GENEVIÈVE Vincent, A portion of the treasure discovered at Tournefeuille in 1894, found in the Medals Collection of the Musée Saint-Raymond in Toulouse

 The Tournefeuille coin hoard, discovered in 1894, was apparently quickly dispersed by its discoverers. Until recently, the find was known only by the study of a few of its coins and by a brief summary by Emmanuel Delorme, presented to the Société Archéologique du Midi de la France. While none of the coins from this hoard have come down to us, research based on the notebook of Ernest Roschach has allowed the identification of forty-five of the fifty-one specimens acquired by the Musée Saint-Raymond in March, 1894. A study of the information provided by the two Toulousan scholars has led to the identification of the site where the deposit was found, and to a proposed date for the burying.

FRAÏSSE Chantal, Some observations on the Moissac scriptorium at the beginning of the twelfth century

 The two or three first decades of the twelfth century were years of great activity for the scriptorium of the former abbey of  St. Pierre at Moissac. A detailed examination of twenty manuscripts whose texts and illuminations were both completed by a group of copyists, allows us to better understand the working of the scriptorium, the relationship between the scribes and the painters of the illuminated capitals, the relationship among the scribes and illuminators, as well as the relationship between the text and the images. Two personalities emerged among the painters, whose style was constantly repeated by about ten illuminators working with them. These talented painters were undoubtedly, and above all, scribes, since the writing of the text was the scriptorium's principal preoccupation. The scriptorium appears not to have been rigidly hierarchical, with the functions of painter and scribe clearly delineated, but on the contrary was a team whose members freely exchanged motifs, styles and techniques, even while they recognized those amongst themselves whose talents they tried to emulate.

MACÉ Laurent, The power of the Counts of Toulouse and consular autonomy: the analysis of a miniature of the thirteenth century

 The two miniatures that decorate the first pages of the cartularies of the Bourg and of the City of Toulouse are works of high quality. Beyond aesthetic considerations, our attention is drawn to the way power in the heart of the city is represented, especially in the initial "I" of the City cartulary. Three figures are grouped near a written document, which appears to be the main subject chosen by those who commissioned the work. The relationship between the cartulary and the miniature in this illumination, the internal structure of the composition and the Toulousan context allow us to identify the figures of the count, his vicar and probably a consul.

GARRIC Jean-Michel and PRADALIER Henri, A recent discovery: the Gothic pavement of the Berbie palace in Albi

 At the end of the year 2000, a stamped and glazed terracotta pavement was discovered in the former tower built by Bishop Durand of Beaucaire before 1254, in an excellent state of preservation. The vestiges of another tiled floor came to light at the same time in the courtain-wall built by Bernard de Combret before 1271. A third exists, situated above the Notre-Dame chapel, known since the nineteenth century, but not yet studied. This floor, dated to around 1300, enriches our knowledge about a technique imported from the north of France after 1270, which is little known in the Midi, because it was seemingly limited to more prestigious buildings. It also provides an opportunity to investigate the improvements of Bernard de Castanet at the end of the thirteenth century.

ROUSSET Valérie, Two paired medieval houses at Mayrinhac-Le-Francal (Lot) and other examples from the countryside

The two medieval houses of Mayrinhac-Le-Francal, near Rocamadour, provide an example of dwellings made up of repeated modules, of simple, square design, composed of one room on the ground level, which functioned as a shed or workshop, one room on the second floor, only about 20 m², in which are found a sink, storage, and a space for heating and cooking utensils (there are no signs of a fireplace). Other paired houses of this little ecclesiastical borough and other villages of the Lot and Aveyron allow us to sketch those layouts which correspond to particular social and economic contexts, in rural groups of dwellings.

 CATALO Jean, The medieval Franciscan convent in Castres (Tarn)

 Excavation of the Thirty-Second Division of Infantry Square has led to the discovery of part of the town's first Franciscan convent. Upon their arrival in 1229, the Franciscans installed their convent outside the town wall. The plan of the northern wing of these buildings was reconstructed, with the west wall of the church, the chapter house and other buildings running along the gallery of the cloister. A cemetery extended around the church's apse. All of these buildings were surrounded by a ditch, bordered by a wall.

During construction of a new rampart from 1373 to 1380, the convent found itself within the town. This inclusion led to a re-organization of the cemetery and the extension of the buildings to the north, until their complete destruction in 1563. The 125 burials encountered during the excavation comprise at least 134 individuals, buried for the most part in the cemetery. This sample provides an unusual image of the Castres region at the end of the Middle Ages, within the specific framework of a mendicant convent, closely tied to testamentary practices.

SALVAN-GUILLOTIN Marc, The paintings of the church of Notre-Dame de Sescas of Bourisp (Hautes-Pyrénées)

 Situated in the Aure valley, the church of Notre-Dame de Sescas of Bourisp was decorated with a vast painted program at the end of the Middle Ages. The entire interior was in fact painted from 1589 to 1592 by Ramond Sabatier, a painter who also worked in many other building in the region. The great interest of this work, beyond its aesthetic qualities, is in its coherent iconography. Most of the themes that were popular in this pivotal period were in fact brought together in a way that makes a whole that is at once didactic and witness to the piety of the time. A study of the paintings proves to what extent the churches of the high valleys of the  Pyrenees were seen as the centers of village life, and how the communities concentrated all of their efforts on putting in place such prestigious decorations. Both stylistic and iconographic correlations with other cycles prove moreover, that this group of paintings can be placed firmly within regional developments.

BACCRABÈRE Georges, Toulousan warming dishes of the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries

 These portable tables’ warmers served to heat food, with dishes being set on the upper surface, which contained the charcoal. They have handles on the side and generally a hollow foot.

The series presented here is made up of pieces found in Toulouse, during works from 1960 to 1973. It includes warmers from the second half of the sixteenth century, and from the beginnings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The proposed dating relies on the evolution of forms and ornamentation, and on other ceramics and coins which accompanied them.

ANDRIEU Nicole, The church of Montesquieu-Volvestre in the nineteenth century: the role of the church Council

 Early in 2001, works undertaken in the sacristy of the church of Saint-Victor of Montesquieu-Volvestre made it necessary to clear the site to keep furniture and objects safe. The complete inventory made at the time led to the identification of three manuscript registers which correspond to two notebooks of minutes of the meeting of the church Council, which cover almost exactly the period of the Concord, from September 14, 1804 to April 30, 1905, and a book of minutes of the meetings of the Office of the churchwardens, for a shorter period, from 1833 to 1885. These documents, beyond the information they provide about the acquisition of precious objects and ceremonial pieces, are witness to the great difficulties encountered by the parishes in passing from the Ancient Regime to the new regime which followed it.

PEYRUSSE Louis, Henri Labrouste's design for the church of Saint-Aubin at Toulouse (1844)

 In 1844, Henri Labrouste bid for the construction of the church of Saint-Aubin, a hotly-contested competition, in which the municipal Building Council imposed its unusual and disastrous choice against the will of the Toulousans, who were in favor of modernity. Labrouste failed. The plans which were never reproduced before 2002 have hardly been studied. The model for the church is quite original: a building in the round, with a short nave, covered with a cupola which recalls Tuscan traditions. In the midst of the lively quarrels over style, the project offered an important new direction: Labrouste reaffirms in his work the obligation to reflect on Renaissance models, with a plan and forms which were very advanced for the time.

Bulletin of the Academic Year 2001-2002

 The minutes of the meetings of the Society give an account of its various activities, recording in particular the discussions which follow the lectures presented, whether or not the latter are published in the Mémoires. Also included is information on archaeological digs, restorations in progress and various discoveries in Toulouse and the region, as well as summaries and notes: A seventeenth-century monstrance found at Montesquieu-Volvestre; The sculpture of a bishop's head re-used in Cahors; The convents of the Dominicans and Franciscans at Rieux-Volvestre; The gold of Tolosa; A document on the Fouque and Arnoux faience works; François-Martin Lebrun, 1799-1845. Architect-theorician of cement; Medieval civil architecture at Lauzerte in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; An image of healing on a Romanesque capital from Sainte-Foy de Conques; The memory of the ancient building of the Daurade through medieval legends and traditions; The beginnings of Gothic architecture in central Gascony; The murals of the Lobios house in Moissac; The restoration of the murals of the church of La Masse; The restoration of the Visitation in the cathedral of Cahors; The Palmata tower at Gaillac; Two angels of the main altar of the church of Saint-Jacques in Montauban…

The marbles of Caunes: masons and sculptors in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Symposium at Auterive (Haute-Garonne)

 After a presentation on the eighteenth century altars from the church of Saint-Paul at Auterive, the afternoon was consecrated to the following lectures and discussion: Jean-Louis BONNET, "The exploitation of the marbles of Caunes and Félines in the Minervois (seventeenth century); Jean-Claude FAU, "The angels of Saint-Jacques, in Montauban"; Pascal JULIEN, "The Extraction and transportation of the royal marbles from the Pyrenees"; Bruno TOLLON, "Commissions and the process of creation".

Translated by Pamela Marquez
Department of History
Metropolitan State College of Denver

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