432014 Underwater Archaeology Proceedings

The History of La Charité-sur-Loire Bridges (France, Burgundy and Center Regions), From the 13th Century to the 20th Century

Annie Dumont Marion Foucher Ronan Steinmann Catherine Lavier

Philippe Moyat Jean-Pierre Garcia Agnès Stock Carmela Chateau

The Loire River is the longest river in France, where the building of bridges and their long-term maintenance have never been easy tasks, because of strong currents and frequent floods. At a distance of 500 km from its source, between La Charité-sur-Loire and La Chapelle-Montlinard, the remains of a medieval bridge were recently discovered, in August 2010. Archaeological surveys, together with the study of archival literature, and analyses of ancient buildings were used to reconstruct the many different stages in the building and destruction of these bridges, over eight centuries.

Introduction

The Loire River retains in its channels the remains of bridges from as early as Roman times (Dumont and Bonnamour 2011). A bridge is both a noticeable fea-ture in a river landscape and an ostentatious display of human power over nature. The role played by a bridge is somewhat ambiguous, not only guaranteeing a safe and perennial crossing, which is not the case with a ford or a ferry, but also facilitating enemy advances in times of conflict. In times of war, despite its usefulness and all the

genius used in its construction, a bridge is sometimes destroyed, and then rebuilt once peace is restored. When enough historical and archaeological data are available, it is sometimes possible to reconstruct the history of a crossing, over many centuries, with its alternating peri-ods of construction and destruction.

These contrasting aspects are illustrated with the examples of La Charité-sur-Loire and La Chapelle-Montlinard where, in the present-day configuration, two bridges cross the two channels of the river, sepa-rated by an island, called l'île du Faubourg or Faubourg

Island (Figure 1). A multidisciplinary approach is used to reconstruct the long history of building, maintenance and re-building of these bridges, which occurred several times, after their destruc-tion by natural causes or human activity. For this purpose, the study of archival literature (texts and maps) was combined with underwater archaeol-ogy, dendrochronology, building archaeology, and geomorphological landscape analyses. Although this is an ongoing research project, sufficient data have been collected to allow the presentation of a preliminary series of results.

La Charité-sur-Loire: A Strategic Location on the Bank of the Loire River

The town of La Charité was built in a strategic position, on a rocky hillside overlooking the Loire River, on a site that has been occupied since pre-historic times. In fact, the archaeological excava-tions conducted from 1975 to 1982, on the site of the medieval priory, brought to light Iron Age potsherds and Roman floor fragments. There is no trace of the Merovingian occupation, mentioned

FIGURE 1. MAP OF LA CHARITÉ-SUR-LOIRE ON THE BANKS OF THE LOIRE RIVER, FRANCE (MAP BY ANNIE DUMONT, 2013).

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through the legendary town of Seyr, which must have preceded the town of La Charité. However, the discov-ery of a building pre-dating the first Cluniac foundation confirms the implantation of a place of worship during the Carolingian era (Audoin-Rouzeau 1986).

In 1052, this church and the adjacent lands were given to the bishop of Auxerre, who entrusted them to the powerful abbot of Cluny, Hugues I. From that date onward, the site underwent rapid growth: during the 12th century, the prior of La Charité was the second most important figure in the Order, after the abbot of Cluny. He had under his guardianship 45 dependen-cies, established in France, England, Portugal, Italy, and Constantinople, as well as 400 strongholds spread throughout the country. The church of Notre-Dame, founded in 1056, was the second largest church in Christendom, after Cluny, and more than 200 monks lived in the buildings, on an estate extending over three hectares. The political and economic development of La Charité was linked to its strategic position on the river, set high on the bank in order to control a crossing point, at the intersection between waterways and land routes. The resources on the riverbanks (in particular the forests of the Nivernais region and the cereal plains of Berry) were directly accessible, as were the aquatic resources, as well as all commodities transported on the Loire River. However, the link between the priory and the river has not previously been the object of a detailed investigation.

Today, at the town of La Charité, the Loire River divides into two channels. The first channel, previ-ously called fausse rivière, and now known as the small channel, is located between the left bank (La Chapelle-Montlinard) and Faubourg Island. A reinforced concrete bridge, called pont du Berry, crosses this channel. The second, main channel, through which most of the river flows, is located between the eastern side of the island and the right bank of the river (La Charité-sur-Loire). From the 16th century onward, at least, it has been crossed via a stone bridge, which has been demolished and rebuilt several times. This bridge has been listed on the inventory of historical monuments since 2003.

The First Medieval Wooden Bridges

Until recently, it was thought that the bridges of La Charité, in their current position, must first have been built during the Middle Ages, to replace a ford. Such a ford was thought possible, as bridges were often built at sites where the riverbed was firmer, with stable sandbanks that could be used in their natural state for

foot crossing. However, the configuration of the Loire riverbed is not known prior to iconographic documents of the 17th century and, in light of recent discover-ies, it must have undergone major changes during the medieval era. Construction of the Cluniac priory of La Charité began in 1059 and continued until 1225 (for the large church). The priory became prosperous within decades, attracting guests and merchants. La Charité then became a stopping point on the pilgrimage route starting from Vézelay to Santiago de Compostela. It therefore seems likely that the need to cross the Loire River motivated, in part, the choice of the implantation of the site, its development, and its wealth. The only way to guarantee the Loire River crossing all year round was to build a bridge.

The first indirect mention of the bridge dates back to the end of the 12th century. It comes from the cartulary of La Charité: “the Count of Sancerre gave to the priory, in 1176, mills set up under the arches of the Loire River bridge, which were demolished in 1520 in order to build the stone bridge” (Lespinasse 1887:164). This sentence provides two pieces of information: 1) There was already a bridge, possibly made of wood and, 2) There were mills located under its arches. It is also logical to con-clude that this bridge had been present for a long while. However, the surviving medieval texts do not allow an accurate history of the crossing to be reconstructed, as they include no description of the channel nor any technical details, and their rarity excludes the possibility of knowing the exact order of the stages in the building and repair processes.

During underwater surveys between 2009 and 2012, in the small channel, the remains of a wooden bridge were discovered, which has been dated by dendrochro-nology to the middle of the 13th century (Figure  2). The date of the felling of the trees is during the winter of 1248-1249, which would mean an implementation in 1249 (Dumont 2011). The remains are oak posts, planted vertically, which emerge during low tides. The layout is very regular: each pier was formed of eight posts (with the exception of one), and measured 1 m wide and 4.50 m long, thus indicating the maximum length of the deck. They are set at an interval of 7 m, and there are no visible additional posts to indicate repairs. This observa-tion is important as the absence of repairs shows that this bridge was in operation for only a short period of time. Indeed, all the treaties on the construction of wood bridges indicate that this type of work requires constant maintenance and periods of repair approximately every five years (Gautey 1765; Gauthier 1843).

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Using surveys conducted at the island of La Batte, the extension of the bridge has been determined to be a length of 202 m, with the minimal theoretical number of piers being 29. Other piers are probably preserved in the sand on the left bank and under Faubourg Island, but it was not possible to perform surveys there in order to determine the total length of the bridge. Despite the state of erosion, the remains of the foundations provide critical data, as the axis of construction does not corre-spond at all to the axis of the present-day bridges, which were installed later. As bridges are always established perpendicularly to the channel (Gautey 1765; Gauthier 1843), the bridge of La Charité highlights important changes in style, which probably occurred between the second half of the 13th century and the beginning of the 16th century, the date usually given for the build-ing of the large stone bridge in the main channel. The date of formation of Faubourg Island is unknown. It is described, in the literature available, as having been consolidated during the Middle Ages, without further details (Audoin-Rouzeau 1986). It is thus legitimate to

speculate regarding its existence at the time when the wooden bridge was built.

In search of answers to these new questions, core drilling and sedimentary studies were carried out on Faubourg Island and in the main channel. The most ancient sediments that could be reached date back to the early Middle Ages and their study revealed the presence, during this period, of a rather large swamp in the area where the main channel is now located. At the begin-ning of the Middle Ages, therefore, the Loire River did not flow where the present-day channel is now found, and the main channel of that period was most likely located more to the west, in the present-day floodplain. It is also there that any traces would probably be found of the crossings of the Roman and Merovingian periods, whether fords or perhaps bridges, if such crossings ever existed. The additional information provided by sedi-mentary studies is that Faubourg Island may not have been an island, but an integral part of the right bank, at the time that this first known bridge was built, in 1249. The Loire River undoubtedly underwent a modification

FIGURE 2. MAP OF LA CHARITÉ-SUR-LOIRE/LA CHAPELLE-MONTLINARD (MAP BY ANNIE DUMONT AND PHILIPPE MOYAT, 2013).

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of its path after the destruction of this bridge, for un-known reasons: it is possible that one or more periods of particularly violent flooding could have partly changed the channel path, and in particular have led to the for-mation of Faubourg Island, forcing the local residents to rebuild two bridges on the sites where bridges are still located today.

These data show in any case that the course of the river has undergone important changes after the first half of the 13th century, leading from a meandering route to a straighter path. Additional core drillings are planned in the plain on the left bank, to define the context of its evolution, but it is already possible to ascertain the likely impact of the Little Ice Age on the hydrographic system, starting from the 14th century.

The Setting Up of the Present-Day Axis of the Bridges: End of the 13th or 14th Century

During the late medieval period, several references to bridges appeared in texts, for example in 1438, when Thibault Doüet, 36th Prior of La Charité, gave to the clergymen a mill that he owned below the bridges of La Charité (Leboeuf 1897:29). As with previous periods, these brief citations provide no details regarding the exact location of the bridges, or the building materials. The text most often cited, and on which most historians and commentators rely, when dating the building of the first stone bridge in the main channel at the begin-ning of the 16th century, is an indirect source, cited by R. Lespinasse in the Cartulaire du prieuré de la Charité-sur-Loire. This text mentions that, in 1520, the construction of a stone bridge was started, where previously there was only a wooden one, which had been destroyed in several locations (Lespinasse 1887:164). This text is an extract from a manuscript of the 17th century, origi-nating from the copy of more ancient texts. Unfortunately, the charters and other original documents which were used in its writing have long been lost or destroyed.

Based on archaeological studies conducted over the past few years, the date of 1520 is questionable and can be moved back by two or three centuries. Indeed, the survey of the channel was recently extended to the cellars of the houses located on the axis of the bridge

of La Charité, on the right bank. Three arches were discovered, preserved beneath the ancient houses spread out along the Rue du Pont (Figure 3). The archaeological study of the building, conducted in August 2012, and completed by a study of the archives, aimed at dating these three arches, and better understanding the urban evolution of the suburbs on the banks of the Loire River.

Several historical descriptions of La Charité state that there was a bridge which first comprised 11 arches and then only 10 (Garniche 2000). The three that were discovered under the Rue du Pont, in the cellars, are characterized by a pointed arch, which is not the case in any of the representations that have survived to the present-day, or any engravings of the Modern period, in which the arches are always rounded (Garniche 2000). So, the remains preserved under the street are likely to be the only remains of what may have been the first stone bridge of La Charité, built not in 1520, but more likely long before that date. Indeed, the use of a pointed arch implies building stages between the end of the 12th cen-tury and, at the latest, the 15th century (Mesqui 1982:3; Mesqui 1986:18). The presence, above these arches, of houses dated back to the 15th century allows a more ac-curate estimation of a date between the end of the 12th century and the 14th century.

Water appears to have flowed below the arch located in the first cellar, the closest to the bridge, but this fact has not been ascertained for the other two arches. Perhaps a monumental ramp may once have linked the bridge to the priory. These observations indicate that the part of the town located on the banks of the

FIGURE 3. THE ARCH LOCATED IN THE FIRST CELLAR, Rue du Pont (PHOTO BY ANNIE DUMONT, 2012).

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Loire River has undergone major changes between the classical Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The houses of the 12th and 13th centuries that are still standing, such as, for example, the salt storehouse, were all facing the river, and implemented at a lower level than later buildings. The arches in the cellars also give evidence of a previously wider channel, on which the town, after the building of the quays and houses, must have progres-sively encroached, thus reducing the space available for water flow.

The Bridges from the Renaissance to the Modern Period

The town of La Charité was severely affected by the crises that marked the end of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, including the Hundred Years War and the Wars of Religion. From the 15th century, the town began to decline and the monastery was affected by looting, which seriously affected its economic function-ing and stability. Besides the various periods of war, a fire that broke out in 1559 in the monks' dormitories reached the nave of the priory, destroying most of the monastic buildings, and 200 houses in the town. During these events, it is unclear whether the bridges were only partially affected or totally destroyed.

Several texts dated from 17th century, preserved in the municipal archives of La Charité-sur-Loire (Unclassified records), mention the bridge over the small channel. In 1648, this bridge was partially destroyed, from an unknown cause, and the collapse of the bridge caused an accident in which someone was seriously injured. In 1658, it is stated that ice had carried away much of the wooden bridges. In these texts, a door, keys and a drawbridge are mentioned, confirming the defensive na-ture of the structure. Problems relating to the passage of soldiers are mentioned, and in 1636, when an epidemic

was declared in Bourges, the door of the wooden bridge over the small channel was guarded, to cut off commu-nication and prevent the spread of disease in the town of La Charité. These documents also account for disputes relating to the tolls that bridge users had to pay, as much for people as for livestock and the transport of goods.

Views of the city and its bridges from the 17th cen-tury are preserved, including those by Matthäus Merian (Zeiller and Mérian 1656), dated 1640 (Figure 4). The stone bridge is clearly equipped in the center with a defensive watchtower, apparently with a removable part (drawbridge) to temporarily cut off access in the middle of the structure. This device is also clearly visible in the engraving by Israel Sylvestre, dated 1650 (Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, FOL W 52 INV 94 RES P145). Three fortified gates guarded the bridge access, located respectively on each bank of Faubourg Island and at the end of the stone bridge, in the town. The arches were semicircular and not pointed, and six arches are shown between the middle of the stone bridge and the right bank, while the more recent views do not show more than five. However, the realism of these antique prints may be queried; artists were not always completely ac-curate in their representation of this type of detail.

In the 17th century, the stone bridge was rebuilt. Due to a defect in the structure, in 1738, three of the arches were totally rebuilt and all cutwaters of the bridge were restored (Garniche 2000). It was probably at that time that the defensive watchtower in the middle of the bridge disappeared, and was replaced by the carved ele-ment that is still present today. The bridge adapted to less warlike times and to changes in military strategy.

At the end of the 18th century, the development of the quays on the right bank totally changed the edges of the bridge in the town: the bulwark disappeared, and the bank became covered by large embankments causing the disappearance of the 11th arch (Leboeuf 1897:412).

FIGURE 4. VIEW OF THE TOWN OF LA CHARITÉ-SUR-LOIRE AND ITS BRIDGES (DRAWING BY MATTHÄUS MERIAN, 1640).

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The end of that century also saw an increase in com-plaints related to tolls, and extreme natural episodes, in particular ice spells. The Little Ice Age obviously had a major impact on the destruction of bridges, for its long and repeated cold episodes caused the complete freezing over of large rivers such as the Loire. The bridge over the small channel was thus destroyed on 16 January 1789 by a collapse, followed by a high flood.

Besides a precise description of this episode, there are letters (Municipal Archives of La Charité-sur-Loire, un-classified records) testifying to the difficulties generated by the interruption of communication between the two banks, for the economy in particular, and for the popu-lation generally. In January 1795, the Loire was frozen again; prisoners from Mayenne and Austria, held in La Charité jail, were requisitioned to break the ice around the nose of the stone bridge. A ferry was then used to provide communication between Faubourg Island and the left bank; it was not until 1805 that a new wooden bridge was rebuilt.

Bridges and Wars of the Contemporary Period

The wooden bridge crossing the small channel, built in 1805, suffered many problems. It was destroyed in 1831, and a new structure was necessary to ensure the fluid flow of traffic on the main road connecting Poitiers to Avallon. The administration decided to replace it by a suspension bridge, completed in 1841. In 1868, it was replaced by a metal bridge called the cast iron bridge, which was destroyed by the German army in September 1944. A ferry and then a temporary bridge served in its stead until 1950, when a new bridge was built, made from reinforced concrete. Many traces of the wooden foundations, together with elements from the stone piers, reflecting the turbulent history of this crossing, are visible around and under the existing bridge.

The bridge that crosses the main channel and con-nects Faubourg Island to the town of La Charité has not been spared by contemporary conflicts. During the war of 1870, a letter by the inhabitants of La Charité to the general commander of the 19th military division unveiled unexpected discoveries made in the cellars of houses. Indeed, as the inhabitants pointed out to the general, in anticipation of a probable invasion and to delay the advancement of the enemy, the army under-mined the bridge, and was to blow it up if necessary. The explosives were placed on the keystone of the third arch, at a short distance from the town. The people were

worried, reminding the general that the bridge abutment extended at least 60 m into the Rue du Pont and that all the houses along each side of the street were built on the bridge abutment. They were worried that, if the bridge were to be blown up, their homes would be partially or completely destroyed. They also feared for their lives. Thus, since the late Middle Ages, people have preserved the past history of the bridge and knew that the arches still existed under their homes.

Finally, the main bridge was partially destroyed twice during the Second World War: First on 16 June 1940, by the French army, in order to slow the invasion; and then in 1944, by the German army, during their retreat. In 1944, three arches were rebuilt in the old style (Garniche 2000).

Conclusion

The varied information gathered provides the first description of the history of the double-crossing of the Loire during the last eight centuries, which still requires further research. The use of complementary research methods (history, underwater archaeology, building archaeology, sediment studies, and dendrochronology) allow researchers to understand the complex evolution of these bridges and thus, in the long term, to learn more about the role of bridges in societies past and pres-ent. Bridges are essential to economic development, far exceeding the status of simple constructions, and their destruction is always cruelly felt by the population.

Indeed, bridges also symbolize the perpetual confron-tation between the population and the Loire River, where each destruction due to floods or ice leads to rebuilding, often with new techniques. This is particularly evident in medieval and modern times, as shown by the analysis of archival literature and available data, as the bridges seem to be subjected to extreme climate events during these periods. In the Contemporary period, however, people are more destructive than nature, and damage to bridges is more frequently the consequence of war and the immoderate use of explosives.

The bridges built between La Charité and La Chapelle Montlinard will continue to feature in the future: sub-jected to intense traffic, the great stone bridge listed in the inventory of historical monuments is showing signs of fatigue, making the construction of a new bridge to link the two banks essential in the near future. The his-tory of these bridges, which is retold using data buried underground and underwater, is still in progress, inte-grating the more general history of the Loire River.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the French Ministry of Culture (DRASSM, DRAC Centre, and DRAC Bourgogne), the European Union (FEDER - Plan Loire Grandeur Nature), Etablissement Public Loire, the Regional Council of the Region Centre, and the University of Burgundy.

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Annie DumontDRASSM – 147 Plage de l’Estaque13016 Marseille – France

Marion FoucherUMR 62698 – Université de Bourgogne6 Bd Gabriel21000 Dijon – France

Ronan SteinmannUMR 62698 – Université de Bourgogne6 Bd Gabriel21000 Dijon – France

Catherine LavierUniversité Pierre et Marie Curie – Site

d’Ivry – Le Raphaël3 Rue Galilée94200 Ivry-sur-Seine – France

Philippe MoyatUMR6298 ARTeHIS – Université de Bourgogne6 Bd Gabriel21000 Dijon – France

Jean-Pierre GarciaUMR 62698 – Université de Bourgogne6 Bd Gabriel21000 Dijon – France

Agnès StockChrono-Environnement – UFR Sciences et techniquesUniversité de Franche-Comté – La Bouloie16 Route de Gray25030 Besançon Cedex – France

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Carmela ChateauUFR SVTE - Université de Bourgogne6 Bd Gabriel21000 Dijon – France