margaret of Scotland, Dauphine of France.
  • Lilies painted on a wall of the chapel.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Abbatiale Saint-Laon" [Saint-Laon Abbey Church] (in French). Retrieved October 28, 2025.
  2. ^ "Hôtel de ville, ancienne abbaye Saint-Laon" [Town hall, former Saint-Laon Abbey]. Notice no PA79000018, Base Mérimée, French Ministry of Culture (in French). Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Ayachi, Nicolas (August 21, 2022). "Eglise Saint-Laon de Thouars : 1001 ans, 1001 histoires" [Saint-Laon Church in Thouars: 1001 years, 1001 stories]. La Nouvelle République (in French). Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Architecture and Heritage Department (2016). Focus église abbatiale Saint-Laon Thouars [Focus on Saint-Laon Abbey Church in Thouars] (in French). Thouars.
  5. ^ a b c d Bourgeois 2000, p. 119
  6. ^ a b Bègue & Maurin 2010, p. 9
  7. ^ a b c "Église Saint-Laon" [Saint-Laon Church]. Notice no PA00101379, Base Mérimée, French Ministry of Culture (in French). Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Congrès archéologique de France, 159e session : Monuments des Deux-Sèvres [French Archaeological Congress, 159th session: Monuments of Deux-Sèvres] (in French). Société archéologique de France. 2001. p. 323.
  9. ^ Vouhé, Grégory (2014). "La chapelle royale de Marguerite d'Écosse" [The Royal Chapel of Margaret of Scotland]. L'Actualité Poitou-Charentes (in French) (105).
  10. ^ a b Bègue & Maurin 2010, pp. 9–10
  11. ^ a b Bègue & Maurin 2010, p. 11
  12. ^ Herlaut, Auguste-Philippe (1916). L'éclairage des rues à Paris: À la fin du XVIIe et au XVIIIe siècle [Street lighting in Paris: At the end of the 17th and 18th centuries] (in French). FeniXX. ISBN 978-2-40222-321-8. Retrieved September 23, 2025. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  13. ^ "Description de l'église Saint-Nicaise" [Description of Saint-Nicaise Church]. Travaux de l'Académie nationale de Reims (in French). 98 (II): 89. 1894. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  14. ^ "10 décembre 1711, un ouragan destructeur traverse Thouars" [December 10, 1711, a destructive hurricane sweeps through Thouars]. Thouars website (in French). Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.

Bibliography

  • Congrès archéologique de France, 159e session : Monuments des Deux-Sèvres [French Archaeological Congress, 159th session: Monuments of Deux-Sèvres] (in French). Société archéologique de France. 2001. pp. 323–331.
  • Bègue, Christelle; Maurin, Sébastien (2010). Thouars de A à Z [Thouars from A to Z] (in French). Éditions Alan Sutton. pp. 9–13. ISBN 978-2-813-80207-1.
  • Bourgeois, Luc (2000). Les petites villes du Haut-Poitou de l'Antiquité au Moyen Âge : Formes et Monuments [Small towns in Haut-Poitou from Antiquity to the Middle Ages: Forms and Monuments] (in French). Vol. 1: Bressuire, Brioux-sur-Boutonne, Loudun, Montmorillon, Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, Thouars. Association des publications chauvinoises. pp. 119–120. ISBN 2-909-16535-3.
  • "Église Saint-Laon" [Saint-Laon Church]. Clochers de France (in French). Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  • "Église Saint-Laon" [Saint-Laon Church]. Observatoire du patrimoine religieux (in French). Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  • "Église Saint-Laon" [Saint-Laon Church]. Ministere de la Culture (in French). Retrieved September 23, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.