Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

The church of Saint -Germain -des- Prés on the Boulevard Saint- Germain in Paris ( 6th arrondissement ) is the last medieval testimony of the then richest and most powerful abbey in the vicinity of Paris.

Your predecessor was since the year 558 the family tomb of the Frankish Merovingian kings.

Church

The structural fabric of the present church dates from the 11th to the 17th centuries. Particularly noteworthy is the choir, which was consecrated in 1163 by Pope Alexander II. The wall paintings (19th century) are the work of Hippolyte Flandrin.

History

The abbey was outside the former city founded under the name of Saint -Vincent -Sainte -Croix in the year 557 by King Childebert I., a son of the Merovingian king Clovis I, to serve as a repository of precious, brought along from Zaragoza relics. A year later, the king was buried here, an event that should raise this place one of the first royal necropolis of the country.

1792, the abbey was destroyed, only the church and in 1586 by the then Cardinal commendatory Charles I. de Bourbon commissioned abbot's palace in the Rue Jacob have been preserved.

In the church there is a permanent exhibition about the history of St. Germain -des- Prés.

Organ

The history of the organ dates back to the 15th century. Over time, there were various instruments, including an organ of 1667, which was erected in 1798 in Saint- Eustache. The present instrument goes back to a 1805 acquired organ, which was rebuilt in 1973 by the organ builder Haerpfer & Erman. The instrument has 56 registers, four manuals and a pedal. The play and Registertrakturen are mechanical.

  • Couplers: I / II, III / II, IV / II, I / P, II / P III / P IV / P

Abbots

  • Irminon, abbot to 820
  • Hilduin I., Abt 829
  • Gauzlin, Abbot of Jumièges, then Abbot of St. Germain -des- Prés 867-879, Lord Chancellor ( Rorgoniden ) of 883-884
  • Ebalus, son of the Duke Ranulf I of Aquitaine, Abbot of 888-891, Lord Chancellor ( Ramnulfiden )
  • Hugh Capet
  • Morard 990-1014
  • Hugues de Monceaux, 1162-1182
  • Eudes, abbot in 1230
  • Simon, Abbot of 1239-1244
  • Guillaume Briçonnet, 1501-1507
  • Guillaume Briçonnet, Abbot of 1507-1534, Bishop of Lodève
  • François de Tournon (* 1489, † 1562)
  • Cardinal Charles de Bourbon, Archbishop of Rouen and commendatory of St. Germain -des- Prés, abbot about 1586
  • François, Prince de Conti
  • Henri de Bourbon, duc de Verneuil, natural son of Henry IV, abbot to 1668 ( gave his ecclesiastical benefice to get married )
  • John II Casimir, former King of Poland, Abbot of 1668-1672
  • Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg († 1704), abbot from 1697 to 1704
  • César d' Estrées (* 1628, † 1714), Bishop of Laon, 1674 Cardinal
  • Henri Pons de Thiard de Bissy (* 1657, † 1737), abbot from 1715 to 1737, in 1692 Bishop of Toul, in 1704 bishop of Meaux, in 1715 Cardinal
  • Louis de Bourbon- Condé, comte de Clermont (* 1709, † 1771), a benefice from 1737 to 1771
  • Charles -Antoine de la Roche- Aymon, Abbot of 1772-1777

Burials

In the predecessor Saint -Vincent -Sainte -Croix were buried:

  • 0558: Childebert I, King of Franconia
  • After 567: Ultrogotho, Wife Childebert I
  • 0576: Germanus of Paris, Saint
  • 0584: Chilperic I., King of Franconia
  • 0598: Fredegunde Frankish queen
  • 0630: Clotaire II, King of Franconia
  • 0675: Childeric II, Frankish king

In Saint- Germain -des- Prés were buried:

  • 0989: Lisiard, Bishop of Paris ( † April 19 989)
  • 1595: Catherine de Bourbon- Condé, Marchioness of Isles ( 1575-1595 ), daughter of Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé
  • 1610: Marie de Bourbon- Conti ( * / † 1610), daughter of François ' de Bourbon, prince de Conti and Louise Marguerite de Lorraine - Guise
  • 1614: François de Bourbon, prince de Conti ( 1558-1614 )
  • 1648: Nicolas, bâtard de Conti ( † 1648), son of François ' de Bourbon
  • 1682: The Heart of Henri de Bourbon, duc de Verneuil ( 1601-1682 ), legitimized son of Henry IV and Catherine Henriette de Balzac d' Entragues
  • 1683: Louis César de Bourbon, comte de Vexin ( 1672-1683 ), legitimized son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan
  • February 26, 1819: René Descartes, reburied from the crumbling L' Abbaye Sainte -Geneviève de Paris
Boulevard Saint-Germain 6th arrondissement of Paris Germain of Paris Charles de Bourbon (cardinal) Joscelin (bishop of Paris) Ramnulfids Henri, Duke of Verneuil Henry IV of France Chlothar II.
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