Vault of Bermont

The vault-hermitage of Bermont is located in the Bois of Greux, with little distance to the north of Domrémy-the-Virgin.

With the number of the fields which had the Hôpital of Gerbonvaux (close to Martigny-lès-Gerbonvaux in the the Vosges) was that of Bermont.

This vault is closely related to Jeanne d' Arc. Accompanied by her sister, it came there in pilgrimage every saturday and carried there candles which it lit in front of the image of the Blessed Virgin.

June 30th, 1998, the vault of Bermont was registered with the additional inventory of the historic buildings, " as a witness of the epopee johannique" , after the discovery of murals of the 15th century representing Jeanne d' Arc.

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One can read what follows in a article published in pouillé of the diocese of Toul, “ the vault of Bermond étoit formerly a hospital for leprous; it depends on Gerbonval (hospital of Gerbonvaux, close to Martigny-lès-Gerbonvaux, the Vosges), hospital linked at the house of the Oratoire of Nancy. This vault àtoit dedicated to Thiébau saint and the virgin. ” The “house” of Bermont belonged, towards the end of the XIIIe century, with the Abbaye of Bourgueil (diocese of Angers), which maintained a monk there, as did it the Prémontrés in Gerbonvaux. However Bermont was extremely far away from the monastery of Bourgueil and more expensive than advantageous to this last; also the Benedictines judged advantageous to demolish themselves some and it is what they did in favor of Geoffroy de Bourlemont Monday before the Saint-Andrew in the year of grace 1263. In accordance with the sale contract of Bermont, Geoffroy de Bourlémont gave, in 1265, at the house of Gerbonvaux that of Bermont with its dependences, revenues and returned, provided that the Master and the brothers would make celebrate the divine office, at least three times the week in the vault of Bermont which became like a branch of the hospital.

One knows by a title of 1269 that there was in the vicinity a tilery and two ponds but no document makes known what was Bermont like hospital nor like place of pilgrimage. A note of a report by the Amodiateur of Gerbonvaux teaches us only that it is in 1595 that one made cover all the church with Bermont.

About this time, the Master of Gerbonvaux tried to free himself from the obligations of Bermont. The general promoter of the Officiality, making function of public ministry, went opposing for purposes of the request of the Master of Gerbonvaux, and the business having come in front of this ecclesiastical court, the official returned on January 8th 1601 a sentence thus conceived:

“ Dominique de Trossey (Troussey), prebtre, maistre ez artz, chanoyne in the collegiate church Nostre Rams Vaucouleurs, cleaned and official audict place, estant in judgment in the court of ladicte officiality, the lundy, eighth day of January millet six centz and ung, against maistre Guillaume Guarin, maistre of the hospital of Gerbonvaulz and the vault of Bermont, applicant,… against the general promoter in ceste officiality, defendant,… ; ledict petitioning brought back to effect the contents in its requeste, conclud for purposes of icelle and, in the event of lawsuit, request despens. To what ledict promoter said that ledict petitioning doibt and is held to make celebrate three masses by each one sepmaine in ladicte vault, suyvant the intention of the founders, which it requèroit that ledict petitioning has to in the future satisfy there, and that ledict has without delay to make restablir the démolutions and ruynes which is in ladicte vault; with what he concludes and asks despens. And, not to have not ledict sior Guarin faict to make the service by cy in front of, it requéroit that ledict petitioning is condampné in an almond of twenty escus, applicable to pious works of Monseigneur the évesque one and Count de Toul. And ledict petitioning sior has dict that the incomes dudict Bermont is not sufficient to make celebrate the three masses required by ledict sior promoter, and that it offers, as it always has faict, to make celebrate a mass by each one sepmaine in the church dudict Bermont, than is as much as the incomes dudict Bermont peult to carry, and than the service which is intended in ladicte vault esté faict or faict to make by ledict sior Guarin; therefore request renvoy for this chief.

Surquoy, the ouyes parts, ordered that to occur it ledict petitioning sior will make celebrate the holy mass in ladicte vault of solempnelles Bermont all the dimenches and festes of the year, that will déclairons estre the days of Pasques, Penthecostes, Assention, Saint Jean-Baptiste, Toussainctz, the day of the Blessed Sacrament, Christmas N and all the festes of Nostre Dame, and be days of feste Mr Sainct Thiébault, soub the invocation whose Sainct ladicte vault is founded, and which, the ffect dudict Sainct service, ledict petitioning will provide ladicte vault of ornemens clean and necessary for to celebrate ladicte mass, and the whole by provision and jusques AD what differently by us is ordered; after dheue information faicte of the incomes of lacdite vault. And sy ordered that ledict sior will make, inside six months, to repair the ruynes which are in ladicte vault, and mentioned in nostre statement (which disappeared) , containing the Visitation by us faicte of icelle, by condampnant ledict petitioning are despens of ceste authority and ladicte Visitation, the reserved tax with us. And sy in oultre condampné it in almond of two escus to have dàlaissà the service of ladicte vault by the two months space; and saulf audict petitioning sior sound recors against which good luy will seem. Faict and ordered like top. ”

A lease of the incomes of Bermont passed in 1618 through Jean Gravel, being qualified main and governor of Gerbonvaux and Bermont, shows that these incomes consisted of arable lands, meadows, grains, gardens, wines, capons and wax; the aforementioned grounds located near to the vault, and the meadows, banns of Greux (the Vosges), Goussaincourt (Meuse), Sauvigny (Meuse), Brixey, Arm, and generally elsewhere.

The maintenance of the ornaments of the church was not quite expensive for the Masters of Gerbonvaux and Bermont if the following inventory is considered (put between the hands of Toussainct Calbotin, hermit of the known as place):

a purse, two corporeaux, purificatory;
a chalice with its turntable of estin;
a Chasuble;
a paddle with the belt and the Amict;
two altar clothes;
an old missal into gotic with the use of Toul;
a towel;

on twenty June fourth 1670

T. Calbotin

The vault of Bermont is thus well a hermitage and the one or the ones that lived it had, probably, the guard of the vault. The tomb of a hermit died in 1583 is visible in the vault. The state in which the vault at the beginning of the XVIIIe century was indicated in the statement written following a visit made by order of the ecclesiastical authority:

“ Cejourd' today, twelfth of July millet seven hundred and two, the undersigned Rene Mercy, priest,… appointed by Mr. de Laigle,… general vicar of Toul, for, of its share, to visit the vault of Bermont, in reconnoître the ltat and to draw up some procez verbal, being transported instead of said Bermont, accompanied by Me Jean Jacob, priest, priest of Greux (the vault of Bermont is located on the territory of Greux) in the parish of which the aforementioned vault is located, he noticed; what follows:

That the vault is placed on a slope, with the corner of a wood, and distant of a half mile of known as Greux and any other village.

That, uniting the aforementioned vault, it has a small main building where remain at present two hermits.

having entered the vault, and while having taken dimensions, it was to be approximately fifty feet length on twenty of width.

the furnace bridge, placed in the chorus and turned towards the East, is stone and in good state; it paroit nevertheless no mark of crecration. It is vray that above the stone of furnace bridge, in the medium and towards the edge of surface…, there is a notch, which such an amount of closes of a stone, the aforementioned Mercy, police chief, made it open to recognize if it étoit not the sepulchre where peutêtre one put auroit the relics, quoy that it is not the ordinary place where one has habit to place them; but it was nothing there of the whole, and there was remarqutqu' it could not be relics even, because of the little of depth of this notch…

With the front of the lower part of the stone of furnace bridge, it has sacrarium or burial there, nor no opening to put relics at it.

the furnace bridge, taken as well for the stone or counts as for the foot and supports, paroit not old and seems to be demolished and restored since thirty or forty years. One however said the holy mass until now there, without marble.

In the Nef of the church there are six crosses with the walls, similar to those which are made with the dedications churches, no matter what there are strong presumptions that it is not there; that a proof ambiguity and even dubious that the vault was devoted, because:

it does not have there these crosses in the chorus, nor even in the part of the nave contiguous to the chorus,
these crosses are not uniform, the ones are lower, the others higher, and let us cross them are intermingle with flowers of lily
it does not have these candlesticks there usually place above the crosses, like it faisoit and still sees itself in the devoted churches,
these crosses did not paroissent old with proportion of the vault.

the walls of the vault and the roof are in enough good state. With regard to the service and loads attached to this vault, the use has been, for long years to celebrate the holy mass there once a month, quoy that in the past one it there disoit each Sunday. One does not know of it with truth the owner or holder, knowledge if it is the Blessed Virgin or holy Thiébaut, or all the two units, of which one is owner and the other holder…”

In this description of the vault of Bermont, the most remarkable point is the presence of the flowers of lily between the pilot wheels of the crosses. The reason of the presence as of these flowers of lily is vague. It is proven that Jeanne d' Arc came in this place every saturday to request the Blessed Virgin. It is then allowed to think that of the Lily, descendants of the second brothers of Jeanne - they carried flowers of lily in their weapons - are on the initiative of these flowers of lily in the vault. One of these descendants, Claude, priest of Greux and Domrémy, by its will dated November 8th 1549, made gift with “Nostre Dame of Beaumont” of six large for once.

External bonds

Association Notre-Dame de Bermont
SteJeannedArc.net (see in particular the file on the vault Notre-Dame de Bermont)

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