Church of Saint-Nizier

Two unequal towers shape the church façade: the brick northern one rises beside the stone southern one. Beneath its vaults, not only parishioners gathered—merchants and craftsmen from the peninsula discussed city affairs, while councillors met in a side chapel or occupied the entire nave when too many people arrived. Until Lyon had a city hall on Place des Terreaux, matters of the watch, levies, and the management of commercial streets were decided here. In fourteen thirty-four, the consuls paid for the northern tower and made it into the city belfry.

Above the portal stands a figure of Nicetius of Lyon, a sixth-century bishop of Lyon. After his death in five seventy-three, the clergy buried him in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles, which stood on this site. The bishop's nephew, the historian Gregory of Tours, wrote about miracles at the tomb. Pilgrims carried away dust, wax, and threads from the burial shroud. Because of this veneration, the people of Lyon began to call the basilica after the bishop buried here. The ancient building is gone, and Nicetius's tomb and remains were looted during the Wars of Religion in fifteen sixty-two. What remains of that story are the church's name, the crypt beneath the choir, and the statue above the entrance.

Seven centuries later, another group began gathering under the church vaults: merchants and craftsmen from Presqu'île. They made their living selling textiles, leather goods, food, and imported wares. The archbishop remained the lord of Lyon: he held judicial and other feudal rights over the townspeople. The merchants sought the right to elect their own councillors, collect city taxes, maintain a night watch, and control the keys to the gates.

Within a few decades, the dispute had escalated into armed clashes. The uprising of twelve sixty-nine did not bring the townspeople self-government, and they began seeking support from the French king, Philip the Fair. On September twenty-eighth, twelve ninety-two, city councillors and prominent residents gathered right here at the Church of Saint-Nizier. Here they approved the actions of their representatives, who had recognized royal protection, although the archbishop and the Saint-Jean Cathedral Chapter disputed it. For people whose money was tied up in shops, goods, and promissory notes, the dispute determined who would judge them, levy charges on them, and protect the commercial streets.

Royal protection did not make Lyon a free commune: the city became part of the Kingdom of France. But on June twenty-first, thirteen twenty, Archbishop Pierre of Savoy issued the townspeople a charter. It established a council of twelve consuls—the elected leaders of city affairs, as they were called. Six came from the Fourvière side and six from the Church of Saint-Nizier side; each year, craftsmen re-elected half its members. The consuls received the very rights their predecessors had disputed: taxes, the watch, weapons, city gates, and their own archive. Leadership remained in the hands of wealthy merchant families, not all residents.

Before Lyon City Hall appeared on Place des Terreaux, important city assemblies continued to be held at the Church of Saint-Nizier. Councillors met in a side chapel, and when too many people gathered, they occupied the nave. In fourteen thirty-four, the consuls allocated city funds for the present northern tower and turned it into the city belfry. The brick northern spire above the façade is older than the stone southern one: it was paid for by the very elected council that had once gathered under the church vaults.