Editing Basilica of Saint-Denis (section)

=== Crypt and royal tombs ===
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File:2017 11 (Cemeteries) - St Denis.jpg|The archeological crypt (8th century) rebuilt by Suger (12th c.), now contains the simple black marble tombs of [[Louis XVI]] and [[Marie-Antoinette]]
File:Saint-Denis (93), basilique, crypte, collatéral nord, chapiteau roman 20.jpg|Carolingian decoration from the early crypt
File:Basilique Saint-Denis Dagobert tombeau.jpg|Tomb of [[Dagobert I]], first King buried at St. Denis remade in the 13th century
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The role of St. Denis as the necropolis of French kings formally began under [[Hugh Capet]] (987–996), but the tombs of several earlier kings were already located there. The site was chosen because of its association with St. Denis, the first Bishop of Paris and one of the earliest Christian leaders in France, who was buried there{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=24}} All but three of the [[List of French monarchs|monarchs of France]] from the 10th century until 1793 have their remains here. The remains of some monarchs, including [[Clovis I]] (465–511), were moved to St. Denis from other churches.

The crypt beneath the church is divided into two sections; the older, called archeological crypt, is located under the transept, and was originally built in about 775 AD, when the abbey was reconstructed by Abbot Fuldiad. It had a disambulatory, passage which allowed pilgrims to circulate around the relics of Saint Denis and his companions on display in the center. It was lit by alternating small windows in the walls and lamps placed in niches.

The crypt was rebuilt and extended eastward by Suger. The walls were decorated with blind arches, divided by columns whose capitals illustrate Biblical scenes and scenes from the life of St. Denis.  Thirty-nine of the original Romanesque sixty-two capitals are still in place. Suger constructed a new disambulatory connected with radiating chapels.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=46}}

During the reign of [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]], the central portion of this crypt was devoted the Bourbon dynasty, but the tombs themselves were simple lead coffins in wood cases. The effigies of many of the kings and queens are on their tombs, but during the [[French Revolution]] their bodies were thrown out of their coffins, dumped into three trenches and covered with lime to destroy them. The older monarchs were removed in August 1793 to celebrate the revolutionary Festival of Reunion, the Valois and Bourbon monarchs in October 1793 to celebrate the execution of [[Marie Antoinette]].<ref name=lindsay>{{cite web|last1=Lindsay|first1=Suzanne Glover|title=The Revolutionary Exhumations at St-Denis, 1793|url=http://mavcor.yale.edu/conversations/essays/revolutionary-exhumations-st-denis-1793|website=Center for the Study of Material & Visual Cultures of Religion|date=18 October 2014 |publisher=Yale University}}</ref> Preservationist [[Alexandre Lenoir]] saved many of the monuments by claiming them as artworks for his Museum of French Monuments. The [[Burial places of British royalty|bodies of several Plantagenet monarchs]] of England were likewise removed from [[Fontevraud Abbey]] during the French Revolution. [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] reopened the church in 1806, but left the royal remains in their mass graves. In 1817 the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|restored Bourbons]] ordered the mass graves to be opened, but only portions of three bodies remained intact. The remaining bones from 158 bodies were collected into an [[ossuary]] in the crypt of the church, behind marble plates bearing their names.<ref name=lindsay/>

In later years, tombs were placed along the aisles that surrounded around the choir and the nave. In the 13th century King [[Louis IX]] (Saint Louis) commissioned a number of important tombs of earlier kings and French historical figures, whose remains were collected from other churches. These included the tombs of Clovis I, [[Charles Martel]], [[Constance of Castile]], Pepin the Short, [[Robert the Pious]] and Hugh Capet (which disappeared during the Revolution). The new tombs were all made in the same style and costume, with a reposing figure holding a staff, to illustrate the continuity of the French Monarchy.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=46}}
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File:Basilique Saint-Denis Louis XII Anne de Bretagne tombeau.jpg|[[Tomb of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany]], (c. 1515)
File:Catherine de Medicis Henri II gisants basilique-Saint-Denis.jpg|Tomb of [[Catherine de Medici]] and [[Henry II of France]] (1559)
File:Basilica di saint Denis urna di francesco I.JPG|Funeral urn of [[Francois I]] by sculptor [[Pierre Bontemps]] (1556)
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The tombs of the Renaissance expressed are theatrical and varied. The largest is that of [[Louis XII]] (died 1515) and his wife, [[Anne of Brittany]] (died 1514). It takes the form of a white marble temple filled and surrounded with figures. Inside it, the King and Queen are depicted realistically in their dying agonies, Allegorical figures seated around the temple depict the virtues of the King and Queen.  On the roof of the tomb, the King and Queen are shown again, kneeling and calmly praying, celebrating their victory over death, thanks to their virtues.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|pp=42–43}}

The monument to [[Henry II of France]] and [[Catherine de Medici]] (1559) followed a similar format; a Roman temple, in this case designed by the celebrated Renaissance architect [[Niccolò dell'Abbate|Primatrice]] with sculpture on the roof depicting the King and Queen in prayer. The King places his hand on his heart illustrating his Catholic faith a period of religious conflicts.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|pp=42–43}}

In the 19th century, following the restoration of the monarchy, [[Louis XVIII]] had the remains of [[Louis XVI]] and [[Marie-Antoinette]] brought to St. Denis.  The body of the [[Louis XVII of France|Dauphin]], who died of illness and neglect at the hands of his revolutionary captors, was buried in an unmarked grave in a Parisian churchyard near the [[Temple (Paris)|Temple]]. During Napoleon's exile in [[Elba]], the restored Bourbons ordered a search for the corpses of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. They were found on 21 January 1815, brought to Saint-Denis and placed in the archeologi crypt. Their tombs are covered with black marble slabs installed in 1975.{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=47}}

[[Louis XVIII of France|Louis XVIII]], upon his death in 1824, was buried in the centre of the crypt, near the graves of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The coffins of royal family members who died between 1815 and 1830 were also placed in the vaults. Under the direction of architect [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc|Viollet-le-Duc]], church monuments that had been taken to the [[Musée des Monuments français (1795–1816)|Museum of French Monuments]] were returned to the church. The corpse of [[Louis VII of France|Louis VII]], who had been buried at [[Barbeau Abbey]] and whose tomb had not been touched by the revolutionaries, was brought to Saint-Denis and buried in the crypt. In 2004, the mummified heart of the Dauphin, the boy who would have been [[Louis XVII]], verified to be authentic by DNA testing, was placed in a crystal vase and sealed into the wall of the crypt.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Broughton|first=Philip Delves|date=7 June 2004|title=Tragic French boy king's heart finds a final resting place after 209 years|language=en-GB|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|location=London, UK|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1463951/Tragic-French-boy-kings-heart-finds-a-final-resting-place-after-209-years.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1463951/Tragic-French-boy-kings-heart-finds-a-final-resting-place-after-209-years.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=12 March 2021|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
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