church, probably essentially complete by its dedication in 1236. The abbey figures
prominently in narratives about King Louis and was the site for several of the king’s
pious deeds early in his life. After the burial in 1234 of the king’s younger brother, Philip
Dagobert, it also became the necropolis for Louis’s own children, several of whom died
in infancy.
Disaffected in 1791, the church was the victim of its historic association with the royal
family. Shortly after its acquisition by the Marquis de Travannet, it was pulled down, and
only the eastern corner and stairtower of the north transept survive. The conventual
buildings were not demolished, however, and now function as a conference center. Of
particular note among the monastic buildings is the large 13th-century latrine.
It has been suggested that the foundation of Royau-mont in 1228 was inspired by
Longpont, the dedication of which Louis IX and his mother had attended in 1227 on their
return from the young king’s coronation at Reims. Both churches have a three-story
elevation with simple cylindrical supports in the arcade, but at Royaumont the triforium
consisted of two pairs of trefoil arches surmounted by a trilobe and enclosed in a
relieving arch. The triforium at Longpont is blind, but that at Royaumont included a
passage. In spite of the differences in the design of the two elevations, the scale of the
two churches was almost identical: the width of each church was about 86 feet; the height
of the elevation at Longpont was 88 feet, at Royaumont 91 feet; the diameters of the
cylindrical supports were also the same, 3½ feet. In each case, the width of the nave and
aisles equaled the total height of the vaults, dimensions that correspond with the
proportions of Cistercian churches of the 12th century, such as the abbey of Fontenay.
Caroline A.Bruzelius
[See also: LONGPONT]
Branner, Robert. St. Louis and the Court Style in Gothic Architecture. London: Zwemmer, 1965,
pp. 31–37.
Bruzelius, Caroline. “Cistercian High Gothic: Longpont and the Architecture of the Cistercians in
the Thirteenth Century.” Analecta cisterciensia 35(1979):3–204, esp. 90–110.
Duclos, Henri-Louis. Histoire de Royaumont, sa fondation par St. Louis et son influence sur la
France. 2 vols. Paris: Douniol, 1867.
Gouïn, Henry. L’abbaye de Royaumont. Paris: Laurens, 1932.
RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE
. Medieval rural social structure was based on the patriarchal family unit, which was most
frequently the nuclear or stem family. Occasionally, because castles and other “feudal”
properties were held by groups of siblings, a more complicated family structure might be
temporarily maintained. Although the patriarchal family involved obvious inequalities of
power, family members generally had the same status as the head of the household. In the
relatively fluid rural society of the early Middle Ages, marriage was the main means of
social mobility—by marriage or concubinage, for instance, slaves became Merovingian
queens. By marriage to heiresses of higher social status, knights associated themselves
with ancient lineages and legitimized their power. Similarly, as unfree peasant men
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