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Origin and history

The Commanderie de Saint-Martin-des-Champs, founded around 1195, was originally a Templar Commandory before becoming a possession of the Hospitallers of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. Located 19 km east of Coulommiers, in the Seine-et-Marne department, it was one of the most powerful commissions in the Brie region in the 13th century. His activity lasted until the French Revolution, during which time it was sold as a national good in 1795.

In 1474, the commandory was described as a "large and beautiful house" including a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, surrounded by a walled orchard. Today, after a fire in 1981 that destroyed the prior's house, only the chapel remains, integrated into a modern farm called "the commandory". This chapel, disacralized from the Revolution, once served as a place of worship dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint Martin, and is now used as an agricultural hangar.

Architecturally, the chapel is distinguished by its rectangular four-span plan, oriented to the east, and its Gothic elements such as warhead crosses and carved capitals. It has three doors and eleven broken arch windows, as well as an oriental triplet. The decorations include leaves of water, oak and bay, as well as carved heads (men, beef, donkey or horse). Classified as a historic monument in 2011, it bears witness to the medieval Templar and Hospitalier heritage of the region.

The chapel of Saint-Martin-des-Champs shares architectural similarities with those of the nearby commissions of Chevru and Coulommies. His history is documented in several books, including La France des Templiers (Jean-Luc Aubarbier, 2007) and local studies such as those of Hervé Baptiste on the commanderie de Coulommiers. These sources underline its historic importance in the network of commanderies of Île-de-France.

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