Priory Saint-Racho-lez-Autun en Saône-et-Loire

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Priory of Saint-Racho-lez-Autun, located outside the walls of Autun near the Saint Andrew Gate, finds its origin in a pagan temple reused by Christians in the fifth century. First dedicated to the apostles Saint Simon and Saint Jude, he became a major place of worship after the burial of Saint Racho, Bishop of Autun between 650 and 659. Its relics, transferred to the Cathedral of Saint-Nazaire in the 13th century, made this priory a site of pilgrimage until its progressive destruction from the 18th century.

The building, described as a mixture of Roman and Christian architecture, included an un vaulted nave, collaterals and an apse decorated with golden mosaics. In the 11th century, it was attached to the Priory Notre-Dame de La Charité-sur-Loire, while maintaining close links with the chapter of Autun. Internal conflicts, such as the attempt to introduce Clunisian monks in the 12th century, and looting (especially in 1570 by Coligny's troops) accelerated its decline.

In the 18th century, the priory, already in ruins, served as a stone quarry. His archives, burned in 1570, and his buildings, sold as materials, erased almost every trace of his glorious past. In the 19th century, only the remains of the convent buildings and a Roman well remained. Today, nothing remains visible of what was one of the oldest shrines of the educal Church.

The treasure of the priory was modest: in 1389, a report notes the absence of chalice, forcing the prior to borrow sacred vases from nearby churches. Revenues from land, tithes and seigneuries (like Pouilly's) declined from the 17th century onwards. In 1730, the accounts showed a net income of only Pound153, which was encumbered by repairs and royal decimes.

Saint Racho, the central figure of the priory, was rediscovered in 1669 when his relics, hidden in an altar of Saint-Nazaire Cathedral, were found after the collapse of a marble table. His feast, originally celebrated on 28 January, was moved to 26 February after this rediscovery. A silver medal, struck in the eighteenth century, bears witness to the renewal of his devotion.

Priors, often from the order of Cluny or from the chapter of Autun, managed a declining estate as well as a bad one. Among them were Antoine Buisson (1464), bishop of Hippo Diarrhytus, or Florent de Montmorillon (1583), who had to alienate land to finance the repairs after the siege of Autun in 1591. The last prior, Jean-Louis Romelot, took possession in 1777, shortly before the Revolution.

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