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Pierre de Ronsard, one of the chief poets of the so-called Pléïade, lived in the monastic community of St. Cosme in the Loire Valley. The building above is the “priory,” where the abbot would have lived. Ronsard's tomb is just beyond the remnants of the outer wall of the cathedral, to the left. |
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The vestiges of the Late Romanesque and Early Gothic cathedral that once stood in the St. Cosme complex; note the Romanesque elements in the architecture, in particular the supporting round structures that would be replaced by buttresses in the High Gothic era. |
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St. Cosme's refectory remains intact even today. This would be the building where monks would gather for meals and readings. As elsewhere in France, such historical sites have become the property of the state; as such they are well kept, indeed treasured. |
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The lecturn within the refectory also remains intact. Typically, as the monks ate their meals a fellow monk or a novice would read from the Scriptures. Depending on the order, apart from these readings, monks usually ate in silence. |
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Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585). |
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Ronsard's bedroom and sitting room. Though perhaps Spartan by our own standards, the room is remarkably warm, and it affords a wonderful view of St. Cosme. |
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Another view of the exterior of the “priory” and the remains of the twelfth-century cathedral at St. Cosme. Here one can see both the supporting round antechamber buttresses and the view afforded by Ronsard's chambers. |