Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Lycée Stéphane-Mallarmé occupies the location of the former convent of the Celestines, founded in the 14th century by Jean de Maisières and his wife Isabelle Bilouard. In 1336, the couple planned the construction of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, completed in 1345 near their home, rue de la Parchmenterie (current rue Thénard). This chapel, enriched by gifts of noble and bourgeois Senonians, becomes a place of worship animated by four chaplains. In 1366 the Célestin monks transformed the site into a priory and monastic college, with the agreement of Archbishop Guillaume de Melun. Isabelle de Maisières took the veil there before dying there in 1370.

In the 15th century, the Celestines rebuilt the chapel (consecrated in 1415) and built a rectangular cloister surrounded by monastic buildings, including an infirmary and a windmill. The church, rebuilt from 1477 under the direction of master mason Philippot Sauvage, is decorated with stalls carved by Jacquot Laroche and stained glass by Jean Hympe. Despite devastating fires (1521, 1655), the monastery was rebuilt, thanks in particular to the authorization of Louis XIV in 1669 to build a dormitory on the city walls. In the 18th century, a new chapel was built (1735-1739) under Archbishop Jean-Joseph Languet of Gergy.

The French Revolution marked a turning point: the convent, secularized in 1770, was sold to cover the debts of the monks. In 1803 the buildings became the secondary school of Sens, then the college of Sens in 1809. Transformed into an imperial high school in 1854 under Napoleon III, he welcomed figures such as Stéphane Mallarmé (1856-1860). During the two world wars, the high school served as a military hospital. In 1966, he became the Collège Stéphane-Mallarmé, preserving classical elements such as the chapel and the cloister, inscribed in historical monuments in 1966.

The site is also linked to local educational history: the Collège de Sens, founded in 1537 by Canon Philippe Hodoard, merges with the buildings of the Celestines after the Revolution. Managed by the Jesuits (1623-1762), then by Parisian regents, it was confiscated as national property in 1793. His legacy endures through personalities such as the generals Toutée and Belin, or writer Robert Brasillach. Today, the college embodies the continuity between religious heritage and public education.

The protected remains include the 18th century chapel, the northern gallery of the cloister, and facades showing successive reconstructions. The materials of the "big tower" demolished in 1787 were used to enhance a wing. The high school, marked by tragic events (such as the Württemberg invasion of 1814), remains a symbol of architectural and educational resilience in Burgundy-Franche-Comté.

External links