Bienvenue from the Association Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc at the
2nd AVEC International Summer School, Peyresq, 18-30 September 2005

Speaker: Jean Vancompernolle
JVCAMPUS<at>netcourrier.com

Title of the talk and tour: Welcome to Peyresq

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Hello and welcome to the small village Peyresq which is at the end of the world because, as you will have noticed, the road ends at the village square.

This village was founded in 1232 at the order of the Count of Provence, Raymond Béranger V. The Romanesque church dates back to that century as well and was granted to the pioneering Benedictines of Saint-Delmas de Pédona who stayed at Peyresq till the 16th century. At the end of the 16th century the Fabri family became the feudal lords of Peyresq, the family from which the great humanist Nicolas-Claude Fabri was descended. In 1604 the father of Nicolas-Claude Fabri gave the feudal lordship of the village and the lands of Peyresq to Nicolas.

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But who actually was Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc?

He was a prince of the Republic of Letters, for whom the intercourse by means of letters at the beginning of the 17th century embraced all parts of the world, foreshadowing the present-day network of correspondents linked by the internet. Nicolas-Claude was interested in contacts between people and in a world without borders. He was endowed with a talent for all sciences and was an adviser of scientists and princes of his epoch. He was at the same time a letter-writer, a poet, a botanist, an astronomer, a numismatist, a bibliophile, a collector and a great traveller. He was the author of many great discoveries and a precursor of modern scientific methodology. For example he was interested in:

- Astronomy, designing the first map of the moon and thus discovering the nebula of Orion (he even introduced the term nebula);
- Anatomy, studying the circulation of the blood and the lymph;
- Botany, introducing, for example, the jasmine into France;
- Painting, he was a friend of Rubens.

In short, he brought together scientists from different parts of Europe but first and foremost he was a great humanist.

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It should be mentioned that in 1851 there were still 53 families living here, a total of about 208 inhabitants. At the end of the 19th century Peyresq, like many villages in Haute Provence, was abandoned by a great part of its population and the two wars had fatal consequences. The village was almost abandoned and fell into ruins when it was discovered by Georges Lambeau and Toine Smets from Brussels in 1952. In 1954 the Association was founded and started to reconstruct the village with the help of the architect Pierre Lamby and many Belgian students. This earned the village of Peyresq the “Chefs-d'oeuvre en Péril” (Endangered Masterpieces) prize in 1980, awarded by President Giscard d'Estaing in person.

Inspired by the example of Peiresc, the Association has set itself the aim to defend cultural, artistic and scientific humanism in all its forms. The activities taking place in the course of a season are made possible by the Pereysq Foyer d´Humanisme. This organization has marked those buildings with a gentian which share in the realisation of the projects; these are considered as the bearers of humanism, and the village of Peyresq profits from that aura of humanism.

I have the pleasure to wish you in the name of our President, Mady Smets, a pleasant sojourn, rich in scientific exchanges and different discoveries. And now I will show you the village and will comment on the reconstruction of some of the buildings as I was involved in this endeavour from the beginning.

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AVEC is a EU FP5 Concerted Action No. EVK2-CT-2001-20010

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