Eglise St Martin de Balzac

Romanesque church of St Martin de Balzac The Romanesque church was given in 1153 by Count William IV to Pierre de Lomond, abbot of Saint-Amand-de-Boixe, who, having become bishop of Angoulême, ceded it to his abbey in 1162. The façade, reinforced at its ends by two buttresses, has a semi-circular doorway, which still has a column with a beautiful capital decorated with a dragon. Additional buttresses have been added. This large projection and the presence of curved capitals make it possible to date the church to the end of the 12th century. The church has a choir with a straight bay and a semicircular apse. The apse is vaulted and has three semi-circular bays framed by columns on the inside and outside. The capitals of these colonnettes are home to most of the sculpture in the building. The capital to the south of the apse's central bay, although of mediocre workmanship, is particularly interesting for its symbolic value. It depicts an owl being harassed by birds. This representation belongs to the Romanesque bestiary. The choir is extended to the west by a straight bay covered by a dome on pendentives and surmounted by a modern bell tower whose access is located in a large buttress marking the south-western corner of the bay. This bay, which is delimited by four arches, is open to the north and south by a semi-circular bay which must originally have been framed by colonnettes. The northern arch is composed of two scrolls supported by columns on dosserets, a composition that would have been found in the west in the Romanesque period. This asymmetry could be explained by the fall of the bell tower, which would have led to a partial reconstruction of this bay and also of part of the nave. The church has a single nave covered by a stone barrel vault. This hypothesis is confirmed by the presence of engaged columns on the side walls. These columns delimit each bay of the nave and correspond to buttresses on the outside. They were located at the end of the double arches that supported the original vault. They end in chamfered capitals whose tailloirs are extended by a band that marks the start of the roof. It is also worth noting that the walls of the second bay, both to the south and to the north, are set back, which should be compared with the strongly jutting appearance of the walls of the nave. It would seem that these elements are linked to a partial destruction of the church, probably in the modern period, due to the collapse of the bell tower and the barrel vault. We know that the bell tower was rebuilt in 1760, which probably marks the end of the work begun in the 17th century, as the style of the restorations attests. The walls of the nave and the right choir bay were partly rebuilt and reinforced with thick buttresses. In addition, the pillars marking the boundary between the nave and the choir were reinforced, as was the arch they support. The financing of this work was facilitated by the proximity of Balzac Castle, the lords having undoubtedly contributed to the costs incurred by the restoration of the church. The presence of a door in the second bay of the nave towards the castle confirms this. This 17th century mark can be seen on the façade with the presence of a sculpted rider in low relief, a rider who could be a representation of Saint Martin. This sculpture breaks the great sobriety of the façade, which has a simple portal formed by two voussoirs without any decoration. This portal is surmounted by a semicircular bay underlined by a diamond-shaped stringcourse, the only vestige of Romanesque decoration. In fact, the sculpture, which is practically absent on this façade, was once part of it. On one of the capitals of the columns framing the portal, a dragon had been represented. Now that the columns have disappeared, we can no longer appreciate the style of this sculpture. But the sculpture is not the only decorative element in this building, which contains a mural from the late Middle Ages. The church was covered with a painted decoration that can be seen here and there on the walls of the nave. The most interesting part of this decoration is on the north wall of the right choir bay. Although it is very damaged, several figures can be seen, as well as inscriptions that are unfortunately illegible. This painting shows an archer shooting a half-dressed man tied to a post. This scene can be interpreted as a representation of Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of archers, considered in the Middle Ages as a protector of the plague. Other representations are visible. In particular, we can recognise a woman holding a sword, shields and a cruciferous nimbus. However, as a large part of the painting has been destroyed, it is impossible to make a connection between these different representations. It was originally a possession of the Counts of Angoulême. We know that a seigniorial building existed in Balzac from the 12th century. Can we make the link between this building and the church, which could have had the function of a castle chapel? It is astonishing that the church is isolated from any building apart from the 17th century castle. If we refer to the toponymy, we find a hamlet called La Chapelle near the site. Was this a reference to a castle chapel? The problem is delicate, but the hypothesis cannot be ruled out insofar as the church belonged to the Counts of Angoulême and was located near a seigneurial building. In the past, it was reached from the castle via a bower that led in a straight line to the small side door. It predates the present castle but certainly post-dates the original castle. The castle is the cause, the location of the church and the side gate are the effect. Already too low, it lacked proportion between its length and its height, so the little coquetry that its proportion and the circular enclosure of the choir gave it disappeared. During the Revolution, from 1792 onwards, there was no longer a parish priest in Balzac, and the church was left to the supervision of the bell ringer, who did not carry out his duties honestly, and was accused of having stolen fittings. At the same time the church was used as a meeting place and as a voting place for the elections of the time. The interior: The single nave, whose side walls are strongly jutting outwards, is covered with a wooden cradle, instead of the stone one that existed in the past, which was supported by two doubleaux supported by engaged columns. It is lit by four single windows, two in the east bay, one in the south-west, the fourth in the west, above the door. Three arcades have been pierced in the side walls to give passage to the chapels. The false square and the apse are slightly narrower than the nave. The vault was a dome on pendentives. The drip arches are simple: the large west arch and its piers were reinforced; the east one with two scrolls, supported by dosser columns. Two windows, one on each side, are framed on the inside by colonnettes. The apse, semi-circular and under a cul-de-four, has three windows with colonnettes on both sides, and a door opening into the sacristy to the east. All the windows are round-headed and very flared towards the interior; the capitals are curved, except on the columns of the apse, where they are roughly decorated with foliage and animals. The exterior: the façade, reinforced at its ends by two buttresses, is pierced by a semicircular doorway, which still has a column with a capital decorated with a dragon; above it, a small window with a diamond-pointed stringcourse and a reworked gable. The cornice, destroyed on the side walls, remains in the apse, as do the modillions. Additional buttresses have been added; the former buttresses of the apse were 0m70 by 0m27, but those of the nave measured 1m40 by 0m90. This large projection and the presence of curved capitals allow the church to be dated back to the end of the 12th century. The square bell tower, rebuilt in 1760, has two twin bays on the east and west sides, and a fairly high wooden spire. Inside, there is a baptismal font in the shape of an octagonal pyramid with a boudin and, outside, traces of a funeral tablet.