It is almost a police investigation carried out by Claire Barbier, guide lecturer at the reception and visits service of the cathedral and at the tourist office. Its mission: to find out if the city of Chartres had a port in the past.
Why look for a port in Chartres?
It all started when Claire Barbier, a master’s student in History Research at the University of Lorient (Morbihan), had to give a homework assignment to one of her professors, specializing in seaports: “He asked us to carry out historiographical research. at a port close to our home. As I did not live by the sea, he offered to work on a river port. I told myself that there had necessarily been small boats that had sailed on the Eure in the Middle Ages and therefore a port. “
Chartres, its salmon and its secrets: five anecdotes on the history of the city
But on the side of Chartres archaeologists as well as local historians, nobody knows anything about this hypothetical port. Claire Barbier delves into the handwritten archives, those that escaped the fire at the Hôtel Montescot in 1944.
“But a lot of documents have been irretrievably lost,” she laments.
What did Claire Barbier find?
The historian has read thousands of pages. And find the first clues of navigation on the Eure river.
“In 1455, a letter from the king, intended for the bailiff of Chartres, granted authorization to establish on the bank of the Eure, a ‘hallway’ because, due to the wooded environment, the boats were difficult to advance on the river due to lack of wind. In May 1495, a treaty obliges boatmen to supply boats to the embarkation quay of Chartres to revive the trade of the city via navigation. “
Claire barbier (Historian)
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However, who says embarkation dock, probably says warehouses for the storage of goods. “There has necessarily been a port, says Claire Barbier. Its activity was not enormous but it existed at least from 1446 to 1504 since a text specifies that on this date, the Eure ceased to be navigable, for lack of maintenance. “
What are the clues in favor of this hypothesis?
Claire Barbier quotes the writings of Charles Challine, a 17th century historian who mentions the existence of a formerly active port in Chartres, to express her hope that the king of his time will once again authorize navigation on the Eure.
Jean-Baptiste Souchet, author of a History of the Diocese and the City of Chartres between the years 1620 and 1640 also mentions the port of Chartres when he mentions navigation on the Eure, which has been neglected for some thirty years. years due to lack of maintained infrastructure.
“The church on the banks of the Eure was called Saint-Nicolas, who is the patron saint of boatmen. And the street that went from the Pont des Minimes to the Saint-André collegiate church, which has now become the Place Saint-André, was called the rue du Barillet. This name is taken from a cabaret with the sign of a barrel – a small barrel that was used to store goods – which was in operation from 1410 to 1506. The closure of the establishment corresponds roughly to the end port activity. “
Claire barbier (Historian)
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The cemetery of Le Havre, which existed on the east bank of the Eure in front of the Saint-André collegiate church, provides an additional clue since the word haven was used throughout France at the end of the Middle Ages to designate a refuge for boat, even an annex of the port.
“I also found writings on the plague epidemic of 1521 in which it is specified that the patients were isolated in warehouses on the quai de Chartres …”
How to prove the existence of a port?
Claire Barbier will publish in 2021, in the journal of the Archaeological Society of Eure-et-Loir, an article on her research. “I cleared up the subject, if others want to continue my work … But to confirm my hypotheses, it would be necessary to carry out archaeological excavations at the Place Saint-André and at the bottom of the Eure …” Hoping to find there remains that do not would leave no more doubt about the past.
Discover the secrets of the monuments of Chartres
Laurence Franceschina
[email protected]
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