Mary Magdalene of Pezens

 

A matron saint

In recent years, the role of Mary Magdalene has become more and more attached to that of Rennes-le-Château. However, in origin, it was only incidental: Saunière became priest of a town whose patron – matron – saint was Mary Magdalene. By default, this would mean that his church would be decorated with many images of the life of this saint – and so upon his restoration, he did as much.
Few of those that underline the importance of the role of Mary Magdalene, however, fail to mention that the dedication of this church to Mary Magdalene is relatively modern: the first church of Rennes was dedicated to Saint Peter. But when Aragon mercenaries destroyed this church in 1362, the castle’s chapel – dedicated to the Virgin Mary –was reworked into the village church, and rededicated to Mary Magdalene.
Elsewhere in France – specifically towards the shores of the Mediterranean Sea – there are legends that Mary Magdalene came to France. In past centuries, her body was said to have been discovered and is now “said to be” in Vézelay. Again, this is an element seldom touched upon by those claiming her body remains in or near Rennes – for it obviously requires a rather detailed historical study of why the Vézelay remains could not be hers.
Still, there remains some mystery, and one hardly touched upon by the promoters of the Magdalene connection: why was the church rededicated? There was no reason why this should have occurred. The Virgin Mary is deemed to be more important than the Magdalene, as is St Peter, so why was she removed, and replaced with a “minor saint”? There is no contemporary evidence that explains this decision.

Rededication

However, let us note that during such a dedication ceremony, normally a relic of the saint – often a piece of his or her body – was supposed to be placed inside the main altar. This rather pagan ritual – which nevertheless forms the foundation of all Christian dedication ceremonies – means that “a piece” of Mary Magdalene was brought from somewhere, and placed inside the altar. The simple matter that someone was willing to donate a piece of the Magdalene in the 14th century might explain how the church became dedicated to her. Though most often it was a different – more important – church that donated the relic, the question is which one… and whether, with no information present in Rennes, a church claiming to have a relic of her elsewhere has got records to show a donation occurred to Rennes.
For those who think that someone might have found the real body of this saint somewhere near Rennes and snuck a piece out, and gave it to the church: note that such dedication ceremonies were serious business and the Church authorities traced all such relics, and hence, even if this was the case, a plausible, and different, official reason must have been given as to how a relic of Mary Magdalene arrived in the church of Rennes.

The forgotten church of Pezens

Mary Magdalene was in France a much more important saint than in many surrounding countries. There are the great sanctuaries of Sainte Baume – traditionally said to be the site where she spent the last years of her life – the already mentioned Vézelay, Maguelonne, etc. But there are also several smaller sanctuaries, such as Rennes-le-Château. And nearby, there is also the quaint and unknown church of Pezens, located between Villepinte and Carcassonne, which sits in the middle of the road!
Coming from Alzonne, one kilometre before the town of Pezens, the D6113 bifurcates at Revel. For lovers of roads, it is a rather bizarre construction, and created because the road needs to get around a building in the middle of the road, a small chapel. Indeed, why the road was simply not moved to either side of the church is a good question, without any apparent answer.
Because it sits in the middle of the road, many pass, few if any stop, and those who do, will realise that the church is normally closed. Today, cars pass by at great speed, but in the olden days, cars were slower, and animals even more so. And it is clear that back then, people did stop, even though in those days, the church was apparently already closed most of the time too! Why? Because one window was replaced with an iron grille. Looking through it, inside, one can see a painting of the Magdalene on the opposite wall. Inside the church, below the grille, is a small donation box, in which people could – and still can and do – leave their donation, asking favours from the Magdalene. The construction is such that the money left there is secure from the more greedy passerby. But the fact that such a grille is present, shows that this church was normally closed most of the time, yet that there was a devotion to this saint that could not be limited to the opening hours of the church, which is why this large window was installed – or rather – was reworked from a real window into an opening with a grille.

Some documentary evidence

Little has remained, document wise, about the history of this small chapel. We know that it is listed as a “very old Roman chapel” and that it was deemed to be the church of a small parish, whose existence could date back to the Middle Ages. Orientation-wise, the structure conforms to the norms; its dimensions are 19.50m long and 7.50m wide, with a maximum height of seven metres. Inside, there is a nave that is twelve metres long, and which appears to be even longer on the inside, as only the small choir at the end is really set apart from the rest of the interior.
On site, there are clearly three distinct phases, each belonging to a different time. From these observations, it appears that the first construction was a small oratory. Construction-wise, it is no doubt similar to the oratory that one can still find at Brenac. Next, this structure was made longer, creating a small nave, and no doubt the result of a chapel that became visited more regularly and needed to host a larger congregation than at the time of its construction. At the time, it was obviously meant to be seen as complete, for the western wall, no doubt with its traditional main porch, was meant to receive the clock tower. The construction of the walls still reveal where this was meant to be located, as they were built to hold such a superstructure.
For whatever reason – likely to be a growing community of worshippers – a final extension needed to be added, resulting in the structure we see today. The tribune on the western side of the building is no doubt much more recent, perhaps to accommodate even more people inside, or perhaps for other practical purposes. Either way, the main porch was moved from the western side to the southern side of the building during this final reconstruction… as is the case in several churches that are “dear” to the mystery: Rennes-le-Château and Perillos come specifically to mind. But in our opinion the porch was literally moved from the west to the south side: the present porch has a very “old” appearance, and in our opinion was the original porch – on the western side – which was moved south. Obviously, the church needed to have an entrance, once the western wall was removed, and a new western wall built further. Why it was moved to the south was once again for structural reasons.
Architecturally, this final reconstruction obviously caused the architect some structural headaches, as the current western side has a very small window and a major external support, suggesting he was not at all sure about the structural integrity of the building otherwise. It is no doubt the reason why the porch was moved to the south side. And it explains some of the small stylistic differences one can see as to how the porch sits within the southern wall.

Openings

The main entrance is therefore to the south, through a quite low door, Roman in style. There is no ornate decoration and whereas the porch of Rennes drowns with decorations, here there is, at first, nothing at all. It is clear that there was once a dedication stone here, but this has become illegible. No doubt the damage was done by means of a hammer and likely at the time of the Revolution.
Though there is no door on the north side, often, a “pretend door” was constructed, a door which was supposedly used for the dead. Near Rennes, such a construction can be found at Serres. Historical documents state that the church of Pezens had a door in the north, which lead to the cemetery. From the inside, no such trace remains, but from the outside, the smallest of traces remains visible of its former presence.

There are also several windows. One of these is on the western side, high up in the wall; one is on the southern side – the already mentioned grille. Another opening, dated to the 17th century, is formed by an oval, horizontal oculus, surmounted by the blazon of the de Voisin family, who were the lords of Pezens from the end of the 13th century till 1785. It is of course this family that we also “chance” upon in Rennes and the surrounding area.
A fourth opening sits on the east side and has a type of “crown of thorns” with it, which is very much within the theme of Christianity, but equally an oddity as few if any windows have been thus equipped. However, a closer inspection might reveal that this crown of thorns might also be a crown that was worn by the Roman emperors or Greek heroes, specifically because of the opening on the crown, which was more typical for a hero’s headdress than the crown of thorns, which was to meant to be used for torture. The same design is also found on the support stone of the altar.
Returning to the grille, we know that this opening dates from 1693, the result of a specific wish of the people of Pezens so that they could implore the protection of the saint at all times required. In fact, at the time, there was a pilgrimage that occurred three times per year: on the sprinx equinox, her feast day (July 22) and in October for the harvest. She was also invoked against wars and inundations and it is therefore clear that locally, the saint was used for many more causes than she was normally addressed for elsewhere.

Horseshoes

Along the sides of the porch, there are incisions made in the form of horseshoes. Some are accompanied by dates, i.e. 1717 and 1730. A more detailed study shows that the six designs nowhere have holes for the nails to go in, so that they could be attached to the animal. Forgetfulness on the part of the executioner? Perhaps. But let us note that the horseshoes seem to have different creators, and therefore it seems that either all of them were forgetful, or the latter decided to maintain the “error” – or not to correct the previous executions.
Another question poses itse;f: why make these horseshoes? There is nothing specific linking a horseshoe with Mary Magdalene, nor is it customary to find horseshoes near porches of churches – though, to some extent, it is a custom of homes. But such custom is folklore at best, and pagan at worst. So who then was “allowed” to inscribe horseshoes here?

A maladrery

The church is located on a secondary Roman road, which became a pilgrim route (a Cami Romieu) and it is therefore the reason why the approaches around these otherwise minor towns are so “grand”. It is no doubt the primary reason why, along this route, there was a need for a maladrery that was placed under the protection of Saint Mary Magdalene – though one could argue that the church preceded the road, of course – which would also imply that the original site had some pagan importance, as Roman roads obviously date from the time of the Roman Empire. But what came first, is currently unknown.
According to Julien Courtieu, a local historian, “in the 13th century, this church was designated in the Ave Maria of the Cathedral Chapter of Carcassonne, under the name of ‘Decimarium Beate Marie de Rescluse’, Saint Mary the recluse or the penitent, confirming that Saint Magdalene was a parish before 1269.” This is taken as gospel, though we will add that this also refers to a church, not a chapel, nor an oratory. But in the 14th century, we see that in Pezens, there is mention of a “Lospital de la Magdalino”, a reference that can also be found in registers of 1605 and 1606. In 1696, King Louis XIV links it with the Hotel-Dieu of Carcassonne and afterwards, everything seems to disappear rather quickly: hospital, cemetery, houses. The only thing that remains is the chapel in the middle of the fields. But why, if everything else went, did this remain? And let us note that the grille dates from 1693, but the order to destroy the maladrery from 1696. Turbulent times for Pezens, for sure.

Why was everything destroyed? The specialists on the subject claim that such hospitals along the roads were, from the end of the 16th century onwards, no longer required, as they were replaced with similar and better hospitals in the towns and cities themselves. Sure enough, but does this “decommissioning” warrant the total removal, of the buildings themselves? It is rather bizarre to think that even though there is no further need for a hospital, the entire construction, except the church, is raised to the ground! Wouldn’t one have stepped forward and bought the premises? Or something… other than just completely destroying it… except for the chapel? And why not level the church at the same time?

The shadow of the Hospitallers and the Templars

Instead, we find a royal edict from Louis XIV, saying he wants the hospital closed; this happens, but not only is it closed, everything disappears, including the village surrounding the maladrery! Such bizarre circumstances require more documentary evidence for it to become totally understandable. Alas, such material is currently lacking.
Also, when we look at the other hospitals in the region, there is of course Carcassonne and Toulouse. But there is also Villepinte, which is relatively close. And one could ask why Villepinte and Pezens were able to co-exist for several centuries. There were obviously a lot of ill people along this road, it seems. But if that were the case, there would be more documentation about this – it would be better known. Instead, should we consider the possibility that one “hospital” was merely a cover for something else… or not so much a “normal hospital”, but a special hospital?

Interestingly, a maladrery dedicated to Mary Magdalene is found in the Ardèche. It belonged to the Knights Templar, and equally had a chapel, of the same design and execution as the one in Pezens. It could just be a remarkable coincidence, for at present, there is nothing to suggest a Templar presence along the 113. Unless… one looks at the Hospitaller Order, later to become also known as the Order of Malta,who had a commandery at Pexiora, near Villepinte. Of course, the Hospitallers were known for their… hospitals. And hence, one of the two hospitals in this region might have been run by two specific authorities, which might explain why both of them were able to survive economically – until Louis XIV ordered one of them closed in 1696.

In memory of the dead

A vital observation about the outside of the building is that there are, on the north and south side, certain alignments of stones that could – could – be the famous “littre” – the telltale sign that the church had a crypt, reserved for the local nobility. Whereas in most churches, the presence of this line of stones is very visible, in the case of Pezens, it is speculative – if only because of the non-maintenance of the structure. We nevertheless note that the site had a cemetery, so people were buried there. Archaeological work that was carried out for the construction of the road found several old crosses, suggesting that there was a human presence – with burials – from the 5th century onwards.
We also know that the church survived the total destruction of the other buildings around it, suggesting that something of importance was there. One might argue that the installation of the grille had shown how important the locals saw the chapel, and why therefore the chapel survived – though nothing else did. As true and logical as that its, still, the presence of tombs of nobles might have helped guarante the survival of the church too… creating an oddity in the middle of a road.

To be continued

André Douzet