monastery played an important role in early Christendom and was burned several times
by invaders. The present building, constructed for the most part after 1201, encloses the
5th-century crypt as well as an 11th-century crypt built over it. The transept and square
apse were added by Pope Urban V in 1363, as well as the battlemented curtain wall that
surrounds the abbey. The old cathedral of La Major stands a little north of the Vieux Port
over vestiges of a 4th-century baptistery. Of the 12th-century church, there remain the
transept with its ribbed dome; the apse, of Provençal type, with a ribbed semidome; and a
Romanesque altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
William W.Kibler
[See also: MEDITERRANEAN TRADE; PROVENCE; RENÉ D’ANJOU]
Baratier, Édouard, et al. Histoire de Marseille. Toulouse: Privat, 1973.
Benoît, Fernand. L’abbaye de Saint-Victor de Marseille et l’église. de la Major à Marseille. 2nd ed.
Paris: Laurens, 1966.
Feuher, Paul-Albert. Le développement urbain en Provence de l’époque romaine a la fin du XIVe
siècle. Paris: Boccard, 1964.
Lesage, Georges. Marseille angevine, 1264–1348. Paris: Boccard, 1950.
Rambert, Gaston. Histoire du commerce de Marseille. 2 vols. Paris: Plon, 1949–51.
MARSHAL
. By the end of the Middle Ages, the marshal had become one of the highest-ranking
military officers in France. Before the Crusades, the mariscalus had been a monastic
officer responsible for provisions. The office became secular by the 11th century, when
records from the reign of Henry I tell of a royal marshal whose responsibilities included
the provisioning of the military. At this early date, the duties of the office do not appear
to be standardized, since during the reigns of Philip II Augustus and Louis VIII the
marshal was only an inspector of the royal stables, without responsibilities. It was not
until the 14th century that he gained his military command duties, when Philip VI
appointed two marshals as second in command of the French army below the constable.
Throughout the Hundred Years’ War, the marshals held command in the French military
organization. Helped by a provost and some lieutenants, they were responsible for
recruiting captains, inspecting the troops, and organizing the pay for the army. Perhaps
their most important responsibility was keeping order among the soldiers and sitting in
judgment over them. Marshals were also responsible for deciding ransoms and carrying
out executions. They could also sit in parlement or in council and could be used as
diplomatic envoys.
The marshals of the late Middle Ages were an inept group. Leadership quality was
often poor and several of-ficeholders failed in their responsibilities. Marshal Arnoul
d’Audrehem fell into the hands of Edward, the Black Prince, at the Battle of Nájera in
1367; marshals Jean le Meingre II dit Boucicaut and Pierre de Rochefort were captured
by the English in 1415 and 1419, respectively. In 1453, Marshal Philippe de Culant was
forced to resign the office in disgrace. At other times, political rivalries and jurisdictional
overlaps of military officers prohibited unified military command.
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