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Josselin
Ploërmel |
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Josselin -
Basilique Notre-Dame-du-Roncier |
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The church is open and there are no
restrictions. The old centre of Josselin is very attractive
although we had some difficulty in finding it; we did eventually manage to
find a small free parking area although there are a number of
car parks near the church. The church is in there town square
where there are also a number of good eateries
47° 577.25' N 2° 32.77' W
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Olivier de Clisson (1336-1407) and his wife,
Marguerite de Rohan (1406)
He was Constable of France. Marble |
| An epitaph can been seen on the chamfer of
the black marble slab on which the effigies lie; it can be seen
on the right side, on the foot side but not on the left side
while the head side cannot be made out. It reads: |
Chi gist noble et puissant Seigneur Monseigneur Olivier de
Clison, Jadis Constable de France, Seigneur de Clisson de
Porhovt, de Belleville et Lagarnache, qui trespassa en Apuril le
jour Saint Jorge Ian MCCCC et VII. Pries Dieux pour son ame.
Amen |
This text is from the journal and I was not able to check it
directly |
Charles and Anna Eliza Stothard
visited Josselin following their visit to
Ploërmel,
walking the eight miles a good deal of the way; we followed
their journey but more comfortably! They found the effigies in
the church is a shamefully borken condition. Anna Eliza writes
in her journal:
In one place lay the trunks of the knight and in
another several fragments of these figures with the black marble
slab that belonged to the tomb, upon which the effigy had been
originally placed...The head of Sir Oliver was not to be found
in the church with the other fragments; after much enquiry, we
eventually learned that it ornamented the garden of a
tobacconist. The only existing memorial to so great a man
converted into the decoration of s tobacconist's garden! "To
what base use may we not return!" The head possesses very fine
and marked character. Mr S____ felt desirous of bringing it back
to the body, and of the unity of the disjointed parts, that he
might make a drawing of the while, and possibly suggested the plan
of their being again permanently united. For this purpose he
judged it necessary to apply to Monsieur Le Cure of Josselin.
Charles Stothard was successful in his endeavour as the above photographs
show. The monument was restored to its present condition in
1858, with recarving and new parts being added. A copy of the
drawing will be added to this page in due course.
The Stothard next visit Vannes where they discovered, and Charles
drew, the effigies of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany and of a
member of the Montford family. This Arthur was the son of John
II and the father of John III, see below.
We did not follow the Stothards to Vannes, instead heading for
Dinan and the Channel ports. I have not been able to locate the
current whereabouts of these other two effigies.
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Above:
Engraving of the monument of Oliver Clisson and Marguerite
Right: Charles Stothard executed a number of pencil
drawings in Brittany of effigies and other subjects. His
intention was to publish a book on French effigies illustrated
by etchings just as his book of British effigies. Unfortunately
owing to his premature death, there were only a few drawings
produced and these were never turned into etchings. The drawings
still exist and were recently published in the Journal of
the Church Monuments Society ; right is my pencil copy of
the Clisson effigies. |
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Ploërmel
- St Armel |
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The church is open and there are no
restrictions. There is street parking but it is time limited; we
found a car park but there were no notices giving times or
limitations. Ploëmel is an attractive town
with plenty of boulangeries.
47° 55.80' N 2° 24.01' W |
Philippe de Montauban (1513)
and his second wife, Anne de Chastellier
He was chancellor of Brittany from 1487
From kersantite a type of igneous rock, sculpted
1512-13 |
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| Provenance:
Carmelite Convent in Ploërmel |
| EPITAPH |
Cy gist hault et puissans se[igneur]
Ph[i]l[ippe] de Montauban ch[evalie]r Baro[n] de
Greno[n]ville, de Basoges et de Sens; Vico[n]te du
B[ois], da la Roche, Cha[n] Celier de Bretaigne;
fo[n]d[at]e[ur] de ceste chapelle, qui deceda a Ve[n]nes
le p[re]mier jo[u]r de Juillet l'a[n] mil XV XIII
Dieu lui face p[ar]do[n]. Amen |
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Left: Tomb
chest, weepers from the right side,and lady's effigy
Above: Weepers from the left side
Right: Arms at head of tomb chest |
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Above and left: Jean de
Léon-Châteauneuf (1326/37)
Widow of Olivier II de Rohan, wife of Jean
de Derval. Marble 14th century.
It is interesting to compare this effigy made of a light, smooth
stone to that of the above made of a rough, dark gray stone; the
latter gives a rather grim and austere appearance, not helped by
the hefty chains the lady is wearing, which look more like a
prisoner's chains than the delicate, feminine jewelry. |
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Above left: Monument to John II
and John III, Dukes of Brittany. These effigies were originally,
as were those of Philippe de Montauban
and
Anne de Chastellier, above, in the Carmelite Convent in
the town. When Charles and Anna Eliza Stothard arrived in Ploërmel
in 1818 they had been moved to the Convent of the Ursulines,
where Charles requested and received permission to draw them;
his wife in her journal reports that they were both in perfect
condition. They cannot be said to be the case today. In 1821, as
the inscription on the modern tomb chest records, they were both moved
to the Church of St Armel: |
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In the year 1821 the General Council of the Department of
Morbihan restored this monument to the memory of the Dukes of
Brittany, John II and John III. |
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| The effigies were originally on
two separate tomb chests |
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Left: John II and John III.
Above: John II
Note the very poor repair of the hands of John III; these were
shown as missing on Charles's drawing. On this drawing the
heraldry on the shield was clearly seen although now it is
difficult to make out
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Above left:
John II, Duke of Brittany (1239-1286-1305)
and right: his grandson, John III, Duke of Brittany
(1236-1312-1341)
John III's lack of issue resulted in the Breton War of
Succession, or The War of the Two Jeannes.
The effigies are of marble and date from the 14th century |
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