Draft:Basilica of Saint Eutropius, Saintes

The Basilica of Saint Eutropius (French: Basilique Saint-Eutrope de Saintes) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Saintes, in the Charente-Maritime department of south-western France. Dedicated to Eutropius of Saintes, traditionally regarded as the city's first bishop and martyr, it is one of the principal Romanesque monuments of the former province of Saintonge.

The present church was founded in 1081 at the instigation of William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine, and was entrusted from the outset to the Abbey of Cluny. Pope Urban II consecrated the church in 1096. Its crypt, built to house the tomb and relics of Saint Eutropius, became an important stopping place for medieval pilgrims travelling on the Via Turonensis towards Santiago de Compostela. A priory of about twenty monks developed beside the church and remained in existence until the French Revolution.

The building is unusual for its two-level arrangement, comprising an upper church and a large lower church or crypt. Until 1803 the two levels were connected through a substantial nave with a complex system of stairways designed to channel pilgrims past the saint's tomb. The nave was demolished on the orders of the prefect Ferdinand Guillemardet, reducing the church from about 75 m (246 ft) in length to about 42 m (138 ft) today.

The basilica combines Romanesque fabric with later Gothic additions. Its most conspicuous feature is the nearly 80 m (260 ft) Flamboyant Gothic spire, erected in the 15th century with the support of King Louis XI. The church was designated a French monument historique in 1846.^[1] In 1998 it was included as component 868-065 of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.^[2] Pope Leo XIII raised Saint-Eutrope to the rank of minor basilica on 11 May 1886.^[3]

History

Saint Eutropius

Relatively little is known with certainty about Eutropius of Saintes, and even the period in which he lived is disputed. One tradition makes him an apostolic missionary of Greek or eastern origin sent by Pope Clement I to evangelise the inhabitants of what became Saintonge, placing him in the 1st century. Another tradition makes him a contemporary of the emperor Decius in the mid-3rd century. The Catholic tradition nevertheless regards him as the first bishop of Saintes.

According to later hagiographical accounts, Eutropius was martyred after converting Eustelle, the daughter of the local governor. He was said first to have been stoned and then killed by a blow to the head with an axe. Gregory of Tours relates that his remains were rediscovered when monks clearing land near the Amphitheatre of Saintes identified the deep cut in his skull and subsequently experienced a vision of the saint. The remains were authenticated by Bishop Palladius of Saintes, who had them translated to a church dedicated to Saint Stephen and then established a funerary basilica over the burial place. A sanctuary on the site appears to have existed by the 6th century. It was badly damaged in Viking raids in the 9th century and had become dilapidated by the early 11th century.

A pilgrimage church on the road to Santiago

In 1081 William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine, also count of Poitou, entrusted the old sanctuary to the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny. Cluny, which actively supported the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, began the construction of a much larger pilgrimage church on two levels. The architect is named in the surviving tradition as Benoît, although little else is known about him.^[4]

The foundation stone was laid in 1081 and work was already well advanced by 1096. On 20 April 1096 Pope Urban II celebrated a solemn Mass in the upper church, while Ramnulphe de Foucault, bishop of Saintes, officiated at the altar of the lower church. On 14 October of the same year the bishop presided over the translation of the relics of Saint Eutropius and Saint Leontius into the new sanctuary.^[4]

A Cluniac priory was established beside the church. About twenty monks were responsible for the liturgy and for receiving and organising the flow of pilgrims. By the 12th century Saint-Eutrope had become an important stop on the Via Turonensis, the westernmost of the four principal routes through France to Compostela. The Pilgrim's Guide, traditionally associated with Aimery Picaud, instructed travellers that at Saintes they should visit the body of "the blessed Eutropius, bishop and martyr".

The shrine also attracted high-ranking pilgrims. Alphonse, Count of Poitiers, provided in his will for a perpetual annual Mass to be celebrated at Saint-Eutrope for the repose of his soul.^[5]

King Louis XI was among the later royal patrons of the church. He contributed to the construction of a new bell tower crowned by a tall crocketed Flamboyant Gothic spire, to the addition of an axial chapel and to the strengthening of the lower church. The monastic buildings, which had been damaged during the conflicts between the French and English crowns, were also rebuilt at royal expense.^[6]

The relics during the Wars of Religion

The church itself escaped the worst destruction of the French Wars of Religion, but the relics did not. The saint's body was exhumed and burned by Protestant iconoclasts, although the head was preserved. François Noël, prior of Saint-Eutrope, sent it for safety to Bordeaux, where it was kept for a time in Saint-André Cathedral.^[7]

In 1602 the new prior, Pierre de La Place, petitioned Cardinal François d'Escoubleau de Sourdis, archbishop of Bordeaux, for the return of the relic. After a solemn procession, it was handed back to the community at the Abbey of Saint-Sauveur in Blaye on 16 April and reached Saintes on 19 April. The procession was greeted by the ringing of the city's bells and by cannon fire from the citadel on the orders of the governor, Louis de Pernes.^[8]

Revolution and the demolition of the nave

The last prior of Saint-Eutrope, Henri-François d'Aubourg, died in 1789. During the French Revolution, the priory's cartularies and charters were seized. Under the law of 17 July 1793 targeting feudal and ecclesiastical titles, most of the records were burned in the Place des Cordeliers on 10 August 1793. A small number were saved by a municipal official named Lacoste.^[9]

A survey of 1792 already described serious structural problems in the church. Cracks had appeared in the nave, vaults and several piers, and parishioners feared that the vault might collapse. The cost of repair was estimated at 1,500 francs. On 25 September 1802 the prefect Ferdinand Guillemardet ordered the nave to be demolished rather than repaired.

Demolition began on 8 January 1803 and was completed within a few months. Much of the stone was reused by local inhabitants.^[10] A plain wall was first erected to close the exposed western end of the surviving church. It was replaced in 1831 by the present restrained Romanesque Revival façade designed by the architect Prévôt, who also reconstructed the crossing dome and part of the south transept.

Restoration and minor basilica

Restoration work in the lower church in 1843 uncovered a monolithic cenotaph bearing the inscription EVTROPIVS. It may date from the 6th century. Falling masonry in 1844 prompted emergency restoration of the bell tower under the architect Clerget. The church was classified as a monument historique in 1846.^[1]

On 11 May 1886 Pope Leo XIII granted Saint-Eutrope the title of minor basilica.

During the night of 11–12 August 1983 the basilica was damaged in an arson attack. Mahogany choir stalls were destroyed, and the upper church and bell tower were damaged. A major restoration followed, including reconstruction of a cracked transverse arch, repair of the vaults, cleaning of the walls and replacement of furnishings. The 19th-century gallery was restored. On 24 May 1986 Jacques David, bishop of La Rochelle and Saintes, consecrated a new altar, into which the reliquary containing the saint's head was incorporated.^[4]

In 1998 Saint-Eutrope was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France, as one of the monuments illustrating the historic French pilgrimage routes.^[2]

During restoration in 2021–22, empty or badly eroded modillions on the north façade were replaced by newly carved examples. While designed to fit the vocabulary of Romanesque sculpture, several make reference to the COVID-19 pandemic in France.^[11]

Architecture

Lower church and crypt

The lower church, also described as the funerary basilica or crypt, is the oldest surviving part of the building. Begun in 1081 by the first workshop involved in the construction, it has two transept arms with east-facing apsidioles, a three-aisled vessel of four straight bays, and an apse surrounded by an ambulatory and three radiating chapels. In the central vessel the low groin vaults are carried by substantial transverse ribs. Semi-circular windows light the sanctuary.^[12]

Four pairs of massive piers, on circular or cruciform bases, separate the central vessel from the aisles. The capitals are principally carved with foliage and interlace derived from antique models. At the entrance to the lower church is a broad band of comparatively rough floral ornament that has been interpreted as Merovingian sculpture and may be reused material from the 6th-century basilica associated with Bishop Palladius.

At about 35 m (115 ft) in length, with vaults about 5 m (16 ft) high, the lower church is among the largest Romanesque crypts in Europe. Before the demolition of 1803, a staircase connected it directly with the upper church through the common nave. The monolithic cenotaph of Eutropius stands at the centre of the crypt.

Upper church

In its present form the upper church consists of the two arms of the transept and a deep apse that now functions as the nave. The latter has four straight bays under a pointed barrel vault, flanked by aisles with half-barrel vaults, and terminates in an axial chapel that now serves as the liturgical choir. The axial chapel consists of a single bay and a five-sided termination under rib vaulting. Two Romanesque side chapels flank it.

The surviving basilica is about 42 m (138 ft) long. The vault is about 10 m (33 ft) high, rising to about 14 m (46 ft) beneath the crossing dome.

The sculpture of the upper church was produced by a second workshop that continued the work of the earlier builders. Among the best-known capitals is a depiction of the weighing of souls, probably carved in the early 12th century.^[13] An angel and a demon stand on either side of a balance at the Judgement of a righteous soul. Another historiated capital represents Daniel in the lions' den, notable for the treatment of the drapery.^[14] Other capitals depict exotic and fantastic animals, including lions, birds and a mermaid, as well as geometric ornament, scrollwork, medallions, foliage and palmettes. Several of the animal combats have been interpreted as images of the struggle between vice and virtue, or psychomachia.

The exterior of the aisles and the side chapels of the choir is similarly rich. The aisle walls are divided into three horizontal levels: two levels of round-headed arcading separated by a plain wall surface. Engaged buttress-columns separate large arches decorated with chevron or dog-tooth ornament. In the upper level, large Romanesque windows are surmounted by oculi, while smaller round-headed openings light the lower church. The side chapels rise through four levels of elevation, combining arcading, windows framed by colonnettes, blind arches and plain wall surfaces.

Stained glass

Most of the stained glass dates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Windows in the aisles were made by the Dagrant workshops in Bordeaux and depict local saints and figures connected with the history of the region. The windows in the central apse illustrate episodes from the martyrdom and cult of Saint Eutropius and were produced by the Gesta workshop in Toulouse.^[15] The windows of the northern apsidiole date from the 20th century and came from the Léglise workshop in Paris.

The lost nave

Before the nave was demolished, the church was approximately 75 m (246 ft) long, compared with about 42 m (138 ft) today, and about 15.6 m (51 ft) wide. These dimensions are recorded in the early-18th-century description by the military engineer Claude Masse. The nave consisted of a central vessel and two aisles divided into four broad bays. The central vessel had a pointed barrel vault counterthrust by the half-barrel vaults of the aisles, a characteristic Romanesque solution.

What made the nave exceptional was its circulation system. Its floor was deliberately lowered and a series of stairways allowed pilgrims to move between the upper and lower churches. From the western forecourt, a first flight of steps led to a landing level with the aisle pavements. A horseshoe arrangement of further steps then led down to a gently sloping central area and ultimately to a staircase passing beneath the transept towards the lower church and the saint's tomb. At the same time, the aisle level continued towards stairs ascending to the upper church. This allowed the movement of large numbers of pilgrims through the shrine with comparatively little interference between the two levels.

The arrangement is known principally from plans by Claude Masse and the abbé Briand in the 18th century and by Dupuy in the 19th. The site of the former nave was filled with demolition rubble and converted first into an open square and later into a car park. A surviving section of wall, with a round-headed opening framed by colonnettes and an engaged column with a roughly carved capital, is one of the few standing remains.^[16]

The old west façade, described by the abbé Briand and shown in a drawing of 1780 by the Protestant goldsmith Isaac Goguet, was a characteristic composition of Saintonge Romanesque architecture. It had three horizontal registers. The ground level contained a central portal between two blind arches; above it was a central arcade containing an equestrian statue whose subject is unknown; and the composition was completed by a gable, with two small lanterns at the corners. The present Romanesque Revival façade was built to Prévôt's design in 1831.

Bells

The bell tower contains four bells:

• Eutrope-Marguerite (bourdon), C-sharp 3, 1,995 kg (4,398 lb), cast in 1886 by Georges Bollée of Orléans;
• Marie-Madelaine, F-sharp 3, approximately 670 kg (1,480 lb), cast in 1863 by Elie Deyres of Bordeaux;
• Eutrope, G 3, approximately 550 kg (1,210 lb), cast in 1834 by Victor Gouyot;
• Eutrope-Eustelle, A 3, approximately 390 kg (860 lb), cast in 1832 by Roudier of Bordeaux.

Eutrope-Marguerite is the heaviest church bell in Charente-Maritime. It was cast with unusually thick bronze and sounds the same note as the bourdon of La Rochelle Cathedral. Three bells in the department sound a lower C 3: the bourdon of Saintes Cathedral, the bourdon of Saint-Sauveur in La Rochelle, and the bell of La Rochelle's Grosse Horloge.

Former priory

Only fragmentary remains of the former Cluniac priory survive in the Rue Saint-Eutrope. The present buildings date mainly from the late 18th century and replaced a conventual complex that had fallen into disrepair. As late as 1698 the priory still possessed two cloisters, but the medieval and early-modern buildings were subsequently demolished and replaced by a classical residential block.^[17] Its former chapel is now used as a concert hall.

Protected furnishings

A number of objects in the basilica are protected as French historic monuments, including paintings, liturgical furnishings and medieval stonework.