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In the Steps of Augustine of A Pilgrim’s Guide in In the Steps of A Pilgrim’s Guide in France

For historical background on the sixth century and the implications of Augustine’s journey through France – ancient – references for each section of the journey are from:

Robin Mackintosh, Augustine of Canterbury: Leadership, Mission and Legacy, Canterbury Press, 2013

Rob Mackintosh & Peter Ingrams 1

Contents Chapter 3 Raging Waters Copyright - to

Dedication Chapter 4 Crucial Encounter - Lyon to Nevers Preface Chapter 5 Ready at Last Acknowledgements - Nevers to Paris

Chapter 1 The Great Beginning Chapter 6 Taking Risks, Meeting Ancestors - Villefranche-sur-Mer to Aix-en- - Paris to Laon

Chapter 2 A Fresh Start Chapter 7 Imperium or Emporium? - Aix-en-Provence to Arles - Laon to Quentovic

2 b Copyright Dedication

© Rob Mackintosh & Peter Ingrams 2016 This Pilgrim Guide is dedicated to the Companions of Augustine of Canterbury, and to everyone on a pilgrim First published in 2016 way in the hope that their lives will be enriched in many and unexpected ways. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, In the end, as in the beginning, pilgrimage is a response to in any from or by any means, electronic, mechanical, an impulse of Love. photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to The Authors have asserted their rights under the exist” Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified – St. Gregory the Great as the Authors of this work.

3

Preface may be helpful for our own journey today. Our main aim of this particular quest was to follow St. Augustine s as he journeyed THERE ARE MANY REASONS WHY PEOPLE UNDERTAKE through ancient Francia (now present-day France) on his way to PILGRIMAGES. A quest of some kind often underlies most our , and to learn what we can about the journey first motivations. These could be religious or secular, and our undertaken in AD 596-7. destinations as diverse as the tomb of the or Elvis Presley's Graceland. The earliest Christian pilgrimages were undertaken to It seemed to us that this would not only bring to life our own the places, or last resting place, of extraordinary individuals, understanding of events that took place over 1,400 years ago, but merely to be in the presence of their bones and relics. A piece of a also that this exploration might be helpful to others who follow garment, a cross, a bone somehow brought the seeker into contact some or all of Augustine’s journey through sixth-century France. with the holy, the numinous. Or a pilgrimage may be in memory of We divided the journey into a number of smaller, more manageable someone, or to sort out one's life, or simply for the pleasure of the stages to describe what Augustine and his companions from journey itself. might have seen as he and they journeyed from the south to the north of ancient Francia. On the way, historical details of the period There are no relics in France associated with Augustine the first helped to enrich our understanding of events. , but there are many places - stretching from Rome to Canterbury - that have associations with his Another aim was to assess the possibiity of mapping a new missionary journey to the Anglo-Saxon peoples of England. pilgrimage route through France, based on Augustine’s journey, and also assess the potential for a group of pilgrims following this That is the main purpose for this pilgrimage guide - to help us route, perhaps starting from Rome. Lastly, we aimed to explore follow in his footsteps, to stand where he stood, perhaps to see more about pilgrimage by following this route and reflecting on it what he saw, to think his thoughts after him, and discover what as the journey unfolded. This is what we discovered.

4

Acknowledgments

SEVERAL YEARS IN THE MAKING, THIS GUIDE DEVELOPED

DURING holidays in France, a day spent with a marine archaeologist in Etaples, a week by car t mapping-out Augustine’s route, and several years of reading the key texts and letters that unfold Augustine’s journey

I thank my wife Gill for her support, patience and endurance during many trips to France, particularly Tours, Lyon, Paris and Provence. Not least, my sincere thanks to friend and colleague Peter Ingrams, for his invaluable support, encouragement and involvment in mapping out the journey, driving the length of France in less than seven days, and making crucial discoveries at key places on the way.

Lastly, my grateful thanks to marine arhaeologist Dr. Michel Philippe for an unforgettable day spent with him exploring Etaples and the River Canche and the fortress town of Montreuil, in search of the location of the ancient Roman emporium port of Quentovicus. Icon of Pope Gregory the Great, who sent a monk from his monastery in Rome to the Kingdome of Kent. 5

6 Chapter 1 Lerins 7 Chapter 1 The Great Beginning

Villefranche-sur-Mer to Aix-en-Provence

OUR PILGRIMAGE JOURNEY FOLLOWS AUGUSTINE’S FOOTSTEPS from the Côte d’Azur to the English Channel. These were difficult and desperate times for Rome where the journey began for Augustine and his party of twenty monks and lay brothers. The city found itself isolated by hostile Lombard dukes and their warriors who continually threatened Rome’s food supply, farming communities and neighbouring towns. Pope Gregory the Great launched a mission to Kent partly through a request from the , and partly in response to a Gospel imperative to preach Good News before the End of the world could come. Anglo-Saxon England was regarded as the last pagan society still untouched by the teachings of . With little confidence in the ability of his own to such a mission, and with no Lerins: Saracen fort well response from the bishops of the across the English Channel, the pope sent his own monks to undertake this mission.

8 Chapter 1

Villefranche-sur-Mer to Aix- 1. Villefranche-sur-Mer en-Provence OUR PILGRIMAGE JOURNEY BEGINS ON THE D2564, OR GRANDE CORNICHE, following the route of the Roman that passes by on a hillside overlooking Villefranche-sur-Mer.

The road down to Villefranche’s wide sweeping anchorage is lined THE ROUTE with attractive period cafés and houses, ending under shady trees just yards from the waterfront. The walls of an old fort, the 1. Villefranche-sur-Mer Citadelle, looming nearby, were built in the C16th to protect the 2. Iles de Lerins port. The view is impressive. It is also a good place to stop for morning coffee. 3. The Coastal Route and Via Aurelia 4. Fréjus (Foroiuliensis – of Julius) On this morning, the large bay can seem strangely empty, with one sailboat anchored a short distance from the quay, and in the 5. Vieux Cannet distance near the mouth of the anchorage, a single large cruise liner 6. St-Maximin-la-Ste-Baume lay at anchor.

Significance

9 (See also, Augustine of Canterbury, p. 12)

Villeranche-sur-Mer is one of only two landing places where Augustine, departing from Ostia the Port of Rome, might have landed. The bay at Villefranche is one of the deepest natural harbours of any port in the Mediterranean, and can provide safe anchorage for large ships with its depths down to 95 m (320 ft). The - and later the Romans - used this natural harbour as a stop-over en route to Greek settlements around the Western Mediterranean.

Did Augustine make landfall here? That depends in part on the tonnage of ship they were able to secure from Ostia. Grain ships Villefranche-sur-Mer: were generally large vessels requiring a deep harbour. harbour; marina Alternatively they mav have secured a merchant ship small enough to anchor at one of the Lerins , which is the next destination on our own pilgrimage journey.

10 2. Iles de Lerins

ISLES DE LERINS REFERS TO TWO ISLANDS - ILE STE MARGUERITE (possibly named after St. ’ sister) and once a prison island that has a fortress (now a museum). It is closer to Cannes; Ile-St-Honorat, lies a mile or so further south.

A journey to the monastery on Ile-St-Honorat is essential to the itinerary, and for pilgrims today, the coastal city of Cannes is its gateway. Contact online: Cannestouristinformation.co.uk Abbayedelerins.com In Cannes, a castle stands on top of Le Suquet Hill overlooking the sea. This ancient town may have taken its name from an early coastal settlement, or perhaps from an ancient Ligurian word for Ferry to Lerins at Cannes; fortified ‘high ground’. looking back at Cannes; Map of Ile St-Honorat on the island. Getting to St-Honorat A regular ferry service departs from Quai Laubeuf on the western edge of the old Cannes marina-harbour, except in bad weather, which may prevent visitors reaching the island, or alternatively, delaying their departure.

11 Background: Ile-St-Honorat In succeeding generations, particularly after the unification of the Frankish Kingdom under (AD 465-511), monastery St. Honorius, founder of the abbey on the island and a by churches such as Lerins and St Martin’s Abbey in Autun became birth, was born into a pagan family. He became a convert to recognised as spiritual power-houses of the Merovingian Church. Christianity at a young age.

In terms of a distinctive Honorius, together with his former Merovingian art, goldwork spiritual teacher and guide the manuscript illumination began hermit Caprasius, sought integrating stylised animal permission from the of decoration with motifs from Late Fréjus to pursue an eremtic life on Antiquity, and ornamentation of this Island of Lerina. They weren’t sarcophagi as well as furniture and alone for long; disciples soon came altars developed, but skills in to join them on the island, to live statuary declined. the life of hermits or to share in a communal monastic life. Mass on the island Honorius provided his community with the Rule of the Four Fathers, The ferry lands at a small, the first version of a rule of its kind in ancient Gaul. Towards the sheltered, north-facing harbour. To the north, the peaks of the end of his life he was called to Arles as bishop (AD 428) where he French Alps sparkle white in the distance. Leaving the ferry and the died two years later. throng behind, walk on the broad pathway across to the south of the island, arriving at the main gate of the abbey after passing

12 several acres of fields being tended by lay brothers or volunteers, Around the Island backs bent to the task of tending the vines as in a Van Gogh St Honorat is a sub-tropical Mediterranean island. It is also a painting. paradise, one of the most lush and peaceful places a person could

ever hope to experience. Every view is photogenic. The sun blazes It is good to make the first stop the chapel at the centre of monastic down, the water azure blue, light coloured rocks, eucalyptus life on the island, rather than starting at the café-restaurant nearby cypresses and parasol pines in abundance, huge cactus plants the landing place, especially if midday Mass is in progress. Twenty bright with orange flowers. Gauguin and Rousseau could have or so monks robed in white and occupy the choir, and the Mass is saved themselves the bother of travelling to the Far East had they superbly sung in French to a mixed congregation of the committed chosen Lerins for their primitive paintings, but their lifestyle living and the tourist, including some staying at the guest house at the with the monks would have been very different. entrance of the monastic complex.

A tower built as a refuge from Saracen raiders stands on the The Mass helps set the tone for the remainder of the day, and firmly southern shore; the 360˚ views are magnificent. The French Alps established the monastery as a disciplined place of work and (Montagne de Cheiron range) to the north are clearly visible, their worship in the Spirit of Benedict and latter-day Carthusians. The distant snow-capped peaks brooding over lower coastal hills. It is list of hours in the modern-day monk’s life looks no different from from these mountains that afternoon clouds arise, thick and dark his fourth century counterpart in Egypt - or sixth century in . beneath, with another layer of cloud reaching out towards the bay, Several significant bishops – including, it is said, St Patrick of like giant cats’ claws, grasping for an unwary traveller to consume. Ireland – trained here first as monks. Spring rains through April build up slowly in the afternoon after a hot and sunny morning. By mid-afternoon, occasional light flecks of rain can be felt on face and hands, and by evening, a downpour might develop with heavy drops, almost tropical.

13 An awesome sight.

The sudden appearance of a pheasant in the woods is not unusual, while other birds call from the trees; but strangely there are no seagulls beyond Cannes. Midges wait in swarms around the eastern part of the island. A geko climbed the sea wall near the abbey in search of sun and a snack.

It was difficult to leave.

Around Ile-St-Honorat: Ferry landing; Monastery vineyards; path to the monastery; view nort,h over the monastery towards the French Alps; view to the west and the route to Frejus.

14 Significance not exist then, and the monastery was not the one we see today. Yet it was a haven, and a time to learn about Francia at first hand. (Augustine, pp. 12-13)

We know from ’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People How long they remained with the and his community is not (c.735 AD) that the monastery island of St Honorat was a very known, but long enough to recoup and make preparations for the likely option for Augustine’s landing in Francia. onward leg to Fréjus and Aix-en-Provence. By common tradition, If he landed on Insula Sancti Honoratus in May or June 596, it would after three days guests could be required to take their share of the be in the middle of the ‘safe’ sailing season that falls between May daily work that sustains the life of community, ranging from work and . A wind called the Mistral has wrecked many ships on the land to assisting in the scriptorium, according on the Cote d’Azur, and Lerins was to individual skills and abilities. no stranger to shipwrecked sailors cast upon its shores. We can easily imagine Augustine the Prior of St

Andrew’s and Stephen the Abbot of Lerins taking After several days at sea, the island long walks together around the island, discussing must have seemed a paradise to the conditions in Rome, the pressures facing the Pope missionaries from Rome – a and the city, the needs of a growing number of welcome from a fellow monastic refugees from Lombard incursions around Rome, community, safety from raiders and their hopes for the mission to England, and what lay bandits at sea, reconnecting with a familiar daily routine of worship ahead in Provençe and Francia as they continued their journey and perhaps work, and the tranquillity of the island itself. The west and north. midges, however, would be a constant irritant to anyone venturing down to the shore, and the prickly heat of a Mediterranean summer Augustine might also have mentioned to Abbot Stephen that Pope makes outdoor work more arduous. The tower on the beach did Gregory, while he was Abbot of St Andrew’s, daily invited twelve of

15 the poorest to dine with him swith food served on his own family’s Learning new Leadership Lessons plate. This may explain why on their departure from the There were also important lessons in leadership for Augustine. island Augustine carried with him a quantity of silver spoons and Lerins had been in existence for nearly two centuries when dinner plate, a gift from the abbot to the pope for support of the Augustine landed, but St Andrew’s monastery in Rome was scarcely poor of Rome. three decades old. It is no easy matter to produce first-rate spiritual

wisdom alongside practical leadership, generation after generation. When Augustine returned to Lerins a few months later, he carried The forces of spiritual and physical entropy are great, tending to a with him a letter of thanks for these gifts from the Pope. loss of vision, a weakening of the spirit, and a decline in the

standing of the monastery. Pope Gregory’s letter to Abbot Stephen of Lerins (after

Augustine’s return to Lerins), Book VI. 56 Two elements seem to characterise outstanding leadership. First, Read online: NewAdvent.org an ability to create a sustaining vision; and second, an ability to

create an enduring community.

From the Lerins we see today, these have been lessons that successive communities over centuries have had the wisdom to remember well.

16 Implications 3. The Coastal Route

(Augustine, pp. 33-37)

In terms of legacy, less than a century after Augustine passed AFTER LEAVING CANNES, THE COASTAL ROUTE TO FRÉJUS through Lerins, a northern Anglo-Saxon nobleman by the name of CONTINUES ON THE WINDING D1098 COASTAL ROAD. Biscop established a monastery at Jarrow in in AD

681. Its most famous member was Bede, who wrote his landmark The Roman Courier Service Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Biscop also stocked the Read online: smithsonianmag.com – library of St Augustine’s Abbey, making it one of the most renowed Via Aurelia the empire’s lost highway centres in all Christendom for biblical studies under Abbot and Archbishop Theodore. The Roman courier service had long ceased by the time Augustine arrived in Francia, as Rome had lost military control over Gaul and All this represented significant long-term fruit from Augustine’s its roads nearly a hundred years earlier. However in post-Roman mission to Kent. Finally, Biscop made his profession at Lerins, Gaul several hamlets and villages - once centred on these former taking the name from Benedict, Abbot of relay points located roughly every 12 miles or so (19 km) along the Monte Cassino near Rome. old imperial highways - sprang up along the Via Aurelia.

In the days of Empire, a courier could rest at a mansio (a stopping place for food and rest, a forerunner of the ‘Travelodge’ concept), owned and run by a businessman or a local farm owner. These mansiones provided food and lodging, a blacksmith for the couriers’ horses or waggons, and also for messengers of the Roman legions.

17 These mansiones were also responsible for the care of their section community, particularly a commitment to a signficiant common of the Via Aurelia. vision, and no less to one another. The road was where they developed resiliencein setbacks and physical endurance; sharing Roman legions did not overnight in comfort at mansiones; they Good News with other travellers on the way, and daily praying and camped out in the open, within a defensible fort that was usually worshipping together. purpose-built by soldiers at the end of the marching day. Where these latter-day services of mansiones were still available, they would provide a welcome break for any travellers, including Augustine’s party.

Augustine’ and his Companions on the Road

We can think of a journey in terms of leaving and arriving, with some unavoidable travelling inbetween, but ‘to journey’, and to be a pilgrim, is a metaphor for life itself. The journey is where life happens, so that much of the preparation for Augustine’s mission to the Anglii took place while still on the road to Canterbury.

It was a journey of nearly a year. The mission would have been very different if there had been the option of flying from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport to Kent, a matter of a few hours by air. This harder and longer way through former Gaul and still-emerging Francia offered opportunities for creating the essentials of a strong

18 The Monks’ Daily Routine on the Way

The journey would involve an early start (6am or earlier) after monastic morning prayers - sung from memory - and other prayers and psalms while on the move, finishing with night prayer (Compline or Vespers) before bed time. Travelling continued with a few short breaks until about 4pm in the afternoon, depending on finding a suitable site for the night - preferably near clean, running water, and making camp, collecting fuel, and preparing the evening meal. The mules would need to be pastured, watered, and their welfare tended to. Also the party needed to alleviate footsores and other ailments on the way.

Safety on the Journey Coastal Road to Frejus: View of Cannes; La Galère,; In the C6th the Via Aurelia would also be ideal for highwaymen, Coastal Via Aurelia; hills overlooking the robbers and outlaws. However it is also unlikely that the monks Cote d’Azur; Roman would be travelling alone. Caravans of travellers would be common, design TGV viaduct, approaching and making a bivouac together at evening, joined by groups Antheor. travelling east and others from the west who could provide invaluable news of conditions and dificulties on the road ahead.

19 Various parties of travellers - merchants, pilgrims and so on - might also travel and overnight with Augustine’s group for support and safety. Some overnight bivouacs were probably widely used as regular overnight rest sites, where large numbers coming from different directions mingled and exchanged valuable information, but especially for the missionaries, developing confidence in sharing their faith and drawing others into times of prayer.

20 4. Fréjus (Foroiuliensis – Forum of Julius) coast path with forested pines, cork oak, juniper, rosemary and ‘strawberry trees’. Office de Tourisme

Le Florus II – 249, rue Jean Jaurès –Tel. + 33 (0)4 94 51 83 83 Mail [email protected] We passed through St-Raphaël on the N98, originally founded as a

holiday resort for Roman legionaries stationed at Fréjus. In its early

Entering Fréjus centuries St-Raphaël was caught-up in the military, economic and political affairs of invading Romans, marauding Arabs, Lerins From Nice, the Via Aurelia hugs the coastline to the former Roman monks, Knights Templar, and who landed there on port of Fréjus. The Mediterranean lies to the south and the Massif returning from Egypt, and also de l’Esterel to the north, offering departed from here into exile on magnificent views of the sea. (Today Elba. the fastest way is still the TGV, Entering Fréjus involves which runs frequently from following a long esplanade of , and in turn connects with white beach and tall tropical the Paris line from the north. palms until the wall of a marina is Augustine would have appreciated reached. this too.)

Fréjus has a long On this stretch of road, red porphyry rockfalls of the Esterel history tumble down to the sea in dramatic sweeps of hills and ravines. It yields its ancient secrets reluctantly, particularly anything East of St Raphael, the Cap du Dramont has attractive stretches of associated with the ancient Roman harbour. Anyone can see that the marina is far too small to be the Roman port dating to Julius

21 Caesar in 49 BC, and later developed into a naval base by . Fréjus was an alternative to the more unruly Marseille, still largely a Greek trading city on the estuary of the River Rhône into the Mediteranean. But where was the old port?

One important early lesson is always to call in at the local Tourist Information Office for maps, booklets, and local knowledge, and almost always someone speaks English. The local Tourist Information Office has an officer who is an expert on Fréjus’ Roman period, provind a map that covered the ancient sites in Fréjus.

The map indicates where the Roman sites are, but even with a map, this takes considerable skills and dogged persistence to find their Frejus: lithograph of ancient harbour wall and harbour Lantern of Augustus; present-day view over ancient harbour; close-up of precise location as one walks, drives, back-tracks, staring at the the Harbou Lantern of Augustus ; ancient map of the harbour. map and at the landscape, until finally it all clicked into place. The Lanterne d’Auguste, one of two towers guarding the harbour, still stands and is particularly hard to find. The Roman Arena less so, and is on rue Henri Vardon.

22 What did Augustine see? stock of what they had experienced on the road. Here While Fréjus was no longer a city of the by AD 596, too, any insight and the culture of Roman civic life, the romanitas, was still alive here, intelligence into the and across much of the cities of Provence during this period. Frankish Church and its The forum, amphitheatre, theatre, and Lanterne d’Auguste, as well would be greatly as sections of Roman wall and towers, are still visible today, and welcomed. worth a visit. So is Cathedrale St-Léonce

The present is part of (58 Rue de Fleury, Fréjus, France +33 4 94 51 26 30) a larger fortified complex of medieval religious buildings dating

from between the 5th and 13th centuries. Fréjus was an important The cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Ste-Stephen, and religious and commercial centre of Provençe in this period, has been the seat of the Bishop of Fréjus since the 5th century, and comprising a parish church and a cathedral under one roof; a 5th would be Augustine’s first port of call in the city. century baptistry; the bishop's residence; a canonry for the While it is likely that Abbot Stephen had sent a Gallic-speaking community of priests who served under the bishop, and a cloister. guide from his community to accompany Augustine to Fréjus, this In the 5th century the bishop’s residence lay just south of the would not be strictly necessary for his conversations with Frankish cathedral. bishops and clergy. , the language of the Western Roman Church, still remained their common language. Frejus: Remains of a Roman watchtower on Hospitality at the Cathedral Complex the city wall At the cathedral they would receive a welcome, shelter and hospitality, have a place to worship, replenish supplies, and take

23 The Baptistry Leaving Fréjus The baptistry, with its broken columns, is considered the oldest Squeezed between the massifs of the Maures and l’Esterel, the Christian structure in Provence, and road leaves Fréjus and turns north-west, away from the coast, a certainly one of the oldest in France distance of 20+ miles from Cannes. The road passes under the A8 (Cite Episcopale, 48 Rue Fleury). peage road after about 8 miles, into the agricultural heartland of Provençe, and Vieux Cannet. It has survived because it was spared rebuilding when the octagonal style The area north of the A8 is the inland Vars region, and beyond le fell out of fashion. Along with Aix-en- Muy (10+miles from Fréjus) the land rises in a series of tiers. The Provençe and Riez, Fréjus’ vineyards on the wide plain and the lower valleys rise to meet the octagonal baptistry is covered with a cupola on pillars, influenced descending olive groves. Further up, these give way to densely by oriental (Syrian) architecture. The original building has forested hills, in turn opening on to the sparse expanses of the high probably undergone a number of alterations, but preserves a mountain plateau of the Grand Plan de Canjeurs. Merovingian character in its marble capitals. Augustine and his companions would have recognised it from the A further 12 miles west of Le Muy brings us to Le Vieux Cannet similar Baptistry at the Lateran Palace, beside the Christ Church (Old Cannet). This 12-mile distance, roughly a day’s march for a of St , and thought of home, the meaning legion, suggests that Cannet was once a village on the old Roman of baptism as a dedication to Christ and a new start in the Faith, and postal route, possessing a forum, mansio and accompanying the mission that lay ahead in England services for couriers who once passed through on urgent business.

24 5. Vieux Cannet

Search online: ProvenceWeb Le Cannet de Maures

Walking into the village square or forum provides another “Wow!” Vieux Cannet: view of the ancient moment on the journey, but only after a tenacious struggle to find a hilltop forum; view way into this hilltop village. There is only one road up, and it is over the valley to the south. difficult to find. We finally arrived on foot, leaving the car behind at a No Entry sign halfway up the hill.

Le Vieux Cannet is listed as once being a halt on the Via Aurelia. Today it is a small community, with none of the ancient Roman mansio culture of welcome for strangers like us, when we arrived in the late afternoon! The church was locked, but a stunning view from the remnants of Forum Voconi made the effort hugely worthwhile.

Le Luc Search online: ProvenceWeb Le Luc

Leluc lies a few miles further west of Le Vieux Cannet, at the intersection of the N7 and A8 motorways, originating as a Roman spa town on the Via Aurelia.

25 Brignole Pilgrims have poured into this town since the 5th century to be near the remains of , regarded as one of the greatest Search online: ProvenceWeb Brignole Christian relics, discovered in an ancient crypt. By the C13th her

remains became jealously guarded by the Cassianites. Capital of the central Vars region, this ancient town lies on the

DN7, midway between Le Luc and St-Maximin on the Via Aurelia. The local museum displays a C3rd sarcophagus and Christian altars dating to the 4th and 6th centuries. Views of St Maximin-la- Ste-Baume 6. St-Maximin-la-Ste-Baume

Search online: ProvenceWeb St-Maximin-la-Ste-Baume

On to St-Maximin, which lies a convenient 10 miles west of Brignoles, on the western edge of the Var. The Massif-de-la-St-Baume lies a few miles to the south of St- Maximin, and shows evidence of habitation for thousands of years. St Maximin lies on the DN7 and probably on the ancient Via Aurelia. According to tradition the Boat of carrying Mary Magdalene, Martha and Lazarus landed at Stes-Maries-de-la- Mer on the Camargue coast. From here, Mary Magdalene is said to have made her way to the Massif-de-la-St-Baume, where she lived a hermit’s life in a cave for more than 30 years. She died in St- Maximin.

26 Did Augustine visit this C3rd church?

We don’t know whether or not Augustine paid his respects at this shrine. For a pilgrimage group, a judgment call would always need to be made whether or not to include St-Maximin as part of an organised pilgrimage, particularly regarding the spiritual preferences of a pilgrim group for visiting shrines. As the first woman apostle (by St Paul’s definition), it deserves serious thought. However, the cult of Mary Magdalene in this place did not begin before AD 1279, so that it also smacks somewhat of notorius Medieval commercial opportunism!

27 7. Aix-en-Provence (Aquae Sextiae) (Augustine, pp. 37-42)

Tourist Office, Les allées provençales, 300 avenue Giuseppe Verdi 13100 Aix-en-Provence Tel. +33 (0)4 42 161 161

Aix is 30km or so further west-north-west of St-Maximin, following a broad and fertile plain, with the Mt St Victoire range clearly visible a few miles to the north. Aix-en-Provence was the first Roman settlement in Gaul. It was originally a Roman spa and garrison town, founded by Caius Sextius in 122 BC at the hot springs, after conquering the nearby Ligurian settlement of Entremont.

We arrived in Aix along with the last rays of daylight, looking for parking near to the city centre restaurants. In wandering around, we entered a church where a concert was in progress, and after a while found a café for our cooked meal of the day. A street band appeared with their drums and began to work the tables. We finally arrived at our place of rest for the night a few miles outside Aix-en-Provence.

The Via Aurelia, entering Aix-en-Provence from the south-east by way of Nice and the Côte d’Azur.

28 What did Augustine see? While Aix is an attractive city there is very little of its Gallo-Roman past still visible, except for a section of the Via Aurelia as it enters the city from the south-east (rue d’Italie) and continuing as the rue Thiers and rue P.-et-M.-Curie. The ring road around the old town largely follows the line of the old Roman wall, and Cours Mirabeau is built over its southern boundary, but the wall itself no longer exists. There are also ruins of the Roman baths, after which Aix gets its name (Aquae Sextiae), and the more impressive Cathedrale-Ste- Aix: Cathedral cloister; Sauveur with its C5th baptismal font, a century old when Baptistry; façade of Roman- era cathedral; the old the Augustine arrived at Aix. The district of a former Jewish Quarter Jewish Quarter that existed in the sixth century still remains, but no longer the community.

Aix Cathedrale-Ste-Sauveur 34 Place des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance, 13100 Aix-en-Provence The cathedral occupies a portion of the former Roman Forum in Aix. According to one Christian tradition, the first church on the site was founded by Saint Maximinus of Aix, who arrived in Provençe from Palestine with Mary Magdalene in a boat belonging to

29 Lazarus. St Maximinus dedicated the church to the Holy Saviour on the Via Aurelia arterial road that links Rome and Arles, en route to . However, during the Saracen invasions of the 8th and 9th centuries, the original chapel of Saint-Sauveur was destroyed.

Around the year 500 AD Bishop Basilius built a group of episcopal buildings on a portion of the old Roman Forum, including a chapel and a , built about the same time as the baptisty in Fréjus Cathedral. Now only the octagonal baptismal pool and the lower part of the walls remain from that period. A fragment of Roman wall, and the columns of the cathedral baptistry have given rise to a Aix: Diagrams showing the legend that the church was built on top of a Roman temple cathedral in dedicated to Apollo. context with the Roman Forum; Behind the altar is the C5th Chapelle de St Mitre. Any pilgrim who Elevated Plan showing the passes through this place can receive the Eucharist here and pray Episcopal where Augustine prayed. Complex, cathedral, The C12th cloister is well worth a few minutes of slow and quiet cloister, and contemplation. It has a corner carving for each of the four Roman Forum. Evangelists of the Gospel.

30 Significance (Augustine, pp. 41-42)

I asked a cathedral guide whether she had heard of Augustine. She had! But she meant Regis, as this cathedral was an Augustinian foundation. One characteristic of was that their cathedral canons did not live a community life as monks did, but each had their own quarters.

Our cathedral guide was not aware of the story of Augustine of Canterbury, and nothing marks this cathedral as a significant place on the way to the creation of the Church in England. However,

Bishop Protasius was instrumental in helping Augustine rethink his journey through Francia.

31 8. Augustine’s Return to Rome via Massilia (Marseille)

Tourist Office Cannebière, 13001 Marseille, France

At this stage in the journey a major reason for a rethink came from a rebellion within Augustine’s own party. We know this because the Venerable Bede (Ecclesiastical History of the English People) wrote of a crisis of confidence at Aix amongst Augustine’s party of monks and lay brothers, fearing the violent reputation of the Anglo- . Augustine returned to Rome, leaving his monks and lay brothers in the capable hands of the bishop. However there is more to the story. It may also have been in Aix that Augustine met with the influential Patrician Arigius, a friend of the Pope, and collector of taxes due from the Papal Patrimonies in Francia. Both Arigius Rome: St Gregorio Magno Monastery and Protasius were instrumental in Augustine returning to Rome to ask for letters of introduction from Pope Gregory for safe passage and support for the remainder of their journey. It remains a curious fact that, at this first stage of their journey through Francia, Augustine carried no letters of introduction from the Pope to those who might provide support to the missionaries on their journey. One possible explanation may be the

32 haste with which the mission was conceived and launched by Pope Gregory with monks and lay brothers from his own St Andrew’s Monastery in Rome. Making up for this lack may be a more crucial reason for Augustine returning to Rome after only a matter of weeks in Provençe.

Augustine’s journey by sea in late July or early August of 596 would take him back to Ostia Antica (once the ancient port of Rome before Portus was built, and derelict by this period) and his return to Lerins then Marseille en route to Aix-en-Provence. The journey from Lerins to Marseille would almost certainly have been by sea, with a smaller party of companions, to make up for lost time as summer began to turn into autumn.

A Presbyter from Rome by the name of Candidus accompanied Augustine on his return, sent by Pope Gregory to take charge of the Papal Patrimonies in Francia and collect rents from tenant farmers. The revenues were earmarked for the relief of the poor in Francia. Candidus was sent to relieve Patrician Arigius, who formerly held the post.

33 Pope Gregory’s Briefing to Presbyter Candidus. Book VI.7 Read online: NewAdvent.org

Augustine and Candidus continued to travel together for a few months, at least as far as Chalon-sur-Saône, but it is unlikely that any Papal Patrimonies existed further north in the Kingdom of – or further west, in the Kingdom of .

Augustine’s Return to Lerins

When Augustine returned from Rome to St Honorat he carried Gregory’s letter to Abbot Stephen of Lerins (the letter names Augustine as its bearer). The letter goes on to mention news received from Augustine of the harmony between priests, deacons and monks on the island (unlike Rome), and expresses thanks for the spoons and plate sent for the relief of the poor.

Pope Gregory’s Letter to Abbot Stephen of Lerins, Marseille: painting of the ancient port ; Book VI. 56 marina in modern Marseille Read online: NewAdvent.org

34 Landing at Marseille (Massilia) An unhurried half-hour walk through the shopping district brings (Augustine, pp. 55-57) us from the station to an attractive marina on clear blue

Mediterranean waters, where mussels are available for lunch at one Some 2,600 years ago Greek sailors from the Ionian city of Phocaea of a string of restaurants on the north quay. arrived in a natural harbour that they named Massilia and The imposing Church of Notre Dame dominates the hilltop view established a prosperous trading post with good access, both to above the quay looking, across the Vieux Port, now a marina with ancient Gaul via the Rhône and to coastal cities ringing the its yachts, fising boats and café-lined quays. Mediterranean. Marseille is also the first city of where we come across What did Augustine see? the footsteps Emperor on our pilgrimage. Nearly all of Marseille’s Roman past is centred around the old Here the loyal citizens of the city opened their gates to Constantine harbour (Vieux Port) and the Roman-era docks, which were still after an attempted coup against him by his supposed-ally functioning in the late C6th. in Arles. Constantine was engaged in battle against the Franks on the at this time, but Maximian failed to persuade Abbaye-St-Victor Constantine’s troops in Arles to defect to him. Maximian fled to Massilia where the townspeople rejected him, leaving him little Skirting the marina to the Quai de Rive Neuve takes us to the option but to take his own life. basilica of the Abbey of St Victor. It is well worth a visit.

Marseille ranks as the third city of France - after Lyon, but it is St Victor was martyred in Massilia by the local Roman second in population. However, the main thoroughfares do not feel administration in AD 302, only a decade before Constantine the as crowded as they do in the capital Paris. Great became the first Christian Emperor.

35 The basilica is a large and imposing building with solid, fort-like stonewalls. While the present structure is 8th or 9th century, the Crypt of St Victor’s Abbey dates back to the C5th. The crypt is particularly interesting, dating back to Augustine’s time, whereas the ground floor of the basilica is much later. There is a helpful model on display showing the development of the abbey. A painting on the stairs down to the Crypt provides a view from the Abbey over the port to the cathedral in the C6th.

John Cassian (c. AD 360 – 435) (also known as John the Ascetic, or the Roman), was a monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern Churches for his mystical writings. Cassian accepted an invitation to found an Egyptian-style monastery in southern Gaul, near Massilia, and arrived in the city around AD 415. His monastic foundation was the Abbey of St Victor, a complex of monasteries for (unusually in this Marseille: Abbaye St-Victor; period) both men and women, and one of the first such institutes in Groundlan of the abbey; the West. Cassian died twenty years later in the year 435, in oldest surviving C12th) cathedral in Marseille Massilia.

36 Marseille Cathedral

The present vast and lavishly decorated cathedral, the Nouvelle Museums in Marseille Major, was built between 1852-1896 on the site of earlier Musee des Docks Romains of Massilia since the fifth century. Part of an earlier, much smaller cathedral still remains alongside the new, built in the This Musée, located at Place Vivaux, houses a series of uncovered 12th century in a simple Romanesque style. Roman docks on their escavation site, revealed in 1943 when Nazi planes bombed the city. This was once a busy port. Amphorae of oil were loaded on board An even earlier cathedral probably lies beneath its foundations, and ship here for market in Rome. may have existed when Augustine arrived in Marseille in 596 AD. Musée de l’Historie de Marseille This is shown in a painting in the crypt of St. Victor, mentioned The Museum covers 2600 years of history and is based on two main above. axes: Marseille The oldest city in France, and Marseille maritime and port city. It also exhibits the remains of a large Roman boat.

37 Significance of Augustine’s Return from Rome Also, in his Letter to the Bishop of Massilia, Pope Gregory mentions presbyter Candidus for the first time in his papal correspondence.

Augustine almost certainly embarked on a cargo ship for Rome at Pope Gregory’s Letter to the Bishop of Massilia, Book VI. 52 the Vieux Port, probably late June. On his return he carried a Read online: NewAdvent.org number of letters from the pope to various bishops, and rulers of Francia. Augustine’s Return to Aix-en-Provence All of Pope Gregory’s Letters to potential supporters for the mission Some of Augustine’s party had begged him to return to the Pope were written consecutively on or around August 10th 596, but not and request abandonment of the mission. The Pope wrote an always in the sequence in which they would be given to their urgent and final response addressing their concerns. He both urged respective recipients in Francia. Among these Augustine carried a them to lay aside their fears and continue in this noble task, and letter for Bishop Serenus, newly-appointed to the See of also made it unambiguously clear that Augustine now held Marseille (596-601), and their meeting most likely took place in complete authority over them as their abbot. Marseille’s episcopal complex around the cathedral. The significant outcome was that, with the crisis over, the journey now continued. Bishop Serenus was noted for his extreme views against icons. A few years after his meeting with Augustine, Serenus entered several churches in Marseille and broke down any images of Christ he found there. As Augustine carried an icon of Christ in his baggage when he returned to Francia, their first meeting in may have been an uncomfortable encounter for our leader in mission!

38 Letters from the Pope to Aix-en-Provence Pope Gregory wrote to Arigius, Patrician of Gaul, whose administrative centre was probably Arles. The Pope asked Arigius Pope Gregory’s Letter to the monks and lay brothers for ‘encouragement’ for the group as they went through Gaul, from Rome waiting in Aix-en-Provence for Augustine’s presumably meaning in the form of barges, baggage waggons, and perhaps an armed escort to travel further north. return.

Book VI, Letter 51 Pope Gregory’s Letter to the Bishop of Aix Read online: NewAdvent.org Book VI. 55 From this moment on, Augustine and his companions were no Read online: NewAdvent.org longer emissaries from St Andrew’s Monastery in Rome, but constituted a new monastic community - Rome’s first ‘mobile This is a warm letter of thanks and appreciation, explicit in the monastery,’ born on the Via Aurelia. Pope’s request that Protasius challenge his archbishop, Virgilius, in On his return from Rome, Augustine also carried letters to three regard to monies due to the Papal Patrimonies in Gaul for the sake people whom he had met on his first venture into Francia – Abbot of the poor in these parts, and in commending Candidus who is Stephen of Lerins, Patrician Arigius, and Protasius, bishop of Aix- accompanying Augustine as they journey on. What he left open for en-Provence. Augustine to decide was what support he needs to ask for from Protasius and the Church. Gregorius trusted his emissary to make Pope Gregory’s Letter to the Patrician Arigius the right decisions for the right reasons. In this, he was not disappointed. Book VI. 57

Read online: NewAdvent.org

39 Chapter 2

40 Chapter 2 A Fresh Start

Aix-en-Provence to Arles

THE SHORTEST ROUTE FROM AIX-EN-PROVENÇE TO ARLES is the E80/A54/N113, a fast and direct dual carriageway. However, it does not follow Augustine’s route northwest on the ancient Via Aurelia, and is a far less interesting to drive.

The Crau is a dry plain, a desert of silt brought down from the distant Alps to the Rhône (Rhodanus) by the river Druentia (la Durance, the rough stones of the Crau, strewn as far as the horizon, shaped over millennia by torrents and volcanoes.

What this road may follow is an ancient Celtic route from through Provençe and into the Alps, the Heraclean Way (after the Celtic god Heracles), crossing the salty Plain of the Crau where cattle once grazed in abundance. Both routes bring us to Arles our destination.

Arles: Cathedrale Ste-Trophíme

41 Chapter 2 IN THE YEAR AD 420 ROME WON A DECISIVE VICORY AGAINST Aix-en-Provence to Arles the Druids, and the new of Gallia Transalpina was founded. “The ancient path of Heracles was converted into a

high speed road – the – along which slaves and other

vital necessities were rushed from Spain to Italy.” [Graham Robb, The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic , 2014, THE ROUTE Loc 2675, Kindle e-book]. 9. Salon-de-Provençe 10. Eyguières 11. Maussane-les-Alpilles 12. Barbegal 13. Abbaye-de-Montmajour 14. Arles (Arelate) 14.

42 Ernaginum

Our preferred route from Aix to Arles is the Roman Via Aurelia that once linked Aix-en-Provence with the city of Ernaginum, an ancient ‘truck-stop’ north-east of Arles. This was at an important road junction where three intersected: the Via Agrippa (Arles-Lyon), Via Aurelia (Rome-Arles) and Via Domitia (Briancon-La Junquera). The Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul across and linking Italia and Hispania through Narbonne. Some sections of the Via Domitia replaced parts of the earlier Heraclian Way, west of the river Rhône. Ernaginum was a key location in the Roman network of Europe. The ruins of ancient Ernaginum (Saint-Gabriel) lie midway between present-day and Fontvieille, at the junction of the D970 and D570n.

Our Route Tarascon: C12th Chapel of St-Gabriel-de-Tarascon stands above the ancient Roman settlement called Ernaginum. We followed the Via Aurelia through several villages, all spaced at similar distances to the ancient Roman stopping-places.

43 9. Salon-de-Provence Our first ‘Wow!” experience of a new day – the archbishops’ former View on: visitsalondeprovence.co.uk palace with its nearly 360-degree

views of the Provençal countryside. ENTERING SALON, WE FOLLOWED SIGNS TO Centre-Ville FOR Over the rooftops to the south the under-cover parking, where vehicle traffic ends and the pedestrian land lay flat towards the Golfe du street begins. We arrived as shops opened for business and found a quiet café behind the pedestrianised main street for a morning shot Lion, to the northwest rose the of expresso, chasing a wonderful freshly-baked croissant. Breakfast Alpilles hills, pale blue in the over, we headed towards the former bishop’s palace dominating morning light. The archbishops of the old town, the Chateau de l’Emperi. Arles once ruled this district, and Salon-de-Provence, in the Commune of Eguilles, was originally their large and impressive under Phoenician influence, and later a Gallo-Roman oppidum - archiepiscopal, turreted palace the main centre in an administrative area in ancient Roman times. stands on a hill in the old part of Salon was well positioned on the salt trade-routes between the town; however it is no longer in Salon: Chateau de l’Emperi; Adriatic, Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, hence its name. the possession of the Church. View over Salon Stretches of the Via Aurelia are still recognisable just outside the from the Chateau. town, but the earliest mention of the place under its familiar name Augustine would have appreciated is from the ninth century, as Villa Salone, reflecting its Roman a rest-stop in Salon, but not as a guest in the latter-day palace, built origins. The historic centre lies within a circuit of walls that can be between the tenth and sixteenth centuries. However the palace is a entered through two seventeenth-century gateways, the Porte de good place to pause and reflect on institutional episcopal power. l'Horloge and the Port Bourg Neuf. Prince Bishops were by no means confined to Northumbrian England.

44 10. Eyguières Entrance to the village, so that his armies would have shelter and shade to rest during long marches. Augustine’s party, sweltering in View online: provenceweb.fr - eyguieres the summer heat on this road, would have appreciated the Grande

Plan that came twelve hundred years too late. EYGUIÈRES IS A MEDIEVAL TOWN LOCATED IN THE HILLS AT THE eastern end of the Alpilles, between St Rémy-de-Provence and Salon-de-Provence. It's a working town more than a tourist destination, but with a good feeling of an all-year-round life in a small French village. Fountains are a key feature of Eyguières, and the town is named after them.

This would have been a good place to water the mules – and the monks. In pagan Gaul (as in England at this time) the water at springs, rivers and wells was occasion for a small shrine to a local watersprite who needed to be pacified and acknowledged before water was drawn or before crossing over stones and bridges. For Eguieres Water fountain; the missionaries, a simple prayer of thanks would be sufficient.

On the way out of the village there are the remains of a theatre or amphitheatre, surrounded by plane trees. It is said that Napoleon ordered every French village to plant rows of plane trees at each

45 11. Maussane-les-Alpilles

View online: maussane.com

Following Augustine’s footsteps on the Via Aurelia takes the pilgrim further west in the shadow of the Les-Alpilles ridge, through the village of Mouries, and on to Maussane-les-Alpilles. This small village of just over 2,100 people nestles in the wooded hollow of the Alpilles, surrounded by fields of olive-trees, almond trees and a pine forest. As an agricultural village, it is in the 1st rank of producers in France. View outside Mausanne-les- Alpilles

View of les=Alpilles west of Maussane

46 12. Barbegal Roman Aqueduct The aqueduct, built on a steep hill, fed two parallel sets of

eight water wheels to power the flourmill. A sluice, built We visited this ancient aqueduct on the road out of into a steep hillside, enabled the operators to control the Maussane turn south, following the roadsign to the water supply to these 16 waterwheels positioned in two Barbegal Roman Aqueduct a few kilometers to separate, descending rows. These ‘overshot’ water wheels the south, and twelve kilometers from Arles. supplied an outflow from the top, driving the next one The view over this plain to the south and towards down and so on, to the base of the hill. Arles is spectacular. Around this site there are substantial masonry remains of The Barbegal aqueduct and Roman watermill the water channels and foundations of the individual flour complex have been described as the greatest mills, together with a staircase rising up the hill on which known concentration of mechanical power in the the mills were built. ancient world, and is similar to a milling complex The capacity of the mills has been estimated at 4.5 tons of on the Janiculum Hill in in the sixth flour per day, enough to supply bread for as many as a century. quarter of the 40,000 inhabitants of Arelate during the time

of Roman administration. The Barbegal aqueduct was part of a system built The mills apparently operated from the end of the 1st to supply drinking water from the mountain chain century until about the end of the 3rd century, so it was no of the Alpilles to the city of Arles. The point at longer in operation by the time of Augustine’s arrival in the which the aqueduct entered Arles is still late C6th, nor would they have reason to come to this spot. discernible on the city’s east-facing perimeter wall. Barbegal Roman However, they would have passed beneath the aqueduct Aqueduct ruin; Barbegal museum model. where it crossed over the Via Aurelia.

47 13. Abbaye-de-Montmajour

View online: Avignon-et-provence.com – abbaye-de- montmajour

We rejoined the D17 and passed through Fontvielle towards Arles on the Route D’Arles, where a monastery, surrounded by Viewsof and from Abbaye- de-Montmajour: on the dark cypresses, rises on a rocky outcrop to the left, giving hilltop; view from the front; magnificent views over the plain. Abbaye de Montmajour was view of the plain through a gate; view over the plain founded on an island in the C13th, dominating the marshlands towards Arles. around Arles for the last eight centuries. Van Gogh was also inspired by the abbey, known as the sacred acropolis of Arlesian Christendom.

Now a museum, the abbey was once a place of refuge and solace in the heart of the wilderness soaring above the Baux Valley some five kilometres from Arles, and accessible only by boat. In reality, it stands on a limestone knoll only 43 metres high, and the stagnant waters have long since given way to farmland.

48 14. Arles (Arelate)

(Augustine, pp. 59-61) For a helpful map and good advice, make your first stop Tourist Information Office, Boulevard Georges Clemenceau, on the south side of old Arles.

THE ENTRANCE TO ANCIENT ARLES’ NORTH GATE LIES ANOTHER five kilometres beyond the abbaye, close by the River Rhône that forks in two branches a little upstream of Arles, forming the vast Camargue delta. The parking was free and under much needed shade on a hot Provençal afternoon in late June.

Passing the outer shell of a former Roman bath complex, a street to the old Forum, now crowded with cafés, and the Hotel de Ville, this is a good place to settle into an outdoor café for a light lunch and ask again the question, what is left in the city that Augustine would have seen? Arles: Ancient City Gates; model and sketch of Roman Arelate

49 Roman Arelate

Constantine was proclaimed emperor by his troops in in AD 306. In 310, while Constantine was campaigning against the Franks, a rebellion was orchestrated against him in Arles by his supposéd ally Maximian, but most of the army remained loyal to their emperor. Constantine hurried back from the Rhine with his army, down the Rhône and through Arles (once the headquarters for ’s Gallic campaigns) on his way to defeat Maximian, who was sheltering in Marseille (Massilia).

Constantine sponsored many building projects across Gaul during his tenure as Emperor of the West, such as public baths in Trier, but especially in Arles (Arelate) and Autun (Augustodunum). After his conquest of Italy against Maximinus (Maximian’s son), Constantine returned to Arles for the Council of Arles to discuss Arles: model Roman Baths; map showing location of the the Donatist Controversy. He also endowed the city with the baths; model of C1st boats on public baths we noticed near the river, and their ruins are still a the Rhône; Amphitheatre gallery view. magnificent sight.

50 What remains of Augustine’s Roman Arelate? At a minimum, Augustine saw what we can see today of former Roman Arelate. However, the Roman Temple (dedicated perhaps Arles: Amphitheatre used as a fortress;ruins of Roman to Venus or Diana) in the Forum, if still standing, was no longer baths; view of the Rhône; used for sacrifice to Roman gods, since Christianity became the Arles Roman Theatre only recognised religion in the Roman world in AD 400. Perhaps much of Arles’ political and religious significance had gone too, but its commercial significance would have remained strong. However, with the death of Bishop Caesarius, the history of Arles as an ancient Roman city to an end. The city that Augustine saw had been firmly under the rule of the Frankish Kingdom of Austrasia since 536 AD. Much of the spread of 6th century Christianity in Arles was to the credit of bishop Caesarius. His ivory belt-buckle is housed in the stunning Musee Departmental to the south-west of the city. Between the museum and the N113 is the excavation of a Roman circus after the pattern of Rome’s Circus Maximus.

The Arles Forum, situated on a low hillside, was undergirded by a series of three sloping underground galleries, each gallery buttressed with a series of massive pillars. The walls of these galleries, each called a ‘cryptoporticus’, are half buried in the south

51 and exposed in the north, so enabling the construction of a flat surface of approximately 3,000 square meters. The galleries beneath the forum were empty and unused for any purpose until the 8th century. The Forum was still in operation in the late C6th. Given the prominent location of Arles at the intersection of the Rhône and the Via Aurelia, as well being situated as upstream of Marsilia, the city would continue as a major trading place for some centuries to come. To the north of the Forum, overlooking the Rhône, stood the impressive Constantinian public baths Did they offer Augustine’s companions a good place to remove the dust, heat and grime of the 80km journey on foot from Aix? This is unlikely, as Roman baths had fallen out of use in most of the former Western Empire, their use actively discouraged onmoral grounds by .

Arles Archiepiscopal Complex On Augustine’s arrival in Arles the Archepiscopal complex would be Augustine’s first port of call. By the end of the sixth century, this complex was centred on St Etienne (renamed St Trophime by the C12th). Arles: View of the Cathedral from the Archbishop’s Palace

52 The basilica was built near to the south-east corner of the Forum, and today faces on to a large plaza, a fountain and obelisk that once adorned the local Roman circus, and the impressive more recent Hotel de Ville.

Archbishop Virgilius’ residence and monastic cloister lay immediately to the south of the ancient basilica. During their stay, the Arles’ Episcopal complex is the likely place for the missionaries to be billeted until their departure on the Rhône for Lyon. Augustine would be expected to lodge with the archbishop, for whom he had brought a from the Pope (confirming his archiepiscopal status), and letters of introduction.

Pope Gregory’s Letter to the Bishop of Arles VI.53 View online: NewAdvent.org

The Archepiscopal complex occupies nearly the entire area backing-on to the west end of the former Roman Theatre. Judging from archaeological reconstruction, this area once had the appearance of a temple, enclosed in a large courtyard - possibly the shrine of the old imperial cult in Arles, comprising also Arles Episcopal Palace: Entrance and cloister. accommodation for the priest and his assistants. The temple priest and his function would have become redundant by AD 400,.

53

The site seems to have been given to a C5th bishop to build a basilica, an episcopal residence and a cloister, with associated chambers for nurturing the spiritual life of a monastic community.

The archbishop’s palace would be large enough to accommodate Augustine’s party who would regularly have dined at the ’s table receiving his hospitality. The tableware at the archbishop’s dinners would have included clay items such as vases, dishes, varnished and decorated bowls; silver and bronze items such as flat dishes, and saucepans and frying pans for the bishop’s kitchen, and glass bottles, beakers and vials.

Arles: Cathedrale-St- The non-monastic living arrangements for bishop and canons at Saveur; detail of cathedral doorway both Aix and Arles might be the reason behind Augustine’s question – posed a year later from Canterbury - to Pope Gregory, whether Augustine ought to live with, or separate from, his monks? Gregory strongly favoured the former, as was his own practice at the Lateran in Rome.

54 Cathedrale-Ste-Trophíme

Setting off in search of the most significant Christian building in Arles in the late sixth century always calls for a visit to the Cathedral. It is closed for an hour or so over lunchtime, and also for baptisms, which is worth noting for today’s pilgrims following in Arles: Map of early cathedral porch area; the steps of Augustine of Canterbury. interior of present In Augustine’s time, Arles cathedral was named after St. Etienne cathedral (St Stephen). (Today the cathedral is also one of the recognised starting-points for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain.)

We entered the cathedral through the bright red entrance , and nearby on the wall found a map showing the different stages of the cathedral’s development. The earliest is coloured in dark brown. Judging from this, the earlier cathedral, in which Augustine was consecrated, was shorter than the present church and had only three pairs of nave columns. What this means in terms of the present church is that Augustine’s consecration would have taken place either between the third and fourth columns of the present cathedral, or the fourth and fifth.

55 St Etienne the place of Augustine’s devout Merovingian Catholic Christian. However the Archdiocese of Arles never regained its former position of oversight over the consecration? church in England, even in Kent.

Contemplating here at this place, we can easily visualize Virgilius What is curious is that Augustine was consecrated bishop without Bishop of Arles seated on his throne, leaning forward to lay hands having a See City, signified by cathedral and cathedra, the on Augustine, possibly supported by a fellow bishop such as bishop’s chair. Instead, he was the abbot of a wandering Protasius of Aix, and surrounded by the clergy from Arles, monastery, and now also bishop of an unspecified and unbounded Augustine’s own monks and lay brothers gathered around him, and diocese. the people of Arles, all joining to celebrate this moment of hope and confidence in the mission, as once again the the city of Arles took its Today, Eglise St Trophime is no longer a cathedra – the seat of the share in the responsibility for bringing the Church of Britannia bishop – but a very large parish church, and it looks to Aix for back to life through a new Church in England. archiepiscopal oversight.

But why Arles? Pope Gregory’s Letter to the Bishop of Arles (Book VI, Letter 53) View online: NewAdvent.org The Arles archdiocese had once held jurisdiction over the Roman Church in Britannia until AD 410 and possibly later, making it the (Augustine, pp. 60-61) strongest and obvious contender of all the possible alternatives (including Massilia, Vienne, Lyon and Tours) for the place where Augustine was consecrated as bishop. Consecration at Arles would give Augustine legitimacy with every bishop in Francia and also Queen Brunhild, but also with Queen , herself a

56 The Roman Amphitheatre

Arles boasts an amphitheatre and a theatre, and an excellent archaeology museum only a short walk from the old city. However neither of these, celebrating the Roman past, would have interested Augustine, seeing these rather as monuments to the follies and inhumanity of Rome’s pagan and bloody past. Arles: C5th Amphitheatre;

keyhole view from The amphitheatre remains the most impressive and dominant the upper gallery; structure in Arles. With the fall of the Empire in the 5th century, the amphitheatre became a shelter for the population against invaders. It was transformed into a fortress with four towers (the southern tower is not restored), encircling more than 200 dwellings. This somewhat bizarre arrangement became a town, with a public square in the centre of the arena, and two chapels. Augustine probably saw all this too. Today, the houses are gone, the amphitheatre restored, and used for public entertainment. Bullfights still take place on the sand-covered arena.

From the upper reaches of the amphitheatre we looked upstream to where Augustine once fixed his gaze. He had arrived in Arles on foot, but left on river barges hauled upstream to Lyon by horses.

57

A Conversation about Pilgrimage What memory of Augustine lives on in Arles?

After visiting the amphitheatre, Peter and I sat in its shade on this What seems quite clear is that there is no memory in Arles - or in hot day, reflecting on the significance of pilgrimage for our own Aix, even amongst the official church guides – of Augustine of generation. Peter had completed his own pilgrimage to Santiago Canterbury being consecrated bishop here, nor any awareness de Compostela two months earlier, so the issues were fresh in his that these French churches had contributed anything to his mind, particularly the question of how we communicate the Gospel mission to the Angli. as ‘good news’ to people who value pilgrimage for many different Perhaps one contributing factor is that Augustine of Canterbury is reasons, and have no interest in ‘religion’ but a interest in invariably confused with St Augustine of Hippo. In Aix, the name ‘spirituality’. Using words? Through actions? What actions? evokes mention only of the early monks living under the Peter recalled an encounter one evening at a lodging place on the Augustinian Rule. Camino pilgrimage way where a family offered hospitality, provided beds, a meal with guests around the table, and good We are grateful, and owe an enormous debt. This and other conversation. Particularly questions that opened people to one churches played a major role from the outset in giving support to a another so that something of their personal and also mutual vulnerable band of missionaries, making their slender venture journey could be heard, shared and received, transformed. possible. In no small measure, they provided the practical and ‘Where have you come from? What are you looking for? Where are spiritual support and encouragement necessary for a successful you going?” launch of the mission to pagan Anglo-Saxon England. Canterbury These are questions that still remain with us. cathedral is part of their legacy to England, yet the part played

by French bishops and churches in this inspirational story remains almost totally unknown.

58 Christianity and Paganism the Phoenicians and the Greeks in turn settled here and, joined by Gaulish tribes eventually gave rise to a new civilization.” There is little evidence or likelihood that Christianity, as a city- (Christopher Donaldson, The Great English Pilgrimage, Canterbury based religion that seldom ventured into the pagan hinterland, ever Press, 1995; p.80) completely banished other religious practices, and nodoubt With its growing Muslim population drawn from around the Augustine became aware of this as he developed his own mission Western Mediterranean, Arles remains as multicultural today as it strategy. was in the sixth century. Perhaps a new Mediterranean culture is Gregory the Great was constantly in correspondence with bishops growing again in this generation? Will it redefine, or reinforce, and clergy about stamping out paganism and nature-worship in ancient religious prejudices? their areas of oversight. However the long-standing and long- tolerated religious habits of the empire would be particularly hard Exhibit from Museum of Pagan Art, Arles to eliminate in a major trading centre such as Arles. While the official religion of the main Roman gods and emperor worship had officially given way to Christianity, private and family religion was another matter. Arles bears evidence of worship to Minerva, Medea, and a bronze faun. Soldiers continued to adopt Mithras (a Persian cult), and Cybele (a Phyrigian cult). The spread of eastern religions to Arles was made easier by its cosmopolitan role as a major trading centre at the nexus of road, river and sea traffic. This was to be expected amongst those who regularly traded at Arles’ port. Christopher Donaldson, an Anglican priest and pilgrim who retracd Augustine’s journey in the 1990s, commented: “I read that

59 The Alyscamps

(Latin: Elisii Campi, Elysian Fields). Once again, the helpful Tourist Information Office gave us a map and circled the location of this necropolis. Alyscamps is an extensive Roman necropolis a short distance outside the walls of the old city of Arles, and one of the most famous necropolises of the ancient world. The Alyscamps was Arles' main burial ground for nearly 1,500 years. Although only a small strip of the total site is open to view, it is truly spectacular.

Burying the dead (inhumation, as an alternative to cremation) became commonplace by the beginning of the 2nd century as a Roman practice, later decreed under Justinian, for all bodies to be buried outside city walls (a practice that was also adopted in Roman Canterbury). Arles Alyscamps: 4 views of the The bones of St Trophimus (the first martyr of Arles) were necropolis; Alyscamps poster sketch of the originally buried in the C4th church of the early Christian martyr St necropolis circa C1st AD. Genest in the Alyscamps necropolis, south-east of the city. In the

60

12th century Trophimus’ bones were exhumed and taken to St Significance Etienne, with the church renamed after this saint. The road through the Alyscamps is certainly ancient, but it is

probably not part of the Way, which approaches near to The Alyscamps was initially a pagan burial site, but from the Arles from the north rather than the east. fourth century onwards Christians were also buried in the Standing on this hard white road, it was easy to imagine Augustine necropolis. This ‘city of the dead’ covered the whole southern plain, and his twenty companions as they approached Arles, surrounded ending at the marshes, and contained chapels and nineteen by the dead, bearing a message of Life. churches. The necropolis grew to an area as large as Arles itself, A walk, even on this short stretch of cobbled road, is painful in and followed a Roman road right to the city’s Augustan Gate. sandals! It’s not hard to imagine how punishing it must have been Burying the dead in the Alyscamps would have been a significant for Augustine and his monks and lay brothers walking over a ministry for local temple priests, and later for clergy. thousand kilometres on hard Roman roads to reach the ultimate

goal of the kingdom of the Angli in Kent. St Genest was important to early Christians, even to those as far away as Lyon, where bodies of the newly deceased were placed in barrels and floated down the Rhône, with the money for their burial attached. Funerary workers intercepted the casks at Arles, and disposed of the dead close to St Genest’s tomb. ‘Sarcophagus Avenue’ is testimony to the huge significance of the burial site, and no less the industry of inhumation that accompanied it.

Arles: Reconstruction of Roman-era river traffic at Arles, where Augustine’s long journey continues north by boat on the Rhône.

61 Museums in Arles

The Museum of Christian Art (Musee d’Art Chretien) Arles Musee Departmental Arles Antique (lies just northwest of the Musuem of Pagan Art, on Rue Baize in Presqu’ile du Circue Romain (beyond the Roman circus Arles) excavations) Housed in the chapel of a former Jesuit College (built 1652), the This is deeply impressive, entire floors of near-complete , museum contains one of the most important collections of early attention paid to Arles and the Rhone, a good model of Roman Christian sarcophagi. Mostly dating from the 4th century, they are Arelate to orientate oneself. decorated with scenes from he Old and New Testaments.

Particularly the ‘Constantine’ sarcophagus from the crypt of St. The Museum of Pagan Art Honorat (AD 429), founder of Lerins, and bishop in Arles for the Pláce de la Republique last two years of his life. The Museum has a bust of Augustus and mosaics from Roman houses. C6th Churches in Arles There are at least two such churches within Arles’ city walls – the Eglise de la Major, on a raised plaza overlooking the amphitheatre and the countryside, and St Blaise ,on the south-east corner.

62 15. Avignon

NEITHER OF US HAD BEEN TO AVIGNON BEFORE. IT PLAYS NO part in Augustine’s story, except as a place to pass by on the Rhône on their way north towards Lyon. The drive took nearly 50 minutes on the D2. A high, long and intimidating wall surrounds the old town. We parked in a side street outside the wall and made our way to the main boulevard. Eventually we came to the river and the rocky outcrop of le Rocher des Doms at the north end of the town, overlooking the Rhône River. It may once have been the site of a Celtic hill fort.

Avignon did not make a great impression on either of us. It has the boulevards of Paris, the shops of Lyon, the walls of , the palaces of the French , but played no part in Augustine’s journey, other than as an impressive visual feature of the landscape, with a bridge on the bend of the river.

AVIGNON: around the Papal Palace

63

Chapter 3 A tributary of the Rhône 64 Chapter 3 Raging Waters

Arles to Lyon

THE ROUTE 16. The Rhône River and Valley 17. Valence 18. Vienne 19. Lyon

Lyon, late : walled Cathedral precinct near the confluence of the Rhône-Saône rivers.

65 be needed at each rise in the level to help transport their baggage The Rhône Valley and equipment to the next section of the river.

THE CHARACTER OF THE RHÔNE AND VALLEYS DO NOT CHANGE Changes in Altitude much throughout the river journey to Lyon as the Rhône lies at the From Marseille at sea-level the Rhône’s altitude rises to 19 metres centre of a plain that broadens and narrows, the hills on either side at Arles, then a dramatic rise to 160m at Vienne, and 170m at striving to be mountains, their backs occasionally stooping towards Lyon where there is a cataract about 5km south of St-Jean lower-lying meadows. The vegetation remains somewhat similar in Cathedrale. There is also a further but gentler rise of 18m from that each stretch of the Rhône looks much the same. Lyon to Chalon-sur-Saone, resting 188m above sea-level. The River Rhône itself, however, is less predictable, subject to melting ice and snow and floods from the six major tributaries below Lyon arising in the French Alps. Cataracts are numerous on the Rhône, and without locks on the waterways, it would be necessary to haul boats, waggons, goods and passengers overland, or alternatively – as Augustine probably did - make use of barges whose services were confined to a particular stretch of the river.

The river journey would be easier for the missionaries than striding the Via Aurelia, involving walking along towpaths, resting on the boats, overnighting alongside the banks of the Rhône. Even though this was still the era of slave-labour, the as well as transport logistics would be considerable for maintaining commerce along this extensive route. Monastic muscle would still The Rhône Valley at Avignon 66 17. Valence (Augustine, pp.63-4) as Julia in Roman times. It was the seat of a bishopric

perhaps as early as the 4th century, so that Valence would make it a WE TRAVELLED NORTH ON THE D907 TO VALENCE, SITUATED good stopping place for Augustine and his companions. on the east bank of the Rhône about 100km (60 miles) south of Lyon, following the railway line from Paris to Marseille. Augustine and his companions departed by boat with at least one new face in the party, that of presbyter (priest) Candidus. They were now better equipped in a number of ways: Augustine now had the authority and status of a bishop; Candidus acted as bursar, since he was the collector of papal revenues in Provençe; and their financial situation was no doubt enhanced with gifts from Patrician Arigius, Bishop Protasius of Aix, and Archbishop Virgilius of Arles to defray the material costs of their journey.

Valence was overcast, slightly chilly for late June, and quiet as we arrived in the main square for our usual breakfast of coffee and croissant. A good coffee stop, but we moved on, as soon as I had recovered my bag that I’d accidentally left behind in the cafe. Valence: central square, café and fountain Geographically, Valence lies within the northernmost band of olive tree cultivation, and here the Midi (southern France) begins - or ends, depending on one’s direction of travel. The town was known

67 18. Vienne (Augustine, pp. 64-65)

Vienne Tourist Information Centre 14 Cours Marc-Antoine Brillier, 38217 Vienne Cedex, France Phone +33 474 53 80 30

PILGRIMS TRAVELLING SOUTH FROM LYON CAN REACH VIENNE easily by train. The route to Vienne from Lyon by rail starts at Gare Lyon-Perrache, towards the southern end of the Presqu’ile, and NOT from Gare Lyon Part Dieu (the main railway station). Perrache provides both train and bus services, the coach taking about 45 minutes or so through winding lanes and roads; the train about 30 minutes and in more comfort. Both bring their passengers to Gare Vienne.

Leave the best part of a day to fit in the key sites, as well as the several truly excellent museums.

Vienne: Temple of Augustus & Livia – used as a church in the C4th when Christianity became the State Religion

68 Ancient Vienne

The city of Vienne we see today bears little resemblance to the former Roman city of Vienna where Augustine stepped ashore from a river barge in AD 596. A bit more ‘shabby’ than ‘chic’ today, this small part of Vienne associated with a Gallo-Roman past (there is a newer section 1km to the north along the Rhône, high rise apartments and an industrial/commercial life not associated with archaeology) has a dusty, slightly run-down but homely appearance, a sleepy town with locals taking a leisurely alfresco lunch while tourists hurry on by.

Much of the romanitas of daily life exhibited in former Gaul (or Francia from the early sixth century) had continued uninterrupted, despite conquest by the king of the Franks, Clovis I. The Gallo- Roman buildings still standing are only a fraction of ancient Vienne. Augustine would have noted that Vienne’s buildings were in much better condition than most of Rome (except for the major basilican churches), certainly more stonework on display compared to Rome’s dark brick, and rich villas with their fine Vienne: Theatre with a view of the Rhône; floors occupying the best views on both sides of the Rhône. Roman gate and section of the city wall.

69 Busy warehouses lined the banks of the river, supporting a thriving commercial trade between Provençe and the Mediterranean in the south, Lyon, and Chalon and Metz on the Saône, as well as Orléans and Tours along the Loire.

What would Augustine have seen? Desiderius was the bishop who welcomed Augustine to his See city of Vienne at his episcopal complex attached to the cathedral, rather than the episcopal palace-cum-castle that dominates a nearby hilltop to the north overlooking the Rhône. This fortified medieval structure was built later, in more anxious times.

The Cathedral Built on the east bank of the Rhône on a traditional east-west axis, the cathedral was initially dedicated to the Maccabee brothers, and only later to St Maurice. The classic Temple of Augustus and Livia was also used as a church from the .

St Peter’s Church This is an early Romanesque church dating from the fifth and sixth centuries, and later belonged to a Benedictine abbey. It is one of France's oldest Christian buildings, dating from the 5th century, and laid-out in the form of a basilica. A hallmark of Frankish Vienne: St Maurice Cathedral

70 (based on the basilica of Saint-Martin in Tours) was a sarcophagus - or other relic of the saint - situated behind the altar, and raised to make it more visible. This Frankish innovation does not derive from a Roman precedent, and St. Peter’s church in Vienne is the only surviving one. The interior is an unforgettable sight - stuffed almost to the rafters with inchoate fragments of the past – statues, amphorae,

Vienne: St Peter’s Church inscriptions, columns, busts. For a vision of the death of a culture, (C6th); full-scale and possibly the future of our own, there is no better vantage point reconstruction of a river boat with barrels and clay than this. jars and from the period. The Theatre is one of the largest in the Roman world. A climb up the hill to visit is breathtaking in both senses, the view from the top row of seats stunning, overlooking the Rhône entering and exiting from right and left.

We also visited a quaint museum in the middle of town, once a grain exchange, all on one floor and on the first-floor level. A small entrance with someone minding the desk gives entry into a long hall of the very traditional cabinet and exhibits style of former museums. A mammoth’s tusk, armour and sculpture, and a good paintings-gallery with scenes of the area.

71 The Heritage of Gallo-Roman Vienne The once extensive warehouses at Arles, Vienne, Lyon and View online: Gallo-Roman Museum Vienne Chalon all bore witness to this.

Given the significance of river boats for transport over more than 2,000 years, it is surprising there is so little that offers a visual The locals living in historic Vienne are long accustomed to tourists understanding of maritime trade and river life on the boats, but this rushing through their ville, and seem to take it in their stride, which museum does. The archaeological museum and dig across the is slower than Lyon, and hardly moving compared to Paris. A train river, the archaeological site of Saint-Romain-en-Gal, is back to Lyon-Perrache, then three Metro stops to Cordeliers (well comparable to the archaeological museum in Arles, oozing mosaics, worth the Euros 1.60 after the long walk in the heat all afternoon in models of houses and streets, warehouses, topography, and a full- Vienne) brought us to our flat. size reconstruction of a river barge, filled with wooden barrels and clay amphorae. Significance

When Augustine arrived in 596, he also carried a letter for bishop The river traffic and the craft that were used, the men who worked Desiderius from the Pope. them, the traders who financed them, are central to the untold story of ancient river trade that made places like Marseille, Arles, Pope Gregory’s Letter to the Bishop of Vienne, Book VI. 54 View online: NewAdvent.org Vienne, Lyon and Chalon, Orleans, Tours, (not to mention Rouen and Paris on the Seine to the north, and to the east Metz and While not popular with Gregory I (Bishop Desiderius taught the Triers on the Rhine and tributaries) the staggeringly wealthy Classics to his clergy, which Gregory considered fruitless in these centres of trade that they were. And the most powerful force that Last Days), Desiderius later took the courageous step of standing sucked an untold volume of goods up the Rhône and Saône was the up to Queen Brunhild over the baptism of her grandchild, who was purchasing power of the Merovingian court in Chalon-sur- Saône in born out of wedlock. This became the way that the queen managed the latter sixth early seventh centuries. her dynasty. Brunhild had no intention of the allowing the child’s common mother to marry the royal father, a young king and heir to

72 the kingdom. By blocking any possibility of the child’s mother becoming queen, Brunhild as Dowager Queen circumvented any Museums diminishing of her considerable powers. But the child needed Musee et sites de Saint-Romain-en-Gal, Christian baptism to be accepted as legitimate heir, hence the Route Departmentale 386, 69560, Saint-Romain-en-Gal. queen’s desire for the baptism.

Desiderius, who was in partnership with the Irish monk Columbanus of Luxeil over this issue, eventually paid for this by Musee des Beaux-Arts et d’Archeologie Place deMiremont, 38200 Vienne losing his archbishopric, then soon after, his life. Theatre Romain (Antique) Rue du Cirque, 38200, Vienne

73 19. Lyon () (Augustine, pp. 65-68)

Lyon Tourist Office, , 69002 Lyon, France +33 4 72 77 69 69

THE A7 LINKS VIENNE TO LYON, WHERE PARKING CAN BE found alongside the Rhône on the shady east bank of the long, narrow peninsula known as the Presq’uile.

Augustine and his companions in Lyon The first port of call for Augustine and his party of missionaries would be the Archbishop’s Palace (an earlier version of the present structure existed in Augustine’s time). The palace stands alongside the Cathedrale St-Jean-le-Baptiste (first built C4th), and beside it the remains of an external baptistry near the north wall of the cathedral. Here also are the ruins of two other C4th churches, Saint-Croix and Saint-Etienne (St Stephen), both Lyon: The ancient Gallic Theatre of the Three overlooking the Roman-era city. destroyed during the .

74 Surprisingly, Augustine carried no letter from Pope Gregory addressed directly to Bishop Etherius. It may be that the bishop had no direct contact with Rome and so was not known to Pope Gregory. Etherius had not been a favourite of Childebert II, recently-deceased King of Austrasia who was sponsor for the Bishop of Arles to receive the pallium (a scarf-like woollen stole presented to archbishops from the Pope). Notably, Augustine did not bring one for Etherius; he was not a favourite of Queen Brunhild (who was King Childebert’s mother); the queen’s benefactions favoured the Bishop of Autun. A more likely explanation is that Pope Gregory’s scribes had furnished Augustine with several standard letters written under the Pope’s seal, so that names could Lyon: 3-D model of Lyon and surrounds, be added at the introduction as the occasion required. This seems notably the confluence of the Rhône and Saône to have been the case with the Bishop of Lyon. rivers (top centre); the Theatre of the Three Gauls (top left quadrant); the island in the

Rhone (Presquile), top right; the Roman-period Bishop Etherius’ most useful contribution to Augustine may have Fourviere; and the town growing at the bottom of the hill. revolved around his inside knowledge of the royals and their Musee gallo-romain de Lyon, 17 Rue Cleberg, 69005, Lyon politics, particularly how to approach Queen Brunhild for support for the mission to Kent.

75 What would Augustine have seen in Lyon?

By the end of the sixth century the ancient city of Lugdunum had

largely abandoned its ancient Roman past (the forum, temple and

theatres) in the old forum (Fourviere, Forum Virtus) whose ruins spread over the crown of the hill, overlooking the confluence of Rhône and Saône rivers below. It is unlikely that this part of Lyon held as much interest for Augustine as it does for us.

In place of the ancient forum as the focus of Lyon there sprang up several Christian that, like Rome, reshaped the visual landscape of the city below the hill – particularly the Cathedral of St John the Baptist and also the church of Saint-Paul; and on an island (the Presqu’ile) that dominates this stretch of the Rhone, the abbey church of St-Martin D’Ainay, and Eglise St-Nazir.

The Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Lyon

Lyon: Catheral of St John the Baptist; - The Cathedral is located in the heart of the old town () at the foot of the Fourviere. It was founded by Pothinus and , the first two bishops of Lyon, and was once within a fortified episcopal quarter on its own small island surrounded by

76 water and defensive perimeter wall. The island is now firmly of the pictures and maps. At last, we found a plan of the very first attached to the mainland, and the walls have long since cathedral in Lyon that Augustine would have recognised. disappeared.

The present cathedral was begun in the twelfth century and completed in 1476, built on the ruins of a 6th-century church which Augustine would certainly have seen, and where they worshipped while guests of Bishop Etherius.

The cathedral is known as a "Primatiale" because in 1079 the Pope formally granted to the archbishop of Lyon the title of Primate of All the Gauls with legal supremacy over the principal archbishops of the kingdom.

Explorations in the Cathedral We entered the cathedral, looking for any evidence of the sixth century basilica. There was no helpful map as there had been in . Arles. Peter, with his usual tenacity and nose for information, spoke Lyon: View from the south towards a former gateway into a with the guide. She pointed us to a door to a shop-cum-archive walled episcopal compound, through which Augustine mayd have passed on his way to meet with Bishop Etherius. room, where an extremely helpful young assistant dug out various books for us, and was more than happy for me to photograph some

77

St-Martin D’Ainay Basilica-Abbey, Lyon

View online: sacred-destinations – lyon-abbey-st-martin-d-ainay

St would play a large role in the story of Augustine’s mission to the Angli once he reached Tours, although exactly how large would not have been clear at this stage of the journey. I had not seen this church, dedicated to his name, so we made our way to the Tourist Information Office at Place Bellecour, once the army’s parade ground, where we received directions to the church. Unfortunately, it was closed. There was a concert that evening, but too late for us. We stood in the plaza to the west of the entrance and I took several photos of this attractive building.

Was there a church dedicated to St Martin extant here in Lyon at Lyon: view from the east of St-Martin D’Ainay Basilica-Abbey the end of the sixth century so that Augustine might have worshipped there? All we know for sure is that Ainay Abbey, a Benedictine foundation, was founded here in AD 859. Then at the

78 end of the Pope Pascal II dedicated a rebuilt basilica to St Martin of Tours on this site.

It is this latter event that adds some credibility to a legendary story that the bones of martyrs (sacrificed in AD 177 in the Theatre of the Three Gauls by pagan Romans) were buried under what later became the altar of a small church dedicated to St Martin of Tours. But how late? If this took place before AD 596, then this could be the place.

Other candidates for the martyrs' basilica site include the Church of Saint Nizier, upstream, and Lyon Cathedral across the Saône.

When asking for support, it is always good to support the rituals of Lyon: Place St-Paul, the local community at the same time one receives their hospitality, showing St Paul’s Church (C6th) exterior and so that it seems highly likely that Augustine and his companions interior; and a street sign undertook a pilgrimage to this site from the cathedral, possibly also indicating that this area was the Jewish Quarter of including St Nizier and St Martin. the city. Perhaps Augustine already sensed that St Martin would become a central figure in his thinking about the mission to the Angli as their journey drew closer to Tours.

79 Place St-Paul city enjoyed greater Christian recognition than any other in ancient 3 Place Gerson, 69005 Lyon, France Gaul. The first Christian martyrs were put to death in the

Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules, once part of the federal Continuing along narrow streets and cafes brings us to Place St- sanctuary of Gaul. The Theatre was dedicated to the cult of Rome & Paul with a period-piece train station dominating the square on the Augustus, celebrated by the 60 Gallic tribes when they gathered at west end, and St Paul’s a hundred yards further north. This was Lugdunum. (In 1961, it was classified as a monument historique.) once the heart of old Lyon’s financial and commercial life. St Paul’s This structure dates to 19 AD, financed by an old Gallic family in is a delightful church, with a faithful and senior member of the local Saintes who had held since the Gallic Wars. The congregation in attendance. On the southwest corner of the square amphitheatre hosted games that accompanied the imperial cult. is a narrow street, Rue Juiverie, reminding us that much of the The seating capacity was restricted to 1,800 seats, sufficient for commerce and wealth created here was thanks to the Jewish delegates from 60 Gallic tribes. community, later expelled by the French monarchy. (A similar but Historians identify this as the site of the martyrdoms of Saints much larger quarter also existed in Arles during the late sixth Blandina and Pothinus as part of the persecution in 177 AD. A century.) post in the middle of the arena commemorates this event and Pope John-Paul II’s visit to Lyon in 1986. The First Christian Martyrs in Lugdunum It requires climbing a number of steps to reach the Theatre of the Crossing a pedestrian bridge leads to the Presqu’ile across the Three Gauls. This ancient theatre offers spectacular views down the River Saône. A shop nearby shows a common sight in the town of Presquile peninsula to the Rhône valley in the south, and the lifelike people painted looking out of non-existant windows. The Fourviere and Notre Dame to the west. streets and alleys rise steeply here, as we leave behind the ancient and lost waterway that once joined the Rhône to the Saône at this point, making the Presqu’ile an island when Augustine passed by 1400 years ago. Owing largely to Lyon’s early Christian history, the

80 Back down the hill, our route passes through a small and crowded the guise of ‘couples’, breezing around the galleries pretending to square with a few groups playing boulle on the red earth, takes us look at the paintings, but who were clearly part of the security of towards the Hotel de Ville at the Place des Terreaux. The former the museum. They clocked-out just before one o’clock when the Abbeye St-Pierre stands on one corner, a monastery until the shift changed over, and we left as the Egyptian wing was about to 1789 French Revolution, once essentially a finishing school for the close with the changing of their museum guards. daughters of the French aristocracy. The spacious square on the north side of the museum has a This is a reminder of a tradition already well in place in Francia magnificently over-the-top bronze water feature: a huge Boadicea- long before the close of the sixth century. Queen Bertha’s sister was type figure in a chariot, drawn by horses that periodically snort at one such convent, St Croix in Poitiers, and this practice would smoke from their nostrils. continue in England as a tradition, begun at Lyminge in Kent in the We continued south towards Eglise St-Nazir, a sixth-century saint mid-seventh century. (In England, the monasteries had a shorter known for his healing ministry. It is closed until 2.30 in the life than in France – Henry VIII dissolved all the monasteries in afternoon. 1538-9) The River and Fourviere (Forum Vetus, the old forum) The Abbaye now houses Lyon’s Musee des Beaux-Arts, ranging To orientate oneself in Lyon, a river excursion is well worth the from antiquities to Picasso. price. Of course, very few of the buildings on either bank date back The former Benedictine garth and fountain in the centre of the to the C6th, except for Roman remains on the hillside of Old Lyon cloister is now joined by trees and male nude statues, most of (Vieu Lyon) on the Fourviere (Forum Virtus, the Old Forum), and which would never have been included in the finishing school for the Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls A funicular rail takes us up young noble women! to Notre Dame, perched near the top of the hill, and always The collection is good and not overly extensive. The most irritating dominating any view of Fourviere. thing was the intrusive presence of the museum guards, acting in

81 South from Notre Dame is the Gallo-Roman Archaeology Museum (17 rue Cléberg, 69005 Lyon)

The Museum offers spectacular views over Lyon and across Burgundy to the French Alps (Mont Blanc) miles away to the east; and immediately below us, the stunning Roman ruins of a theatre with a smaller odeon alongside. The building itself, a modern concrete design, is not as striking as its counterpart at Arles, and seems based on outdated museum principles. The notices alongside exhibits are way too small to read without looking very close up, and with reading glasses! Why - given the large amount of available wall space? Mosaics abound here - the hillside was once covered with sumptuous Roman villas - and there is an excellent 3-D model of Roman-era Lyon. A walk downhill to the old town and lunch near the river follows down narrow and steep passageways leading off a long winding road down the hill. Lyon was hot, but not humid, as we might have expected in summer. Lyon: Roman Theatre on the Fourviere

82 A Footnote: Emperor Constantine I and Christianity in Gaul Bridge outside Rome, just before the battle. Constantine’s troops were ordered to mark their shields with the sign of the cross, and in We move to the fourth century. 312AD is by tradition the year of the ensuing battle for the Milvian Bridge Maxentius was routed, Constantine’s conversion to the Christian God. Following after against all the odds. Maximian’s suicide in 310, and the deaths of the ailing Emperor Galerius and , Constantine returned in 312 AD from his In March 313 the Edict of Milan put an end to persecution for war with the Franks on the Rhine, and travelled down the Saône Christians, and in 314 Constantine was present at the Council of with his army to Lyon (Lugdunum) where the Saône meets the Arles to hear the discussion on the Donatist Controversy. Rhône. He chose a route out of Lyon that crossed the Alps near Mt Constantine was baptised shortly before his death in 337. Pope Cénis, travelling the same path taken by with his Gregory draws on the imagery of Emperor Constantine as the ideal elephants nearly five centuries earlier. Christian ruler when he writes to King Ethelbert of Kent. At least four bishops were with Constantine’s army by the time it reached Rome. Constantine may have added them to his retinue as he marched south from Trier. Three were from Gaul – Maternus from Cologne, Reticius from Autun, Marinus from Arles - and Ossius, from Cordoba in Spain. A decisive revelation, at the end of a long personal process of prayer and reflection, occurred before Constantine opened his campaign: he saw a vision of the cross Statue of against the sun above the words In hoc signo vince, ‘Conquer in Constantine the this sign’. Great, outside York Minster, This may have occurred while Constantine was still in Gaul: depicting the possibly at Trier, or Lyon, or even Arles, but this is less likely as moment that his troops proclaim Arles was not on his route into Italy; or possibly at the Milvian him emperor. 83

Chapter 4

84 Chapter 4 Crucial Encounter

Lyon to Nevers on the Loire

THE ROUTE 20. Villefranche-sur-Saône 21. Chalon St-Marcel 22. Chalon-sur-Saône 23. Autun (Augustodunum) 24. Nevers

Autun: a view down Rue aux Raz

85

20. Villefranche-sur-Saône

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES ON THE A6 NORTH. WE BOUGHT croissants and coffee for breakfast in Villefranche-sur-Saône, about 25 km north of Lyon, and found a quiet place alongside the river to pray the monastic Morning Office of Prime. The town was formally founded in 1212, and the capital of Beaujolais province in the C14th. It’s history may be much older than the C13th, possibly as a riverside equivalent of the Roman postal stops on the Via Aurelia and Via Agrippa, a place to load and unload goods heading for Chalon and Queen Brunhild, providing a boatyard, warehouses, moorings, local services, The Saône, Villefranche-sur-Saône: early morning at a jetty sparkling in the morning sunshine, appears an altogether a smaller river than the Rhône, but also in poor weather with strong waves, and rapids, with a few locks on the canal system. Augustine would have taken time during this journey, preparing himself to meet with the formidable Queen Brunhild, as they passed communities at present-day Macon and Tournus on their way north.

86 21. Chalon St-Marcel

IT SEEMS REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT THE MISSIONARIES disembarked before reaching Chalon, at nearby St-Marcel, now a sprawling suburb of Chalon. In the late C6th St-Marcel was a hamlet supporting a monastery that held the mortal remains of King , who was regarded as a saint by the local populace from the moment of his death.

We turned off the A6 on to the N80 east, passing through an industrial estate before entering the village. After a few minutes we saw the church tower, and pulled into a shaded parking area on Chalon St-Marcel: West face exterior;; ancient map of monastery Rue de la Mairie. Mercifully, the church was open, something that cloisters, garden and chapel; church interior; wall plaque and King cannot always be relied upon, and light and airy with a long nave. Guntram.

By tradition, St-Marcellus was martyred at this place in AD 179. King Guntram later encouraged his cult, and built the church to honour his name. Guntram was buried in the church in AD 592, unfortunately a mere four years before Augustine arrived. All the same, here our missionary-bishop would learn much about Guntram, and more importantly, Burgundy’s present ruler.

87 In the sixteenth century, some Huguenots entered the church and scattered King Guntram’s remains. Only his skull escaped the desecration, now kept in a silver case in the church, but we did not see it. Guntram’s feast day is celebrated by the on March 28.

We entered the church, with a “Wow” moment to come. Ferreting out morsels of information, this time from the plaques around the walls, we found one dedicated to “Benoît, abbé, et de Gontran, roi” (Abbot Benedict and King Guntram). There are also ancient murals in the crypt, but disappointingly there was no access to it, and even more disappointingly, there was no one around to ask.

Guntram’s appointed successor was Childebert II, Queen Brunhild’s son, who reigned over Burgundy for only four years before his own sudden death in AD 596. This took place only six or seven months before Augustine’s arrival, so it was by no means certain what political situation he would find in the kingdom, or what reception he was likely to receive from the palace.

Nor did we.

88 22. Chalon-sur-Saône

Tourist Office, 4 place du Port Villiers

We drove on towards Chalon-sur-Saône D19, parking on a small island under trees overlooking the river, then crossed the river to the Grande Rue.

Julius Caesar chose this strategic cross-roads as a depot for his stores, and named it Cabillunum. Here too, in 310 AD Constantine, hastening south to quell a rebellion against him at Arles, embarked his troops on to waiting boats. In reverse of the journey undertaken by Augustine and his companions three centuries later, Constantine travelled down the slow waters of the Saône to the faster-flowing Rhône, disembarking at Lyon (Lugdunum).

By the late sixth century Chalon had became famous as the capital of Burgundy when King Guntram moved here from Orleans, and passed-on Burgundian kingdom to his nephew Childebert II, Queen Brunhilde’s son.

Chalon: Cathedrale-St-Vincent

89 Place St-Vincent, a square full of tourist tables and umbrellas in front of the cathedral, was by no means a disappointment, and has the typical rectangular shape and size now so familiar as the Forum in former Roman towns. It is possible that a small temple once stood on the site now occupied by the cathedral. Parts of the old town remain.

Cathedrale-St-Vincent

Formerly the cathedral of the diocese of Chalon-sur-Saône, St- Vincent’s is well cared for and built post-1090 in the Romanesque, Cluny style. Here, in the original cathedral of St Vincent (c. 570-580), King Guntram hosted church councils here that ran for weeks. Augustine and his companions would have seen the original columns, sung in the quire, and received the Sacrament. The episcopal complex comprises the cathedral, former bishop’s palace, a cloister and canons’ houses, and is the only surviving cathedral quarter in Burgundy. Outside, the recently cleaned exterior walls sparkle in the sunlight. Chalon-sur-Saône: Cathedral altar; Model of the cathedral showing cloiseter; Place-St-Vincent; Tower on an inner Gallo-Roman wall.

90 Augustine carried crucial letters to the Royal For the Visitor, Chalon is a puzzle Household of Austrasia. There no brochure translated into five languages explaining the history of the cathedral. It is no longer acceptable in the Through these epistles, Augustine came under the protection of communications age of the C21st, for any public displays such as Queen Brunhild, her grandsons, her argumentative courtiers, and these, not to have English (or even Chinese) as the automatic the ever-dangerous Warnecker, , who would default second language to explain exhibits, places and events. finally betrayed the queen to her death. There is no visible way into the Cloister, no signs, and no one to ask.

Pope Gregory’s Letter to Theodoric and Theodebert, Kings of the Franks, Letter VI. 58 The Tourist map has numbers and explanations of what is to be View online: NewAdvent.org found at different locations – in French only. There is enough Pope Gregory’s Letter to Queen Brunhild, VI. 59 material around the cathedral concerning the diocese, mainly for View online: NewAdvent.org local parishioners, but every cathedral must surely know that the

far more numerous streams of tourists and passers-by have little or

no interest in what happens inside the walls, but want to learn why this place is significant. Not a single brochure or pamphlet either for free, or to buy - nothing in French, English, German, Italian, or any other language.

An even bigger puzzle: If a complete stranger, even one who speaks fluent French, passed through and spent a few hours in Chalon, visiting the cathedral, bookshops and the archaeology and history museum, he or she would not come away knowing even the

91 rudiments of the sixth century history of Chalon. Nor that the most It has the feel of a conspiracy that has no parallel in any other town powerful woman in Frankish history had once lived here, and ruled with a comparable history. Why? Given the interest in Brunhild from here, and that crucial chunks of French history took place (even though Brunhild was not Frankish-German, but Iberian) here, or that Augustine met with Queen Brunhild here, and received thanks to Wagner and his opera-cycle Der Ring des Niberlungen, vital aid from her at the request of the Catholic Church’s greatest this could be a commercial honey pot of books and memorabilia to pontiff Gregory the Great. Even a search on Tablets and iPads for sell tourists. But there is nothing, absolutely nothing. And that, for Chalon-sur-Saône on Wikipedia does not produce any useful the pilgrim, is the true sadness of Chalon. information.

Pages of history seem to have been ripped from Chalon’s story. Has amnesia settled like dust on this town? Do schools teach the children nothing about their past? No guides from the Tourist Information Office were on hand to explain the history of this town, unless one knows to book ahead for one; no archaeology in the museum that deals with the Middle Ages, or explains how the fortress turned into a picture-postcard medieval village; no map or model showing where the gates or the walls were in different eras, how the town grew, what battles it fought, what it was famous for in different eras, what part it played in national history, or the part that King Guntram played in introducing perpetual chant at his new monastery of St Marcel. Bridge across the Saône to Chalon

92 Merovingian Chalon

We can only surmise that within this ancient castrum (an old Roman fortress or encampment; root of our word ‘castle’, but not a castle itself) there once lay a palace, like many royal domains from the sixth century onwards, surrounded by Roman masonry. Arranged around the main body of the palace would be the dwellings of the palace mayor and officers, and the chiefs of warrior companies who had sworn loyalty to the queen. Families of tradesmen, who manufactured arms, jewellery, clothing and all the essentials demanded by a royal establishment, occupied lesser houses. The circuit of Chalon’s walls indicates that the cathedral of St Vincent and the episcopal quarter was integrated into this arrangement. Here there is no memory of these.

A high wall may have surrounded the palace, a ‘castle’ within a fort, which typically comprised a Roman-style atrium as an ante-court, leading into a reception hall (salutorium) for receiving visitors. But where was it? Before Brunhild received Augustine in her Great Hall, Chalon-sur- Saône: C16th he would have met first with Warnacher, the mayor (or comes) of antique map the palace, and who betrayed Brunhild into the hands of Chlothar showing a fort in the lower II some seventeen years later in AD 613. leftt-hand (SW) corner

93

We can accept with little reservation that Brunhild, as dowager Postscript Queen of both Austrasia and Burgundy, would have had access There IS one place where, according to the Tourist Brochure, one is to considerable public and private wealth. A high level of luxury invited to and comfort were on display as a matter of course, because the “come and discover Chalon-sur-Saône: by yourself, visit the Merovingian Franks had appropriated for themselves most of the Heritage Space [which on the map is only yards away from and silver furnishings of the Gallo-Romans whom they had the Tourist Office itself] where the evolution of the city is succeeded as absolute rulers, and divided the rest amongst their unveiled from Roman Cabilonum right up to the most recent aristocrats, chieftains and warriors as spoils of war. In this way planning developments; with a qualified guide, enter the over the next few centuries, the recycled material remains of the lesser known parts of the town, sometimes normally closed late Roman Empire found their way into palaces, cathedrals and to the public, Hear about the remains of the antique or monasteries. medieval city, its fortifications of the time of the

…” Augustine, an emissary of the Pope and therefore a person of rank, would not have left without dining at the Queen’s table and Whether this would have done the trick we’ll never know, and drinking to her health, and possibly lodging within the castrum. A there was no way we could have booked a guide in advance of our vast dining hall (trichorium) was typically the largest room in any visit. However, the fruitless hour spent in the middle of the heat of palace. As a practising Catholic, Brunhild’s Christmas and the day trying to find the bus station, and finding the Denon feasts would have been particularly sumptuous. Augustine, an Museum closed for a leisurely two-hour lunch break in the middle emissary of the Pope and therefore a person of rank, would not of summer, did little to help! have left without dining at the Queen’s table and drinking to her health, and very possibly also lodging within the castrum. But here in Chalon there is no mention of any of these events.

94

Denon Musee

From the Denon Website:

“Where is it? The museum is open daily except Tuesdays and holidays from 9:30 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:30.”

But where is it?!

A map in the museum’s collection shows that goods flowed into Chalon from Cologne and Belgium in the north, Triers, Paris and Autun, south from Lyon and Vienne, Arles, Rome and Ostia; in Spain, Cadiz and in North from and Alexandria, and within the eastern Mediterranean, from Athens, Ephesus, Constantinople, the Black Sea, Crete, and Palestine. All these fed an insatiable appetite at the Royal Court in Chalon for luxuries in jewellery, tableware, linens, textiles and carvings, but particularly during Brunhild’s regency during the late sixth and early seventh centuries.

95 23. Autun (Augustodunum) (Augustine, pp. 76-79)

Autun Tourist Office is opposite the Cathedral Place du Terreau, 71400, Autun,

WE TOOK THE D978 OUT OF CHALON TO AUTUN, A DISTANCE of 60km taking about an hour, winding uphill 130m (Chalon’s elevation averages 185m and Autun 312m above sea-level) through forests and passing farm fields on this summer’s day. In Roman times the city hosted between 30,000 and 100,000 people. Gallo- Roman Augustodonum was a place of considerable significance, one of only sixteen Gallic cities to be represented at the first general Council of Arles in 314.

Today this very attractive historical town and tourist destination has a population slightly over 17,000 people. We were keen to see where our Augustine pilgrimage trail would take us.

Autun: St-Lazare Cathedral

96 Autun Cathedral

Lapidaire Museum Our first destination was Saint–Lazare Cathedral, unusually (10 rue St. Nicholas | Autun Telephone: +33 3 85 52 35 71) orientated N-S instead of a traditional E-W, and at the southern end En route we came upon D’Autun Musee Lapidaire Saint Nicolas. of the walled city. We found parking close to the Archbishop’s This museum was formerly the Chapel of Saint-Nicholas (C12th) palace on a steep road, the Rue du Chanoine Trinquet that leads and houses a collection of Gallo-Roman vestiges - fragments of to the cathedral. It was originally built as a pilgrimage church for architecture, mosaics, steles and medieval objects such as capitals the veneration of the relics of Lazare d'Aix, a Christian martyr and and sarcophaguses. The apse is decorated with a majestic Christ. early archbishop of Aix-en-Province. The graveyard outside is extraordinary, and overwhelming in its Bishop Syagrius, a favourite of Queen Brunhild, was bishop here impact. It features a flower-garden adorned with Gallo-Roman when Augustine arrived in the city. The new bishop brought with statues. An impressive if smaller version of the collection of stone him a pallium from Pope Gregory, as he had done for Bishop fragments at St Peter’s in Vienne. Virgilius of Arles, even though Autun did not have the status of an Archiepiscopal See.

We browsed around the cathedral for a while, then headed downhill and northwards towards the city centre and then to the town walls, looking for one of the surviving Roman gates.

Autun: Porte St.-André

97 Porte St.-André The abbey, alas, was one of the victims of the French Revolution and is now an archaeological site with few standing stones. Further down the road, we soon came to one of two surviving

Roman city gates, Porte St.-André, then followed the ring road By late afternoon our time in Autun was fast running out as a south and east which had some scattered stones of the old journey to Nevers still lay ahead. Our guide could not identify the perimeter wall to reach the largest Roman theatre in the world. precise location of the abbey, but she did locate where Brunhild’s This was one of several “Wow!” moments in Autun. Its spectacular sarcophagus lid now rested. I dashed to the nearby Rolin Museum, views overlook over a small lake, and beyond it a rural landscape asking the concierge where the coffin lid was located, and went rolls on for miles. directly to the display room. It’s not particularly impressive,

compared to others in the same room, and few people today would Searching for Queen Brunhild grace it with the term ‘relic’. But somehow it symbolised everything Rolin Museum that she ultimately stood for until her own desperate grab for ‪3 rue des Bancs, Autun, France 03-85-52-09-76 ‬ power broke her, like the coffin lid itself. We returned to the Tourist Information Office opposite the Brunhild and Autun cathedral’s west entrance in search of more information about

Queen Brunhild, who had so richly endowed the cathedral and a In AD 602, Brunhild apparently founded - and also richly endowed - monastery in Autun. We knew that her remains were buried in the Abbaye de St-Martin. Autun. But where? On this spot, according to legend, the Bishop of Tours cut down a Our guide searched through books, the web, and documents, even beech-tree that once served as an object of pagan worship. The phoning someone for information. She identified Brunhild’s bural Abbaye was built in the northeastern suburbium of Autun outside place as Abbaye de St. Martin on a road leading out of the city wall the city wall (as burial within the city walls was forbidden in this and passing beneath Porte St.-André! period).

98

There were already two other monasteries in this suburbium before AD 602. One was a monastic chapel, dedicated to the local martyr Symphorien. The other was the monastery of St-Pierre l’Etrier (on the south side of the Rue de Bourgogne, beyond the junction with Rue des Moiran, which led to Abbaye de St-Martin).

The Abbaye de St-Martin soon eclipsed them both. The Abbey church was richly decorated with reused marble columns and a mosaic apse.

Brunhild was buried in this Abbaye in Autun after her death at the hands of Chlothar II, in 613. Her sepulchre here was preserved at least into the fifteenth century. (Brunhild was not buried with her first husband, Sigibert I, who died several years earlier, and was Musée Rolin, Autun: Granite coffin lid fragments from Brunhild’s sarcophagus buried in the Crypt of St Medard Abbey in Soissons.)

99 Abbaye de St-Martin was famous for it’s learning, continuing in a Christian form the city’s ancient reputation as a centre of learning and culture. The abbey was destroyed in 1793 during the French Revolution. Only two parts of the stone coffin lid of Brunhild's sarcophagus now remain - on display in the Musée Lapidaire (Rolin), in Autun (see above). None of these three monasteries survive today. Reflection Following the trail of St. Augustine and his companions, and some of the lives of peoplewho touched his life during the journey to England, was proving a fascinating exploration that gripped us both, adding valuable insights for our journey. Clearly, in AD 596 Augustine and his companions could not have stayed at the Abbey Autun: City wall of St Martin, which was built six years later. However, the two monasteries of St-Symphorien and St-Pierre-l’Etrier are possibilities, depending on the willingness of their abbot or prior to Autun: One of host Augustine’s twenty missionaries. the most impressive The Abbey of St Martin in Autun, founded in 602, and St remains is that Augustine’s Abbey of SS Peter & Paul in Canterbury (completed of the ancient theatre, which c. AD 610), occupied much the same period of history. Both was one of the developed formidable reputations for learning and biblical largest in the western part scholarship within a generation. of the empire with a 17,000 seat capacity100

24. Nevers (Augustine, pp. 80-84)

Tourist Centre, Avenue Saint-Just, Nevers

WE SET OFF FOR NEVERS LATE AFTERNOON, A DISTANCE OF 102km on the D978, about 90 minutes travel. Nevers drops to 167m at the Loire, so that most of our journey from Autun – like Augustine’s – was downhill. Nevers first enters recorded history in 52 BC as Noviodunum, which Julius Caesar described as “a depot in a convenient position” on the banks of the Loire. We drove through the old town to the river bridge, passing some sites that Augustine’s mission party would have known. Nevers is the most likely starting-point for our Loire stretch of Augustine’s journey. It became the seat of a bishopric, centred on the Cathedral of St-Etienne, at the end of the 5th century (diocese of Nivernensis). Bishop Agricole’s palace no doubt offered accommodation to Augustine and his companions, particularly as they now travelled with the full backing and support of Queen Nevers: Brunhild. From here until they reached the monastery of St Martin Medieval ramparts at Porte du at Tours, the river would be their principal means of travel. Craux; Triumphal Arch; Bridge across the Loire

101 Chapter 5

102 Chapter 5 Ready at Last

Nevers to Paris

THE ROUTE 25. The Loire Valley 26. Tours 27. Orleans 28. Paris

Paris: The Seine, and Notre-Dame Cathedral on Ile de la Cite

103 25. The Loire Valley from Nevers to Tours (Augustine, pp. 80-82)

The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes (UNESCO Report)

La Charité

WE FOLLOWED THE COURSE OF THE LOIRE ON THE A77 TO La Charité-sur-Loire, taking us down river. Before we reached La Charité we took a minor riverside road looking for a place to pray the monastic morning office of Prime. Afterwards, we stopped in the village of La Charité for our usual coffee and croissant before spending a short while exploring the town. Loire: La Charité bridge; street From where we sat at our pavement café we could see the imposing café and Priory; mid-point gateway of the 11th century Cluniac Priory church of Notre plaque at Pouilly; typical scene on the Loire. Dame. This priory is located on one of several paths (collectively known as the Camino) taken by pilgrims from various points in Europe to the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela.

We resumed our journey, building up a picture of changes to the river between Nevers and Orléans. The river remains fairly consistently the same width from north to south bank along this

104 stretch, but it does vary greatly in the amount of its navigable Abbaye de Fleury water. Sandbanks abound, sometimes in the middle of the river, at times occupying more than half of the river’s width stretching out We drove to the village of St Benoit-sur-Loire and its abbey, well from one or other of the banks. known for the relic of the skull of St Benedict in the abbey crypt.

The town takes its name from the Abbaye As we drove out of Mesves-sur-Loire de Fleury, also known as the Abbaye de Peter mentioned that the plane trees, Saint Benoît (Saint Benedict Abbey). at either end of this and other French Founded around AD 630, it is one of the villages, are due to Naploleon ordering oldest abbeys of the Benedictine rule. The villages and towns to plant these trees remarkable story surrounding this tells of along the roadside to provide shade a group of monks from the abbey making for his troops as they rested on their a journey to Italy in AD 660, still occupied march. under the . The Fleury monks

exhumed Benedict’s body at the At Pouilly–sur-Loire we came to a abandoned monastery at Monte Cassino, bridge and a plaque that marks the and returned home with his remains. This shrine-monastery was mid-way point along the Loire’s length, “496 km de La Source : renamed accordingly. 496 km de l’Embouchure”. Crossing over, we drove to a nearby vineyard to sample some of their fine Loire , and resumed our We arrived at the time of Midday Mass, but regretfully we could journey. not spare the hour this would take, so we drove on another 30km

to Orléans, a city I had not visited before. Our total travel distance

from Nevers to Orléans was 170 km.

105 Orleans palace would be put at the missionaries’ disposal, including onward river transport down the Loire to Tours. Because Orleans is also on our return journey from Tours, we’ll leave further discussion about the city until our return from Tours. (27. Orléans)

At Orléans the Loire is divided by a submerged dike into the Grande Loire to the north (no longer navigable), and the Petite Loire to the south, part of a vast system that allowed the Loire to remain navigable. The river was formerly an important navigation and trading route, but now large ships can only navigate the coastal estuary upriver to Nantes.

Boats on the river were traditionally flat-bottomed, with large foldable masts to gather wind from above the riverbanks, but also to allow passage under bridges. They are still on view for tourists near Pont Royal. However the Loire’s irregular flow strongly limits Orleans was the capital of the , ruled by King river traffic, which can be partially overcome by boats being given a Guntram. In his later years, Guntram moved his capital to Chalon- tow. sur-Saone, taking his mayor of the palace and entire court with him. Augustine and his companions would have travelled on boats and When Augustine arrived at Orleans several years after this, it is not barges such as these. Only Spring flooding or a frozen winter river clear who would have been there to welcome him on behalf of would make the route impassable by boat, in which case travel Queen Brunhild, but there is little doubt that all the resources of the would be made on foot, which was generally slower.

106 overwinter in Tours for at least a month. What might have been his 26. Tours (pronounced without the ‘s’: [tuʁ]) reasons for doing this? One paramount reason was that Augustine needed Frankish (Augustine, pp. 84-93) translators and interpreters to accompany him to the Kindom of Kent. Pope Gregory had insisted on this. Tours Cathedral possessed the priests for this task, and the venture had Queen Brunhild’s backing. But that was only part of the story.

Another part was that Queen Brunhild knew a little about her niece, Queen Bertha of Kent, a minor royal whose father King Charibert of Neustria had disgraced himself and so diminished her chances of a good marriage. It tells us something of Augustine’s eye for detail in so thoroughly preparing himself for supporting Bertha in her role as Catholic Queen of the Anglii.

Bertha was born in Paris into the Frankish royal dynasty and lived Why Augustine’s detour to Tours? in exile (as did her mother and half-sister) in Tours before her AUGUSTINE WENT CONSIDERABLY OUT OF HIS WAY TO REACH marriage. She had, with her husband King Ethelbert’s support, THE city of Tours. This was major departure from his route to the requested a mission to the Anglo-Saxons. But what aspects of the English Channel that absorbed much time and additional travel, cult of St Martin were important to her in Canterbury? What could prolonging an already lengthy journey, and forced his party to Augustine glean in Tours for his future dealings with the Anglo- Saxon royal household?

107 Not least, St Martin had become renowned for his missionary activities amongst rural pagans, which was unusual if not unique amongst the urban-based Frankish bishops. What might Augustine learn for bringing the Christian Gospel to the people of Kent? In Gallic times the city was important as a crossing point on the Loire. Becoming part of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD, the city was named "Caesarodunum" ("hill of Caesar"). The name evolved in the 4th century when the original Gallic name, Turones, became first "Civitas Turonum" then "Tours". It was at this time that the amphitheatre of Tours, one of the five largest in the Empire, was built Our search in Tours Three historic figures are particularly important to this search for Augustine’s mission to the Anglii. St Martin of Tours (316-397), Bishop Gregory of Tours (539-594), and Queen Bertha (558?- 612?), the royal Frankish princess who married King Ethelbert of Tours: St Martin’s Kent. Landmarks that all three would have recognised and are still Monastery Marmoutier; Cloister of Tours in evidence today were the Cathedral, a Roman Fort, an Cathedral; Roman fort; St Amphitheatre, and St Martin’s monastery of Marmoutier on the Martin’s Shrine in Tours north bank of the Loire. In addition, Bishop Gregory and Bertha would have known St Martin’s Abbey and shrine in Tours, obviously postdating St Martin’s death.

108 The castle -chateau The foundations of the original structure are clearly visible, and there was once a moat here. We entered the castle on the pretext of seeing a very uninspiring art exhibition that covered all three floors. The towers were purely defensive – narrow slits for arrows, boiling-oil holes as well.

A narrow corridor ran on the east side of each floor, with wooden stairs on each end. There were great views overlooking the river. The very top room of the river-facing tower (the other faces the cathedral) was clearly added later, serving as a proper room. Great stone fireplaces; the passage lined with spaced wooden planks connecting to overhead beams running width-wise across the top passage.

Tours: detail of the castle- chateau tower; view of the cathedral from the green beside the castle.

109 Basilica and Shrine of St Martin of Tours (Augustine, pp. 90-91)

St Martin was the second bishop of Tours. While he was a Roman soldier he shared his cloak with a beggar, freezing in the cold at the gates of . This incident, and the importance of St Martin in the medieval Christian West, made Tours, with its position on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, a major centre during the Middle Ages.

Bishop Gregory of Tours, in his History of the Franks, described Tours: the basilica of Saint-Martin at Tours as it was originally built, in Remains of a tower of the the latter half of the fifth century. He considered it one of the most earlier St beautiful Merovingian churches with 120 marble columns, towers Martin’s basilica; bust at the East end, and several mosaics. One feature of this basilica of St Martin in became a hallmark of Frankish church architecture and had no the new basilica. Roman precedent - the sarcophagus (or reliquary) of the saint, was raised to be visible, and sited on an axis behind the altar or apse of the church. Only two towers from an earlier basilica remained after it was burned down during the French Revolution, and St Martin’s relics in the old crypt were severely disturbed.

110 The present basilica was built in a neo-Byzantine style on only part of the site of the original Basilica, repurchased by the Catholic Church, and dedicated July 4, 1925. It is orientated N-S, so that the new crypt overlays the earlier. A large bust of St Martin watches over the entrance foyer. The crypt, containing St Martin’s relics, is spiritually very moving, and contains a shrine of St Martin’s few mortal remains.

Tours’ New City’: view of St Martin’s Basilica & St Martin’s basilica and the ‘New City’ tower; traditional After leaving St Martin’s basilica, a walk in the general direction of buildings and decoration the river takes us through an ancient and attractive café quarter. The traditional buildings here were very similar to those in the cathedral square at Chalon-sur-Saône.

During the later Middle Ages Tours developed into two competing centres. The ‘city’ in the east of Tours was successor to a Roman 'castrum' (fortified camp), comprised the cathedral and the palace of the archbishops, a castle, and the remains of an amphitheatre. On the west end of Tours a ‘new city’ began to form around the Abbey of Saint Martin, extending north towards the Loire. Both these would also have been familiar to Augustine.

111 A street map reveals how densely the new city developed Queen Bertha of Kent compared to the old. It became the economic centre of Tours by the (Augustine, pp. 85, 92-3) 10th century when an enclosure called "Châteauneuf" was built c.918 between Saint Martin’s Abbey and the Loire. Where, I wondered, did Bertha grow up here? Was it in the old Continuing down to the broad, slow moving Loire reveals beautiful castle, banished by her father Charibert I of Paris, together with sandbars dominating the centre, as they do almost the whole length her mother and sister? Or in a women’s monastery, close by St of this Loire. Walking east on the river bank towards the ‘old city’ Martin’s basilica in the ‘new city’? and St Galen’s Cathedral, brings us past an ancient chateau over looking the river, near to a footbridge that crosses over to the Loire’s north bank.

Tours Amphitheatre Not far from Tours Cathedral and the castle stands the massive walls of one of the biggest amphitheatres in ancient Roman Empire - the Caesarodunum Amphitheatre. [Entrance and Parking – on Rue du Petit Cupidon (in the Jardin des Vikings)]. The imposing scale of the structure's remains, and the systematic Queen Bertha: use of brick indicates that the amphitheatre dates from around the bronze statue time of Hadrian (AD117-138). Several scientists believe the near St Augustine’s Gate, structure may also have functioned as a fortification; however, Canterbury these two are not mutually exclusive, as the amphitheatre in Arles shows.

112 The Cathedral The first Cathedral of Saint-Maurice was built by Lidoire, Bishop St Gatien Cathedral Tours: View over the roof; of Tours from AD 337 to 371, preceding St Martin. It burned down Cloister precinct; nearly two centuries later in 561, restored by Gregory of Tours and Scriptorium; Cloisters and stairway rededicated in 590. Its location, at the south-west angle of the castrum, as well as its eastern orientation, resulted in the original access being, unusually, through the surrounding late- Roman wall. Martin served as bishop at St-Maurice Cathedral from 371-397. It was destroyed by fire in 561, and rebuilt by Gregory of Tours in 590. This second cathedral was only four years old when Augustine arrived in Tours. The present cathedral, dedicated to St-Gatien in 1356, is the fourth cathedral on this site. St-Gatien’s Cathedral has a stunning cloister and scriptorium – well-worth the price of a visit. Best of all perhaps, was the discovery of a map of C6th Tours on the cathedral’s west wall. With permission, I took some photos in the stygian gloom, and at an awkward angle, later corrected with Photoshop. (Map 10 above). The map shows a now non-existent St Augustine’s convent. It was not unusual for women of the Frankish royalty to be educated in a nunnery until marriageable age. Might that have been where Bertha had her residence during her exile from Paris?

113 Gregory of Tours (AD 538-594)

Pope Gregory’s Letter to Pelagius, Bishop of Tours, Book VI.52 Gregory of Tours, Bishop Pelagius’ immediate predecessor, was an View online: NewAdvent.org energetic, aristocratic bishop who enjoyed big civic and ecclesiastical occasions and easy access to the royals. He was quite unlike the more reclusive former Roman soldier, St Martin. Gregory of Tours was author of a ten-volume History of the Franks, not published in his lifetime, but an enduring monument to our understanding if the church and state in Francia during the sixth century. He made his mark on the town by restoring the cathedral, destroyed by a fire in 561.

Pelagius, successor ti Gregory of Tours would certainly have played a significant role in Augustine’s mission, not ony through providing hospitality but also in selecting twenty priests and lay clerks to accompany Augustine as interpreters and preachers. The Frankish clergy and lay clerks spoke a dialect of Anglo-Saxon, and having Augustine access to the unpublished History of the Franks written by the recently deceased Gregory of Tours, containing invaluable insights into the Frankish monarchy and the Frankish Church.

114

St Martin’s Marmoutier Abbey

Rain fell during the night, but by the following morning it was dry and looked promising, so we resolved to walk to the site of St Martin’s own Abbey of Marmoutier, some 3km on the north bank of the Loire. We crossed over the footbridge together with an occasional cyclist and pedestrian. There were great views of the river from the bridge, showing how the Loire divides itself around densely treed sandbanks. We turned right on to Quai Paul Bert, past a small church on left, then continued eastwards under one of two road-bridges that crossed over the river. We turned left, Marmoutier: views between the two overpasses, and into the Rue de Ste Radegonde, down Rue de Ste then right up a narrow lane, the Rue Ste Gatien. St-Radegonde Radegonde from the chapel. eglise is on left. Queen Radegonde was the wife of King Clotaire I. (She is also remembered in St Radigund’s Street that runs alongside the old Roman wall in Canterbury, so the connection was interesting.)

115 We stepped into a near-black interior of the church from the bright sunshine outside. This is a small, very attractive Romanesque church, with an archway into a rounded apse; simple, and beautiful. We sat for a while in the cool interior. A young woman cyclist arrived, saw the chapel was occupied, and left.

Attractive houses crowded on both sides of the narrow lane. There was a hill to our left (north) with layers of dwellings receding into the distance. The French favour ‘shabby chic’ – even obviously expensive houses seem to have had only one coat of paint – ever! Once we’d passed under the second of the road bridges stretching over this small street, it suddenly took on the appearance of a very ancient roadway indeed. A short flight of steps on a curve led to some very old gates; ahead, ancient walls and , metal rings for horses embedded in the stone wall. And right at the end, directly ahead of us, a large locked gateway. Beyond it the street continued for some way. Layers of chalk cliffs rose to the north.

Rue de Ste Radegonde: leading to the west gate of the original monastery

116 St Martin’s monastery

The tarred road we were standing on, called Rue St Martin, dropped away towards the river to our right. I knew that somewhere in this area was St Martin’s cave. Although we couldn’t enter this locked site, the map showed an old monastery to the south of this inaccessible old roadway beyond the gate. A private girl’s boarding school occupies the rest of the grounds down to the road running between the school and the river. New school residences were under construction, barrel- vaulted roofs, but no workmen as this was holiday season, and the school and grounds were closed. The facade of the school, as seen from the river bank, is clearly visible through the main gate, and is striking. It seems that the monastery grew around the caves on the cliff above – or below the cave of St Martin. Martin started as a monk in one of these caves, then others were attracted to join him. Eventually he built Marmoutier Abbey (Maius Monasterium, the Great Monastery). The abbey was closed down in 1799 during the French Revolution, and within a few decades the bulk of its Marmoutier: View of St Martin’s original monastery and cave. buildings had been demolished.

117 Sulpicius Severus, a supporter of St Martin, described the severe On the north bank of the Loire restrictions of the life of Martin among the cave-dwelling hermits who gathered around him. We dropped below the road level to the riverbank of the Loire. I

Many also of the brethren had, in the same manner, fashioned retreats imagined Augustine arriving by boat or bargedown the Loire, for themselves, but most of them had formed these out of the rock of perhaps overnighting en route on one of the tree-sheltered the overhanging mountain, hollowed into caves. There were sandbanks, and coming to Marmoutier. It is a short boat journey of altogether eighty disciples, who were being disciplined after the 20 minutes perhaps across to the castle on the south bank and example of the saintly master. inside the old city wall, where it shares the same compound as the No one there had anything which was called his own; all things were cathedral. possessed in common. It was not allowed either to buy or to sell anything, as is the custom among most monks. No art was practiced there, except that of transcribers, and even this The wind began to strengthen from the S-W, whipping up small was assigned to the brethren of younger years, while the elders spent waves on the water surface. We sat on the grassy riverbank for a their time in prayer. while; the water in the shallows is green over yellow sand. We Rarely did any one of them go beyond the cell, unless when they assembled at the place of prayer. They all took their food together, walked to a municipal tennis court for a sparkling drink on the after the hour of fasting was past. shady verandah. A large TV in the foyer relayed the Olympics. On No one used , except when illness compelled them to do so. the tennis court below us two women were having a coaching Most of them were clothed in garments of camels' hair. Any dress session; to our left, a row of vacant poly-tunnel tennis courts. approaching to softness was there deemed criminal, and this must be

thought the more remarkable, because many among them were such as are deemed of noble rank. (Sulpicius, Vita, X)

118

Tour River Viewss: Loire north bank between Marmoutier and the footbridge over the Loire

119 27. Orléans Orleans: Loire; street in the Old Town; Holy Cross Cathedral; riverboat on the Loire; bridge over the Loire; view of the quay and (Augustine, p.83) Loire looking east.

ORLÉANS IS LOCATED IN THE NORTHERN BEND OF THE LOIRE, which flows below the city walls from east to west. In the Merovingian era, the city was capital of the kingdom of Orléans after a division of the kingdom under Clovis I, in the early sixth century. Since March 596, Orleans came under the control of Queen Brunhild, who through her two grandsons, shaped affairs for both Austrasia on the Rhine and Burgundy. Orleans was the former capital of Burgundy, before Chalon-sur-Saône. Crucially, the palace in Orleans would still be open to important guests, and that included Augustine and his party of 40 companions.

We found parking only a block from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, while I dashed round to the Tourist Information Office. We spent only a little time in the Cathedral before walking down through the old town to the banks of the Loire. There was a good view of the main bridge over the river, and a nearby riverboat. We returned to the square on the north side of the cathedral for a light lunch before leaving for Paris.

120 28. Roman Road from Orléans to Paris

IN THE AFTERNOON WE FOLLOWED THE FORMER ROMAN ROUTE north from Orléans to Paris. Orléans, lies 120 kilomètres south-south-west of Paris. On this we followed the route that Augustine must have taken from Orleans if he had any chance of arriving in Canterbury before Easter 597.

Augustine’s decision to travel to Paris (Lutitia) (Augustine, p. 92) The missionaries, now forty strong, bolstered by twenty priests and lay brothers, would have billeted again in the former royal palace for a few days while preparing for their onward journey. Palace officials were probably already aware and preparing for a battle in to be launched after the annual Marchfields gathering in Austrasia (the “Eastern Land”), based on the middle Rhine, with Metz as capital). Nodoubt there were strong attempts to dissuade Augustine from his route into Neustria (the “Western Land”, based on Paris). Route of the Roman way to Paris 121 Roman Road to Paris Étampes (Latin: Stampae) We left Orléans in busy traffic and headed due north on the ancient Stampae are known to have existed at the beginning of the 7th Roman road to Lutitia on Route D2020/N20. century, and in the early Middle Ages they belonged to the crown. Even today it is a bleak and desolate road, mile after mile of Etampes is 55 km from Paris, and an hour’s drive in ideal featureless agricultural land with scarcely a house or a hamlet to conditions. It was the largest town on this route, also perhaps a break the horizon. We can only imagine how this must have former Roman mansio or resting-station on the way, and in the late impacted on the mood of Augustine and his companions. The road C6th may have provided the missionaries with a welcome break for north to Paris lies to the west of both the forêt d'Orléans, and food and shelter on their long winter journey towards Paris. forêt d'Versailles, so it offered little if any shelter to Augustine and his companions on their route north in a winter. We drove by (not through) Tivernon, Monnerville, then through Montihery, and ZAC des Graviers, all uninspiring, reminiscent of American towns of the old west, the road always seemingly arrow- straight towards Paris.

Étampes

122 Chapter 6 123 Chapter 6 Taking Risks, Meeting the Ancestors

Paris to Laon

THE ROUTE 29. Paris 30. St Denys 31. Senlis 32. Soissons 33. Laon

Laon: View north from cathedral precinct

124 29. Paris (Latin: Lutetia Parisiorum)

(Augustine, pp. 94-99)

THE TRAFFIC INCREASED CONSIDERABLY AS WE ENTERED THE St Martin’s Gate outskirts of Paris, creeping towards a broad intersection marked Ballainvilliers which, by my reading of our Paris map, marked the Priory of St-Martin- des-Champs site one of the major Roman gates into ancient Lutetia through the city wall. Wooden bridges linked Île de la Cité to the riverbanks on either side.

Roman Paris Roman Lutetia was laid out at the intersection of the Seine and two parallel Roman roads running north-south. These roads still define modern-day Paris. The right hand or easternmost of these (today's rue St-Jacques) served as the Roman cardo or main N-S street. Ultimately coming from Spain, the road passed through Orléans (Cenabum) to Paris, crossed the Seine at Île de la Cité via the Petit Pont ("small bridge") and Grand Pont ("large bridge," now the Pont Notre-Dame) and went north through Senlis. The second Roman road (the present-day rue Galande) from Italy, passed through Lyon to Paris, then turned N-W toward ,

125 Entering Paris from Rouen, and the Normandy coast. Linked by a grid of east-west the south: streets, the resulting network of Roman roads remained at the core Roman ruin outside the ancient city of Paris through the Middle Ages. walls Site of former Roman gateway into The Roman god Mercury was popular in Gaul, often syncretized ancient Lutitia; with Gallic deities, and a temple to the Egyptian goddess , Bridge on to Ile de la Cite from the south; worshiped by many Romans including the Emperor Hadrian (AD North bridge of Ile 116-133), lay on the Left Bank on the future site of the abbey of St- de la Cite Germain-des Prés.

In the First Century BC, Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine, was a low-lying area subject to flooding, but offered a convenient place to cross the river and provide refuge in times of invasion. Clovis I, the Frankish ruler, established a Merovingian palace on the island, which later became the capital city of Merovingian Neustria, and then of all Francia from AD 613 (following the capture and death of Queen Brunhild and her grandson). The island continued to be an important military and political focus throughout the Middle Ages.

126 Augustine’s arrival in Paris

Augustine’s arrival seems to have coincided with an annual gathering on March 1st, bringing together the young king Chlothar II (then about 13 years old), Landeric, his mayor of the palace on Île de la Cité, and the king’s advisers, nobles and the army to make laws, reward the deserving, and agree to fresh military ventures.

Anglo-Saxon warriors, who had settled along the Seine estuary (perhaps near Rouen), would have participated in the Marchfields gathering before taking on Brunhild’s forces in Picardy and securing a significant victory. Ironically, these would be the same Anglo-Saxons whose reputation caused so much consternation for Augustine’s companions while in Aix-en-Provence.

The final confrontation brewing between the kingdoms of Austrasia (under Brunhild) and Neustria (under Chlothar II), ultimately centred on the Plain of Picardy around the town of Laffau and the hilltop city of Laon (see below).

Paris: Seine and Notre Dame Cathedal, Ile de la Cite.

View north over Paris from Louvre balcony; 127 Priory of St-Martin-des-Champs

Paris: Former Priory of St- In slow-moving rush-hour traffic we crossed one of the bridges to Martin-des-Champs; Île de la Cité, then on the north side crossed over the Seine to the St Martin’s Arch, Boulevarde de Sebastopol. originally a gateway As we crawled along, across to our right we saw a well-placed on the north side of the ancient city wall public garden between two streets, and beyond it lay the former Priory of St-Martin-des-Champs on a parallel one-way street south, the Rue Saint-Martin. Peter turned into a side street and I sprang out to take photographs while Peter searched for a place out of the heavy home-time traffic. Further north on the Rue Saint-Martin stands a more recent Roman-style arch, dedicated to St-Denys and St Martin, marking one of the northern gates in the ancient city wall. The Priory of St-Martin-des-Champs, perhaps built on an earlier abbey before the earliest reference in a document of AD 710, would be an obvious place for Augustine and his party of now forty people coming from Tours, to seek hospitality.

128 The Annual Marchfields Gathering in AD597 (Augustine, p. 98) The origin of the annual Marchfields gatherings each of the Merovingian kingdoms may lie with Julius Caesar who, in his account of the Gallic Wars, de Bello Gallico (c. 50 BC), refers to an annual assembly that was held between himself as commander of the Roman Legions, and local Gallic leaders in or near Paris. The Marchfields meetings provided an important and fundamental institutional underpinning for the Merovingian rulers. These assemblies brought together church councils, the army muster, and the king’s court. The army was the political assembly of the kingdom, and laws were issued with the consent of the army. The king would be with his army. But where was the army?

The small island refuge, Île de la Cité, reagarded as the centre of Paris, may not have been particularly well-suited for such gatherings. St-Denys, situated at ancient crossroads a few miles north of Paris, was such a place. In ancient Druidic Gaul of Caesar’s campaigns in the first century BC, Lutetia (Paris) was not the preferred place of meeting for the Gallic tribes, but rather Le Lendit, on a bend of the Sequana (Seine) in the present-day northern suburbs of Paris, and near to St-Denys. St-Denys: Patterns on the floor of the crypt

129 Graham Robb mentions that the main road to Gallo-Roman Lutetia from the Norman coast is aimed, not at the Roman centre of Paris Here at the Marchfields assembly near St Denys Augustine and his on the Left Bank, but at the tribal meeting-place of Le Lendit in the party may have encountered the Anglo-Saxon warriors whose northern suburbs. There it crosses the Col de La Chapelle, which lay reputation for savagery in combat was so fearsome that his on this prehistoric route from Rotomagus (Rouen) in the west, and companions begged Augustine to return to Rome for the near to Le Lendit and St-Denys. (Robb, Graham, 2014, The Ancient abandonment of the mission. The warriors’ route, from the region Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe, Picador.) ] of Rouen (Rotomagus) to the Marchfields gathering, would have been along an ancient Celtic way later adopted and paved during Augustine would have aimed to arrive in Paris around the time of the years of Roman occupation, passing through Ritumagus the annual Marchfields gathering in 597 to reach Canterbury before (Radepont), Petromantalum (Magny), Briva Isarae (Pontoise), Easter (on 14th April that year), and the most important celebration finally joining the military assembly near the ancient Druid in the Church’s calendar. It seems that in the open plain before the oppidum of Le Lendit. dynastic abbey of St-Denys the two finally met – shortly after the death of Chlothar’s mother Fredegund – and at which Chlothar was Some four years later, in AD 601, at Augustine’s request Pope lifted up on his warriors’ shields and proclaimed King of Neustria. Gregory sent another, smaller group from Rome. The party included and , carrying a letter to Chlothar II from Augustine meeting Chlothar II King of Neustria Pope Gregory. In the letter the Bishop of Rome expressed his thanks for the support given to Augustine and his companions in Augustine had made a bold move in entering the lion’s den to ask reaching England (in AD 597). Chlothar for his help in proceeding to England. This is made clear in a letter from Pope Gregory to King Chlothar II in AD 601, giving Letter from Gregory the Great to Chlothar II, King of the Franks, thanks for the support that the king had given to Augustine on his Book XI.61 View online: NewAdvent.org journey through the Neustrian kingdom.

130 What support did Augustine request, and what did he receive? Probably much the same as he had received from Queen Brunhild, as a little dynastic competition between the two rulers would not have gone amiss. Augustine’s meeting with Chlothar would also have served to reassure Queen Bertha of Kent that their mission had the full support of all Francia.

What If? An alternative scenario Had Augustine’s party taken the alternative route through Austrasia instead, his companions would certainly have missed the celebrations at St Martin’s chapel in Canterbury. By travelling through Laon in Picardy, Augustine’s party of forty people would arguably have found themselves in the most dangerous position of their entire journey, right at the heart of an armed conflict between King Chlothar and Queen Brunhild, potentially rendering the mission impossible.

131 30. St Denys Around AD 475 St. Genevieve purchased some land and built a church, so that St Denys’ grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage (Augustine, pp. 94-100) destination.

It was also the site of the Abbey of Saint Denys. The morning rush-hour traffic was heavy going down to the

N1/N410 to St Denys, but we managed the short journey without much trouble, finding underground parking close by the basilica. We started with our usual coffee on the square before making our way to the great west doors of the basilica.

Julius Caesar Little remains of the landscape that met Julius Caesar near here when he came to this marshland near the Seine, winding its way towards the sea, to meet with the rulers of Gaul. Until the 3rd century Saint-Denys was a large settlement belonging to Catolacus, a Gallo-Roman landowner. Around AD 250, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denys (Dionysius), was martyred on Montmartre Hill and his body brought here for burial.

The site in late Roman times was originally a Gallo-Roman cemetery—the archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral. Those buried here seem to have had a faith that was a St Denys: Model of the Abbey in the Middle Ages mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs and practices.

132 Abbaye-St-Denys The Abbey of St Denys was a community that certainly had the resources to provide hospitality for Augustine, who could not travel north without passing by this historic basilica in whose foundations lay the sarcophagus of St-Denys, raised and visible behind the altar. St-Denys: Model of The Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres on the south bank of Paris the Medieval Abbey; Coffin of Queen was similarly endowed. Fredegund of Saint-Denys was closely associated with the French royal house Neustria; Apse sanctuary used for throughout its long history as a royal necropolis, and in the burial place of Canterbury, Queen Bertha and King Ethelbert’s desire for the abbey Frankish kings; Plaques of 3 – completed in AD610 – would come from the same impulse for a Merovingian dynastic necropolis). monarchs After Dagobert I, almost every French king was buried in the Basilica, including Clovis I (465-511), (584), and Fredegonde, Brunhild’s arch-rival, who died earlier that year (597). One notable exception to kings buried at Saint-Denys was Bertha’s father, King Charibert of Paris, denied burial here because of his flagrant lifestyle of drinking and womanizing. He was buried away from Paris, at Blavia Castellum on the Frankish coast. (Augustine, p. 97)

133 31. Senlis (Augustomagus)

Route St Denys to Senlis N1

WE DECIDED TO MAKE A DETOUR FROM AUGUSTINE’S ROUTE north, taking the long way around to Amiens by way of Senlis, Soissons and Laon. Neither of us had followed this route before, and it provides depth to the backstory of the early Frankish kings whose lives shaped Augustine’s story on his journey through Francia. It was a good decision; there were many “Wow!” moments on this stretch of our pursuit of Augustine and his story.

Significance Bishop Luidhard of Senlis is said to have accompanied Princess Bertha and her entourage to Kent for her marriage to Ethelbert, and remained as her chaplain in Canterbury until his death c. 597. The relationship of Senlis to Paris suggests that it may also have Senlis: been a town Augustine passed through on his way to the port of Town Square; Quentovic. Remains of the Royal Palace; City Wall; Church Exterior Church Interior

134 Location It seated as many as 10,000 people for public meetings, theatre, Senlis is located 40 km from the north of Paris, 44 km from gladiatorial combats, and animal hunts. Beauvais, and 79 km from Amiens. It is an ancient and attractive tourist town set on a hill in the region of Picardy. The river Nonette The kings of the early French dynasties built a castle on this Roman flows around the south side. Narrow, winding streets climb uphill settlement and used it for hunting in the Chantilly Forest. Today it from the plain. remains an attraction for tourists owing to its long history and its We arrived from St Denys at 12.30 pm, just as the local Tourist links to the French monarchy, the very reasons that brought us to Information Office near the cathedral was closing for lunch, which Senlis. meant that we stumbled our way around the town rather than planned it, making the most of the maps we came across on our way.

Senlis Cathedral was the ancient seat of the Bishopric of Senlis. The present cathedral was built between 1153 and 1519, and its spire is visible for miles across the plain of Valois. During the 3rd century a seven-meter high defensive wall was erected around the settlement in response to Frankish incursions. The wall was still in place in 597, and today about half of it still exists. The town also possessed a Roman amphitheatre, whose remains are still visible about 500 m west of the walled town.

135 3 2. Soissons (Augusta Suessionum)

Office du Tourisme, Place Ferdinand Marquigny (behind the cathedral, with good parking.)

AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF IN SENLIS, WE DROVE ON to Soissons on the N2. (64 km, 56 minutes) It was a swelteringly hot mid-afternoon when we arrived. Peter found parking and remained with the car while I began a near fruitless search for the Tourist Information Office, which is on a square (car park) below the east end of the cathedral. The Tourist Office was open and well stocked with brochures – in English! The staff extremely helpful. We set off in search of our most signfiant find here, St. Medard Abbey. Soissons: The River Aisne meanders through a valley where Soissons is set, Road from Senlis; Roadside windmill near Soissons; between two lines of fertile plateaux in a cereal-growing area. Cathedral Soissons’ population of 28,000 is a larger than Senlis at 16,000. Founded by the Romans c. 20 AD, Augusta Suessionum lies in an area along the river. The Medieval walls surrounding the town were knocked down by the end of the C19th.

During the Merovingian period (C5th-mid C8th) the powerful St Médard Abbey on the outskirts of the town became known as a place for pilgrimage. St Medard, bishop of Noyon was buried

136 there, also Clovis’ son Chlothar I chose this for his burial place, and later Sigebert of Austrasia (husband of Brunhild), who presumably grew up here as one of Chlothar I’s four sons.

Firstly chosen by Merovingian King Clovis as his capital, Soissons would remain during centuries a borderline region used as a protection for Paris against invasions. By the third century, Soissons was one of the last fortified Roman command centres in northern Gaul still facing the Franks’ invasion. Syagrius, a Roman general, maintained Roman authority in Soissons until as late as 486 (Rome fell to the in 410) when he was defeated by Clovis, the young king of the Franks.

St Médard Abbey

The grounds largely belong to a girls’ boarding school but as no one was around, we assumed they were on holiday. The gate into the grounds of the former abbey is impressive. But on the whole, it’s a

St Médard Abbey: Entrance Gateway

137 sad place. A frenzy of destruction following the French Revolution left nothing of the former abbey remaining above ground-level. Peter and I gingerly climbed down into the crumbling building, to be met by a remarkable sight. We were standing in the surviving sixth century crypt at St Médard Abbey, comprising ten chapels, on either side of a central corridor. It was built to house the remains of St Médard, and later Clotaire I and Sigebert I, who were also buried here.

The Abbey was founded in 557 by Clotaire I, on his manor at Crouy near the villa of Syagrius, just outside the old boundaries of Soissons. A legend holds that during St Médard’s funeral procession (in AD 545) the bier came to a standstill at Crouy, and was impossible to move until the king had made a gift of the whole estate for the foundation of the abbey. In AD 826, Hilduin (Abbot of St Médard from 822 to 830) obtained from Pope Eugene II relics of Saint Sebastian and also St Gregory Soissons: the Great. This energetic abbot also succeeded in obtaining the Gateway to St Medard Abbey; transfer to the abbey of the relics of St Godehard and St Remigius. Ruins of exterior abbey wall; Entrance to crypt;a burial Significance chamber. There is no possibility that Augustine came this way, hastening as he was to reach the shores of Kent before Easter in late April 597.

138 However, our interest lies in Soissons’ connection with the , particularly Sigibert I, husband of Queen Brunhild, who played such a major role in both Augustine’s mission and in Francia for several decades.

Perhaps King Sigebert I of Austrasia (d. AD 575) was buried here rather than at St-Denys near Paris because this is where he was raised and hunted with his brothers (Guntram, Charibert and Chilperic) and father Clotaire I.

Brunhild had no say in the matter of where she was buried. Exiled from Metz in Austrasia by the mayor of the palace after Sigebert’s death, she was separated from her infant son Childebert II and lived in exile in Rouen. She was placed under the not-so-tender oversight of Chilperic I of Neustria, whose Queen Fredegund was Brunhild’s mortal enemy (and probably also Sigebert’s assasin). Brunhild married Chilperic’s son by his first wife Audovera, in Rouen, and the two attempted to return to Metz. Only Brunhild was allowed to return, and Merovech soon also suffered at Near Soissons: St Medard Abbey Crypt the hands of Fredegund’s assasins. Family stories don’t come much more complex than this.

139 33. Laon Distance Soissons – Laon: 38km, 30 minutes on N2

IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON WHEN WE ARRIVED IN LAON, A stunning site rising 183m above the Picardy plain. Parking below the cathedral, we stood and admired the magnificent view to the north before climbing a flight of stairs to the square above and cathedral above. We drove back down the hill to check into our accommodation for the night, then headed up into Laon. The Rue Chatelaine runs from the cathedral and we strolled down looking for a suitable place to dine. Avoiding the restaurant chains, we found a family-run business with outdoor tables and local atmosphere, and settled down for an evening of reflecting on the day, our journey, and implications for pilgrimage in search of Augustine.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon

140 Laon was known as Lugdunum Clavatum to Gallo-Romans, a fortified garrison town that successfully checked invasions from the Franks, Burgundians, , and Huns. Queen Brunhild had commissioned the building of the Abbey of St. Vincent at Laon, founded AD 580. The present cathedral is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon, and is also significant as a major stop on the medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago in Spain, which Peter particularly noted as we walked through.

Significance The chance for Brunhild to strike a blow against her old enemy Fredegund and her young son Chlothar II may have provided the motivation behind the AD 597 declaration of war by the combined forces of Austrasia and Burgundy against Neustria. This was a decision that would be made at the annual 1st March assembly of Laon: Medieval the army called the Marchfields. However, in a swift response, Gateway; Map of Laon. Chlothar II sent a force to Laffaux in Picardy, which lies between her former capital of Soissons (16km) and the hilltop town of Laon (Lugdunum Clavatum).

141 On this occasion, Brunhild’s Austrasians may have occupied Laon in a first move to take Soissons, retaliation for Fredegund and Chlothar seizing the neutral city of Paris in AD 596. The armies of Theudebert and Theuderic were lured out to Laffaux and defeated in an indecisive battle. In scenes later reminiscent of Macbeth, the Neustrians disguised themselves as trees to draw near and capture the town.

Augustine may have arrived in Paris and on to St Denys around the time of the annual Marchfields in AD 597, particularly if he aimed to reach Canterbury to celebrate Easter (on 14th April that year), the most important celebration in the Church’s calendar. Had his party taken the route through Austrasia instead, they would certainly have missed the Easter celebrations at St Martin’s in Canterbury. More than this, they would have travelled by way of Laon in Picardy and found themselves in the most dangerous position of their entire journey - in the centre of armed conflict between Fredegund,’s son Chlothar II, and Brunhild.

The route Augustine chose proved providential. Taking the route long route round through Reims, it is doubtful they would have reached the shores of England at all. Lyon, Picardy: View to the north; Medieval Abbey of St. Vincent. 142

Chapter 7

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Chapter 7 Imperium or Emporium? Laon to Quentovic

THE ROUTE 34. Amiens 35. Abbeville 36. Quentovic

Abbeville Cathedral

144 34. Amiens Route Laon-St.Quentin-Amiens A26/A29

THIS WAS OUR LONGEST DAY. We rose early and drove a 135 km for 2 hours and 12 minutes from Laon to Amiens for a morning coffee and croissant, a block or so from Amiens Cathedral. It is a striking Gothic basilica, but by now I’d had my quota of Gothic cathedrals; I was looking instead for signs of St Martin, a of France, whose life as a Christian began at the city gates in this town. But Amiens no longer has city walls, or city gates for the destitute. It seems utterly absorbed in I and the Somme. Even the cathedral bookshop had no books on St Martin, the cathedral no statue, the town at large the same. Even Wikipedia does not mention St Martin on the website page for Amiens! The red tide of World War I has swept them all away.

Acknowledging defeat, we drove on further up the Somme to Abbeville. It is 48 miles and 41 minutes away. We parked, bought some food from a small local store, and made our way to the Amiens Cathedral and waterfront on the River Somme cathedral.

145 35. Abbeville

Route Amiens-Abbeville A16 50 km.

WE DROVE ON TO ABBEVILLE, DERIVED FROM A C7TH Latin name, meaning a town or ‘field of abbots’, after the establishment of a C7th Benedictie abbey.

In the sixth century Abbeville was no more than a small island in the Somme inhabited by fishermen who took refuge there with their boats, and fortified their settlement against invaders from the north.

In Roman times, Abbeville was little more than a succession of marshes, and to the north the entire plateau was covered in forest. Roman engineers broke through this forest from Amiens to the west, so linking Paris and Beauvais, Amiens and Abbeville to Boulogne-sur-Mer and the English Channel.

By the C7th if not earlier, Abbeville had become an important fort city responsible for the defence of the last 20km of the Somme. Village of Yvrench on La Chaussée Brunehaut

146 Chaussee Brunhild’ on the North Road

Both Pope Gregory the Great and Augustine died in the year 604. The dowager Queen of Brunhild, ruled Austrasia and Burgundy for another nine years until her death in AD 613.

A reference to Augustine suggests that the road on which Queen Brunhild was dragged to her death was in or near Abbeville. We attempted to find this road within Abbeville but without success, until a very helpful Tourist Office assured us that no such road exists in the town. However, several villages to the north of Abbeville do. Our Tourist assistant plotted these on a map until finally the elusive Chaussée Brunehaut was revealed as the present D108. a road 8km long, and as characteristically straight as a Roman road,

This Chaussée Brunehaut lies north of Abbeville and runs south- east to north-west on the D108 towards what remains of the once La Chaussée Brunehaut, towards the Forét de Crecy. extensive Forest of Crecy, probably used as a hunting ground for the kings of Neustria.

147 The villages that have La Chaussée Brunehaut as their main street lie along the D925 north-east out of Abbeville, passing through the villages of Oneux, Coulonvillers, and Cramont. The D108 villages on the Chaussée Brunehaut itself include Domqueur, Yvrencheux, Yvrench, Noyelles-en-Chaussee, and Estrees-les-Crechy. This last lies close to the present Forêt-de- Crecy. Chlothar II may have maintained a hunting lodge nearby.

Brunhild’s capture Warnachar, the mayor of Brunhild’s palace in Chalon-sur-Saône, and Rado, mayor of the palace of Burgundy, along with and Arnulf of Metz, conspiried together against Brunhild on account of her highly autocratic and increasingly brutal regency.

These four co-conspirators secretly abandoned Brunhild’s cause, along with their attempts to take control of the young king - her great-grandson Sigebert II. They entered into a pact with the Queen’s chief antagonist, Clotaire II of Paris, the King of Neustria. Warnarchar and his co-conspirators pledged to recognise Clothar as rightful regent and guardian of Sigebert. They also vowed not to defend the queen when the moment of betrayal came. Villages marked on the route of La Chaussée Brunehaut

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Brunhild, with her young grandson King Sigebert, met Clothar’s army on the Aisne (Latin, Axona), but her dukes betrayed her. The queen quit the battlefield with the young king, fleeing a long way south, as far as the city of Orbe (in today’s French , on approximately the same latitude as Chalon-sur-Saône). Brunhild desperately hoped to enlist support from some of the German tribes, but Chlothar’s men overtook them at Lake Neuchâtel. The young king Sigebert and his brother Corbo were both killed and Brunhild taken captive, ending a long and bloody feud between Austrasia and Neustria. Following Brunhild’s death, the two kingdoms were united under Clotaire II, who now held in his hands the entire realm of the Franks.

Two versions of Brunhild’s death In one version, King Clotaire accused the queen of the death of ten kings of the Franks, including her own husband, along with many churchmen, including Desiderius (formerly Bishop of Vienne). The armies of the Franks and Burgundians then joined with one voice, shouting “Death for the wicked Brunhild!” King Clothar ordered Philippoteaux and Giradet: that she be lifted on to a camel and led in humiliation through the Die Folterung von Brunhilde. entire army. However the actual location is not specified.

149 After this, Brunhild was tied by her feet to two wild horses and torn apart. After her death, her bones were burnt. Her remains were returned to Autun, interred in a stone coffin at the monastery she had founded. The remains of the coffin lid are on display in the Autun Museum Rolin,

A second version places the event of Brunhild being dragged by a wild mare squarely down the Roman road La Chaussée Brunehaut at Abbeville, near Amiens. Why Abbeville, which is a long way from the battlefield at Aisne or Lake Neuchâtel? Possibly because there were royal hunting estates around Abbeville (as in medieval times, frequented by the kings of France) in the exensive Forét de Crecy. Perhaps Clotaire II was hunting here when Brunhild was captured and brought to him for trial and execution.

It seemed likely that Brunhild was dragged to her death along this 8km stretch of the king’s royal game forest, which cuts across several of the villages en route that claim, by association, a main Forét de Crecy: to the west of La Chaussée Brunehaut, possibly street called Chaussée Brunehaut. We filmed the whole 8km of this nearby the King’s Hunting Lodge route before turning north towards Quentovic, the last port of call for Augustine in ancient Francia, then turned on to the A16 north to Calais and Eurotunnel.

150 36. Quentovic (Near Montreuil-sur-Mêr)

(Augustine, p. 101-103) Route Abbeville-Etaples A16 61 km 51 mins

ALTHOUGH OUR ROUTE HOME WAS THROUGH EUROTUNNEL, Augustine’s journey through Frankia ended further south, at Quentovic on the River Canche.

The notes below are from an excursion from Canterbury to Montreuil-sur-Mer that Peter and Sandy, Gill and I undertook with marine archaeologist Michel Philippe.

In 2013. Peter had driven four of us down to the River Canche, by way of Eurotunnel, where we had coffee with Marcel and his daughter, and then visited Montreil-sur-Mer. After lunch there, we explored the area now associated with Quentovic, returning home to East Kent that evening.

Etaples: Low tide on the River Canche

151 Background Before any Frankish records were discovered relating to Quentovic, the Anglo-Saxon Venerable Bede was one of the first to mention Quentovic in text, his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. In the Early Middle Ages, Quentovic was a Frankish emporium located on the European continent close to the English Channel. The town no longer exists, but until recently it was thought to have been situated near the mouth of the Canche River, in what is today the French commune of Étaples. Archaeological discoveries, led by David Hill in the 1980s, found that the actual location of Quentovic was west of Étaples, in the commune of La Calotterie.

A Trading Emporium Quentovic was an important trading place for the Franks as the port linked the continent to England, specifically to the present-day southeastern county of Kent. Quentovic was founded by a Frankish/Neustrian king in the early 6th century. It was one of the two most prominent Frankish ports in the north of Frankia (the other being Dorestad at the mouth of the Rhine) until it was abandoned, probably in the 11th century. Merchants were drawn to this place because the number of trading posts around the coast was limited. Etaples: pointing to the location of the ancient emporium port of Quentovicus 152 Crossing to Kent Quentovic was also the place where St Augustine and his 40 companions from Rome and Tours departed Frankia in April 597 for Kent. Within four years, Anglo-Saxon monks would re-cross the English Channel to Quentovic on a return visit to Pope Gregory the Great in Rome.

A lack of physical evidence, and the sudden disappearance of this emporium, makes Quentovic as a trading town difficult to interpret. Some of the most important historical evidence for Quentovic comes from documents of taxation and especially through the town’s own minted coinage.

The Merovingian dynasty is considered to have begun in the year 481 and lasted until succeeded by the Carolingians in the 750s. Coins minted during both the Merovingian and the Carolingian dynasties have been found. Quentovic may have been established in the final decade of the 5th century, although it is more likely that it came into existence in the early 6th century. The earliest minted coins from Quentovic date from the 6th century. Franks. Slaves and other ‘goods’ would have Etaples: field with the site of ancient port of Quentovicus also been exchanged in Quentovic.

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. The location of the port of Quentovic was also ideal for controlling the frontiers of the recently solidified empire. This location would help to prevent luxury goods from being monopolized by some wealthy aristocrats.

Origins In its early years, Quentovic was probably only a simple fairground where trading occurred, as well as a place where merchants went to and from Kent in Anglo-Saxon England. Merchants located in Quentovic would have been primarily Frankish, Saxon, or Frisian. In a trading centre like this, they would have set up permanent shelters and also have built warehouses to store goods during winter months. Trade with the Anglo-Saxons, mainly in Kent (and possibly in Hampshire), was vital for the community. Exports to England would primarily have been textiles but also included wine and quern-stones. In Kent pottery, bottles, glass, textiles and gold coins dating from the early C8th have been discovered, all produced by the Franks. Slaves and other ‘goods’ would also have been exchanged in Quentovic.

154 Postscript Eurotunnel from Calais to marked the end of our high- speed Augustine Pilgrimage through France. It was exhausting, it was exhiliarating, it was informative, and it was inspirational.

We came away with an enormous respect for the journey and the kind of community that it shaped amongst Augustine’s reluctant missionaries before they arrived in Canterbury. Perhaps our ease of travel today makes the formation of character such as this more difficult, and the outcome of mission less effective, than the hardships experienced in the early days of refounding Christianity in the south-east of England.

We can only feel a deep sense of gratitude to have such calibre of our forebears deep within the foundations of the Church in our time.

Peter Ingrams & Rob Mackintosh

Etaples: Estuary of La Canche at low tide. 155