Cathédrale Saint-Étienne d'Agen

About

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Agen was the former cathedral of the diocese of Agen. It is one of the French cathedrals destroyed following the Revolution. The destruction that she suffered on this occasion decided the diocese to devote to her place as cathedral the church of Saint-Caprais.

Dedication: The cathedral was named after Stephen, one of the first seven deacons, martyred in Jerusalem.

Construction: The construction of St. Stephen's Cathedral began in 1272, but very quickly the death of Pope Clement V's parent, Arnaud de Goth, greatly slowed the progress of the works. In 1487, a judgment of the Parliament of Bordeaux condemned the bishop to pay five hundred annual pounds to repair the cathedral; In 1509, this rent was raised to a thousand two annual books, causing the anger and complaint of successive bishops to the King. The grant of this sum enables construction to proceed; However, these are very far from being finished in the middle of the sixteenth century: the chapels of the bedside are finished, but the choir not yet vaulted, at last the nave just brushed.