A Royal Tomb Program in the Reign of St.

Louis* Georgia Summers Wright

224-The bodies of eight Carolingian and eight Capetian kings and queens were moved to sites in the new crossing and their graves were identified with carved effigies on high bases. 224- Perhaps other institution identified its own welfare and prestige with that of the royal house as consistently as did Saint-Denis 226 - If Louis intended to celebrate his forebears and to affirm his descent from the two houses, it is curious he should have done so at Saint-Denis rather than in Paris. He could have planned a genealogical gallery in his palace or at the Sainte-Chapelle, where neither the lack of certain kings nor the horizontal tomb structure would have complicated the presentation of the theme. Charlemagne placed four gold besants on the altar of Saint-Denis, the act of a vassal, and declared that he received France in fief from God and the holy martyrs. He ordered that his successors repeat this act, that they may be crowned at Saint-Denis, and that they leave their crowns at the Abbey. The Abbot was to become the primate of France and his consent was to be sought I the election of bishops and abbots. Ecclesiastics, not easily impressed by each others claims, denied the ambition of the abbot to be primate and Reims successfully contested the claim to the coronation, but the Capetians who were swept up in the Carolingian revival were convinced by the document. 1124= Louis VIs recognises himself as vassal of Saint-Denis for this fief. He returns the coronation regalia however there will only be one coronation at SD hereafter. 1248-Louis IX laid the gold besants upon the altar of Saint-Denis and received France from the holy martyrs. The twelfth-century document contains no mention of the right to bury kings because its supposed author lay at Aachen, but the assertion of this right grew in importance with the power and mythos of kingship, leading to the campaign of 1264. When Philip I chose to be buried at Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire in 1109, Suger said it was an aberration, done so because he felt he was not worthy to b buried near his illustrious ancestors. 229- Rather than stressing the right of the abbey to claim the body, the Abbot cleverly emphasised that it is a privilege for a king to be buried near his ancestors. He turned a custom into natural law. At Louis VIs death in 1137, the monks realised the ground Louis had chosen for his grave was crowded. They actually unearthed King Carloman. In this episode 3 important facts are illuminated: first, the most desirable places, those near the relic-laden altars, were filled; second, even some royal graves were not marked in the pavement; third, the translation of the kings body would not be considered lightly. Since the graves were so crowded, it is not surprising that they began to make raised tombs. Abbot Suger did not embellish them with effigies. He, and his sculptors, conceived of more powerful images to buttress the claims of the documents and give symbolic form to the aspiration of the Abbey.

According to legend, King Dagobert discovered the relics of the martyrs and erected the church, which was miraculously consecrated by Christ himself. 230- Rigord, chronicler, listed 36 kings through Louis VII. The 30 voussoir figures and the 6 jamb statues may thus represent all the kings of France paying homage to the holy martyrs. Louis VII was buried at Barbeaux in a Cistercian Abbey. The Cistercians rewarded this new breaking of jus naturalis by entering his name in the necrology of the entire order. 231- Phillip Augustuss raised tomb had an effigy of the King and, around the base, 48 prelates robed for Mass. (The number represents the number that actually attended his funeral) There was another frantic search for space as the ground beneath was so crowded. Louis VIII was buried near his father, PA. Blanche of Castile and her young son Louis IX founded the Abbey of Royaumont in 1228 with one of the largest endowments ever bestowed at a foundation. Louis actually worked beside the monks as they constructed the abbey. It is certainly possible that the royal family was thinking of following the example of King Alphonse, the father of Blanche, who had established a royal family necropolis at Cistercian Las Huelgas at Burgos. Odo Clement, Abbot of SD, responded quickly by reconstructing the Abbey once again, begins in 1231. As Crosby has pointed out, the extreme breadth and openness of the crossing and its basically centralised plan seem to indicate that a royal burial area was envisioned from the first. The speed with which it took place indicates the urgency eg. The chevet, the transept, and the first bays were constructed by 1240. 1241, began to move bodies of Abbots to provide space for tempting the royal family. A most lavish commemorative tomb was made for Charles the Bald, the most important Carolingian. Built around 1240. The tasks begun by Odo of Clement and continued by Guy of Massouris (1245-54) were taken up by Matthw of Vendome (1258-85) with remarkable energy and effect. In three moves he cleared and organised the crossing, rearranging the bodies of abbots and kings with the excuse of the new set of tombs. The Abbots are depicted standing on mounds of earth rather than animals, an idea repeated in the royal tomb series. 238- The fact that two Carolingians are now on the wrong side of the crossing is a clear indication that the plan has been disturbed. The Annales de Saint-Denis reveals the original order. The chronicler recorded the names from east to west and the order is strictly chronological. In Rigords history of 1196, there is proof that the Carolingians were a legitimate collateral branch of the Merovingians. Rigord expressly designed his short history as a guide for monks who were asked to point out royal graves to visitors. The lively effigies emphasized the power of these illustrious ancestors rather than their piety. 239 The effigies of the Capetians and Carolingians have been described as provincial, production line pieces. Hermann Bunjes, the only scholar to have taken them seriously...emphasized the importance of the tombs for the development of late 13th century sculpture. I believe that the effigies of Saint-Denis, particularly the Carolingians, provide the earliest dated examples of the fully

developed style that was to displace the High Gothic and dominate the Ile-de-France until the mid 14th century. The figures can be attributed to two men. One man followed the older style developing from the work of the Christ-Master at Notre-Dame, whereas the other not only revolutionised the tomb but ushered in the court style of the future. Distinguishable by their treatment of hair and beard, modelling of flesh, and patterning of drapery. The hair and beards of the Capetians are deeply incised. The hair of the Carolingians is not so deeply penetrated. Capetian modelling much more advanced, more detail. It is apparent that Constance of Arles and Robert the Pious...were designed for vertical positions. The Capetian Master was evidently no provincial but a man trained in Paris. It is possible that he worked on the statues of Dagobert and Childebert whose heads are so similar to Robert the Pious. 242 - In its spectacular conception, the program of 1264 had no peer, no precedent, and no sequel. The tombs were designed to bring to mind the reigns of the kings and the continuity of the generations, not the after-life of the soul. The monks of Saint-Denis had long contributed to the strengthening the royal house, nurturing the legend of Charlemagne as long as France could claim to be the legitimate heir to the Empire. From at least the early 12th century and the Abbacy of Suger, Saint-Denis had identified the wellbeing of the royal house with its own interests. It used that of Charles the Bald as well as the series of kings and queens to compliment the race of Philip Augustus. If one remembers that it was only 30 years since Louis IX had almost been kidnapped by his nobles, then the tedious genealogies in the biographies and the elaborate proof of bloodright to the throne in the tomb program will appear appropriate and timely. In 1271, the precious bones of Louis IX were buried at Saint Denis. Because of the acquisition of this long-coveted body, Saint-Denis would received the bodies of all future kings save Louis XI