Madeleine Abbey of Châteaudun
S Marie Dunensis / S Magdalena de Castro Duno
(Châteaudun, Eure-et-Loir)
Tradition places the foundation of Madeleine Abbey of Châteaudun in a very remote period, when a church dedicated to Saint-Jacques is said to have been founded on this site by Saint Aventin, bishop of Chartres (d. 528). Its establishment has also been associated with Charlemagne (748–814), which would explain the representation of this figure, among others, in a gallery of sculptures that stood on the façade and was lost during the Revolution.
The abbey is not documented until 1003, when it was known under the patronage of Notre-Dame and was the seat of a secular collegiate church. The change of patronage is thought to have taken place around 1100, during the episcopate of Yves of Chartres (d. 1115). The abbey was reformed between 1118 and 1120 by Bishop Geoffroy (1115–1149), with the involvement of Theobald IV, Count of Blois (c. 1090–1152), Count of Châteaudun. It thus became a house of regular canons, a transformation confirmed by Pope Innocent II in 1131. There is little information about the abbey in the period that followed.
Around 1461, the abbey suffered a fire and, possibly as a consequence of the damage, much of the church was in ruins by 1522. Restoration work was undertaken, but it was limited and did not completely recover the building. In 1536 the house was placed under the commendatory system, which led to a relaxation of discipline. For this reason, in 1573 it was agreed that it should be placed under the authority of the Congregation of Saint-Victor of Paris. Later, in 1634, it became part of the Congregation of Sainte-Geneviève. In 1692, one of the church’s pillars collapsed during a religious service. Fire affected the monastery in 1698 and again in 1723, during the great fire of the city of Châteaudun.
The monastic buildings fell into ruin and, in 1731, the church was closed because of the danger it posed, while worship was transferred to the collegiate church of Saint-André. In 1734 the necessary restoration work was carried out. The house survived with great difficulty until the Revolution. In 1793, by then without a community, it was looted. During the first half of the nineteenth century, extensive restoration work was carried out on the church, which was in danger of collapse. In 1940, however, the site was bombed and its structures were again damaged. Further restoration work and archaeological investigations subsequently followed.
The medieval church, built in the twelfth century, survives, although it has undergone numerous alterations as a result of its eventful history. It has an irregular plan; the central nave stands on the foundations of an earlier church and terminates in a polygonal apse. There is a side aisle on the south side and two more on the north. The bell tower stands in this latter section.
North facade, before the Revolution
Illustration from Bulletin de la Société Dunoise
According to Armorial général de France (18th century)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
- BEAUNIER, Dom (1905). Recueil historique des Archêvechés, Évêchés, Abbayes et Prieurés de France. Vol. 1. Province ecclésiastique de Paris. París: Poussielgue
- BÉVILLARD, Sophie (1972). La Madeleine de Châteaudun, étude archéologique. Tesi. París
- COUDRAY, L.-D. (1875). L’église de la Madeleine. Bulletin de la Société Dunoise. Archéologie, histoire, sciences et arts. Vol. 2. Châteaudun
- GUÉRIN, Paul (1888). Les Petits Bollandistes. Vies des saints. Vol. 2. París: Bloud et Barral
- LEFÈVRE-PONTALIS, Eugène (1875). Étude archéologique sur l'église de la Madeleine de Chateaudun. Bulletin de la Société dunoise, vol. II. Châteaudun
- MARTIN, Pierre (2010). Les premiers chevets à déambulatoire et chapelles rayonnantes de la Loire moyenne (Xe-XIe siècles). Tesi doctoral. Université de Poitiers
- MERLET, Lucien; i altres (1896). Cartulaire de l'abbaye de la Madeleine de Châteaudun. Châteaudun: Pouillier
- PRACHE, Anne (1983). Île-de-France romane. Na nuit des temps, 60. Zodiaque
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1744). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 8. París: Typographia Regia
- SERBAT, Louis (1912). Bonneval et Châteaudun, notes archéologiques. Bulletin Monumental, vol. 76
The present Madeleine church stands on elevated ground, southwest of the historic centre of Châteaudun