La royauté franque et les origines du culte de saint Germain de Paris (vie-viiie siècles)

Abstract

The article examines the role played by the first Merovingian kings in the development of the cult of Saint Germain, bishop of Paris. Chilpéric I sought to make the saint the patron saint of his family and his city, on the model initiated by his father Clotaire I at Saint-Médard in Soissons. He was responsible for the burial, considered temporary, of Germain at Saint-Vincent, as well as an unfinished project for a personal funerary basilica. The veneration continued at the court of his descendants Clotaire II and Dagobert, with Bertrand of Le Mans and Saint Éloi, sketching out a cult with a very Parisian anchorage. The arrival of the Carolingians confirms the dynastic nature of that devotion. The translation of the relics of the saint in 755 is the final endorsement: the presence of Pépin le Bref at that ceremony reflects the new dynasty’s policy of legitimisation through veneration of the main Merovingian saints.