History

The Church of Saint-Etienne de Vaux-sur-Mer is all that remains of the Benedictine abbey founded in 1075 by two knights of the house of Mortagne, Arnaud and Pierre Gémon. Martin, the first abbot, came from the abbey of Maillezais, in the Vendée, which provided protection for the monks of Vaux until 1160. In 1170, a Papal Bull issued by Pope Alexander III set out the abbey's privileges and mentioned its possessions, including the churches of Saint-Palais, Saint-Sulpice, Saint- Augustin, Thaims, Arces, etc. The Cartulary of Saint-Etienne de Vaux abbey, a 13th Century parchment manuscript kept in the French National Library, lists the donations made to the abbey between 1075 and 1270. The monks' income was valued at 3000 gold florins. The great plague of 1348 and the Hundred Years' War ruined the monastery buildings. The abbey was even abandoned for 50 years. When the monks returned in 1418, income fell to 150 gold florins. The abbey fell into Huguenot hands during the wars of Religion. Nevertheless, the mutilated church remains one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in Saintonge. It has been listed as a historic monument since 4 September 1913.

Description

The squat bell-tower is rebuilt on the square of the transept, the arms of which have disappeared. Only one squinch remains, the sole reminder of the former dome. The derelict nave was demolished in 1822. The barrel-vaulted choir is preceded by a triumphal arch with four remarkable historied capitals: the vine and the Eucharistic doves, of early Christian inspiration, David and the Bear or the condition of man threatened by the Devil's enterprise and the Stoning of Stephen. Modern, well made stained glass adorns the narrow windows in the arch. The upper part of the semi-circular chevet, divided into three sections by buttress columns, is richly decorated, with a series of arcatures that extends over the walls of the choir. Beneath the Romanesque tiles, the sculpted modillions offer a variety of human and animal motifs that mix the sacred with the profane. Four other historied capitals at the top of the buttress columns merit close attention. Here, we find the theme of the Eucharistic Vine, Adam and original sin, the Tree of Life and a very original evocation of the duel. The eight historied capitals are of undeniable interest for their quality of conservation and symbolic value.

Below are some of the historied capital: