Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Plain Chapel, located in Tersannes, New Aquitaine, is a rectangular arched building in a slightly broken cradle, built between the late 12th and the first half of the 14th century. It belonged to the former preceptory of the Plain, dependent on the Maison Dieu de Montmorillon, a hospital founded in 1080 and subsequently attached to the order of the Templars. The House of the Plaintiff was attested before 1245, while the term "commandery" appeared only in the 16th century, after Montmorillon's attachment to the order of Saint John of Jerusalem.

The 14th century murals, entirely covering the cradle vault, imitate a masonry or stylized rosettes. Above the eastern window, a Christ in Majesty dominates a quadrlobed composition, surrounded by angelic remains. The double between the two spans of the nave is decorated with palmettes in the shape of a Greek, reflecting medieval religious art. These decorations, classified as Historic Monument in 1992, demonstrate the spiritual and artistic importance of the site.

From 1623, the reformed hermits of Saint-Augustin, from the Bourges congregation, took possession of Montmorillon and kept the chaplaincy of the Plain until the Revolution. This change of management marked a transition between military orders (Templars, Hospitallers) and reformed religious communities, illustrating the ecclesiastical evolutions of the region between the Middle Ages and the modern era.

External links