The Church of Saint Peter of Montmartre (French: église Saint Pierre de Montmartre) is the lesser known of the two main churches on Montmartre in Paris, the other being the 19th-century Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur. Historically, however, it has the greater claim to fame, since according to the earliest biography of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the church is the location at which the vows were taken that led to the founding of the Society of Jesus.
History
Though according to its traditional history, it was founded by Saint Denis in the third century, only scattered signs of Gallo-Roman occupation have been detected at the much-disturbed site,[1] where Theodore Vacquier, the first municipal archaeologist of Paris, identified remains of walling as belonging to the Temple of Mars, from which Montmartre took its name.[2] In 1657 the antiquary and local historian Henri Sauval was shown remains in the priory garden that he associated with the templum Martis. The early church[3] that was a stop in the ninth century for pilgrims en route for the Basilica of Saint Denis,[4] belonged in 1096 to the comte de Melun. Louis VI purchased it in 1133, in order to establish in it a Benedictine convent, and the Merovingian church was rebuilt; it was reconsecrated by Pope Eugenius III in 1147, in a glamorous royal ceremony where Bernard of Clairvaux and Peter, Abbot of Cluny acted as acolytes.[5]
The 1670s and early 1680s marked a special moment in the history of the abbey. During the years when Renée de Lorraine, the sister of Marie, Duchess of Guise was abbess and especially while Marguerite Louise of Orléans, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, was in residence there (starting in 1675), music came to play an important role in services there. Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Marie's composer, wrote devotional music to be performed there.[6] The Benedictine community moved downhill to a new priory in the 1680s. Saint Pierre de Montmartre was ruined during the French Revolution, and upon its apse was erected a tower for the purpose of the Chappe optical semaphore (illustration). The church was rebuilt in the 19th century, and today is visited by numerous tourists who tend to notice, among other things, the columns of Roman origin used in the nave.
Notes
- ^ Bailey K. Young, "Archaeology in an Urban Setting: Excavations at Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre, Paris, 1975-1977", Journal of Field Archaeology 5.3 (Autumn 1978), pp. 319-329. The retaining wall of Sacré-Coeur (constructed in 1875) stands at the eastern edge of the much-reduced monastery site.
- ^ The toponym Mons Martis ("Mount of Mars") survived into Merovingian times, Christianised as Montmartre.
- ^ Gregory of Tours does not mention it among the churches of Paris, perhaps because it was so far afield, but the Merovingian cemetery dates to the sixth and seventh centuries (Young 1978:321).
- ^ Miracles of Saint Denis, ninth century, is the first reference to the church.
- ^ Young 1978:321.
- ^ For an article about this music, as well as some drawings of the abbey, see http://ranumspanat.com/toscane_toparis.html
Sources and external links
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