Payns () is a commune in the

Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),department in north-central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Population

History

Prehistory

Some traces were discovered through an aerial archaeological survey. At a place called La Ruelle, a protohistoric necropolis with square enclosures was photographed, thus testifying to the existence of protohistoric communities.

Roman and Gallo-Roman eras

The

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary ( la, Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, "The Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is a famous '' itinerarium'', a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibl ...

, “Itinerarium Antonini Augusti”, dating from the end of the 3rd century, evokes Payns because of the possibility of fording the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plate ...

at this place. The

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

(map) also testifies to this, itself a copy of a Roman map dating from the 13th century, on which appear the 53 roads which served the Roman Empire.

Middle Ages

The oldest evocation of the village of Payns is listed in the 9th century. The archives of the department of Aube contain some Carolingian documents, in particular a cartulary from the abbey of Saint-Pierre de

Montiéramey Montiéramey () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. Geography The Barse flows through the commune. Population See also *Communes of the Aube department *Parc naturel régional de la Forêt d'Orient Orient Fore ...

, founded around 887 by a priest named Arremar, in the middle of the vast Der forest. It mentions the sale by Hildemar to Arrémar of the "villa Pendennagio" which is none other than the village of Payns. At the beginning of the 12th century, the stronghold of Payns was also a vassal of the

county of Champagne The County of Champagne ( la, Comitatus Campaniensis; fro, Conté de Champaigne), or County of Champagne and Brie, was a historic territory and feudal principality in France descended from the early medieval kingdom of Austrasia. The county ...

. This explains why Hugues de Payns accompanied his suzerain, Hugues de Troyes, count of Champagne to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1104. Having decided to settle there, Hugues de Payns returned to Jerusalem in 1114. A mill has been in operation since 1236, it belonged to the priory of Foissy. Ruined by the English during the Hundred Years War, it was rented to the lessee to rebuild it. Jean Le Bray rented it for life for 26 livre a paper mill, two wheat and one hemp in 1476; they were in very poor condition and he had to sell the lease fairly quickly to Philippe Le Mercier and his wife Claude Le Bé. In 1531 it passed into the Largentier family, Nicolas marrying Madeleine Lemercier, daughter of the previous owners. In 1583, after a trial, the priory of Foissy gave up ownership of the mills against an annual rent of 63 livre.

The Templar Knights

Hugues de Payns founded in the Holy Land, the order "Paupere Militie Christi", in modern English the Militia of the Poor Knights of Christ. After the First Crusade, the

Council of Troyes There have been a number of councils held at Troyes: Council of 867 The council was held on orders of Pope Nicholas I, to deal with Hincmar of Reims and his quarrels. The decrees were signed on 2 November 867. The Council ruled that no bishop co ...

fixed the rule of what had become the order "Pauperes commilitones Christi templique Salomonici Hierosalemitanis", or in modern English, the militia of the poor knights of the temple of Solomon, better known today under the order name of the Temple or the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( la, Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, o ...

. In 1998, archaeological research carried out on the site of the commandery of Payns revealed coins dated between 1035 and 1240. The Payns monetary deposit (Aube) was discovered in September 1998, it is made up of 708 coins from the 12th century and 13th century. Royal coins are strongly represented, 499 deniers of monarchs from Louis VI (1108-1137) to Philip II (1180-1123). Very few local coins, there are only 7 denier of the archdiocese of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...

References

{{authority control Communes of Aube Aube communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia