Wooden gilded reliquary with the whole Head of Saint Clair, Miracle Worker, Martyr and Apostle of Normandy

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Wooden gilded reliquary with the whole Head of Saint Clair, Miracle Worker, Martyr and Apostle of Normandy

Gold and silver ornaments, stones.

Reliquary dimensions:

height - 44 cm.

length - 55 cm.

width - 35 cm.

Saint Clair of Normandy (845–884) was a Benedictine monk from Kent, an apostle to Normandy, who died a martyr at Vexin, in what is now Saint-Clair-sur-Epte.

He is celebrated at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte on 16 July and elsewhere on 18 July.

Biography

Saint-Clair is said to have been born in Olchestria, modern Rochester, England, around 845, into a very distinguished family, close to the royal family. Destined for a brilliant career, he fled in 866 from a marriage his father wanted to force upon him. Crossing the Channel with his best friend and inseparable companion Sirinus, he first settled in the English Channel, living as a hermit at Naqueville near Cherbourg, then spent two years at Donville-les-Bains, where he created a moutier, before retiring to Valognes. He also leaves traces of his stay at Saint-Lô, Vire, Carentan and the Pays d'Auge. He was ordained a priest in 870 by Seguiman, Bishop of Coutances. His regular journeys seem to correspond to the need to flee the vindictiveness of a woman he refused to marry; he wishes to preserve his incognito, but his reputation as a holy man betrays him. Several towns and villages undoubtedly located along his route took his name: Saint-Clair-sur-l'El, Saint-Clair-de-Bassinville (annexed to Goustranville), Hérouville-Saint-Clair, Bordeaux-Saint-Clair, Saint-Clair-d'Arcy. This route is described in detail in the work of Léon Colleville. However, he suggests that the Viking invasions, which were in full swing at the time, with their procession of destruction and massacres, may have played a role in the wanderings of the saint, who may have owed his fame to his resistance to the "oppressors". After this long journey through Upper and Lower Normandy, lasting more than fifteen years, Saint-Clair and Saint-Cyrin founded their hermitage in Vexin, at a place called Pré-du-Paradis, on the banks of the Epte, which historically marked the border between the Kingdom of France and the Duchy of Normandy following a treaty concluded in 911 in a nearby village, the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In 884, according to historical accounts, still suffering from the vengefulness of the woman he refused to marry, Saint-Clair was beheaded along with Saint Cyrin by assassins she had ordered. This is why he is often depicted as a cephalophore saint. He would then offer his head to a nearby fountain, which would then be considered a miracle. However, there is another version of his execution, in which his skull was merely cut off. A statue in the church of Moillon in Manche shows him retaining his head, but holding a skull in his hands.

Worship

From the 10th century, his cult developed in Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, first with the creation of a Benedictine monastery adjacent to the village church, later converted into a farm6 . A chapel was subsequently built near his hermitage, and a miraculous fountain was built, which was said to heal the eyes7 . The church of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte retains its shrine, rebuilt several times. But the church of Gisors would have appropriated part of his relics.

The cult of the saint spread throughout Normandy: churches and chapels dedicated to him numbered in the dozens, some of which displayed the relics of the saint. Léon Colleville provides a list. A number of settlements, fountains, villages, farms, streams... are also named after him. In July, the festivals and fairs of Saint-Clair are still held, for example, in Carentan or in Le Pieux.

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