NIEDERHASLACH
. An abbey was founded at Niederhas-lach (Bas-Rhin) in the 6th century by St. Florent
and converted to the Benedictine Rule under Louis the Pious in the 9th century. The
present church of Saint-Florent, begun in 1274, was burned except for the choir in 1287;
reconstruction was completed ca. 1300–85.
The exterior is notable for its three-level rectangular tower—an Alsatian feature—
dominating the western façade. The lower level frames the sharply arched portal; the
second level has a small but delicate rose window; and the upper level is composed of
two immense blind windows. The portal sculptures (ca. 1310) are related to those of
western portals of Strasbourg cathedral. The pure lines of the interior are characteristic of
Rayonnant style. The stained-glass windows (ca. 1360–75) of the nave are among the
most beautiful in Alsace.
William W.Kibler
Bruck, Robert. Die elsässische Glasmalerei vom Beginn des XI. bis zum Ende des XVII.
Jahrhunderts. Strasbourg: Heinrich, 1902.
Schumacher, L. Die Sankt-Florentius Kirche zu Niederhaslach. Strasbourg, 1901.
NÎMES
. The ancient Celtic and Roman city of Nîmes in southern France was joined to the
kingdom of the Franks in 754. By 900, it formed a viscounty under the counts of
Toulouse. The marriage of its heiress Gauziane (ca. 956) to Bernard-Aton II, viscount of
Albi, united Nîmes to the fiefs of the family later known as Trencavel. In 1130, a division
of their patrimony separated the viscounty of Nîmes, under Bernard-Aton V, from the
other Trencavel domains. During the dynastic struggles that followed, Nîmes capitulated
to Raymond VI of Toulouse, to whom Bernard-Aton VI ceded his rights in 1184. In
1214, Simon de Montfort, first commander of the Albigensian Crusade, entered Nîmes
without struggle, and in 1226 Nîmes became a royal city, thereafter administered by a
viguier under the seneschal of Beaucaire-Nîmes.
The social history of Nîmes is dominated by the precocious development of its
consulate and the influence of the knights of the Arena. As early as the 6th century, the
Roman amphitheater had been transformed into a fortress. By 1100, it was equipped with
a moat, towers, and chapels dedicated to SS. Martin and Peter. The knights of the Arena,
milites castri Arenarum (numbering thirty-one in 1100, approximately a hundred in
1226), held their lodgings within the fortress as fiefs of the viscount for whom they
guarded the city. In 1155, four knights of the Arena appear as the first consuls of Nîmes.
In 1198, they were joined by four burghers, whose privileges were ratified by Count
Raymond VI. Raymond’s subsequent attempts to restrict these privileges led to the
rebellion of 1207, which saw the burghers occupy the city and murder the count’s viguier
in his palace. The alliance formed then between the burghers and the knights brought
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