Les cultes de St Martial et St Valerie à Limoges et à Avignon

Description

This paper explores how the cults of Saint Martial and Saint Valeria were continuously reshaped through liturgy, hagiography, relics, and manuscript culture from the early Middle Ages to the fourteenth century. It examines the successive temporal layers linking the legendary Christian origins of Limoges, Adhémar de Chabannes’ elevation of Martial to apostolic status in the eleventh century, and the Avignonese revival of Martial’s cult under John XXII and Clement VI. Particular attention is given to the manuscript Paris, BnF latin 916, produced in Avignon, which transmits liturgical offices for Martial and Valeria alongside rich illuminations. The paper argues that the codex functioned not only as a liturgical resource but also as a performative and memorial object connecting chant, image, relics, and institutional identity. The cult of Valeria further reveals a gendered construction of sanctity in which female holiness is legitimised through Martial’s episcopal and apostolic authority. By combining liturgical studies, manuscript studies, and memory studies, this paper highlights how medieval institutions reactivated and reorganised sacred history across time through performative devotional practices.

Period	4 Jun 2026
Event title	Journée d'Etudes "Musicologie et hagiographie"
Event type	Other
Location	Aubervilliers, FranceShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International