Le comte de Poitiers, duc d'Aquitaine, et l'Église aux alentours de l'an mil (970-1030)

Abstract

Around the Year 1000, counts of Poitiers and dukes of Aquitaine, in particular Guillaume the Great, were linked to the Carolingian tradition, which was even the origin of their family and their office. The duke's penitential attitude and personal devotion were concertized by donations, charity and foundations. Together with religious houses that the duke favoured, foundations formed a sacral geography, an essential component of his exercice of power. Monasteries granted the salvation of his soul and the stability of the duchy, the Precursor's relics at Angely sacralized his power, and the blessing ritual at Saint-Martial of Limoges legitimized it. The duke's religious politics, realized with the support of the episcopal group, reveals a close collaboration between the Prince and the Church, in quest of peace, justice and unity, an ancient tradition that will be broken by Gregorian Reform.

Synergies of river and land circulation in towns with small rivers: The case of Poitiers (France)

“…In the inset we can see the location of Poitiers (black star) in Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (gray) in France (by C. Gorin) to seat of the bishopric and the prefecture. Poitiers was a place of power (the bishop's district: Boissavit-Camus, 2001; the residence of the Dukes of Aquitaine during the medieval time: Bourgeois, 2005;Treffort, 2000; important town of the Plantagenêt: Favreau, 1978), due to its location and its strategic connections to major ancient roads 1 (see Figure 2). Archeological excavations in Poitiers have revealed human settlements since the end of protohistoric period (1st century BC) (see Boissavit-Camus, Guilloteau, & Royoux, 2010;Dez, 1966;Favreau, 1985).…”

Echoes and Silences of Liturgy

“…Some inscriptions could possibly be considered "liturgical" if they are to be understood as monumental, fixed expressions of ephemeral liturgical gestures. This is the case in tracing the Latin and Greek alphabets on sand or ashes during the ceremony of dedication of the church; 13 or the inscription of a prayer in the incipit Ave Maria, for example, on an episcopal staff kept in the museum of Angoulême; 14 or the specification of the required number of candles for the liturgical celebration inscribed in Cheffes; 15 or the list of dates in the Easter calendar written on the side of one of the altars of Saint-Étienne in Périgueux,. 16 The inscriptions on these objects and spaces refer to "something liturgical," but they are certainly not endowed with any sacramental role.…”