Les églises rurales du premier âge roman dans le Rouergue méridional

Abstract

In the Middle Ages, the South of the Aveyron department belonged to the ancient Rouergue county, the history of which soon came to be connected with that of the Toulouse county. In the Southern part of the province, the viscounts of Millau and Albi soon freed themselves from this domination ; in the XIth century, their matrimonial policy took them awayfrom this région. The twelve investigated buildings, which belonged to the Rodez diocese at the time, have a very different status : old private churches, parish churches, priories. Analysis of the charters has shown that in the XIth century, their number was much higher. The architectural investigation shows a fondness of solutions inherited from the past, particularly from the preromanesque period : layout with a single nave and a quadrangular apse, with in two cases, low transept, rustic bond, narrow Windows, horseshoe arches, poor sculpture... Nevertheless, a certain evolution concernig the shapes and building techniques can be seen. Some characteristic features of Rouergue are to be noticed: narrow windows placed under the roofs, windows arranged in a triangle pattern with point downwards on the eastern wall ofthe apse, rounded angles of the whole building outside. Thus southern Rouergue has no knowledge whatsoever about the building techniques of « the first southern roman art » largely used in the Mediterranean regions. On the contrary, it chooses to remain true to other models, native ones, and widely used throughout the Christian West. This model, so well adapted to the needs of the rural populations, perhaps originates from the funeral basilica.