Abbaye Notre-Dame de Fontevraud | |
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 Interactive map of Fontevraud Abbey | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud |
| Other names | Abbey of Fontevrault |
| Order | Order of Fontevrault |
| Established | 1101 |
| Disestablished | 1792 |
| Dedicated to | Our Lady |
| Diocese | Angers |
| People | |
| Founder | BlessedRobert of Arbrissel |
| Important associated figures | Henry II of England,Eleanor of Aquitaine,Richard the Lionheart |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Suppressed |
| Functional status | Cultural center and museum |
| Heritage designation | Historic monument of France,World Heritage Site |
| Designated date | 1840 |
| Style | Romanesque,Gothic,Classical |
| Groundbreaking | 1101 |
| Site | |
| Coordinates | 47°10′53″N0°03′06″E / 47.18139°N 0.05167°E /47.18139; 0.05167 |
TheRoyal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud orFontevrault (in French:abbaye de Fontevraud) was amonastery in the village ofFontevraud-l'Abbaye, nearChinon, in the former FrenchDuchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preacherRobert of Arbrissel. The foundation flourished and became the centre of a new monastic Order, the Order of Fontevraud. This order was composed ofdouble monasteries, in which the community consisted of both men and women – in separate quarters of the abbey – all of whom were subject to the authority of theAbbess of Fontevraud. The Abbey of Fontevraud itself consisted of four separate communities, all managed by the same abbess.
The first permanent structures were built between 1110 and 1119.[1] The area where the Abbey is located was then part of what is sometimes referred to as theAngevin Empire. The English kingHenry II, his wife,Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their son, KingRichard the Lionheart, were all buried here at the end of the 12th century. It was seized and disestablished as a monastery during theFrench Revolution.
The Abbey is situated in theLoire Valley, aUNESCO World Heritage Site, between Chalonnes-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire within the Loire-Anjou-TouraineFrench regional natural park (Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine).
The complex of monastic buildings served as a prison from 1804 to 1963. Since 1975, it has hosted a cultural centre, the Centre Culturel de l'Ouest.
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Robert of Arbrissel had served as theArchpriest of theDiocese of Rennes, carrying out the reformist agenda of its bishop. When the bishop died in 1095, Robert was driven out of the diocese due to the hostility of the local clergy. He then became a hermit in the forest ofCraon, where he practiced a life of severe penance, together with a number of other men who went on to found major monastic institutions. His eloquence and asceticism attracted many followers, for whom in 1096 he founded a monastery ofcanons regular atLa Roë, of which he was the firstabbot. In that same yearPope Urban II summoned him toAngers and appointed him an apostolic missionary, authorizing him to preach anywhere. His preaching drew large crowds of devoted followers, both men and women, even lepers. As a result, many men wished to embrace the religious life, and he sent these to his abbey. When the canons of that house objected to the influx of candidates of lower social states, he resigned his office and left the community.[2]
Around 1100 Robert and his followers settled in a valley calledFons Ebraldi where he established a monastic community. Initially the men and women lived together in the same house, in an ancient ascetic practice calledSyneisaktism. This practice had been widely condemned by Church authorities, however, and under pressure the community soon segregated according to gender, with the monks living in smallpriories where they lived in community in service to the nuns and under their rule. Sometime before 1106,Fulk IV, Count of Anjou gave a significant property gift to the abbey.[3]
They were recognized as a religious community in 1106, both by theBishop of Angers and byPope Paschal II. Robert, who soon resumed his life of itinerant preaching, appointedHersende of Champagne to lead the community. Later her assistant, Petronilla ofChemillé, was elected as the first abbess in 1115.
Robert wrote a brief Rule of Life for the community, based upon theRule of St. Benedict. Unlike the other monastic orders characterized bydouble monasteries, the monks and nuns of the Order of Fontevrault followed the same Rule. In his Rule, Robert dealt with four principal points: silence, good works, food and clothing, encouraging the utmost in simplicity of life and dress. He directed that theabbess should never be chosen from among those who had been brought up at Fontevrault, but that she should be someone who had had experience of the world (de conversis sororibus). This latter injunction was observed only in the case of the first two abbesses and was canceled byPope Innocent III in 1201. At the time of Robert's death in 1117, there were about 3,000 nuns in the community.[2]
In the early years thePlantagenets were great benefactors of the abbey and while Isabella d'Anjou was theabbess, KingHenry II's widow,Eleanor of Aquitaine, made the abbey her place of residence.[1] Abbess Louise de Bourbon left her crest on many of the alterations to the abbey building which she made during her term of office.
With the passing of the Plantagenet dynasty, Fontevrault and her dependencies began to fall upon hard times. At the end of the 12th century, the Abbess of Fontevrault, Matilda of Flanders (1189–1194), complained about the extreme poverty which the abbey was suffering. As a result, in 1247 the nuns were permitted to receive inheritances to provide income for their needs, contrary to monastic custom. The fragile economic basis of the Order was exacerbated by the devastation of theHundred Years War, which lasted throughout the 14th century. Acanonical visitation of fifty of the priories of the Order in 1460 showed most of them to be barely occupied, if not abandoned.
Due to financial pressures the youngest four of the six daughters ofLouis XV were sent to the abbey to be raised. Each was brought up at the abbey until the age of 15.
The Order was dispersed during theFrench Revolution. In November 1789, all property of theCatholic Church in France was declared to be theproperty of the nation. On 17 August 1792, a Revolutionary decree ordered evacuation of all monasteries, to be completed by 1 October 1792. At that time, there were still some 200 nuns and a small community of monks in residence at Fontevraud. The last abbess, Julie Sophie Charlotte de Pardaillan d'Antin, is said to have died in poverty in Paris in 1797.[4] The abbey became a prison in 1804.[1]
The prison was planned to hold 1,000 prisoners and the former abbey required major changes, including new barracks in addition to the transformation of monastic buildings into dormitories, workshops, and common areas. Prisoners—men, women and children—began arriving in 1814. Eventually it held some 2,000 prisoners, earning the prison the reputation of being the "toughest in France afterClairvaux" (also a former abbey). Political prisoners were subjected to the harshest conditions. Under theVichy Government, someFrench Resistance prisoners were shot there.
In 1963 it was given to theFrench Ministry of Culture,[1] and a major restoration was undertaken. In 1975 the Centre culturel de l'Ouest was formed to preserve the abbey and promote it as a cultural venue. The complex was opened to the public in 1985. Restoration of the abbey church according to the earlier restoration under the architectLucien Magne was completed in 2006.[5]
The order was revived by Mme Rose in 1806 as one for women only and following a modified rule.[6]
The abbey was originally the site of the graves ofKing Henry II of England, his wifeEleanor of Aquitaine, their son KingRichard I of England, their daughterJoan, their grandsonRaymond VII of Toulouse, andIsabella of Angoulême, wife of Henry and Eleanor's sonKing John. However, there is no remaining corporal presence of Henry, Eleanor, Richard, or the others on the site. Their remains were possibly destroyed during the French Revolution. The bodies of the French monarchs were likewise removed from theBasilica of St Denis in 1793 by order of the French government.[9]
Henriette Louise de Bourbon, granddaughter of Louis XIV andMadame de Montespan, grew up here.Princess Thérèse of France, daughter of Louis XV, is also buried here.
Jean Genet described the experiences of a thirty-year-old prisoner at Fontevraud in his semi-autobiographical novel,Miracle de la rose, although there is no evidence that Genet was ever imprisoned there himself.
La Cage aux Rossignols (A Cage of Nightingales), a French film released in 1945, was filmed at the abbey.
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