crossing tower (copied from Saint-Saturnin). The celebrated historiated capitals are the
most important in the Auvergne. Treasures include the 12th-century Notre-Dame du
Mont-Cornadore and the bust of St. Baudime, a masterpiece of Limoges workmanship.
Jean M.French
[See also: ISSOIRE]
Craplet, Bernard. Auvergne romane. La Pierre-qui-vire: Zodiaque, 1962.
Deshoulières, François. Congrès archéologique (Clermont-Ferrand) 87(1924):265–86.
Fayolle, le Marquis de. “Le trésor de l’église de Saint-Nectaire.” Congrès archéologique
(Clermont-Ferrand) 62 (1895): 292–306.
Ranquet, Henri du. “L’église de Saint-Nectaire.” Congrès archéologique (Clermont-Ferrand)
62(1895):239–71.
Swiechowski, Zygmunt. Sculpture romane d’Auvergne. Clermont-Ferrand: Bussac, 1973.
SAINT-OMER
. Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais) has its origins in the Merovingian villa of Sithiu, a rural
domain conferred upon St. Omer, the missionary bishop of Thérouanne, by one of his
converts ca. 650. There, on the River Aa surrounded by marshland, St. Omer and his
followers, monks from Luxeuil, built a monastery dedicated to St. Peter, later known as
Saint-Bertin, destined to become the largest and most powerful in the region. In 663, St.
Omer built the church of Sainte-Marie, later Notre-Dame, at the highest point of Sithiu
and gave it to the monastery, requesting that he be buried there.
The surprising transformation of the rural, monastic Sithiu of the Carolingian period
into the bustling Flemish market town known as Saint-Omer (villa Sancti Audomari) has
played a major role in the debate over the origins of medieval towns. By 1042, the church
of Sainte-Marie, which had been fortified against the last Viking attack in 891, was
flanked on the one side by the castellum of the counts of Flanders, seigneurs of the region
from 892, and on the other by a marketplace and a parish church. The early communal
charter, granted by Count William Clito in 1127, is believed to confirm privileges that the
burghers already enjoyed.
With Saint-Omer linked to the channel port of Grave-lines by the canalization of the
Aa, local merchants dominated the Anglo-Flemish wool trade in the 12th century, and the
town became a major center for the production of cloth, as well as an important market
for grain, wine, and fish. Urban prosperity continued under the Capetians, as Prince Louis
(later Louis VIII) inherited Saint-Omer, along with the Artois, from his mother, Isabella
of Hainaut, in 1190. Reclaimed by Flanders in 1200, Saint-Omer became part of the
French crown lands in 1212, ruled by the counts of Artois from 1237.
The town came to be governed by an increasingly repressive merchant elite, which led
to workers’ revolts in 1280 and 1306. In the 14th century, Saint-Omer was devastated by
the plague and war. At the boundary of Flanders and Artois, Saint-Omer remained loyal
to the king of France during the Franco-Flemish War (1297–1305) and the Hundred
Years’ War. In 1384, Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, became count of Flanders and
The Encyclopedia 1595