Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame-des-Marais came into being in 1366, when a medieval chapel was erected in La Ferté-Bernard. Its construction really began in the second half of the 15th century, financed by the local community and supported by Kings Charles VII (aids for the ramparts and the tower) and Louis XI (subsidies extended in 1468). The work, slowed down by limited resources (700 to 800 pounds annually), spread over more than a century, marked by the purchase of land in 1484, 1505 and 1524 to lengthen the nave and choir.

The choir and transept, of Gothic style, are built with a modest height (17 m for the vaults), contrasting with the square tower-clocher of 50 m, symbol of local prestige. The tower, completed around 1500, has a double-built roof and a leaded wooden arrow. The radiant chapels, inspired by the cathedral of Le Mans, were built between 1526 and 1544 under the direction of renowned masons such as Jérôme Gouin, Jean Texier (cousin of Jean de Beauce, builder of the bell tower of Chartres), and Mathurin Delborde, son-in-law of the latter. The latter lifts the vaults of the choir to 25 m and illuminates the building with 7 m high windows, while decorating the south facade, chosen as the main entrance due to the surrounding urbanization.

The stained glass windows, treasures of the church, cover four centuries of creation. The oldest (18th century) bear the arms of Jean de Bourbon and Louis XI, while the glass windows of the 16th century, attributed to dynasties of painters-glasses like the Courtois and François Delalande, depict biblical scenes (Arbre de Jessé, Legend of Saint Julien). Léopold Charles, a municipal civil servant, saved these works in the 19th century by obtaining their ranking (1840) and by restoring the stained glass windows, despite sometimes contested assignments. The organ, installed in 1501 by Éverard Baudot and rebuilt in 1536 by Pierre Bert, is now a classified instrument, reconstituted in 1986 with 17 games and two keyboards.

The construction, marked by monetary crises (50% depreciation between 1525 and 1550) and the wars of Religion (seat of 1590 without damage), symbolically ended in 1596 with the laying of the vaults of the choir by the Viet brothers. In the 17th century, a chapel was added (1623), and the arrow, destroyed in 1740, was restored in 1880 by Denis Darcy. The 19th century restorations, completed in 1890, preserve this emblematic monument, a witness to late Gothic art and the Renaissance in Sarthe.

The church also owes its fame to its interior decorations, such as the balcony supported by pillars forming a hymn to the Virgin, or historied balustrades (Regina Coeli, Ave regina coelorum). The cartridges engraved between 1551 and 1570, as well as the hanging keys of the bedside chapel, illustrate the influence of English and French styles. Ranked from the first list of historical monuments (1840), Notre-Dame-des-Marais remains an architectural and artistic masterpiece, inseparable from the history of La Ferté-Bernard.

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