Open daily but check website for
variations. Entrance to the nave of the church is free but there
is a charge to enter the necropolis. There is no restaurant but
there is a picnic area advertised. Website
Basilique de St-Denis 13 Light Blue |
The Basilica of Saint-Denis was originally built to
house the remains of St Denis, the patron saint of France,
who was martyred in the mid third century, and in due course
this abbey became one of the most important in the kingdom. The
church we see today was built from 1213 onwards and is a splendid
example of Gothic architecture of Northern France.
Saint-Denis became a cathedral in 1966, although it is
usually not referred to as such but rather as the Basilica
of Saint-Denis, even though it has not actually been granted
that title by the Vatican.
Saint Denis only became the definitive burial place of
the French kings from the reign of Hugh Capet (founder
of the Capetian dynasty) onwards, although several kings
of the earlier two dynasties had elected to have been
buried there.
Other royal burial sites included the abbeys of
Sainte-Geneviéve and Saint-Germain-des-Prés, both in
Paris, and Saint-Medard in Soissons.
After Hugh Capet, however, the majority of the kings were buried at
Saint-Denis.
Initially few queens were buried at Saint-Denis but the
practice became more common after the burial of Jeanne
de Bourbon, first wife of Philippe VI in 1348. Other
members of the royal families were denied the right of burial in
Saint-Denis, a rule rigorously enforced by Saint Louis. In
due course sons and later daughters were granted the
privilege of burial in the basilica. Later some of those who
were not of the royal family but who
had given great service to the state were also granted permission
to be buried at Saint-Denis.
The layout of the tombs has been modified over the years in
order to introduce some sort of rationalization. In the mid
thirteenth century building works disturbed the layout and
Louis IX (St Louis)
took advantage of this and sought out the tombs of the
earlier kings and others who had been buried there and who
merely had simple stones to mark their site of interment. He
had sixteen recumbent effigies - of which fourteen remain -
carved for the burial sites that were found; these effigies are
all similar but with pleasing differences and all are shown
as royalty even though one, Charles Martel, never bore the
title of king. These monuments were arranged in strict
chronological order in 1263 and the tombs of Louis's father
and grandfather - Philip Augustus and Louis the Lion - and
subsequently that of St Louis himself were installed between
them. However at the end of
the 13th century this arrangement was altered yet again.
The layout today is not all that logical, certainly not
from a chronological point of view: for example, Philip
IV is in the south transept, his son Louis X in the
north and his other two sons, Philip V and Charles IV
are in an entirely different place in this latter
transept, a place they share with the Valois kings,
Philip VI and John II. I hope these pages will help
clarify all of this and act as a guide.
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From the 12th century onwards
there evolved the custom among kings and nobles,
and in due course among other high ranks of society, of
dividing up the body after death and burying the
several parts in different places.
Medieval embalming was a relatively simple and not
particularly effective process: the body cavity would be
opened by a long, continuous anterior incision in
the thorax and abdomen so that the viscera could be
removed; the body cavity would then be cleaned
with vinegar and then packed with salt and spices;
the body would then be wrapped in cerecloth,
strips of linen (or even silk) soaked in molten wax.
Finally the body would be dressed in the clothing
the deceased would have worn in life.
However if a person were to die a long way from the place where they wished to be buried,
transporting a putrefying body over what might be great distance
would hardly have been a pleasant experience so the viscera
were removed from the corpse and buried in
consecrated ground near the
place of death, or the body was boiled to separate
the bones from the soft tissues, which were
buried near the site of death. The eviscerated body
or just the bones were than transported to the
chosen placed of burial.
Eventually, as is often the case, this practice which had begun
for sound practical reasons, took on a spiritual or political
significance and the various parts were buried in several places
to satisfy the wishes of the deceased. Perhaps the deceased
wished his or her heart (still considered to be much more than
an ingenious biological pump) to be buried near the deceased's
parents, perhaps there may have been a belief that the buried
part still held some sway over the area ruled in life, or
perhaps this gave the deceased the maximum number of
prayers for their journey through the afterlife. King Charles V,
for example, willed that his body be buried at
Saint-Denis but his heart in Rouen Cathedral and his
entrails at Maubuisson Abbey. A drawing of the lost
monument at Rouen may be seen on the Normandy page
and the
entrails monument is now in
the Louvre Museum. The various parts presumably
would somehow be united on judgment day. Some found
these practices repugnant: Isabeau of Bavaria, wife
of Charles 'The Mad', willed that her body be buried
without 'division, openings or incision'.
The process also revolted Pope Boniface VIII who in
1299 issued a bull Derestande Feritatis
which outlawed the practice and required
that bodies be buried intact and immediately under
the pain of excommunication. Under his successors
the process continued but permissions,
which presumably required the payment of a fee, to
divide the body were
often granted.
Thus a person may have several monuments: where the
body is buried, where the heart is buried and where
the entrails are buried. Heart burials are often
marked by miniature effigies or effigies holding a
heart, although it must not be assumed that the
latter always implies a heart burial or that a heart
burial will have an effigy holding a heart. There are a
number of entrails burials (that is in France; I have not
found any in England) where the effigy, rather
unpleasantly, holds a
representation of a leather bag in which the entrails
were contained.
For example Richard the Lion Heart's
entrails were buried in the castle of Châlus,
where he was killed, although there is no
contemporary monument there. A curious modern
effigy was installed in recent times. His body
was buried at Fontevraud, where his effigy may
be seen in the abbey, and his heart in Rouen
Cathedral, where another effigy, a very different
one and not holding his heart, is on display.
Below is an incomplete list of the burial places
of the kings' body or bones, entrails and hearts
| King/Queen |
Died |
Body |
Soft Tissues |
Heart |
Philip I
(The Amorous) |
1108 |
Abbey of Saint-Benôit-sur-Loire
(Loiret) |
|
|
| Philip-Augustus |
1223 |
Saint-Denis |
|
|
Louis VIII
(The Lion) |
1226 |
Saint-Denis |
Abbey of St André, Clermont (Puy-de-Dôme) |
Abbey of St André,
Clermont (Puy-de-Dôme) |
Louis IX
(St Louis) |
1270 |
Saint-Denis
(bones) |
Benedictine Abbey of Montreale (Sicily) |
Sainte-Chapelle (?) |
Isabella of Aragon
Queen consort of Philip III |
1271 |
Saint-Denis
(bones) |
Cosennza Cathedral, Calabria
|
|
Philip III
(The Bold) |
1285 |
Saint-Denis
(bones) |
Narbonne Cathedral (flesh)
Abbey of La Noë
(Normandy)
(entrails) |
Convent of the Jacobins (Paris) |
Philip IV
(The Fair) |
1314 |
St-Denis |
|
Church of Saint-Louis de Poissy
(Yvelines) |
Philip VI
(Valois) |
1350 |
St-Denis |
Convent of the Jacobins (Paris) |
Charterhouse of Bourgfontaine en Valois
(Aisne) |
Charles V
(The Wise) |
1380 |
St-Denis |
Abbey of Maubuisson (Val d'Oise) |
Rouen Cathedral (Normandy) |
Charles VI
(The Mad) |
1422 |
St-Denis |
|
Convent of the Célestins (Paris) |
Louis XI
(The Universal Spider) |
1483 |
Cléry-St-Andr
(Loiret) |
|
|
| Louis XII |
1515 |
St-Denis |
Convent of the
Célestins (Paris) |
Convent of the
Célestins (Paris) |
| Francis I |
1547 |
St-Denis |
Abbey of Hautes-Bruyères
(Yvelines) |
Convent of the
Célestins (Paris) |
| Henry IV |
1610 |
St-Denis |
St-Denis |
Church of the College of the Jesuits at
La Flèche (Sarthe) |
| Louis XIII |
1643 |
St-Denis |
Notre Dame, Paris |
Church of Saint-Louis-des-Jesuits,
Saint-Antoine, Paris |
| Louis XIV |
1715 |
St-Denis |
Notre Dame, Paris |
Church of
Saint-Louis-des-Jesuits, Saint-Antoine,
Paris |
| Louis XV |
1774 |
St-Denis |
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The
Revolution was in general against religion, the
monarchy and all associated with them, so in 1793 the National Convention ordered
the exhumation of the kings, queens and notables buried at
Saint-Denis and the destruction of the monuments. This
behaviour - where the present wishes to destroy
monuments and reminders of the past - should
unfortunately not
surprise us in the twenty-first century. The bronze
tombs were melted down for their metal and a large majority
of the other tombs were removed and piled in the garden
outside the north transept. The members of the Bourbon
dynasty had been buried in lead inner coffins inside wooden
outer coffins, which were then laid on iron tresses; the
days of elaborate funerary monuments were over. These
coffins were then placed in the sealed Bourbon vault. This
vault was the first to be broken into and the coffin of
Henry IV the first to be opened; his body was in a
remarkable state of preservation, although the other were
not, and in fact was put on display in the crypt for
several days (left). Other tombs were
broken into and the remains removed. These remains - nearly
200 in all - were thrown into two pits - one for
the Bourbons and one for members of earlier dynasties - dug
in the monks' cemetery north of the church.
The tombs - or rather the effigies - fared somewhat
better.
Alexandre Lenoir, the self taught archaeologist managed
to save many of the effigies - as being of worthwhile historical
interest - and stored them in a former monastery. In general
only the effigies were saved, the remainder of the tombs
being destroyed; I have included a few drawings of the
appearance of the tombs before this destruction to show
a little of what was lost. M. Lenoir later
opened the Museum of the French National Monuments,
and it is thanks to this man that we can see the monuments
today. The effigies were later installed in the crypt
from 1816-1847 and then the architect
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
arranged for them to be returned to the body of the church.
Many effigies and monuments were brought to Saint-Denis
following the destruction during the Revolution of the
original churches in which they were situated.
The exhumed remains were retrieved in 1817 from the
burial pits although, as
they had been covered in quick lime, it is difficult to
imagine in what state they remained and they certainly
could not have been individually identified.
They were then interred together in ten joint coffins
and placed in an ossuary in the crypt
behind black marble wall slabs with the names of those
interred incised on the slabs.
The names of those exhumed and the dates of their
exhumation may be examined by following
this link.
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Below is a list of French monarchs wherever buried (and where
applicable their wives and children) from the earliest
times, split into the four principal dynasties. It must be
remembered that initially they were not kings in today's sense
of the
word nor of the
country we now know as France: their holdings increased,
decreased and were split between sons over the years and initially they were
overlords of a number of powerful vassals, with a relatively
small area under their direct rule, until the principalities
were progressively incorporated into the crown. However this is not the
place to discuss these complexities.
The first row of the second and subsequent dynasties gives the
number of the king in each dynasty with a mention or wife or
son where this is relevant for our present purpose. The
second row gives the name of the king and his dates. All of
these names have links to further information on (usually)
Wikipedia; where the name is in italic the monument
may be seen in Saint-Denis today and where it is in
bold the king was originally buried at Saint-Denis,
although the monument may no longer exist. The next row
gives the original burial site and a little about the
monument and if it is lost; it also give very briefly
something about the king and his times. The next column tells you where
to find the monument in Saint-Denis and if there is a
drawing of the monument if it is
lost. Use this information with the series of links
immediately below to find the relevant page; on reaching
this page there is another index to locate the actual
monument.
This list is incomplete at the moment but will be
enlarged and/or modified over time. |
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This is a much simplified list because of the division of
the kingdom between sons, at times as many as four, and the
reuniting of divisions and various conquests. I have
simplified the list to emphasis the burials in Saint-Denis.
.png) This is a much simplified list because of the division of
the kingdom between sons, at times as many as four, and the
reuniting of divisions and various conquests. I have
simplified the list to emphasis the burials in Saint-Denis.
The first dynasty was founded by the semi-legendary
Merovech
(415-458),
a pagan, after whom the dynasty is named; his holdings were in
north-western Europe (know as
Austrasia) and
based around Aachen. His grandson,
Clovis I
(481-511) [A ],
the first of the dynasty to be baptized, extended the dynasty's
holdings to include much of modern France (with the exception of
Burgundy, Brittany and Gascony) as well Swabia, now
part of Germany. Clovis was buried in the
Abbey of Saint
Genevieve du Mont in Paris. After Clovis's death the kingdom
became partitioned between his four sons but the holdings were increased to include
Burgundy, Gascony and Provence.
Childebert I (496-558) [A ] was the third son and received
the portion around Paris,
(know as
Neustria.)
He founded the
Abbey of St Germaine des Pres, Paris where he, and several
of successors were buried. His effigy shows him holding a model
of this church. Childebert I was succeeded by his brother, the
fourth son, Chlothar I, who was himself succeeded by Chilperic I. (539-584)[L]. He and his wife,
Frédégonde (545-597) [A ]
were also buried in the Abbey
of St Germaine des Pres.
Chilperic I was succeeded by his son
Chlothar II
(613-629) [L]
who temporarily reunited the kingdom in 613; both he and his wife,
Bertrude
(582-618/9) [L], were buried in the Abbey of St
Germaine des Pres. His son
Dagobert I
(603-639) [ST] succeeded him and
he was the first of the dynasty to be buried in St Denis;
he was also the last of the powerful kings, as, from then on
their role became more ceremonial and the power was taken by the
mayors of the palace. His son
Clovis
II (634-657)[ ] was
also buried in
Saint- Denis and his monument was in the series constructed
by Louis IX (Saint Louis), his effigy being paired with that
of Charles Martel. The son of Clovis II,
Childeric II (653-675) [L ] and his wife
Bilichild [L] were again buried in the Abbey of St
Germaine des Pres.
The last king of this dynasty
Childeric III 'The Lazy' was deposed by the pope and the
power passed to the Mayor of Paris,
Charles Martel. (686-741).
The latter was also buried in Saint Denis, as all subsequent
kings, and in due course their queens and their family, with a few exceptions
were to be buried; his effigy is paired with that of
Clovis II.
During the Revolution the religious houses were suppressed:
the
Abbey of Saint
Genevieve du Mont was mostly demolished but the
Abbey of St Germaine des Pres
remained as a church; the monuments of those buried there
(or some of them) were brought to Saint-Denis.
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Following the deposition of Childeric III
the son of Charles Martel, Pepin the Short was crowned king, the
first of the Carolingian Dynasty (named after Charles Martel,
who never actually took the title of king).
His grandson, Charles the Great - usually called Charlemagne -
extended his holdings over much of France and Germany, being
crowned Western Emperor by the Pope, a sort of continuation of the
Western Roman Empire. Remember the Byzantine - or Eastern Roman
- Empire, the Emperors of which considered themselves as heirs
of the Roman Empire - was still alive and well. Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, was also crowned
emperor but continued the practice of dividing his holdings
between his sons. This led to a three year civil war between
these sons - Lothar, Louis the German and Charles the Bald -
which ended in the Treaty of Verdun in 846 when the Empire was
divided into three parts with the eldest, Lothar, being granted
imperial status.
I will not attempt to describe all the interrelationships between
the various kings but rather just list the individuals in chronological
order with notes of their monuments and other relevant
information.
Louis IX - St Louis - constructed a series of monuments for many
of these kings, some of their wives and families as well as two
from the earlier dynasty mentioned above and the first of the
next (Capetian) dynasty. These kings were
originally buried under simple stones but Louis arranged for
tomb chests and effigies to be constructed; most of these
survive but the chests were destroyed during the Revolutions
when remains were ejected from the graves. |
| 01 |
Pepin the Short (714-768) |
Initially held the position of Mayor of
Paris with his brother Carloman; then crowned king at
Soissons.
Paired in the St Louis series with
Bertha (below) |
ST |
| His Wife |
Bertha 'Of The Big Foot' (710/27 - 783) |
| 02 |
Carloman I (751-771) |
Second son of Pepin.
Paired in the St Louis series with Ermentrude
(below) |
NT |
| 03 |
Charlemagne
(742-814) |
Elder son of Pepin. Crowned first Carolingian Emperor by the Pope
on Christmas Day in 800. The Empire was divided among
his four sons before his death.
Buried Aachen Cathedral |
|
| 04 |
Louis I 'The Pious'
or 'Debonair' |
Son of Charlemagne, who reunited the Empire in 814
following the death of his brothers. Divided the Empire
between his three sons.
Buried Abbey of Saint-Arnould, Metz |
|
| 05 |
Charles II 'The Bald'
(823-877) |
Son of Louis
the Pious
Destroyed |
L |
| His Wife |
Ermentrude
(823-869) |
Paired in the St Louis series with Carloman (above) |
NT |
| 06 |
Louis II 'The Stammerer'
(846-879) |
During his reign the kingdom began to fragment into
a number of territories governed by nobles
Buried Saint-Corneille Abbey, Compiège. |
|
| 07 |
Louis III (863-882) |
Sons of Louis II; Carloman ruled alone
following the death of his brother.
Paired in the St Louis series. Sons of
Louis II |
ST |
| 08 |
Carloman II
(866-884) |
| 09 |
Charles III 'The Fat' (839-888) |
Son of Louis the German, himself the son of Louis
the Pious. Became king in preference to Charles the
Simple. Failed to resist the Viking Siege of Paris, 885.
Deposed 887 and died the following year. Last
Carolingian emperor to rule over a united Europe
Buried Abbey of Reichenau, Lake Constance, Germany. |
|
| 10 |
Odo or Eudes (860-898) |
Eldest son of
Robert the Strong. As Count of Paris, he
successfully resisted the Viking siege (v.s.). In 888
the country's noblemen crowned him king, although
Charles the Simple (v.i) was crowned in 893. After
confusing conflict, Odo negotiated with his rival but
died the following year.
Paired with Hugh Capet in the St Louis series.
Destroyed |
L |
| 11 |
Charles III 'The Simple' (879-929) |
Posthumous son of Louis the Stammerer. He shared
power with Odo from 896-898) Authorized the settlement
of the Vikings in the Seine valley. His authority was
challenged by Duke Robert, the brother of Odo, who was
crowned king in 922. Charles attacked Robert in 923 and
killed him but Charles was defeated and fled, only to be
ambushed and imprisoned in Péronne, where he died.
Buried in the Abbey of Saint-Fursy, Péronne |
|
| 12 |
Robert I (866-929) |
Second son of Robert the Strong; killed in battle near Soissons
(v.s.) |
|
| 13 |
Rudolph (890-936) |
Son of Duke Richard of Aquitaine. Warrior king who
died without issue
Abbey of Sainte-Colombe, Sens |
|
| 14 |
Louis IV 'Of Outremere' (920/1-954) |
Son of Charles the Simple after whose defeat was
taken to England by his mother, daughter of Edward the
Elder. He returned to France successfully overcoming
opposition was crowned king.
Abbey of Saint-Remi (now cathedral),
Reims. Destroyed |
|
| 15 |
Lothair (941-986) |
Son of Louis IV
Abbey of Saint-Remi (now cathedral), Reims. Destroyed |
|
| 16 |
Louis V 'Do Nothing' (966-987) |
Son of Lothair. His title is somewhat unfair. Died
in a hunting accident.
Abbey of Saint-Corneille, Compiège |
|
Louis V died childless
and was the last of the Carolingian kings. Hugh Capet, a
descendent of Charlemagne, was elected King of France
although there were other claimants to the throne, thus
beginning the Capetian Dynasty. |
|
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| 01 |
Hugh Capet (941-996)
|
Son of Hugh the Great, Count of Paris. Duke Charles of
Lorraine, last of the Carolingian, made a claim but was
taken prisoner. However in
reality he was only a feudal lord with little more
power than his vassals, and the kingdom fragmented
further.
Paired with Odo in the St Louis series.
Destroyed |
L |
| 02 |
Robert II 'The Pious' or 'The Wise' (972-1031)
|
Son of Hugh
Capet. He attached Burgundy and several other counties
to the crown. Severely suppressed nascent heresies
Paired with Constance in the St
Louis series (see below) |
NT |
| His 2nd Wife |
Constance of Arles (986-1032)
|
Paired with Roberts II in the St
Louis series (see above) |
NT |
| 03 |
|
Son of Robert II.
His reign was troubled by rebellion of feudal lords
attempting to assert independence
Paired with Louis VI in the St Louis
series (see below) |
NT |
| 04 |
Philip I 'The Amorous' (1052-1106) |
Son of Henry I.
Repudiated his wife Berthe because she was too fat and
carried off Bertrande de Montford, wife of the Count of
Anjou, leading to a series of excommunications. In his
reign the Norman Conquest and the First Crusade took
place. He strengthened royal authority by developing a
royal administration system and controlling his vassals
as well as annexeing several counties, including
the French Vexin, soon to be infamous.
Buried at
Abbey of Fleury, Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire
Tomb extant. |
|
| 05 |
Louis VI 'The Fat'
(1081-1137) |
Son of Philip I.
Fought Thibaut IV of Champagne and King Henry I of
England, who was also Duke of Normandy. With his skillful
minister, Abbot Suger of St Denis, he enhanced the royal
domain. Married his son Louis to Eleanor of Aquitaine so
extending the royal domain even further.
Paired with Henry I in the St Louis
series (see above) |
NT |
| His Son |
Philip of France (1116-1131)
|
The eldest son of
Louis VI who, as was the practice, had been crowned as
co-king during his father's life time. A troublesome
character, he was thrown from his horse and died the
following day aged 15.
Paired with Constance of Castile
(see below)
|
NT |
| His Sister in Law |
Constance of Castile (1140-1160)
|
The second wife
of Louis VII (following his divorce from Eleanor of
Aquitaine) by whom she had two daughters; she died
giving birth to his second daughter.
Paired with Philip of France (see above) |
NT |
| 06 |
Louis VII 'The Young' (1120-1180)
|
Son of Louis
the Fat. Not being
destined to be king, he was a pious character. Kept
Abbot Suger as minister and continued his father's
policies. Went on the disastrous Second Crusade and
divorced Eleanor of Aquitaine, who quickly married Henry
Plantagenet so increasing the extent of the Plantagenet
'Empire'
Buried in his foundation
Barbeau Abbey; this abbey was suppressed at the
Revolution and the buildings bought by the state in 1810
for use as an orphanage. His remains were brought to St
Denis in 1817 and reinterred in the crypt. A drawing of
his original monument may be found
here. |
(L) |
| 07 |
Philip II 'Augustus' (1165-1223) |
Son
of Louis the Young. Accompanied
Richard I and Frederick Barbarossa on the Third Crusade
but returned to France early where he began to attack
Richard's lands with the help of Prince John. After
Richard's death he drove the Plantagenets out of France so annexing
Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Poitou and most of
Aquitaine; He triumphed over a coalition of English
under King John,
Flemish and Germans at the Battle of Bouvines.
Destroyed |
|
| 08 |
Louis VIII 'The Lion'
(1187-1226) |
Son of Philip Augustus. Was
invited by the English barons to lead their rebellion against
King John and was proclaimed 'King of England' but never
crowned. The
leader of the Albigensian Crusade, leading to the
annexation of the County of Toulouse
Destroyed |
|
| His Son |
Philip of
France (1235) |
Mother was Blanche of Castille. From Royaumont Abbey |
NT |
| 09 |
Louis IX 'Saint Louis' (1214-1270) |
Son
of Louis the Lion. The
leader of the 7th and 8th Crusades, dying during the
latter. A king with a sense of justice and equity; a
founder of several hospitals. Canonized in 1297
Destroyed |
|
| His Daughter |
Blanche of France ( - 1243) |
From
Royaumont Abbey |
A |
| His Son |
Jean of France ( - 1245) |
From Royaumont Abbey |
A |
| His Son |
Louis of France ( - 1260) |
Died at 15. From
Royaumont Abbey |
NT |
| His Daughter |
Blanche (1231) |
From the Convent of the Cordeliers |
NT |
| 10 |
Philip III 'The Bold'
(1245-1285) |
Son of Saint
Louis. Was proclaimed king in Tunis,
following the death of St Louis on the Eighth Crusade .
He was of an indecisive character and his title was given
for his military skills on horseback. |
ST |
| His First Wife |
Isabelle of Aragon
(1247-1271) |
Accompanied her husband on the
Eighth Crusade but died at Calabria after falling from
her horse on her return journey to France. |
ST |
| His 3rd son |
Louis of France, Count of Evreux (1319) |
. From
Convent of the Jacobins, Paris |
NT |
| 11 |
Philip IV 'The Fair'
(1268-1314) |
Son of Philip
III. An able administrator, he introduced
a number of reforms. However in order to meet a number
of economic difficulties, he embarked on a series of
risky ventures, such as the arrest of the Templers
(1307), confiscation of their wealth and the burning at
the stake of Jacques Molay, their Grand Master (1314) |
ST |
| |
|
|
|
| 3rd son of Philip III |
Charles, Count of Valois (1325) |
From
Convent of the Jacobins, Paris |
NT |
| 12 |
Louis X 'The Stubborn'
(1289-1316) |
Eldest son of Philip the Fair. He
first married Margaret of Burgundy who was later accused
of adultery and strangled. His second wife (v.i.) was
pregnant on his death. |
NT |
| |
Jeanne
of France (1131 - 1349) |
Daughter of Louis
X and his first wife Margaret of Burgundy |
NT |
| His Second Wife |
Clémance of Hungary (1293-1328) |
From the Church of the Jacobins, Paris |
NT |
| 13 |
John I 'The Posthumous'
(1316) |
Son of Louis X
who was born 15th November, five months
after his father's death and died five days later. His
uncle, Philip, who had been regent, was accused of his
murder; Philip then succeeded to the throne as Philip V
(v.i.) His mother was Clémence of Hungary |
NT |
| 14 |
Philip V 'The Tall'
(1293-1322) |
Second son of
Philip the Fair. Was regent
following the death of his brother, Louis X, and had
himself crowned as king following the death of the
latter's son, John I; his claimed to the throne
overruled that of Louis X daughter, Joanne, despite her
being the elder. Like his father an able administrator. |
NT |
| His Daughter |
Marguerite of Flanders (1382) |
|
NT |
| 15 |
Charles IV 'The Fair'
(1294-1328) |
Third son of
Philip the Fair. He maintained royal domination over the
nobles and continued strengthening the administration
system. Faced constant financial problems and used every
means of taxation to enhance his finances. There were no
further direct Valois descendents. |
NT |
| His Wife |
Jeanne of Evreux
(1310-1371) |
Daughter of Louis, Count of Evreaux |
NT |
| His Daughter |
Blanche of France ( - 1393) |
Wife of Philip of
Orléans |
NT |
| |
|
|
|
The Valois Branch
|
|
| 16 |
Philip VI (1293-1350) |
Son of
Charles of Valois, the third son of Philip III. His reign began with the Hundred
Years War, Edward III of England claiming he had a
better claim to the French throne than Philippe
following the demise of the direct Valois branch and
Philippe's attempt to confiscate Edward's possessions in
France. At the same time France was gripped by the Black
Death. |
NT |
| His 1st Wife |
Jeanne of Burgundy (1378) |
Destroyed |
L |
| His 2nd Wife |
Blanche of Navarre |
|
NT |
| His Daughter |
Jeanne of France |
Only child of
Philip VI and Blanche of Navarre. She was bethrothed to
John of Aragon but died aged 20 in Béziers on her way to
meet him |
NT |
| 17 |
John II 'The Good'
(1319-1364) |
Eldest son of
Philip VI. Made several errors in his administration
such as provoking the enmity of Charles the Bad, King of
Navarre. Taken prisoner by the English at the battle of
Poitiers but the estates of Paris refused to pay the
huge
ransom requested by the English. His release was
therefore negotiated by the Treaty of Brittany when he
returned to France leaving his son Louis of Anjou as
hostage. But the latter broke parole so John returned
to England where he died. |
NT |
| His Wife |
Jeanne of Auverne |
Destroyed |
|
| 18 |
Charles V 'The Wise'
(1333 - 1380) |
Eldest son of John. Acted as regent
following his father's capture at Poitiers (1356); he
obtained the latter's release through the Treaty of
Brittany (1360), with the help of du Guesclin tamed
Charles the Bad and eliminated the Grand Companies,
bands of soldier-brigands who
were terrorizing France. By his death the England had
lost a good deal of their French conquests
Note that the effigy of
Jeanne is that which covered her entrails at the Church
of the Célestines, Paris, the
original being destroyed. Her heart was buried at the
Church of the Cordeliers |
ST |
| His Wife |
Jeanne of Bourbon
(1338-1377) |
| 19 |
Charles VI 'The Mad'
(1368-1422) |
Charles VI became insane a few years after reaching his
majority in 1338 and was unable to govern so that a
power struggle developed between his uncle, Philip the
Bold, Duke of Burgundy and his brother, Louis, Duke of
Orleans. In 1407 the new Duke of Burgundy, John the
Fearless, had Orléans, who had become regent,
assassinated, and became regent. Consequently a civil war developed between the two
factions,
the Armagnacs and the Burgundians. This
allowed Henry V of England to mount a successful
invasion of France. John the Fearless was assassinated
on the orders of the Dauphin when attempting reconciliation with the Armagnacs.
As a result the
new Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, signed the Treaty
of Troyes (1420) with Henry V, witnessed by Isabeau. Her
son, the Dauphin (the future Charles VII), was
disinherited and her daughter, Catherine, was to marry
Henry V; Charles was to remain king during his lifetime
and Henry (or the child of Henry and Catherine) to
inherit the French throne. But the younger Henry died
first and the six months old Henry VI inherited the two
thrones..
Charles and Catherine were already parents of a queen of
England: their daughter Isabelle had married Richard II
at the age of seven. |
ST |
| His Wife |
Isabeau of Bavaria
(1370-1435) |
| 20 |
Charles VII 'The Victorious'
(1403-1461) |
Son
of Charles VI who was only recognized as king by the
Armagnacs, Henry VI being crowned king of France as well
as England. With the help of Joan of Arc he was crowned
king at Reims and began a methodical re-conquest freeing
France from the English. Suppressed a feudal rebellion.
Often dominated by his favorites, such as his mistress
Agnès Sorrel.
Busts only, the effigies
being destroyed |
ST |
| His Wife |
Marie of Anjou
(1404-1463) |
| 21 |
Louis XI
'The Universal Spider'
(1423-1483) |
Son of Charles
VII. Lost the trust of his father by joining the feudal
rebellion and his hostility to Agnès
Sorrel. Took advantage of the death in battle of Charles
the Rash, Duke of Burgundy by annexing Burgundy and
Picardy to the crown. Known for this excessive severity
and cruelty. His first wife was Margaret, daughter of
James I King of Scotland. However he reestablish law and
order in the kingdom.
Buried at
Cléry-Saint-André. Tomb and effigy are replacements of
original. |
|
| 22 |
Charles VIII 'The Affable'
(1470-1498) |
Son of Louis XI. Married Anne of
Brittany so uniting the province and the crown, allbeit
temporarily. His Italian campaigns were conducted to
claim his right to the throne of Naples. Initially
welcomed for freeing Rome, Florence and Naples from
harsh tyrannies, the inhabitants began to resent the
occupation of foreign invaders. Following the
Battle of Fornoue, Charles was forced to return to
France and lost the remaining of his Italian conquests
the following year. He was planning a further expedition
when died after hitting his head on a low door lintel at
Amboise. He
left no surviving children.
Destroyed |
L |
| 23 |
Louis XII 'Father of the People'
(1462-1515) |
Because Charles VIII had left no surviving children the
crown passed to his cousin. He was harshly raised by
Louis XI whose disabled and possibly sterile daughter,
Jeanne, he was forced to marry, Louis wishing to
eliminate this branch (the Orléans) of the Valois. He
obtained an annulment from the Borgia pope and then
married his predecessor's widow, Anne of Brittany, so
keeping Brittany in the royal domain. He took part in
the Italian campaigns of Charles XIII and he himself began the
second Italian campaign becoming master of most of
Italy by 1500, only to be driven out of Naples from 1506
onwards by Ferdinand of Aragon. His title was given by
the States General because he built up a sound economy.
Following the death of Anne he married
Mary Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII. |
NT |
| His Wife |
Anne of Brittany
(1477-1514) |
| 24 |
François I
(1494-1547) |
Louis XII died without a male heir and was succeeded by
his cousin François I, who married
his daughter,
Claude. He wished to continue his
predecessors Italian adventures but suffered a massive
defeat by an alliance of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain
at the
Battle of Pavia. In response he formed an
alliance with the Sultan Suiliman the Magnificent and
obliged the Emperor to accept the
Treaty of Cambrai. An
important patron of the arts.
Claude was the daughter of Louis XII and Anne of
Brittany, the elder of only two children who survived
into adulthood but, because of the Salic law, was not
permitted to succeed to the throne but became queen by marrying François I. |
ST |
| His Wife |
Claude of France
(1499-1524) |
| 25 |
Henry II
(1519-1559) |
Second son of François and
Claude. Savage rivalries arouse at his court between his
wife and his mistress Diane de Poitiers and
Montmorency and
Francis, Duke of Guise. During his reign the Wars of
Religion began. Henry was accidentally killed in a
tournament. |
A/NT |
| His Wife |
Catherine of Medici
(1519-1589) |
| 26 |
François II
(1544-1560) |
Eldest son of
Henry II. Gave all power to the Duke of Guise and
Cardinal of Lorraine
Married Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Died at 16. No
issue
Heart burial only |
ST |
| 27 |
Charles IX
(1550-1574) |
Second son of
Henry II. The Wars of Religion continued during his
reign; Catherine of Medici and
Michel de l'Hôpital
attempted but failed to
procure a religious reconciliation. This led to the
dreadful Saint-Bartholomew's Day massacre, during which
Catherine had Admiral Coligny, the Protestant leader,
assassinated.
Epitaph
Destroyed |
L |
| 28 |
Henry III
(1551-1589) |
Third son of
Henry II. During his reign the Wars of Religion
continued, being aggravated by dynastic issues: Henry of
Navarre, a Protestant was the heir to the French throne,
if Henry III were to die without issue. Threatened by the
Catholic League and
Henry, Duke of Guise and his brother
Louis, Cardinal Guise assassinated. He recognized
Henry of Navarre as his heir. He himself was assassinated by a
Dominican friar, Jacques Clément
Heart burial only |
NT |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
The Bourbon Dynasty had elaborate funerals
but no longer had elaborate monuments, in fact they had no
monuments at all. Their bodies were placed in lead coffins which
were placed inside outer wooden coffins with simple inscriptions
and placed on iron stands. From Henry IV they had been placed in
the 'ceremonial burial vault' which became overcrowded. In 1683
(time of Louis XIV) the central part of the crypt, under the
sanctuary, therefore became the 'Bourbon Vault'.
There would be further projects for burial such as the Bourbon
Dome and the transformation of the vault into a chapel came to
nothing.
As is described elsewhere during the Revolution this vault was
broken into and the bodies removed and buried together in a mass
grave in the cemetery. Following the Restoration Louis XVIII
recovered these remains, that is of Heny IV, Louis XIII, Louis
XIV and Louis XV, from the mass grave and buried them - with
others he recovered - in the ossuary in the crypt. |
01 |
Henry IV |
These four
kings were all buried in the Bourbon vault with no monuments.
During the Revolution their coffins were broken into and their
remains buried in one of the common pits in the cemetery.
Following the Restoration their remains were recovered and they
were buried in the ossuary in the crypt. |
Monument in
C |
| 02 |
Louis XIII The Just |
|
| 03 |
Louis XIV The Great |
|
| 04 |
Louis XV The Beloved |
|
| 05 |
Louis XVI (1774-1793) |
Originally buried in
The Cemetery
of the Madeleine, Paris
Remains translated by Louis XVIII |
Monument in
A
Tombs in
C |
| His Wife |
Marie-Antoinette ( - 1793) |
| 06 |
Louis XVIII |
Brother of Louis XVI |
Tomb in
C |
| 07 |
Charles X |
Brother of Louis XVI and Louis XVIII.
Deposed and exiled. Buried in the monastery of Kostanjevica
(Slovenia). |
In the crypt there is an unmarked slab
intended to cover his remains. |
| 08 |
Louis Philippe |
Abdicated and went into exile in England
where he died. Buried at
Dreux, Eure-et-Loire, France in
The
Royal Chapel |
|
|
Where's Louis XVII? |
Louis XVII was the younger son of Louis XVI who became heir to
the throne following his elder brother's death shortly before
the Revolution. Following his father's execution he became King
of France in the eyes of the Royalists. However France was now a
republic and Louis was in prison where he died age ten.
His uncle assumed the title of Louis XVII so acknowledging the
claim.
|
|
|
| |
Béatrice de Bourbon ( - 1383) |
Queen of Bohemia. From
Convent of the Jacobins, Paris |
NT |
| |
Bertrand
Duguesclin
( 1320 - 1380) |
Constable of France |
ST |
| |
Blanche of Brittany
(1271 - 1327) |
Daughter of John II, Duke of Brittany. Uncertain attribution |
A |
| |
Charles d'Evreux, Count of Etampes
(1326) |
From the Convent of the Cordeliers |
NT |
| |
|
|
NT |
| |
Charles
II of Valois, Count of Alençon
(1297 - 1346)
'The
Magnanimous' |
Second son of Charles of Valois
(q.v.), and brother to Philip VI
From
Convent of the Jacobins, Paris |
A
|
|
His 2nd Wife, |
Marie of Spain (1319
-1375) |
| |
Charles of Anjou (1283) King of Naples and Sicily |
Hear burial.
From
Convent of the Jacobins, Paris Body buried in Naples
Cathedral. He was persuaded by the Pope to seize the kingdoms of
Sicily and Sicily from the Hohenstaufens; He invaded Italy
killing Manfred and battle and executing the young Conradin, the
heir, so gaining the thrones. However a riot broke out in Sicily
called the Sicilian Vespers and he lost the throne while still
maintaining Naples. |
NT |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Léon V de Lusignan, King of Armenia (1342 - 1393) |
From
Convent of the Célestins, Paris |
A
|
| |
Louis Cardinal de Bourbon (1493 - 1559) |
This is a marble column which originally
held a kneeling copper effigy of the Cardinal |
NT |
| |
Louis
de Sancerre (1341/2 - 1440) |
Constable of France |
ST |
| |
Marguerite of Artois (1311) |
From
Convent of the Jacobins, Paris |
NT |
|
|
Louis & Philip (1271) |
Infant sons of Count of Alençon, fifth son
of Saint Louis. These are copies, the originals being in the
Museum of the Middle Ages, Paris. From
Royaumont Abbey |
NT |
| |
Marie
of Brienne (1225 - 1275/80) ? |
Last Latin empress of Constantinople. From
Abbey of
Maubuisson |
NT |
| |
Marie of Bourbon-Vendome
(1515 - 1538) |
From
Church of Notre-Dame, Soissons |
A |
| |
Orléans, Dukes of |
For details see the page |
ST |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Robert II of Artois ( - 1317) 'The
Young' |
Commissioned by his mother
Mahaut Countess of Artois, whose tale makes interesting
reading itself, from the scuptor Jean Pépin de Huy
From
Convent of the Cordeliers, Paris |
A |
| |
Unknown Princess |
No details available |
A |
| |
Another unknown princess |
No details available |
A |
| |
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