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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame de Monthérault church, located in Trizay, Charente-Maritime, is a modest building with preroman style and primitive novel. Founded probably in the 10th or 11th century, it was first mentioned in 1229 under the name Beata Maria de Monte-Ayraudi in seigneurial registers. Adapted to a rural community, it shares architectural similarities with the nearby churches of Sainte-Radegonde and Dercie. Its history reflects that of a rural parish, integrated into the seigneury of Tonnay and later into the archiprired of Corme-Royal.

In the 12th century, the church was enlarged with a vaulted choir in a broken cradle and foothills made of cut stone. Its façade, rebuilt in the 16th century, incorporates a Gothic portal in basket handle. Disused in 1826 after Monthérault's attachment to Trizay, it fell into ruins: its bell tower collapsed in 1999 during Storm Martin, and its vaults deteriorated from the 19th century. Despite an inscription in the Historic Monuments in 1996, its ranking was refused in 1998.

A major restoration campaign, conducted from 2011 to 2013 (total cost: ~€500,000), saves the building in extremis. The works include the partial reconstruction of the bedside and the bell tower wall, as well as the melting of new bells according to medieval methods, on site. Today opened for the visit, the church preserves Romanesque capitals with demonic and vegetal motifs, and a walled Romanesque bay, replaced by a statue of the Virgin. Its history illustrates the challenges of preserving rural heritage.

Legendarily associated with Charlemagne – who founded him in 777 to celebrate a victory over the Saracens – this hypothesis is ruled out by historians. The first written mention dates from 1229, in a charter of Hugues de Tonnay granting rights to neighbouring parishes. In the 16th century, Monthérault depended on the election of Saintes, before being erected as a commune in the Revolution, then attached to Trizay in 1826. A pilgrimage continued until the 1960s, before the state of disrepair made it dangerous.

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