Welcome to Saint-Martin-aux-Bois
			This site has been developed by Chris Henige of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to introduce the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Martin-aux-Bois to the public. Although the abbey church is known to specialists of medieval architecture, the remainder of the buildings of the abbey and those of its dependencies in the region have largely been ignored. I am currently working on a thorough monograph of the abbey and its dependencies under the working title "The Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Martin-aux-Bois: The Life of a Monastic Enterprise". It is intended to address not only the architectural history of the church, but the artistic, economic and political history of the abbey as a whole, as well as its dependencies throughout the region - the entire enterprise of the monastery. Over the past year several particularly important discoveries have been made about the abbey, including the discovery of vestiges of 13th-century paintings on the piers of the choir. Even more exciting was the uncovering of early 16th-century wall paintings hidden behind two altars in the aisles. A special section of this web site addresses this discovery, and provides larger, more detailed images of these paintings. To view this special exhibition, click here. In addition, a body of tapestries which have been individually identified as the products of the patronage of abbot Guy de Baudreuil (abbot from 1492 to 1531) are here reunited for the first time (choose "Church", then "Tapestries" from the menus above). I hope you enjoy the site and come to love Saint-Martin-aux-Bois as much as I have!