“The Conjunction of Royal Power, Female Patronage, and Historical Memory in the Nuns’ Church on Montmartre”
William W. Clark

Nestled in the shadow of Sacre Coeur stands one of the least-studied medieval churches of Paris, Saint-Pierre de Montmartre.  This nun’s church was founded in 1134 by Adelaide de Maaurienne, wife of Louis VI, on the site traditionally associated with the martyrdom of Dionysius, first bishop of Paris.  The new church was dedicated to St. Denis and the Virgin on 21 April 1147 by Pope Eugenius III with Bernard of Clairvaux and Peter the Venerable of Cluny assisiting.  During the queen’s lifetime, the nunnery continued to benefit from royal favor.  In 1153, with permission of her second husband, Adelaide retired there.  She died the following year and, as befits a royal founder, was buried close to the main alter.

Through the documents, this paper demonstrates the importance of studying female patronage along the lines of matrilineal descent: Adelaide’s daughter, Constance de France, made two major donations that saved the nuns from the financial ruin inflicted by Louis VII.  It will also focus on how the fabric of the church encoded the memory of christianity in Paris and symbolically served as an architectural marker of St. Denis, possibly rivaling the men’s abbey, and raising its prestige above that of such royal Merovingian nunneries as Chelles or Jouarre.