(Apologies for the non-English nature of this, but I think it has some relevance for the name of the London church.)
Following on from the discussion on this list in December 2007 about St Martin-in-the-Fields, I have been through the early charters of the Abbaye de Saint-Martin-des-Champs in Paris, and it is quite interesting to see the evolution of the name, with an initially informal addition of "of the fields", which became standardized within 20 years. The abbey was in the Rue St.-Martin, on the site of the present Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers.
1060: foundation; no mention of fields
1067: ecclesiam Sancti Martini prope Parisius sitam, quae vocatur de Campis
1079: locum qui dicitur Sancti Martini ad Campos
1080: ecclesia Sancti Martini de Campis, and similarly at all later dates
Another church had already been described as "Sancte Marie, cujus ecclesia sita est in campis" in 1033.
In fact, Paris had similarly-named churches on the edges of the city, at all four compass points:
North: Saint-Martin-des-Champs and St.-Nicholas-des-Champs
South: Notre-Dame-des-Champs
East: Saint-Paul-des-Champs
West: Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Keith
|