The Devilish Flood, 17th-century copperplate engraving.
Photo: H. Jézéquel, Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires, Paris
Several legends concern the hamlet of Ars, which has stood since the Middle Ages on the west shore of Lake Paladru (in the municipality of Le Pin).
The first tells of a pilgrim who was refused hospitality by the uncharitable villagers: during the night the elements were unleashed and the village was swallowed up. The second tells of a broken pact between the people of Ars and the devil (a place called “La Grange du Diable” – the Devil's Barn – still exists not far from the Pré d'Ars).
Engraving by C. Pegeron and A. Perrotin, L'Allobroge, 2nd year, 1840. Photo: Musée Dauphinois.
In the 18th century, the foundations of a chapel dedicated to Sainte-Anne d'Ars were first discovered.
At the same spot, more recent observations also report sarcophagi and medieval pottery.
Wooden piles at the year-1000 site of Charavines-Colletière (Isère).
Photo: Colletière excavations.
Archaeological excavations have also shown that three lakeshore sites (including Ars) were indeed abandoned around 1040, after a rise in the lake level flooded them. The memory of this event lived on in the oral tradition of local people, who knew the spots where remains could be seen in shallow water – and sometimes even brought up in fishing nets: oak piles, pottery fragments, wooden objects, iron tools and weapons.
A. Houot, excerpt from the comic book “Ars engloutie”, Glénat
Historical research has finally shown that between 1172 and 1177 the Carthusian monks of La Silve Bénite appealed to Pope Alexander III and to the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to defend their interests against the community of Ars. The monks may even have had the hamlet burned and driven out the people of Ars, who were preventing them from taking possession of the lake and its fishing resources.
Taken together, these facts suggest that the local legends grew out of real events: a whim of nature (the 11th-century flood) and the destruction of the village of Ars (towards the end of the 12th century). The Carthusians, who wanted the widest possible “desert” around their monastery, turned both events to their advantage by attributing them to divine intervention.