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Monasticism and the Royal Abbey of Saint Denis

Saint Denis

Monasticism and the Royal Abbey of Saint Denis

By Ariela Steif

Michigan Journal of History, Vol.6:1 (2008)

Saint Denis

Introduction: The
 Royal 
Abbey 
of 
Saint‐Denis
 in
 the
 time 
of 
Abbot
 Suger
 emerged 
in 
a 
historical
 moment
 of 
tenuous 
balance.
 Poised
 between
 the
 decline 
of 
monasticism, 
the
 rise 
of 
urban
 centers, 
and 
a 
market‐based
 economy, 
the 
abbey 
under 
Suger 
existed
 simultaneously 
with
 the
 emergence 
of 
bureaucratic 
secularism, 
the 
Cistercian 
and
 Gregorian
 controversies, 
and
 warring 
forces 
of 
ideology 
and
 skepticism. 
At 
this 
critical
 juncture, 
Saint‐Denis 
struggled 
to
 maintain
 a 
balance 
between
 church 
and
 state, 
between 
a
monasticism
 of 
resistance 
and 
a
 monasticism 
of 
reaction,
 and,
 ultimately,
 between 
the 
past 
and 
the 
future.

Saint‐Denis 
seems 
to 
occupy 
a 
curious 
place 
in
 French
 history:
 never
 has 
there 
been
 a 
church 
so 
revered
 and 
yet
 so 
reviled. 
Although 
the
 Abbey
 suffered
 many 
cycles 
of 
damage
 and 
restoration,
 no 
event 
was 
as 
destructive 
as 
the
 Revolution
 of 
1789, 
most 
notably
 upon
 the
 crypt
 and
 the
 three 
great 
bronze 
doors,
 which 
were
 melted
 down. 

Reverence 
for 
the
 church, 
however,
 began
 very 
early 
on. 
The 
first
 monarch 
to 
be
 buried 
at 
Saint‐Denis 
was
 Queen 
Arnegonde
 in
 570,
 just
 outside 
the 
western 
entrance. The 
burial
 of
 Queen
 Arnegonde 
in 
the 
sixth 
century 
started
 a
 long 
tradition 
of
 royal 
burials, 
particularly
 of
 several
 noteworthy 
Merovingian 
kings,
 although 
no 
specific 
reason 
is 
known 
why 
they
 chose 
to 
be 
buried
 there. 
In
 the
 seventh 
century,
 King 
Dagobert 
I 
and 
his 
son 
Clovis 
II 
gave
 the
 church 
its 
monastic 
standing. 

It 
was 
rebuilt
 in 
the
 eighth
 century
 as 
one 
of 
the 
first
 great 
Carolingian
 abbeys,
 and
 dedicated 
in 
775 
before
Charlemagne
 and
 his 
court. 
By 
867
 Saint‐Denis 
became 
a 
royal
 abbey
 and 
Charles
 the 
Bald 
took 
on
 the
 title 
of
 lay
 abbot
 to 
give
 the
 Abbey 
more 
protection
 during
 the 
Norman 
raids.

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