Souvigny Priory (french: Prieuré Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Souvigny, Prieuré Saint-Mayeul de Souvigny), in the commune of Souvigny, Allier,

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 ...

, in the centre of the old province of the

Bourbonnais Bourbonnais () was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''département'' of Cher. Its capital was Moulins. History The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais ...

, was formerly a

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began w ...

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

, of which the church remains in operation.

History

In the 10th century Aymar sire de Bourbon gave land in Souvigny to

Cluny Abbey Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churc ...

for the construction of a monastery. Some years later, two distinguished abbots of Cluny,

Mayeul of Cluny Majolus of Cluny (Maieul, Mayeul, Mayeule) (c. 906 – May 11, 994) was the fourth abbot of Cluny. Majolus was very active in reforming individual communities of monks and canons; first, as a personal commission, requested and authorized by the ...

and

Odilo of Cluny Odilo of Cluny (c. 962 – 1 January 1049) was the fifth Benedictine Abbot of Cluny, holding the post for around 54 years. During his tenure Cluny became the most important monastery in western Europe. Odilo actively worked to reform the monastic ...

(Odilon de Mercoeur), came here to die, one after the other, and were buried here. This made the priory a place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

: even Hugh Capet, King of France, came here in 994 after the death of Mayeul. The church was rebuilt to accommodate the increasing numbers of worshippers, on the model of Cluny III, including two

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

s, a

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

with an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

, and three towers. The Dukes of Bourbon made it their place of burial. Many chapels were added, and the upper parts of the church were rebuilt, with cross vaults. In 1097, Pope Urban II passed through Souvigny and while he was there confirmed by a Papal bull the possession of the church of Marigny to Bernard, fourth prior. This possession was confirmed again by a bull of Pope Eugene III dated 29 February 1152. In 1393, the provincial visitors instructed the prior to oblige the chantry to instruct children. Souvigny, as one of the five oldest daughter houses of Cluny, owned many parishes and small priories, which made it wealthy. Its priories included those of Saint-Patrocle-de-Colombier,

Chantenay-Saint-Imbert Chantenay-Saint-Imbert () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. Demographics As of 2019, the population was . See also *Communes of the Nièvre department The following is a list of the 309 communes of the Nièvre departme ...

Mars-sur-Allier Mars-sur-Allier () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. Demographics On 1 January 2019, the estimated population was 306. See also *Communes of the Nièvre department The following is a list of the 309 communes of the Niè ...

and Montempuis (

Saint-Parize-en-Viry Saint-Parize-en-Viry () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. See also *Communes of the Nièvre department The following is a list of the 309 communes of the Nièvre department of France. The communes cooperate in the ...

). The dedication varied between

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupa ...

, Saint Mayeul and Saints Peter and Paul. The priory was closed down and largely dismantled in the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, but the church survived and was reopened for worship in 1852. It was declared a '' monument historique'' on 5 August 1919.

Architecture

Priory church

The imposing priory church is part Romanesque and part

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. The structure is Romanesque but the vaulting is Gothic. The west front was reconstructed in the Gothic period while retaining the two Romanesque belltowers on top of it. This priory, because it was owned by the powerful Cluny Abbey, made it possible for the Burgundian style to develop in the numerous Romanesque churches of the Souvigny region. The church measures 84

metre The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its p ...

s in length; the vaulted roof is 17 metres high at its highest point. A carved Romanesque pillar was discovered in the church depicting a calendar with the farming works of each month, known as the "Zodiac of Souvigny".Voir sur www.lieux-insolites.fr

Conventual buildings

The

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

, chapter room and porter's lodge are the principal conventual buildings still extant. The cloister was refurbished in 1432. File:Souvigny orgue historique Clicquot (1783).JPG, File:Souvigny Porterie.jpg, File:Fr Souvigny Prieuré de Souvigny view from cloister.jpg, File:Souvigny Abteikirche Chapelle Neuve.jpg, File:Souvigny - église prieurial St Pierre et St Paul-4.jpg,

Monumental effigies

The church formerly contained many tombs of the seigneurial and later ducal family of Bourbon, some of which were destroyed in the Revolution. Those of Saints Mayeul and Odilo were rediscovered in the early 21st century. Souvigny bastard.jpg, Karel Anezka.jpg, TombeauCharlesIdeBourbon.jpg, Charles I, Duke of Bourbon File:Sauvigny.jpg, File:Tombeau Mayeul Odilon.jpg,

Bibliography

* François Deshoulières, ''Souvigny'', pp. 115–152, dans ''Congrès archéologique de France. 101st session. Dans l'Allier. 1938'',

Société Française d'Archéologie Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

, Paris, 193
Texte
* Pascale Chevalier, Sébastien Bully, Morana Causevic-Bully, Mathias Dupuis, Laurent Fiocchi et Audrey Baradat, « La priorale Saint-Pierre de Souvigny (Allier), étude archéologique de la nef, première tranche », ''Bulletin du centre d'études médiévales d'Auxerre/BUCEMA'', 11-2007. *
La priorale Saint-Pierre de Souvigny (Allier), étude archéologique de la nef, première tranche
; *
Deuxième tranche de travaux archéologiques à la priorale Saint-Pierre de Souvigny
* Bruno Phalip, Pascale Chevalier, Arlette Maquet, Delphine Renault-Jousseau, ''Souvigny : la priorale et le prieuré'' (Cahiers du Patrimoine, 101), Somogy, 2012, 216 p., 260 ill. * Pascale Chevalier, Arlette Maquet, �
Les fouilles des tombeaux des saints abbés de Cluny, Mayeul et Odilon et les pèlerinages à Souvigny
», '' Bulletin Monumental'', t. 162., n° 2, année 2004, pp. 87–100.

External links

Corpus architecturae religiosae europeae (CARE) - Souvigny: priorale Saint-Pierre

The Priory's Clicquot organ
List of cartularies attached to Souvigny Priory

Notes and references

{{coord, 46.5348, 3.1932, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Cluniac monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Allier Burial sites of the House of Bourbon