Collège des Bernardins
The Collège des Bernardins is a former college of the Cistercian Order , of which two floors of the east wing from the second half of the 13th century have been preserved. The former refectory (dining room) on the ground floor is considered one of the most important examples of Gothic architecture in Paris . It is located at 18-24 rue de Poissy in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. The nearest metro station is Maubert - Mutualité on line 10 .
history
The Collège des Bernardins in the Middle Ages
The Collège des Bernardins was founded in 1245 by Stephen von Lexington , abbot of the Clairvaux Cistercian Abbey , one of the four primary abbeys of Cîteaux , to accommodate students studying theology at the University of Paris . After Bernhard von Clairvaux , one of their first abbots, the Cistercians are also called St. Bernard. In 1320 the college was taken over by the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order . The later Pope Benedict XII. had lived at the Collège des Bernardins during his studies . When he headed the college, he carried out reforms and, in 1336, had new buildings built. In 1338 the construction of a magnificent church began, but it remained unfinished.
Developments in the early modern period
Especially from the 16th century onwards, the college had to struggle with money problems, which however had to be overcome as long as there was enough student influx from monasteries all over Europe. Due to the impoverishment of French abbeys, this influx began to plummet from the middle of the 16th century and deteriorated further in the second half of the 16th century, so that the campus began to slowly decline. The problem was that, due to the impoverishment of French monasteries, hardly any money was raised to support the students in the college - especially because in the 16th century almost exclusively French students came to Paris, which was not least due to the political conditions of the time was owed. In addition, compared to the Middle Ages, when the Collège des Bernardins housed students from all over Europe, there were also more other Western European colleges, so that hardly any foreign students came to Paris. One of the few non-French examples is the Salem Abbey in Germany, which continued to send students to the Collège des Bernardins .
Financial needs of the college
Since 1335, the influx of students was also through Pope Benedict XII. regulated in such a way that all abbeys with a convent size of 30 to 40 monks had to send or finance at least one student to the college ; Abbeys with more than 40 conventuals even had to send two students. In the 16th century, however, due to increasing poverty, this regulation was withdrawn and even before that there had been a reduction in student taxes in the college . In the middle of the 16th century an attempt was made to counteract the financial needs of the facility by increasing the tax, in the 17th century there were finally further increases before the tax was revised upwards one last time in 1729. In fact, the Collège always had problems collecting the contributions from students and was ultimately dependent on donations and foundations to the Collège in order to receive the students . A particularly generous donor was, for example, the Bishop of Lisieux , Guillaume du Vair .
Due to the financial problems with which the college had to struggle in modern times, the large property of the college campus, which was hungrily received by the growing city of Paris, was also rented and partially sold. The four-hectare grounds of the Collège originally extended 250 m in length from Rue Saint-Victor to the Seine and 175 m in width from Rue des Bernardins to the Collège du Cardinal Lemoine . The large garden of the Collège , which was also rented to gardeners, was particularly popular .
Organization and administration
At the head of the college was the so-called provisional director. He was installed by the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order or by the Abbot of Cîteaux as its deputy. Successful chief could well remain in office, as the example of several decades provisor Jean Huon, who was from the beginning of the 1570s to 1611 in the Official shows. From 1635 until the end of the 17th century the college was under the direction of the Trappists .
Subordinated to the provisional as his deputy, was the subprior, who was also appointed by the general chapter and was responsible for the student discipline and the spiritual activities carried out in the college . There was also the Büttel (bidellus); the president , who was responsible for the dormitory and refectory ; the magisterium who was entrusted with academic matters; a cantor for the choir; a sacristan and a porter. The treasurer and cellarer were responsible for the finances of the college .
In addition, there was also a council, which was headed by the provisional and was primarily responsible for finances and administration, as well as deciding on graduation of students.
The most important task of the Collège was of course the teaching, whereby the fixed daily routine of the monastic students was adapted to the student life. The discipline of the students was just as much a problem in the Collège des Bernardins as in other institutions and therefore the subject of extensive and repeated regulations, even more so in the early 17th century. Problems in daily life were primarily caused by the greater age differences among the students and their origins from different “nations”. Regulations related to behavior in the dormitory as well as nutrition and clothing as well as the handling of money. In the event of violations, (staggered) penalties were also imposed.
The college in the 18th century
In 1709 the monks filled in the basement under the refectory as it had become unusable after the Seine was flooded.
From the beginning of the 18th century, the Collège suffered more and more from financial hardship and the campus buildings fell into disrepair. During the first half of the century in particular, the General Chapter made repeated attempts to raise money for the Collège from the Cistercian monasteries - but the amounts set by the General Chapter could never be reached. Around the middle of the century, the buildings were finally renovated, which, however, plunged the College into debt, so that the main administrative task during its last 30 years was mainly the repayment of these debts.
After the structural repairs to the college building, there was room for a look inside in the second half of the 18th century and an internal reorganization and reform of the college began . On the reform of content, however, prevailed in the General Chapter of 1765 disagreement - an agreement on the detailed reform plan was only in 1786 in favor of a proposal by the then provisor of Collège Jacques François Frennelet be achieved, the project proposal was approved by the General Chapter. The ambitious plans came to a quick end with the rapid budding of the revolution of 1789 . From 1790 the city of Paris showed interest in the buildings of the Collège - it was planned to relocate the Heilig-Geist-Spital there and so appraisal committees were frequently in the building. In 1791 the college was taken over by the city - it was dissolved and the buildings declared national property. The library was finally removed on October 11th of that year, but at that time only 300 of the 600 volumes in the college library were left. Shortly after this incident, the last colleague in the house, provisional Frennelet, finally left the Collège des Bernardins .
Developments after the dissolution
In 1797 the former college church was finally sold and initially used as a flour depot before being demolished a little later. Galley convicts were housed in the buildings around the cloister . Part of the college building was demolished when rue de Poissy and rue de Pontoise were broken through in 1810 . More buildings had to give way in 1859 when the Boulevard Saint-Germain was laid out under the Prefect Georges-Eugène Haussmann . The east wing of the college with the former refectory and the dormitory above was rebuilt by the architect Jakob Ignaz Hittorff and used as a barracks for the fire brigade between 1845 and 1993 . In 2001 the building was bought by the Diocese of Paris and completely restored. In September 2008 the Collège des Bernardins was reopened. It houses the Educational Center of the Diocese of Paris ( École Cathédrale de Paris ) and has 15 seminar rooms and two auditoriums . It also offers space for cultural events such as exhibitions of contemporary art.
architecture
The preserved part of the building of the former Collège des Bernardins consists of a basement and the ground floor, in which the refectory and sacristy were housed. During the restoration, the ceiling that was later drawn in and the partition walls were removed. The refectory, a hall 71 m long, 13.50 m wide and 6 m high, has thus been returned to its original state. The hall has a ribbed vault that extends over 17 bays . Two rows with 16 monolithic columns each divide the space into three naves . The capitals of the columns are - according to the Cistercian order rules - designed simply. The basement, which the monks had filled up to the capitals, is supported by 32 octagonal columns. Adjacent to the refectory is the former sacristy from the 14th century, which originally stood between the refectory and the church, which was demolished in the 19th century. In the sacristy, keystones with coats of arms and capitals decorated with angels' heads have been preserved. The staircase that connected the dormitory above the refectory with the church dates from the 17th century.
literature
- Jean Colson, Marie-Christine Lauroa (ed.): Dictionnaire des Monuments de Paris. Hervas, Paris 2003, ISBN 2-84334-001-2 , pp. 595-596.
- Adélaïde Barbey (Ed.): Paris. Hachette, Paris 1992, ISBN 2-01-018647-8 , p. 501.
- Louis Lekai , The Parisian College of Saint Bernard in 1634-1635, in: Analecta Cisterciensia 25 (1969) pp 180-208.
- Louis Lekai, The College of Saint Bernard in Paris on the Eve of the Revolution, in: Analecta Cisterciensia 26 (1970) pp. 253-279.
- Louis Lekai, The Cistercian College of Saint Bernard in Paris in the Fifteenth Century, in: Cistercian Studies 6: 2 (1971) pp. 172-183.
- Louis Lekai, The College of Saint Bernard in Paris in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, in: Analecta Cisterciensia 28 (1972) pp. 167-218.
For a list of the provisional members of the Collège des Bernardins see: Louis Lekai, The College of Saint Bernard in Paris in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries , in: Analecta Cisterciensia 28 (1972) 167-218, here 207-210.
Web links
- Ancien couvent des Bernardins in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- Collège des Bernardins (French)
Individual evidence
- ^ Louis Lekai, The College of Saint Bernard in Paris in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, pp. 167-170
- ^ Louis Lekai, The College of Saint Bernard in Paris in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, pp. 171-183
- ↑ Louis Lekai, The College of Saint Bernard in Paris in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, pp. 187-189
- ^ Louis Lekai, The College of Saint Bernard in Paris in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries pp. 198-207
- ^ Louis Lekai, The College of Saint Bernard in Paris on the Eve of the Revolution passim
Coordinates: 48 ° 50 ′ 55.8 " N , 2 ° 21 ′ 7.3" E