Nieul is a village just 10 miles west of the city of Niort (pop. 75,000) and less than 10 miles east of the big town of Fontenay-le-Comte (pop. 13,000). Nieul is no longer an independent village but has been merged with several other little villages to form a new municipality called Rives-d'Autise (pop. 2,000). It's complicated, but merging small villages or absorbing small villages into larger villages and towns is happening all around France these days. The goal is to reduce the number of mayors and mairies and municipal councils, thereby streamlining the bureaucracy and reducing administrative costs.
There is credible evidence (but no proof) that Aliénor d'Aquitaine (Eleanor of Aquitaine in English) was born in Nieul. Her mother's tomb is in the abbaye Saint-Vincent in Nieul. As you probably know, Aliénor was the queen of France for 15 years in the 12th century. Her marriage to the French king was annulled in 1152 and two months later she married Henri Plantagenêt who would become king of England in 1154. She was a queen again, of England this time, and she reigned for nearly 35 years — that despite being held prisoner for fifteen of those years in France (Chinon) and England (Salisbury) by her husband.
Before all that happened, the abbaye Saint-Vincent was founded in Nieul in the 11th century by monks who were working to drain and decontaminate the marshy, swampy land of the area. Only the west front of the abbey church and the cloister remain mostly as they were back then, despite the church having been severely damaged during the 16th century wars of religion. I wish I had had a chance to see the cloister, but... There are a couple of pictures of it here. In the 19th century the church was drastically altered. A steeple was added to the front of the Romanesque church, changing its appearance completely.
Some of the old statuary and stonework remains at Saint-Vincent. The building just above was the mairie of Nieul and is now the mairie of Rives-d'Autise, I believe.
Interesting church, Romanesque is my favorite style, in an interesting village.
ReplyDeleteAliénor/Eleonor of Aquitaine had a very tumultuous life. She was dubbed the grandmother of Europe, like Victoria several centuries later, through her ten children, two girls when queen of France, and five boys and three girls when queen of England. Wow!
The recumbent statues of Eleonor of Aquitaine, her second husband, Henry VII, their son, Richard the Lionheart, and their daughter in law, John Lackland’s wife, can be seen in the abbey church at Fontevraud. Their ashes were dispersed during the French revolution.
Oops, little typo there, chm... I think you meant to type Henry II (her second husband).
DeleteThe facade of the church is varied with lots of different carvings. I wish I knew more French history.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's very interesting info about Aliénor's mother and about Nieul likely being Aliénor's birthplace. You've got so much information to share with us!
ReplyDeleteNice looking Mairie building on the lower right with the camel colored facade and light blue shutters.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already seen the film A Lion in Winter, it's really worth seeing. I think I might watch it again today.
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