Three Old Eucharistic Bread Irons
In the 13th century, the baker was not only making bread to feed the towns and villages throughout Europe. He was also a key character in his community. It is worth noting that the bakers were the very first among all trades to submit their by-laws to Boileau. As written in 1268, the Talemeniers (bakers) comprise the first and lengthiest chapter of the manuscript. There are no less than sixty-one articles in the by-laws, covering the rules on how to become a Compagnon and master baker and the various taxes due to the kingdom on a weekly basis. Additional payments were collected from the bakers on a yearly basis at Christmas, Easter, and other major holidays. The trade was regulated and controlled by the Grand Panetier du Roy (The Great Bread maker of the king) who nominated a master and twelve judges sworn in as the “Supreme Court” of good and fair bread making by the bakers of Paris. The baker always sold his bread at a fixed price but was allowed to vary it in size according to seasons, based on the actual cost of the flour.
From the 13th to the 18th century bakers remained a prominent corporation in France and other European countries. They were among the top taxpayers. They also remained closely associated with the Church and its major holidays by providing hosts for the mass. Eucharistic bread was produced by pressing the unleavened dough into a thin galette baked between the two hand-forged iron plates of the Eucharistic bread iron. The three Eucharistic Bread Irons shown here were forged respectively in 1749, 1788, and 1686. They each weigh approximately ten to twelve pounds and are about three and a half to four feet long. They are exceptional examples of the fine quality of workmanship that the blacksmith exhibited while working for the bakers and indirectly for the Church. The first one, forged by a master blacksmith in 1749 was first used that year at Easter celebrations. It made the Eucharistic bread (hosts) for the Easter Mass, the most important of the year. It contains all the symbols linked to these celebrations: the Easter lamb holding a long cross, the Fleur-de-Lys, the birds and crosses, the sun, and stars.
In 1722, Jean Houvet, their great-great-great-great-grandson (sixth generation) was married in St. Denis d'Authou, another small village near Chartres (four hundred and forty seven inhabitants). In 1788, three generations later, that famous wedding of Jean Houvet was celebrated. One can imagine the beautiful music played on that day: 1788 is the year in which Mozart, at the pinnacle of his art, composed his three great symphonies E flat, G Minor, and the C Major Jupiter. The Houvet family name will forever remain closely associated with the City of Chartres and its cathedral for Etienne Houvet (1869-1949) who, in the early twentieth century, photographed the entire cathedral, stone by stone. This enormous work of fifteen hundred photographs taken over more than ten years was published in eleven volumes from 1920 to 1926. Today, next to the cathedral, a building named after him, "Espace Etienne Houvet" welcomes the pilgrims who want to undertake the journey of Saint James from Chartres to Santiago de Compostela, the medieval city in the North West region of Spain. Compostela means the starry field (from Campus and Stella, star in Latin). The traditional account of the life of Saint James, the apostle, calls for his remains to have been transported from Jerusalem to a small village in Spain, where they were rediscovered in the 9th century thanks to a shining star that appeared above the burial mound. Hence, the place was renamed after him and, in the 12th century, became the most popular destination for pilgrimage after Rome and Jerusalem.
The third Eucharistic bread iron has its own place in French history. Its molding plates say: "Iesus Maria, 1686, Semenon A Genis" surrounded by beautiful engraved hearts and the Coat of arms of France and the Province of Navarre, and in the middle all combined into one.
It is an interesting testimony to the history of France as we know it today. Henri IV was the first king of France who, in 1589, proclaimed himself "king of France and of Navarre". He had first conquered the Southwestern province of Navarre also called Béarn and became known as Henri de Navarre. In 1589, when Henry III was assassinated, he succeeded him as king of France. His famous words were: "I give France to Béarn and not Béarn to France." Following the takeover, he had a Court-appointed logo designer create a new French Coat of Arms combining the Fleur-de-Lys of France with the crossing chains of Navarre. This Coat of Arms, the one born on this plate engraved in 1686 to celebrate what must have been a special occasion, remained in use by French kings for exactly two centuries from 1589 until the French Revolution in 1789. See chapter Fleur-de-Lys, by Order of the King, for the origin and use of the Fleur-de-Lys.
This Eucharistic bread iron was created for a special mass in 1686. Its engraving says: “Semenon a Genis” which means the Semenon family in the French village of Genis, nestled in the Périgord Region. Genis dates back to a 9th century castle, now destroyed, and its abbey inaugurated in the year 1114. The oldest bells in the Roman style church are dated 1592 and 1652. Even after absorbing the small village of Fougeyrollas next door, Genis only has four hundred and ninety-eight inhabitants today. This is due to a massive rural exodus from that region of France in the last century.
A simple search does not resolve the mystery of the Eucharistic bread iron but does provide a good lead in the history of the Semenon family. It appears that Catherine Semenon was born in Genis in 1696, married in Genis to Leonard Fougerolles (of the Fougeyrollas village), and died on April 1, 1766 in Genis.
Other descendants from the same family include Michele Semenon, born in 1809, who was married in Genis to Pierre Degreze on February 11, 1828. And currently, the genealogist Arnaud Fougerolles lives in Genis. He must be the fifteenth or sixteenth generation descendant of Catherine Semenon who married Leonard Fougerolles three hundred and twenty years ago.
After the special celebration having led to its birth, the 1686 Eucharistic bread iron was used, as later the 1749 and 1788 Eucharistic bread irons alike, to make dozens of hosts for every Sunday mass at the church. Many years after they stopped being used, in the twentieth century, all three Eucharistic bread irons joined the Andre Breton collection. Andre Breton (1896-1966) was smart, curious, a great philosopher, writer, anthropologist, poet, and an avid tool and artifacts collector. Not to forget Andre Breton was also a founding father of the Surrealists art movement in France and internationally with his close friends Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, and Man Ray. Andre Breton was an obsessed collector. In fifty years he gathered two dozen Eucharistic bread irons, along with five thousand other objects, tools, stones, sculptures, and artifacts of all civilizations. Many were donated by his daughter to the French National Museums where they can be seen today.