GRENOBLE

. First recorded in 43 B. C. as Cularo, and renamed Gratianopolis, whence modern-day Grenoble (Isere), the city is situated on the confluence of the Drac and the Isere and is surrounded by mountains on each side but the western. Though lacking navigable waterways, Grenoble, with its situation on three Roman trade routes, continued to be a center for trade throughout the Middle Ages. The city was surrounded by an oval rampart, comprising some thirty towers, between A. D. 284 and 293. It was instituted as a bishopric ca. 381, conquered by the Burgundians in the mid-5th century, and annexed by the Franks ca. 543. The Treaty of Verdun (843) saw its acquisition by Lothair, and it was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire ca. 1032. Grenoble, receiving its first franchise in 1225, was made capital of the Dauphine in the course of the 13th century and was sold to the king of France in 1349 by the last dauphin of the Viennois, Humbert II (d. 1349).

The cathedral of Notre-Dame (11th-15th c.) is noted for its tabernacle (1445-57) and the magnificent Ciborium, a specimen of ornate Gothic stonework dating 1455-60. The

Church of Saint-Andre (early 12th c.-1236), built originally as the dauphin’s palace chapel, is joined to the Hotel de Ville and situated near the ruins of the church of Saint-Jean. The latter’s front-entrance carving now decorates the side door of Saint-Andre. Saint-Laurent (ca. 965) is perhaps the most interesting religious site, due to its antiquity. It was founded as a necropolis upon which the funerary church, the crypt of Saint-Oyand (late 8th-early 9th c.), was built. The capitals of Saint-Laurent date from the 8th century, with work continuing into the 11th. The Benedictines were asked to rebuild the church in 1012. Unfortunately, much of the woodwork and stucco that remained was destroyed in the restorative efforts of the mid-19th century. Two other necropoli are of importance to the Middle Ages. Saint-Antoine is a Merovingian necropolis and the Roman Saint-Ferreol was used continuously up through the Merovingian period.

Opposite the church of Saint-Andre is the Gothic Ancien Palais des Dauphins. On May 12, 1339, the University of Grenoble was founded by a papal bull. In its collection, the Grenoble museum posesses a Frankish helmet, and the mimicipal library houses 12th-century illuminated manuscripts from La Grande Chartreuse.

Stephen C. Martin

[See also: CARTHUSIAN ORDER; DAUPHINE/VIENNOIS]

Colardell, Renee. Grenoble auxpremiers temps chretiens: Saint-Laurent et ses necropoles. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1986.

Ferrand, Henri. Grenoble and Thereabouts: Chartreuse, Oisans, Vercors, Belledone, Uriage-les-Bains, Allevard, Trievres, Salette, Laffrey. Boston: Medici Society, 1923.

Prudhomme, Auguste. Histoire de Grenoble. 1888; Marseille: Lafitte, 1975.