|
|
France - Pays de la Loire |
|
| Commune:
Angers l'Epau Abbey
Fontevraud l'Abbaye
Le Mans Department: Loire-Atlantique Maine et Loire Sarthe |
Visit the Abbey's website here
The church houses the painted tuffeau effigies of the English Kings, Henry II, his son, Richard the Lionheart, Henry's Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the wooden effigy of King John's Queen, Isabella of Angoulême. Why were they buried here? They were not only kings of England but rulers of an extensive area of what is now France: Dukes of Normandy, of Aquitaine, Counts of Anjou, Touraine and Maine and overlords of Brittany, often called the 'Angevin Empire', although this was not a contemporary term. Neither was it an empire and the expression would not have been recognised by those concerned. The kings died in France and the queens died in retirement in the Abbey.
The church has been extensively excavated but no trace of coffins or remains have been found. However the effigies, which have moved around over the years, are now thought to rest where the burials took place, at the eastermost part of the nave. Henry and Eleanor's daughter, Joan, died in childbirth in the Abbey but no monument has been found. Her son, Raymond VII of Toulouse, was also buried in the Abbey and an effigy thought to be his was excavated several years ago; however this is not yet on display in the Abbey. A wall painting, nearly complete, said to be that of Raymond, remains on a pillar of the crossing. Several other sculptures have also been excavated but whether these represent funerary monuments is not known. On display in the visitors' centre is the effigial head only (the rest of the monument having been lost) of the founder of the Abbey, Robert d'Arbrissel, but this is not contemporary.
The complex is no longer a working abbey nor the prison into which it was converted by Napoleon: it is run by the French state as a cultural centre and may be visited. You can stay in the Abbey complex at the former Priory of St Lazarus, which has been converted into an excellent hotel.
The photographs flanking the title show 1. The west end and entrance to the Abbey Church, 2. The east end of the Abbey Church, 3. The interior of the church looking east where the effigies can be just seen in the centre, and 4. The main cloister.
Left: Similar of Eleanor of Aquitaine
Right: Similar of Richard the Lion Heart
Far Right: Similar of Isabelle of Angoulême
Above: The effigies as they are arranged today.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Also:
Robert d'Arbrissel (c 1117), the founder of the Abber. Early 17th century but only head remains. His empty coffin is on display below the floor of the church. Photograph to follow
Pierre de Poitiers, Bishop of Poitiers. Destroyed Drawing to follow
Robert d'Arbrissel (c 1117), the founder of the Abber. Early 17th century but only head remains. His empty coffin is on display below the floor of the church. Photograph to follow
Pierre de Poitiers, Bishop of Poitiers. Destroyed Drawing to follow
Cathédrale Sainte-Maurice
 |
 |
 |
| Guillame Angebault (1790-1869) Bishop of Angers (1842-1869) |
Radulphus de Bello Monte | Claude de Rueil |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Charles Montault Des Isles
(1755-1839) Bishop 1802-1839 |
Bishop Noel Pinot |
 |
 |
 |
| Left:
Representation of the destroyed monument of 'Good
King René' Note
the heraldry painted on the wall behind the monument, which may
still be see: Above: Wall painting, now mainly obscured by wooden panelling, in front of which was the above tomb. Right: A slab from 1850 commemorating members of the royal house of Anjou who wer buried in the Cathedral: Louis I (1384), Marie of Brittany (1404), Louis II (1417), Yolande of Aragon (1442), René the Good (1480), Isabelle of Lorraine (1452), Marguerite of Anjou (1482) & Jeanne de Laval (1492). Isabelle and Jeanne were the wives of King René and Marguerite his daughter - the latter is known in Britain as Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI of England. |
||
Front of the mortuary chest of Ulgar, bishop of Angers 1125 - 1148. Oak, brass gilded and varnished
Although this late 16th century kneeling military effigy was clearly originally in the Cathedral, it is now housed in the fine arts museum.
Photograph by Dr John Physick
| Chênehutte - Trèves - Cunault |
| A commune on the south bank of La Loire, east of Saumur |
| Cunault Priory |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
||
| Church open. Park opposite the church
- free car park. A
magnificent church and well worth a visit. The monument is of a 14th century prior. But what is the animal at his feet? |
|||
 |
 |
Trèves - St Aubin |
 |
 |
| Church open - park outside | ||||
 |
||||
| Effigy of Robert le Maçon (1443), Baron of Trèves and Chancellor of France in the time of Charles VII. He built the 'donjon',which can be seen next to the church. | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Details from the monument of Francois, Duke of Brittany (1400) To be expanded in due course |
|||
The church from where the cloister would have stood
The chapter house. The effigy of Berengaria may just be made out: right of the doorway, first window opening, the tiny gray structure.
The Abbey has now been restored and acts as a cultural centre - rather like Fontevraud but much smaller. There is a modest entry fee and car parking at the Abbey is free. NB: The Abbey closes for lunch.
 |
 |
|
| Charles Stothard's etching of the effigy and
details (left) and drawing of the effigy and tomb chest
(above) Note: this tomb chest is not the original but a
later replacement and the bones found inside by Stothard are
not those of Berengaria, whose skeleton remained in the vault
where she was originally buried and over which the effigy, on a
modern base, has now been replaced. The full story will be given in a future Monument of the Month |
 |
 |
|
| Berengaria of Navarre (
- ) Above: the effigy; right: profile details. Now with restored nose |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Far Left: Detail
of the book Berengaria is holding; Above Left: jewelled
clasp of the Queen's gown; Above Centre: Her purse - note
the coins carved at its bottom; Above right: Animals at
her feet Far Right: Fragments of the original tomb chest. |
||||
| Le Mans | ||
| Cathédral St Julien |
 |
 |
 |
Monuments in the Chapelle des Fonts
Left and above (detail): Guillaume de Bellay Constructed 1546; attributed to Pierre Bontemps Right upper: Charles IV of Anjou, Count of Maine. Brother of 'Good King René. Marble by Francesco Laurana. Right lower: Cardinal George Grente (1872-1959) Archbishop of Le Mans. Erected in 1965 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Above
Left: Above Centre: Jean de Beaumant Above Right: Theobald of Luxemburg Lower: Wall mounted incised slab of a table tomb with effigy; the inscription to the left is impossible to read. |
||
| Église de la Coutre | |
The supposed burial place of
St Bertrand (550-616) , Bishop of Le Mans is marked
by this plaster effigy. He founded the former monastery of
which this was the abbey church.
|
 Incised slab to a lady. Now against wall |
| Musée de Tessé | |
The coloured etching - by
Charles A Stothard - is of the enamel plaque
which formerly covered the tomb in Le Mans
Cathedral of
Geoffery Plantagenet (1151),
Count of Anjou, and father of Henry II of
England. The plaque is now in the above museum of that
city.
|
|
1. A Viscount of Maine (?Raoul II de Beaumont-au-Maine1013)
2. A Viscount of Maine (?Raoul III 1040)
3. A Viscount of Maine (?Richard II 1249)
4. A Lady of Maine (?Mahaut d'Ambroise 1256)