| Corpus Refs: | Davies/etal/2000:M9 |
| Site: | STGRH |
| Discovery: | in/on structure, 1863 Rosenzweig, L. |
| History: | Davies et al/2000, 248: `This sarcophagus lies within the church of Saint-Gildas, at the east end of the north transept. It was mentioned by Rosenzweig in the 1860s [Rosenzweig/1863: cols. 217--18], and Le Mené [LeMené/1888: 231--32] provided a description and schematized drawing later in the 19th century. … The sarcophagus is catalogued in Philippe Guigon's Sépultures [Guigon/1994]. The site was visited by members of the CISP team in May and June 1999'. |
| Geology: | Davies et al/2000, 248: `granite'. |
| Dimensions: | 2.03 x 0.79 x 0.43 (Davies/etal/2000) |
| Setting: | in ground |
| Location: | earliest Davies et al/2000, 248, 253: `This sarcophagus lies within the church of Saint-Gildas, at the east end of the north transept. … the sarcophagus is likely to be very near its original location'. |
| Form: | sarcophagus Davies et al/2000, 248--49: `The sarcophagus is made of granite, with a trapezoidal, coped, cover, which is 203cm long, 79cm wide at the head and 43cm wide at the foot; maximum thickness of the cover, which has a plain raised ridge with bifurcating ends, is 20cm. About 13cm of the sarcophagus is visible above floor level, but no more'. |
| Condition: | complete , good |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | 1: equal-armed; outline; expanded; plain; plain; angular; none; none; n/a |
| Decorations: | Davies et al/2000, 249: `A croix pattée is carved in relief in the triangular panel at the head end of the cover. It is 44cm long in total, the cross being 30cm high by 30cm wide, with a 14cm shaft. The smaller triangular field at the foot is plain'. |
| Rosenzweig, L. (1863): | II:ID:FEBR:OBIIT | FELIX:ABB:ISTIVS:LOCI Expansion: II ID FEBR OBIIT FELIX ABB ISTUS LOCI Rosenzweig/1863 col. 217 reading only |
| Le Mené, J.-M. (1888): | II:ID:FEBR:OBIIT | FELIX:ABB:ISTIVS:LOCI Expansion: II ID FEBR OBIIT FELIX ABB ISTIUS LOCI LeMené/1888 232 reading only |
| Davies, W. et al. (1999): | + II:ID:FEBR:OBIIT | FELIX ABB:ISTIUS LOCI Expansion: + II IDUUM FEBRUARII OBIIT FELIX ABBAS ISTIUS LOCI Translation: Felix(PN), abbot of this place, died on the day before the Ides of February. Davies/etal/2000 250 reading only |
| Orientation: | other |
| Position: | n/a ; broad ; beside cross ; separated Davies et al/2000, 249: `An inscription, itself preceded by a small serifed cross composed of two intercutting lines, occurs in two lines along the length of the cover'. |
| Incision: | chiselled Davies et al/2000, 249: `The carving technique is chiselled'. |
| Date: | 1038 - 1038 (Davies/etal/2000) Davies et al/2000, 252--53: `Felix, abbot of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys in the first third of the eleventh century, came from the monastery of Fleury on the river Loire to reform Breton monasteries and was responsible for the restoration of the monastery of St-Gildas, c. 1004-08 … Abbot Felix [was] apparently buried in 1038'. |
| Language: | Latin (rcaps) |
| Ling. Notes: | none |
| Palaeography: | Davies et al/2000, 250--251:`This two-line inscription is in capitals of good quality and style. Most of the letters, such as the Is, Fs, Es, Ts, Ls, X and C, are of classical form, with some serifs. The lettering is generally of even height, although the D of the first line is smaller than the other letters and the second I of obiit is longer than the first. There are four Bs within the inscription. The first two are majuscule, yet the point where the bows meet does not join the ascender. This is a form found on [STGRH/2] also from Saint-Gildas. The third and fourth Bs are minuscule with open bows. This is also a known form in Brittany, and is found at Landunvez [LDVEZ/1], Crac'h [CRACH/1] and Languidic [LGUID/1]. The R is open-bowed, with a 'foot' that extends to the base-line, and the strokes of the V and the A come to a point producing forms paralleled by [STGRH/2]. The inscription also contains two different forms of O. That from line one is rounded and wide, while that from line two is made from two arcs and is oval in shape. According to Favreau this form of O is indicative of 11th- and 12th-century inscriptions [Favreau/1997: 71--77]. The two Ss are distinctive in shape. In both, as a result of the letter finishing in an almost horizontal line, with some serifing, the lower bow is large and open; although they do not leave the vertical, this gives the letters the appearance of leaning forward. The text also includes four interpuncts used as abbreviations. These abbreviations were required if the text was to fit on to the sarcophagus cover and they indicate forethought and planning. The generous spacing of the letters obi in the first line may be explained as an attempt to make the first line longer. The presence of the ordered but largely undecorated capitals, the oval O, along with the shortness of the text and the use of punctuation, combine to support an 11th-century date for this inscription'. |
| Legibility: | good Clear and legible. |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |