The Abbey of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune is one of the oldest monasteries in Western Europe. It was founded around 380 AD
Around 300 a rebellion broken out in what is currently the Western part of Switzerland. As the story goes, a legion of Roman soldiers from Egypt was transferred to the region in order to crush the revolt. On the night before battle the emperor Maximian issued the usual order that the whole army should offer to the Roman Gods. The challenge was that the soldiers in the so-called Theban legion were Christians. After repeatedly having refused to comply with the command, the emperor ordered a decimation. Following this every 10th man was put to death; at the same time an additional decimation was declared to take place if the soldiers, who were still alive, did not give in. In the end it is claimed that 6600 soldiers in the Theban legion refused to take part in the sacrificial rites and were martyred. This is primarily said to have taken place at Aquanum at an old toll-station on the upper Rhone, where the river meanders through a narrow gorge. Whether a legend or not, the story very early on caught the imagination of the men of the Late Antiquity. One of these was Eucherius, who visited the site in the first part of the 5th century and wrote about it a letter. Here he told the story in detail of how a bishop, Theodore of Octodurum, had a vision of where to find the remains of the martyred soldiers.
- Saint-Maurice in Magdeburg. The Theban legions was venerated all over Europe
There are many reasons to believe that the legend about the Theban legion and its martyrdom was invented by this Theodore around 380’s, when there was a frenzy to discover saints and martyrs galore, while at the same time a pagan resurgence in the Roman army was taking place (around 390 AD). Nonetheless, whatever the facts and fiction, the story quickly caught the imagination of locals as well as bishops, and very soon a thriving centre for pilgrimage was erected on top of an earlier Roman sanctuary dedicated to Celtic water nymphs. When Eucherius visited the site, he noted that the earliest basilica, where the martyrs were buried, was already endowed with silver, gold and precious art and famous for its miracles. Probably the first sanctuary was cared for by a double institution, both male and female. In the earliest writing s we get an impression of a somewhat boisterous place: at the same time both local sanctuary, post-station for travellers and pilgrims and toll-station for merchants moving between Gaul, Germany and Italy. In the beginning of the 6th century – Saint-Maurice d’Agaune came to play a slightly different role as it was reformed by the Burgundian king, Sigismund († 524). His father was an Arian; however as a student of Avitus of Vienne he converted to Catholicism. Together the two men, king and bishop, turned the place into a highly evocative and symbolic site. Architecturally they rebuilt the basilica and reorganised the site by adding a series of other buildings to it. Further a new liturgy – Laus Perennis – was introduced to fill the place with eternal song. Later, after Sigismund and his family had been murdered, his remains were translated to the church, where he became venerated as the first royal saint in Western Europe. This contributed to cement the site as a both a royal and religious centre. In due course it came to present a format for other large monasteries, e.g. St. Denis in Paris. Later in the 9th century, after a group of Augustinian Canons had taken over from the monks, the place was once more imbued with a certain aura, when the second Burgundian Kingdom was established. Since then it has continuously functioned as both a local religious centre and a powerful political place, caring for the myth of soldiers, who did not desert, but instead believed it possible to be at the same time “in and out of this world”; as famously memorialised by Saint-Maurice in the speech, rendered by Eucherius:
“Emperor, we are your soldiers but also the soldiers of the true God. We owe you military service and obedience, but we cannot renounce Him who is our Creator and Master, and also yours even though you reject Him. In all things, which are not against His law, we most willingly obey you, as we have done hitherto. We readily oppose your enemies whoever they are, but we cannot stain our hands with the blood of innocent people (Christians). We have taken an oath to God before we took one to you, you cannot place any confidence in our second oath if we violate the other (the first). You commanded us to execute Christians, behold we are such. We confess God the Father the creator of all things and His Son Jesus Christ, God. We have seen our comrades slain with the sword, we do not weep for them but rather rejoice at their honour. Neither this, nor any other provocation has tempted us to revolt. Behold, we have arms in our hands, but we do not resist, because we would rather die innocent than live by any sin.”
Today the abbey is home to 53 regulated canons, who work amongst the local people as well as in the local college. Apart from this, the canons cater for the many pilgrims, which still visit the evocative place. The abbey has also been declared World Heritage. Another function is thus to cater for the many cultural tourists, who come to see the famous treasury and the archaeological site.
READ MORE:
The 1500-year anniversary 2014-15
Archaeology at Saint-Maurice d’Agaune
The Treasury at Saint-Maurice d’Agaune
The textiles at Saint-Maurice d’Agaune