This priory is dedicated to Abbot Porcianus († 532), venerated as a saint, who was buried here; for this reason, the place later became known as Saint-Pourçain. The Abbey of Saint-Pourçain is first mentioned in a document issued by Charles the Bald in 871. A few years later, in 875, the same Frankish king granted the Abbey of Tournus (Saône-et-Loire), dedicated to Saint-Valérien, to a community of monks who had taken refuge there, bringing with them the relics of Saint Philibert.
The two communities lived together in Tournus, and the abbey of Saint-Pourçain became a priory dependent on Saint-Philibert of Tournus. Between 945 and 947, the community of Tournus sought refuge in Saint-Pourçain because of the interference of Count Gilbert of Autun. The priory maintained close relations with its mother house and was often favoured by the abbots of Tournus. Abbot Étienne of Tournus promoted restoration works at Saint-Pourçain and arranged the preservation and veneration of the relics of Saint Porcianus. During the 12th and 13th centuries, major building works were carried out on the priory church.
Relations with Tournus remained close, and many abbots of Tournus had also been priors of Saint-Pourçain. However, in 1312 the situation changed with the appointment of external abbots. From 1414 onwards the priors of Saint-Pourçain were commendatory, and the priory gradually became independent from Tournus. After the Hundred Years’ War, in the mid-15th century, repair works were undertaken on the church. From 1645, the house was reformed by the Congregation of Saint-Maur, which remained there until the Revolution, in 1791.
Modern stained glass window of the Sainte-Croix church
Saint Pourçain-sur-Sioule
Porcianus was a monk of Auvergnat origin who lived between the 5th and 6th centuries and served as abbot of the monastery known as Mirandense, traditionally identified with this site. Gregory of Tours mentions that Porcianus acted as mediator with the Merovingian king Theodoric I when he invaded Aquitaine. According to tradition, at his death he was buried in Saint-Pourçain, which was dedicated to him.
At that time, the priory church became a parish church dedicated to the Sainte-Croix. It preserves the earliest bays from the Romanesque period, while the rest of the building is later; the chancel with ambulatory and radiating chapels dates from the 13th century. Some elements of the cloister also survive. The adjoining buildings passed into private hands until they were later transformed into the town hall.
Church floor plan
Published in L’église de Saint-Pourçain-Sur-Sioule (1907)
According to Armorial du Bourbonnais (1857)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Location of the cloister
Detail of Armorial Revel (1450-1460)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
- BEAUNIER, Dom (1912). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France. Vol. 5. Bourges. Abbaye de Ligugé
- CLÉMENT, Joseph (1907). L’église de Saint-Pourçain-Sur-Sioule. Bulletin de la Société d'émulation du Bourbonnais, vol. 15
- GUÉRIN, Paul (1888). Les Petits Bollandistes. Vies des saints. Vol. 13. París: Bloud et Barral
- LAFORÊT, Arsène (1961). Saint Pourçain. Cité historique et carrefour du Bourbonnais. Saint-Pourçain: Étude locale bourbonnaise
- PRACHE, Anne (1988). L’église Sainte-Croix de Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. Congrès archéologique de France, 146 ss. Bourbonnais. Société Française d'Archéologie
- PRACHE, Anne (1994). Le prieuré de Saint-Pourçain. Saint-Philibert de Tournus. Histoire. Archéologie. Art. Tournus: Centre International d’Études Romanes
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1720). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 2. París: Typographia Regia
The priory stands in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, south of Moulins, on the road to Clermont-Ferrand