History
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Two contemporaries and biographers of Abbot Hugues de Semur, the monk Gilon and Hidebert de Lavardin, recount a memorable fire that took place in Berzé-la-Ville between 1105 and 1108.
Gilon 's account(written between 1113 and 1114) relates the events as follows:
The Father (Hugues) was asleep in a room adjoining the chapel when suddenly the storm blew up so violently, with the sound of thunder, stones and hail, that the chapel building seemed to want to collapse. In the midst of the crash, a terrifying bolt of lightning struck, flames licked the chapel, the walls cracked... and the saint lay in the midst of the fire. The fire grew, surrounding the bed, and almost the entire house fell prey to the flames.
© Centre des monuments nationaux / David Bordes
The account by Hildebert de Lavardin (1056-1113) gives fewer details, but the concordance between the texts is clear:
As he had fallen asleep in Berzé, all of a sudden the storm arose with such rage that hail and stones battered the house, lightning crisscrossed the sky, and the lightning did not spare the room where the Father slept, adjoining the church...
© Centre des monuments nationaux / David Bordes
The story seems realistic, and violent storms with hailstones are well known in the region. The paintings in the upper apse have a few peculiarities, and the reinforcement of the walls has been taken up in the decorative borders. It is therefore possible that part of the nave was rebuilt following a fire.
But it could also be a symbolic image, by analogy with an episode in the life of Saint Martin. After a long journey, the bishop of Tours refused a comfortable litter and lay down on the ground. When fire surrounded him, he turned to prayer and was saved.
© Centre des monuments nationaux / David Bordes
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