We can thus date the construction of
the Romanesque church to 959/60-1067. It seems that the single-vessel
Romaneque nave, 16m wide and 43m long, had a wooden roof and was divided
into two almost equal spaces by a screen. To the west was a central tower
(collapsed in 1454). The choir was formed of an apse some 13m wide and 13m
deep. A tower with eastern apsidal chapel (opening to the choir) was added
on the south side of the choir after the transfer of the house to Cluny: the
lower two stories survive but upper parts of the tower were demolished in
1808. S-Martin-des-Champs then became one of the principal houses of the
Cluniac order, critical for relations with the Ile-de-France and England and
mother church of (by 1109) 17 dependent priories. There are is
no textual evidence for the work of reconstruction on the choir:
most historians have placed it in the decade 1130-40 during the period of
priors Eudes I (1126-31), Mathieu II (1131-20 and Thibaud II (1132-43) at a
time the priory enjoyed the generosity of the kings of England as well as
France. Soon before his death in 1137 Louis VI established the celebration
of his anniversary in the priory. In 1121 Henry I of England established a
similar memorial celebration. The nave of the church was rebuilt circa
1230 upon the lower walls of the old nave. Nearly all the monastic
buildings were replaced between 1702 and 1720. On the suppression of the
priory in 1790 the priory buildingss were distributed to the mairie of the
VI. Arrondissement and to the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers which
transformed the church into a museum. Extensive restoration and rebuilding
was undertaken by Vaudoyer c1850 and Deneux, 1913-16. Excavations undertaken
that this time revealed the southern apsical chapel of the older church.
(mcid.mcah.columbia.edu
> Desription)
The nave of the church was rebuilt circa
1230 upon the lower walls of the old nave. Nearly all the monastic
buildings were replaced between 1702 and 1720. On the suppression of the
priory in 1790 the priory buildingss were distributed to the mairie of the
VI. Arrondissement and to the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers which
transformed the church into a museum. Extensive restoration and rebuilding
was undertaken by Vaudoyer c1850 and Deneux, 1913-16. Excavations undertaken
that this time revealed the southern apsical chapel of the older church.
(mcid.mcah.columbia.edu
> Desription)
Since there is no textual evidence for the work
of reconstruction of the Gothic choir with a double ambulatory, why date it
in the decade 1130-40?
Double ambulatories were not common in the middle of the 12th century.
Indeed, they are a rare feature in general and do not appear in drawings
until around 1220, when they featured in a choir design for an unknown
church by Villard de Honnecourt. It is a mistake to think that this choir had
inspired Suger's choir of Saint-Denis! See
Saint-Denis with a single ambulatory and apse chapels, not a double
ambulatory. The choir of Saint-Martin-des-Champs was more likely built circa 1230, when the nave
of the church was rebuilt. (Heinz Theuerkauf)
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