The priory of Saint-Flour was probably founded at the beginning of the 11th century on the site of Indiciac, where there was a chapel dedicated to Saint Flourus (or Flour). According to tradition, he lived in a very remote period, sometimes placed as early as the 1st century, and linked to the diocese of Lodève (Hérault). Other accounts situate his arrival in Auvergne between the 4th and 5th centuries.
Between 996 and 999, the abbey of Cluny (Saône-et-Loire) received that chapel from Astorg, lord of the place. At that time, between 994 and 1048, Cluny was governed by Abbot Odilo (c. 961-1048), who founded a priory there and built a new church, consecrated in 1095 by Pope Urban II. In 1031, King Robert II the Pious (972-1031) granted his recognition and royal protection. Around the same time, the diocese of Clermont transferred to Saint-Flour the properties it owned there. In 1223, a council was held in this place with the participation of several prelates. By then, a settlement had already grown up around the monastic house.
The last regular prior of Saint-Flour was Jean de Charolles (1312-1316). In 1317 the new diocese of Saint-Flour was created at the expense of Clermont; Pope John XXII (1316-1334) issued the foundation bull and decreed that the Cluniac monks should form part of the new cathedral chapter. The first bishop of the diocese was Raymond de Mimèges. Despite this change, the priory was maintained, and the monks continued to carry out their monastic duties as well as those of the episcopal chapter. During the Hundred Years’ War, however, the priory declined, until it was secularised in 1476, losing its monastic character. The old Romanesque church, already in poor condition, was replaced by the new Gothic cathedral, begun around 1400 and completed within the same century.
Christ (12th-13th century)
Purgatory (15th century)
Hell (15th century)
Illustration from L'ancienne Auvergne et le Velay (1843)
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- BOUDET, Marcellin (1895). La légende de saint Florus. Additions aux nouveaux Bollandistes. Annales du Midi, vol. 7
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- DU TEMS, Hugues (1775). Le clergé de France, vol. III. París: Brunet
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- MOULIER, Pierre; i altres (2001). Église romanes de Haute-Auvergne, vol. 3 : Saint Flour. Nonette: Créer
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1720). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 2. París: Typographia Regia
The old priory is now the cathedral of Saint-Flour, located between Millau and Clermont-Ferrand