Senlis

SENLIS. - Ancient diocese and city, seat of a subprefecture of the department of Oise in France, situated on the right bank of the river Nonette, surrounded by great forests. In Roman times it was part of the second province of Belgica; at that time it was called first Rotomagus, then Augustomagus, then Silvanectes, from which comes the present name.

The city was part of the Kingdom of Clovis; in 987 Hugh Capet was elected king of France there, and until Henry IV his successors often resided there. In 1417 it was besieged by the Armagnacs, but was liberated by the Burgundians and the English, who remained there until their defeat by Joan of Arc at Montépilloy in 1429.

The list of the bishops of S. is preserved in a sacramentary of theirs

(now in the Library of Ste-Geneviève [BB. 20]) which dates from the 9th century, because it was composed under Bishop Adebert (871-900); but the episcopal list was added there in the margin of the canon of the Mass, after the election of Bishop Bernuin in 937; other hands added the following ones up to Henry of 1167 or 1168. The first bishop is St. Regulus, whose feast is celebrated on April 24; of the seven successors, only the names are known; the eighth, Libanius, was at the Council of Orléans in 511, where Gonotiernus went in 549; Mallulfus ca. 584 is mentioned by Gregory of Tours (Historia Francorum, VI, 46); Aigomarus was at the Council of Clichy in 627; Ermeno at that of Noyon in 814; Godfrey at that of Paris in 829 and of Thionville in 835; Offredus took part in the Council of Trosly in 909; among the more recent prelates are remembered Card. F. Rochefoucauld (1615) and the last, Msgr. J. A. de la Roquelaure, who died Archbishop of Malines, where he was transferred after Pius VII in the Concordat of 1801 had united the see to that of Beauvais; Pius IX granted to the bishop of that diocese the right to add the titles of the suppressed dioceses of S. and of Noyon.

The Cathedral, Notre-Dame, is a Gothic construction of the 12th-13th centuries with modifications of the 16th century. It was built on the site of an earlier building and of two other small churches of approximately the 10th century; begun in 1153, it was dedicated in 1191; but the wide transept was arranged in the 13th century, when the chapter hall and the adjoining Library were erected. The interior measures 72 m. in length and the vaults reach a height of 24 m. The choir is provided with an ambulatory, from which five chapels radiate. The side aisles and the presbytery have an upper gallery that also runs around the exterior. The facade is flanked on the south by the bell tower, 78 m. high, with an octagonal stage; in the central portal (1185-90) the tympanum is decorated with the coronation of the B. Virgin and with scenes of her dormitio and resurrection; at the sides, statues of prophets and the months of the year; the side portals are in the flamboyant Gothic style. The ancient episcopal palace with its chapel dates in part from the 13th century. The church of St. Peter, today transformed into a market, had been erected in 1029 but of that period only the north bell tower remains, whose face was added in 1432; the other, to the south, was erected in 1615; the facade is from 1516. The interior with three naves has pillars with Gothic capitals decorated with fantastic figures; the choir and the transept are from the 13th century. To the right of the church is the Public Library. The ancient church of St. Framburgo, formerly a collegiate church, is from the end of the 13th century and has a single nave; it is now reduced to a workshop. The ancient Romanesque church of St-Aignan, with some Gothic additions, has been transformed into a theater; of the ancient church of the Cordeliers only the portal remains, as with the ancient church of the Carmelites, which had been erected in 1303. The Vieux Château is built on the Roman building; it served as a royal residence from Clovis to Henry IV. Under Louis VI the chapel was erected in which St. Louis in 1264 established the priory of St. Maurice and deposited there relics of the martyrs of the Theban legion; it was demolished during the Revolution. The Hôpital de la Charité had annexed to it a chapel from 1706 transformed into the Musée de la Vénérie. Notable was the abbey of St-Victor founded in 1062 by Queen Anne, wife of Henry I; today the building is used as the residence of the Collège St-Victor directed by the Eudist fathers. The church dates back to 1138, restored in the 17th century; the bell tower is from the end of the 12th century, the large cloister annexed to it is from 1680. Three km southeast of S. is the abbey "de la Victoire" founded by Philip Augustus after the battle of Bouvines; Louis XI made it a daughter house of the abbey of St-Victor of Paris. It was suppressed in 1783. The church was rebuilt between 1472 and 1519.

Enrico Josi