Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Priory Saint-Nicolas de Campagnac, located at Sainte-Anastasie in the Gard, was built between 896 and 1156, when Louis VII confirmed his property to the bishop of Uzès. Its architectural style suggests a foundation in the early 12th century. It belonged to the Order of Saint Augustine and played a key role in the connection between Nîmes and Uzes thanks to the adjacent bridge, built by the monks between 1245 and 1260 under the Priorate of Pierre d'Arpaillargues.

Ravaged during the Wars of Religion in 1560, the priory saw his chapel collapse and its burials desecrated. The watch tower, the last intact vestige, became a strategic issue: taken in 1583 by Captain Guisard Ferrières, it was taken over two months later by the inhabitants of Nîmes and Uzès, who executed the traitor. The monastery remained deserted for half a century, before being restored by the canons reformed in the seventeenth century.

In the 15th century, the priory welcomed ecclesiastical figures such as Jacques de Caulers, bishop of Nîmes, who took an oath there in 1482. The canons later joined the Congregation of France (Sainte-Geneviève), impulsed by François de La Rochefoucauld. The site, which was listed as historical monuments in 1987, preserves a disused prioral church, a cemetery destroyed in 1863, and traces of its seigneurial past, such as the tombs of the lords of Uzes.

The priory possessed economic outbuildings (moulins, vineyards, lands) and affiliated priories, such as Saint-André de Collorgues or Notre-Dame de Blauzac. Its history reflects the religious and political tensions of the region, between Catholicism, Protestantism and episcopal power. The Latin epitaphs found, like that of Jacques de Cambronne (1697), bear witness to his spiritual and memorial role.

Among the notable figures, Raymond Jordan (XIVth century), author of the author of L-Idiota sapiens, illustrates his intellectual influence. The coat of arms of the priory — d'azur to Saint Nicholas on a golden bridge — symbolize his Augustinian identity and his river anchor. Today, the site protects its facades, its church and a medieval sheepfold, remains of a major monastic and architectural heritage in Occitanie.

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