The church of Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier owed its name to the community of nuns that had occupied it. This female house probably had an early origin, possibly dating back to the 6th century, although it is not documented until 791, when it was mentioned by Abbot Ithier, founder of the Abbey of Saint-Paul de Cormery.
According to one tradition, the foundation is attributed to Saint Monégonde († c. 570), who is said to have established this monastery near the tomb of Saint Martin. According to this account, Monégonde was a native of Chartres but, because of her reputation for holiness, withdrew to Tours, where she lived in seclusion with other companions and formed a female community. Another tradition places the foundation in the same period but attributes it instead to Queen Clotilde (c. 474-c. 545), wife of Clovis I (c. 466-511). After being widowed, she is said to have retired to Tours, where she founded a female monastery in which she died in 545. These traditions may refer to the same establishment, to two different monasteries, or to two communities that were later united, giving rise to Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier.
The site is documented as a monastery in 791, although the surviving records do not make it possible to determine whether it was still a female community or had already become a male one. It is also mentioned as an abbey in a document issued by Robert II the Pious (972-1031), dating from around the year 1000. However, by the second half of the 12th century, it had become a chapter of secular canons. Around 1030, the presence of clerics is recorded, and by 1080 the church is already documented as a parish church.
Cloister area, excavated
In 1119, Pope Calixtus II confirmed the canons of Saint-Martin de Tours in possession of the parish church of Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier. During the 12th century, the church was rebuilt; in 1406 it was remodelled and, shortly afterwards, the cloister was constructed. The complex was occupied during the Wars of Religion and, in 1562, the relics of Saint Monégonde were lost. Today, the site has been extensively altered, although its cemetery has been excavated.
Saint Monégonde
Image from Wikimedia
Queen Clotilde venerating Saint Martin
Illustration from Les grandes Chroniques de France (1390-1405)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
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- BOURASSÉ, Jean-Jacques (1861). Cartulaire de Cormery précédé de l’histoire de l’abbaye et de la ville de Cormery. Mémoires de la Société archéologique de Touraine. Tours/París
- CARRÉ DE BUSSEROLLE, Jacques-Xavier (1884). Dictionnaire géographique, historique et biographique d'Indre-et-Loire et de l'ancienne province de Touraine. Vol. VI. Tours: Rouillé-Ladevèze
- CHALMEL, Jean-Louis (1878). Histoire de Touraine. Vol. III. París/Tours
- GALINIÉ, Henri; dir. (2007). Tours antique et médiéval. Tours: Revue archéologique du Centre de la France
- GUÉRIN, Paul (1888). Les Petits Bollandistes. Vies des saints. Vol. 7. París: Bloud et Barral
- NOIZET, Hélène (2019). La fabrique de la ville. Espace et sociétés à Tours (IXe-XIIIe siècle). París: Éditions de la Sorbonne
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1856). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 14. París: Typographia Regia
- THEUREAU, Christian (1985). Anthropologie des squelettes du cimetière paroissial de Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier (XIe-XVIIe siècle). Tours: Laboratoire d'archéologie urbaine
The Monastery of Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier de Tours was located in the centre of Tours, north of the Basilica of Saint-Martin