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Moissac Abbey was a Benedictine and Cluniac monastery in Moissac , Tarn-et-Garonne in south-western France. A number of its medieval buildings survive, including the abbey church, which has a famous and important Romanesque sculpture around the entrance.

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132-660: According to legend, Moissac Abbey was founded by the Frankish king Clovis , in person the day after a victory over the Visigoths , in 506. The legend states that Clovis had made a vow to erect a monastery with 1,000 monks (in memory of a thousand of his warriors who died in battle) if he triumphed over the Visigoths who had ruled the area for the past century as federati of the Roman Empire . He threw his javelin from

264-696: A saint for this act, celebrated today in both the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church . The adoption by Clovis of Nicene Christianity (as opposed to the Arianism of most other Germanic tribes) led to widespread conversion among the Franks, and eventually to religious unification across what is now modern-day France, the Low Countries and Germany. The alliance between the Franks and Catholicism eventually led to Charlemagne 's crowning by

396-596: A century. Nevertheless, Clovis's embrace of the Nicene Christian faith may have also gained him the support of the Nicene Christian Gallo-Roman aristocracy in his later campaign against the Visigoths, which drove them from southern Gaul in 507 and resulted in a great many of his people converting to Nicene Christianity as well. On the other hand, Bernard Bachrach has argued that his conversion from Frankish paganism alienated many of

528-479: A pamphlet, War for Demolition . The protection of historic monuments necessarily involves the creation of an inventory, and from 1795 onward the council of civil buildings completed the inventory of the castles that Louis XVI had started. In 1820, Baron Taylor and Charles Nodier published their Picturesque and Romantic Voyages in Ancient France , at the time when the first archaeological societies in

660-686: A political threat. Ragnachar denied Clovis's entry, prompting Clovis to make a move against him. He bribed Ragnachar's retainers and executed him alongside his brother Ricchar. Shortly before his death, Clovis called a synod of Gallic bishops to meet in Orléans to reform the Church and create a strong link between the Crown and the Nicene Christian episcopate. This was the First Council of Orléans . Thirty-three bishops assisted and passed 31 decrees on

792-514: A precarious position, Godegisel decided to ally himself to Clovis by marrying his exiled niece to the Frankish king. In 496, the Alamanni invaded and some Salians and Ripuarians reguli (kings) defected to their side. Clovis met his enemies near the strong fort of Tolbiac . During the fighting, the Franks suffered heavy losses. Clovis, together with over three thousand Frankish companions, may have converted to Christianity around this time. With

924-600: A public utility easement. There are two levels of protection: registration as historical monuments (formerly known as "registration in the supplementary inventory of historic monuments"), for furniture and buildings of regional interest, and the classification as historical monuments to a level of national interest. Usually, places (in the first case) are said to be "registered", and objects are said to be "classified". The two protections can also apply to movable objects (either furniture proper, or buildings by destination) of historical, artistic, technical, etc. interest. under

1056-475: A rediscovery of Clovis's cultus in the 16th century. During this period, the dual role St. Clovis could have for modern France was clarified as that of a deeply sinful man who attained sainthood by submitting himself to the will of God, as well as being the founder of the Gallican Church . He also attained an essentially mystic reputation. St. Clovis' role in calling for the First Council of Orléans

1188-646: A resurgence in St. Clovis's veneration was the Spanish Monarchy's use of the title Catholic Monarchs , a title French Monarchs hoped to usurp by attributing it to the much earlier figure of St. Clovis. The sole source for the early Frankish period is Gregory of Tours , who wrote around the year 590. His chronology for the reign of Clovis is almost certainly fabricated, often contradicting itself and other sources. Gregory often divides Clovis' life in spans of 5 years: he became king at age 15, defeated Syagrius in

1320-737: A small church in the vicinity of the subsequent Abbey of Saint-Remi in Reims ; a statue of his baptism by Saint Remigius can still be seen there. The details of this event have been passed down by Gregory of Tours , who recorded them many years later in the 6th century. The king's Nicene baptism was of immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in general, as Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of Gaul. Nicene Christianity offered certain advantages to Clovis as he fought to distinguish his rule among many competing power centers in Western Europe. His conversion to

1452-428: A sweeping reform to counter the laxity of the monks in 1047. A new church building was added in 1063 along with significant restoration works. Pope Urban II visited in 1097 and consecrated the high altar and issued a Papal Bull dated 7 May 1097 restoring 40 churches to the abbey; he also ordered the construction of the cloister , completed in 1100. The 11th and 12th centuries were the first golden age, as Moissac

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1584-477: A valuable ewer taken from the church. Despite his position, some Roman cities refused to yield to the Franks, namely Verdun ‒ which surrendered after a brief siege ‒ and Paris, which stubbornly resisted a few years, perhaps as many as five. He made Paris his capital and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine . Realizing that he would not be able to rule Gaul without

1716-477: Is effective from the signing of the protection order. A registration order can be issued for a building without the agreement of the owner of the monument, unlike a classification order. In the event of refusal by the owner of the building or of the object that it is proposed to classify, the classification can be carried out ex officio by decree in Council of State. The registration of a movable object belonging to

1848-431: Is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, a garden, a bridge, or other structure, because of their importance to France's architectural and historical cultural heritage . Both public and privately owned structures may be listed in this way, as well as movable objects. As of 2012, there were 44,236 monuments listed. The term "classification" is reserved for designation performed by

1980-551: Is last attested in an official document dated to 11 July 511, on the First Council of Orléans , and it is generally accepted that he died shortly after. Footnotes Sources Monument historique Monument historique ( French: [mɔnymɑ̃ istɔʁik] ) is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France . It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection

2112-531: Is now Germany. Clovis also conquered the Alemanni in eastern Gaul and the Visigothic kingdom of Aquitania in the southwest. These campaigns added significantly to Clovis's domains and established his dynasty as a major political and military presence in western Europe. Clovis is also significant because of his baptism in 508, largely at the behest of his wife, Clotilde , who would later be venerated as

2244-546: Is now the southern Netherlands to northern France , corresponding in Roman terms to Gallia Belgica (northern Gaul ). At the Battle of Soissons (486) , he established his military dominance of the rump state of the fragmenting Western Roman Empire , which was then under the command of Syagrius . By the time of his death in 511, Clovis had conquered several smaller Frankish kingdoms in the northeast of Gaul, stretching into what

2376-535: Is responsible for collecting, conserving and communicating the archives and documentation of the administration of historic monuments since its creation in 1830 and the state's photographic heritage, comprising more than four million prints and fifteen million negatives dating back to the origins of photography and including those relating to historical monuments. To this end, the MAP is made up of four scientific departments: archives and library, documentation, photography and

2508-453: Is the founder of the modern French state. Detracting, perhaps, from this legacy, is his aforementioned division of the state. This was done not along national or even largely geographical lines, but primarily to assure equal income amongst his sons after his death. While it may or may not have been his intention, this division was the cause of much internal discord in Gaul. This precedent led, in

2640-584: Is traditionally said to have died on 27 November 511. The day is found in one medieval calendar and two missals now in the Library of the Abbey of Saint Genevieve (which was founded by Clovis). However, two obituaries in the abbeys of Saint Genevieve and Saint Denis date his death to 29 November and 3 January, respectively. The latter date may be a confusion with the feast of Genevieve , which also falls on 3 January. Gregory of Tours states that Clovis died on

2772-571: Is why the law imposes a form of vigilance with regard to work projects in the field of visibility of historic monuments. Numerous classifications are made during the Occupation , in order to prevent destruction by the occupier, but also to make the people in charge of protection work partly in order to escape the compulsory labor service in Nazi Germany . The Eiffel Tower was listed as a historical monument by decree of June 24, 1964. After

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2904-583: The Academic Society of Agriculture, Belles Lettres, Sciences and Arts of Poitiers, itself founded in 1818. Other societies would follow in the various departements such as the Société des antiquaires de Picardie à Amiens. In turn, the Committee for Historical and Scientific Work was founded by François Guizot in 1834 to direct research and support that of various learned societies. In 1819, for

3036-498: The Catholic Church and the French Army were reluctant to recognize the prerogatives of the state over their heritage; furthermore, the classification of monuments that were privately owned required the owners' consent. These obstacles explain why the number of monuments classified annually actually decreased from 2,800 in 1848 to 1,563 in 1873. The law of 30 March 1887, for the conservation of historic monuments, enumerated for

3168-535: The Church of St. Genevieve of Paris in 1920). There was also the acceptance, timidly, of eclectic architecture of the 19th century: the classification in 1923 of the Opera Garnier . With the abandonment of the sites by the military following World War I , Renaissance and neoclassical military architecture began to be classified as well. Finally, it was during this period that a sort of second-order classification

3300-724: The Habsburg monarchs depicts Clovis as St. Chlodoveus, St. Boniface's Abbey in Munich depicted St. Chlodoveus as a saint worthy of emulation because of his advocacy, and the Florentine Baroque painter Carlo Dolci painted a large depiction of St. Clovis for the Imperial Apartment in the Uffizi Gallery. St. Clovis had no known official canonisation , neither was he beatified , so his sainthood

3432-536: The House of Valois as their predecessors were the Direct Capetians who looked back to Charlemagne whose veneration had been widely recognised. In contrast to the theory of St. Clovis's cult being a primarily northern-supported movement, Amy Goodrich Remensnyder suggests that St. Clovis was used by Occitans to reject the northern concept of the monarchy and to reinstate their autonomy as something granted by

3564-629: The Missions Héliographiques to document France's medieval architecture. A monument historique may be marked by the official logo for the program, signage for which is distributed by the Union Rempart  [ fr ] , a union of French historical restoration associations. It consists of a design representing the labyrinth that used to be in Reims Cathedral , which is itself a World Heritage Site . Use of

3696-605: The Restoration , and its collections, which were to be returned "to families and churches", were ultimately dispersed from state control. The vandalism of the French built environment that accompanied the anticlerical nature of the French Revolution subsequently inspired numerous responses, particularly ones tinged with nostalgia and romanticism; for example, either Chateaubriand or Victor Hugo published in 1825

3828-549: The prefect for the region , or by the Minister of Culture for the national level. They are aided by the advice of a commission named Commission régionale du patrimoine et des sites  [ fr ] . The buildings are classified or listed as historical monuments respectively according to the provisions of Articles L. 621-1 and L. 621-25 et seq. of the Heritage Code. The classification process can be proposed by

3960-551: The 1920s and 1930s, the classification opened up to private heritage, which created an easement which was then considered as a deprivation of property (see on this subject the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans in 1926), but which was then compensated by the subsidization of works, then by tax advantages. It also opens up to the Renaissance and the age of neoclassicism, roughly from the 16th to the 18th century (e.g.,

4092-526: The 5th year of his reign, defeated the Alamanni in his 15th year, defeated the Visigoths in his 25th year, and died at the age of 45, in the 5th year after his victory at Vouillé , having reigned 30 years. The exact date on which Clovis became "king of all Franks" is not known, but it happened sometime after the Battle of Vouillé , which is securely dated to 507. After this battle, Clovis made Paris his capital, converted to Catholicism , and orchestrated

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4224-553: The Anglo-French Louis . Clovis was the son of Childeric I , a king of the Salian Franks , and Basina , a Thuringian princess. The dynasty he founded is, however, named after his supposed ancestor, Merovech . Some sources claim that Clovis' grandfather was Chlodio , but his exact relation with Merovech is not known. Numerous small Frankish petty kingdoms existed during the 5th century. The Salian Franks

4356-588: The Burgundian territory. Gundobad then moved against Clovis and called his brother for reinforcements. The three armies met near Dijon , where both the Franks and Godegisel's forces defeated the dumbfounded Gundobad, who escaped to Avignon . Clovis pursued him and laid siege to the city. After some months, Clovis was convinced to abandon the siege and settled for an annual tribute from Gundobad. In 501, 502 or 503, Clovis led his troops to Armorica . He had previously restricted his operations to minor raids, but now

4488-702: The Center for Research on Historical Monuments (CRMH) and has three sites in Île-de-France : the main site of the media library, installed in Charenton-le-Pont in its premises refurbished in April 2014; the Fort de Saint-Cyr site for the photographic archives; and the documentation center of the Bons Enfants site near the ministry. In addition, the collection of models and materials (the material library) of

4620-536: The Cluniac hierarchy only to the abbot of Cluny himself. During this era, the abbey was led by major abbots Dom Hunaud de Gavarret and Dom Ansquitil, who had the doorway and tympanum built. In the 13th century, Raymond de Montpezat, followed by Bertrand de Montaigut, abbots and builders, ruled the abbey. Aymeric de Peyrac , writing his Chronicle in the 15th century in the château of Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave , describes these times. Illuminated manuscripts produced in

4752-526: The Commission of Monuments, whose role is to study "the fate of monuments, arts and sciences". In 1791, Alexandre Lenoir was appointed to create the Museum of French Monuments , opened in 1795, in which he gathered the fragments of architecture that he had managed to save from destruction over the previous several years. But this museum was closed by Louis XVIII under the ordinance of 24 April 1816, during

4884-516: The Commission published its first list , composed of 1082 historical monuments, including 934 buildings. This list consisted only of prehistoric monuments and ancient and medieval buildings (those constructed between the 5th and 16th centuries), which predictably included many religious buildings, but also objects that today might be termed broadly "material culture", such as the Bayeux Tapestry . All of these sites were and remain properties of

5016-572: The Convention on 31 August 1794 on "the destruction carried out by vandalism and the means of recovering it". Other properties have been kept by the state and have changed functions (prisons such as Maguelone , Clairvaux , Mont-Saint-Michel ), but the greater part were sold to individuals, often to serve as a quarry for building materials and have disappeared ( Abbey of Cluny , Vézelay Abbey , etc.). In 1790, Aubin Louis Millin spoke for

5148-517: The Director of Public monuments, the new Commission carried out inventory and classification work (classification on the basis of political considerations then emphasizing around 1835 sites primarily of historical interest only, expanded from 1841 to include those for their architectural quality) and the allocation of funding. It was also responsible for training architects who work on monuments (starting with Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc ). In 1840,

5280-595: The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three persons of one being ( consubstantiality ). While the theology of the Arians was declared a heresy at the First Council of Nicea in 325, the missionary work of Bishop Ulfilas converted a significant portion of the pagan Goths to Arian Christianity in the 4th century. By the time of the ascension of Clovis, Gothic Arians dominated Christian Gaul, and Nicene Christians were

5412-500: The French Ministry of Culture for a monument of national-level significance. Monuments of lesser significance may be "inscribed" by various regional entities. Buildings may be given the classification (or inscription) for either their exteriors or interiors. A monument's designation could be for a building's décor, its furniture, a single room, or even a staircase. An example is the monument historique classification of

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5544-834: The French Alpine Club, the Society for the Protection of Landscapes and the aesthetics of France, and the Touring Club of France, which had all protested vigorously against the effects of industrialization. the 1906 law laid down the principle of classification of picturesque natural sites. Under the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State , local communities and the state were entrusted with

5676-535: The Gallo-Roman commander at Soissons . During the battle, Chalaric betrayed his comrades by refusing to take part in the fighting. Despite the betrayal, the Franks landed a decisive victory , forcing Syagrius to flee to the court of Alaric II . This battle is viewed as bringing about the end of the rump state of the Western Roman Empire outside of Italy. Following the battle, Clovis invaded

5808-609: The History of the Moissac Abbey , claimed that his own monastery was founded by St. Clovis and there were many monasteries named in his honour. Aymeric not only referred to Clovis as a saint but also prayed for St. Clovis's intercession. There were also known to be shrines dedicated to Clovis in Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon and Saint-Pierre-du- Dorât . Boniface Symoneta, Jacques Almain and Paulus Aemilius Veronensis gave hagiographic accounts of Clovis's life and at

5940-687: The Inspector of Historic Monuments was to classify the buildings and to distribute the funds for maintenance and restoration. On 29 September 1837, the Minister of the Interior, the Count of Montalivet , officially established the Commission for Historic Monuments ( Commission des monuments historiques ), succeeding the former Committee for the Arts. Composed of seven volunteers and chaired by Jean Vatout ,

6072-472: The Kingdom of France, the myriad German States, and the semi-autonomous kingdoms of Burgundy and Lotharingia . Clovis was born a pagan but later became interested in converting to Arian Christianity , whose followers believed that Jesus was a distinct and separate being from God the Father , both subordinate to and created by him. This contrasted with Nicene Christianity , whose followers believe that God

6204-679: The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) also made up of the Center for Research on the Conservation of Collections (CRCC) and the Conservation-Research of the Music Museum. The LRMH is responsible for carrying out scientific and technical studies as well as research on the conservation of buildings and cultural heritage objects protected as Historical Monuments. He studies the constituent materials and

6336-580: The Nicene form of Christianity served to set him apart from most other Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals , who had converted from Germanic paganism to Arian Christianity. However, he was not the first Germanic king to convert to Nicene Christianity , that distinction belonging to the Suevic king of Gallaecia Rechiar , whose conversion predates Clovis's baptism by half

6468-426: The Pope as emperor in 800, and to the subsequent birth of the early Holy Roman Empire in the middle of the 10th century. Based on the attested forms, the original name is reconstructed in the Frankish language as * Hlōdowik or * Hlōdowig and is traditionally considered to be composed of two elements, deriving from both Proto-Germanic : *hlūdaz ("loud, famous") and *wiganą ("to battle, to fight"), resulting in

6600-404: The Romanized population still dominant south of the military highway Boulogne-Cologne. Later, Chlodio seems to have attacked westwards from this area to take control of the Roman populations in Tournai , then southwards to Artois , and Cambrai , eventually controlling an area stretching to the Somme river . Childeric I, Clovis's father, was reputed to be a relative of Chlodio and was known as

6732-409: The Second World War and the massive destruction due to the German bombings of 1940 and the Allies of 1944 and 1945, and the economic boom of the Thirty Glorious Years during which destruction continues to rebuild something new, the protection in reaction changes scale. On October 4, 1962, a new law empowered the Minister of Culture André Malraux to safeguard sectors of towns that were first created by

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6864-437: The Visigothic king Alaric II . According to Gregory of Tours, following the battle the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I made Clovis a patrician and honorary consul . Following the Battle of Vouillé, Clovis eliminated all his possible rivals, including the other Frankish kings who ruled alongside him. Sometime after 507, Clovis heard about Chararic 's plan to escape from his monastic prison and had him murdered. Around

6996-408: The Visigoths. King Alaric had previously tried to establish a cordial relationship with Clovis by serving him the head of exiled Syagrius on a silver plate in 486 or 487. However, Clovis was no longer able to resist the temptation to move against the Visigoths, for many Nicene Christians under Visigoth yoke were unhappy and implored Clovis to make a move. But just to be absolutely certain about retaining

7128-402: The alteration phenomena that compromise their conservation. He works on the treatments to be applied to altered works, as well as on the conservation conditions of the monuments and objects studied. It disseminates the results of its studies and research as widely as possible. There are two levels of protection: These two levels of protection are determined after a thorough historical study by

7260-444: The beginning of the protection of the industrial heritage, both the architecture (the mill of the Menier chocolate factory by Jules Saulnier in Noisiel was classified in 1992) and the machines (the automobile collection Schlumpf was classified in 1978 to avoid its dispersion). At the same time the mission of maritime and fluvial heritage, with the classification of lighthouses, beacons, river cranes, then boats (the first of these were

7392-405: The building presented does not justify not a ranking. In the case of acceptance of the owner, the minister signs the order of ranking, prepared by the Regional Conservation of Historical Monuments concerned. The publication of the list of protected historic monuments in the course of one year is made in an issue of The Official Journal of the French Republic of the following year, but the protection

7524-482: The church's south-west portico , a crenellated structure with sculpture that is a major masterpiece of Romanesque art . This reflected an expansion of image carving both in scope and size and extended the use of sculpture from the sanctuary to the public exterior. The tympanum depicts the Apocalypse of the Book of Revelation. Supporting the tympanum, a trumeau features a statue of the Prophet Isaiah , an outstanding example of Romanesque sculpture, comparable to

7656-466: The city symbolic weight. When his grandchildren divided royal power 50 years after his death in 511, Paris was kept as a joint property and a fixed symbol of the dynasty. The disunity continued under the Carolingians until, after a brief unity under Charlemagne , the Franks splintered into distinct spheres of cultural influence that coalesced around Eastern and Western centers of royal power. These later political, linguistic, and cultural entities became

7788-435: The cloister, which had been a centre of Benedictine life for nearly 1,000 years. They were replaced by Augustinian canons, under commendatory abbots including well-known cardinals such as Mazarin and de Brienne . In 1793, the French Revolution put an end to monastic life in Moissac. The abbey church of St Pierre is relatively intact and is still an active church, but the outlying buildings have suffered considerably. In

7920-478: The context of buildings or objects requiring an archaeological study or found during excavations, the regional archeology service can examine the file. The protection request file is generally made up by the documentary study officers of the Regional Conservation of Historic Monuments . The file must include a documentary part giving detailed information on the building (history, urban situation, legal, etc.) and photographic and cartographic documents. It also includes

8052-410: The control of the architect of the buildings of France is also exercised by the means of the requirement, since 1977, of his agreement on the permit to demolish buildings located in the perimeters protected for their patrimonial or environmental interest (sites registered, etc.), as well as since 1943 on all works located in covisibility and, henceforth, in the vicinity of historical monuments by virtue of

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8184-462: The country were being formed. The Celtic Academy was founded in 1804 by Éloi Johanneau and others, who met for the first time on 3 Ventôse year XIII (22 February 1805). This first association was to be devoted only to the study of the Celts , but quickly its members became interested in national antiquities. As early as 1811, Roquefort proposed to change the name of the society to give it one more in line with its activity. The new statutes as well as

8316-411: The decree is taken or not, he can also choose, depending on the wish expressed by the commission or not, to send the file to the Ministry of Culture for classification. In the event that the file is submitted to the Minister, the National Heritage and Architecture Commission makes a decision and then has two possibilities: either it proposes the classification, or it proposes or confirms the registration if

8448-405: The decree of March 4, 1964. As a result, the service of the General Inventory of monuments and artistic riches of France does not list only singular historical monuments. Meanwhile, historic buildings open to civil architecture sixteenth to the eighteenth century, the vernacular and native architecture starting with the Palais idéal du facteur Cheval , in 1969, and the monumental architecture of

8580-431: The designation because of their historical importance to science. The MH designation traces its roots to the French Revolution when the government appointed Alexandre Lenoir to specify and safeguard certain structures. Though the first classifications were given in the 19th century by the writer Prosper Mérimée , inspector-general of historical monuments, by a first list established in 1840 . In 1851, Mérimée organized

8712-415: The duties and obligations of individuals, the right of sanctuary, and ecclesiastical discipline. These decrees, equally applicable to Franks and Romans, first established equality between conquerors and conquered. After his death, Clovis was laid to rest in the Abbey of St Genevieve in Paris. His remains were relocated to Saint Denis Basilica in the mid- to late 18th century. When Clovis died, his kingdom

8844-429: The décor in the café " Deux Garçons " in Aix-en-Provence whose patrons once included Alphonse de Lamartine , Émile Zola and Paul Cézanne . Some buildings are designated because of their connection to a single personality, such as the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise which is designated an MH because of its connection to the painter Vincent van Gogh . Since the 1990s, a significant number of places have been given

8976-415: The fifth year after the Battle of Vouillé , which gives 511 using inclusive counting . However, he also states that he died on the 11th year of the episcopate of Licinius of Tours (AD 518) and on the 112th year after the death of Martin of Tours (AD 508). The Liber Pontificalis records that Clovis' crown was sent to Pope Hormisdas ( r.   514–523), which could imply a later date. Clovis

9108-410: The first competition of the ACMH took place, and finally in 1907 a decree permanently enshrined their legal status. Proposed by the Minister of Public Education Aristide Briand, the law of April 21, 1906, on the protection of natural sites and monuments of artistic character, resulted from the action carried out among others by the Society of Friends of Trees (founded in 1898 by Julien-François Jeannel),

9240-423: The first time of "historical monument" in a report submitted to the Constituent Assembly on the occasion of the demolition of the Bastille . The phrase "Historic monument" thus became symbolic of the pre-revolutionary era, the Ancien Régime . The idea of preserving a site linked to the Ancien Régime circulated, and the Assembly, under the impetus of Talleyrand , adopted the decree of 13 October 1790, which created

9372-456: The first time the specific criteria and procedure for official classification of monuments. It also contains provisions establishing the body of chief architects of historic monuments (or ACMH, drawing inspiration from the situation of diocesan architects in the Service des Edifices Diocésains—a state agency designed for the specific upkeep of church properties—and gradually replacing local architects) established by decree of 26 January 1892. In 1893

9504-616: The first time, the budget of the Ministry of the Interior included an allowance of 80,000 francs for "historical monuments", about one-fifteenth of the total sum. Under the July Monarchy , on 21 October 1830, the Minister of the Interior, François Guizot proposed in a report presented to King Louis-Philippe to create the post of Inspector of Historic Monuments which he assigned to Ludovic Vitet on 25 November 1830, then reassigned to Prosper Mérimée on 27 May 1834. The mission of

9636-521: The goal was subjugation. Clovis failed to complete this objective via military means; therefore, he was constrained to statecraft. This proved fruitful, for the Armonici shared Clovis's disdain for the Arian Visigoths. Armorica and its fighters were thus integrated into the Frankish realm. In 507 Clovis was allowed by the magnates of his realm to invade the remaining threat of the Kingdom of

9768-491: The help of the Ripuarian Franks he narrowly defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496. Now Christian, Clovis confined his prisoners, Chararic and his son, to a monastery. In 500 or 501, Godegisel began scheming against his brother Gundobad. He promised his brother-in-law territory and annual tribute for defeating his brother. Clovis was eager to subdue the political threat to his realm and crossed into

9900-466: The help of the clergy, Clovis took a Nicene Christian wife to please them. He also integrated many of Syagrius's units into his own army. The Roman kingdom was probably under Clovis's control by 491 because in the same year, Clovis successfully moved against a small number of Thuringians in eastern Gaul, near the Burgundian border. Around 493 AD, he secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths through

10032-577: The historic monument has become a kind of Noah syndrome: the state continues to register historical monuments in greater quantity than what it can actually occupy. Currently, the restoration credits allocated by the Ministry of Culture are decentralized in the DRACs or managed by the operator of heritage and real estate projects for culture. The following graphs summarize the number of classification and registration as historical monuments by decade, since 1840. The Architecture and Heritage Media Library (MAP)

10164-459: The king Clovis himself is generally named Chlodwig. The Old Norse form Hlǫðvér was most likely borrowed from a West Germanic language. The Frankish name *Hlodowig is at the origin of the French given name Louis (variant Ludovic ), borne by 18 kings of France , via the Latinized form Hludovicus (variants Ludhovicus, Lodhuvicus , or Chlodovicus ). The English Lewis stems from

10296-494: The king of the Franks who fought as an army within northern Gaul. In 463, he fought in conjunction with Aegidius , the magister militum of northern Gaul, to defeat the Visigoths in Orléans . Childeric died in 481 and was buried in Tournai; Clovis succeeded him as king, aged just 15. Historians believe that Childeric and Clovis were both commanders of the Roman military in the province of Belgica Secunda and were subordinate to

10428-482: The kingship was passed down to his heirs. He is considered to have been the founder of the Merovingian dynasty , which ruled the Frankish kingdom for the next two centuries. Clovis is important in the historiography of France as "the first king of what would become France." Clovis succeeded his father, Childeric I , as a king of the Salian Franks in 481, and eventually came to rule an area extending from what

10560-406: The language spoken by Clovis exist, historical linguists consider it likely that, based on his family history and core territories, he spoke a form of Old Dutch . In this, the early Merovingians can be contrasted with the later Carolingians , such as Charlemagne , of the late 8th century and onward, who probably spoke various forms of Old High German . The ruler of Tournai died in 481 and

10692-403: The logo is optional. The notion of historical monument, sparked by both the ideas of the French Revolution and Romanticism , led to a policy of protection founded by the July Monarchy . This is a recognition of public interest for buildings (buildings, gardens and parks, archaeological reserves, etc.) which more specifically concerns the art and history attached to the monument and constitutes

10824-451: The long run, to the fall of his dynasty, for it was a pattern repeated in future reigns. Clovis did bequeath to his heirs the support of both people and the Church such that when the magnates were ready to do away with the royal house, the sanction of the Pope was sought first. In later centuries, Clovis was venerated as a saint in France. The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Denis (where Clovis

10956-470: The loyalties of the Nicene Christians under Visigoths, Clovis ordered his troops to omit raiding and plunder, for this was not a foreign invasion, but a liberation. Armorici assisted him in defeating the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé in 507, eliminating Visigothic power in Gaul. The battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis's kingdom and resulted in the death of

11088-492: The magister militum. The Franks of Tournai came to dominate their neighbours, initially aided by the association with Aegidius. The death of Aetius in 454 led to the decline of imperial power in Gaul; leaving the Visigoths and the Burgundians competing for predominance in the area. The part of Gaul still under Roman control emerged as a kingdom under Syagrius, Aegidius's son. Though no primary sources expounding on

11220-467: The marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great . In the same year, the neighboring King of the Burgundians was slain by his brother, Gundobad ; bringing civil strife to that kingdom. Allegedly, Gundobad proceeded to drown his sister-in-law and force his niece, Chrona, into a convent. Another niece, Clotilde , fled to the court of the third brother, Godegisel . Finding himself in

11352-412: The middle of the 19th century, the laying of a railway track threatened the cloister, but it was saved (though the refectory was demolished to facilitate the railway cutting) and listed as a historic monument . Since 1998, the church and cloisters have had international protection as part of a World Heritage Site , " Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France ". Architectural features of interest include

11484-747: The minority. Clovis's wife Clotilde , a Burgundian princess, was a Nicene Christian despite the Arianism that surrounded her at court. Her persistence eventually persuaded Clovis to convert to Nicene Christianity, which he initially resisted. Clotilde had wanted her son to be baptized, but Clovis refused, so she had the child baptized without Clovis's knowledge. Shortly after his baptism, their son died, which further strengthened Clovis's resistance to conversion. Clotilde also had their second son baptized without her husband's permission, and this son became ill and nearly died after his baptism. Clovis eventually converted to Nicene Christianity on Christmas Day 508 in

11616-527: The miracles attributed to St. Clovis, sometimes even writing lengthy rejections of their existence. Instead, they saw his sainthood as evident from his creation of a state more holy and Christian than that of Rome. Catholic writers in the 16th century expanded upon the lists of St. Clovis's attributed miracles, but in the early 17th century they also began to minimize their use of the miraculous elements of his hagiography. Mid-to-late-17th-century Jesuit writers resisted this trend and allowed for no doubt as to

11748-444: The miraculous nature of St. Clovis life or his sainthood. Jesuit writers stressed the more extreme elements of his hagiography, and that of other saints associated with him, even claiming that St. Remigius lived for five hundred years. These hagiographies would still be quoted and widely believed as late as 1896, the fourteenth centenary of his baptism, as a speech from Cardinal Langénieux demonstrates. Another factor that led to

11880-590: The monastery's scriptorium were taken to Paris by Jean-Baptiste Colbert in the 17th century and are now in the Bibliothèque Nationale . The 15th century ushered in a new golden age under the rule of abbots Pierre and Antoine de Caraman, whose building programme included in particular the Gothic part of the abbey church. The 1626 secularization of the abbey caused the Benedictine monks to leave

12012-589: The movement of the Ecole de Nancy ) were also listed at the end of the 1990s, mainly in Nancy. To accentuate this visibility, the label "Heritage 20th century" was created in 1999, automatically assigned to all the historical monuments built during the 20th century, but the present buildings in ZPPAUP or offered for regional commission heritage and architecture. The name "additional inventory of historic monuments"

12144-452: The municipalities own 55.82%, versus 5.67% for the state and 3.6% for other local authorities. A third of historical monuments concern domestic architecture, 29.6% are religious buildings. They were broken down in 2014 as follows: As of 31 December 2008, there were 43,180 monuments distributed as follows: 14,367 classified and 28,813 registered as historical monuments, 323 additional compared to 2007, 44,236 in 2012 and 44,318 in 2014. But

12276-532: The murders of Frankish kings Sigobert and Ragnachar , uniting all Franks under his rule. Clovis' baptism, traditionally dated to December 496 on the account of Gregory, is now believed to have taken place in December 508. The election of Paris as capital must have also happened around 508. Given that the hostilities between Ragnachar and Clovis began after his conversion, it can be inferred that their confrontation took place shortly after, in 509. Clovis I

12408-533: The name of classification under object title or (rarer) of registration under object title as well as for the census. Long subject to the provisions of the law of 31 December 1913, classification and registration are now governed by Title II of Book VI of the Heritage Code and can take 15 to 18 months (legislative part and regulatory part) to fully enshrine a place or object. From a legal point of view, this protection constitutes an official French label. The biens nationaux ("National Properties"), created in

12540-719: The new one of the company, Société des antiquaires de France, were adopted on 29 October 1813. Arcisse de Caumont founded the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy in 1824, and the French Society of Archeology in 1834. The Archaeological Society of the South of France was founded by Alexandre Du Mège in 1831. In 1834 the Société des Antiquaires de l'Ouest was founded in Poitiers by Charles Mangon de La Lande from members of

12672-596: The nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This is when a few of those monuments were entered or classified: Metallic architecture took a long time to be recognized and classified: Les Halles by Victor Baltard were destroyed between 1969 and 1971 (only one pavilion was classified as a historical monument and was reassembled in Nogent-sur-Marne in 1977, outside its context of origin), the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève by Henri Labrouste

12804-480: The north. The abbey was sacked by the Arabs of al-Andalus twice around 732 and was looted in the 9th century by Norman pirates and in the 10th century by Hungarians . The 11th century was a dramatic time for the abbey. In 1030, the roof collapsed from lack of maintenance, and in 1042, there was a serious fire. Durand de Bredons , bishop of Toulouse , appointed the abbot of Cluny Odilon de Mercœur to bring in

12936-543: The obligatory actors, establishing criminal and civil sanctions in the event of unauthorized work on listed monuments, etc. That same year, the Commission of Historic Monuments also accepted four castles dating from later than the Middle Ages: Luxembourg Palace , Versailles , Maisons-Laffitte, and the Louvre . At the end of 1911, more than 4,000 buildings and 14,000 objects were classified. During

13068-424: The opinions of the chief architect of historical monuments, of the architect of buildings of France and of the curator of historic monuments. The protection file thus constituted is then submitted to the opinion of the regional commission for heritage and architecture (CRPA) chaired by the regional prefect. The prefect, according to the opinion of the commission, can issue a registration order, or refuse it. Whether

13200-532: The other Frankish sub-kings and weakened his military position over the next few years. In the interpretatio romana , Saint Gregory of Tours gave the Germanic gods that Clovis abandoned the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods, such as Jupiter and Mercury . William Daly, more directly assessing Clovis's allegedly barbaric and pagan origins, ignored the Gregory of Tours version and based his account on

13332-565: The owner or any public actor (territorial architecture and heritage service which has become a departmental architecture and heritage unit, regional inventory service, etc.) or private (heritage conservation associations, for example), with the architect of buildings in France with territorial jurisdiction or the Regional Conservation of Historic Monuments attached to the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs. In

13464-501: The possibility of classifying as a site an area located near a listed or registered building. The protection of classified natural sites is currently governed by the Environment Code. The law of February 25, 1943, modifying the law of December 31, 1913, clarifies these provisions by introducing a field of vision of 500 meters. The law of 1943 indeed considers that a monument is also the impression that its surroundings give. This

13596-452: The possibility that the first element instead derives from Proto-Germanic *hlutą ("lot, share, portion"), giving the meaning of the name as "loot bringer" or "plunder (bringing) warrior". This hypothesis is supported by the fact that if the first element is taken to mean "famous", then the name of Chlodomer (one of Clovis' sons) would contain two elements ( *hlūdaz and *mērijaz ) both meaning "famous", which would be highly uncommon within

13728-513: The protection of buildings representing a particular type—i.e., the typicum —and no longer just the unique structure or unicum ). Thus for this purpose, in 1851 the Commission created the Mission Héliographique , responsible for photographing French monuments, one of the earliest and most significant widespread and systematic uses of photography , one of whose chief employees was Édouard-Denis Baldus . However, local authorities,

13860-474: The provisions of Article L. 621-30.II of the Heritage Code, or in remarkable heritage sites (former sectors saved) since 1964. In reality, there are therefore several hundred thousand existing buildings, if not several million, which are directly or indirectly protected in France by a rigorous aesthetic and heritage control, during any work on them. Faced with the sharp increase in the number of historical monuments, some authors such as Françoise Choay consider that

13992-432: The provisions of the 1887 law, widening the field of protection of the classification criteria (to properties whose conservation no longer responds simply to the notion of "national interest" but to that of "public interest", which also takes into account the small local heritage classification extended to private property without needing the consent of the owner, a prelude to registration in the additional inventory), defining

14124-541: The research center are hosted by the Chaillot school to serve as educational support for its students. The historical monuments research laboratory (LRMH) is a service with national competence of the Ministry of Culture, attached to the service responsible for heritage within the General Directorate of Heritage. He is part of the Center for Research on Conservation (CRC), a team associated with USR 3224 of

14256-407: The responsibility of the religious buildings, but certain communes refused to take charge of some of these buildings, which were not considered to be of "national interest", while other localities did not hesitate to auction off their heritage, which caused scandals and revealed the weaknesses of the legislative texts of 1887. The law of December 31, 1913, on historic monuments complemented and improved

14388-469: The saint. St. Clovis had the role of a more militarised royal saint than the pious Louis IX of France . As a saint, Clovis was important as he represented the spiritual birth of the nation and provided a chivalrous and ascetic model for French political leaders to follow. The veneration of St. Clovis was not exclusive to France as a print by the Holy Roman woodcut designer Leonhard Beck made for

14520-529: The same time, Clovis convinced Prince Chlodoric to murder his father Sigobert , earning him his nickname as "Chlodoric the Parricide". Following the murder, Clovis betrayed Chlodoric and had his envoys strike him down. Sometime later, Clovis visited his old ally Ragnachar in Cambrai. Following his conversion to Christianity in 508, many of Clovis' pagan retainers had defected to Ragnachar's side, making him

14652-676: The scant earlier sources, a sixth-century "vita" of Saint Genevieve and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops (now in the Epistolae Austrasicae ) and Theodoric . Clovis and his wife were buried in the Abbey of St Genevieve (St. Pierre) in Paris; the original name of the church was the Church of the Holy Apostles. Under Clovis, the first codification of the Salian Frank law took place. The Roman Law

14784-412: The state, the department or the municipality in which they are located, the conservation of which requires work (and therefore funds). Subsequently, the Commission continued its inventory work, and the historical monuments increased in number and the area of protection widened in three directions: chronological, categorical (that is, towards vernacular architecture), and typological or conceptual (towards

14916-462: The successful canonisation campaign of Louis IX, occurred during a conflict with the Burgundians. The cause for Clovis's canonisation was taken up once again in the 17th century, with Jesuit support, a vita and an account of posthumous miracles, in opposition to the controversial historical works of Calvinist pastor Jean de Serres who portrayed Clovis as a cruel and bloodthirsty king. The Jesuit attempt to formally canonize Clovis came after

15048-444: The three-masted Duchesse Anne and the barge Mad-Atao in 1982), etc. Also protected are historic villages: Joan of Arc's birthplace (classified from 1840) or that of Napoleon I, the wall of Federated, Oradour-sur-Glane (ranked May 10, 1946), etc.; and gardens: around 1920 the parks of Versailles and Fontainebleau were listed, as was that of Azay-le-Rideau around 1930. Other monuments, reflections of French Art Nouveau (in particular

15180-406: The time it was common to include Clovis's life in collections of the lives of the saints. It has been suggested that the reason that the French state promoted the veneration of Clovis in the south was to establish a border cult that would cause Occitans to venerate the northern-led French state by venerating its founder. Another reason could be that Clovis was a preferable foundation figure for

15312-460: The top of the hill to mark the spot where "abbey of a thousand monks" was to be built. Unfortunately, the javelin landed in the middle of a swamp. Historical records however indicate that it was founded by Saint Didier , bishop of Cahors , in the middle of the 7th century. The establishment of the monastery was difficult because of raids by Moors from the south and west and the Norsemen from

15444-502: The traditional practice of translating Clovis' name as meaning "famous warrior" or "renowned in battle". However, scholars have pointed out that Gregory of Tours consistently transcribes the names of various Merovingian royal names containing the first element as chlodo- . The use of a close-mid back rounded vowel (o), rather than the expected close back rounded vowel (u) that Gregory does use in various other Germanic names (i.e. Fredegundis , Arnulfus , Gundobadus , etc.) opens up

15576-409: The traitor Chalaric's territory and was able to imprison him and his son. Prior to the battle, Clovis did not enjoy the support of the Gallo-Roman clergy, so he proceeded to pillage the Roman territory, including the churches. The Bishop of Reims requested Clovis return everything taken from the Church of Reims; the young king aspired to establish cordial relationships with the clergy, so he returned

15708-481: The typical Germanic name structure. In Middle Dutch , a language closely related to Frankish, the name was rendered as Lodewijch (cf. modern Dutch Lodewijk ). The name is found in other West Germanic languages , with cognates including Old English Hloðwig , Old Saxon Hluduco , and Old High German Hludwīg (variant Hluotwīg ). The latter turned into Ludwig in Modern German , although

15840-528: The wake of the nationalization of Church property (Decree of the clergy property made available to the Nation of 2 November 1789), emigrants (Decree of 9 November 1791) and the crown of France (Decree of 10 August 1792), have had varying fortunes. Some were appropriated by the state due to popular vindictiveness, giving rise to the notion of vandalism invented by the Abbé Grégoire in a report presented to

15972-469: The work at Santo Domingo de Silos . The cloisters also feature Romanesque sculpture. Clovis I Clovis ( Latin : Chlodovechus ; reconstructed Frankish : * Hlōdowig ; c.  466 – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Franks under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single king, and ensuring that

16104-472: Was affiliated to the abbey of Cluny and accepted the Cluniac Reforms , under the guidance of Durand de Bredons , both the abbot of Moissac and the bishop of Toulouse . Papal support, its location on the pilgrim road, the restoration of the buildings and the reforms of de Bredon made the abbey one of the most powerful in France. In the 12th century, the abbot of Moissac was second in seniority within

16236-399: Was buried) had a shrine to St. Clovis to the east of the main altar. There was also a shrine to him in the Abbey of Saint Genevieve in Paris. This shrine had a statue and a number of epitaphs and was probably where the veneration of St. Clovis began. Despite Clovis's presence in Paris, his cultus was largely based in the south of France. Abbot Aymeric de Peyrat (d. 1406), the author of

16368-430: Was invented: the "inscription in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments", in 1925, which in 2005 became the "inscription under the title of historic monuments." The law of May 2, 1930, which replaced that of 1906, consolidated the procedures for classifying built monuments on the one hand, and that of sites and natural spaces, by creating the category of "classified site and registered site". It also introduced

16500-405: Was not registered until 1988. Archives , which are collection of documents, were eligible to be classified as "historical monuments", until the passage of a 1979 law on archives. This established a specific regime (currently codified in book II of the heritage code), which is, however, inspired by much of the regime of historical monuments. The end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s saw

16632-475: Was only ever recognised by popular acclaim . Following the example of the monks of St. Geneviève, St. Clovis's feast day in France was held on 27 November. St. Clovis enjoyed a persistent campaign from French royal authorities that few non-French national or dynastic saints did. French monarchs, beginning in the 14th century at the latest, attempted to officially canonise Clovis a number of times. The most notable attempt, led by King Louis XI and modelled on

16764-517: Was partitioned among his four sons, Theuderic , Chlodomer , Childebert and Clotaire . This partition created the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims , Orléans , Paris and Soissons , and inaugurated a tradition that would lead to disunity lasting until the end of the Merovingian dynasty in 751. Clovis had been a king with no fixed capital and no central administration beyond his entourage. By deciding to be interred at Paris, Clovis gave

16896-412: Was replaced by "registration as historical monuments" in 2005. As of 1 February 2015, there were 43,600 buildings protected as historical monuments in France (14,100 classified and 29,500 registered), as well as around 300,000 movable objects (more than 135,000 classified and around 150,000 registered) to which it is necessary to add 1,400 musical organs. 49.4% of historical monuments are private property;

17028-403: Was succeeded by his young son, Clovis. His band of warriors probably numbered no more than half a thousand. In 486 he began his efforts to expand the realm by allying himself with his relative Ragnachar , king of Cambrai and another Frankish king, Chalaric . These rulers are sometimes referred to as regulus (diminutive of rex ). Together the triumvirate marched against Syagrius and met

17160-694: Was the first-known Frankish tribe that settled with official Roman permission within the empire, first in Batavia in the Rhine-Maas delta, and then in 375 in Toxandria , which in the present day consists of the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands and parts of neighbouring provinces of Antwerp and Limburg in Belgium. This put them in the northern part of the Roman civitas Tungrorum , with

17292-491: Was understood to be strongly Gallican as he called it without Papal authority and with the understanding that he and his bishops had the authority to call councils that were binding for the Frankish people. For Protestant Gallicans, St. Clovis represented the role of the monarchy in governing the Church and curbing its abuses and was contrasted positively against the Papacy of his time. Protestants were unlikely to mention any of

17424-455: Was written with the assistance of Gallo-Romans to reflect the Salic legal tradition and Christianity, while containing much from Roman tradition. The Roman Law lists various crimes as well as the fines associated with them. The legacy of Clovis's conquests, a Frankish kingdom that included most of Roman Gaul and parts of western Germany, survived long after his death. To many French people, he

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