| Saint Louis of the Louvre | |
|---|---|
| L’église collégiale et paroissiale Saint-Louis-du-Louvre | |
 Etienne Bouhot,The Entrance to the Musee de Louvre and St. Louis Church (1822) | |
  Saint Louis of the Louvre The location of Saint-Louis-du-Louvre prior to its demolition | |
| 48°51′37.6″N2°20′6.0″E / 48.860444°N 2.335000°E /48.860444; 2.335000 | |
| Location | Paris |
| Country | France |
| Denomination | Reformed Church of France (1791-1811) |
| Previous denomination | Catholic (1187-1790) |
| History | |
| Former name | L’église collégiale et paroissiale Saint-Thomas-du-Louvre |
| Authorisingpapal bull | 1199 |
| Status | Collegiate church |
| Founded | 1187 |
| Founder | Robert I, Count of Dreux |
| Dedicated | 1744 (rededication) |
| Cult(s) present | SaintThomas à Becket (1187-1744), SaintLouis (1744-1790) |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | demolished |
| Architect | Thomas Germain |
| Years built | 1739-1744 (rebuilt) |
| Construction cost | 50,000Crowns |
| Demolished | 1811 |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | Paris |
Saint-Louis-du-Louvre, formerlySaint-Thomas-du-Louvre, was a medieval church in the1st arrondissement of Paris located just west of the originalLouvre Palace. It was founded as Saint-Thomas-du-Louvre in 1187 byRobert of Dreux as aCollegiate church. It had fallen into ruin by 1739 and was rebuilt as Saint-Louis-du-Louvre in 1744. The church wassuppressed in 1790 during theFrench Revolution and turned over the next year for use as the first building dedicated toProtestant worship in the history of Paris, a role in which it continued until its demolition in 1811 to make way forNapoleon's expansion of theLouvre. TheReformed congregation was givenl'Oratoire du Louvre as a replacement and saved the choir stalls from Saint-Louis-du-Louvre which are still in place at l'Oratoire.
On 8 October 1164,Thomas Becket, theArchbishop of Canterbury, after intensifyingconflict withHenry II over his efforts to reduce the power of the church through theConstitutions of Clarendon, was put on trial and convicted of various offenses by Henry inNorthampton Castle. Becket proceeded to flee to France where he was welcomed and hosted for six years byLouis VII. Shortly after his return to England in 1170, Becket was famously murdered inCanterbury Cathedral and subsequently canonized in 1173.[1] In 1179, Louis VII travelled to Canterbury to pay his respects to the saint, making a donation of a gold chalice and an annual donation of 100muids (~3,400gallons) of wine for the celebration of the annual feast.[2]
Inspired by his brother's devotion, Robert of Dreux founded a new collegiate church, Saint-Thomas-du-Louvre, in 1187, with endowment for fourcanons. After Robert's death, his wife, Agnès de Baudemont, obtained confirmation of the foundation of the church fromPope Clement III in 1189.Philip Augustus provided further confirmation in 1192 by means ofletters-patent with thegreat seal in green wax. Apapal bull fromPope Innocent III in 1199 took the church, its property and clergy, under the protection of the Pope. In 1428,John VI, Duke of Brittany endowed moreprebends for the church by donating the adjoining hotel,La Petite Bretagne, on the condition that the canons pray for his family. This increased the number of canons to seven, to be chosen alternately by theking andbishop.[2]
By 1739 the church had fallen into ruin andLouis XV gave 50,000crowns for it to be rebuilt. During the demolition process a portion of the church was left for the continuing use of the chapter. While the canons were performing the office the remaining structure collapsed, burying them in the ruins. This accident led to the union of the chapter with that of the neighboring Saint-Nicolas-du-Louvre, which had also been founded by Robert of Dreux and had at various times previously been united with Saint-Thomas, and the rededication of the reconstructed church to Saint Louis in 1744. In 1749,Saint-Maur-des-Fossés was also merged with the new congregation.[2]
The new church was designed byThomas Germain, known best for his work as asilversmith, and consisted of just anave and anapse. The entrance of the church was in a circular projection decorated withIonicpilasters. The apse housed thechoir stalls of the canons surrounding the highaltar. The nave was decorated withCorinthian pilasters surmounted by anentablature. In the chapel of theVirgin there was a sculpture of theAnnunciation byJean-Baptiste II Lemoyne. The church was also decorated with works by members of the families of painters,Coypel,Restout, andVan Loo. The building enjoyed a good reputation in the middle of the 18th century for its singular plan and rich internal decoration. However, the style of the exterior and portico came under some criticism.[2]
WhenCardinal Fleury, the tutor and chief minister ofLouis XV, died in 1743 the king decided that hismausoleum would be placed in Saint-Louis-du-Louvre. A competition was held for the commission to create the tomb, a landmark event in the history of 18th century Frenchsculpture due to its solicitation of public input.Philibert Orry, then the director of theRoyal Buildings, solicited proposals from sculptors who were members of theRoyal Academy. Models for the tomb were offered byNicolas-Sébastien Adam,Edmé Bouchardon, Charles-François Ladette, Jean-Baptiste II Lemoyne, andJean-Joseph Vinache. The waxmaquettes of proposals were displayed at theSalon for public response. Bouchardon won the competition though ultimately Lemoyne was given the commission by the family of Cardinal Fleury and the tomb remained unfinished at the time of the church's suppression.[3] The church was also home to the tomb of its architect, Thomas Germain.[4]
At the time of the French Revolution the church had aprovost, acantor, and twenty canons with the provost, cantor and fifteen canons nominated by the archbishop, four by theDuke of Penthièvre in this role as the Count ofBrie, and one by Les Gallichets. On 24 February 1790, the chapter declared to the revolutionary authorities annual revenues of 98,562livres, a great sum for the time. On 11 December 1790, municipal officers came to the church to announce to the canons the suppression of their chapter and abolition of their titles. An inventory of the objects in the church was made and all the church's properties and possessions were turned over to the state.[5]
In 1791, at the behest ofJean Sylvain Bailly, the mayor of Paris, and theMarquis de Lafayette, the empty Saint-Louis-du-Louvre was rented to the newly formedReformed congregation in Paris for the annual sum of 16,450 livres, with the first service held onEaster.[6] In 1598, Protestant worship had been forbidden in Paris by theEdict of Nantes. In 1685, theEdict of Fontainebleau made non-Catholic services illegal in all of France.[7] This inaugurated a long period of persecution for French Protestants, though some in Paris were able to worship in the chapels of the Dutch and Swedish embassies.[8]
TheEdict of Tolerance in 1787 gave Protestants legal status and a congregation was formed under the pastorship ofPaul-Henri Marron, who had been serving as the chaplain at the Dutch embassy. The congregation gained permission to worship openly in 1789 during the revolution and met in a variety of places including a wine shop before gaining permission to rent Saint-Louis-du-Louve, the first building dedicated to Protestant worship in the history of Paris.[9] For the dedication of the new church, ortemple as French Protestants referred to their buildings, Pastor Marron preached from the text,"Soyez joyeux dans l’espérance, patients dans l’affliction, persévérants dans la prière," (be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12)). When the mayor, Jean Bailly, attended in person on 13 October 1791 Marron chose the passage,"Vous connaissez la vérité et la vérité vous rendra libres," (you will know the truth, andthe truth will set you free (John 8:32)).[6]
As the revolution became increasinglyhostile to Christianity, Marron was arrested on 21 September 1793. He was released and then rearrested and released once more, having made the concession of having services once every ten days according to the revolutionary calendar instead of on Sundays.[6] Marron was once more arrested in June 1794 for continuing to marry andbaptize in secret after Christian practice had been banned byRobespierre in favor of theCult of the Supreme Being. He was freed from prison only by the fall of Robespierre.[10]
In theConcordat of 1801,Napoleon came to an agreement withPope Pius VII to reconcile the Catholic church to the French state. The concordat also led to official recognition of, and state control over, other religious groups including Protestants. As a result, three former Catholic churches were dedicated for the use of reformed believers in Paris,Sainte-Marie-des-Anges, the chapel of thePentemont Abbey, and Saint-Louis-du-Louvre. In 1806 however, Napoleon decreed an expansion of theLouvre that would require the demolition of all existing structures between the Louvre and theTuileries Palace including the church of Saint-Louis. As a replacement the Reformed congregation was given theOratoire du Louvre, which had also been suppressed in the Revolution. The choir and some of the other woodwork was preserved and can be seen in the Oratoire, including themisericorde seats in the choir stalls that enabled the canons to rest while standing.[11] While most of the church was demolished in 1811, a portion remained standing until the construction of the Denon wing of the Louvre in 1850.[4]
