Église Sainte-Maxence, Pont-Sainte-Maxence

Sainte-Maxence church is a Catholic church located in Pont-Sainte-Maxence, France. It is a place of very ancient origin that owes its first church to the martyrdom of Saint Maxence, a young Scottish noblewoman who fled to Beauvaisis at the end of the 5th century to escape a forced marriage with a pagan man. Not wanting to go against her Christian faith, she does not give in to her betrothed in pursuit and he slits her throat in revenge. Maxentius, however, gets up and takes his head in his hands to a nearby place where a church is quickly built in his honor. Miracles occurred at the place of martyrdom, and a procession was held there every year, as well as a pilgrimage. Today, St. Maxence is no longer listed in the calendar of saints because of the lack of material evidence of her existence, although her memory has always been kept alive in Pont-Sainte-Maxence. The churches of Pont-Sainte-Maxence and Yvillers, a hamlet of Villeneuve-sur-Verberie, are the only churches in France dedicated to the Scottish martyr.

It is one of the few churches in the region to have been completely rebuilt after the ravages of the Hundred Years' War, in two main campaigns between about 1470 and the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century for the nave and its side aisles, and during the first half of the 16th century for the choir with its ambulatory. The building is worth not only for its homogeneity, but also for the quality of its flamboyant gothic style. The elegance of the nave and its clarity obtained by collateral vaults almost at the same height is noteworthy, as well as the aesthetics of the vaults and the ribs that merge into the pillars in an organic way. The aisles of the nave have decorative lancet and tierceron vaults, and the vaults of the choir are also lancet and tierceron. The choir and its ambulatory are a little too dark and almost devoid of ornamentation, but the shape of the perfectly smooth walls that follow curved lines, the large arcades and the carefully worked supports also give it an undeniable quality. The church is classified as a historical monument by decree of May 23, 1921. It is in the center of the eponymous parish.