Bicentenary at Tournai: Collection of the Great Seminary (1808-2008)

As places of learning, intended for the formation of clergy, Great Seminaries were also known for their cultural heritage. That is, if history had not been too unkind. And in the case of Tournai, it hasn’t.

On 10 November 2008 the Great Seminary is celebrating its 200^th year in the same premises since 1808. It was founded thanks to an obstinate bishop, François-Joseph Hirn, originally from Alsace, and with a little help of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The premises had then seen at least 3 previous owners, and 2 centuries of construction and restauration. At the end of the 16^th century, the Jesuits organised a college and a noviciate in them. When the order was abolished in 1773, the buildings remained empty. A few years later, the canons regular were the new owners, until they had to vacate in 1794 and give way to an administrative office under the French republic.

The Great Seminary today can take pride in a library of more than 100,000 volumes, comprising medieval manuscripts and archival documents, incunables, etchings, and many precious bindings. And one of its abbots in the 20^th century took care to establish a small museum for several artefacts, including oil panels.

The collections mostly have religious provenances. A few go back to the Jesuits and the canons regulars, but most were the scattered holdings of other abolished religious institutions in and around Tournai. For these artefacts, the foundation of the Great Seminary, not long after the abolishment of religious orders in general, proved fortuitous.

The bicentenary has occasioned a new and richly illustrated monograph about the building, the garden, and its collections, which have also been catalogued with text and image. The project has benefited from a close collaboration with the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage at Brussels (IRPA-KIK).

The notes on manuscript, etchings, bindings and rare book holdings have been authored by P. Bogaert osb, Annie De Coster, J.-B. Lebigue, J. Leclercq-Marx, E. Livens, L.Reynhout, F. Tixier, Dominique Vanwijnsberghe, Renaud Adam, Ph. Desmette, and A. Delvingt.

Details: Séminaire de Tournai, Rue des Jésuites 28, 7500 Tournai (Doornik). Press release to be obtained by Monique Maillard-Luypaert, curator of the Great Seminary Library. On 15 and 16 November 2008, Mrs Maillard will be present at a cultural event called Tournai La Page (Halle aux draps, Tournai).

Book: Monique Maillard-Luypaert, et al., Séminaire de Tournai. Histoire – Bâtiments – Collections. Leuven, Peeters Publishers, 2008 (forthcoming). 360 p. 251 illustrations. ISBN 978-904292169-6. Price: 75 €.

Photo credit: M.Maillard-Luypaert