The Abbey of Saint-Pierre-les-Nonnains in Lyon, also known as the Abbey of the Dames de Saint-Pierre or simply Palais Saint-Pierre, is an ancient Catholic religious edifice that housed Benedictine nuns from the 10th century onwards, and was rebuilt in the 17th century. Closed during the French Revolution, the former abbey is now home to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.
History
The origins of Saint-Pierre-les-Nonnains abbey The exact date of the abbey's foundation is unknown, and research is complicated by the unreliability of the earliest documents. In the 6th century, the "testament" of the bishop of Lyon Ennemond relates that Aldebert, governor of Lugdunum under the reign of Septimius Severus, having converted to Christianity, endowed the "monastery of the Ladies of Saint-Pierre" with land in 208. According to Ennemond, the monastery was already governed by abbesses in the 5th and 6th centuries. Historian Alfred Coville has established that Ennemond's will, which is peppered with anachronistic formulations, was a forgery fabricated in the middle of the Middle Ages, probably to justify the abbey's property rights. After a critical study of ancient sources, Pierre Picot situates the first construction during the Merovingian period under Bishop Sacerdos of Lyon, and attributes the constitution of the monastic community to Bishop Ennemond, in the 7th century, a dating nevertheless judged hypothetical by Joachim Wollasch.
There are no contemporary documents to indicate the precise date on which the Benedictine rule was adopted by the nuns. Berger de Moydieu, an 18th-century author, asserts that it came into force under the abbatiate of Ennemond's sister Lucie, between 665 and 675. Pierre Picot prefers to place this adoption later, at the time of Benedict of Aniane (d. 821), an active promoter of the rule. Joachim Wollasch agrees, drawing a parallel with the case of Remiremont Abbey, whose nuns adopted the same rule under Louis the Pious.
During Charlemagne's reign, Archbishop Leidrad of Lyon, whose letters mentioning the abbey have been preserved, had it completely rebuilt. From this time onwards, the abbey, known as Saint-Pierre-les-Nonnains, was the richest religious establishment in the city. It also became increasingly independent from the rest of Lyon's clergy, reporting directly to the papacy.
The abbey from the 11th to the 18th century
In the Middle Ages, the abbey was referred to in official texts as "Monasterium sancti Petri puellarum" ("Monastery of the Daughters of St. Peter") or "Ecclesia que dicitur Sancti Petri puellarum" ("Church of the Daughters of St. Peter").
Since its foundation, it has always had two churches. The conventual church is called Saint-Pierre. It was rebuilt in the Romanesque style in the 11th century, a style it retained until the abbey was rebuilt in the 17th century. Next door is a smaller church, Saint-Saturnin (also known as Saint-Sornin), a parish church whose revenues are collected by the nuns.
It was an aristocratic abbey, governed by nuns from the upper nobility. By the middle of the 14th century, novices had to prove at least four generations of paternal nobility to be admitted to the convent. The nuns form an assembly, known as the chapter, where they elect their own abbess, who holds this position for life. The abbess is answerable only to the Pope for her election, and is in no way subject to the authority of the Archbishop of Lyon She even wears the crosier like a bishop. She is the head of the convent and administers the many material assets belonging to it. In fact, the convent possessed a great deal of wealth, and was particularly well endowed with land.
From the 16th century onwards, however, discipline became less strict, and the rules of community life began to loosen: nuns often lived outside the convent in private homes, or even in pleasant townhouses between courtyard and garden, and the chapter hardly met more than once a year. During a royal visit to Lyon in 1503, Louis XII and Queen Anne de Bretagne received complaints about the nuns' misconduct. The nuns were ordered to return to a life of enclosure in the abbey, and to respect the rule of Saint Benedict. Refusing this reform, which they considered too severe, the nuns, supported by their powerful families, rebelled and appealed to the Pope, their protector, to defend their rights. In 1516, they voiced their discontent directly to Queen Claude of France. It was then decided to expel them from the abbey, which Archbishop did. Daughters from less prestigious families were chosen to replace them. Although the abbey remained as wealthy as ever, it gradually lost its privileges and, above all, its independence: in 1637, it finally came under the authority of the Archbishop of Lyon. In the meantime, the nuns were stripped of their right to appoint their own abbess, a privilege that now fell to the king himself.
The Royal Abbey and the reconstruction of the Palais Saint-Pierre
The palace took on its present configuration in the 17th century. Of the former buildings of the Saint-Pierre-les-Nonnains convent, all that remains today is the Romanesque porch of the conventual church, dating from the reconstruction of the 11th century. In 1659, Anne de Chaulnes (circa 1625–1672), daughter of Marshal and Peer of France Honoré d'Albert and abbess from 1649 until her death, decided to rebuild what was then known as the "Royal Abbey of the Ladies of Saint-Pierre". She chose Avignon architect to carry out the project. Already elderly at the time of the work (he died in 1667), the reconstruction of the palace was his major project. He designed the monumental elevation of the façade along the Place des Terreaux, as well as that of the two side façades.
The foundation stone was laid by a "poor boy" on March 16, 1659. The building designed by Royers de la Valfrenière is an imposing Roman-style palace, stretching along one long side of the Place des Terreaux.
However, when Anne de Chaulnes died in 1672, two wings had yet to be built, and work on the interior decoration had not yet begun. Her sister-in-law, Antoinette de Chaulnes (1633–1708), succeeded her as head of the abbey in 1675, and completed the project. A sumptuous interior decoration, now almost entirely lost, was executed between 1676 and 1687. Part of the work was entrusted to Lyonnais painter and architect Thomas Blanchet (1614–1689), "Premier peintre de la Ville", who, since his return from Italy in 1655, had been highly regarded for his monumental decorations.When Antoinette de Chaulnes called on him, he had just demonstrated the extent of his talent by decorating the ceilings and walls of the Hôtel de Ville. All that remains of his work at the Palais Saint-Pierre are the grand staircase, recently restored to its original five-window design, and the refectory, with its exuberant Baroque decor. To decorate the latter, he enlisted the help of sculptors Simon Guillaume and Nicolas Bidault, , who designed the coat of arms (notably those of the Chaulnes sisters), and painter Louis Cretey, recently returned from Italy, who painted two monumental canvases at the ends of the hall, as well as three compositions decorating the oculi of the vault. All in all, the reconstruction work cost a considerable sum of 400,000 livres. The palace and its new décor remained unchanged until the French Revolution. Stalls were set up on the first floor of the palace during its reconstruction, to be rented out to merchants, thus generating substantial income for the abbey. At the time of its completion, the new building was Lyon's finest Baroque achievement, and its Italian scale and monumentality never ceased to fascinate visitors. In the 18th century, the abbey continued to prosper. In 1755, it was considered one of the five richest abbeys in France.
Secularization of the former abbey The French Revolution turned the place upside down, sounding the death knell for the abbey after more than a thousand years of existence. The thirty-one nuns still present at the monastery in 1790 were expelled two years later, following the decrees of August 4 and 6, 1792, which abolished religious congregations. Emptied of its occupants, the palace narrowly escaped the destruction that befell so many other religious establishments during the Revolution. Although most of the interior decorations were lost when a barracks was set up in the palace in 1793, and the church of Saint-Saturnin was destroyed, the building was ultimately spared by the various town-planning projects drawn up by the revolutionaries, one of which included making openings in the middle of the building.
On June 1, 1801, the Stock Exchange moved into the former abbey. On September 1, 1801, the Chaptal decree created a fine arts museum in Lyon. On July 20, 1802, the museum was installed by prefectoral decree in the former abbey. On June 25, 1802, the city allocated the Palais Saint-Pierre to public education and commercial establishments.
The first museum room was opened to the public in 1803, on the second floor of the south wing, in the abbey's former boiler room.
In 1835, the Faculty of Science occupied part of the former abbey. It was joined in 1838 by the Faculty of Arts.
In 1860, the Palais de la Bourse was inaugurated. The stock exchange and chamber of commerce moved out of the former abbey.
Architecture The entire Palais Saint-Pierre (excluding the listed parts) has been listed as a monument historique since May 28, 1927. The facades and roofs have been listed as monuments historiques since August 8, 1938.
Abbey church Saint-Pierre church is thought to have been founded in the 6th century. It is mentioned in the Leidrad writ of the 7th century. It is said to have been built by Saint Annemond and to have possessed a number of relics.
It was rebuilt in the 11th century. At that time, the church stopped at the present-day steps in front of the choir, and consisted of a single nave closed by a five-sided apse. The arms of the transept are formed by the side chapels of Saint Margaret to the north and Saint Benedict to the south.
Windows from the Romanesque church, found in the interior passageway, and the porch on rue Paul-Chenavard remain. In the 14th century, side chapels were added, giving the chapel its current appearance. Part of the church was destroyed in 1562 during the Wars of Religion, by Protestants led by Baron des Adrets.
In the 18th century, architect Antoine Degérando enlarged the choir (1742) and built the bell tower. In 1793, Jane Dubuisson mentions the sale and demolition of the chapel of Saint Saturnin. She also explains that St. Peter's was transformed into a saltpetre factory. In 1807, Saint Pierre became a parish church. One hundred years later, in 1907, it was disused following the law separating church and state. It was assigned to the Musée des Beaux-Arts. Part of the sculpture collection is on display here.
The porch, two doors and façade have been listed as a monument historique since February 16, 1921.
A second church, dedicated to Saint Saturnin and commonly called Saint-Sorlin, stood to the south of the Saint-Pierre church. It was used by the parish for baptisms and weddings. It had a porch bell tower. The church was destroyed during the French Revolution.
Convent buildings
Refectory