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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Augustin d'Espagnac, located in the municipality of Espagnac-Sainte-Eulalie (Lot, Occitanie), is a Gothic building built in the 13th and 14th centuries. It replaces a priory founded around 1150 by Bertrand de Griffeuil, then ceded to the abbey of the Crown in Charente. At the beginning of the 13th century, the priory was entrusted to the canonesses of Saint-Augustin, and its reconstruction was undertaken under the protection of Aymeric Hebron of Saint-Sulpice, bishop of Coimbra. The church was completed around 1289, while the bishop's tomb was erected before 1295.

The current gothic bedside is the result of a reconstruction dating back to the years 1320–40, identified by the coat of arms of the Cardaillac-Brengues on a vaulted key and a gissant. The latter would represent Hugues de Cardaillac, squire of Pope John XXII, who died in 1342. The two side chapels were added in the first half of the 14th century. In the 17th century, the church was partially destroyed and reduced to its bedside and a span of nave, keeping four or five of the original spans.

Ranked a historic monument in 1906, the church houses several tombs, including those of Aymeric Hebrard de Saint-Sulpice and members of the Cardaillac family. Its architecture blends Romanesque (nef-ruins) and Gothic (pentagonal apse chevet vaulted with warheads). The arch keys bear the arms of the Cardaillac de Brengues-Montbrun, testifying to their influence on the site.

Originally, the church belonged to the Notre-Dame de Val-Paradis monastery, an Augustinian priory whose remains also remain such as the room of the priory (paintings of the sixteenth century) and Romanesque arches of the cloister. The bell tower, square in shape, and the flamboyant openings of the choir date back to the postwar reconstructions of Hundred Years. Three embedded tombs, decorated with gisers (warrior, religious, bishop), underline its historical and religious importance.

Historical sources, such as the works of Edmond Albe or Louis d'Alauzier, confirm the architectural evolution of the building, linked to the local noble families (Cardaillac, Trian) and religious institutions (Crown Abbey, Saint Augustine Order). Today, the church and its tombs remain protected, illustrating the medieval and monastic heritage of Quercy.

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