Église Saint-Médard et le cimetière des convulsionnaires

Paris (5e arrondissement)

At the bottom of the rue Mouffetard, Saint-Médard looks like a peaceful village church swallowed up by Paris. Yet in the 18th century it was the scene of one of the strangest religious episodes in the history of the capital. In 1727 the deacon François de Pâris died at the age of 36, the son of a parlement magistrate who had renounced his inheritance to live among the poor of the faubourg, worn out by his mortifications. This austere Jansenist was buried in the small adjoining cemetery, and almost at once the rumour swelled: miraculous cures were reported on his black marble tomb. The sick flocked there, and then the faithful — up to 800 people, according to the accounts — were seized with spectacular convulsions; some of these "convulsionaries" called for "secours", blows and pricks supposed to relieve them. In the tense climate that had set Jansenists against the royal power since the bull Unigenitus (1713), the affair became political: in January 1732, Louis XV had the cemetery closed. A wag then posted the couplet that has remained famous, which tradition records thus: "De par le Roi, défense à Dieu de faire miracle en ce lieu" ("By order of the King, God is forbidden to work miracles in this place"). The gatherings continued in secret until around 1762, filling the archives of the Bastille. Today the square Saint-Médard occupies the site of the cemetery: there, between the children's games, one can reflect on the thin line between fervour, protest and mass hysteria.

Getting there : 41 rue Daubenton / bottom of the rue Mouffetard, métro Censier-Daubenton (line 7); parish church open during the day outside services, free admission; the former cemetery is now a public garden.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound