dAf 69
REYNAUD Jean-François
Lugdunum christianum
Archaeological research carried out in Lyon since1971 at three major sites, the cathedral complex and the churches and graveyards of Saint-Just and Saint-Laurent-de-Choulans, has Changed our understanding of the topography of the town during the early Christian period. Lyon, federal capital of the Gauls and later capital of the Burgundian kings, was from the 4th to 8th centuries an ecclesiastical centre of prime importance. The remains of two churches and of a baptistery forming an Episcopal group (one of the first to be Completely excavated),the basilicas built on the tombs of saints and the graveyards, are evidence of the creation of a new Christian architecture, respecting antique traditions, and of the Christianisation of funerary practices. Thorough analysis of the archaeological evidence, confronted with archival sources and documents, confirms the vitality and prestige of Lugdunum christianum.
Abstract
Abstract
This publication aims to give readers greater insight into the origins of medieval Lyon in light of the excavations carried out at three major sites: the cathedral complex, and the cemetery churches of Saint-Just and of Saint- Laurent-de-Choulans with their associated graveyards.
Lyon, after having been the capital of the Gauls, became the capital of the Burgundian kings and remained an ecclesiastical centre of prime importance, endowed with a venerable cathedral, numerous cemetery churches and monasteries of great renown. In the absence of evidence other than textual, this early Christian period construed broadly as extending from the 4th century AD to the early 8th century . AD, has been treated very rapidly in the numerous historical works dedicated to the urban topography of the town. While the «antiquarians» were drawn by the archaeological remains of the city of Lugdunum «caput Galliarum», historians of the Middle Ages were content to exploit the texts of Sidoine Apollinaire, of Gregory of Tours, or of Avit of Vienne. As from 1971, research took a new turn with the first rescue excavations at Saint- Just, then at the cathedral and finally at Saint-Laurent-de-Choulans. A team 'of researchers, under the direction of J.-F. Reynaud, was formed locally with the support of the University and the CNRS, the Ministry of Culture, the municipality and a local archaeological society, ALSSAM.
The first part of this publication places. the religious monuments in their historical context, that of a Roman city, the federal capital of the Gauls, but above all a place of Christian martyrdom in 177 AD. This city, whose topography was subjected to great disruption, preserved its religious role thanks to the presence of an archbishop and once again took on a political role under the Burgundian kings. It has been necessary to re-examine and reinterpret the early text, verity their meaning and assess their importance.
The second part of this publication is devoted to the presentation of the monographs. For the first time in France the remains of a complete episcopal group have been uncovered. It comprised two churches and a baptistery, corresponding to the major part of the structures of Saint-Etienne and of Sainte- Croix, buildings that had been neglected since the French Revolution. A new relative chronology can now be proposed for the apse of the early cathedral of Saint-Jean, on the basis of limited excavation done there. At Saint- Etienne, the remains of an early baptistery were discovered, attested as early as the last third of the 4th century AD. At Sainte-Croix, an attempt was made to restore the northern cathedral, . which was built on the site of a reception room, undoubtedly at the Merovingian period. It can now be presumed that the cathedral complex has not changed position since the 4th century AD, and that not long afterwards the uses of the different buildings placed the baptistery in the centre of the complex.
The Christianisation of funerary traditions can be followed through study of the basilicas, built on the tombs of saints, as family links were broken and preference given to the funerary basilicas. From this point onwards texts and archaeology complement each other with a rarely found convergence: the poems of Sidoine Apollinaire give a view, nearly pictorial, of the landscape and of the atmosphere of veneration, while at the same time the archaeological record outlines in greater detail and physical evidence the sol id framework within which this piety was practised. At Saint-Just, three successive constructions have been discovered: a mausoleum with apse which perhaps housed the tomb of a saint; a early church dated to the late 4th / early 5th century, and a second more ambitious structure with, a transept, a polygonal apse, crypts etc., the church that the poet would have seen. Further to the south, the organisation of the contemporary cemetery has been recognised.
At Saint-Laurent-de-Choulans, research has focused on the religious building, already recognised by A. Audin in 1947, and to the north on a limited area of the cemetery. The floor plan of this large church has been entirely reconstituted, revealing an oriented building, complete with a large semi-circular apse, a transept, with three naves and lateral porticoes. Inhumations were largely carried out in this area, excepting in the central nave. Thanks to inscriptions and artefacts found in situ, a relatively late chronology (last third of the 5th century / early 6th century AD) has been confirmed. The typology of the tombs supplements that of Saint-Just, and the anthropological studies indicate the specific characteristics of the Lyon population (L. Buchet, after Leroi- Gourhan).
At Saint-Irénée, only a partial study of the elevations has been carried out, and has shown, albeit negatively, how fruitful more ambitious studies would be.
As research by excavation has advanced, preconceived ideas concerning the position occupied by the religious structures in the town, the survival of traditions dating to antiquity and the prestigious character of Christian religious architecture have been changed.
After the destruction of the temples, the religious buildings were certainly the most monumental constructions of the city. The basilicas of Saint-Just II and of Saint-Laurent-de-Choulans are similar to the large basilicas of Clermont and Tours described by Gregory of Tours, and are comparable to those of Vienne (Saint- Pierre, Saint-Férreol or Notre-Dame-d'Outre- Gère), Ravenna and Grado. However the small size and the simplicity of the volumes of the baptistery indicate the antiquity of its construction.
The location of sites of religious practice in the town is explained by the fact that the bishop was a member of the senatorial aristocracy. A significant share of wealth was invested in religious buildings which became prestigious edifices, at the same time as meeting places and pilgrimage destinations for the faithful. The existence of an major cathedral complex from the 4th century onwards is indeed the sign of the power of the Christian community of Lyon.
The installation of the cathedral complex on the right bank of the Saône was a logical development, following the shift in population from the upper town towards the lower town. The older churches with cemeteries such as Saint-Just and Saint-Irénée remained on the hill while Saint-Laurent, more recent, was set on the banks of the river. But as long as the courses of the rivers, which fluctuated considerably during this period, and the inhabited areas are not well delineated, it will be hard to situate the religious building with respect to the Lyon urban area. Likewise, little is known of the religious structures located on the peninsula such as the church of Saint Michel d'Ainay, attributed to Queen Carétène, or the church of Martyrs, more likely located at Saint-Nizier than at Ainay.
This research has revealed that antique traditions were maintained during the Burgundo-Merovingian period. The use of high-quality stone construction and rich decoration indicates clearly the persistence of masonry and craft techniques. Similarly, the orientation of the ecclesia, of the baptistery and that of Saint-Just largely follows the antique property boundaries. These examples constitute an outline revealing at times a continuity, especially inside the town, and sometimes a hiatus, more often in the suburbium or as at Saint-Laurent-de-Choulans, where a certain period of time elapsed between the abandoning of the Gallo-Roman structures and the construction of the funerary building.
The vitality of Lyon between the 4th and 8th centuries reflects its function as the political capital during the Burgundian period and as a religious centre since the beginning of the period of peace organised by the church. The quality of the architects, the collaboration between artists and the important bishops, the patronage of the Burgundian kings, placed Lyon in a favourable position at a time when prestigious constructions proliferated in the Christian world. The example of Lyon may have served as a model for other towns of the region and contributed to the multiplication of churches with transepts. Pending new discoveries, and allowing for the different settings, it can be thought that Lyon, like Tours and Paris, by its prestige and by the dynamism of its bishops and its architects, played the same role as cities such as Milan, Ravenna or Aquileia in northern Italy, or Trier in the Rhineland.
