"L'église bâtie dans Valensole à l'honneur de ce St. abbé date sans doute de plus loin. L'époque de son érection est celle du culte public que l'église universelle lui a rendu, après l'avoir inscrit dans ses fastes sacrés ; car l'on ne sauroit trouver la date de ce saint édifice : il est au bas de l'ancienne ville, près d'une de ses portes qui a été ouverte pour communiquer à la nouvelle, qu'on nomme le Bourg. Cette porte ou portail existe encore dans tout son ensemble ; c'est un monument authentique de l'ancienneté de ce temple, puisque le bourg lui-même est de temps immémorial. La confiance des habitans de l'ancienne ville en la protection de leur St. patron les décida à lui bâtir cette église dans la partie la plus foible et la plus exposée par sa position."
Abbé J. Giraud, La vie de saint Mayeul, Avignon, 1821
Information given by the church:
THE CHURCH OF SAINT BLAISE
The Church of Saint Blaise, tall and imposing, symbol of the power of the Abbey of Cluny, the mother house of the priory founded by Saint Mayeul, stands at the top of the village, integrated into the old urban fabric.
To the south, the Cour du Doyenné is the remaining part of the Benedictine priory-doyenné of Saint Mayeul.
Around the middle of the 10th century, Saint Mayeul, the fourth abbot of Cluny, founded a Cluniac priory in his family home, and the church of Saint Maxime, named after the bishop of Riez, was built in the village.
This church, dependent on the monks, was entirely rebuilt from the 12th century onward and took the title of Saint Denis.
In the 14th century, the church had become too small for the population. It was enlarged and became the Church of Saint Blaise, although Saint Denis remained the patron saint of the parish.
Construction of a church with a large nave and two side aisles began in 1346 on the foundations of the old Saint Maxime church. A bell tower with a clock was added in the 16th century, topped with a wrought iron campanile made by a local craftsman in 1712. Two side chapels added in the 17th century, Our Lady of the Rosary and Saint Joseph, gave the church its Latin cross shape.
A side entrance from the Cour du Doyenné allowed the monks to enter the church without being seen.
In 1786, part of the nave collapsed and the church was closed for safety. In June 1794, lightning damaged the choir. Restoration work began only in 1857. The vault of the nave was rebuilt, but higher than the original, about four meters higher, to align with the choir.
The interior has a symmetrical Latin cross layout, with a central nave of four bays flanked by aisles, a transept, and a two bay choir. The nave and aisles are separated by semicircular arches. The entire church is covered with ribbed vaults.
The main entrance is on the west side, with two stairways, one outside and one inside. The bell tower is above the choir. To the south, accessible from the south chapel or from the Cour du Doyenné, are the sacristy and the staircase leading to the bell tower.
A wooden rood screen from the 16th century, moved during the Revolution, separates the first bay from the rest of the nave.
The choir is surrounded by stalls. They are all identical except on the south side, where there is a walnut episcopal throne. Some prayer benches are missing. The stalls have been listed as Historic Monuments since 25 August 1988.
The 13th and 14th century wall paintings in the choir and the original chapel confirm that this space predates the current church. They depict the arma Christi, the symbols of the Passion of Christ, before which Pope Saint Gregory celebrates Mass, and the scene of the Resurrection with the three women coming to the tomb.
Upper part of the fresco
Left:
The three Marys bring ointments to embalm the body of Christ.
An angel tells them: “Do not look for Christ here, he has risen from the dead.”
Christ is shown triumphant, with the large grey mass of his tomb.
Right:
The Mass of Saint Gregory.
An officiant, probably Gregory the Great, questions the mystery of transubstantiation, but Christ appears to him and his blood flows into the chalice.
Many objects recall the Passion: the coins, the nails, the whip, the ladder, the dice, Christ’s garment, the rooster symbolizing Peter’s denial.
The Holy Spirit is also represented as a rooster.
The lower part of the fresco has not been cleaned. One can barely make out a Virgin showing the Child.
Exceptional 15th century painted decorations have been discovered nearby. Their full extent is unknown and they may continue behind the stalls.
The church contains noteworthy furnishings. It has 48 stalls from the 16th century, a lectern, and a rood screen listed as a Historic Monument, about 2.4 meters high, dating from around 1600.
There is a cupboard carved into the south wall of the choir, above the stalls, hidden in the wood panelling, closed with two studded doors and a strong grille, used to store relics and silverware belonging to the monastic community.
The organ was built in England around 1890 by J. C. Bishop of London and installed in the Bible Christian Church in Southsea near Portsmouth. The church was damaged in January 1941 during the Second World War. The organ was moved to another church in Pembroke and put back into service in September 1949. Restored in 1972, it was purchased in 2011 by the Saint Blaise association and restored again by organ builder David Bradesi of Rouzier de Touraine. It was inaugurated on 29 July 2012 and blessed by Bishop François Xavier Loizeau of Digne.
Also noteworthy are furnishings listed as Historic Monuments: the high altar and three paintings.
The church, as well as the façades and roofs of all the buildings around the Cour du Doyenné, including the porch, the ground, and the well, have been listed as Historic Monuments since January 1994.
THE DOYENNÉ CONVENT
In Valensole, the priory was known as the doyenné, and its prior was usually called the governor, meaning the representative of the Abbot of Cluny, lord and dean of Valensole.
The church of Valensole, while monastic, was also a parish church and therefore served by diocesan clergy for parish duties.
The conventual residence, sometimes called the château in notarial acts, was no longer the original home of Saint Mayeul but a 16th century reconstruction by the Abbot of Cluny.
A Benedictine priory and an early Saint Denis church, later reduced to a chapel, replaced Saint Mayeul’s family home and the Sainte Maxime chapel in the 11th and 12th centuries. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, a large rib vaulted choir was added.
The priory had a cloister, now gone, though traces remain in nearby houses. The entire building complex, including the courtyard, has been listed since 24 January 1994.
The church and the houses grouped along its south side, around a large courtyard, form the monastic complex known as the Priory Doyenné of Saint Mayeul.
The well of the Cour du Doyenné
According to the 1406 archives of the Abbot’s Procurator, Lord Abbot Andronius, who was also Abbot of Cluny in 1354, had a well dug beneath the château of Valensole to meet wartime needs and to ensure that the inhabitants could use it for themselves and their livestock. The well underwent repairs and improvements until the end of the 17th century.
