05 — The Churches and the Cult
Genevieve’s part in the building of two churches that shaped the sacred topography of Paris: the tradition that she promoted the raising of a church over the tomb of St. Denis, the martyr-bishop of Paris, at what became the great abbey of Saint-Denis; and the church of the Holy Apostles (SS. Peter and Paul) that Clovis and Clotilde built on the hill above the left bank — later the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève — where she herself was buried near the king, and which became the anchor of her cult.
Tradition: Western (pre-Schism, Gallo-Roman Gaul)
This section moves from Genevieve’s deeds to the stones that carried her memory. The Vita remembers her as a builder and promoter of churches, and two foundations in particular came to define both the topography of Christian Paris and the shape of her own cult. The first is the church over the tomb of the martyr St. Denis, north of the city, which she is said to have urged and helped to build — the seed of the royal abbey of Saint-Denis. The second is the church of the Holy Apostles on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, the royal foundation of Clovis and Clotilde, which became her burial-place and the abbey that bore her name. Both files distinguish the Vita’s testimony from the later architectural history.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| the-basilica-of-saint-denis.md | The tradition that Genevieve promoted the building of a church over the tomb of St. Denis, the martyr-bishop of Paris; the martyr, the site, and the growth of the later royal abbey of Saint-Denis. |
| the-church-of-the-holy-apostles.md | The church of the Holy Apostles (SS. Peter and Paul) built by Clovis and Clotilde on the hill above the left bank, later the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève, where she was buried near the king; the shrine that anchored her cult. |
See Also
- Genevieve and the Rise of the Franks — Clovis and Clotilde, the royal founders of her burial-church
- The Processions of the Châsse — the shrine in ritual action
- Patroness of Paris — the later fate of the abbey-church and the Panthéon
References
- Vita Genovefae, ed. Krusch, MGH SRM 3 (1896), esp. §§17–22, 56.
- Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, trans. Thorpe (Penguin, 1974).
- Sluhovsky, Patroness of Paris (Brill, 1998).