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King Louis XI (1461-1483) and immediately developed a close relationship with the crown. 9
The ties were maintained during subsequent reigns: Anne de Bretagne, wife of King Charles
VIII (1483-1498), founded a monastery at Nigeon, and Henri III (1574-1589) followed with one
at Vincennes. In 1609 shortly after the order’s establishment in the French capital Henri IV
continued the royal connection, granting by letters patent the right of the order to found its
Parisian house on a piece of land near the Place Royale and making a gift of twenty-four
thousand livres to help with construction. 10 Though the Minims was not one of the newlyestablished
reformed orders of the sixteenth century, it actively participated in the Catholic
Reformation and contributed to the revitalization of the Church. 11
In September 1611 Jean de La Cross, Bishop of Grenoble, placed the first stone of the
church of the Minims of the Place Royale, marking the start of construction. 12 Although the
church would only be finished in 1677, substantial parts of the building were completed between
1611 and 1628, as shown on a reconstructed plan (fig. 58). During this time the Minims saw the
erection of a church with a single nave of four bays flanked by side chapels surmounted by
tribunes. The altar was placed in a rectangular choir, which was flanked by side chapels that
would later form the transept. The design fused contemporary Italian models with traditional
Gothic elements, combining Doric pilasters and a prominent entablature with ribbed vaults on
the interior and with flying buttresses articulating the exterior (fig. 59). Beginning in 1630
additional sections were added to the existing structure, including three apsidal chapels and a
projecting octagonal chapel on the left side of the nave. In 1657 work began on the grand portail
designed by François Mansart and completed by Pierre Thévenot.
Following the death of Henri IV, as the Minims prepared to start construction of their
church, Maria de’ Medici sought to strengthen existing royal ties with the order by attempting to
become the founder of the recently established monastery. To achieve this status, the queen had
Louis XIII confirm the letters patent issued by his father while she repaid the Minims the
expense they had incurred to acquire the land for their monastery. 13 She also expressed her
desire to place the first stone of the church, a task which ultimately proved inconvenient due to
health reasons and which was instead completed by the bishop of Grenoble in her name. 14
Despite her request to be the founder of the church, the order never granted Maria de’ Medici
this distinction. Instead the duc de La Vieuville bought the title of founder from the monastery
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