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Origin and history

The chapel of the Jacobins of Beaune was founded in 1475 by Monsieur de Villiers, lord of Igornay and chamberlain of the Duke of Burgundy, for the order of the Preachers Brothers. The church, consecrated in 1483, reflects a late Gothic architecture, with a nave of four spans, a south side and four northern chapels. His choir, initially composed of two spans and a three-sided apse, was demolished in 1791 with the bell tower after the Revolution. The nave, now cut by a floor, once masked a broken crib panelled structure, comparable to that of the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune.

In the 17th century, comfort work, especially on the roof, was undertaken to preserve the building. After the sale of the national goods, the ensemble was renovated: the architect François Guillemot proposed in 1791 plans to install the offices of the district and the commercial court. Although the choir and the bell tower have disappeared, the chapel preserves remarkable elements such as arches with warheads, ivy and thirdrons, as well as bays now blocked. His history was also marked by the initial opposition of the Canons of Notre-Dame, fearing the influence of the Jacobins, until the intervention of King Louis XI in 1477 to authorize his construction.

Classified as a Historic Monument in 2007, the chapel illustrates the architectural and political transitions of Burgundy, from the independent duchy to its connection to the royal domain. Its present state, though altered, bears witness to its past role as a place of worship and spiritual influence, before becoming a post-revolutionary administrative building. The foundation by Monsieur de Villiers, with the indirect support of Louis XI, makes it a symbol of the tensions between local and royal power at the end of the 15th century.

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