St-Paul (Valenciennes)
The Saint-Paul Church in Valenciennes was the church of the Dominican Convent in the city. The convent was founded in 1233 and dissolved by the revolution at the end of the 18th century.
history
At the beginning of the 13th century mendicant orders appeared in Europe , including the Dominicans, who reached Valenciennes in 1233. The Countess Johanna von Flanders and Hainaut gave them land immediately adjacent to the city fortifications, not far west of the Place du Grand Marché (Place d'Armes). The monks built a modest church that soon became too small and required a larger building, which was probably completed in 1272 as an extension of the previous church.
On May 2, 1473, the 12th chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece took place in the church of the convent , the last assembly of the order before it was taken over by the Habsburgs. In 1622 Valenciennes founded the Dominican convent in Braine-le-Comte .
The crucifixion painting "Le Calvaire" by Abraham Janssens van Nuyssen comes from the convent. It was painted around 1620, became public property after the dissolution of the convent during the revolution and is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Valenciennes.
Excavations
In 1989, rescue excavations in Rue d'Oultreman uncovered the foundations of the apse of the church. Double graves were found that could be assigned to members of the Count's family of Hainaut, relatives of Countess Margaret II of Flanders and Hainaut from the House of Avesnes :
- Her son Johann I von Hennegau (1218–1257) and his wife Adelheid von Holland († 1284)
- Johann's brother and his wife Felicitas de Coucy as well
- one of her children, John II of Hainaut and Holland (1248–1304)
literature
- Vincent Maliet et al. a .: Histoire et archeologie du couvent des Dominicains de Valenciennes . Cahiers d'archéologie du musée des beaux-arts. Valenciennes 1995.
