PROVINS
. Founded during the Merovingian period around a Benedictine priory, Provins (Seine-et-
Marne) became one of the leading commercial centers, after Paris and Rouen, of
medieval France and was the site of two of the principal Champagne fairs (the first in
May-June, the second in September-October). Provins was a favorite residence of the
counts of Champagne, notably the trouvère Thibaut IV, and counted over 10,000
inhabitants in the 13th century. Ruined by the 1373 plague and the loss of its fairs in the
same century, due in large measure to the Hundred Years’ War, Provins is one of the
best-preserved medieval cities in France.
The 12th- and 13th-century ramparts, with their impressive twin-towered Porte Saint-
Jean, are an important example of medieval military architecture. A wide dry moat
precedes the crenellated walls, which average about 10 feet thick. The massive church of
Saint-Quiriace, begun under Henri le Libéral in the 1160s, boasts an Early Gothic choir
and ambulatory, opening onto three rectangular chapels on the flat east end. The 13th-
century nave remains incompleted. The church of Saint-Ayoul preserves its 11th-century
transept. After a fire in 1157, the nave and aisles were rebuilt, as was the large projecting
façade with its three portals. The church of Sainte-Croix has a Romanesque transept,
Gothic nave, and south side aisles from the 13th century and a Flamboyant façade, choir,
ambulatory, and double north aisle from the 16th.
The most characteristic building of Provins is the Tour de César, a 12th-century keep
erected on a motte that was once the site of a Roman fortress. It consists of an octagonal
donjon with four angle turrets built upon a square base. The curtain wall that now
surrounds its base was constructed by the English during the Hundred Years’ War as an
artillery site. The octagonal guard room on the first level has an impressive vault formed
of four ogival arches ending in an eye through which arms and provisions could be
hoisted to the levels above.
Other medieval vestiges in Provins include a Romanesque house (possibly 11th c.) in
the Rue du Palais; the Hotel de Vauluisant and Hotel de la Croix-d’Or of the 13th
century; and the celebrated Grange aux Dîmes (tithe barn) of the 12th and 13th centuries.
Originally rented to merchants by the canons of Saint-Quiriace, after the demise of the
fairs it served to store the tenth-part (dîme) of the harvest destined for the church.
William W.Kibler/William W.Clark
Maillé, La Marquise de. Provins. 2 vols. Paris: Éditions d’Art et d’Histoire, 1939.
Mesqui, Jean. Provins, la fortification d’une ville au moyen âge. Geneva: Droz, 1979.
PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS THE
AREOPAGITE
(fl. ca. 500). A collection of treatises and letters concerning mysticism and theology
circulated in the medieval period under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert
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