Saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 Lupus of Sens (or Saint Loup de Sens) (b. ca. 573; d. ca. 623) was an early French bishop of Sens.

He was the son of Blessed Betto

Blessed Betto

Blessed Betto was a sixth century member of the royal house of the Kingdom of Burgundy. He was the father of St. Lupus of Sens ....

, a member of the royal house

Royal House

A royal house or royal dynasty consists of at least one, but usually more monarchs who are related to one another, as well as their non-reigning descendants and spouses. Monarchs of the same realm who are not related to one another are usually deemed to belong to different houses, and each house is...

 of the Kingdom of Burgundy

Kingdom of Burgundy

Burgundy is a historic region in Western Europe that has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities - the first around the 6th century, the second around the 11th century - have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy; a third was very...

.

Church in Saint-Loup-de-Naud

The Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 church dedicated to Saint Loup at Naud

Saint-Loup-de-Naud

Saint-Loup-de-Naud is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * *...

, 8 km from Provins

Provins

Provins is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.Provins, a town of medieval fairs, became a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2001.-Administration:...

 in Champagne in the east of France is distinguished by the outstanding sculptures in the porch of its great doorway, with an ambitious iconographic program

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

 in which Saint Loup mediates entry into the mystery of the Trinity

Trinity

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...

. About 980, Sevinus, archbishop of Sens, made a gift to the Benedictine community of the abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif at Sens of four altars in villa que dicitus Naudus, in honore sancti lupi consecratum—"in the demesne that is called Naud, consecrated in honor of Saint Loup"—betokening the presence of a shrine already on this site, a priory under the direction of the abbot of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif. Other documents mention Saint-Loup-de-Naud

Saint-Loup-de-Naud

Saint-Loup-de-Naud is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * *...

 among the possessions of the abbey at Sens, seat of an archbishop with close political ties to the French Crown, who had Paris within his diocese. Thus, though it lay so close to Provins, a seat of the counts of Champagne and the abbey church was completed by Henri le Libéral, comte de Champagne, the priory at Saint-Loup-de-Naud looked to Sens for its patronage: a visit from the abbot is documented in 1120. In 1160/61 Hugues de Toucy, Archbishop of Sens, presented to the priory the relic of Saint Loup, brought from the abbey of Sainte-Colombe, to that community's dismay; the sculpted portail with an iconography comparable to the royal portal at Chartres

Chartres

Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...

 was doubtless undertaken shortly thereafter, when pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

s brought wealth to the community.

The priory was laid waste by the English in 1432, during the Hundred Years' War

Hundred Years' War

The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...

 and again by the Huguenots in 1567, during the French Wars of Religion

French Wars of Religion

The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...

.

Other saints Lupus/Loup

Numerous communes of France are named Saint-Loup

Saint-Loup

Saint-Loup is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:*Saint-Loup, Allier, in the Allier département*Saint-Loup, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime département...

; they commemorate several venerable early saints with the Latinized Germanic name of Lupus ("wolf"): besides Saint Loup de Sens, venerated in Champagne

Champagne (province)

The Champagne wine region is a historic province within the Champagne administrative province in the northeast of France. The area is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name...

, Île-de-France

Île-de-France (province)

The province of Île-de-France or Isle de France is an historical province of France, and the one at the centre of power during most of French history...

 and Picardy

Picardy

This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...

 there are Saint Loup de Troyes

Lupus of Troyes

Saint Lupus was an early bishop of Troyes. Born at Toul, he was brother-in-law to Hilary of Arles, as he had married one of Hilary's sisters, Pimeniola. Lupus worked as a lawyer. However, after being married for six years, he and his wife parted by mutual agreement.Lupus renounced all of his...

, Saint Loup de Bayeux

Bayeux

Bayeux is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France.Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England.-Administration:Bayeux is a sub-prefecture of Calvados...

, one of the early Bishops of Bayeux; and — more locally venerated — Saint Loup de Limoges

Limoges

Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....

, Saint Loup de Soissons

Soissons

Soissons is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about northeast of Paris. It is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital of the Suessiones...

 and Saint Loup de Châlons-en-Champagne

Châlons-en-Champagne

Châlons-en-Champagne is a city in France. It is the capital of both the department of Marne and the region of Champagne-Ardenne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims....

. A number of the communes called Saint-Loup in the west of France are not easily connected with a specific Saint Loup.