Abbaye de Saint-Maurice | |
 | |
  Location within Switzerland | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Saint-Maurice-en-Valais |
| Order | Canons Regular of St.Augustine |
| Established | 515 |
| Dedicated to | Saint Maurice |
| People | |
| Founder | Sigismund of Burgundy |
| Abbot | Most Rev.Alexandre Ineichen, C.R.A. |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Abbey |
| Heritage designation | Cultural Property of National Significance |
| Style | Romanesque |
| Site | |
| Location | Saint-Maurice,Valais,Switzerland |
| Coordinates | 46°13′10″N7°00′12″E / 46.219358°N 7.003451°E /46.219358; 7.003451 |
| Public access | yes |
| Official name | Abbaye de St-Maurice d'Agaune |
| Reference no. | 7114 |
TheAbbey of Saint Maurice, Agaunum (French:Abbaye de Saint-Maurice d'Agaune orSaint-Maurice-en-Valais) is a Swiss monastery ofcanons regular inSaint-Maurice,Canton of Valais, which dates from the 6th century. It is situated against a cliff in a section of the road betweenGeneva and theSimplon Pass (tonorthern Italy).[1] The abbey itself is aterritorial abbacy and not part of anydiocese. It is best known for its connection to the martyrdom of theTheban Legion, its original practice of perpetualpsalmody, and a collection of art and antiquity.
The abbey is a Swissheritage site of national significance.[2]
The abbey of St. Maurice is built on the ruins of a Roman shrine of the 1st centuryB.C. dedicated to the godMercury in the Roman staging-post of Agaunum. The Latin nameAcaunum, which becameAgaune in French, came from aGaulish term meaning "pointed rock".[3] The site housed a Roman customs post, where a tax was levied on all the goods that crossed this cluse at the entrance to the Rhone Valley. According toEucherius, Bishop of Lyon,Theodore of Octodurum constructed a small shrine around 370 to commemorate the martyrdom ofSt. Maurice and the Theban Legion, which was said to have occurred in the area where the abbey is located. Theodorus then gathered the local hermits in a common life, thus beginning the Community of Saint-Maurice.
In 515, theBasilica of St. Maurice of Agaunum became the church of a monastery under the patronage of KingSigismund of Burgundy, the first ruler in his dynasty to convert fromArian Christianity toTrinitarian Christianity.
The abbey became known for a form of perpetual psalmody known aslaus perennis that was practised there beginning in 522 or 523. The chants were sung day and night, by several choirs in rotation without ceasing. The practice continued there until the 9th century, when the monks were replaced by a community ofcanons.Amatus of Grenoble joined the abbey around 581, later retiring to a hermitage.[4]
The abbey had some of the richest and best preserved treasures in Western Europe, such as theEwer of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune.
In the mid-9th century,Hucbert, brother-in-law of the kingLothair II, seized the abbey. In 864 he was killed in a battle at theOrbe river and was replaced by the victor, countConrad of Auxerre, who became thecommendatory abbot of the abbey, and Lord of theTransjuran Burgundy.[5][6]
Boso, laterKing of Provence, (850-887) received the abbey around 870 from his brother-in-law,Charles the Bald. Conrad's son,Rudolph I of Burgundy, who had inherited the commendatory abbacy from him, became king ofUpper Burgundy in 888, and was crowned in a ceremony at the abbey itself, which he then made the royal residence.[7] His descendants continued to rule asKings of Burgundy, in a line running from Rudolf I toRudolf III. They directed the abbey until around the year 1000. The monastery remained the property of theKingdom of Burgundy until 1033, when, through the defeat in battle of Eudes, a nephew of Rudolf III, it passed to the control of theHouse of Savoy.Amadeus III, Count of Savoy, became the commendatory abbot of the monastery in 1103 and worked to revive religious observance at the abbey by installing there, in 1128, the community of canons regular, who still live there under theRule of St. Augustine, in place of the secular canons.
Throughout the history of the abbey, its strategic mountain pass location and independent patronage has subjected it to the whims of war. The abbey was often forced to pay ransom or house troops. In 1840,Pope Gregory XVI conferred the title of theSee of Bethlehem in perpetuity on the abbey.[8]
In 2019, to diversify its revenues, the abbey launched its beer production. The brewery, fully owned by the abbey, produces three beers. The yeast used to produce them was taken from a parchment dating from 1319.[9]
Today the abbey consists of some 40 canons, with 2lay brothers. The Most Rev.AbbotJoseph Roduit, C.R.A., who was elected in 1999, resigned with the permission ofPope Francis on Wednesday, 18 March 2015, replaced byAbbotJean Scarcella on 1 August 2015 .[10][11] The canonical community serves both the spiritual needs of the territory of theTerritorial abbey as well as fiveparishes in theDiocese of Sion. The canons also operate a highly rankedsecondary school.[12]
The abbey has been built and rebuilt over a period of at least 15 centuries. Excavations on the site have revealed abaptistry dating to the 4th and 5th centuries, a series of four mainCarolingian era churches built over one another dating from the 5th to the 11th century, andcrypts built between the 4th and 8th century.
The current church was first built in the 17th century while the tower dates to the 11th century. PrecedingClermont-Ferrand Cathedral in 946,Chartres Cathedral ca. 1020 andRouen Cathedral ca. 1030, the abbey was an early example of an ambulatory plan with radiating chapels.[13]TheRomanesque tower was reconstructed in 1945 to repair damage caused by a massive falling rock. The newly installedcarillon is the largest built to date in Switzerland.[14]
The Lycée-collège de l'Abbaye de Saint-Maurice is amaturité gymnasiale, agymnasium which offers thematura as the school-leaving qualification. The canons have educated students at the abbey since its foundation but the school in its modern form was opened in 1806. Notable alumni include controversial former FIFA presidentSepp Blatter, formerPresidents of SwitzerlandAlphons Egli andPascal Couchepin and former chairman of theSwiss National BankJean-Pierre Roth.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
