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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Maurice de Crouy, located in the department of Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region, is part of a commune whose history dates back to the Merovingian period. The village, mentioned in the form Croviacus or Croiacus as early as 870, housed a royal villa where Clothilde owned an oratory before being given to Saint Médard Abbey of Soissons around 511. Charles Martel confirmed this donation in 720. A necropolis of ancient Tena (discovered in 1767) and a Gallo-Roman deposit (1899) attest to an ancient occupation, while vestiges of the 13th century, such as the walls of the Perrière Farm, recall its medieval past.

In 1148 Crouy briefly formed a free commune before obtaining his freedom in 1247 by an act of Count Jean de Soissons. The city, located in the Aisne Valley, was deeply marked by the First World War: in January 1915, fighting between French and German armies destroyed the church and much of the village. This destruction is mentioned in The Fire of Henri Barbusse, dedicated to his fallen comrades in Crouy, some of whom were perhaps rescued by Lazare Ponticelli, last hairy 14-18, honored in 2008 by a street in his name.

The reconstruction of the church is part of the wider history of Crouy, now a member of the Soissons agglomeration. Its heritage also includes Celtic traces, such as the Fried Stone, a promontory considered a monument of that time. The Éperon 132 association, created in 2003, perpetuates the memory of the Great War through reconstructions and research on the battle of January 1915, illustrating the local attachment to this painful and heroic past.

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