Vézelay Abbey (French: Abbaye Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay) is a Benedictine and Cluniac monastery located in Vézelay, in the east-central French department of Yonne. It was built between 1120 and 1150. The Benedictine abbey church, now called the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (Saint Mary Magdalene), is known for its detailed artwork on sculpted capitals and portals. It is considered one of the most important examples of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture. The building was attacked by the Huguenots in 1569 and suffered damage during the 17th and 18th centuries. Additional harm occurred during the French Revolution.
In 1979, the church and the hill where it is located were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites because of their significance in medieval Christianity and their remarkable architecture. Relics of Mary Magdalene are displayed inside the Basilica.
History
The Benedictine abbey of Vézelay was founded on land that had once been a Roman villa called Vercellus, which later became known as Vézelay. This land was passed to the Carolingians and eventually given to a Carolingian count named Girart of Roussillon. Two convents he built there were attacked and destroyed by Moorish raiders in the 8th century, and a convent on a hill was burned by Norman raiders. In the 9th century, the abbey was refounded by Badilo, who joined the reformed Benedictine order of Cluny. Vézelay also became one of the four main routes for pilgrims traveling to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.
Around the year 1050, the monks of Vézelay claimed to possess the relics of Mary Magdalene. They said the relics were brought to the abbey either by Badilo or by envoys he sent. Later, a monk from Vézelay found a carving in a crypt at St-Maximin in Provence showing the Unction at Bethany, a scene where Jesus’ head was anointed by Mary of Bethany, who was later believed to be Mary Magdalene. The monks of Vézelay declared this to be Mary Magdalene’s tomb and claimed her relics had been moved to their abbey. Pilgrims brought chains from captivity as gifts, and in 1037, Abbot Geoffroy had the chains melted down to create wrought iron railings around the altar of Magdalene. This helped fund the construction of one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture, which was made possible by pilgrims visiting the claimed relics. Mary Magdalene is seen as the model of a penitent, and Vézelay remained an important pilgrimage site for Catholics. However, the claimed relics were destroyed by Huguenots in the 16th century.
To handle the large number of pilgrims, a new abbey church was started and completed on April 21, 1104. However, the cost of building the church increased taxes on the abbey’s lands, leading peasants to rebel and kill the abbot. Because of the crowds, an extended narthex (an enclosed porch) was built in 1132, with Pope Innocent II inaugurating it to help manage the pilgrims.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux preached at Vézelay in 1146, urging support for a second crusade in front of King Louis VII. In 1190, Richard I of England and Philip II of France met at Vézelay and stayed at the abbey for three months before departing for the Third Crusade. In 1166, Thomas Becket, while in exile, gave a sermon at Vézelay on Whitsunday, announcing the excommunication of Henry II’s supporters and threatening the king himself. The nave of the abbey, which had been burned once with many lives lost, burned again in 1165 and was later rebuilt in its current form.
The abbey’s monks defended their rights and independence against various groups, including bishops of Autun, counts of Nevers, the abbey of Cluny, and the people of Vézelay, who wanted more self-government.
Vézelay’s decline began in 1279 when the body of Mary Magdalene was discovered at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in Provence, with royal support from Charles II, king of Sicily. When Charles built a Dominican convent at La Sainte-Baume, the shrine was found intact, with an inscription explaining why the relics had been hidden. Dominican friars collected accounts of miracles attributed to these relics, which weakened Vézelay’s status as the main shrine of Mary Magdalene in Europe.
After the French Revolution, Vézelay faced collapse. In 1834, Prosper Mérimée, a French inspector of historical monuments, warned that the site was about to fall apart. He recommended that Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, a young architect, oversee a major restoration. Between 1840 and 1861, Viollet-le-Duc’s team repaired much of the weathered and damaged sculpture. The flying buttresses that support the nave were added during this restoration.
Interpretation of the tympanum
The tympanum of the central portal at the Madeleine de Vézelay is unique compared to similar designs in Europe. It was created specifically to support the Crusades and to show a Christian message about the Crusaders’ mission. When compared to churches like St. Lazare d'Autun and St. Pierre de Moissac, the differences in Vézelay’s design become clear.
George Zarnecki, an art historian, said, “Most people think of Romanesque sculpture as showing a large church portal with a tympanum carved with an apocalyptic vision, like the Last Judgment.” This is true in many cases, but Vézelay is different. In a 1944 article, Adolf Katzenellenbogen explained that Vézelay’s tympanum was linked to the First Crusade and showed the Apostles’ mission during the Pentecost.
Thirty years before the Vézelay tympanum was made, Pope Urban II planned to announce a call for a crusade at La Madeleine. In 1095, he changed his plans and preached the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. However, Vézelay remained important in the history of the Crusades. The tympanum was completed in 1130. Fifteen years later, Bernard of Clairvaux chose Vézelay as the place to call for a Second Crusade. Vézelay was also the starting point for the Third Crusade, where King Richard the Lionheart of England and King Philip Augustus of France joined forces to invade the holy land. Because of this, it makes sense that Vézelay’s portal reflects its role in the Crusades.
Peter Low, an art historian, believed the central tympanum showed both the Pentecost and a passage from the Book of Ephesians. It was meant to teach visiting pilgrims about Benedictine monasticism and the idea of a church that welcomed people from all over the world.
The lintel of the Vézelay portal shows people who were not Christian, called “ungodly.” This represents the first Pentecostal Mission, which aimed to spread the word of God to all people. The figures who have not received the Word of God are shown as not fully human. Some have pig snouts, others are misshapen, and some are depicted as dwarves. One figure is shown climbing a horse with a ladder. On the far right, a man has elephant-like ears, and in the center, a man is covered in feathers. The artists made these figures look physically strange to show what they believed were the moral flaws of non-believers. This reflects Western views of foreigners, like the Moors, who were targeted by the Crusaders. Pope Urban II encouraged people to fight the Turks by calling them “a vile race.” Many Westerners had no idea what the Turks or Muslims looked like and assumed non-Christians had unattractive physical traits. Some argue the artists made the figures look monstrous to dehumanize them. This helped make the Crusaders’ mission to capture the holy land and convert or kill Muslims seem justified. The Vézelay lintel is both a political and religious message.
Vézelay’s political purpose is clearer when compared to other churches in France. The Vézelay lintel is unique, but it shares similarities with the St. Lazare lintel in Autun. Both show people who have sinned. While Vézelay’s lintel focuses on “heathens,” the Autun lintel shows people being judged on Judgment Day. The two designs are similar because the same master artisan, Master Gislebertus, worked on both. Both tympana also place Christ in the center. However, the Autun tympanum is more traditional and shows the Second Coming, a common theme in Romanesque art. The Autun design aims to scare people into returning to church, while Vézelay’s design supports the Crusades.
The lower part of the Vézelay tympanum shows nations that had already accepted the Gospel, like the Byzantines, Armenians, and Ethiopians. The Byzantines were especially important because they asked for help from the West to reclaim Jerusalem, which had been taken by the Seljuk Turks.
The figures in the lower compartments look regal and well-proportioned, unlike the “heathen” figures in the lintel. They are shown as fully human, representing nations that had accepted God’s grace. These sections symbolize the unity of different nations fighting together for a common goal.
The upper part of the tympanum shows the second mission of the Apostles, as described in the Bible. It includes scenes of healing and driving out demons. These acts are compared to the Crusaders’ mission to remove non-Christians from the holy land. Pope Urban II criticized the Turks for taking over the holy land, calling them “a race so despicable, degenerate, and enslaved by demons.” This shows how the Crusaders saw their mission as similar to the Apostles’ work of driving out demons.
The central part of the tympanum shows a kind and welcoming Christ speaking to the Apostles. This is different from the angry Christ in the St. Pierre de Moissac tympanum, which shows a judgment scene. The Vézelay Christ is open and friendly, delivering a message instead of punishing people. This highlights the political and religious message of the Vézelay portal.
Astronomical alignment
In 1976, Hugues Delautre, a Franciscan father responsible for caring for the Vézelay sanctuary, found that the church of La Madeleine is designed to align with the positions of the Earth and the Sun. The building is not only oriented east to west but also uses the movement of the Sun in its structure. Each June, just before the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, the design of the church becomes visible when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky on the summer solstice. At local noon on this day, sunlight passing through the southern high windows creates a series of bright spots that line the middle of the church floor.