Oiron - Saint-Maurice

Charles VII of France known in French as "le Bien-Servi", what is "the Well-Served", must have been indeed well served, as in 1449 he gave the village and the forest of Oiron to Guillaume Gouffier, who was his "valet de chambre".

From then on the Gouffier family played an interesting role in the following centuries. Guillaume Gouffier had a château built here, but it was his son Artus, a diplomat for Francis I, who, impressed by the Italian Renaissance, updated it to the "new style". His wife Helene de Hengest was responsible for the construction of the collegiate church Saint-Maurice.

This stuffed crocodile is one of the most unusual pieces of decoration, I even found in a European church. I was so impressed, that I could not resist to upload two photos...

According to information given in Oiron, just a century ago the villagers rubbed the jaws of the crocodile to combat fever. Actually a part of the lower jaw is gone.

The story goes, that Artus´ younger brother Admiral Guillaume Gouffier de Bonnivet brought the crocodile to Oiron. Artus was a friend and powerful favourite of Francis I of France. He had three sons, all named Francis. Guillaume was known for bravado and brilliant wit. He was a womanizer and it is widely believed, that he was the hero in a story of the Heptameron, written by Francis I´s sister Marguerite d'Angoulême, who was also courted by him. He died at the Battle of Pavia in 1525.