Basilica of Saint Mathurin

The Basilica of Saint-Mathurin de Larchant is a Catholic church located in Larchant (Seine-et-Marne), France. Although the church is commonly referred to as a basilica, it has not been designated as such by the pope and is therefore not a basilica under church rules for attributing such status. The basilica was an important pilgrimage destination during the Middle Ages. It served as the center of the cult of Saint Mathurin and attracted, in particular, pilgrims seeking cures for madness or exorcism for the possessed. The building was classified as a historical monument in 1846.

The church is dedicated to Saint Mathurin. A 10th-century manuscript provides an account of his life. According to his legend, he was born in Larchant at the end of the 3rd century to pagan parents. Mathurin had been initiated into the Catholic faith by Bishop Polycarp. He was ordained a priest at the age of twenty. At the time, Rome was stricken with various evils and the step-daughter of Emperor Maximian Hercules was tormented by a demon, who demanded that the Emperor bring from Gaul a holy man named Mathurin in order to perform an exorcism. The Emperor sent men to find Mathurin and to bring him to Rome., While in Rome, Mathurin is said to have cured the sick and exorcised the devil who had been tormenting the emperor's step-daughter, Theodora. He remained in Rome for three years, performing many miracles. He died there on the Calends of November (November 1). Acceding to Mathurin’s request that his body be returned to his native village, the Emperor provided an escort to bring back Mathurin's body to Larchant. On his tomb, many miracles are said to have occurred and these were at the origin of a very important pilgrimage to Larchant in the Middle Ages.

Elisabeth Le Riche, daughter of Lisiard Le Riche, inherited Larchant from her father around 950. At the beginning of the 11th century, in agreement with her son Renaud de Vendôme, bishop of Paris, she gave Larchant to the chapter of Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris. The destiny of Larchant and its church was then inextricably linked to that of Notre Dame. Having become lord of Larchant, the chapter of Notre Dame played a primordial role there, especially in relation to the church. The French Revolution in 1789 put an end to this arrangement.

This pilgrimage developed in the Middle Ages and, for centuries, was one of the principal pilgrimages. In 1324, it flourished to such an extent that the canons used part of the pilgrims’ offerings to meet the needs of the clerics of Notre-Dame de Paris. The reputation of Larchant developed during the Middle Ages, and Larchant and Saint Mathurin feature in several songs of the period. The throng of pilgrims made it necessary to build a much larger church. People came to ask for the intercession of Saint Mathurin for the healing of the insane and the possessed. The old route du Midi (road to the south of France) passed near the village and many pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela stopped there to contemplate Mathurin’s relics. Several kings made pilgrimages to Larchant: Charles IV in 1325, Louis XI in 1467, Charles VIII in 1486, François 1er in 1519 and 1541, Henri II in 1551, Henri III in 1587 and Henri IV in 1599., The pilgrimage peaked towards the end of the Middle Ages. It disappeared after the Revolution. Some priests and faithful tried to revive it at the beginning of the 20th century. The tradition was resumed after the war of 1914 and a ceremony still takes place on Whit Monday to honor Saint Mathurin.

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).