ALLIER
Commune
Moulin   Souvigny  St Menoux
 
Moulins - Musée Anne de Beaujeu
Entry: €5.00.  Modern, well laid out museum. Photography allowed. Park nearby - free but limited to 1 hour. May be long stay parking elsewhere
Ref: 46°34.01'N, 3°19.79'E

Pierre II de Brosse (1345-1422), Lord of Huriel, Boursac. Limstone XV Century

Note: There is a very fine 17th century St Joseph's Chapel in Moulins which contains the mausoleum of  Henry, 2nd Duke of Montmorency. He led a rebellion against the leadership of Cardinal Richelieu and was sentenced to death by King Louis XIII. The only concession the King would accept was that the execution would be in private. He was executed in 1632 as a traitor, thus ending dukedom.
Opening times are restricted:  contact the tourist office a Moulins at 04 70 44 44 14


Souvigny
A very pleasant town to visit. Plenty of free parking. The museum is next to the priory.
Ref: 46°32.12N, 03°11.62E

Musée & Jardin de Savigny
Entrance €4.00. Modern, pleasant museum with medieval gardens. Limited opening hours so check website. Photography allowed


Above left top and centre: M
arie de Hainhault (1357) Wife of Louis, 1st Duke of Bourbon, himself the son of Robert de Clermont (sixth son of St Louis) and Béatrix, Countess of Bourbon. In the tradition of the wives of the Dukes of Bourbon, she was buried in the Church of the Cordeliers of Champigue. In 1860 the effigy was moved to the Church at Sauvigny and later moved to the museum.

Above left bottom and far right:
Thought to be Duke John I, Duke of Bourbon. This is said not to be an actual monumental effigy; marble, found at the Château of Bost and Besson. He was the son of Louis II, Duke of Bourbon and Anne, of Auvergne. In 1404 he was named as captain-general of Languedoc. He was initially a supporter of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, but, following the murder of Louis, Duke of Orleans in 1407 he supported the Armagnacs against he Burgundians.  The French-Burgundian Civil War is explained here. He was captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and imprisoned in London; he remained a captive until his death in 1434, despite payments of ransoms and his promise to support the English king against the French. During his captivity he delegated the administration of his estates to his wife, Marie of Berry, until the majority of their son, Charles I.

Below:
Fragment of tomb chest of Béatrix of Bourbon, mother of Louis, 1st Duke of Bourbon



Les Codeliers of Champaigue
 
The Convent of the Cordeliers (Franciscans) was founded at Champaigue around 1258, about three kilometers north of Souvigny. It was never a large community, there being only nine brothers at the start of the 16th century. Today is largely destroyed but it contained many tombs of the Bourbons. The convent was a place of refuge for those considered degenerate or suffering from mental illness or those their families wished to set aside.
The medieval buildings have been mostly destroyed, there now only remaining one wing of the 17th century. The remains were sold as a national property and are now the centre of farm land.
The Bourbons would have had close ties with the Franciscans who, in the middle ages, were second in importance only to the Benedictine Order.


Souvigny Priory
The church is open during normal hours. There is no entrance charge and photography is permitted.
The two knight/lady monuments are in locked chapels so difficult to phortograph adequately. There was no one around to ask to unlock these chapels. I understand they are being refurbished

Charles I (1401-156), Duke of Bourbon (1434-1456) Marble. Commissioned by deceased from Jacques Morrel (1453)
And his wife, Agnes de Bourgogne. Marble. Commission by her husband from Jacques Morrel (1453).
The monument was damaged during the Revolution. The effigies rest on the same tomb chest and in the vault below rest the following Dukes of Bourbon: John II, Duke of Bourbon (1488), son of the above; their grandson, Peter II, Duke of Bourbon (1503); the latter's wife, Anne of Beaujeu, Regent of France (1522); the daughter of the latter, Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon (1521) and wife of the Constable of Bourbon; Louise Marie de Bourbon (1681), illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV. More recently, Sixtus de Bourbon-Palme (1934).
Epitaph in French


Louis II, Duke of Bourbon (1337-1400) and his wife, Anne of Albon (1358-1417). They lie on a single tomb chest of 1410. Limestone. The monuments were damaged in the Revolution.


Left: St Mayeul de Cluny (c. 910-994)
Right: St. Odilon de Mercœur (962-1048)
Both died at Souvigny
Both abbots of Cluny. Limestone XIII C. Destroyed at the Revolution, but reconstructed following discovery of fragments during excavations.
The based was constructed in 2008.
Below is an old burial crypt, a former place of pilgrimage.

Far right is a 15th century reliquary cupboard which contains the relicts of these two abbots.

Saint Menoux -  Abbey Church of St Menoux
Church open. Park in free car park opposite south side of the church, either side of the road
Ref: 46°35.11' N, 3°09.40'E


Above top: S
arcopagus of St Menoux (7th century) Pink, yellow, and purple sandstone. This is in the choir behind the altar. (see below)
Bottom: left:
Dame Madame Marie Gabrielle du Boulay (1695) Brass plate now set on wall of the porch (see below). Centre: Sarcopagi, now in porch. Right: Madame Henriette de Livychar (1713) Stone tablet. Worn so uncertain.

The Débredinoire of Saint Menoux
   Menoux, said to be Bishop of Quimper, according to a 7th century legend, settled in St Menoux towards the end of his life, after returning from a pilgrimage to Rome. He gained a reputation as a healer and miracle worker and was aided by a village 'simpleton' called Blaise. When Menoux died, Blaise refused to leave his former master and laid down on his sarcophagus. In due course he was able to honour Menoux by cutting a orifice in the sarcophagus, with help of the local priest, in which he could place his head so being closer to his master's body. It is said that Blaise grew progressively wiser by this act.

  The reputation of the now Saint Menoux grew and pilgrims would visit his sarcophagus to insert their heads in the orifice: this made the simple wiser, like Blaise, reduced disturbed minds, and even cured a simple headache.

  The four rosette shaped holes (two on either side)  are said to have been cut into the sarcophagus by the priest as late as 1940 so that pilgrims could see the remains of the Saint.


Dame Madame Marie Gabrielle de Boulay
   The plate is written in French of the 17th century and has become illegible in a few places.
   Dame du Boulay was born in 1642 and  became a professed nun of the Order of St Benedict, entering the Abbey in 1658, at the age of 16. She was elected Abbess in 1678 and is said to have governed well; under her charge many restorations were carried out both inside and outside of the Abbey. She died in 1695.
 



 
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There are no other gisants listed in this department, but may well be other monuments