Châteaumeillant - Saint-Genès

Saint-Genès, erected in the 11th and 12th century, was the church of the priory Saint-Etienne, dependent from the important Abbaye Notre-Dame in Déols. This abbey, now in ruins, had been founded in 917 and developed into one of the most powerful regional institutions. It was one of the first in the Cluniac network. Odo of Cluny (+ 942) was abbot of three monasteries: Cluny, Massy and Deols. This is important, as Saint-Genès has architectural parralells to Cluny II and Cluny III.

The building got severely damaged, when Louis VII (aka "Louis le Jeune", 1. husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine) burnt down the town in 1152 during a feud with Abbo II de Déols, a supporter of Henri Plantagenêt (aka Henry II, "Curtmantle", 2. husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine). In 1569 the Huguenots set fire here - and many restorations followed that. During the French Revolution the bell tower was destroyed and the church became a "Temple of Reason".

The carvings inside were created by (at least) two different workshops. There are rough and archaic capitals, that are probably older than the more elaborated, "sophisticared" ones. This one is probably from a third workshop.

A huge (winged?), (crowned?) snake, that looks like the serpent in Paradise", is devouring a quadruped (dog), the hind feet are already in the snake´s mouth, while the head of the dog (?) is attacked by a second, smaller snake. To the side stands a giant swinging a club. He will kill the snake. Most of the capital´s left side is lost. There may be two small men - and a smaller snake..